Journal part 2: The Ghost of the Maywood Witch

 

It was daytime. Myself and some friends were going to be driving near the road and cemetery. One of the friends that was with me happened to be one that has claimed to of seen the grave site. I told him I started a blog and was writing a book on local myths. I would be thankful if he would show me the actual grave site for the Osage road witch, aka the Maywood Witch. One of my friends begged to be taken home first. Possibly afraid of the tales, that he himself has heard of the haunting of the Cemetery and the Osage Road witch. He refused to go with us. After dropping him off at his home. We drove to the Cemetery. There we found one of the gate entrance all locked up. The other Gate entrance was halfway torn down. 

The sign for the cemetery was all shot up, from what looks like from a BB gun. Vandalism must be very frequent here. My friend showed me the grave location. I pointed a few things out to him that did not match up with the myth of the tales. These pictures were not taken during this visit. I was a fool by not bringing a camera with good charged batteries. They had low battery power on their phones and told me that they could not help me obtain any photos. Creeped out by the location, They wanted to quickly leave. So I would return another day when I would find another brave assistant. Again we saw no ghostly witch.

My new temporary assistant was excited to go hunting for an angry ghostly Witch. This is going to be some good Father and son time. This time we have fully charged batteries and a Camera. Notice that the Osage road area in front of the cemetery is now a Paved Road. What if the sightings of the ghost were a big dust plume from the gravel road? Where our imagination could run wild, no different then to gaze upon clouds in the sky? Were these roadside sightings of the ghost trying to chase cars, just dust? Are people having Auto accidents on the road there because they are driving in a panic? 

This is the fabled tombstone. On the back of the tombstone it reads.
SHE BID NO ONE A LAST FAREWELL
SHE SAID GOODBYE TO NONE
ONE WE LOVED BUT COULD NOT SAVE
BEFORE WE KNEW SHE HAD GONE

That message there does imply that some people had cared for her. It does not sound like the scornful message. As told in the myths. According to the mythic story, It is implied that she could not be religiously saved, so she was burned as a witch. Now the front of her tombstone reveals some more interesting conflicts with these tales. She seems to have a Jewish background.  The Hebrew translating is nearly the same as the English writings about family. Speaking of that, this myth might of been a burden to.

As for the tale of her tombstone being hot. It was cold except for the part that was in the sun. Not likely to keep warm enough to melt snow in the Winter time. I regret not taking a picture with an electric thermometer on the tombstone. It does look like something was broken off from the back of the gravestone. Possibly something to hold flowers. 

Notice the date on the tombstone. it says she died Feb 12, 1947 …. Not 1847. not 1747..not 1647! That would put it before any European explorers wrote anything about Iowa. Plus that would be around the time they stop humoring the idea of witch burnings in the US. Not likely to happen in the US in 1947. America had other things to worry about then who is a witch and what religion they were. As for the Satanic pentagram that is rumored to be on her tombstone. That does not look like a pentagram with a circle. Turns out the symbol has little to do with a religion, but with a old Iowan fraternity chapter called the Order of Eastern Star, as stated on their fraternity website. Here is her Obituary. published Feb 12 in the Waterloo Daily Newspaper in 1947. She didn’t die burning as an accused witch. 

(Right click on your mouse and click Save As. to enlarge the image on your own PC if it is unreadable here.)
(thank you Waterloo Public Library for the assistance )

I Did not aim to debunk this myth. If there was an Angry ghost of a witch, that was attacking those that pass by the cemetery, What would be the moral and ethical thing for anyone to do to resolve this? I do not understand what good this myth served after years of vandalism, possible distress upon a family, People hurting themselves in a panic.  Can anyone explain to me why this sinister myth shouldn’t just rest in peace? I have shared my findings with some of those that still insist, that they had in fact witnessed a ghostly spirit of the Maywood Witch. To them this will never be just a myth. If such a spirit is out there. It might go by some other name, that remains unknown…

Next week “The Colossal Serpent of  Burlington, IA”

Skunk

Journal pt1: The Ghost of the Maywood Witch

I have mentioned this location to quite a few other paranormal investigators and their eyes light up intrigued. But I never seen or heard of any of them to follow up onto this lead.I wrote the below Journal in 2012. I would latter follow up on this story, Within the month of June 2014. I will post the second article soon..

The Myth
The mid 1800’s or the 1600’s. There was a shack inhabited by witches near Osage road. A Christian group of locals set fire to this house, while trapping and burning the inhabitants inside. The reasons were a death sentence for witchcraft. A single mother and daughter perished but it is the adult daughter of the home now haunts the area forever, seeking revenge on anyone who nears the home location, or her cemetery grave site.  Just stopping near the cemetery at night, is a guarantee that she will appear to you, along Osage road in a fit of rage, chasing you and your vehicle. She has the ability to take control of your vehicle, and to steer you off the road. Entering the cemetery at night will result in rocks and stick being thrown at you. It is also said, that she will follow you home and throw at you, any dangerous items that are loosely laying around. Such as a knife laying within your sink.

Her grave is reportedly in the back left side of the cemetery. It is one of the only black grave stones with a Pentagram at the top of it. Story goes it will never collect snow on top of it for it is forever hot! especially during the winter time.Her real name is Ester Krinsky. Saying her name aloud is to bring about the wrath of her ghost. On her tombstone it has some words along the lines that people tried to get her Saved (Referenced in the religious sense) and couldn’t! Her title is often called “The Maywood Witch” or the “Osage Road Witch”

Image from the film Raiders Of The Lost Ark (not actual ghost footage)

I collected tales from near and dear friends. Two sisters told me they drove by there once and a ghostly hag like figure floated in air, While chasing their car. They drove extremely fast out of there. Another source told me they knew people that have claimed that after visiting the cemetery, bizarre things happened in their house. Random Items being thrown at them. Others have nodded that they know about the tales and expressed that they did not want to talk about it, For it would invoke her like the Bloody Mary Myth. Before going out there I attempted to do some local genealogy research from the Waterloo Public library by myself. I can find nothing on this Ester Krinsky. Reasons might be I never actually went to her grave stone to verify her name or it’s spelling due to it being gated and locked up. The cemetery use to be managed by the city, as a location for those with cultural differences and burial practices. The cemetery is now under the care of a non profit group called the Islamic Foundation of Iowa.

I traveled out there at night with two of my religious friends. One Christian and one Muslim. Jeremy and Cemile.  We stayed just outside of the cemetery gates, that seemed all locked up. If the myth holds true then just showing up here is all that is required to enrage the spirit to become visible.
I shouted Esters name “Ester are you there?” to invoke her spirit curious to see her appear, My friends sadden by this tale felt compelled gave a pretty expensive offering of whiskey by pouring it on the ground near the gates of the cemetery, against my request not to do such. We left the area in peace, with no ghostly apparitions in sight. I noticed the road was a dusty gravel one prone to make dust plumes in the air as we left. I observed it to see if my imagination would be able to see a figure within the dust but I did not see such as we left the area.

I think of a quote by a scientist named, Carl Sagan “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” How does one actually go about obtaining this evidence? Without being disrespectful to the dead? Saying things that would invoke a fight with a living person? What if you got the trouble you were asking for? Even if this myth is true or not, I think for anyone to go out there to mock and taunt the Osage Road Witch, Vandalize the cemetery, the extraordinary evidence is on you!

This tale continues…

Skunk