[ music ] [ music ] [ music ] >>> OHIO IS RICH WITH TALES OF HAUNTED PLACES AND LEGENDS OF THOSE WHO HAUNT THEM.

JAVIER, WHERE IS THE SPOOKIEST PLACE YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN OHIO?

>> FOR ME IT WAS THE HAUNTED FOREST IN PATASKALA.

WENT THERE ONCE, NEVER WENT BACK AGAIN.

>> WHICH IS WHY I'VE NEVER GONE.

>> RIGHT.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

>> FOR ME IT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE KELTON HOUSE WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE HAUNTED.

>> YEAH, DEFINITELY.

AND I WOULD ALSO VENTURE TO SAY THE CEMETERIES PROBABLY HAVE SPOOKY STORIES.

>> YOU ARE PROBABLY RIGHT ABOUT THAT, JAVIER.

NEXT WE FOLLOW A UNIQUE TROLLEY TOUR THROUGH GREEN LAWN CEMETERY, WHERE HISTORIANS SHARED THE GHOSTLY AND GHASTLY TALES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE BURIED THERE.

[ music ] >> WELCOME TO GREEN LAWN CEMETERY.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT AREN'T AWARE THIS IS THE SECOND LARGEST CEMETERY IN THE STATE OF OHIO, SPANS 360 ACRES AND CONTAINS 155,000 INTERNMENTS.

THIS CEMETERY WAS CREATED IN PART AS A RESPONSE TO A PANDEMIC IN THE EARLY DAYS IN AMERICAN CITIES WE USUALLY BURIED OUR DEAD IN URBAN GRAVEYARDS, NORMALLY CHURCH YARDS, THAT SORT OF THING.

AS THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION HAPPENED, PEOPLE STARTED MOVING FROM THE FARMS TO THE CITIES TO TAKE FACTORY JOBS AND THE CITIES GREW AND ENCLOSED THESE URBAN BURIAL GROUNDS AND THE POPULATION INCREASE LED TO A SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE THAT OVERCROWDED THESE CONFINED CEMETERIES.

THERE WAS SOME BELIEF THAT THE GRAVEYARDS AND THEIR PROXIMITY TO DRINKING WELLS WAS HELPING SPREAD CHOLERA AND OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

IN THE PROCESS OF DIGGING UP THE DEAD AND MOVING THEM OUT TO THE COUNTRY IN WHAT WAS CALLED A RURAL CEMETERY MOVEMENT.

TONIGHT WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING IS TALKING ABOUT NOT SO MUCH THE FAMOUS PEOPLE BUT SOME OF THE MORE UNQUIET DEAD OF GREEN LAWN CEMETERY.

ALL RIGHT.

THANKS.

>> IN THE EARLY DAYS WE BURIED OUR DEAD IN URBAN BURIAL GROUNDS, MOST WERE DUG UP AND MOVED HERE.

ABOUT 86 GRAVES OF THIS SITE WERE ORIGINALLY AT THE FORT HAYES BARRACKS, THE MILITARY BARRACKS NORTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS.

THEY WERE MOVED IN 1886.

MORE THAN A FEW OF THE SOLDIERS DIED IN BATTLE, THERE WERE ONE THAT WAS MURDERED AND QUITE A FEW THAT COMMITTED SUICIDE, PROBABLY SUFFERING FROM WHAT WE PRESCRIBE AS PTSD NOWADAYS.

ONE EXAMPLE IS THIS GRAVE, A GUY NAMED PAUL NEWPORT, HE WAS WORN BO YOUR HONOR IN GERMANY AND EMIGRATED TO AMERICA AS A YOUNG MAN AND ENLISTED WITH AN INFANTRY OUT OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, WHEN HE WAS 23 YEARS OLD.

HE COMPLETED 15 YEARS HONORABLE SERVICE THERE AND AFTER HE WAS DONE, HE SIGNED UP AT FORT HAYES.

HE WASN'T HERE VERY LONG BEFORE HE WAS GIVEN ORDERS TO RETURN TO SAN ANTONIO AND HE DID NOT WANT TO GO AT ALL.

A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE WAS DUE TO SHIP OUT HE PURCHASED RAT POISON AND HE WENT INTO THE BASEMENT IN THE MAIN BUILDING AND MIXED UP A BIG BOWL AND DRANK IT BEFORE ANYBODY HAD A CHANCE TO STOP HIM.

