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[music swells in abruptly.]

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[Acoustic instrument playing
a three note repeating pattern]

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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[zapping noise]

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[music is ominous. synthesizer wind noises

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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and dark sounding notes ring out]

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[music title: the village]

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[deep bass notes can be heard underneath higher

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pitched notes and synth noises]

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[acoustic instrument changes to a four note,

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repeating pattern. same ominous tone]

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[vocalization can be heard. no words]

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[inaudible words and quick phrases
can be heard in background]

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[long vocalization. vowels only. no audible words]

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[high pitched, synthesized female vocalization.

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long vowel sounds. ahhhhhhh]

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[female vocalization continues]

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[thunder or loud noises can be heard periodically]

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[very long vocalization and all
notes end and ring out to fade]

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[voice echos in distance as music fades]

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[new music. slow, electric blues guitar & harmonica]

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[music title: traveling crawford]

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[traditional blues riff in the keys of E and A]

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[music quites a bit as narration begins]

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(Male Narrator)
Southern Illinois, old earth, old forests, old testament.

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This ground holds tales of many ancient civilizations,

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historic events, and fantastic folklore.

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The portion of the state that identifies
itself as “Little Egypt”

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is surrounded by the Mississippi,
Ohio, and Wabash Rivers.

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The rivers not only define its boundaries

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but have shaped the histories and lives of

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all who have lived there.

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These waters encapsulate a land hundreds of

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miles, attitudes and lifestyle away from

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the cosmopolitan cities to the north.

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This countryside has challenged all those

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who have staked their claim here leaving behind

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a place filled with fading stories, histories,

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and lessons from the past.

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[blues music continues in background]

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This is the story of Elizabeth Reed

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who in 1845 became
the first woman to be hanged

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in Illinois.

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She was accused of poisoning her husband Leonard

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with arsenic laced tea then tried and convicted

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by a jury of 12 men.

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Betsy was hanged on May 23rd

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which to most
would be where the story ends.

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However, Elizabeth Reed’s story had just begun.

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The circumstances of her arrest,

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trial,

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conviction, execution, burial, and afterlife

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have been debated ever since.

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The folklore that exists today suggests her

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restless spirit wanders the countryside.

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Does her ghost haunt the site of her execution

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because she was falsely accused

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or due to the very nature of her crime?

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Some may argue it was
because her voice was never heard.

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While these ghostly debates may never end

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what is known is that this

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“murderous witch’s” story

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fascinates to this day.

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To fully appreciate the tale of
Elizabeth “Betsey” Reed

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one must understand the history

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and culture of Southern Illinois.

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[Chris Sutton]
Well terrain wise Southern Illinois is…okay

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you’ve got the rivers.Okay?

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[blue music ends and fades]
So the terrain is Southern Illinois is such that…

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[upbeat acoustic guitar strumming]
they slope down towards the rivers.

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So you’ve got these hilly areas you know

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around the rivers.

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Cause there is a lot of towns around the rivers.

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These river towns have a lot of barge traffic.

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That’s where a lot of these
towns in Illinois start.

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[pleasant synthesizer notes]
But then you get towards the middle of it

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and it's flat. It’s prairie land so to speak.

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So you’ve got rolling hills as you go around

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the rivers as it goes down and you’ve got

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flat terrain in Southern Illinois.

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Normally after that there’s a lot of forest

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and things like that around.

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But there’s lots of agriculture

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and corn and all that kind of stuff.

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[Rob Byrley] Well, we have a lot of farming.

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It’s a really agricultural area.

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And then right out our backdoor

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we have the Wabash River.

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So a lot of recreation there

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and commercial fishing.

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To the south we have the timber.

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It’s just a unique place;

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a lot of agriculture,

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a lot of industry related to the agriculture.

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[music title: a peaceful life]

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[Narrator]
Early settlers in Illinois didn’t view most

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of the land as fertile, advising to build
and farm where trees grow.

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In fact, for Leonard Reed

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the farm ground had proven

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to be a challenge greater than the

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meager farming skills either

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he or Elizabeth possessed.

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It wasn’t until John Deere’s invention

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of the metal plow in 1837 that farmers could

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till Southern Illinois ground.

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Little Egypt’s soil was much richer than

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the eastern United States and therefore more

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difficult to cultivate.

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Up until the metal plow open plains were used

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for a variety of livestock, especially cattle

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and hogs.

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Settlers foraged for
much needed sustenance

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and their options were limited

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to what an area provided.

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(John Winterbauer)
I think it’s a cultural thing because Illinois

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was settled from the south.

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Those people came out of the upper-southern

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region of the United States into an area already

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seeped with the Mississippian culture

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and the French culture.

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And all that combined into a unique blend

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of people

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that have contributed,

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or it’s contributed to the feel of the place.

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It just hangs there.

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There’s a different feeling
in Southern Illinois

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then there is say in Chicago, which

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is bustling and crazy and violent.

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That’s not really like that down there.

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They are…

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[music fades out]

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they keep to themselves

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from time to time.

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But for the most part they are a friendly

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group of salt of the earth people.

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(Narrator) Before Illinois became a state
[birds chirping]

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it was known as the Indiana territory.

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This new frontier presented many obstacles

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to anyone attempting to carve out a life there.

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Indigenous tribes grew increasingly alarmed

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by the growing number of settlers that continued

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to populate their lands.

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In addition to the native tribes,

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early settlers
were met by a variety of forest creatures

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who also laid claim to the territory.

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[deep, rising tones and echoes]

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Yes the land proved to be bountiful

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but it also brought forth hardships

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that not everyone was prepared to handle.

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And this was virgin timber.
(Rick Kelsheimer)

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It was hardwoods.
[birds chirping]

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It hadn’t become Southern Illinois’s fields today.

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But back then

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it was hardwood forest.

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There would be prairies in-between

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that would look like oceans of grass

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but where Betsy lived

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it was old-growth hardwood forest.

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At the time there were bears,

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there were wolves,

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there were panthers,
which are mountain lions,

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other than every other critter out there.

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[Native American flute note echoes]

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(Narrator) When the populations of the settlers

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and Indians initially merged relations were

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peaceful and friendly.

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This proved to be short lived as the natives

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grew to be uncomfortable with the foreign

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incursion which increasingly

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used up the areas resources.

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Shawnee Chief Tecumseh came to the area

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in the early 1800’s to recruit the Illini tribes

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in his efforts against the white settlers.

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[birds chirp in background]

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The growing conflicts

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with the Indian tribes

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continued through the founding of Illinois in 1818

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before culminating in the

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Blackhawk War of 1832.

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The brutalities of their conflicts left scars

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throughout the region.

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(Chris Sutton) The Natives were not, obviously
[birds chirping]

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and I don’t blame them, were not too keen

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about the white settlers moving in

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and taking their land.

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And so yes there were massacres.

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There was fighting.

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Of course, we know who won the war.

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But there were times where the Natives

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fought back just like you and I would do

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if someone was trying to take our land.

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[music swells into new song]

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[acoustic guitar strums as electric guitar notes play]

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[music title: little egypt]

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So traveling down to Crawford County,
(John Winterbauer)

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I hadn’t been there before I didn’t

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get to spend as much time
as I had wanted to.

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I met up with Jason and his team in Palestine

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[harmonica plays]

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and

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explored just a little bit around before

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we went out to the cemetery to visit Elizabeth.

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And I got to tell you,

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like most of Southern Illinois, it’s a

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quaint,

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friendly, welcoming

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place, which most of Southern Illinois is.

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It’s a cultural thing.

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I think they’re nicer (chuckles)

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in Southern Illinois

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than a lot of places in the state.

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And that’s what I found in Palestine and

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down around Crawford County.

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I spent a lot of time on the
dirt roads out there.

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Didn’t see a lot of people

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but those that I did see

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were

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very pleasant people,

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glad to see people, happy to help

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with what we were doing.

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I really enjoyed it.

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[guitar and harmonica continue]

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(Jason Snider) We’re the Crawford County
Ghost Hunters Society

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and we investigate claims

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of paranormal activity and phenomena

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all over the state of Illinois

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and parts of Indiana.

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We investigate anywhere people call us into.

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We’ve investigated businesses,

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houses, any other place

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people call us into that they

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think they have any type of paranormal activity

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or occurrence taking place at their location.

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Crawford County is considered to be one of

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the most haunted counties in Illinois, I would say,

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because we have one of the oldest

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white settlements in the state,

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which is Palestine, Illinois.

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And there’s a lot of activity

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and historical
sites in Palestine.

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They’ve found city upon city of ancient

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civilizations where they’ve dug into them.

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There’s archeological
dig sites in Palestine.

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Crawford County back in the day

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actually stretched its border up into Canada.

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Crawford County is one of the oldest counties

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in Illinois if not the oldest.

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[music fades]

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Crawford County has
a lot of historical locations.

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We had a Hutson massacre that took place

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here in Hutsonville, Illinois.

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[music begins. synthesizer vocals. ominous]

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[periodic tapping noises heard echoing]

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[music title: hutson massacre]

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[notes hold and a deep,
Australian didgeridoo note plays]

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[huanting notes play]

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The location we are currently at is the site

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of the Hutson Massacre

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that took place in 1813.

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And what happened here…

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it was a horrible event that took place

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behind us here at this location

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The cabins that are currently here now

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are reconstructed cabins.

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These aren’t the original cabins

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from the massacre.

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00:12:05,580 --> 00:12:08,220
But in 1812

269
00:12:08,460 --> 00:12:11,300
Isaac Hutson came to this area from

270
00:12:11,300 --> 00:12:15,300
Turman Township in Sullivan County, Indiana.

271
00:12:15,310 --> 00:12:17,470
He moved to this area because
he liked the prairie.

272
00:12:17,470 --> 00:12:19,310
He just thought it was a neat area.

273
00:12:19,310 --> 00:12:20,500
He enjoyed this area.

274
00:12:21,020 --> 00:12:23,740
He built a little cabin here with his family.

275
00:12:23,980 --> 00:12:25,860
He had a wife

276
00:12:26,340 --> 00:12:28,420
and I believe it was six kids

277
00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:30,360
and he went to…

278
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,000
he went to Hutsonville…well

279
00:12:34,580 --> 00:12:37,600
the this whole town here was named after

280
00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:39,740
this event you know
Hutsonville you know Isaac Hutson

281
00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:42,740
that's how Hutsonville got its name.

282
00:12:42,930 --> 00:12:45,500
But he went to Palestine one night

283
00:12:45,500 --> 00:12:47,060
to the mill

284
00:12:47,060 --> 00:12:49,200
so when he went to the mill he came back

285
00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:50,520
home it was real late at night

286
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:52,000
when he got back here.

287
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,260
He saw a glow off in the distance.

288
00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:56,380
When he got closer he
kinda feared the worse,

289
00:12:56,380 --> 00:12:58,480
you know, knowing something
bad had happened.

290
00:12:58,580 --> 00:13:00,400
When he got up here he realized his family

291
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,620
had been massacred by Indians.

292
00:13:03,020 --> 00:13:04,280
When he got up there,

293
00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,440
there was a guy by the name of

294
00:13:07,140 --> 00:13:08,020
Dixon,

295
00:13:08,020 --> 00:13:09,540
which was his neighbor.

296
00:13:09,540 --> 00:13:11,310
He lived close to Hutson here too.

297
00:13:11,310 --> 00:13:13,160
When he got up here,
Dixon was laying on the ground

298
00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:15,100
with his chest tore open

299
00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,680
and his heart was on a post.

300
00:13:19,380 --> 00:13:21,260
They were pretty brutally massacred.

301
00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:23,960
His baby, they took it…

302
00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,220
she was…like when
they raided the cabins,

303
00:13:26,220 --> 00:13:27,200
the Indians came into

304
00:13:27,209 --> 00:13:28,300
the cabins,

305
00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:31,500
Mrs. Hutson was
holding the baby in her arms.

306
00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:32,880
They took the baby and

307
00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,280
put it in a boiling kettle of soup

308
00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,880
and killed the baby like that

309
00:13:38,889 --> 00:13:40,720
and then killed the rest of the family.

310
00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,140
They chopped their heads off

311
00:13:42,620 --> 00:13:44,160
and put them on a post out here…

312
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,380
was what some of the
historical accounts say.

313
00:13:46,380 --> 00:13:47,720
They scattered their heads and

314
00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:49,360
put them on posts out here

315
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:50,720
by the cabin.

316
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:52,020
So it was a pretty

317
00:13:52,460 --> 00:13:55,560
brutal murder that took place here.

318
00:13:55,820 --> 00:13:58,360
After that, Hutson swore revenge.

319
00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,500
He moved to the, well

320
00:14:01,820 --> 00:14:03,900
what is now current day Terre Haute.

321
00:14:03,910 --> 00:14:05,760
Fort Harrison was located there.

322
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:06,800
He joined the Army

323
00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:09,020
there at Fort Harrison

324
00:14:09,460 --> 00:14:12,060
which was kind of
his downfall because he

325
00:14:12,069 --> 00:14:14,140
was later killed by Indians, himself,

326
00:14:14,140 --> 00:14:16,779
in a fight about a half a
mile south of the fort

327
00:14:16,780 --> 00:14:18,460
where Terre Haute now stands.

328
00:14:20,580 --> 00:14:24,120
[Music fades out]

329
00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,100
We’re currently about seven mile

330
00:14:28,100 --> 00:14:30,120
north of Palestine.

331
00:14:30,660 --> 00:14:33,300
So this massacre ties into the

332
00:14:33,300 --> 00:14:36,750
early settlers in the Palestine area.

333
00:14:36,750 --> 00:14:38,900
And then Heathsville and Baker’s Cemetery

334
00:14:38,900 --> 00:14:41,000
where Elizabeth Betsey Reed was buried is

335
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:42,380
a little south of Palestine.

336
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,700
There was a lot of stuff and a lot of historical

337
00:14:46,700 --> 00:14:50,340
evidence in this area showing the

338
00:14:50,340 --> 00:14:52,600
hard time a lot of these settlers went through

339
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:53,660
back in the day.

340
00:14:53,660 --> 00:14:55,820
The pioneers in the early area…

341
00:14:55,820 --> 00:14:57,760
So you know it was a just a lot of

342
00:14:57,760 --> 00:14:59,720
bad happenings.

