Mount Holly Cemetery

Cemeteries speak to the living. The rows upon rows of graves marked by headstones, monuments and effigies remind us that we will follow. Sooner or later, we will follow. 

The word "cemetery" comes from a Greek word meaning "sleeping chamber." The term "graveyard" is  considered coarse terminology for where the dead are buried. Death sounds so final and permanent when "graveyard" is used, but a "sleeping chamber" is comforting and soft. In a cemetery, when the body is lowered into the ground, you can comfort yourself with the thought that the dearly departed is merely sleeping until you meet again.  Resembling a calm, restful park with cut grass, shade trees and walkways, some cemeteries seem to welcome us to drop by and visit before we come to stay.

Mount Holly Cemetery is Little Rock, Arkansas's oldest graveyard and the final resting place for many of the state's past leaders, governors, mayors, and Supreme Court Justices. Civil War generals, an Indian Princess, a spy who was hung and other souls from all walks of life are all in their final rest here. But for some, "rest" doesn't appear to be anything they are interested in doing.

While within the 20 acres of the fenced and walled cemetery, visitors have reported hearing flute music, drumbeats, and horse hooves with the sound fading away as it proceeds between the rows of headstones.  They often report a feeling of being watched even though they can see there there is no one else there. After the sun goes down, the massive obelisks, ornate mausoleums, gated plots and narrow carriage-rutted lanes make it almost impossible for the mind to not see movement where there shouldn't be, shadows flitting around and ghostly figures slowly drifting in the ground fog. What is even more disturbing though, all these things sometimes happen in broad daylight also. Almost from the very beginning of its existence in 1843, there have been reports of odd things happening there - too many unrelated individuals, too many independent reports of things not easily explained to simply dismiss them all as pure imagination.

Residents in nearby apartments have reported seeing gravestones appear in their yards only to disappear into thin air even as they watch. One lady and her husband moved from out of state into one of the apartments across the street from Mount Holly. The couple had no previous knowledge of anything related to the cemetery. Just 1 week after moving in, the lady went to call in her cat from outside before going to bed for the night. When she opened her front door, she was shocked to see a huge, seemingly very solid 12-foot high grave marker standing upright just 3 feet from her steps. Thinking it must be a prank being pulled by local teenagers, she ran back inside to get her husband. They both returned to the door not 60 seconds later and as they watched in confusion, the marker slowly disappeared as a very cold draft of air wafted over them. They then noticed their kitty was standing at the edge of the porch facing the now vanished marker, its fur up, hissing. The next morning, they made their way around the cemetery and found the marker on the old grave of a wealthy business man. It was made of limestone 1-foot thick and estimated to weigh over 1,800 pounds.

David Dodd grave marker and area of most
paranormal activity in the graveyard

In 1864, The Union Army which was in control of Little Rock, hung a 17-year-old suspected Confederate spy, David O. Dodd. The area around his Mount Holly grave has long been reported as the most frequent place where visitors walk into cold spots even on a hot summer day, where often is felt an overwhelming sense of despair and sadness, and even in the bright light of day, moaning and choking sounds can be heard. You see, when David was hung on that cold winter day, the rope was new and therefore it stretched, the condemned was slight in stature, and the distance from the bed of the wagon to the ground wasn't far enough. Instead of breaking his neck and a quick, merciful death, the condemned's tiptoes touched the dirt and he slowly strangled, struggling and jerking for almost 5 minutes. Women observers and a few men became sick and at least one battle-hardened soldier fainted. Finally, two of the enemy soldiers took pity or maybe they just couldn't stand to watch the spectacle any more themselves and each grabbed one of the hanging legs and pulled down, adding weight to hasten his death. Is it any wonder that David's soul cannot rest?

Also in 1864, the bodies of 640 Confederate soldiers who had been killed in battles were dug up and, along with their headstones, moved to a different cemetery across town. Disturbing the dead by moving their bodies has long been believed to be a reason for ghostly activities. It seems to upset them, to confuse them. Even those souls who are apparently resting in peace after accepting their new home where they are buried appear to be confused and angry when their bodies are moved. Relocating 640 of them was like kicking a fire ant nest - a frenzy of paranormal activity was started which has yet to cease.

Go for a visit yourself. Walk the quiet, shaded paths and read history in the headstones and markers of the dead. Don't be afraid. Unexplainable things usually don't happen in the daylight hours. Not much anyway. I wouldn't tarry when the sun begins to set though. Mount Holly, you see, is one of those weird, unsettling places where the dividing line between the land of the living and the realm of the dead blurs. And who knows what might cross over that line?

Helpful Drunk

Old Ben had stopped off at the local bar after work Friday to celebrate the coming of the weekend. After having a few drinks too many, he decided to take a shortcut through the graveyard on his way home. Unfortunately, in the dark he didn't see the fresh-dug hole left open for a funeral the next day and he fell in. He wasn't hurt, but try as he might, he couldn't get out of the hole. No matter how he scrambled and jumped, it was just too deep. He began calling for help, yelling as loud as he could, but nobody heard him and his voice eventually grew ragged and coarse. He finally settled down to spend the cold night in the ground until the mortician would come in the morning.