AS HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS RUSHED TO HIS AID, HE GASPED WITH HIS LAST BREATHS, IF THIS RAT POISON DOESN'T KILL ME, I'VE GOT A GUN THAT WILL FINISH THE JOB.

ANYTHING BUT TEXAS.

HE CLEARLY WAS SOMEONE WHO WANTED TO LINGER AT FORT HAYES CAMPUS AND PERHAPS HE DOES, AND HE GOT HIS WISH, HE IS STILL HERE IN OHIO, HE DIDN'T HAVE TO GO BACK TO TEXAS.

ALL RIGHT.

LET'S MOVE TO OUR NEXT RESIDENT.

RIGHT THIS WAY.

[ music ] >> SO ONE THING I HAD TO CONTEND WITH WHEN SETTING UP THESE CEMETERY TOURS IS WHY WOULD ANYBODY HAUNT A CEMETERY, PER SE?

MOST PEOPLE SKEPTICS, EVEN GHOST HUNTERS BELIEVE THESE ARE THE LEAST HAUNTED PLACES ON THE PLANET, IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAUNT SOMEPLACE, HAUNT WHERE YOU LIVED, LOVED, WORKED AND DIED NOT WHERE YOU WERE BURIED.

THERE IS NO ATTACHMENT TO THESE PLACES.

I WOULD ARGUE THAT THESE ACTUALLY ARE PLACES THAT HAVE QUITE A BIT OF EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT.

THEY'RE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR US TO GATHER HERE AND EXPRESS REALLY INTENSE HUMAN EMOTIONS WHETHER IT BE JOY, SOMETIMES SORROW, GRIEF, GUILT, HAPPINESS.

THAT I THINK CAN INFORM A HAUNTING AND THESE ARE ALSO PLACES WE COMMIT TO THE EARTH OUR ENTIRE WORLD.

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW THAT SORT OF ATTACHMENT CAN LEAVE A MARK ON A PLACE, WE ARE STANDING AT THE GRAVE OF GEORGE WAGNER AND HIS DAUGHTER EVA.

EVA WAGNER DIED IN 1880 AT THE AGE OF 23 FROM TUBERCULOSIS AND SHE WAS HER FATHER GEORGE'S FAVORITE CHILD.

HE WOULD BASICALLY COME HERE EVERY SUNDAY AND WEEP AND MOAN AND CRY AT HIS GRAVE AND HAVE A VICTORIAN CASE OF MELANCHOLY.

ON THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF EVA'S DEATH HE SAID FAREWELL TO THE FAMILY, I'M GOING TO PAY MY RESPECTS TO EVA.

HE SPENT THE DAY CRYING AND MOANING, AS THE SUNSET HE DIDN'T GO HOME THAT NIGHT AS HE NORMALLY WOULD DO, INSTEAD HE HID IN THE BUSHES AND WAITED IN THE CEMETERY WORKERS LOCKED UP AND LEFT FOR THE NIGHT AND EMERGED AND CAME HERE AND KNELT DOWN AND PULLED A REVOLVER OUT OF HIS POCKET AND HELD TO HIS RIGHT TEMPLE AND THE BULLET WENT BEHIND HIS RIGHT EYE AND CAUSED IT TO BULGE OUT.

HE WAS BLINDED AND HE FOUND THE GUN WITH HIS LEFT HAND.

HELD IT TO HIS LEFT EAR AND PULLED THE TRIGGER, THE BULLET ENTERED THE SKULL AND NOT HIS BRAIN AND KNOCKED OUT A BUNCH OF HIS TEETH AND LODGING NEAR HIS CAROTID ARTERY.

HE SPENT THE NEXT 12 HOURS CRAWLING ALONG THE RIDGE LINE THROUGH THE TOMB STONES IN HIS OWN BLOOD.

WHENEVER THE WORKERS CAME TO OPEN THE NEXT MORNING THEY FOUND THIS MAN CRUMPLED ON THE GRASS, FLIPPED HIM OVER FEARING THE WORST BUT HE WAS STILL CONSCIOUS BELIEVE IT OR NOT AND KEPT MUMBLING OVER AND OVER IN HIS NATIVE GERMAN I WANT MY GUN.

