Logan’s Weeping Mother

The legend states—

If you say, "weepy woman, weep" the statue will cry . . .

Logan, Utah

Olif and Julia Cronquist lived in Logan, Utah at the turn of the 19th century.

Mr. Cronquist was a respected county commissioner and dairy farmer. His wife, Julia, was a devoted mother.

Tragically, only three of this couples' eight children survived until adulthood.

Within twelve years—between 1889-1901 the couple lost:

Two sets of twins, the first boys and the second girls all died at a young age in separate scarlet fever outbreaks, and the fifth child was stillborn.

Julia also contracted scarlet fever, but despite ongoing health issues connected to this illness, she survived.

Despite her husband's support, Julia was inconsolable. Friends and neighbors often saw her in the city cemetery near her children's graves sobbing.

As a result of her own bout with scarlet fever, Julia grew weaker and weaker. She also tragically died in 1914, of valvular heart disease.

Her obituary stated in part—

"a splendid woman, tender, loving, patient, and true. Bearing a great burden without complaint and always seeking the happiness and comfort of others."

Weeping Mother

In tribute, Olif had an impressive monument placed upon his wife's grave, in 1917.

This statue of a beautiful, sad woman, located at the Logan City Cemetery, is said to be haunted.

Witnesses, over the years since state that this statue is seen weeping—during full moons and on the anniversaries of Julia's children deaths—four of them in March.

Others state this statue is seen moving—looking in the direction of the various children's graves.

Another report involves the statue actually wandering around this cemetery.

One recent report mentions that a mother/daughter witnessed Julia's ghost sitting near this monument crying. She then just disappeared.

Utah State University

This cemetery is near Utah State University. Because of this legend, a sign is posted warning visitors no one is allowed in the cemetery after dark.

April Fool’s Prank Results in Haunting

Many enjoy a good April fool’s joke, but not many know the origins of this day.

Many historians attribute this tradition to France. In1582, France changed to the Gregorian calendar—this switched the New Year day from April 1^st to January 1^st.

News traveled slow back then so some still celebrated the New Year on April 1^st.

Part of this day’s celebrations was to play pranks or jokes on others. People that fell for these jokes were called “fish” because “fish are easy to catch.” Paper fish were tacked to their backs marking them as gullible.

Some people today still refer to people that are easily fooled as fish.

Jonathan Swift

Over a century later, Jonathan Swift the author of Gulliver’s Travels managed to pull off a classic April Fool’s prank. Swift pretended to be an astrologer by the name of Isaac Bickerstaff he then published several predictions.

His most successful prediction, published in January of 1708, stated that a well-known astrologer and almanac maker—John Partridge—would die of a raging fever on March 29^th. Swift then reinforced his prank by circulating a rumor anonymously that Partridge had indeed died. *

The result was for months Partridge was kept awake at night by mourning fans outside his door. Then on March 30^th, he opened his door to a man that informed him he was there to make his funeral arrangements. This joke continued because for the rest of his life Partridge had to insist he was not dead.

The following is a short excerpt from a letter Swift published anonymously about Partridge's death to reinforce his prank:

“I saw him accidentally once or twice about ten days before he died, and observed he began very much to droop and languish, though I hear his friends did not seem to apprehend him in danger. . .”

You can read the entire letter here.

John Partridge

Seven years later, Partridge did die on March 30^th. While alive he never discovered it was Swift who was behind this joke but after he died one account claims, he got revenge.

It states that Partridge’s ghost visited Swift every April Fool’s Day.

* Swift enjoyed this prank immensely because he felt Partridge was a quack since he dared to make predictions. Partridge wrote a public statement that he was not dead but Swift countered it with—Partridge could not have written it because who would dare to make a joke about death.

Little Hands

First-person account from the Reader’s Digest:

When my mother was a teenager, she lived in a haunted house. What is unusual about this is she never talked about it. She did tell me a story about an encounter with a ghost, but it didn’t occur in her home.

A few houses down from her home lived a family with two daughters. The younger of the two girls went to bed complaining of a terrible headache.

The family discovered this little girl had died during the night. It was determined she had an aneurysm.

Overwhelmed with grief, this family left town for a while after the funeral. They asked my uncle to take care of their pets.

My mother and father were dating at the time, and they asked to go along. My mother really wanted to play the family’s grand piano.

As the trio entered the house, the two men went to the basement to feed the pets, my mother headed straight for the piano. As she played, she felt something brush her ankles. She continued to play thinking one of the cats must have escaped.

A few moments later, she felt the soft brushes again. She looked under the piano but saw nothing. As she started to play again, she felt two small hands grab each leg tightly.

She got up and ran to the basement door. The two men responded quickly to her panicked call. When they arrived at the top of the stairs, she described what had happened.

Her uncle turned white. He told her a story the neighbor had told him at the funeral. The deceased daughter always played a game with her father as he played the piano.

She would crawl under the piano and grab his ankles and then push his feet up and down on the pedals.

George Reeves’ Ghost

Reeves as Superman

In the 1950s the actor, George Reeves was best known for his portrayal of Superman in the television series, Adventures of Superman.