343
00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:02,140
(Narrator) Throughout history,

344
00:15:02,140 --> 00:15:04,620
it has often been the
tragedies of life that have lead

345
00:15:04,620 --> 00:15:06,180
to the tales that are passed down

346
00:15:06,180 --> 00:15:07,760
from generation to generation.

347
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,100
[deep, droning music]

348
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,080
In the world of the paranormal,

349
00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,260
these tales often grow dark.

350
00:15:14,260 --> 00:15:15,580
Hauntings are a lot of times
(Robbin Terry)

351
00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:18,640
caused by traumatic experiences or deaths
[eerie synth tones]

352
00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:19,670
that might have occurred.

353
00:15:19,670 --> 00:15:22,120
It could be just from a hanging.

354
00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,100
It could be from violent car crashes,

355
00:15:25,220 --> 00:15:25,860
murders,
[haunting notes]

356
00:15:26,580 --> 00:15:29,259
just about any type of traumatic experiences

357
00:15:29,259 --> 00:15:30,520
someone might encounter

358
00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:32,140
could cause a haunting.

359
00:15:32,300 --> 00:15:33,780
They could also be from

360
00:15:33,780 --> 00:15:36,120
people who are basically staying back

361
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:37,880
and staying in a location where

362
00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:39,500
they want to stay

363
00:15:39,500 --> 00:15:41,120
just because they are not sure

364
00:15:41,380 --> 00:15:44,400
where to go and how to get there.

365
00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:46,200
And so they stay behind.
[scraping noises in music]

366
00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:47,440
We see different hauntings

367
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,850
that are residual
and intelligent type haunting.

368
00:15:49,850 --> 00:15:50,860
Where residual

369
00:15:50,860 --> 00:15:53,420
is kind of like a tape replayer
...tape recorder

370
00:15:53,420 --> 00:15:54,769
that just keeps repeating

371
00:15:54,769 --> 00:15:56,120
itself, running over in time

372
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:57,430
over and over and over.

373
00:15:57,430 --> 00:15:58,800
Where intelligent hauntings

374
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:00,080
are someone that's
[odd noises in music]

375
00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,790
stayed behind, left in the building, or a

376
00:16:02,790 --> 00:16:04,010
location, or just in the grounds.

377
00:16:04,010 --> 00:16:06,000
It doesn’t even have to be inside a building.

378
00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:07,780
It could be where

379
00:16:07,780 --> 00:16:10,340
someone… they know they’re there

380
00:16:10,340 --> 00:16:11,440
and they want to communicate

381
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:12,780
to other people and
[music tension rises]

382
00:16:13,180 --> 00:16:14,439
you can ask them questions.

383
00:16:14,439 --> 00:16:15,760
You can get intelligent,

384
00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:17,060
which is why we call
them intelligent hauntings,

385
00:16:17,060 --> 00:16:17,839
you can get actual

386
00:16:17,839 --> 00:16:19,400
answers back from them

387
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,520
that describe why they’re there,

388
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:22,580
maybe who they are

389
00:16:22,580 --> 00:16:23,500
and what they’re doing there.

390
00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:25,060
[music continues w/ haunting undertones[

391
00:16:25,140 --> 00:16:26,860
(Narrator)
Crawford County is among the oldest

392
00:16:26,860 --> 00:16:29,360
territories in Illinois
and contains possibly

393
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,420
more cemeteries
than any other county.

394
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,520
Old plots and family
cemeteries are scattered

395
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,520
along Highway 33,

396
00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,060
many within mere
minutes from one another.

397
00:16:39,060 --> 00:16:40,220
[dissonant musical notes]

398
00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:41,820
And the more graves there are,

399
00:16:41,820 --> 00:16:44,680
the more folklore
there is attached to them.

400
00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:46,520
[eerie music continues]

401
00:16:46,740 --> 00:16:49,180
So down here
(Jason Dickerson)

402
00:16:49,540 --> 00:16:51,700
or south Palestine

403
00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:54,560
there's been a few stories.

404
00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:56,100
They're kind of

405
00:16:56,900 --> 00:16:58,140
I don't know if they're urban legends

406
00:16:58,140 --> 00:16:59,860
so much but I know a lot of kids used

407
00:16:59,860 --> 00:17:02,300
to come down here to
scare themselves little bit.

408
00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:05,160
There’s a church up here

409
00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:07,220
called Pleasant View

410
00:17:07,220 --> 00:17:08,900
and it's got a bell and there's three

411
00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:10,569
crosses out here.

412
00:17:10,569 --> 00:17:11,680
And supposedly

413
00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:12,960
three witches

414
00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,660
were killed here,
buried here, or something.

415
00:17:15,780 --> 00:17:18,520
And so if you ring
the bell at midnight

416
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:19,360
[sudden, jarring tone]

417
00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,320
it's supposed to ring

418
00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,600
and if it rings one less

419
00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:25,200
than how many people are in your party

420
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:26,620
[grating noises in music]

421
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:27,800
one of you is supposed

422
00:17:27,801 --> 00:17:29,480
to die is supposed to be the story.

423
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:30,460
[synthesized, haunting vocals]

424
00:17:30,460 --> 00:17:31,200
So

425
00:17:31,660 --> 00:17:32,920
a few years ago i come down here

426
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:34,040
with my kids and

427
00:17:34,780 --> 00:17:36,560
we rang the bell at midnight like

428
00:17:36,570 --> 00:17:38,459
you're supposed to and

429
00:17:38,460 --> 00:17:40,980
it tolled three times
and as soon as it stopped,

430
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:42,540
which was weird,

431
00:17:42,540 --> 00:17:43,700
[dissonant notes]

432
00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,880
three birds flew out of the bell after it rang.

433
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:48,840
Well (chuckles) it freaked everybody out.

434
00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,240
We took off for the vehicles

435
00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:51,680
and drove away.

436
00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:53,840
[dissonant undertones]

437
00:17:54,140 --> 00:17:55,780
(Narrator) Yet another legend involves

438
00:17:55,780 --> 00:17:58,060
the Bartmess Cemetery
that was once located at

439
00:17:58,060 --> 00:17:59,020
the top of this hill.

440
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:01,380
Cleared to create more farmland,

441
00:18:01,380 --> 00:18:03,160
the Bartmess family headstones

442
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:04,220
were moved over to nearby

443
00:18:04,220 --> 00:18:05,900
Greenhill Cemetery

444
00:18:05,900 --> 00:18:07,740
while their remains were left behind.

445
00:18:07,740 --> 00:18:09,320
[droning music continues[

446
00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,900
The custom of farming over old graveyards

447
00:18:11,900 --> 00:18:14,260
was a common measure
in the Illinois early years.

448
00:18:15,180 --> 00:18:16,700
The value of Illinois farmland

449
00:18:16,700 --> 00:18:19,000
sometimes supersedes even burial customs.

450
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:20,040
[higher pitched dissonance]

451
00:18:20,140 --> 00:18:22,320
There are countless reasons
why family plots

452
00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:23,160
are altered,

453
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:24,860
moved, and sometimes forgotten.

454
00:18:24,860 --> 00:18:26,780
[rising ethereal music begins]

455
00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:28,340
Paranormal traditions

456
00:18:28,340 --> 00:18:29,760
cite the separation of bodies

457
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:31,000
from their gravestone marker

458
00:18:31,820 --> 00:18:33,280
as a possible contributing factor

459
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:34,380
to ghost haunts.

460
00:18:35,620 --> 00:18:38,560
[music sounds more angelic]

461
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,940
[soft tones, synthesized notes]

462
00:18:53,940 --> 00:18:58,680
[music swells then fades]

463
00:19:01,660 --> 00:19:06,600
[deep, throaty, synthesized music
with slow eerie keyboard]

464
00:19:07,100 --> 00:19:09,380
[music title: heathsville]

465
00:19:09,620 --> 00:19:11,560
(Narrator) The Reed’s lived and sharecropped

466
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,720
on farmland in Heathsville Illinois.

467
00:19:14,100 --> 00:19:16,140
This nondescript parcel of land lies

468
00:19:16,140 --> 00:19:19,060
off an ordinary curve
next to highway 33.

469
00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:21,760
The doomed pair never made a decent living,

470
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,300
leaving Elizabeth in debt
when her husband

471
00:19:24,300 --> 00:19:25,360
Leonard passed away.

472
00:19:25,620 --> 00:19:29,120
[odd tapping and inaudible female voice]

473
00:19:29,460 --> 00:19:31,920
One of the things about Southern Illinois
(Winterbauer)

474
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:33,340
is the

475
00:19:34,180 --> 00:19:36,100
multitude of names that have

476
00:19:36,100 --> 00:19:37,770
ominous overtones.
[creepy, breathy noise]

477
00:19:37,770 --> 00:19:39,840
In the Crawford County area there's

478
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:41,490
Purgatory Swamp,

479
00:19:41,490 --> 00:19:43,040
which of course purgatory

480
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:45,800
implies you're wandering
in the afterlife,

481
00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:48,340
The Devil's Neck along the river,

482
00:19:48,350 --> 00:19:51,210
Devil's Backbone
is the name of the ridge.

483
00:19:51,210 --> 00:19:53,620
Where those names come from
I’m not exactly sure

484
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,160
but they all imply this ominous vibe.

485
00:19:57,300 --> 00:20:00,300
And the area actually gives that off

486
00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:01,780
in strange ways.

487
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:03,840
Not that I’m a psychic

488
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:05,840
or have that ability but the

489
00:20:07,900 --> 00:20:09,600
the air

490
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,460
it just picks up on those names

491
00:20:11,460 --> 00:20:13,540
and it permeates everything around it.

492
00:20:14,140 --> 00:20:15,600
That interests me a lot about

493
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:17,780
Southern Illinois.
And that feeling's still there

494
00:20:17,780 --> 00:20:19,920
even when you're not looking for it.

495
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,880
Well Heathsville is the closest town
(Teri Nash)

496
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,240
and nowadays it's about six houses.

497
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,580
But it was a little bigger than that

498
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:31,520
in the early 1800s.

499
00:20:31,900 --> 00:20:33,620
And the center of the community

500
00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:34,600
was the Heath Inn.

501
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:35,800
[eerie voice]

502
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:37,140
Which, was

503
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,680
besides being inn it
was a stagecoach stop.

504
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:42,900
And the mail went there

505
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,360
so everyone gathered there.

506
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,547
And it would have been about
a half a mile from

507
00:20:48,547 --> 00:20:49,480
the Reed cabin.

508
00:20:50,620 --> 00:20:52,440
And the lady that

509
00:20:53,020 --> 00:20:56,200
worked for our family name
was Orma Baker

510
00:20:57,180 --> 00:20:59,059
and her family, on her mother's

511
00:20:59,060 --> 00:21:01,020
side of the family, were the Heaths.

512
00:21:01,820 --> 00:21:03,660
And so they knew the Reeds.

513
00:21:04,460 --> 00:21:05,380
and , um

514
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,220
Then Leonard Reed is buried in the Baker Cemetery,

515
00:21:10,460 --> 00:21:12,140
which sits behind our property.

516
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:19,840
[music continues. high-pitched swells and clicking]

517
00:21:25,140 --> 00:21:28,360
(Snider) The Betsey Reed story as we know
it goes like this:

518
00:21:28,860 --> 00:21:31,180
Elizabeth Betsey Reed was convicted

519
00:21:31,180 --> 00:21:33,240
and found guilty

520
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:34,760
of poisoning her husband

521
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,940
with arsenic-laid sassafras tea.

522
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,980
On April 26 1845

523
00:21:39,980 --> 00:21:41,600
she was actually convicted

524
00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,840
or they started the trial

525
00:21:44,500 --> 00:21:47,180
and then on April 28th of 1845

526
00:21:47,180 --> 00:21:49,580
that's when she was convicted
and found guilty.

527
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,220
(Narrator)
Elizabeth Reed’s story seemed destined to exist

528
00:21:54,220 --> 00:21:55,700
between generational gossip

529
00:21:55,710 --> 00:21:57,020
and cemetery tales

530
00:21:57,020 --> 00:21:58,440
until attracting the attention

531
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,580
of The Lawrence County Historical society.

532
00:22:01,340 --> 00:22:02,840
Through countless hours of research

533
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,360
led by society treasurer John King

534
00:22:05,660 --> 00:22:06,820
the society compiled

535
00:22:06,820 --> 00:22:07,940
the official record

536
00:22:07,940 --> 00:22:09,360
including newspaper accounts

537
00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:11,460
from as far away as London England.

538
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,680
The local arts council staged the play “Hanging,

539
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:16,760
The Saga of Betsey Reed”

540
00:22:16,980 --> 00:22:19,600
which Dann Norton wrote
based on the historical societies’

541
00:22:19,700 --> 00:22:21,160
meritorious research.

542
00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:24,600
[ominous music fades away]

543
00:22:25,340 --> 00:22:27,340
There was nothing in the records
(Dann Norton)

544
00:22:27,340 --> 00:22:29,360
that explained how they knew for sure this

545
00:22:29,460 --> 00:22:30,460
was arsenic.

546
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,100
The only reason
(John King)

547
00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:35,000
to suspect arsenic poisoning

548
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,600
was that Evaline Deal

549
00:22:37,180 --> 00:22:38,560
said that she found

550
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,720
this particular piece of paper

551
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,580
between two plates in the cupboard

552
00:22:43,820 --> 00:22:47,040
and and then Mrs. Reed
threw it outdoors.

553
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:48,440
She retrieved it

554
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,820
and in that traced back to

555
00:22:51,820 --> 00:22:54,900
Dr. Logan at his pharmacy in Russellville

556
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,100
saying ,

557
00:22:56,380 --> 00:22:57,960
"it had to be me.

558
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,919
That had to be bought at my store.

559
00:23:00,919 --> 00:23:03,440
I don't remember selling it to anybody but

560
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,190
only I would have packaged it in this way

561
00:23:06,190 --> 00:23:07,680
in this sort of paper."

562
00:23:09,100 --> 00:23:11,360
(Dickerson) So some of the
[birds heard in background]

563
00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:14,500
accusations the
reason why they accused her of it

564
00:23:14,780 --> 00:23:18,360
was there was a I assume
a salesman in a general store

565
00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:20,600
that swears he sold her the arsenic.

566
00:23:21,260 --> 00:23:23,820
And the only witness that actually saw her

567
00:23:23,820 --> 00:23:26,700
put the powder in
his tea was i believe a

568
00:23:26,700 --> 00:23:29,120
niece or a younger daughter.

569
00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:30,600
That was who testified and

570
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,049
that testimony was enough.