AS THEY WERE PREPARING HIM FOR THE AMBULANCE RIDE THEY FOUND A SUICIDE NOTE IN HIS POCKET THAT SAID I'VE BEEN SO HEARTBROKEN AND DISTRAUGHT OVER THE LOSS OF MY BELOVED EVA BUT A SOLUTION OF MY PAIN HASN'T MADE MYSELF CLEAR TO HIM UNTIL THIS WEEK I MET A MAN THAT PUT EVIL IN MY HEAD AND LET ME KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO.

WAGNER SURVIVED THE SUICIDE ATTEMPT.

HE WAS A RATHER FRAIL 63-YEAR-OLD.

HE SHOT HIMSELF TWICE IN THE HEAD, 12 HOURS ROLLING AROUND THROUGH THE MUD AND DIRT WITH BULLET WOUNDS AND DID NOT GET AN INFECTION.

HE DID SUCCESSFULLY COMMIT SUICIDE THE NEXT YEAR ON THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF EVA'S DEATH, HE THREW HIMSELF IN A CANAL IN THE BREWERY DISTRICT AND DROWNED AND IS REUNITED WITH HER HERE.

[ music ] >> ON YOUR RIGHT JAMES FAIRCHILD BALDWIN, MD.

THE HEADSTONE READS FROM EVIL DEATH REMOVES US NEVER FROM BEAUTY WHICH IS A PESSIMISTIC WORLD VIEW IN MY OPINION.

BALDWIN WAS A RESPECTED PHYSICIAN HERE IN COLUMBUS DURING HIS LIFETIME.

HE WAS THE ONE THAT FOUNDED GRANT HOSPITAL.

IN 1936 ON HIS DEATH BED HE BEGAN WRITING HIS MEMOIRES AND AFTER HE PASSED AWAY HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS WERE SHOCKED WHEN THEY BEGAN READING AND CAME ACROSS A PASSAGE WHERE HE DESCRIBED DESPITE ALL HIS ACCOLADES IN HIS LIFE THE MOST EXCITING MOMENTS OF HIS LIFETIME WERE WHEN HE WOULD HAVE TO SNEAK INTO THE CEMETERY AT NIGHT WITH HIS STUDENTS AND KEEP WATCH WHILE THEY PROCURED SPECIMENS.

HE WAS A GRAVE ROBBER.

THIS WAS A FAIRLY COMMON THING DURING THE 1800s BECAUSE THERE WERE MEDICAL COLLEGES HERE.

THE BEST WAY TO TEACH WAS TO SHOW.

FEW PEOPLE WOULD DONATE THEIR BODIES FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES BACK THEN.

WE WILL BE ADDRESSING GRAVE ROBBING A LITTLE BIT IN THE EVENING.

>> FORT HAYES IS A NOTORIOUSLY HAUNTED LOCATION.

ONE OF THE MOST OFTEN REPEATED STORIES IS ONE ABOUT A YOUNG CADET NAMED NICHOLAS KAETZEL WHO WAS IN LOVE WITH HIS COMMANDER OFFICER'S DAUGHTER AND THE COMMANDER OFFICER FELT THAT KAETZEL WAS BENEATH HER AND HE FORE BIT THE RELATIONSHIP FROM HAPPENING, BUT YOUNG LOVE FINDS A WAY AND COURTSHIP CONTINUED UNTIL APRIL 29th, 1865.

THAT WAS THE DATE THAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BODY WAS BROUGHT TO COLUMBUS TO LAY IN STATE IN THE OHIO CAPITAL BUILDING FOR AN AFTERNOON SO PEOPLE COULD PAY THEIR RESPECTS.

IT WAS SAID THEY WERE FIRING OFF CANONS EVERY 15 MINUTES TO HONOR LINCOLN.

ON THAT AFTERNOON THE COMMANDER OFFICER NOTICED ONE OF THE CANNONS WAS STARTING TO OVERHEAT AND HE LOOKED AT THE CANON AND LOOKED AT KAETZEL AND SAID, CADET, YOU ARE ON THIS CANON.

WHEN HE WENT TO DETONATE THE DEVICE IT BACKFIRED AND HE WAS KILLED INSTANTLY.

HIS GHOST IS SEEN CLIMBING THE SHOT TOWER SOMETIMES, HE IS SET TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOCKER DOORS SLAMMING SHUT.

THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS STORY IS IT'S NOT TRUE.

THE BASIS FOR IT IS BURIED RIGHT HERE, HIS NAME IS NICHOLAS KAETZEL AND HE WAS 50 YEARS OLD.

HE HAD A WIFE AND SON AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH.

HE WAS A PRIVATE CITIZEN.

HE HAPPENED TO BE AT FORT HAYES ON APRIL 5, 1865, RICHMOND HAD JUST FALLEN SIGNIFYING THAT THE NORTHERN STATES HAD WON THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR AND THEY WERE CELEBRATING, HAVING A BIG PARTY AND THEY SHOT OFF A CANON AND HE ACCIDENTALLY HAD GOT IN THE WAY.

THERE'S A LITTLE KERNEL OF TRUTH TO THIS BUT OVER 160 YEARS THE TELEPHONE GAME HAS BEEN PLAYED.

WE ARE NOT TOO FAR AWAY FROM OUR NEXT STORY, IT'S JUST A FEW STEPS THIS WAY.

[ music ] >> THIS SECTION OF THE CEMETERY IS HOME TO PROBABLY THE MOST CHILLING STORY WE KNOW OF IN GREEN LAWN HISTORY, IT WAS MAY 19, 1872, A MAN WAS WALKING THROUGH THIS AREA ONE EVENING WHEN HE HEARD A BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM, HE LOOKED AROUND BUT THERE WAS NO OTHER PERSON THERE.

HE WAS SO TERRIFIED BY THIS HE RAN TO THE CEMETERY SUPERINTENDENT'S HOUSE AND TOLD HIM WHAT HE HAD HEARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT, A MR. STEPHENS SAID DO YOU HAVE A MOMENT?

CAN YOU WALK WITH ME AND SHOW ME WHERE YOU THINK THIS SCREAM CAME FROM.

THEY CAME OVER HERE AND FOUND THE CAUSE.

SO THIS IS THE PLOT FOR THE ALTHOUSE FAMILY.

ON MAY 18, 1872 THEY HAD A SON, 20-YEAR-OLD WILLIAM WHO DIED OF SMALLPOX.

BECAUSE IT WAS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE HE WAS BURIED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY THE VERY NEXT DAY, ALSO BECAUSE IT WAS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE THAT KILLED HIM THEY PLACED HIM IN A SISK CASKET, THESE ARE CAST IRON HER MEDICALLY SEALED AND THE IDEA WAS THAT THEY WOULDN'T ALLOW THE DISEASE TO CONTAMINATE THE GROUNDWATER.

NOW, ANOTHER FEATURE OF THIS CASKET, THEY HAD A GLASS FACEPLATE, VIEWING WINDOWS.

YOU COULD SAY FAREWELL TO YOUR LOVED ONE WITHOUT ANY CHANCE OF CONTRACTING WHAT KILLED THEM.

NOW, ONE ADVANTAGE TO THESE GLASS FACE PLATES, IT WAS THOUGHT THAT IF THE PERSON WASN'T QUITE DEAD YET YOU WOULD KNOW IT BY THE CONDENSATION THAT WOULD FORM AROUND THEIR NOSE AND MOUTH FROM BREATHING.

THAT'S HOW THEY BURIED WILLIAM THAT SUNDAY IN 1872.

BECAUSE IT WAS A SUNDAY IN 1872 IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, IT WAS THE LORD'S DAY, TYPICAL PRACTICE WAS TO THROW A FEW INCHES OF DIRT OVER THE COFFIN AND COME IN ON THE FOLLOWING MONDAY AND FILL IT IN.

WHENEVER MR. STEPHENS AND THE WITNESS TO THE SCREAMED ARRIVED THEY FOUND THE FACE PLACE HAD BEEN SHATTERED, HIS FACE WAS CUT TO RIBBONS, TOOTH HAD BEEN TORN TO SHREDS.

WILLIAM ALTHOUSE HAD BEEN BURIED ALIVE.

HE HAS COME TO IN HIS GRAVE AND BELIEVED HIMSELF TO BE 6 FEET UNDER WHEN HE WAS JUST UNDER A LITTLE BIT.

PROBABLY DIED OF A HEART ATTACK, IF HE HAD KEPT HIS COMPOSURE COULD HAVE SURVIVED.

