These are photos of the mysterious St. Omer Cemetery located just a few miles north of Ashmore in eastern Coles County. One thing that stands out as rather strange is that virtually all of the tombstones within it do not face the entrance. They are also somewhat haphazard and clustered, but not quite to the extent as is found in Campground Cemetery in Paradise Township. The most interesting of markers, however, is that of Caroline Barnes and her family. This grave seemingly faces north and south, instead of the traditional east and west setting. The unusual looking tombstone appears somewhat like a crystal ball sitting atop a flaming pyre. But as interesting as that is by itself, the look of the tombstone is not what makes this marker so intriguing. What makes this marker so fascinating is the date etched upon the tombstone. It is carved as February 31st, 1882. Carolines husband, Marcus, died just two months prior to Caroline who, according to legend, was a practictioner of witchcraft, and many folks in the community of the now defunft St. Omer held Caroline responsible for causing the sawmill accident which resulted in his untumely death by using her Dark Arts. Some say Caroline Barnes died from contracting pneumonia. But if her death was from natural causes, then why was the strange and impossible date of death of February 31st carved into the family tombstone marking her grave? Local lore offers this explanation. Yes, indeed, it was long known within the rural, prairie community that they had within their midst none other than a witch who dabbled in the Dark Arts, and her name was Caroline Barnes. With the death of her husband Marcus, the community knew the time had come to take action, and rid themselves forever of her wicked ways. So they held a trial in which Caroline was convicted and decided as just punishment they would hang the young widow from a tree. But just before they hoisted her up, she cried out loudly for all to hear that if they took her life she would rise up from her grave each and every year on the anniversary of the night of her death and wreak havoc upon the community. In this manner, she would get her revenge. So in order to prevent the curse from ever coming to fruition the people of the community determined the best course of action to take would be to mark her date of death as February 31st, a date never to come to pass, and thus would they be able to thwart the Curse of Caroline Barnes. Whether or not one can rise from the dead as a vengeful spirit is debatable, but the people of that time undoubtedly believed a malevolent spirit given over to Satan through witchcraft could manifest itself and harm the living. And so their beliefs are forever enshrined on a tombstone in a small cemetery in central Illinois with a date of death listed as February 31st, 1882.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 21:56:13 +0000
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