Here it is, folks. In case you don't know the legend, here goes: Known as the town witch during her living years, Caroline Barnes was buried under a tree with an inscription of February 31st, 1882 on her headstone. Superstitious people did this so she would not return on her actual death date. (Apparently these people believed this would stop her if she wanted to come back from the dead!) Although four people are buried under this headstone from the Barnes family, only Caroline's dates are unusual. The fact the headstone is the oddest in the entire cemetery leaves a person a bit uneasy. Ashmore is a po-dunk town in Central Illinois. St. Omer Cemetery is out of town and is hidden behind lush trees and a humble tire-track path leading away from a main road. All of the other graves in the cemetery are marked by plain headstones, with only a few looking like mini replicas of Washington Monument, which is usual for a cemetery. This crystal-ball shaped headstone sitting on a stack of chisled logs is something out of the ordinary, and it lays directly beside a tree. When a presumed witch died in the olden days, people would plant a tree over the body so the witch would be held down by its roots under the earth. If a tree, a concrete slab, and a fabricated death date are any indication, somebody was worried about this lady coming back to life!
As a side note: I saw on a few websites that no one has been able to take a picture of this headstone. The first time I tried, the camera mysteriously was dead. That freaked me out, but I came back to try again. This time, I had no problems and took a few pictures of it. I guess Caroline was in a humoring mood.