[ music ] >> I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ROGERS, THE GREEN LAWN GRAVE DIGGER.

>> WELCOME.

WELCOME.

FOLLOW ME TO YOUR -- I MEAN, A GRAVE.

THE YEAR IS 1859 AND 23-YEAR-OLD HOLACE IS OUT WITH HIS FRIENDS FOR A NIGHT ON THE TOWN.

THEY GO TO SALOONS AND THE THEATER AND BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION BECOME INTOXICATED.

AS THE NICE GETS LONG HIS FRIENDS SUGGEST MAYBE IT'S TIME TO GO HOME BUT HE HAS OTHER IDEAS.

IN A FAIRLY IMMATURE AND CERTAINLY DEROGATORY MANNER HE SUGGESTS THAT INSTEAD THEY GO TO HIS FARM.

HIS FARM WAS THE NAME HE HAD FOR A BUILDING THAT WE KNOW AS THE JURY ROOM TAVERN.

IT WAS A HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE AND HE HAD BECOME ENAMORED WITH THE GIRL WHO WORKED THERE.

SO HE DRAGGED HIS FRIENDS ALONG, GOES UP TO THE DOOR, IT'S CLOSED, THE LIGHTS ARE OUT AND HE STARTS BEATING ON THE DOOR, DEMANDING ENTRY.

THE MADAM OF THE HOUSE IS FRANCES MILLER.

NOW, FRANCES MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE NICEST PERSON, WE DON'T KNOW.

SHE WAS CERTAINLY PART OF THE CRIMINAL UNDERBELLY OF COLUMBUS, BUT SHE PROBABLY WASN'T WHAT THE PRESS IMMEDIATELY DESCRIBED HER AS, THE OLD HAG.

BUT THE OLD HAG EXPLAINED THAT THEY WERE CLOSED AND THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO COME BACK THE NEXT DAY.

HE INSISTED, STARTED BANGING ON THE DOOR, THREATENING HE WOULD BEAT THE DOOR DOWN AND COME IN BY FORCE.

SO FRANCES GRABBED TWO PISTOLS, ONE PISTOL SHE DIDN'T LOAD, SHE JUST PUT A CAP ON IT SO WHEN SHE PULLED THE TRIGGER THE CAP WOULD EXPLODE AND MAKE A LOUD BANG BUT NO ONE WOULD GET HURT, THERE WAS NO BULLET TO GO OUT.

THE OTHER PISTOL WAS LOADED.

AFTER A FEW MINUTES HE STARTS TO, ACCORDING TO THE TESTIMONY OF HIS FRIENDS, GIVE UP AND TAKES A FEW STEPS AWAY FROM THE DOOR, BUT THE DAMAGE HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE.

FRANCES IS AFRAID THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BREAK IN.

SHE POINTS THE EMPTY PISTOL AT THEM AND PULLS THE TRIGGER.

THERE'S A LOUD BANG, WHICH SUMMONS A COUPLE NEARBY POLICE OFFICERS, BUT IT DOES NOT SCARE AWAY HOLACE.

HE REENGAGES BUT WAS SHOT BY THE LOADED PISTOL.

HE TOOK SEVERAL STEPS TOWARDS THE STREET, COLLAPSED AND FAIRLY QUICKLY DIED.

FRANCES MILLER, SHE GETS SENT TO A FRIENDLIER JUDGE IN TOWN AND HE FINDS HER GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER AND SHE'S SENT TO PRISON FOR 11 YEARS, BUT NOW WE HAVE STORIES FROM THE JURY ROOM THAT THERE IS A GHOST THAT LINGERS IN THE BUILDING AND IT'S A BOISTEROUS, VIOLENT GHOST, AND PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY ASSOCIATE THAT WITH YOUNG HOLACE BECAUSE SURELY HE HAS SOME RESENTMENT THAT HE WAS CUT DOWN SO EARLY IN LIFE AND CERTAINLY WHEN HE WAS SHOT HE WAS BEHAVING QUITE BADLY, BUT I ALWAYS WONDER IF MAYBE IT'S NOT HOLACE WHO WOULD HAVE REASON TO HAUNT THE JURY ROOM.