Reeves died at the age of 45, from a gunshot wound to the head. He was found dead in his bedroom at 1:59 a.m. on June 16, 1959, in his home in Los Angeles’ Benedict Canyon. It was just three days before his marriage to a young socialite.

The cops ruled his death a suicide but others felt it was an accident or even murder.

Home on Benedict Drive

Reeves was a personable and charming actor that was liked by most people who knew him. But it appears he had a darker side.

Those who support the theory he committed suicide point to the fact that by the late 1950s Reeves was having trouble finding work as an actor after his popular series ended. It appeared he was to be forever stereotyped as the caped crusader.

But this belief left out two important aspects of Reeves's life at the time of his death. He had just begun a career as a Hollywood television director, and he had recently put his personal life in turmoil when he left his lover of several years—a woman eight years his senior.

George Reeves with Toni Mannix

His mistress, Toni Mannix, had bought the Benedict Canyon home for him. She became extremely jealous when Reeves dumped her for a younger woman-- Lenore Lemmon who he intended to marry.

Mannix, a one time showgirl, was married to Eddie Mannix, a former MGM vice president who was in good with the cops and had connections to organized crime. Hence, the speculations that Reeves’s death may have been a murder, that the police conveniently covered up.

Some point out that Toni Mannix had Reeves murdered because she was a scorned lover. But others feel it might have been her husband who did not like being shown up by "an actor." 

Lenore Lemmon

To add to the confusion, Reeves's state of mind at the time of his death was muddled. Lemmon told the cops one story—while other’s who attended the party she threw at the home—the night Reeves died-- conflicted with her account of what happened.

George Reeves’s death today still remains an unsolved mystery. But what happened after his death has been well documented over the years.

For over a decade, Toni Mannix had trouble selling the home on Benedict Drive. It quickly gained a reputation for being haunted by George Reeves.

People who believe the murder theory point to this reason as to why his spirit lingers.

One young couple who rented the home was entertaining guests one evening in the living room when everyone heard noises coming from upstairs.

They followed these sounds to Reeve’s ex-bedroom, where his body was found. This room that was kept neat, was now in complete disarray. The bed linens had been torn off the bed, and clothes were strewn across the floor.

When this group returned to the living room they discovered that all the drinks that they had left on the coffee table, were now in the kitchen.

Later, this couple discovered their German shepherd barking furiously at the door to Reeve's old bedroom. They watched as he cowered and slinked away with his tail between his legs. When they opened the door, they found the bed had been moved across the room.

Early one summer morning, around 3:00 a.m., they both saw Reeves ghost in his ex-bedroom. He was wearing his Superman costume. They moved out of the home that same morning.

After this, other renters claimed to hear a single gunshot in the middle of the night, as well as smelling gunpowder in the Reeve’s bedroom.

The young couple was not the only witnesses to encounter Reeve’s apparition. A film crew and actors making a documentary about Reeves also saw him standing in his full Superman attire in his old bedroom.

Reeves bedroom window.

At one point two sheriffs were called out to watch the Benedict Canyon home because there were so many complaints from neighbors. These reports included people hearing screaming, gunshots, and seeing the lights go on and off in the house in the middle of the night. The home was empty at the time.

These neighbors also reported seeing Reeves apparition standing on his front lawn.

Here is a brief video, about George Reeve’s death.

Olive Thomas: New Amsterdam Theatre, Part ll

Olive Thomas

In 1920, Olive Thomas a former Ziegfeld girl and a silent screen actress was on a second honeymoon in Paris with her husband Jack Pickford. The two had been out partying and drinking when they returned to the Hotel Ritz.

Olive in search of something to calm her nerves found in the suite’s bathroom a large blue flask that smelled like alcohol, she thought it was a sleeping draught that would help her. She drank it down. As this liquid flowed down her throat it burned.

She screamed waking her husband in the next room. Too hazy to understand, she had ingested the topical mercury bichloride that Jack was using to treat his chronic syphilis.

Jack tried to induce vomiting but this did not work. Olive was taken to the nearby Neuilly Hospital. In the hours that followed she had fits where she would gain consciousness briefly. She apologized to Jack, who stayed by her side, and then called for her mother.

The amount of toxic fluid she ingested shut down her kidneys and she tragically passed. Jack accompanied Olive’s body back to the U.S. Her funeral service was packed, it was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City. She was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx in September of 1920.

Olive Thomas Pickford's
mausoleum at Woodlawn.

Rumors flew about her death, it was speculated that it was actually a suicide or murder—all untrue. While alive the couple had been dubbed, “the gayest, wildest brats who ever stirred the stardust of Broadway.”

After the scandal of her death, the Hollywood studios used Thomas, the Arbuckle scandal (1921), which I discuss here and the murder of William Desmond Taylor (1922) to instate “morality clauses” into actors’ contracts.

My favorite true ghost story author, Tom Ogden in his book Haunted Theaters retells several stories that indicate Olive Thomas’ spirit returned to haunt the New Amsterdam Theater shortly after her death.

