Places. Witches circle, Sharp cemetery

[IN Ghostdude]

There are spirits
Daleville
Witches Circle - It is said that people have seen outlines of a white women figure here. There is also a myth that the red splatter on the road is where someone was murdered but people say it's just a paint splatter. Also it has been said that an old man that used to live close to the "Witches Circle” still haunts the place today, and it’s said that witches still go there to do witch craft. Anytime people practice black magic and there are tales of haunting not associated with an actual individual or event, entities could be at work. Entities are thought to be from either a very disturbed person, or not from a human at all, called up by either séances or some other form of paranormal ceremony. Sharp cemetery.

[IN Ghostdude]

Pendleton (pleasant)
Cry Baby Bridge -On N675E (Thomas Road) there is a bridge. It is just north of the Main Street (Hayes Family) Cemetery. A woman was to have thrown her infant off of this bridge. If you park on this bridge your car will not start back up. You also might hear the mother sobbing, or the baby crying. We took our kids to this bridge and we shut the car off and my step son and I got out. We waited a few minutes and the only thing we heard was an annoying dog barking. I turned to the boy close to me and whispered “Let’s tell them we heard something, to scare them”. Before we could carry out this diabolical plan of mine there came from the river below and upstream a low, granular moaning. We looked at each other in surprise then we hollered for the others to come out and hear this. One rolled the window down about a sixteenth of an inch and said she could hear it, the others battened down the hatches and were not going to have any part of this. We slowly and in an organized fashion bolted for the car, which was slow to start. All in all…unless somebody has the time to wade upstream and wait for someone to come along and park on the bridge while his prank buddy sneaks under the hood of the car and messes with stuff, this phenomenon works. See also Markleville.

Hayes Family Cemetery -- (Main Street Graveyard ) See also: Markleville. This is an old cemetery. Most of the headstones are dated in the early to mid 1800’s including the founder of the township. It is said that two headstones have pentacles on them and that there is a skull embedded into one of the trees. There is reputed to be blood running from some of the markers, but my investigation found that it is red paint as there is R.I.P. written in the same color as the “blood” on another tombstone. People say that while here they hear unexplainable noises in the woods that get louder the longer they stay. I have felt a welcome breeze here that did seem to pick up as I was here. A girl that was thought to have the devil in her is buried here. Along with the paint there are other signs of vandalism and litter prompting officials to place two huge boulders over the entrance and step up patrols by the County Sheriffs. On County Road 675 (Thomas Road) about a ½ mile south of Crybaby Bridge.

[IN Ghostdude]

Mississinewa Battle Grounds
The Entire Area -To get the entire story of the magnitude of events that transpired here you will have to also see the Lafontaine,Okie-Pinokie and Wabash listings. In short, there was a history of bloodshed in this area between settlers, Government troops and the Miami Indians. This is where Frances Slocum was discovered. Frances Slocum was a Pennsylvania Quaker who was abducted, and was thusly spared in the Wyoming Massacre, by Delaware Indians in recourse to conflict between whites and Indians . She was brought to this area and married the Chief of the Miami Indians, She-pan-can-ah and she fought vehemently for the rights of the Miami to maintain homestead at Mississinewa.
The haunted caves that are associated with this listing are actually a formation known as 7 Pillars, a sacred site to the Indians. A legend from the days of Indian inhabitance says that the site was guarded by snakes. There are extensive reports of witnessing Historic phantoms as Indian spirits as well as government soldiers. There is a cemetery here containing the soldiers that died in battles here along with many Indian cemeteries and monuments. This area serves as a time capsule for that era as the dense, plush woods alongside the Mississinewa River stand pretty much as it did then but farm land is steadily encroaching upon this beautiful scenery. I feel a psychic hum when I visit this area.
There is also talk of a “Hobbitland” near here. Locally this is known almost more a fact than fiction. The Delaware Indians also camped here and it is from them the legend of the Puk-wud-ies, a tribe of little people that still inhabit the forest, hails. I have to wonder if there is a connection between Hobbitland and the Mounds State Park Puk-wud_ies.



Mississinewa Battle Grounds/Graveyard - The French were in Indiana as far back as the 1600’s. They coexisted with the Indians and both utilized the abundant natural resources this area offered. When the British arrived they did not play nice with the French and the Indians were caught in the middle. At first, the Indians, fearing expansion by the British, sided with the French. As the Colonists Indians began their westward push, the Indians took up with the British, who promised the Indians that they would keep the Colonists east of the Appalachian Mountains. When the Colonists revolted the French were not wanting to go to war over the land and pulled out. The British were eventually forced out and the spread of the Untied States spilled into the Indiana Territory. Not wanting to give up their land, the Indians banded against the Untied States. Michigan, Ohio and Indiana were the gateway to the west then and Indiana was most pivotal. Some tribes tried to give land to the settlers as appeasement but soon figured out that this was not going to placate them and hostility grew. Already weakened by years of warfare with the British, the Indians could not muster much against government troops. Already driven from most of their hunting land the Indians last vestige was at the confluence of the Mississinewa and Wabash Rivers. In a blatant display of force the United States Government sought to eradicate the rest of the Indian Nation from this area. They had promised the Miami the right to the land until its last generation died out but were not patient enough to wait out the time and attacked. They burned villages and took most of the surviving men of the Indian tribes as prisoners leaving the Indians defenseless. There was practically nobody left behind to give the fallen a proper burial. With the ravage of war and the remaining Indians denied their crops for the season, death was commonplace. These Indians were among the most civilized, peaceful tribes in the Americas being educated by Frances Slocum, a Pennsylvania girl that was abducted by the Delaware and brought to the Miami for keeping. Left today is the schoolhouse and cemeteries and the spirits of Indians that were not properly put to rest. Hardship was also experienced by the government troops marching from Columbus to Mississinewa. Frostbite and disease plagued them the entire voyage and they lost5 many of the remaining men in the battle here. Scattered throughout the Mississinewa area are the remnants of that era. A Miami schoolhouse and cemetery as well as markers where other tribes and villages once stood. A cemetery where the fallen U.S. troops were laid to rest. People visiting here have seen the apparitions of Indians running through the woods as well as witnessed the historic phantoms of the U.S. troops marching through the fields. Strange, unexplainable noises come from the dense forestation. To fully understand the scope of this haunt you will have to read the LaFontaine, Mississinewa and Peru accounts. There is said to be a video of an apparition caught available but I have not seen this. I am in no way a psychic or medium but I feel an eerie presence when I am in this area, the same way I do when I am in certain sections of Fort Wayne, another site of historic Indian importance.