THE PERSON WHO LEFT PRISON A BROKEN WOMAN, HAVING LOST EVERYTHING SHE HAD AND WHO DISAPPEARS FROM HISTORY IS FRANCES MILLER, AND PERHAPS IT'S HER RESENTMENT THAT LINGERS IN THAT BUILDING.

YOU CAN ACTUALLY STAY THERE AS AN AIRBNB AND YOU MAY BE TEMPTED TO COURT FAVOR OF THIS VIOLENT GHOST AND MAYBE YOU MAKE A TOAST TO HOLACE.

I THINK HOLACE WOULD PROBABLY APPRECIATE THAT, BUT WHILE YOU ARE AT IT I WOULD SUGGEST THAT MAYBE YOU SHOULD TOAST THE OLD HAG AND CURRY HER FAVOR AS WELL.

>> YES, THE OLD HAG.

>> THE OLD HAG.

>> NOW, I THINK I HAVE ONE MORE GRAVE THAT WITH FIT ALL OF -- I MEAN, THAT YOU WOULD ALL LIKE TO SEE.

JOIN ME.

WELCOME TO THE ALLEGED GRAVE OF MR. ISAIAH VORYS.

ISAIAH WAS A SOLDIER DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR FROM NEW JERSEY.

AFTER THE WAR HE MOVED TO PENNSYLVANIA AND FINALLY TO COLUMBUS BEFORE COLUMBUS WAS ACTUALLY A CITY.

IN FACT, HE IS ONE OF THE GUYS WHO DIAGRAMED THE FIRST LOT FOR THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

SO HE IS LITERALLY ONE OF OUR CITY'S FOUNDING FATHERS.

HE STARTED A TAVERN ON GIFFS STREET IN 1808.

IN THE 1810ss HE STARTS A SECOND TAVERN IN GERMAN VILLAGE.

THE WHITE HORSE TAVERN.

IN 1834 HE DIES AND ACCORDING TO OUR RECORDS HE DIES OF A PARALYSIS OF THE BRAIN.

SO IN 1834 HE'S BURIED IN THE OLD NORTH GRAVEYARD.

1848 GREEN LAWN CEMETERY IS FORMED AND WE OPEN IN 1849 AND FAMILIES IMMEDIATELY START BRINGING THEIR LOVED ONES AND FRIENDS TO GREEN LAWN FROM THE NORTH CEMETERY.

ISAIAH'S FRIENDS BRING HIM TO THEIR LOT AND THEY BURY HIM, AND THAT'S WHEN THE CONSPIRACY THEORIES START BECAUSE WHEN THEY DIG UP ISAIAH, WHO HAD BEEN BURIED FOR 25 YEARS AT THIS POINT, NOT EVERYONE COULD AGREE THAT THE CORPSE IN THE CASKET LOOKED LIKE ISAIAH.

NOW, AGAIN, HE HAD BEEN IN THE GROUND FOR 25 YEARS, BUT THE OTHER PIECE THAT CONCERNED THEM WAS THAT THE CORPSE THEY DUG UP, THE SKULL WAS CRUSHED.

NOW, HE DIED OF THIS PALSY, THIS PARALYSIS.

IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THAT WAS CAUSED BY AN ACCIDENT OR A FALL THAT BROKE HIS SKULL, BUT OF COURSE EVERYONE JUMPED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE PERSON IN THE CASKET THAT MAY OR MAY NOT LOOK LIKE ISAIAH HAD BEEN THE VICTIM OF FOUL PLAY AND HAD BEEN BLUDGEONED TO DEATH.

THEN THE CONSPIRACY THEORY GREW, WHY IS SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ISAIAH IN HIS GRAVE?

WELL, IT WAS PRETTY COMMON DURING THAT TIME FOR GRAVE ROBBERS PLAGUING OUR CENTRAL OHIO CEMETERIES, THE CADAVERS WOULD GO TO THE MEDICAL COLLEGES, THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY THAT THE STUDENTS IN THE MEDICAL SCHOOL WOULD GET CADAVERS TO PRACTICE ON.

SO SOMETIMES THIS PRACTICE WAS EVEN GIVEN A BIT OF A WINK AND A NOD.

