Greenwood Cemetery, Decatur, Illinois: The Prison-Train Legend, the Lost Mausoleum and the Record

Midwest Haunted Cemeteries

Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur, Illinois, is one of the best-known haunted cemeteries in central Illinois, largely because of the writing of local author Troy Taylor. The stories include ghost lights on a hillside, a weeping woman on a stone staircase and Confederate prisoners said to lie in an unmarked mass grave. It is also an active public cemetery, established in 1857, where some of Decatur’s best-known figures and a number of Civil War soldiers are buried. This post keeps the two apart. The history comes from local newspapers, a local blog and a volunteer genealogy project. The stories are labeled as legend, with their source trail, and the parts that no document supports are named.

What the record shows

Greenwood Cemetery is at the dead end of South Church Street on the south side of Decatur, in Macon County. According to the Picture Decatur blog, the Greenwood Cemetery Association was established on March 3, 1857. Troy Taylor and Haunt Bound say burials began in the 1820s. Author Michael Kleen says the oldest visible marker dates to 1840, and the Decatur Herald & Review says the oldest headstone dates to the 1840s. Those accounts are close but not identical, so the safest summary is that some stones date to the 1840s and that earlier burials may have gone unmarked.

The Herald & Review reports 21 sections, with Section 12 set aside for veterans, and a Grand Army of the Republic monument in the Civil War area. Picture Decatur and the newspaper name a number of well-known burials, all long dead public figures:

  • James Millikin, whose name is on Millikin University
  • Hieronymus Mueller, an inventor
  • Jesse Moore, a Union officer and congressman, and Rolla McMillen, also a congressman
  • Ansel Tupper, a Union lieutenant colonel killed at Shiloh
  • Lemuel Holland and Benjamin Schenck, Civil War Medal of Honor recipients
  • Jacqueline Logan, a silent-film actress

Kleen writes that Greenwood was the premier place to be buried in Decatur between 1900 and 1926, but that by the end of the 1930s the cemetery association had run out of money and the grounds were barely maintained. Ownership passed to local government in 1957. Sources differ on who took over: Kleen and a volunteer genealogy site say the city, while Picture Decatur says the city and Decatur Township. A directory now lists Decatur Township Cemeteries at the Greenwood address. According to Kleen, the city expected repairs to be very expensive, volunteers restored the grounds, and vandalism led the city to seal two of the three entrances.

The public mausoleum

The best-documented lost landmark is the public mausoleum. Built in 1908, it suffered from leaks and subsiding walls, according to Kleen. A volunteer genealogy site that transcribes a June 25, 1966, Decatur Herald article says two city inspectors pronounced it unsafe, the doors were chained and padlocked, and court proceedings were planned over who owned the building and how to obtain consent to move the more than 100 people who remained inside. Taylor says those who were never claimed were reburied in common graves across the road. The building was demolished in 1967, and Kleen says its foundation can still be seen just beneath the grass. Kleen also says rumors of strange sounds, including screams, began early in the building’s life. Those rumors are not documented, and the people interred there are not named here out of respect for their families.

The legends

Nearly every printed version of Greenwood’s ghost stories traces back to Troy Taylor, whose “Haunted Decatur” series appeared in the 1990s and who later wrote a full book on the cemetery, “Where the Dead Walk” (2002). His HauntedIllinois.com page, copyright 2000, is the earliest dated text found for this post. The Herald & Review, Kleen, A Grave Interest, the Springfield Ghost Society and Haunt Bound all repeat or paraphrase him, and none cites an older source.

The Confederate prison train

In the story, Confederate prisoners were being carried north during the Civil War when some died of yellow fever, and the dead were buried hurriedly on the cemetery hillside, under what is now a memorial to Union soldiers. Kleen’s version says heavy rain later collapsed part of the hill and mixed the remains together, and that they were reburied. Other versions blame a Sangamon River flood and say the remains were marked “Unknown U.S. Soldier.” A genealogy page repeats the long version and dates the train to 1863. Visitors are said to see a uniformed man who asks “Where am I?” before vanishing.

Ghost lights and the Barrackman steps

The ghost lights are the most often repeated report. Taylor, A Grave Interest and Haunt Bound describe them drifting along the southern edge of the grounds and tie them to the lost soldiers. A Grave Interest describes a short flight of stone steps leading up to a family plot, known in the stories as the Barrackman steps. A woman in white is said to be seen weeping there around dusk. The Springfield Ghost Society lists the steps without identifying anyone, and none of the pages read names the woman.

Other stories

Phantom funerals are mentioned by Kleen and A Grave Interest, and A Grave Interest also tells of a mourning chair where sitting down is said to invite a pact with the devil. The Herald & Review, drawing on Taylor, mentions a Native American burial ground, burials of runaway slaves and a fight involving moonshiners, and it introduces these with the words “legend has it.” Kleen also repeats the claim that the land was an American Indian burial ground.

What the record does not support

The prison train has no document behind it

No muster roll, prison record, newspaper item or cemetery record for a yellow fever prison train or a mass burial of Confederates was found for this post. Haunt Bound calls the prisoner burials the most contested part of Greenwood’s record, but it cites no primary document either. The surviving record is thin and mixed. A volunteer genealogy page says no stones mark Confederate soldiers except those reburied in the veterans’ section, while Picture Decatur says many Confederates lie in unmarked graves, and neither gives a source. The route, dates and numbers in the tale rest on Taylor’s text alone.

Native burials are legend, not a documented finding

The Herald & Review and Kleen attribute the burial ground claim to Taylor, and no archaeological report or record was found. Because these stories involve real people’s remains, they are best treated with caution.

The lights, the woman and the sounds

The lights, the weeping woman and the sounds in the mausoleum come only from retellings, with no named witness. The mausoleum was real and its decay is documented, which may help explain why people told stories about it.

Visiting

Greenwood Cemetery is at 606 S. Church St., Decatur, Illinois 62522. It is a free, active public cemetery with hilly, uneven ground, and Haunt Bound says parking is along Church Street.

Sources conflict on hours. Taylor’s page says sunrise to sunset. A Grave Interest says daylight to dusk and notes that a caretaker lives on site. An online listing gives 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., but it is not an official source. Decatur Township’s cemetery board page shows meeting agendas and no visiting hours or rules. The cemetery phone number listed on Find a Grave is 217-422-6563, and calling before a visit is the way to confirm hours and rules, including any photography limits.

A few points of courtesy apply:

  • Visit in daylight only. Kleen notes that vandalism still occurs, and entering closed grounds can count as trespassing.
  • Stay on the roads and paths, keep voices low and give way to funerals.
  • Do not touch, climb or move monuments or steps.
  • Do not look for the family plots or the old mausoleum site to “test” a story. These are the graves of real families.

FAQ

Is Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur haunted?

No haunting is documented. The stories are folklore, popularized by Troy Taylor’s writing, and the reports are anecdotal.

Are Confederate prisoners buried in a mass grave at Greenwood?

The story comes from Taylor’s writing, and no document found for this post supports it. The cemetery has a veterans’ section, but whether Confederates are buried there, and how many, is not shown by anything read.

What happened to the old mausoleum?

It was built in 1908, declared unsafe and closed in 1957, and demolished in 1967. According to Taylor, those who were never claimed were reburied in common graves across the road.

Can visitors go to Greenwood Cemetery at night?

No. Published hours say daylight, though they vary by source. Call 217-422-6563 to confirm.

More haunted cemeteries: Another Illinois cemetery with a long ghost-story reputation is Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery in Midlothian. Other Midwest entries include Rochester Cemetery in Topeka, Kansas and Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Indiana.

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