Cedar Grove Cemetery - Peninsula, Ohio

Today's Cemetery Sundays installment has us traveling to the historic town of Peninsula, Ohio and it's local cemetery, Cedar Grove. We get an extra Halloween treat because this one has its own ghost story...

Upon entering the main gate, all of the older tombstones are front and center. Many of these old, decaying stones date from the early to mid-1800s.

Among all of these old stones lies one slightly different than the rest. If you don't know the legend, you'd probably walk right past it...

No epitaph outside of the name "McGovrn." No date of birth, no date of death, no first name...

...on the sides, only a few odd symbols of triangles and crosses...

 ...and on the top, a slightly charred, blacked fragment that has been reattached. And what could have caused this?

 

 

Lightning. Or rather, multiple instances of lightning. Because according to local legend, this nondescript "McGovrn" tombstone marks the grave of a witch. And since her burial here, lightning has struck the top of her tombstone with great frequency. So much so, that the discolored tombstone has started to melt. 

As a younger boy, I had heard a tale that if the tombstone was destroyed during another lightning strike, the witch would be able to rise from her grave. Maybe this is why the groundskeepers go to such great lengths to keep the stone complete. But be vigilant, there are always dark storm clouds gathering from the west...