SO THE THEORY WAS THAT ISAIAH'S BODY HAD GONE TO THE MEDICAL SCHOOL FROM THE GRAVE ROBBERS, BUT THEY ALSO HAD ANOTHER BODY OF SOMEONE THAT HAD BEEN MURDERED THAT THEY NEEDED TO HIDE BECAUSE IF THAT BODY WENT TO THE SCHOOL, THE NATURE OF THE DEATH MIGHT CAUSE QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED.

SO THEY BUMPED THE BODY THEY NEEDED TO HIDE IN HIS GRAVE 25 YEARS LATER THAT'S THE BODY THAT COMES HERE TO GREEN LAWN CEMETERY.

I SUSPECT THAT WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS ISAIAH VORYS.

GREEN LAWN ALWAYS HAD THE REPUTATION OF NOT SUFFERING FROM THE GRAVE ROBBERS.

WHEN THE CEMETERY WAS DESIGNED, IT WAS DESIGNED WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT'S HOUSE ON SITE AND HE LIVED HER WITH HIS FAMILY.

ALSO THROUGHOUT THE 1800s WE HAVE ACCOUNTS OF NIGHT WATCHMEN, SECURITY AND EVEN CEMETERY POLICE.

TODAY WE CONTINUE TO TRY TO PROTECT GREEN LAWN CEMETERY AND, IN FACT, IN THE EVENINGS HERE YOU WILL FIND US HAUNTED BY THE OFFICERS OF THE GREEN LAWN CEMETERY POLICE.

[ music ] >> FOR OUR NEXT STORY WE ARE JOINED BY DOREEN SAUER WITH GREENHOUSE CEMETERY.

>> GOOD EVENING.

WE ARE STANDING BY THE KELTON MARKER WHICH IS RIGHT HERE.

YOU MIGHT NOTICE THE TOP OF THE OBELISK AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS CARVED TO BE LIKE A CLOTH OF SOME SORT WITH TASSELS HANGING DOWN BUT IF YOU ACTUALLY LOOK AT THOSE TASSELS YOU SEE THAT THEY ALSO LOOK LIKE THE SILL BOWLS OF ANTIQUITY OF THE TORCH TURNED UPSIDE DOWN WHICH MEANS THE MOMENT OF DEATH AND EXTINCTION IS SUDDEN AND SWIFT AND UNPREDICTABLE.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THAT THAT'S VERY FITTING FOR THE KELTONS BECAUSE THE KELTON HOUSE IS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED HOUSES IN COLUMBUS.

OSCAR KELTON AS A YOUNG MAN HE DECIDES TO JOIN THE UNION ARMY, PERHAPS WITHOUT THE ACTUAL APPROVAL OF HIS PARENTS.

OSCAR ENLISTS IN COMPANY A OF THE 95th REGIMEN.

HE SEES ACTION IN TENNESSEE, BUT IT'S IN MISSISSIPPI WHERE HE MEETS HIS FATE.

HE DIES IN BATTLE.

HIS COMRADES BURY HIM NEAR THE SITE AND HIS BODY REMAINS THERE IN MISSISSIPPI.

ALMOST TWO YEARS LATER FERNANDO CORTES KELTON WILL GO TO MISSISSIPPI AND WILL FIND THE BODY AND BRING IT BACK TO COLUMBUS AND ON THE WAY SUFFERS A WAGON ACCIDENT, WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO HIS OWN DEMISE.

SO OSCAR SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE GHOSTS THAT IS IN THE KELTON HOUSE.

INTERESTINGLY, HE'S RARELY SEEN INSIDE THE HOUSE.

HE'S WEARING A CIVIL WAR UNIFORM, A UNION UNIFORM, BUT HE ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE SEEN OUTSIDE AS IF HE'S LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDOW, LIKE HE'S REALLY NOT PART OF THE FAMILY ANYMORE.

THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN A MYSTERY, HOWEVER, THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENT PRESENCE IN THE HOUSE AND A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY WENT UP TO THE ATTIC ONCE TO PARTICIPATE IN A CHILDREN'S HALLOWEEN PARTY.

HE LASTED ONLY A FEW SECONDS, CAME RUNNING DOWN THE STAIRS AND WOUND UP IN THE FRONT YARD SAYING, I WILL NEVER GO IN THAT HOUSE AGAIN.

THERE IS SOMETHING DARK AND FORBIDDING AND BROODING IN THE HOUSE.