Olive’s ghost often appears partly faded. She has been seen both backstage and in the lounges at the New Amsterdam. She is seen wearing her green beaded dress with the matching headband and sash.

Main stage

New Amsterdam
Theatre

A workman at the theater in 1952 saw her ghost twice. He noticed the name “Olive” written across her sash. Both times this figure disappeared right in front of him as she held a large blue bottle in her hands.

He recognized her without this ID for he had worked at the theater as a young man during the time she was a Ziegfeld girl.

As many old buildings the New Amsterdam fell into massive disrepair over the years. One preservationist group tried to restore the building in the 1970s but failed. In 1979, the building was declared a New York City landmark.

In 1993, Disney bought the building and spent $35 million restoring it. The man in charge of this restoration, Dana Amendola began to receive reports from workmen that the building was haunted.

These reports did not surprise him for research he did on the history of the theater mentioned Olive, her tragic death and the fact her ghost lingers.

Several night watchmen told him that they had seen a glowing image of a beautiful young woman on the main stage. They also saw this apparition in the dressing rooms.

One watchman stated he captured this image within the beam of his flashlight. “The beads from her Follies dress, headpiece and sash sparkled in the glare.”

This man said this figure held a big blue flask. He challenged her. “Miss, stop, who are you? You shouldn’t be here.”

He said a demure smile formed on the woman’s lips. She then turned and drifted across the stage. He watched as she walked right through a solid outside wall.

Olive’s ghost when seen always carries this blue flask. The male witnesses said she often flirted with them. She whispered, "Hi fella and then would bat her eyes before disappearing."

She was also heard calling out, “Hey, how re doin’?” At other times night watchmen and workers found items moved without explanation.

Production of Aladdin at
theatre.

After Disney re-opened the theater to the public, cast and crew have reported seeing Olive's ghost. She appears at night after audiences have left.

She has made the sets shake and she has caused all the lights to blow out in the upper floor offices. Her ghost tends to appear more often when changes are made.

She has also been seen on the Amsterdam’s rooftop floating near where the old glass dance floor used to be.

Two portraits of Olive hang in the theater. Today actors that perform in the various Disney productions often acknowledge Olive’s presence as they pass these two pictures. They stop and say, “Goodnight Olive” or they say, “Welcome Home.”

In Part l of Olive Thomas: New Amsterdam Theatre I talk about Olive’s scandalous time as a Ziegfeld girl and her marriage to Jack.

Here is a brief video with Dana Amendola talking about Olive's ghost at the New Amsterdam.

Telling the Bees

An odd death superstition involves bees. It originated in Europe and then was brought to America.

In the 19^th century, this custom spread from New England to the edge of the Appalachia. It involved people “telling the bees” when their beekeeper died. This superstition even included telling the bees when one of the keeper’s family members died.

It was believed if the bees were not told they would die or leave their hives in search of a new home.

This was an economic loss that family’s who kept bees were not willing to risk for honey was a valuable commodity.

So these families went out of their way to protect their hives--which included the following customs.

When someone died a person was sent to inform the bees of this death. They would then drape the hive in black crepe. In some instances, funeral cake or wine was left out for the bees to enjoy.

Many families even pinned an “invitation” to the funeral on the hive.

This last custom came about because bees were known to invade funeral services if

Danville Bee
June 4, 1956

they were not told. These incidents are well documented. Here are just a few.

In 1894, during a funeral being held in a church, the mourners noticed swarming bees. A pallbearer was stung on the neck and the Undertaker was attacked viciously.

When the procession headed for the graveyard the bees followed. Many of the mourners left afraid they would also be stung.

Minneapolis Journal
July 6,1901

In 1901, a graveside service for a deceased Indiana child turned into a scene of panic when the mourners were attacked by thousands of bees as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

The grave could not be covered until that night when it was safer.

Margaret Culp’s funeral in 1916 was delayed when farmers scheduled to dig her grave where “stung severely” by bees.

The Washington Herald
August 9,1916

Honey-bee swarm.

At the turn of the century, during a funeral for Josh Simms in Kentucky flowers were placed on his grave as it was being covered. Mourners then watched as a huge swarm of bees landed on the gravesite.

They then stung many mourners who had remained behind.

All these funerals have something in common—the deceased was either a beekeeper or was a relative of one. The bees had not been told there was a death in the family—and when the hives were checked afterward they were abandoned.

In 1858, the American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about this belief

John Greenleaf Whittier

entitled, Telling the Bees. Here is just the last part of this poem.

Before them, under the garden wall,

Forward and back,

Went drearily singing the chore-girl small,

Draping each hive with a shred of black.

Trembling, I listened: the summer sun

Had the chill of snow;

For I knew she was telling the bees of one

Gone on the journey we all must go!

Then I said to myself, “My Mary weeps

For the dead to-day:

Haply her blind old grandsire sleeps

The fret and the pain of his age away.”

But her dog whined low; on the doorway sill,

With his cane to his chin,

The old man sat, and the chore-girl still

Sung to the bees stealing out and in.

And the song she was singing ever since

In my ear sounds on:--

“Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!

Mistress Mary is dead and gone!”

Here is a link to the entire poem.