571
00:23:32,049 --> 00:23:33,340
You know, she was a woman.

572
00:23:33,340 --> 00:23:35,620
Back then they really didn't have rights.

573
00:23:35,620 --> 00:23:36,340
That was good enough.

574
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:37,760
[birds stop[

575
00:23:37,980 --> 00:23:40,240
I got involved with the "Hanging
(Nash)

576
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,000
of Betsey Reed"

577
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,020
book by Rick Kelsheimer

578
00:23:44,780 --> 00:23:47,580
when a mutual friend introduced us

579
00:23:47,580 --> 00:23:49,480
when he was writing the book

580
00:23:51,060 --> 00:23:53,860
and she knew that I had grown up

581
00:23:53,860 --> 00:23:57,460
on the farm where
Leonard and Betsey Reed had lived

582
00:23:57,940 --> 00:23:59,300
in the 1840s.

583
00:23:59,860 --> 00:24:00,960
And that

584
00:24:01,100 --> 00:24:03,660
an elderly woman who
worked for my family

585
00:24:04,380 --> 00:24:06,900
had a close connection to the case

586
00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:07,520
and had

587
00:24:07,900 --> 00:24:10,160
taught me about the case
since i was young.

588
00:24:10,940 --> 00:24:12,500
Then I

589
00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:13,740
started working with Rick

590
00:24:13,740 --> 00:24:15,180
on researching the book.

591
00:24:15,660 --> 00:24:18,040
(Kelsheimer) Leonard her husband had

592
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:19,500
gotten sick over a period of time.

593
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,660
And then what Evaline Deal said is that

594
00:24:22,660 --> 00:24:25,560
she saw Betsey puts
a white powder

595
00:24:25,900 --> 00:24:27,940
in his squirrel stew
[dark music begins]

596
00:24:28,420 --> 00:24:29,420
And then
[weird chattering]

597
00:24:29,420 --> 00:24:30,640
of course

598
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:31,860
at the end

599
00:24:31,860 --> 00:24:33,280
supposedly he put it in her…

600
00:24:33,660 --> 00:24:35,540
she put it in his sassafras tea.

601
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,340
But, and there's another neighbor who

602
00:24:38,340 --> 00:24:39,700
[music title: the gift of poison]

603
00:24:39,780 --> 00:24:41,060
the Reeds owed money to

604
00:24:41,060 --> 00:24:43,080
who came over and said

605
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:44,700
he'd seen her

606
00:24:44,700 --> 00:24:47,160
feed him squirrel stew and he'd get

607
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:48,100
deathly sick,

608
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,640
and they thought he
was going to die then

609
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:51,840
but he didn't say anything

610
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:53,320
'cause he didn't want
to get involved.

611
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,019
But he said it after they hung her.

612
00:24:55,019 --> 00:24:56,635
She was arrested
(Nash)

613
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:58,060
after the neighbor

614
00:24:58,060 --> 00:25:00,140
girl who would have been Evaline Deal

615
00:25:00,570 --> 00:25:02,880
had went to the neighbors

616
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:04,420
and reported she saw

617
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,520
Betsey put white powder in his tea.

618
00:25:08,420 --> 00:25:10,340
And supposedly it was sassafras tea

619
00:25:10,340 --> 00:25:12,900
because tea was
very expensive then.

620
00:25:13,780 --> 00:25:15,700
Among the claims against the Reed estate
(Narrator)

621
00:25:15,700 --> 00:25:17,480
following Betsey’s trial were that

622
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,740
from Doctors Boyle, Wynn, and Logan,

623
00:25:19,740 --> 00:25:22,260
who had separately been
treating Leonard for a persistent

624
00:25:22,260 --> 00:25:24,620
stomach aliment over a three-year period.

625
00:25:25,380 --> 00:25:27,320
The claims were for unpaid medical bills

626
00:25:27,500 --> 00:25:30,340
including doctor visits
and antimony treatments,

627
00:25:30,580 --> 00:25:32,860
which were used to purge
inflamed bowels.

628
00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:35,200
The treatments should beckon the question

629
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:36,940
as to the whether the white powder seen by

630
00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:38,140
Evaline Deal

631
00:25:38,140 --> 00:25:40,700
was prescribed by
one of Leonard’s physicians.

632
00:25:40,700 --> 00:25:42,680
[bubbling sounds heard in music]

633
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:44,080
Our county at

634
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,400
Charlottesville, which is

635
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:47,860
west of Birds

636
00:25:48,260 --> 00:25:49,720
between Birds and Chauncey

637
00:25:50,540 --> 00:25:52,880
where the Birds - Chauncey blacktop

638
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:54,320
crosses the Embarras River,

639
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,820
was a mill operated by the Shakers.

640
00:25:58,900 --> 00:26:01,200
This was the westernmost

641
00:26:02,100 --> 00:26:04,580
Shaker community
in the nation.

642
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,600
[music continues]

643
00:26:06,820 --> 00:26:07,740
The Heaths…

644
00:26:07,740 --> 00:26:09,560
they gave up on the mill

645
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,440
after it had been washed out
and they had rebuilt it

646
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,360
and the Heaths purchased it.

647
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:16,940
And it's this same family that

648
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,620
has the namesake of Heathsville

649
00:26:20,620 --> 00:26:23,060
in southeastern Crawford County.

650
00:26:23,060 --> 00:26:25,700
And family members
have gone on to form the

651
00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:27,860
Heath Candy Company of Robinson

652
00:26:28,340 --> 00:26:29,340
who is now owned by the

653
00:26:29,340 --> 00:26:31,960
Hershey Candy Company
of Hershey, Pennsylvania.

654
00:26:32,700 --> 00:26:35,340
Then the Harrimans who she reported
(Nash)

655
00:26:35,340 --> 00:26:37,140
seeing the poison to

656
00:26:37,140 --> 00:26:39,620
Mrs. Harriman’s father was

657
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:40,880
the constable

658
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,480
which was Duane Gaines…

659
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,180
and if you could see this
area it's all within

660
00:26:46,180 --> 00:26:48,540
about a two mile radius…

661
00:26:48,980 --> 00:26:52,060
and so they got her father

662
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,620
who was the constable and they

663
00:26:54,620 --> 00:26:55,440
told him that they thought

664
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:57,560
Leonard had been poisoned

665
00:26:58,140 --> 00:27:00,240
and the doctors came

666
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:00,840
[creepy sounds in ambience]

667
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,680
when he had died because
he became very ill suddenly.

668
00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:05,200
But um

669
00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:09,820
he had been having
chronic stomach illness

670
00:27:09,820 --> 00:27:11,520
[music continues. airy and dark]

671
00:27:11,820 --> 00:27:14,560
so they suspected that he was being

672
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:15,920
slowly poisoned.

673
00:27:16,340 --> 00:27:17,900
And then Betsey

674
00:27:18,940 --> 00:27:21,220
got a little excited or in a hurry and

675
00:27:21,220 --> 00:27:23,580
gave him a bigger dose that day

676
00:27:23,590 --> 00:27:24,680
that killed him.

677
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,820
And i think that's what his autopsy

678
00:27:26,820 --> 00:27:28,460
led them to believe.

679
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:31,980
She told me

680
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:34,540
that her grandfather…

681
00:27:34,540 --> 00:27:35,563
might have been great grandfather

682
00:27:35,563 --> 00:27:36,800
I can't remember at the time

683
00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:38,920
right now… what she said but

684
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:40,740
he was a ten-year-old boy

685
00:27:40,740 --> 00:27:42,060
about the time of the murders

686
00:27:42,620 --> 00:27:43,820
and he knew them,

687
00:27:43,820 --> 00:27:45,240
that they would come down

688
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,160
to do their trading at the store

689
00:27:47,179 --> 00:27:48,160
that was down there and

690
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:49,500
stop in and get their mail.

691
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,640
And that Betsey was very odd.

692
00:27:52,860 --> 00:27:54,200
She wasn't liked.

693
00:27:54,940 --> 00:27:57,180
That she wore a white bonnet…

694
00:27:57,180 --> 00:27:59,160
she never mentioned a veil which

695
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:00,200
has been mentioned

696
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:01,640
in some of our research…

697
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,360
and Rick Kelsheimer’s
book says it was a veil.

698
00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:07,200
It’s a historical novel

699
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,010
but in our research
that's why he said a veil.

700
00:28:10,010 --> 00:28:12,320
But i was told a white bonnet.

701
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,560
And when she would go outdoors

702
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,300
she would put a black bonnet

703
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:18,680
on top of that and that was odd

704
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,280
is what the neighbors said.

705
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,940
(Kelsheimer) But even the eyewitness

706
00:28:24,940 --> 00:28:26,580
reports that I found

707
00:28:26,580 --> 00:28:28,200
contradicted each other.

708
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,840
Some people said she was horribly ugly

709
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:31,760
disfigured

710
00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:34,640
and then there are
eyewitness reports from

711
00:28:34,649 --> 00:28:36,520
the hanging that said she was beautiful,

712
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:38,240
even angelic-like.

713
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:40,780
So everything was contradicted.

714
00:28:40,790 --> 00:28:42,360
But from reading and all

715
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,920
there a couple things
became perfectly clear;

716
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:48,560
women hated Betsey Reed,

717
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:49,600
[ambience continues]

718
00:28:49,700 --> 00:28:51,220
the men, not so much.

719
00:28:51,220 --> 00:28:52,400
I mean so

720
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,920
maybe she was kind of
a gal the men liked

721
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:56,600
maybe she's easy to look

722
00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:57,220
at or maybe she…

723
00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,580
but the women really did.

724
00:28:59,580 --> 00:29:01,560
There was a lot of hatred for her.

725
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:05,960
(Nash) It kind of creeps you
out to go over where

726
00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:07,740
the house was.

727
00:29:07,740 --> 00:29:08,460
Just…

728
00:29:08,460 --> 00:29:09,180
I don't know

729
00:29:09,180 --> 00:29:11,900
because I guess you know the
murder occurred there.

730
00:29:12,060 --> 00:29:14,251
There's a creepy feeling there.

731
00:29:14,260 --> 00:29:15,280
I’ll say that.

732
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,240
[ambience ends but new music swells in]

733
00:29:19,460 --> 00:29:21,300
[music title: Palestine]

734
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,440
[periodic, rhythmic drums sound]

735
00:29:26,740 --> 00:29:28,380
(Terry) the historical part of the hauntings

736
00:29:28,380 --> 00:29:30,360
is probably some of my favorite part.

737
00:29:30,500 --> 00:29:32,700
Because history is what is really kind

738
00:29:32,700 --> 00:29:34,360
of cool with these
older locations and

739
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:35,840
the older buildings that are out there

740
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,560
and even the older
grounds like the Gettysburg.

741
00:29:38,570 --> 00:29:39,789
Places like that.

742
00:29:39,789 --> 00:29:41,350
That's the most fascinating part of it.

743
00:29:41,350 --> 00:29:42,140
And it's kind of like

744
00:29:42,140 --> 00:29:43,830
why are why are they still there?

745
00:29:43,830 --> 00:29:45,200
What keeps those spirits

746
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,620
and that energy at
those locations?

747
00:29:47,620 --> 00:29:49,220
And I’ve always tell people

748
00:29:49,220 --> 00:29:50,080
before is like

749
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:51,370
the only thing we know about the paranormal

750
00:29:51,370 --> 00:29:52,400
is we don't really know anything

751
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:53,480
about the paranormal

752
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,240
until we've crossed
over to see it ourselves.

753
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:57,420
But we can still talk

754
00:29:57,420 --> 00:29:58,720
to some of these intelligent spirits

755
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,000
at these locations and probably get

756
00:30:00,010 --> 00:30:01,140
bits and pieces

757
00:30:01,140 --> 00:30:02,860
and put it together and try

758
00:30:02,860 --> 00:30:03,980
to figure out a little bit more all the time

759
00:30:03,980 --> 00:30:05,020
of what's happening

760
00:30:05,020 --> 00:30:07,120
at different locations
and different grounds.

761
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,180
[high pitched, frequency noise in music]

762
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,640
Southern Illinois since it's older
(Sutton)

763
00:30:11,900 --> 00:30:13,780
than our friends up north.

764
00:30:14,740 --> 00:30:15,840
It's older.It's got more ghosts.

765
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,620
Because there's been
more people living here.

766
00:30:17,620 --> 00:30:19,150
It's been around longer.

767
00:30:19,150 --> 00:30:20,750
And some of these river towns…

768
00:30:20,750 --> 00:30:23,040
I have not come across a river town yet

769
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:24,940
that is not haunted in some way.

770
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,120
Whether you go up to Hannibal

771
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:28,280
which is up in Missouri

772
00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:29,710
all the way around the Wabash

773
00:30:29,710 --> 00:30:30,920
up and around that area,

774
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,180
there's always some
type of haunt going on.

775
00:30:33,460 --> 00:30:35,780
It's because they've
been here for so long.

776
00:30:36,060 --> 00:30:37,360
And back then you know

777
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:38,320
when the state started

778
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:39,900
there was a lot of
frontier type of justice

779
00:30:39,909 --> 00:30:40,909
still going on.

780
00:30:40,909 --> 00:30:41,409
Things like that.

781
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:43,060
It was settled pretty early

782
00:30:43,060 --> 00:30:45,560
and so lots of
weird things happened

783
00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:47,399
in Southern Illinois

784
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,780
as far as around violence
and things like that.

785
00:30:51,940 --> 00:30:53,840
(Narrator) Downtown Palestine
has all the comforts

786
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,580
one comes to expect from a

787
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,420
Southern Illinois community.

788
00:30:57,429 --> 00:31:00,000
This historic downtown area
is loaded with charm

789
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,460
but visitors are most likely never aware

790
00:31:02,460 --> 00:31:04,300
of the circumstances that befell

791
00:31:04,300 --> 00:31:06,420
this small town in 1845.

792
00:31:06,660 --> 00:31:11,800
[Palestine music continues. High frequency ambience]

793
00:31:12,060 --> 00:31:13,240
As far as the main
(Byrley)

794
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,980
towns in Crawford County
we have Robinson which is

795
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:17,440
the county seat.

796
00:31:17,820 --> 00:31:20,620
Originally the county seat was in Palestine

797
00:31:21,180 --> 00:31:25,180
from I believe 1821 to 1847.

798
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,000
In 1847 it moved to Robinson

799
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,120
and that's our...
our biggest town.

