On this Halloween week, the Times takes another look at Dorchester area locations that are rumored to be haunted. A couple of months ago, we told readers about a Web site called StrangeUSA.com. According to the site -- which bills itself as "the ultimate collection of the strange" -- the Dorchester area has two "officially haunted" sites: Gilbert's Cemetery and the Dorchester School boiler room. No other Saline County locations are listed as "haunted".
Regarding the school's boiler room, the Web site says that many decades ago, a child "locked himself in the boiler room and died." According to the site, school janitors today sometimes hear yells coming from the boiler room during the night -- and "when they go down into the boiler room, they don't find anyone."
On Gilbert's graveyard, the Web site says the cemetery is haunted by the Gilbert family and other pioneers of the late 1800s. "Strange noises and the movement of the tombstone are just the tip of this site," the site reports. Of course, Gilbert himself is not buried at the cemetery. His ashes are at Friend's Library.
For readers who do not know, John Gilbert was the son of Jonas Gilbert, one of Saline County's first commissioners. John Gilbert "never belonged to any church ... and called himself an agnostic," according to the Dorchester Centennial history book. In the late 1800s, Dr. Frank Hamilton of Friend 
once asked Gilbert to embrace Christianity. That is when Gilbert allegedly "went into a seizure for about two minutes, his muscles jerked, his eyes became bloodshot, his face became congested and red, his mouth became dry, and he kept wiping his lips with his tongue. During the attack, he venomously cursed God." Gilbert later donated money to build a library in Friend, on the condition that his anti-God books would be on the shelves.
once asked Gilbert to embrace Christianity. That is when Gilbert allegedly "went into a seizure for about two minutes, his muscles jerked, his eyes became bloodshot, his face became congested and red, his mouth became dry, and he kept wiping his lips with his tongue. During the attack, he venomously cursed God." Gilbert later donated money to build a library in Friend, on the condition that his anti-God books would be on the shelves.
You can explore StrangeUSA.com for yourself. In August, several comments were left by Times readers. Undoubtedly, Times readers will continue to have their own opinions regarding this odd stop on the World Wide Web.
Let us know what you think about the "haunted places" listed by StrangeUSA.com. Or let other Times readers know about scary places in the Dorchester area that the Web site may have overlooked. Happy Halloween!
You forgot the old squeaky bridge site south of Dorchester. When the bridge was still there you could sometimes see the ghosts of three men who were hung on that bridge in the early 1900s. Their swinging corpses could be seeing dangling above Turkey Creek.
ReplyDeleteI heard a story on the radio this morning about a "man" who supposedly walks on Highway 33 over by Crete. People actually see him on the road and swerve to miss him and when they look back, he's gone. I've never heard of this, has anyone else? Sure gives me the heebie-geebies.....
ReplyDeleteThere were never any hangings in Saline County except for suicides that I am aware of. There was almost a lynching once, when a hobo was accused of raping a young lady east of Dorchester around the turn of the last century, but cooler heads prevailed.
ReplyDeleteThere have been several accidents on the bridges south of Dorchester, and back in the sixties and seventies, there were reports of spectors in those areas....but if you knew the reporting parties, you would suspect a little ditch weed influence.
While I have never seen the spector on HWY 33, I have had past friends who swear they saw him. We always thought it was a Dorchester lad who had a very bad accident a mile west of Crete. But you have to remember that right near that accident used to be the remains of the old Oregon Trail. You could still see the ruts when I was a kid. I am sure there are numerous unmarked graves along the way we are unaware of!
Maybe someone should go there with a recorder and get some EVP!!!!
There is a homestead southwest of Dorchester. It has been in the same family for over 100 yrs. A three year old girl died in the house. Family members have seen her and heard her singing. Toys come on in the night, lights come on, a closet door is constantly opened, even after it has been closed before the family leaves for work, when they return home,
ReplyDeletethe door is opened. Some house guests refuse to stay the night more then one night because they feel like they are being watched in the night.