An hour later, another drunk came walking through the graveyard. Sure enough, he fell in the same hole. Ben sat in the corner watching the drunk jumping and scrambling trying to get out. Finally, just being helpful, in his ragged voice he croaked to the drunk, "You can't get out, you know."

But he did.

Old Book and the Graveyard Elm

Peoria State Mental Institute

The Peoria State Mental Institute For The Incurable Insane was in operation from 1902 until 1973. In its first 25 years, over 13,500 patients had been housed there. Many of them died there. Because there were so many deaths, burial detail teams were established. This was made up of 1 staff member and 6 strong male inmates who, although insane, were competent enough to dig the graves and assist with the burial.

One of the gravediggers was a large, but very gentle man known as A. Bookbinder. He had suffered a mental breakdown while working at a printing house which had left him unable to effectively communicate. The police officer who had taken him in wrote on his report that the man was "a bookbinder" and a court clerk had written "A. Bookbinder" as his name on the intake form. Being unable to communicate, that is how he remained named for the rest of his life. After a while, he had gained the respect of the staff and everyone began to just call him "Old Book" or simply "Book."

Book was soon assigned to the burial detail. The staff found he was especially suited to the work. Normally, after digging the grave and placing the coffin on 2 cross beams over the hole, the workers would stand back a respectful distance until the funeral ended. They would then lower the coffin into the grave and fill it in. Almost every person who died was virtually unknown to the staff or other patients and if they were buried on the property, it meant no family claimed them. The funeral was mostly held out of respect for the deceased who were usually buried with only a patient number on their headstone since most arrived at the hospital with no known name. For this reason, everyone was surprised when at the first funeral he worked, Book removed his cap and began weeping loudly for the departed. He did the same thing at every funeral he worked; first removing his cap then he walked over and leaned against an old elm tree at the center of the cemetery and begin to loudly weep. When he did this several times in a row, he was assigned to each and every funeral and without fail, he would cry his eyes out while leaning against the tree.

A few years later, having attended several hundred funerals, Old Book himself passed on. The staff decided it was only fitting to bury him under the spreading limbs of the old elm tree where he always cried at the funerals for others. The news of his death got out and since he was well liked and had done such an excellent job on burial details, over 100 of the nurses, 50 of the male staff, and 200 patients attended the service for Book. The head of the facility gave the eulogy. When the service was over, 4 men each took the end of the ropes under the casket and prepared to lift it off the 2 crossbeams to lower the casket into the grave. At a signal given by the staff leader of the burial detail, the 4 men gave a mighty heave on the rope ends to lift the heavy coffin a few inches into the air so the other two men in the detail could remove the crossbeams. However, they were instantly all laying on their backs as the coffin easily lifted up as if there was no body within it! 

Of course this caused a huge commotion. The nurses screamed, the male staff was stunned, a lot of the patients began crying or hitting themselves in the head or simply fell to the ground moaning as nobody had seen anything like this happen before. Suddenly, above all the commotion, the people heard a mournful voice keening in despair and loudly crying. They all looked over toward the trunk of the Graveyard Elm where the sound was coming from and over 300 people witnessed Old Book, standing as always against the tree, weeping and crying out with even more earnestness than ever before.

After some seconds to recover from total shock and now convinced that Old Book absolutely could not be inside it, the doctor who had given the eulogy ran over to the coffin and ordered the 4 rope handlers to remove the lid. As soon as it was lifted, the wailing and crying completely stopped. Inside the coffin, seen by more than 100 nurses, staff and the head of the facility, lay the body of the very dead Old Book. When everyone looked back at the tree, the apparition was gone.

Only a few days later, the large old elm which had stood for over 100 years, began to die. Specialists were brought in to save it, but all of their efforts were in vain and within a year, the tree had died. The director ordered it cut down and removed. Three separate teams of men tried to cut it down, but all returned from their task saying they couldn't do it because every time they began to saw, the tree would cry out as if a human were in great pain. The city's fire department was hired to burn it down, but after 2 tries, the firemen stated they had to put out the fire as soon as they lit it because it sounded like a human inside the tree was screaming in agony and a human figure could be seen in the flames. After this, the tree was left alone.

 Over the years, the limbs of the tree rotted and dropped one by one until there was little left except the trunk. Shortly after it was announced the hospital was to be closed, lightning hit the trunk and all but a stump exploded and burned away. 

The buildings are vacant and abandoned now, the grounds deserted. There are No Trespassing signs posted on the property, but that doesn't stop everyone. Those brave enough to be in the cemetery at night have reported hearing a sad wailing and crying which seems to come from the area of the Graveyard Elm stump. A hasty retreat is always the result. Evidently, Old Book is still crying for all the unnamed patients buried on the grounds of the asylum.