800
00:31:30,220 --> 00:31:31,820
And you have Oblong to the west,

801
00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:34,940
Palestine here to the east,

802
00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:37,380
Flat Rock to the south,

803
00:31:38,060 --> 00:31:41,400
and you have a Hustonville to the north.

804
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:43,660
And there's been different little towns

805
00:31:43,660 --> 00:31:45,840
that popped up and faded away.

806
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,300
One was Vernon right south of town here.

807
00:31:48,820 --> 00:31:50,960
It got started in about 1830

808
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,020
and by 1883 it was gone.

809
00:31:54,500 --> 00:31:58,180
There's Bolivar a little settlement
north of town here.

810
00:31:58,180 --> 00:31:59,700
It's long gone.

811
00:31:59,700 --> 00:32:02,100
(Narrator)
The early pioneers had entrenched themselves

812
00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:03,120
in Fort Lamotte

813
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:04,440
and a recreation

814
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,419
can be found along the edge of town.

815
00:32:06,419 --> 00:32:08,760
The standard French fort is a stark reminder

816
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,460
of the hazards the
encroaching settlers faced.

817
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:14,260
Yes that was the beginning.

818
00:32:14,270 --> 00:32:15,240
And actually

819
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,260
when the people
started arriving here

820
00:32:18,260 --> 00:32:19,260
[ambient music fades]

821
00:32:19,420 --> 00:32:21,300
it wasn't called Palestine.

822
00:32:21,300 --> 00:32:23,080
The first name

823
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,320
that I’ve come across was

824
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:27,140
a Lamotte settlement,

825
00:32:27,700 --> 00:32:29,460
the settlement of Fort Lamotte.

826
00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:33,460
And then later when the town was laid out.

827
00:32:33,470 --> 00:32:34,940
And actually the first name

828
00:32:34,940 --> 00:32:36,940
of this town wasn't Palestine.

829
00:32:37,660 --> 00:32:39,980
The first name was Mount Pleasant

830
00:32:39,980 --> 00:32:40,800
[music ambience begins]

831
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,600
and for some reason

832
00:32:42,940 --> 00:32:45,040
Cullom and Kitchell you know donated

833
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:46,440
the ground for Palestine…

834
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,040
[dark, airy ambience]

835
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:50,040
For some reason they

836
00:32:50,049 --> 00:32:52,160
must have or someone must have told them

837
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,400
you know the lore of Jean Lamotte …

838
00:32:54,620 --> 00:32:56,220
the land of milk and honey…

839
00:32:56,220 --> 00:32:58,020
and they changed
it to Palestine.

840
00:32:58,420 --> 00:33:02,520
[music title: Calling Forth Flame]

841
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:04,440
[dissonant clanking]

842
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:05,940
And then they

843
00:33:05,940 --> 00:33:08,280
brought her to Palestine

844
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,620
which was at the time the county seat.

845
00:33:11,020 --> 00:33:13,340
She was held in the jail at Palestine

846
00:33:13,700 --> 00:33:15,520
and this is where the whole

847
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,120
witch story comes in with Betsey Reed.

848
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:19,880
But some people claim
she was a witch because

849
00:33:20,180 --> 00:33:22,300
while she was being
held at the Palestine jail

850
00:33:22,300 --> 00:33:24,100
she actually burnt the jail down

851
00:33:24,660 --> 00:33:26,980
with no source of ignition, no matches.

852
00:33:26,980 --> 00:33:29,740
You know no way of
actually burning the jail down and

853
00:33:29,740 --> 00:33:32,900
she somehow managed
to set fire to that jail.

854
00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:35,300
So that's still a mystery in a legend
[sounds of fire]

855
00:33:35,300 --> 00:33:38,080
to this day how Betsey
actually burnt the jail down.

856
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:42,120
But anyway when he had died,

857
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,080
he had obviously been poisoned

858
00:33:45,020 --> 00:33:46,460
and she was arrested.

859
00:33:46,460 --> 00:33:48,660
Because you remember at that time

860
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:51,840
Palestine was a county seat.

861
00:33:52,980 --> 00:33:55,480
There's a land office up here on the square.

862
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:56,880
Where the high school now

863
00:33:57,140 --> 00:33:59,360
is now was the town square

864
00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:01,580
land office on the south end.

865
00:34:01,580 --> 00:34:03,280
The jail was on the north end.

866
00:34:04,580 --> 00:34:06,760
She was arrested and brought to jail.

867
00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,860
And this jail was a formidable structure.

868
00:34:12,100 --> 00:34:13,100
I mean

869
00:34:13,100 --> 00:34:15,740
it was recessed into
the ground a couple feet.

870
00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:19,220
It had 12 by 12

871
00:34:19,220 --> 00:34:21,080
timbers 12 inch by 12 inch

872
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,080
on the inside and outside

873
00:34:23,720 --> 00:34:25,760
but and then 12
inch gap between them

874
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,720
that vertical boards
were just stuck in.

875
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,160
There wasn't a door
entering the jail. You had...

876
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:33,680
at first you had to go up a ladder to

877
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:35,040
the second story.

878
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,220
A two foot by two foot trap

879
00:34:37,220 --> 00:34:38,500
door would be lifted up

880
00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:39,940
and you would go down into it.

881
00:34:40,380 --> 00:34:42,860
And later on they actually put a stairway

882
00:34:42,860 --> 00:34:44,180
up to the second story.

883
00:34:45,180 --> 00:34:46,720
And there's two windows .

884
00:34:46,720 --> 00:34:48,520
I don't recall the size but

885
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,140
they had one inch iron bars i believe

886
00:34:51,149 --> 00:34:52,419
about three inches apart.

887
00:34:52,420 --> 00:34:54,540
So it was pretty well escape proof.

888
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,320
Somehow she had got hold of matches or

889
00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:00,600
a lighting device anyway.

890
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:02,620
You got to figure if that jail went

891
00:35:02,620 --> 00:35:05,260
up in around 1821

892
00:35:05,260 --> 00:35:08,619
or 1820 by 1844 the timbers

893
00:35:08,619 --> 00:35:10,520
would have been pretty well dried out.

894
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,840
So it may have got started fairly easy.

895
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,120
[dark ambient music continues]

896
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,580
Betsy was held in the Palestine jail

897
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:20,940
and somehow

898
00:35:21,580 --> 00:35:23,900
they never knew how she did it

899
00:35:24,340 --> 00:35:26,700
but she managed to burn

900
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,800
the wall of the jail
a little bit at a time.

901
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:31,540
Until one night

902
00:35:32,260 --> 00:35:34,520
the fire got away from her.

903
00:35:35,380 --> 00:35:37,440
And when the fire got away from her

904
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:38,880
she burned
the jail down.

905
00:35:39,700 --> 00:35:42,020
And she was running down Main Street

906
00:35:42,020 --> 00:35:43,060
in Palestine

907
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:45,520
because the jail sit where

908
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:46,500
what is now the

909
00:35:46,500 --> 00:35:48,500
high school sits in Palestine.

910
00:35:49,050 --> 00:35:50,820
And there was a

911
00:35:50,820 --> 00:35:53,520
hotel where the
Fife Opera House sits

912
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,260
and a gentleman was sitting outside

913
00:35:55,270 --> 00:35:56,609
and his last name was Gerard.

914
00:35:56,609 --> 00:35:58,300
And he saw her running
down the street and

915
00:35:58,300 --> 00:35:59,880
I think her clothes were smoking.

916
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:01,880
And he tackled her and saved her.

917
00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:05,620
And I know one thing that

918
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:07,880
Orma Baker told me was that

919
00:36:08,300 --> 00:36:09,820
helped lead to the

920
00:36:10,420 --> 00:36:12,220
rumors that she was a witch

921
00:36:12,220 --> 00:36:13,100
because they didn't know

922
00:36:13,100 --> 00:36:14,480
how she started that fire.

923
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:16,880
[music is very quiet]

924
00:36:17,300 --> 00:36:19,000
(Narrator) One interesting story that we were

925
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,300
told is that of the belief that a secret,

926
00:36:21,310 --> 00:36:23,340
select few practiced the craft of

927
00:36:23,340 --> 00:36:25,120
creating fire from thin air

928
00:36:25,540 --> 00:36:26,740
and that Elizabeth Reed

929
00:36:26,740 --> 00:36:28,360
was gifted with this ability.

930
00:36:29,180 --> 00:36:31,120
It is a hypothetical explanation

931
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:32,820
as to how she was able to set her

932
00:36:32,820 --> 00:36:34,960
formidable confines ablaze

933
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:37,180
with no known source to do so.

934
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,560
Whether or not one believes
in this is not important.

935
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:42,420
but it certainly adds to the belief

936
00:36:42,420 --> 00:36:43,340
in witchcraft

937
00:36:43,340 --> 00:36:45,560
that the people of the time
accused Betsy of.

938
00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:47,520
It is interesting to note

939
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:48,840
that the jail fire was Betsey’s

940
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:50,460
only documented attempt at

941
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:52,120
any type of defense

942
00:36:52,460 --> 00:36:54,140
or desire to escape her fate.

943
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:56,700
Unfortunately for Mrs. Reed,

944
00:36:56,700 --> 00:36:58,300
the failed plot was further proof

945
00:36:58,300 --> 00:37:00,380
of her guilt in the
eyes of the community.

946
00:37:02,580 --> 00:37:04,300
One thing is for certain:

947
00:37:04,660 --> 00:37:06,100
the townsfolk were relieved

948
00:37:06,100 --> 00:37:08,240
when she was finally removed from Palestine.

949
00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:15,140
[music swells to a crescendo and fades]

950
00:37:19,820 --> 00:37:21,620
Lawrence County, Illinois

951
00:37:21,620 --> 00:37:23,040
is a small county

952
00:37:23,180 --> 00:37:25,520
in rural Southeastern Illinois.

953
00:37:26,620 --> 00:37:29,940
We have a population of
about 15 000 people.

954
00:37:30,700 --> 00:37:31,600
We have...

955
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:33,920
we are about

956
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,220
back to our population
of the 1880s.

957
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,060
We are a county

958
00:37:41,060 --> 00:37:42,920
that suffers economically.

959
00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:45,300
The oil industry is on a…

960
00:37:45,940 --> 00:37:48,360
it's been the lifeblood of this county

961
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,420
along with farming

962
00:37:50,420 --> 00:37:52,960
and both industries have taken

963
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,150
it on the chin
here in recent years.

964
00:37:55,150 --> 00:37:57,220
We used to have a massive Texaco

965
00:37:57,220 --> 00:37:58,960
refinery in our county

966
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:00,640
and employed good jobs

967
00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:01,880
for a lot of people.

968
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:03,100
That is gone.

969
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,900
The Marathon Ohio Oil Company

970
00:38:06,900 --> 00:38:09,120
and the Marathon
Oil Company are gone.

971
00:38:11,140 --> 00:38:13,460
There's very little industry.

972
00:38:13,460 --> 00:38:15,000
There's a huge unemployment

973
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,300
of numbers.

974
00:38:18,310 --> 00:38:20,080
It's a low-income county,

975
00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:22,480
one of the poorest in the state.

976
00:38:24,020 --> 00:38:26,760
But yet it's a fine place to live.

977
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:30,440
We have all the amenities that one needs.

978
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:32,740
We are close to metropolitan areas.

979
00:38:35,100 --> 00:38:37,520
It's as good a county as any in our nation

980
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:38,840
to to reside in.

981
00:38:39,380 --> 00:38:42,320
[music swells in. dark, rhythmic synth.]

982
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,020
And the jail was

983
00:38:45,020 --> 00:38:47,780
pretty much destroyed
so they had to move Betsey to

984
00:38:47,780 --> 00:38:48,820
Lawrenceville.

985
00:38:49,500 --> 00:38:51,180
And when they moved her to Lawrenceville

986
00:38:51,180 --> 00:38:52,540
that's where she was tried.

987
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,080
[music title: Lawrenceville]

988
00:38:55,860 --> 00:38:57,820
[pulsating notes]

989
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:00,600
Betsey Reed’s two

990
00:39:01,260 --> 00:39:03,220
lawyers defense
lawyers, she had two.

991
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,300
One was Augustus French, who I mentioned

992
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:08,680
a year and a half after trial became the

993
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:10,440
ninth governor of the State of Illinois.

994
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:12,640
But the second lawyer and

995
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:13,820
the one who actually was the lead

996
00:39:13,820 --> 00:39:15,660
lawyer in the case name was Usher Linder.

997
00:39:16,140 --> 00:39:17,380
Usher Linder

998
00:39:19,100 --> 00:39:21,700
was a famous attorney in Illinois.

999
00:39:21,700 --> 00:39:24,440
He had been Attorney General
of the state.

1000
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,680
He had been involved in Alton, Illinois

1001
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:31,480
with the with the case
of Elijah Lovejoy

1002
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:33,260
when he was executed

1003
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:36,120
and his press destroyed, which

1004
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,840
is the whole basis of
freedom of the press

1005
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:39,920
in this nation,

1006
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:42,260
based upon this Lovejoy case.

1007
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:45,080
In Alton, Illinois

1008
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:48,160
there was an abolitionist
named Elijah P. Lovejoy

1009
00:39:48,580 --> 00:39:50,273
and he didn't believe in slavery.

1010
00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:52,360
So he printed, he was the newspaper printer.

1011
00:39:52,660 --> 00:39:53,880
He was the editor.

1012
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:54,880
He owned the paper.

1013
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:55,760
He kept printing you know

1014
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:57,320
kept writing his paper…

1015
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,000
not...that we should not have slavery.

1016
00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:01,740
And first they threw his
printing press in the river.

1017
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,340
And so after that he got another one.

1018
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:06,460
Well then they burned it and they killed him.

1019
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:08,460
And so they say that his ghost

1020
00:40:08,580 --> 00:40:10,820
haunts part
of Alton, Illinois.

1021
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:12,960
Now Usher Linder

1022
00:40:13,500 --> 00:40:15,180
was born where Abraham Lincoln

1023
00:40:15,180 --> 00:40:15,980
was born in Kentucky,

1024
00:40:16,100 --> 00:40:17,260
in the same town.

1025
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:18,800
They grew up together

1026
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:20,080
and they both came to Illinois.

1027
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:22,080
Illinois was really if you wanted…

1028
00:40:22,420 --> 00:40:24,220
The political stars were coming out there:

1029
00:40:24,220 --> 00:40:26,660
Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, all that.

