Highland Lawn Cemetery
located in Terra Haute Indiana is the location for one of this states most
unique and enduring ghost stories. Local residents have passed down this
popular tale for several generations. |
| John Heini |
Stiffy Green
was known by all to be a faithful companion. He was a bulldog that was devoted
to his master, John Heini. When Heini died in the 1920s Stiffy was devastated.
It was said after Heini’s
death Stiffy would constantly return to the Highland Lawn Cemetery where he
would keep vigil outside the Heini Family Mausoleum. Stiffy “forever grieving for
his lost master” started to refuse food and water.
He was found dead one day on
the steps of the Heini crypt. John Heini’s relatives had this bulldog’s body
stuffed by a taxidermist and then placed his body with his master in the family
mausoleum.
Guarding His Master
Soon after John Heini and this
noble dog were reunited witnesses started to report some unusual sights and
sounds. Many visitors to the cemetery reported hearing a dog’s bark in the vicinity
of the Heini crypt.
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| Heini Crypt |
Other witnesses stated that
they heard Stiffy howl which effectively scared off thieves and the
curious.
Some reported seeing a misty
figure of an elderly man that appeared to be Mr. Heini walking with a stiff-legged
dog in the neighborhood that surrounds the cemetery.
Witnesses also reported that
the stuffed body of Stiffy seemed to shift positions within the crypt.
Many felt this devoted bulldog
was still guarding its master. For people noted Stiffly’s green eyes glared out
at anyone that might be an intruder.
With all these eerie tales
and the belief that Stiffy still guarded Mr. Heini a Legend Tripping tradition began. Teens on dates would go to Highland
Lawn Cemetery after dark with their flashlights. They then would flash their
lights into the crypt to catch a glimpse of Stiffy’s menacing green glass eyes.
This tradition only stopped
in the mid 1980s when the Vigo County Historical Society removed Stiffy’s
stuffed body and relocated him to a replica Heini crypt--built by the
Terra Haute Lion’s Club-- located within their museum.
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| Stiffy and replica crypt at museum. |
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| Newspaper report about vandalism. |
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