Stepp Cemetery is a small rural burial ground in Benton Township, Monroe County, Indiana, inside Morgan-Monroe State Forest, near the intersection of Main Forest Road and N Bean Blossom Road (approximate GPS 39.3136, -86.4300). The land was originally owned by Reuben Stepp, who purchased it in 1856 and sold it to Will Peterson in 1884 when he moved to Texas. The State of Indiana acquired the surrounding property in 1929 when the area became part of the state forest. Benton Township trustees maintain the cemetery itself; the surrounding forest is managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The cemetery contains roughly 25–30 marked graves. The oldest known burial is that of Private Isaac Hartsock (also spelled Heartstock), a War of 1812 veteran who served in the 7th Regiment (Saunders), Virginia Militia, and died in 1851. Other early burials include members of the Adkins, Bowman, Chappell, Shively, and Stepp families; graves date from the mid-19th century into the late 20th century.
Like many pioneer cemeteries in the region, Stepp holds numerous infant and child graves reflecting the high childhood mortality of the 19th and early 20th centuries. One marker that later became central to local folklore is that of Baby Lester (child of O’Leatha/Olethia Pryor Lester and Harley Lester), stillborn in 1937.
Reported Hauntings and Folklore
Stepp Cemetery has a long-standing local reputation as one of the more “haunted” spots in south-central Indiana. Most of the stories appear to date from the mid-20th century onward rather than from the cemetery’s early history. The best-known figure is the “Woman in Black” (or Lady in Black), described as a veiled or black-clad figure seen sitting on a tree stump near a child’s grave, weeping or rocking as if holding an infant. Visitors have reported the figure appearing at night, especially near the Baby Lester grave, and sometimes vanishing when approached. Toys and small offerings are frequently left at that grave. A large tree stump in the cemetery was carved into a seat shape (reportedly by Civilian Conservation Corps workers during the Depression) and became known as the “Warlock’s Chair”; sitting on it was said in some versions of the story to bring misfortune or death. The stump was burned in 1974 and no longer exists in its original form.
A second persistent legend involves a fringe religious group called the Crabbites (or Crabbite), said to have used the cemetery or nearby woods around the turn of the 20th century for snake-handling, speaking in tongues, and other ecstatic practices. Local folklore (collected in Indiana Folklore volumes) includes accounts of the group being driven out of the area; no contemporary newspaper or police records confirming the more extreme claims have been widely cited. Other reported phenomena include orbs, disembodied voices or children’s laughter, and a general sense of unease. In 1966 two young men later admitted they had spent two or three weeks staging “hauntings” at the cemetery with wolf howls, shaking bushes, and phantom figures, providing one documented case of deliberate hoaxing. The remote forest setting, isolated access, and accumulation of child graves have kept the stories circulating among students and visitors for decades.
These accounts remain folklore and visitor reports rather than the product of controlled investigation.
Relevant links
- Bloomingpedia: Stepp Cemetery — overview of ownership and legends
- Indiana Public Media: Stepp: A Small Rural Cemetery… — detailed local reporting
- Find a Grave: Stepp Cemetery — burial list and location
- Monroe County GenWeb: Stepp Cemetery transcription — grave inventory
- Monroe County Public Library: History of a haunted cemetery — 1986 Herald-Times series