1030
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:28,020
Well, Usher Linder

1031
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:30,520
was a real good friend
of Lincoln’s.

1032
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:32,120
But he was also

1033
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:34,540
kind of a rebel rouser.

1034
00:40:34,540 --> 00:40:36,360
At age 27

1035
00:40:36,860 --> 00:40:39,220
became the youngest

1036
00:40:39,220 --> 00:40:41,000
Attorney General
for the State of Illinois.

1037
00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:43,000
They were having a big

1038
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:44,880
convention down
there with Lovejoy

1039
00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:46,580
and he's writing his anti-slavery

1040
00:40:46,580 --> 00:40:48,120
paper, and he's a speaker.

1041
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:48,960
Well,

1042
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:51,900
Usher Linder got everybody riled up

1043
00:40:51,900 --> 00:40:53,180
there and they actually

1044
00:40:53,660 --> 00:40:54,840
got the mob together.

1045
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:56,560
And then,

1046
00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,540
and this is while he's Attorney General,

1047
00:40:58,860 --> 00:41:01,860
and basically did a speech to get

1048
00:41:01,860 --> 00:41:03,579
them, the mob to go…

1049
00:41:03,579 --> 00:41:05,380
They burned down the newspaper,

1050
00:41:05,380 --> 00:41:06,800
Lovejoy's newspaper

1051
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:09,030
at the time, pulled him out and

1052
00:41:09,030 --> 00:41:10,020
lynched him.

1053
00:41:10,460 --> 00:41:11,760
One thing that interests me

1054
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,860
is about this story is Usher Linder

1055
00:41:14,100 --> 00:41:15,680
who in 1837

1056
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:18,680
was a pro-slavery advocate

1057
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:19,860
who battled

1058
00:41:19,860 --> 00:41:21,360
with Elijah Lovejoy

1059
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:22,380
whose death in November

1060
00:41:22,380 --> 00:41:24,480
of 1837 in Alton

1061
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:25,640
not only

1062
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:27,800
lit the fuse that sparked the civil war

1063
00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:29,140
but left a haunting

1064
00:41:29,140 --> 00:41:31,809
behind where Elijah Lovejoy died.

1065
00:41:31,809 --> 00:41:33,140
There's a vacant lot there now and

1066
00:41:33,140 --> 00:41:35,220
his ghost is said to wander there.

1067
00:41:35,460 --> 00:41:36,640
[music ends]
Later on

1068
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:37,840
Linder was

1069
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,580
Betsey Reed's attorney

1070
00:41:40,580 --> 00:41:41,360
and then

1071
00:41:42,060 --> 00:41:44,080
her ghost wanders the cemetery.

1072
00:41:44,090 --> 00:41:46,160
So there's this weird
connection between Linder

1073
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:48,640
and these two historic
vents in Illinois’ history

1074
00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:50,480
that I just find kind of interesting.

1075
00:41:50,780 --> 00:41:53,100
From what I read, hangings were kind of a

1076
00:41:53,100 --> 00:41:55,020
big event back then and people would
[birds in background]

1077
00:41:55,020 --> 00:41:59,020
actually come in and set up like a festival.

1078
00:41:59,020 --> 00:42:02,180
Like, they would sell and trade and barter.

1079
00:42:02,620 --> 00:42:04,840
And the people got mad

1080
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:06,440
because when they moved her

1081
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:09,160
everyone was supposedly set up

1082
00:42:09,500 --> 00:42:12,320
had shops set up to to sell things.

1083
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:13,720
And when they moved to Lawrenceville,

1084
00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:16,100
which is 20 some miles from here,

1085
00:42:16,580 --> 00:42:18,720
that's a long trip by a horse-drawn cart

1086
00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:19,680
or something like that.

1087
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:21,320
So everyone had to move down there

1088
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:22,840
for the hanging.

1089
00:42:23,260 --> 00:42:23,860
And

1090
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:25,700
supposedly when they
got there I think

1091
00:42:25,700 --> 00:42:27,720
the estimate was
20 thousand people, I don't

1092
00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:29,440
know if that's accurate or not, but

1093
00:42:29,820 --> 00:42:31,460
a rather
large crowd.

1094
00:42:32,220 --> 00:42:34,460
When I started writing the play I

1095
00:42:34,460 --> 00:42:36,860
had just kind of assumed that

1096
00:42:36,860 --> 00:42:39,040
Betsey Reed was probably guilty.

1097
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:40,580
She was probably from a

1098
00:42:40,940 --> 00:42:43,320
hard life and things
just happened.

1099
00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:46,200
But Donna Burton from the society had

1100
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,160
pointed out this antimony.

1101
00:42:48,580 --> 00:42:51,000
So for me the big surprise

1102
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:51,900
was that

1103
00:42:52,540 --> 00:42:54,520
he…the man is taking antimony

1104
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:56,400
and she said ,
"You look up antimony."

1105
00:42:57,240 --> 00:42:58,500
So I looked this up

1106
00:42:58,720 --> 00:42:59,680
and of course

1107
00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:00,620
you find out that

1108
00:43:00,620 --> 00:43:03,800
antimony poisoning
mimics arsenic poisoning.

1109
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:05,900
So very much so his symptoms

1110
00:43:05,900 --> 00:43:07,780
could have been
caused by this antimony.

1111
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:10,420
The next big surprise for me

1112
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,460
was that he was
sick for three years

1113
00:43:14,260 --> 00:43:15,700
but then all of a sudden

1114
00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:17,320
in 1844

1115
00:43:18,060 --> 00:43:19,680
they think it's arsenic poisoning.

1116
00:43:20,060 --> 00:43:21,420
Nobody thought this

1117
00:43:21,420 --> 00:43:23,640
for the two and a
half years prior to

1118
00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:24,600
his death?

1119
00:43:24,900 --> 00:43:26,740
One of the aspects I appreciate

1120
00:43:26,740 --> 00:43:29,060
about this story is
the fact that she left

1121
00:43:29,070 --> 00:43:30,370
no record of a defense.

1122
00:43:30,370 --> 00:43:32,420
Her attorneys apparently didn't
put her on the stand.

1123
00:43:32,420 --> 00:43:34,020
There are no public statements

1124
00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:36,220
with her defending herself.

1125
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,320
She could have very easily said,

1126
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:39,680
“my husband had been ill

1127
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:41,820
with stomach problems
for three or four years”

1128
00:43:42,240 --> 00:43:44,160
which gives credence to the idea

1129
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:45,620
that she didn't kill him.

1130
00:43:46,980 --> 00:43:49,200
Ghosts hang around places

1131
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:50,400
for a lot of different reasons.

1132
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:51,280
In her case,

1133
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,080
even though I believe she was guilty and

1134
00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:54,700
committed the crime,

1135
00:43:56,340 --> 00:43:57,060
maybe she didn't

1136
00:43:57,060 --> 00:43:58,840
and her ghost still wanders

1137
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:00,800
the cemetery
because she's accused of

1138
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:02,080
a crime she didn't commit

1139
00:44:02,460 --> 00:44:04,220
in the 1840s

1140
00:44:04,220 --> 00:44:06,200
I don't think they
would have questioned

1141
00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:07,420
the guilt of a woman.

1142
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:09,480
i mean she was a woman

1143
00:44:09,780 --> 00:44:11,280
everybody could see it was

1144
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:12,420
a possibility and they just

1145
00:44:12,420 --> 00:44:14,240
moved on with their lives.

1146
00:44:14,780 --> 00:44:16,480
Well and remember she had

1147
00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:18,400
burned

1148
00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:21,400
had had the jail
at Palestine on fire

1149
00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:23,780
whether to commit suicide or

1150
00:44:23,780 --> 00:44:24,980
it's just an
accidental…

1151
00:44:27,060 --> 00:44:28,140
it caught on fire.

1152
00:44:28,420 --> 00:44:30,000
So they were considering her

1153
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:31,480
a witch and a bad lady

1154
00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:34,700
[deep, ominous music]

1155
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,040
[music title: May 23, 1845]

1156
00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:41,980
[loud clang]

1157
00:44:49,140 --> 00:44:50,320
[loud clang]

1158
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:59,200
[creepy hissing and stretching sounds]

1159
00:45:00,620 --> 00:45:06,240
[inaudible whispers and breathing noises]

1160
00:45:07,740 --> 00:45:09,740
We are in Lawrence County Illinois

1161
00:45:09,740 --> 00:45:12,760
at the location where Elizabeth Betsey Reed

1162
00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:14,420
was taken to be hung.

1163
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,340
Behind me here is
the old football field

1164
00:45:17,540 --> 00:45:19,220
and this is the location

1165
00:45:19,220 --> 00:45:20,380
where they brought her.

1166
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:24,700
The judge said to
take her to a place within

1167
00:45:24,700 --> 00:45:28,220
one mile of the
courthouse to a convenient place,

1168
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:30,880
which ended up being
the location where

1169
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:32,960
this football field is now located at.

1170
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:35,940
So the crazy thing about all this

1171
00:45:35,940 --> 00:45:37,340
and still a mystery

1172
00:45:37,340 --> 00:45:39,140
is there's no historical marker

1173
00:45:39,140 --> 00:45:41,120
at this location whatsoever

1174
00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:43,320
indicating that
she was hung out here.

1175
00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:45,520
So if you just come
out here and look it's

1176
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:47,120
just an abandoned
football field that's grown

1177
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:48,860
up now and it's creepy.

1178
00:45:49,180 --> 00:45:55,860
[music continues. breathy noises over dark ambience]

1179
00:45:56,200 --> 00:46:01,980
[grating noises of tension]

1180
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:08,340
[sounds like distant wind]

1181
00:46:08,340 --> 00:46:12,500
[creepy deep breath]

1182
00:46:16,580 --> 00:46:18,920
So uh it's still a big mystery

1183
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:21,580
as to the exact location of where

1184
00:46:22,180 --> 00:46:24,020
the scaffold and the she

1185
00:46:24,020 --> 00:46:26,120
was actually placed to be hung.

1186
00:46:26,380 --> 00:46:28,920
It says that there was
people that watched

1187
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:29,760
this event from a hill

1188
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:30,920
and that she was down

1189
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:32,340
at the bottom of the hill.

1190
00:46:32,700 --> 00:46:34,340
So the location over
here definitely fits

1191
00:46:34,340 --> 00:46:37,400
the description and all
the scholars definitely

1192
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:39,450
say this is the
location where it was at.

1193
00:46:39,450 --> 00:46:40,780
We just don't have an exact

1194
00:46:40,780 --> 00:46:42,460
you know spot with a marker

1195
00:46:42,460 --> 00:46:43,619
saying you know this is where

1196
00:46:43,620 --> 00:46:45,420
Elizabeth Betsey Reed was hung.

1197
00:46:45,860 --> 00:46:47,660
So that's just weird.

1198
00:46:48,700 --> 00:46:50,280
I think a lot of people today are

1199
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:52,960
more fascinated with
the afterlife and the

1200
00:46:52,970 --> 00:46:54,320
spirits and ghost stories

1201
00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:56,240
than they ever have
in the past just because

1202
00:46:56,760 --> 00:46:57,780
basically the tvs.

1203
00:46:57,780 --> 00:46:59,620
The tv has put a lot of
people out there and

1204
00:46:59,620 --> 00:47:01,680
they've talked about it,
they've seen it on tv

1205
00:47:01,900 --> 00:47:04,300
and they consider... it's more of

1206
00:47:04,300 --> 00:47:06,080
a way of life now than it used to be.

1207
00:47:06,300 --> 00:47:07,660
it was kind of the old thing was like

1208
00:47:07,660 --> 00:47:09,280
oh no. you don't
talk about the spirits.

1209
00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:10,720
You don't talk
about that type of thing.

1210
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:12,480
In comparison to what it is today

1211
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:13,540
it's more accepted.

1212
00:47:13,540 --> 00:47:15,540
And i think people enjoy going out

1213
00:47:15,540 --> 00:47:17,400
and they want to find
more about the paranormal

1214
00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:19,410
and see what's out
there and see what the

1215
00:47:19,410 --> 00:47:20,410
see what's happening.

1216
00:47:20,410 --> 00:47:21,780
Because they've all had experiences

1217
00:47:21,780 --> 00:47:24,490
and they've never wanted
to talk about those experiences

1218
00:47:24,490 --> 00:47:25,490
until now.

1219
00:47:25,490 --> 00:47:27,340
They feel more comfortable
that they can share those

1220
00:47:27,340 --> 00:47:29,040
and everybody's had an experience at

1221
00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:30,320
one time or another probably.

1222
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:31,600
They just either don't know it

1223
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:32,720
or didn't want
to talk about it.

1224
00:47:33,580 --> 00:47:39,300
[ambient music still playing but very low key]

1225
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,400
Historical records actually show that

1226
00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:45,620
the county just doubled in size you know

1227
00:47:45,630 --> 00:47:47,200
during her hanging like Dickerson said.

1228
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:48,420
you know people came in from

1229
00:47:48,420 --> 00:47:49,800
all over the
place to watch that.

1230
00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:52,540
And backing the story up just a little bit

1231
00:47:52,540 --> 00:47:55,480
but before she was
actually hung as she was

1232
00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:57,760
being brought out to her execution site

1233
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:00,440
she was actually put on her own coffin.

1234
00:48:00,860 --> 00:48:02,220
She was in a white dress

1235
00:48:02,220 --> 00:48:04,180
and she was on her own coffin

1236
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:07,240
and she got religion you know.

1237
00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:08,620
She became very religious when she

1238
00:48:08,620 --> 00:48:11,060
found out (chuckles) she
was going to get executed.

1239
00:48:11,540 --> 00:48:13,500
There was a guy that actually

1240
00:48:13,500 --> 00:48:15,280
baptized her

1241
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:18,480
in the river near where the new bridge is

1242
00:48:18,490 --> 00:48:20,480
located at now in Lawrenceville.

1243
00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:23,390
So she got baptized you know found religion.

1244
00:48:23,390 --> 00:48:25,100
She was actually singing gospel songs

1245
00:48:25,100 --> 00:48:27,440
as she was going to her own grave.

1246
00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:29,000
Singing they said she was singing

1247
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:31,200
all kinds of songs on the way there.

1248
00:48:31,700 --> 00:48:33,800
So that's kind of a weird and eerie side.

1249
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:35,640
I’m sure too, seeing somebody sing

1250
00:48:35,640 --> 00:48:37,940
as they go to their grave.

