Cincinnati Haunted Handbook. Jeff Morris
slaves in Ohio. There were harsh penalties for anyone known to be harboring a fugitive slave, and the slave would be shipped backed to his or her former owner and would likely be punished severely.
It was therefore imperative that those operating the Underground Railroad work out a system letting the escaped slaves know when it was safe to travel. A man who lived near the location where the Darby Lee Cemetery is today would light a green lantern and play his fiddle when it was safe to cross the river. The fugitive slaves would see the green light on the other side of the river and hear the fiddle music and know when it was safe to cross. Today, the area where the fiddler would guide slaves to freedom is a cemetery. The fiddler was the first person buried at the site.
ghost story
People who have visited this cemetery at night report seeing strange green lights floating around the property. These green lights will either appear to be a green lantern sitting in the forest or will appear as a green glowing ball that floats through the cemetery. The lights always fade away before the witnesses can determine what they are. Other times, people will hear the sound of a fiddle playing in the darkness without any discernible source.
visiting
Several obstacles stand in the way of visiting this remarkable little cemetery. First of all, the closest available parking is within the property of the Riverview Community. While this is the easiest way to get to the cemetery, the property’s managers can ask you to move your car if you park there with the sole purpose of going back to the cemetery. They have always been incredibly accommodating to me and have never asked me to leave, but I have always visited the site during the day and have always kept a polite silence while I was at this cemetery so close to the retirement community.
If you are uncomfortable leaving your car in the lot of the retirement community, there are a couple of other options that are available to you. You can find a place to park down on River Road/SR-50. There is a building at the corner of River Road and Bender that if you walk up to the end of their parking lot, there is a trail that goes off into the woods. Your car will be towed if you park in that lot, but you can use the lot to walk up to this trail. Simply follow the long trail up into the woods. The cemetery will be on the right.
There is another trail up near the Mt Saint Joseph Motherhouse on the other end of Bender Road. If you park up near Mt. Saint Joseph College (you cannot park in the Motherhouse lot), you can walk past the Motherhouse cemetery to another trail that moves off into the woods. If you follow this trail, it will take you past the retirement community and to the cemetery.
While there is nothing suggesting that this cemetery closes after dark, there is another obstacle that stands in a visitor’s way after dark. This obstacle is that it is very hard to navigate the trail after dark. The woods are very thick in this area, and the trail is very skinny and difficult to find at times even in the daylight. You need to make sure that you have a strong flashlight and a strong sense of direction when traveling into these woods at night. My suggestion to you is that you find your way to the cemetery near dusk so that there is still some daylight by which to navigate the trail. That way you can experience the cemetery at night and possibly see those mysterious green lights. After you have finished your investigation, the easiest way out would probably be the nearby retirement community parking lot. Then follow Bender Road to wherever you had parked your car.
HOPEWELL CEMETERY
6471 Camden College Corner Road, College Corner, OH 45003
directions
Take I-75 north to I-275 west. Take I-275 to the Colerain Avenue exit, and take Colerain Avenue/US-27 north toward Butler County. Continue to follow US-27, turning left when you get into Millville onto Millville Oxford Road. Follow this road all the way into Oxford and then turn left onto East High Street. Then turn right onto North Main Street/OH-732. Continue to follow OH-732, turning left after five miles onto Hamilton Richmond Road. Follow Hamilton Richmond Road/OH-732 for another three miles then turn left onto Camden College Corner Road. The cemetery and church will be on your right.
history
This cemetery was the first public cemetery in Israel Township and is one of the oldest cemeteries in all of Preble County. The first burial here was in 1813. A man named Thomas McDill returned home from the War of 1812 with an illness that soon took his life. Many Revolutionary War veterans and Civil War Veterans have been buried here throughout the years. More than a thousand graves populate this small graveyard.
Perhaps the strangest and most tragic thing about this cemetery is the number of children who are buried here. Most of the graves hold children under the age of eighteen. Much of this is due to several epidemics that swept through the area in the 1840s—primarily cholera as well as other diseases. Hopewell became almost a monument to all those children who were lost throughout the years.
ghost story
This creepy cemetery in the middle of nowhere is reputed to be one of the most haunted cemeteries in the southwestern part of Ohio. Through the years many strange stories have been told about this graveyard.
Some of the more common and harmless ghost stories involve strange lights. People who visit at night will sometimes see what appears to be a light from a lantern bouncing along throughout the cemetery. Other reports simply involve a floating ball of light that weaves its way through the headstones. On one side of the church, which stands in the middle of the graveyard, there is a motion-sensor light that will come on if anyone is near the entrance. People report that this light will often turn on by itself, even when there is no one close to the church.
Another somewhat harmless phenomenon involves voices that seem to come from all around the cemetery. These voices are so clear that the witnesses are certain there is someone else nearby. The strange thing, though, is that this place is so isolated there is almost no feasible way that someone could be way out in the middle of nowhere without a car. If anyone drove up, the car would be easy to see in the surrounding area.
Other stories about the cemetery are not quite so harmless. According to legend, if you visit this place at night, you will be plagued by bad luck. Another story says that if you leave your car and walk through the cemetery, when you return to your car there will be a surprise waiting for you inside. Unfortunately, anyone who has received this surprise refuses to reveal what it is, saying only that it startled them so much when they saw it that they almost ran their car off the road.
visiting
Hopewell Cemetery closes at dusk. This time limit is clearly posted on a sign just inside the cemetery. Since most of the paranormal activity only takes place at night, the closing time is unfortunate for us ghost hunters.
The cemetery is quite isolated. There are very few houses anywhere near this place. The graveyard is on the outskirts of Hueston Woods State Park, a large expanse of wilderness in itself. You can still see the stars from out here. This isolation adds to the creepiness of the place and makes it easy to see if there are other people in the area. It would be difficult to get to this place without a car, and your car would be clearly visible from the road.
It is completely legal to stand outside the walls of the cemetery and look into it. This is your best bet if you want to see the ghosts without trespassing. The lights should be visible from the road and the voices should be clearly audible. You can even just sit in your car on the road and listen. It is rare that another car will go down the road late at night, and if another car is coming, you can pull away or pull over and let the other car pass.
KINGS ISLAND CEMETERY
6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason, OH 45040
directions
Take I-71 North from Cincinnati to exit 24, Western Row Road. At the end of the exit, go straight at the traffic light. Kings Island will be on your right. The cemetery is just off the road to your right. The cemetery is between the Kings Island