AND SO WE'RE LEFT WITH, WELL, WHO COULD THAT BE?

AND AS WE LEARN MORE ABOUT GREEN LAWN AND THE INTERCONNECTION OF FAMILIES, THE TRUTH IS OSCAR AND SOME OF HIS OTHER YOUNG COMRADES WERE REALLY SENT INTO BATTLE AS NEW YOUNG RAW RECRUITS, WHILE THEIR COMMANDER, WHO WAS ALSO FROM A PROMINENT COLUMBUS FAMILY, WAS SAFELY BEHIND LINES DRUNK AS A SKUNK, COMMANDING NO ONE.

COULD NOT EVEN HAVE APPEARED ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

SO I SOMETIMES WONDER IF IT WASN'T FERNANDO WHO AFTER THE GRIEF WAS GONE OF BURYING HIS SON, THAT HE THOUGHT MORE AND MORE ABOUT WHERE THE BLAME WAS REALLY TO LIE AND THAT MAY BE THE DARK PRESENCE.

SO I LEAVE THE MYSTERY TO YOU AND GLAD YOU COULD STOP BY TONIGHT.

[ music ] >> SO THIS IS HUNTINGTON CHAPEL.

THIS IS BUILT IN 1902.

THIS ADDITION WAS ADDED IN THE 1970s.

NO MATTER WHETHER OR NOT YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS THERE'S NO DENYING THE EXISTENCE OF GHOST STORIES.

ASIDE FROM THEIR ENTERTAINMENT VALUE THEY CAN LEAD TO SOME VERY MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.

SUCH WAS THE CASE WITH A MAN NAMED JAMES ELDRIDGE WHO WAS A POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND A RADIO PERSONALITY IN COLUMBUS IN THE MID 1970s.

HE HAD A RADIO SHOW ON WMNI WHICH BROADCAST FROM THE TOP FLOOR OF THE WESTON OR OUR GREAT SOUTHERN HOTEL.

INCIDENTALLY ELDRIDGE LIVED ON THE SIXTH FLOOR.

IN MID MARCH 1978 HE FAILED TO SHOW UP ONE DAY FOR A RECORDING OF HIS PROGRAM.

THE RADIO STATION OWNER WHO ALSO ACTUALLY OWNED THE HOTEL RAN DOWN TO ELDRIDGE'S ROOM TO CHECK IN ON HIM AND FOUND THAT HE HAD BEEN BRUTALLY MURDERED.

THE HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION THAT FOLLOWED IT WAS REVEALED THAT ELDRIDGE WAS A GAY MAN AND HE HAD BEEN KILLED DURING A TERRORIST GONE HORRIBLY AWRY.

IN 1970s COLUMBUS HIS CREMATED REMAINS WERE NEVER CLAIMED AND WERE LEFT IN A STORAGE UNIT FOR 40 YEARS, BUT AT THE HOTEL OVER THOSE 40 YEARS GUESTS WOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT VERY LOUD MUSIC COMING FROM THE SEVENTH FLOOR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

ONE PERSON WHO HAD HEARD THIS GHOST STORY PROMPTED THEIR FRIEND A JOURNALIST TO WRITE A PIECE ON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JAMES ELDRIDGE AND HE DID SO IN 2021 AND IT GOT A LOT OF ATTENTION.

HE IS RIGHT UP HERE UP AT THE TOP WITH A PLAQUE THAT READS I HATED HIS GUTS BUT I READ HIM TWICE A WEEK.

IT WAS HIS FAVORITE CRITIQUE IN LIFE THAT HE HAD RECEIVED FROM A PATRON.

THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THESE GHOST STORIES CAN HAVE A CONNECTION IN MODERN TIMES.

SO THE NEXT TIME YOU HEAR SOMEONE SPINNING ONE OF THESE STORIES RATHER THAN DISCOUNT IT I ENCOURAGE YOU TO STOP, LISTEN, LEAN IN, YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE THE STORY CAN LEAD YOU.

THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING ON THE TOUR TONIGHT.

I HOPE YOU APPRECIATED THIS VISIT TO GREEN LAWN CEMETERY.

>> AND NOW LIKE THE 155,000 PEOPLE AROUND US, I WOULD SAY OUR TIME IS UP.

[ music ] [ music ] [ music ] [ music ]