1251
00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:40,520
There's a lot of,

1252
00:48:40,940 --> 00:48:43,560
a lot of reports
you know with the haunting too.

1253
00:48:43,570 --> 00:48:45,220
You know people seeing that

1254
00:48:45,220 --> 00:48:46,250
that's what they see.

1255
00:48:46,250 --> 00:48:48,300
They see the residual activity

1256
00:48:48,300 --> 00:48:49,720
and the residual occurrence of

1257
00:48:49,720 --> 00:48:51,680
that event taking place so.

1258
00:48:53,540 --> 00:48:56,960
John Seed was a Baptist preacher who

1259
00:48:57,680 --> 00:49:00,380
did a sermon who was
her minister at the time.

1260
00:49:02,060 --> 00:49:02,560
He

1261
00:49:03,220 --> 00:49:05,320
Once he gets her Betsey rides down the

1262
00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:07,820
hill to the side of the hanging

1263
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:10,800
riding on her coffin on this robe.

1264
00:49:10,810 --> 00:49:13,520
And she's singing hymns
on the way down there.

1265
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:15,960
And this John Seed
he's he's from Scotland

1266
00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:17,420
and he's a firebrand,

1267
00:49:17,420 --> 00:49:18,680
hell and brimstone preacher.

1268
00:49:19,260 --> 00:49:20,780
He sees whatever this crowd is

1269
00:49:20,780 --> 00:49:21,560
20,000 people

1270
00:49:21,560 --> 00:49:23,280
and he said he's
going to deliver a sermon.

1271
00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:27,240
So he preaches for over
an hour and it's a hot sun.

1272
00:49:27,660 --> 00:49:28,900
Betsey Reed

1273
00:49:29,540 --> 00:49:31,500
is sitting on her coffin yelling,

1274
00:49:31,500 --> 00:49:34,000
“hallelujah and amen” all the way through

1275
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:35,560
the sermon.

1276
00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:36,980
And then she gets up,

1277
00:49:37,460 --> 00:49:40,060
Sheriff Samuel Thorn
puts a bag over her head,

1278
00:49:40,060 --> 00:49:42,240
a white or excuse me a black bag,

1279
00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:43,740
and

1280
00:49:43,740 --> 00:49:45,280
then

1281
00:49:46,500 --> 00:49:49,220
pulls the or… chops
the rope.

1282
00:49:49,500 --> 00:49:50,880
She hangs

1283
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:53,260
and about a half… they let her
hang for about a half hour

1284
00:49:53,260 --> 00:49:53,970
and then they put

1285
00:49:53,970 --> 00:49:55,460
her down into that shallow

1286
00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:58,540
open grave there
underneath the gallows.

1287
00:49:58,660 --> 00:50:02,580
(Male Narrator, southern accent)
Psalms 23: The Lord is my shepherd

1288
00:50:02,740 --> 00:50:04,320
I shall not want.

1289
00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:08,040
He maketh me lie down in green pastures.

1290
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:11,400
He leadeth me beside the still waters.

1291
00:50:11,460 --> 00:50:14,260
He restoreth my soul.

1292
00:50:14,260 --> 00:50:16,300
He leadeth me in the path

1293
00:50:16,300 --> 00:50:19,080
of righteousness for his name's sake.

1294
00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:21,240
Yea though I walk through the

1295
00:50:21,240 --> 00:50:22,480
valley of shadow of death

1296
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:25,580
I will fear no evil for Thou art with me.

1297
00:50:25,580 --> 00:50:29,200
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

1298
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:31,380
[different dark, ambient music begins]

1299
00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:33,360
(Dickerson)
There’s a hill that the high school sits on now

1300
00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:35,440
and i guess a lot of people
were sitting on it watching.

1301
00:50:36,040 --> 00:50:38,020
But some people decided
to climb up in a tree

1302
00:50:38,020 --> 00:50:39,660
and sit on a branch.

1303
00:50:39,900 --> 00:50:40,740
Well

1304
00:50:40,740 --> 00:50:42,700
after they you know they announced the

1305
00:50:42,700 --> 00:50:44,080
conviction this that the other,

1306
00:50:44,200 --> 00:50:46,160
right as they were getting
ready to throw the lever

1307
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:47,340
to hang her,

1308
00:50:47,700 --> 00:50:49,900
the tree branch those
people were sitting on broke.

1309
00:50:50,240 --> 00:50:52,160
Well when they fell they all screamed

1310
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:54,192
and it stated that the majority of the crowd

1311
00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:55,540
heard the screams

1312
00:50:55,860 --> 00:50:57,060
and turned to look

1313
00:50:57,060 --> 00:50:58,640
to see what the commotion was about

1314
00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:00,220
and missed the actual hanging.

1315
00:51:00,220 --> 00:51:01,940
[music title: from the rope to the ground]

1316
00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:04,860
Now i don't believe there was any actual

1317
00:51:04,860 --> 00:51:07,560
organized protest at the hanging.

1318
00:51:07,860 --> 00:51:10,260
But I wanted this character to show up

1319
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:12,640
and explain to

1320
00:51:12,860 --> 00:51:14,980
the audience watching the play

1321
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:17,780
that this was something
that was controversial.

1322
00:51:18,300 --> 00:51:20,260
Especially that it was a woman

1323
00:51:20,260 --> 00:51:21,660
who was to be hanged.

1324
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:23,360
Although I think the

1325
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:25,100
majority of people in this area

1326
00:51:25,260 --> 00:51:27,100
probably were a

1327
00:51:27,620 --> 00:51:29,100
pro death penalty

1328
00:51:29,360 --> 00:51:31,020
and they were excited

1329
00:51:31,020 --> 00:51:32,700
about this execution.

1330
00:51:32,700 --> 00:51:34,160
It was going to be something

1331
00:51:34,260 --> 00:51:35,820
entertaining to watch.

1332
00:51:36,940 --> 00:51:38,740
And we have an eyewitness account

1333
00:51:38,740 --> 00:51:40,620
of Alexander McCarter

1334
00:51:41,140 --> 00:51:43,000
who as a young boy came

1335
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:44,620
with his grandfather, Hamilton, to

1336
00:51:44,860 --> 00:51:46,880
Lawrenceville to watch this.

1337
00:51:47,340 --> 00:51:50,680
Young McCarter was on
his grandfather's shoulders

1338
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:51,480
[female vocalization in ambience]

1339
00:51:51,540 --> 00:51:53,740
and at the time when

1340
00:51:54,340 --> 00:51:56,440
Elizabeth Reed dropped

1341
00:51:56,860 --> 00:51:58,240
from the gallows.

1342
00:51:58,620 --> 00:52:00,820
Somebody in a nearby tree

1343
00:52:00,820 --> 00:52:02,200
the limb snapped

1344
00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:04,580
and the boy's attention was given to the to

1345
00:52:05,300 --> 00:52:09,420
that and he missed
the actual instant of death.

1346
00:52:10,420 --> 00:52:11,540
The common thought

1347
00:52:11,540 --> 00:52:14,680
has always been at
the at the football field

1348
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:16,720
of the old Lawrenceville High School.

1349
00:52:18,500 --> 00:52:19,800
All accounts

1350
00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:21,980
that I can gather suggest that

1351
00:52:21,980 --> 00:52:24,380
it was about a quarter mile to the east.

1352
00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:28,520
Walnut Street is in
front of the high School.

1353
00:52:29,120 --> 00:52:30,880
That extended with

1354
00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:33,060
I believe Fifth or Sixth street.

1355
00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:35,660
Would suggest where the Mills Terrace

1356
00:52:35,660 --> 00:52:38,500
apartments is, which
would have been

1357
00:52:38,500 --> 00:52:39,920
as good of a site

1358
00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:42,740
as could be, b ut the same story.

1359
00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:56,400
[old time projector sounds]

1360
00:52:56,740 --> 00:52:59,440
Some of our night
investigations that we've

1361
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:00,660
conducted out here

1362
00:53:01,020 --> 00:53:03,080
we've actually recorded strange

1363
00:53:03,080 --> 00:53:05,700
cold spots in the area that
seemed to move.

1364
00:53:06,340 --> 00:53:08,420
And they moved through the football field

1365
00:53:08,420 --> 00:53:09,580
area behind me here.

1366
00:53:10,220 --> 00:53:13,040
We’ve heard what sounded
like a scream at one point.

1367
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:14,190
But we can't confirm that

1368
00:53:14,190 --> 00:53:16,300
it wasn't locals. You know
we are in an urban area.

1369
00:53:16,300 --> 00:53:17,720
We try to debunk everything.

1370
00:53:17,960 --> 00:53:20,360
but we have heard
mysterious sounds that

1371
00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:22,160
just they don't sound right you know.

1372
00:53:22,380 --> 00:53:23,740
They don't sound
like your typical noises

1373
00:53:23,740 --> 00:53:25,160
you should be hearing out here.

1374
00:53:25,700 --> 00:53:27,520
We've captured
[female vocalization in ambience]

1375
00:53:27,520 --> 00:53:30,820
a couple evps, electronic voice
phenomena, out here.

1376
00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:32,200
But

1377
00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:35,120
not as much as what
we have at Baker Cemetery,

1378
00:53:35,420 --> 00:53:36,420
which is where

1379
00:53:36,420 --> 00:53:38,960
you know we've got a really good evp

1380
00:53:39,240 --> 00:53:41,040
that we captured.

1381
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:43,780
And we're going to be playing that i think.

1382
00:53:44,180 --> 00:53:46,240
But the the evp is extremely good

1383
00:53:46,240 --> 00:53:47,600
we captured
at the cemetery.

1384
00:53:47,609 --> 00:53:49,160
But out here it's mostly sounds

1385
00:53:49,160 --> 00:53:50,200
just

1386
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:51,820
things you see out
of the corner of your eye.

1387
00:53:51,820 --> 00:53:53,200
But you're not sure it's there.

1388
00:53:53,460 --> 00:53:55,840
We haven't got a
whole lot of scientific evidence

1389
00:53:55,840 --> 00:53:58,260
of stuff going on in the area

1390
00:53:58,880 --> 00:54:01,360
but we have physically
seen and heard more things

1391
00:54:01,360 --> 00:54:03,680
than what we've
captured on our equipment.

1392
00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:06,040
It’s definitely a location that I believe

1393
00:54:06,040 --> 00:54:07,640
is haunted you know
[faint music fades out]

1394
00:54:07,640 --> 00:54:09,120
especially some type of

1395
00:54:09,130 --> 00:54:10,620
residual activity

1396
00:54:10,620 --> 00:54:12,840
definitely I believe exists here

1397
00:54:12,840 --> 00:54:14,079
due to the hanging that took place on

1398
00:54:14,080 --> 00:54:16,140
May 23rd, 1845.

1399
00:54:16,140 --> 00:54:19,780
[high-pitched note swells in and fades]

1400
00:54:19,780 --> 00:54:22,180
[soft, ominous music begins. new song]

1401
00:54:22,340 --> 00:54:23,820
You know there's
a lot of times people

1402
00:54:23,820 --> 00:54:25,160
will talk at different spirits

1403
00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:26,900
in a location in a different building

1404
00:54:26,900 --> 00:54:28,420
and they always think
they're talking to Charlie

1405
00:54:28,420 --> 00:54:29,380
or John or whoever

1406
00:54:29,380 --> 00:54:31,000
they think the spirit's talking about.

1407
00:54:31,240 --> 00:54:32,760
But I always look
back and say, “you know

1408
00:54:32,760 --> 00:54:34,460
how do you know
you're talking to that person?”

1409
00:54:34,700 --> 00:54:36,560
Because if I was a spirit at a location

1410
00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:38,420
you just want to talk to Susie

1411
00:54:38,760 --> 00:54:41,320
and I said yeah my name's Susie on a

1412
00:54:41,320 --> 00:54:44,820
by tripping an emf detector,
something like that,

1413
00:54:45,520 --> 00:54:47,640
you really wouldn't know
that was Susie or not.

1414
00:54:47,650 --> 00:54:48,780
You wouldn't know who it is.

1415
00:54:48,780 --> 00:54:49,520
It's hard to tell.

1416
00:54:49,840 --> 00:54:51,620
The only way I think
that you can actually

1417
00:54:51,620 --> 00:54:53,780
really talk to spirits in a location is ask

1418
00:54:54,060 --> 00:54:55,500
them questions that

1419
00:54:55,500 --> 00:54:57,040
they may be the only one

1420
00:54:57,040 --> 00:54:59,060
that knows the answer to that question.

1421
00:54:59,160 --> 00:55:02,540
[base heavy synth note with wind instrument]

1422
00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:04,800
(Narrator) The next mystery of the case involves

1423
00:55:04,800 --> 00:55:06,260
the handing of Mrs. Reed’s body

1424
00:55:06,260 --> 00:55:07,480
following the hanging.

1425
00:55:07,980 --> 00:55:09,640
A confusing account states

1426
00:55:09,640 --> 00:55:11,080
that she was laid
into a shallow grave

1427
00:55:11,080 --> 00:55:12,460
next to the gallows.

1428
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:14,500
But newspaper articles of the time

1429
00:55:14,500 --> 00:55:16,240
confirm documents that reference

1430
00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:18,000
results from her autopsy.

1431
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:18,820
[subtle, haunting notes]

1432
00:55:18,900 --> 00:55:20,780
Speculation is that it may have been

1433
00:55:20,780 --> 00:55:22,240
a temporary resting spot

1434
00:55:22,240 --> 00:55:24,579
to delay effects of the hot sun

1435
00:55:24,580 --> 00:55:26,640
until the body could
be properly examined,

1436
00:55:27,120 --> 00:55:28,820
the necessity of which is debatable.

1437
00:55:28,820 --> 00:55:30,400
[music title: finding God in broken glass]

1438
00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:33,760
[light chimes throughout ambience]

1439
00:55:33,760 --> 00:55:40,620
[higher synth notes play
slow melody over synth bass]

1440
00:55:41,060 --> 00:55:49,460
[sounds like synth vocalization. no words]

1441
00:55:50,500 --> 00:55:52,820
Well first of all,

1442
00:55:54,380 --> 00:55:58,200
a couple named Richards

1443
00:55:58,840 --> 00:56:01,680
decided to put a newer tombstone

1444
00:56:02,680 --> 00:56:04,420
at Baker Cemetery.

1445
00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:05,660
I think they were trying

1446
00:56:05,660 --> 00:56:07,100
to keep the history
alive.

