Written by Elisa Walter of Hoosier Paranormal

Down a dark gravel lane, off of Highway 7 in Vernon, Indiana you will find a very old but still active cemetery. Baldwin Cemetery was named for Ebenezer Baldwin, an early resident of Vernon who earned his fame by building and operating the Tunnel Mill.  Ebenezer’s resting place is just a few yards from the ruins of his grist mill. The ruins of the mill and the cemetery are equally spooky, time worn and moss covered.

The favorite ghost of Baldwin is “Bloody Mary”. Who was she? Why is her legacy so bloody? What did she do? Where is she buried? Were her remains actually removed from Baldwin due to public outcry?

I’ve been searching the net and what I’ve found about “Bloody Mary” seems to have nothing to do with any woman who lived and died long ago in Vernon, Indiana. The legend seems to have originated in the Victorian era. Usually the tale describes a mother, named Mary Worth who killed her children. However, depending on what part of the country you are from she may appear as anything from a witch, to a woman whose baby was taken from her, to a young woman whose face was horribly mutilated in an accident. Some believe that the legend stretches back to Tudor England and Mary I, Queen of England who was known as Bloody Mary because of the number of death sentences imposed during her 5 year reign. It is said that her spirit can be summoned by standing before a mirror in a darkened room with a candle and chanting her name 13 times. Some versions have you spinning around 3 times in order to invoke her. Either way, it is a test of courage because she may proceed to scratch your eyes out or try to drive you insane.

Somewhere in Vernon’s history there must be a dark, unsavory story which has taken on the auspices of this popular Victorian parlor game. My task is to find that story.

The Jennings County Historical Society tells the following tale: In 1837, 2 sisters, Mary and Gladys Smith, lived alone on their family farm after the deaths of both their parents. Young Mary had been harassed by some of the men working on the railroad nearby. One night, after dressing for bed, Mary went outside to get fire wood. She was attacked, raped and stabbed to death. The assailant was never identified. She was buried in Baldwin Cemetery where she rested undisturbed until one night when a man, in a drunken stupor, tripped and fell upon her grave. Looking up, he saw her standing there, her white nightgown bloody from the fatal wound. Thus, the legend was born.      A resident of Jennings County has reported a very different story to HPR: Sometime in the late 1800’s a woman named Mary Crist killed her husband for unknown reasons. In a psychotic state, she paraded through Vernon carrying her husband’s severed head. The townspeople apparently took her into custody. She was tried, found guilty and hanged outside the Courthouse. She was buried in the Crist family plot at Baldwin Cemetery. As time passed, her infamy grew and several of her husband’s relatives had her removed from their family plot and moved to the city cemetery.

What do we find in the county documents to support either of these claims? We find very little. Yes, there was a Mary Crist. She was the wife of Samuel Crist, a successful local farmer. The names of Samuel and Mary appear on the Baldwin Cemetery records but there are no stones in the cemetery for either of them. Two of their children are buried at Baldwin, both having died at a young age.

We can only speculate why the couple’s burial plots at Baldwin are empty. In his will, dated 1889, Samuel requests to be buried with his parents at Baldwin. He is not there, however.

He and Mary are both at Vernon City Cemetery and are listed in the cemetery’s records. Mary survived 10 years after the death of her husband. Perhaps the portion of the above legend which speaks of Mary’s removal from Baldwin sprang from this confusing double burial record. The fact is, Samuel was not murdered, he knew he was dying and bequeathed his farm and personal property to his “loving wife”.
As for Mary Smith and her tragic murder; this is a harder nut to crack. The Jennings County Courthouse has court records dating back as far as 1817, but if her assailant was never identified, there would be no court record. Additionally, no newspaper clippings describing this crime have been found. Her marked grave is in the very old back section of Baldwin Cemetery amid the tall pines and undergrowth. For years it was protected from vandalism by a wrought iron fence. The fence is long since gone and her stone is unreadable. I find it quite sad and unjust that the name of a young rape and murder victim has been degraded and debased, her grave desecrated.

Does Mary Smith’s spirit linger at Baldwin? Is she restless because of the trauma of her death or because of the callous treatment her memory has received over the years? Or, is it all a story made up to feed the imaginations of local thrill seekers?

Did Jennings County perform hangings on the courthouse lawn? Yes, they did. Four men have met this fate. The first hanging was in 1866. The man’s last name was Sage and he was hanged for the murder of two children named Todd. This is the most documented and notorious murder case in Jennings County.

Three confederates were captured during the infamous Morgan’s Raid. One was released while the other two were executed. The last man to be hanged on the Jennings County Courthouse lawn was in the early 1900’s; also a convicted murderer.

Reprinted with permission in the October 2009 issue of Liberty Monthly.
Original Posting by Hoosier Paranormal
Attachment of 1866 Newspaper Article