1447
00:56:07,900 --> 00:56:09,580
I didn't speak to them about it

1448
00:56:09,580 --> 00:56:11,520
I don't know exactly
what their thoughts were.

1449
00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:13,920
And this one included Betsey's name.

1450
00:56:14,780 --> 00:56:15,780
There are…

1451
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:17,880
So people assume
because the tombstone is

1452
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:19,940
there with her name
on it that she's buried there

1453
00:56:19,940 --> 00:56:21,760
[music present but in background]

1454
00:56:21,940 --> 00:56:23,620
In all our research

1455
00:56:24,040 --> 00:56:26,320
we found a lot
of different stories.

1456
00:56:26,760 --> 00:56:28,500
And um

1457
00:56:28,500 --> 00:56:29,960
the one that she was buried

1458
00:56:29,960 --> 00:56:31,320
under the scaffolding

1459
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:33,880
after the hanging, if it's true,

1460
00:56:35,340 --> 00:56:36,800
she couldn't have
been buried very long

1461
00:56:36,800 --> 00:56:39,460
because there was an
article in the New York Times

1462
00:56:39,860 --> 00:56:41,660
in 1845

1463
00:56:41,860 --> 00:56:43,460
that talked about her autopsy.

1464
00:56:43,880 --> 00:56:46,000
And in the autopsy they found

1465
00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:47,380
that her stomach was…

1466
00:56:48,260 --> 00:56:51,120
had pieces of brick and glass

1467
00:56:51,660 --> 00:56:53,680
where she tried to commit suicide like

1468
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:54,980
that to cheat the hangman.

1469
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:57,260
And so

1470
00:56:57,260 --> 00:56:58,180
if they'd have buried her

1471
00:56:58,180 --> 00:56:59,300
I don't think
they would have just

1472
00:56:59,640 --> 00:57:01,100
dug her up. I don't.

1473
00:57:01,100 --> 00:57:01,880
It didn't make any sense

1474
00:57:01,880 --> 00:57:03,200
that she was buried underneath

1475
00:57:03,740 --> 00:57:04,700
the scaffolding.

1476
00:57:04,800 --> 00:57:07,040
The other

1477
00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:08,380
things that I read that

1478
00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:10,540
seemed the
most feasible to me

1479
00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:12,780
and the research I did

1480
00:57:12,780 --> 00:57:14,140
showed that this is what they did

1481
00:57:14,140 --> 00:57:15,600
with a lot of murderers

1482
00:57:15,600 --> 00:57:17,819
at the time was they weren't

1483
00:57:17,819 --> 00:57:18,660
to be buried

1484
00:57:18,660 --> 00:57:21,400
on ground that had been blessed
or hollowed ground,

1485
00:57:21,980 --> 00:57:23,640
which were the cemeteries were,

1486
00:57:23,920 --> 00:57:25,780
since they had committed murder.

1487
00:57:25,780 --> 00:57:28,320
So they usually buried
them outside the gates

1488
00:57:28,720 --> 00:57:29,460
or the fence

1489
00:57:29,460 --> 00:57:31,720
instead of inside the cemetery.

1490
00:57:32,040 --> 00:57:33,380
So from what I read

1491
00:57:33,380 --> 00:57:35,840
there's an entrance at the old

1492
00:57:36,040 --> 00:57:37,520
Lawrenceville

1493
00:57:38,800 --> 00:57:39,680
Cemetery

1494
00:57:39,960 --> 00:57:42,320
and that she was
buried outside the gate.

1495
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:44,960
And there was some kind of depression

1496
00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:46,920
you could see there for years.

1497
00:57:47,100 --> 00:57:49,380
And that supposedly was
where Betsey was buried.

1498
00:57:49,680 --> 00:57:53,220
[haunting ambience continues. chimes]

1499
00:57:53,520 --> 00:57:55,880
Some people they still argue to this day

1500
00:57:55,880 --> 00:57:57,600
what happened after she was hung.

1501
00:57:57,600 --> 00:57:59,820
And this is where
the real mystery comes in.

1502
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:02,540
Because it doesn't
matter who you talk to

1503
00:58:02,540 --> 00:58:04,520
everybody's got a
different opinion on this.

1504
00:58:04,520 --> 00:58:06,680
There's some historical
accounts that state

1505
00:58:07,080 --> 00:58:08,420
she was hung (buried) right there

1506
00:58:08,420 --> 00:58:10,780
on the old where
the old football field

1507
00:58:10,780 --> 00:58:12,460
at right underneath the gallows.

1508
00:58:13,100 --> 00:58:13,620
And

1509
00:58:14,080 --> 00:58:16,380
the historical records show in some

1510
00:58:16,880 --> 00:58:18,640
of the records that

1511
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:19,760
the doctors and there was

1512
00:58:19,770 --> 00:58:21,140
a group of medical students

1513
00:58:21,140 --> 00:58:22,460
that dug up her body

1514
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:24,059
and used it you know

1515
00:58:24,059 --> 00:58:25,059
for examination.

1516
00:58:25,060 --> 00:58:27,080
Used it for medical
purposes ,back in the day.

1517
00:58:27,080 --> 00:58:28,400
That's one story.

1518
00:58:28,760 --> 00:58:30,920
Another story is the family actually

1519
00:58:30,920 --> 00:58:32,580
dug up Elizabeth Reed

1520
00:58:32,580 --> 00:58:34,060
and brought her to where we

1521
00:58:34,060 --> 00:58:35,440
are currently standing today,

1522
00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:36,900
which is Baker Cemetery.

1523
00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:38,580
And that's the whole mystery

1524
00:58:38,580 --> 00:58:39,839
behind this thing too.

1525
00:58:39,839 --> 00:58:41,369
Is she actually buried here?

1526
00:58:41,369 --> 00:58:42,920
Those people that claim she's not.

1527
00:58:43,180 --> 00:58:45,180
There's hardcore skeptics that say

1528
00:58:45,180 --> 00:58:47,020
she is not buried in the cemetery.

1529
00:58:47,560 --> 00:58:50,680
[gentle but ominous ambience continues]

1530
00:58:51,060 --> 00:58:54,500
[sounds like synthesized vocalization. no words]

1531
00:58:55,120 --> 00:58:57,860
(Roger Creed) Okay I lived in this area for
about 40 years,

1532
00:58:58,840 --> 00:59:00,760
about a mile a half up the road here.

1533
00:59:01,080 --> 00:59:03,340
I was on the cemetery board for

1534
00:59:03,860 --> 00:59:06,760
about eight years back in the late 90s

1535
00:59:07,040 --> 00:59:08,160
early 2000's.

1536
00:59:09,260 --> 00:59:12,980
And our duties were to repair stones and

1537
00:59:13,860 --> 00:59:15,000
trim
brush.

1538
00:59:16,920 --> 00:59:19,240
This guy had this dowsing rod that he used

1539
00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:21,560
to find graves.

1540
00:59:22,940 --> 00:59:25,000
When he located the grave

1541
00:59:25,000 --> 00:59:26,260
we would try to find

1542
00:59:26,260 --> 00:59:27,760
to see if there was a missing stone.

1543
00:59:27,780 --> 00:59:28,680
[chimes]

1544
00:59:28,820 --> 00:59:29,320
And

1545
00:59:30,580 --> 00:59:32,000
he went over to Betsey's grave,

1546
00:59:32,000 --> 00:59:33,240
just for the heck of it,

1547
00:59:33,600 --> 00:59:34,140
and

1548
00:59:35,200 --> 00:59:37,400
he found actually two graves there.

1549
00:59:38,520 --> 00:59:40,540
And we were poking around trying to find

1550
00:59:41,400 --> 00:59:42,880
maybe another stone

1551
00:59:42,880 --> 00:59:44,660
and I found a I found that stone

1552
00:59:44,660 --> 00:59:45,980
it's got “ER” on it.

1553
00:59:47,820 --> 00:59:48,640
I dug it up.

1554
00:59:49,720 --> 00:59:51,040
Re-buried it because I didn't

1555
00:59:51,040 --> 00:59:52,620
want somebody to come along steal it.

1556
00:59:52,900 --> 00:59:53,780
But since then

1557
00:59:53,780 --> 00:59:55,580
somebody has placed it in concrete,

1558
00:59:56,080 --> 00:59:58,260
not exactly in the place that I found it but

1559
00:59:58,580 --> 01:00:00,460
somebody has placed it in concrete.

1560
01:00:00,620 --> 01:00:02,140
[music ended]

1561
01:00:02,440 --> 01:00:05,840
[new ambient music slowly fades in]

1562
01:00:06,320 --> 01:00:10,000
[long synth notes with echoes throughout]

1563
01:00:10,420 --> 01:00:13,760
[very eerie and creepy]

1564
01:00:14,420 --> 01:00:17,500
[bell chimes in the distance]

1565
01:00:18,520 --> 01:00:20,900
[deep, base thuds]

1566
01:00:21,720 --> 01:00:25,180
[music title:death by murder death by hanging ]

1567
01:00:25,180 --> 01:00:34,420
[long, synthesizer base note continues to hold]

1568
01:00:35,540 --> 01:00:38,020
[bell in the distance]

1569
01:00:38,980 --> 01:00:45,780
[obscure noises and echoes]

1570
01:00:45,780 --> 01:00:50,900
[possible synth voices, male]

1571
01:00:50,900 --> 01:00:59,100
[sounds like, "ahhhhhhhhhh"]

1572
01:00:59,100 --> 01:01:18,520
[no words, only ambient music]

1573
01:01:18,900 --> 01:01:20,520
(Snider) Some of the paranormal activity

1574
01:01:20,520 --> 01:01:22,240
and claims that we have

1575
01:01:22,240 --> 01:01:23,820
heard about and even experienced

1576
01:01:23,820 --> 01:01:25,500
ourselves in the cemetery:

1577
01:01:26,280 --> 01:01:28,020
people have reported
seeing Elizabeth

1578
01:01:28,020 --> 01:01:30,530
Reed walk around in here in a white dress.

1579
01:01:30,530 --> 01:01:32,340
And if you look at the historical accounts

1580
01:01:32,340 --> 01:01:34,460
that's what they say she was

1581
01:01:35,040 --> 01:01:36,180
buried in because

1582
01:01:36,180 --> 01:01:37,609
she was hung in her white dress.

1583
01:01:37,609 --> 01:01:39,200
She rode to her execution site

1584
01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:40,860
on top of coffin
in a white dress.

1585
01:01:41,440 --> 01:01:43,520
People reported seeing Elizabeth Reed

1586
01:01:43,520 --> 01:01:44,920
walking around here

1587
01:01:44,920 --> 01:01:46,760
at all hours of the night and

1588
01:01:46,770 --> 01:01:48,160
even daytime reports

1589
01:01:48,160 --> 01:01:50,640
of a lady in a white dress here.

1590
01:01:51,120 --> 01:01:52,480
That's one of the ghost stories

1591
01:01:52,480 --> 01:01:54,200
you know behind this cemetery,

1592
01:01:54,200 --> 01:01:56,600
that she still walks the cemetery grounds.

1593
01:01:57,040 --> 01:01:59,040
And people have also reported seeing her go

1594
01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:00,940
up and down the lane of the cemetery.

1595
01:02:01,220 --> 01:02:03,320
That's one of the cool ghost

1596
01:02:03,320 --> 01:02:04,960
stories behind this place.

1597
01:02:05,280 --> 01:02:07,440
And it's got to have some type of

1598
01:02:08,840 --> 01:02:09,733
evidence behind…

1599
01:02:09,733 --> 01:02:11,520
some type of real thing going on

1600
01:02:11,529 --> 01:02:12,900
because there's been so many people

1601
01:02:12,900 --> 01:02:14,480
report this event that

1602
01:02:14,900 --> 01:02:16,320
we can't really discount it

1603
01:02:16,330 --> 01:02:17,580
as people's imaginations

1604
01:02:17,580 --> 01:02:20,620
because there's been
so many people see and experience that.

1605
01:02:21,620 --> 01:02:23,120
People actually told me that they

1606
01:02:23,120 --> 01:02:25,250
see something white move out of the corner

1607
01:02:25,250 --> 01:02:25,940
of their eye

1608
01:02:25,940 --> 01:02:27,260
and they'll turn and
look and it's not there.

1609
01:02:27,440 --> 01:02:28,400
It’s never

1610
01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:31,400
a defined shape, a dress or anything.

1611
01:02:31,410 --> 01:02:33,190
It's just a white blur.

1612
01:02:33,190 --> 01:02:35,040
And multiple people have told stories that

1613
01:02:35,040 --> 01:02:36,770
didn't associate with each other.

1614
01:02:36,770 --> 01:02:38,200
They just came to me and said,

1615
01:02:38,200 --> 01:02:40,700
“hey I was there
and this is what i experienced.”

1616
01:02:40,700 --> 01:02:42,360
It's weird when more
than one person tells you

1617
01:02:42,360 --> 01:02:43,360
(Snider) For sure.

1618
01:02:43,460 --> 01:02:45,040
a story that when they weren't together

1619
01:02:45,040 --> 01:02:46,080
when it happened.

1620
01:02:47,820 --> 01:02:49,220
We have some

1621
01:02:49,220 --> 01:02:51,760
records that state that

1622
01:02:51,760 --> 01:02:53,420
she was buried underneath

1623
01:02:53,420 --> 01:02:54,760
the gallows

1624
01:02:55,780 --> 01:02:57,820
when the doctors did the autopsy.

1625
01:02:57,960 --> 01:02:59,480
[ambience continues)

1626
01:02:59,520 --> 01:03:02,000
But if she was buried there she wasn't

1627
01:03:02,000 --> 01:03:03,660
buried there to stay there.

1628
01:03:04,360 --> 01:03:05,740
Then there was

1629
01:03:06,360 --> 01:03:07,800
the idea that she was going

1630
01:03:07,800 --> 01:03:09,740
to be buried in the city cemetery.

1631
01:03:10,360 --> 01:03:12,480
The upstanding ladies of the town were not

1632
01:03:12,480 --> 01:03:15,680
about to have this “bloodthirsty tigress”

1633
01:03:15,680 --> 01:03:16,940
buried in their cemetery.

1634
01:03:17,640 --> 01:03:18,620
And so

1635
01:03:18,620 --> 01:03:20,940
in the play I had some

1636
01:03:20,940 --> 01:03:23,320
upstanding women of the community

1637
01:03:23,320 --> 01:03:25,020
stop them from

1638
01:03:25,740 --> 01:03:28,260
burying her in the cemetery.

1639
01:03:28,560 --> 01:03:29,820
And those women

1640
01:03:29,820 --> 01:03:32,200
repeated some of the

1641
01:03:32,660 --> 01:03:35,320
items that were supposedly given in

1642
01:03:35,320 --> 01:03:36,980
her confession

1643
01:03:37,620 --> 01:03:39,700
that was to be published.

1644
01:03:39,700 --> 01:03:41,280
And they also gave some other items that I

1645
01:03:41,280 --> 01:03:43,080
found in newspaper reports.

1646
01:03:44,080 --> 01:03:46,520
But then we believe

1647
01:03:46,520 --> 01:03:48,580
that her body was removed.

1648
01:03:48,980 --> 01:03:51,100
If she was buried in the city cemetery

1649
01:03:51,100 --> 01:03:52,860
it
was removed and then buried

1650
01:03:52,860 --> 01:03:54,339
in Crawford County

1651
01:03:54,339 --> 01:03:56,040
or close to that line by

1652
01:03:56,040 --> 01:03:58,720
some relatives of the family.

1653
01:04:01,700 --> 01:04:04,240
I believe that she her body was removed

1654
01:04:04,240 --> 01:04:06,880
from and reinterred at the Baker Cemetery

1655
01:04:06,880 --> 01:04:08,680
in Crawford County.

1656
01:04:08,680 --> 01:04:10,490
I accept that notion.

1657
01:04:11,080 --> 01:04:12,580
Okay there is the mystery

1658
01:04:13,520 --> 01:04:15,500
is she buried here or not.

1659
01:04:16,500 --> 01:04:17,900
My opinion is that she

1660
01:04:18,000 --> 01:04:19,040
that she is.

1661
01:04:19,040 --> 01:04:20,740
Of course I don't know.
Nobody knows.

1662
01:04:21,120 --> 01:04:23,240
But some of the things
I’ve seen and heard

1663
01:04:23,240 --> 01:04:24,900
I believe she is buried here.

1664
01:04:27,400 --> 01:04:29,160
I was talking to an old timer

1665
01:04:29,160 --> 01:04:30,420
up the road here

1666
01:04:31,420 --> 01:04:33,460
and his grandfather, I believe it was

1667
01:04:33,460 --> 01:04:35,600
his grandfather, said that one night

1668
01:04:37,440 --> 01:04:39,860
he looked over here
and saw a bunch of lights.

1669
01:04:40,260 --> 01:04:41,560
So he came over here

1670
01:04:41,560 --> 01:04:42,960
to see what was going on

1671
01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:45,460
and he found

1672
01:04:45,460 --> 01:04:47,860
several men with shovels and lanterns,

1673
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:51,020
horses and a wagon.

1674
01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:53,160
And he asked them what

1675
01:04:53,160 --> 01:04:54,480
they were doing and they said,

1676
01:04:54,980 --> 01:04:56,360
“This is none of your concern

1677
01:04:56,360 --> 01:04:57,640
you need to leave.”

1678
01:04:58,320 --> 01:04:59,140
So he left.

1679
01:04:59,140 --> 01:05:00,740
And that's the night that we think

1680
01:05:00,740 --> 01:05:01,820
she was reburied

1681
01:05:02,200 --> 01:05:03,440
by family members.

1682
01:05:03,480 --> 01:05:07,940
[bell tolls in distance throughout ambience]

1683
01:05:11,540 --> 01:05:12,740
Yeah i mean

1684
01:05:12,745 --> 01:05:14,100
and you know we've kind of backed up

1685
01:05:14,100 --> 01:05:16,660
a lot of the claims here too

1686
01:05:16,660 --> 01:05:18,460
with scientific evidence.

1687
01:05:18,460 --> 01:05:19,980
We try to rule out

1688
01:05:19,980 --> 01:05:21,680
out all natural explanations before

1689
01:05:21,680 --> 01:05:22,700
we come to the determination

1690
01:05:22,700 --> 01:05:24,380
a location's haunted.

1691
01:05:24,380 --> 01:05:25,840
We've brought a lot of equipment

1692
01:05:25,840 --> 01:05:27,640
out here over the years.

1693
01:05:27,650 --> 01:05:28,680
We've used emf meters,

1694
01:05:28,680 --> 01:05:29,910
thermal imaging cameras.

1695
01:05:29,910 --> 01:05:31,260
We've set up infrared

1696
01:05:31,260 --> 01:05:32,690
camera systems.

1697
01:05:32,690 --> 01:05:33,560
We've been out here

1698
01:05:33,560 --> 01:05:34,920
night after night trying

1699
01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:36,660
to collect evidence of paranormal activity

1700
01:05:36,660 --> 01:05:37,320
out here.

1701
01:05:37,720 --> 01:05:39,400
One of the strange occurrences

1702
01:05:39,400 --> 01:05:40,400
that do take
place out here

1703
01:05:40,400 --> 01:05:42,820
are strange electromagnetic field spikes.

1704
01:05:44,220 --> 01:05:45,600
We've had our tri-field meter

1705
01:05:45,600 --> 01:05:47,820
like just spike
out here.

1706
01:05:47,829 --> 01:05:49,400
We've had emf meters go to like

1707
01:05:49,400 --> 01:05:53,720
anywhere from
3.2 to 7.2 milligauss for no reason.

1708
01:05:53,840 --> 01:05:56,540
We’ve documented and recorded strange

1709
01:05:56,540 --> 01:05:59,240
electromagnetic
field phenomena out here,

1710
01:05:59,580 --> 01:06:01,000
balls of light,

1711
01:06:01,200 --> 01:06:03,860
just everything you can imagine

1712
01:06:03,860 --> 01:06:06,760
from strange feelings

1713
01:06:06,760 --> 01:06:08,320
to people smelling things.

1714
01:06:08,320 --> 01:06:09,280
I mean a lot of people

1715
01:06:09,280 --> 01:06:10,360
will also report the

1716
01:06:10,360 --> 01:06:11,900
smell of chocolate out here,

1717
01:06:12,260 --> 01:06:13,560
which is kind of weird because this is

1718
01:06:13,560 --> 01:06:15,340
another paranormal event

1719
01:06:15,340 --> 01:06:17,520
that's associated with this cemetery

1720
01:06:17,520 --> 01:06:19,220
that's not what really

1721
01:06:19,220 --> 01:06:21,820
related to the Betsey Reed story.

1722
01:06:21,829 --> 01:06:23,560
But over in that part of the

1723
01:06:23,560 --> 01:06:25,040
cemetery, over here,

1724
01:06:25,040 --> 01:06:27,400
there's a Heath buried over there.

1725
01:06:27,400 --> 01:06:28,560
The Heath family.

1726
01:06:28,560 --> 01:06:30,420
And if you look back into Crawford County

1727
01:06:30,420 --> 01:06:32,400
history the Heath bar was actually invented

1728
01:06:32,400 --> 01:06:34,050
in Robinson, I believe.
(Dickerson) Mmmhmmm

1729
01:06:34,050 --> 01:06:36,220
You've got some of the Heaths buried here

1730
01:06:36,220 --> 01:06:39,289
in Baker Cemetery and (chuckles) people report

1731
01:06:39,289 --> 01:06:41,700
the smell of chocolate, which is really strange.

1732
01:06:42,160 --> 01:06:43,800
On one of my haunted tours,

1733
01:06:44,760 --> 01:06:45,920
this is kind of strange,

1734
01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:48,700
I had a psychic come up to me.

1735
01:06:48,700 --> 01:06:50,800
And this psychic,
and this has happened on

1736
01:06:50,800 --> 01:06:53,200
two different occasions,
two different people

1737
01:06:53,200 --> 01:06:54,400
that claim to be psychic

1738
01:06:54,400 --> 01:06:56,920
have told me the
same story.

1739
01:06:57,240 --> 01:06:59,080
They said that Elizabeth

1740
01:06:59,080 --> 01:07:00,280
dances over here

1741
01:07:00,280 --> 01:07:02,079
and she likes it when I bring people here

1742
01:07:02,080 --> 01:07:03,180
on haunted tours.

1743
01:07:03,180 --> 01:07:04,260
And they say that she dances

1744
01:07:04,260 --> 01:07:05,920
around over here in the corner.

1745
01:07:07,120 --> 01:07:13,020
[background ambience very soft]

1746
01:07:13,520 --> 01:07:26,380
[faint echoes and airy sounds]

1747
01:07:29,880 --> 01:07:35,800
[ambient noises fade away]

1748
01:07:38,040 --> 01:07:39,780
Here at Baker,

1749
01:07:40,700 --> 01:07:43,240
over the times
that we've been investigating,

1750
01:07:43,720 --> 01:07:45,040
we'll get one lead

1751
01:07:45,040 --> 01:07:46,600
and we'll think that,

1752
01:07:46,600 --> 01:07:49,120
“Okay this is
the story and this is it.”

1753
01:07:49,120 --> 01:07:50,120
And then…

1754
01:07:50,120 --> 01:07:52,340
I’m a big believer in synchronicity

1755
01:07:52,720 --> 01:07:54,660
and I don't think
anything's a coincidence.

1756
01:07:55,000 --> 01:07:56,820
And it just seems odd that

1757
01:07:56,820 --> 01:07:58,440
when we're looking for something,

1758
01:07:58,440 --> 01:07:59,940
something pops up that has

1759
01:07:59,950 --> 01:08:01,160
something to do with what

1760
01:08:01,160 --> 01:08:02,660
we're looking for.

1761
01:08:02,660 --> 01:08:05,340
So in the process of
investigating this place,

1762
01:08:06,140 --> 01:08:07,980
I mean there's
probably three or four other

1763
01:08:07,980 --> 01:08:10,200
places that we need to investigate

1764
01:08:10,480 --> 01:08:11,980
that's attached to this place.

1765
01:08:12,720 --> 01:08:14,020
No one really knows.

1766
01:08:14,020 --> 01:08:15,800
No one documented the story

1767
01:08:16,160 --> 01:08:18,240
so it's all hand-me-down stuff.

1768
01:08:18,500 --> 01:08:19,940
And one person says

1769
01:08:20,400 --> 01:08:21,440
you know,

1770
01:08:21,440 --> 01:08:24,440
“Well my family
member knows this and said this”…

1771
01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:26,920
None of it's documented so

1772
01:08:26,920 --> 01:08:29,300
there's no written proof. Everything is

1773
01:08:29,800 --> 01:08:30,820
a story.

1774
01:08:31,540 --> 01:08:32,500
There's no

1775
01:08:32,780 --> 01:08:34,200
there's no truth

1776
01:08:34,200 --> 01:08:36,500
that you can actually
read like look it up.

1777
01:08:36,500 --> 01:08:38,380
Cold hard fact this is what happened.

1778
01:08:38,620 --> 01:08:40,460
I think that's part of the
mystery of the place.

1779
01:08:40,460 --> 01:08:42,480
I think that's what draws everybody here.

1780
01:08:42,480 --> 01:08:45,300
[music begins. synthesized female vocalization.]

1781
01:08:45,300 --> 01:08:47,460
[haunting melody]

1782
01:08:48,080 --> 01:08:50,660
[music title: beyond the grave]

1783
01:08:51,020 --> 01:08:53,400
(Narrator)
This is the story of Elizabeth Betsey Reed

1784
01:08:53,400 --> 01:08:56,120
whose alleged crime, attempted escape

1785
01:08:56,120 --> 01:08:59,660
trial, conviction, execution, and burial

1786
01:08:59,660 --> 01:09:00,860
are debated to this day.

1787
01:09:01,660 --> 01:09:03,940
Modern perceptions lead many to look upon

1788
01:09:03,940 --> 01:09:06,940
the settlers of the 1800’s as backwater,

1789
01:09:06,940 --> 01:09:08,160
superstitious hicks

1790
01:09:08,640 --> 01:09:10,200
the Reed case wasn't deliberated

1791
01:09:10,200 --> 01:09:12,400
by the superstitious or the ignorant.

1792
01:09:12,840 --> 01:09:14,860
Rather, it was judged by the Chief Justice

1793
01:09:14,860 --> 01:09:16,400
of the Illinois Supreme Court,

1794
01:09:16,920 --> 01:09:18,960
argued by a former attorney general,

1795
01:09:18,960 --> 01:09:21,020
and a future Illinois governor.

1796
01:09:21,480 --> 01:09:23,260
The challenges the pioneers faced

1797
01:09:23,260 --> 01:09:25,620
and overcame on a daily basis

1798
01:09:25,620 --> 01:09:28,260
would overwhelm the majority of citizens today.

1799
01:09:29,200 --> 01:09:30,960
Modern misconceptions allow us

1800
01:09:30,960 --> 01:09:32,700
to dismiss the fantastic

1801
01:09:32,700 --> 01:09:34,340
in the light of day

1802
01:09:34,340 --> 01:09:36,560
while haunting our dreams at night.

1803
01:09:37,060 --> 01:09:53,700
[haunting angelic vocalization and eerie synth]

1804
01:09:54,000 --> 01:09:55,520
(Narrator) We leave you with one final

1805
01:09:55,520 --> 01:09:56,980
mysterious piece of evidence

1806
01:09:56,980 --> 01:09:58,240
that has been provided by

1807
01:09:58,240 --> 01:10:00,400
the Crawford County Illinois Ghost Hunters:

1808
01:10:01,080 --> 01:10:03,760
an evp recording which they believe is a direct

1809
01:10:03,760 --> 01:10:05,480
answer to the question,

1810
01:10:06,340 --> 01:10:07,060
“Betsey,

1811
01:10:07,060 --> 01:10:08,720
did you kill your husband?”

1812
01:10:08,760 --> 01:10:10,300
[music ends sharply]

1813
01:10:10,540 --> 01:10:12,820
[White noise]

1814
01:10:13,080 --> 01:10:15,480
[difficult to understand female voice]

1815
01:10:17,060 --> 01:10:19,180
[repeats phrase]

1816
01:10:21,260 --> 01:10:23,300
(sounds like, “I’m Innocent”)

1817
01:10:23,440 --> 01:10:26,000
[somber synthesizer music]

1818
01:10:26,340 --> 01:10:30,940
[rhythmic beat and repeating 3 note melody]

1819
01:10:31,140 --> 01:10:33,680
[music title: discovery]

1820
01:12:20,880 --> 01:12:24,480
[music fades to end]