The OES visited Elisabeth’s Grave on July 8, 2001. Located in the Pleasant Valley Wildlife Area, the cemetery’s official name is Mount Union – Pleasant Valley Cemetery. The cemetery was established in the churchyard of Union Presbyterian Church, which once stood near the right large tree in the rear of the cemetery. The church was organized on April 13, 1802, and the earliest known burial there was Joseph McCoy in 1811. The church building and any evidence of it being there are long gone, only the cemetery remains.
There is a local legend, with several variations, about a woman named Elisabeth whose tombstone moves to different locations within the cemetery. In one variation, Elisabeth hanged herself from a tree located in the rear of the cemetery. A second variation states that Elisabeth was either hanged, beheaded, or a combination of the two by a group of men who were angry about her inheritance of her late husband’s land. This also took place near the tree in the rear of the cemetery. In any case, her body was buried at the front of the cemetery, but her tombstone constantly moved to the place where she died in the rear of the cemetery. According to records, there are thirteen women named Elisabeth or Elizabeth buried at the cemetery. Of those thirteen, there are at least two who died after their husbands, Elizabeth Clark and Elisabeth E. Eagleson. We know that one of the thirteen died before her husband, Elizabeth W. Eagleson, thus eliminating her as the infamous Elisabeth.
We arrived to the cemetery around 1:45 AM on our original trip in 2001. That night was particularly creepy because we stumbled upon some bones of a dead animal, probably some sort of canine. The bones were at the center of a large circle of tombstones in the rear of the cemetery. A set of jaw bones laid on top of one of the tombstones. After looking at the bones for a few minutes, we heard something coming through the woods toward us, so we got out of there. We recorded very high electromagnetic field readings next to a large tree in the rear of the cemetery before leaving, peaking at the top of the scale.
We have returned to Elisabeth’s Grave numerous times since our initial 2001 trip. We heard odd, eerie noises coming from a field across the drive from the cemetery on one of those trips. It kind of sounded like a corny Halloween sound you would hear from a child’s toy. We could not find the source of the noise even after using our 500,000 candle-power spotlight and ended up leaving a few minutes later. On another trip, we successfully tracked a cold spot for a few minutes. The cold spot moved around and our EMF meter would spike to the top of the scale whenever it was placed into the cold spot. Many others who have visited the cemetery have encountered strange activities there as well. Click Here to read their stories. As a side note, the alternate spelling is Elizabeth’s Grave.
We are sad to report that we found the cemetery decimated during our most recent visit to the cemetery in 2015. All of the tombstones with the exception of a large McCoy stone had been removed from the cemetery. We are not sure if this was a decision made by the cemetery trustees or if it was a cowardly act of vandalism. Please contact info@ohioexploration.com if you have any further information.
Thanks to Craz for taking us to Elisabeth’s Grave on our original visit.
Location Information: Inactive Cemetery [Safe]
Mount Union – Pleasant Valley Cemetery is located on Union Lane off Egypt Pike near Chillicothe; Ross County.
Photographs
The tunnel of trees along the lane that led to Elisabeth's Grave.
A pile of tombstones formed a circle at the rear of the cemetery.
OES member Craz can be seen here taking EMF readings near the large tree at the rear of the cemetery.
Another view of the tree during a follow-up visit.
These bones were in the middle of the circle of tombstones.
Jaw bones were on top of a tombstone.
Even more bones were present during a follow-up visit in September 2001.
At the time of our first visit, this was the only tombstone with Elisabeth inscribed on it in the rear of the cemetery.
The following photos were taken during a day trip in August 2004. This was the view of Mount Union-Pleasant Valley Cemetery upon our arrival.
There were still a few tombstones standing, but most were damaged or vandalized.
The tombstone on the left belonged to Elizabeth Augustus. Even though no date of death was listed, records indicate she died on April 7, 1927 at about 97-years-old. The tombstone on the right belonged to her daughter Edith, who died at 15-years-old on February 28, 1889.
This very old gravestone belonged to two year old Rebecka Jane Rayburn. She died on June 27, 1828.
The base of the tombstone for one of the nine Robinson family members buried in the cemetery.
Looking to the rear corner of the cemetery.
Although it was knocked over, Maria Miskimins' tombstone was well preserved. She died at 24 on May 23, 1845.
The tombstone of Maria's husband Joseph Miskimins. He died 22 years after his wife on December 29, 1867.
The tombstone of Revolutionary War veteran William Rodgers. Born in 1750, William died on August 21, 1824.
The tombstone of James Robertson was propped up against another stone. James died on October 24, 1884 a few weeks after his 77th birthday.
Rebecca Robertson died at 72-years-old on January 20, 1882.
The tombstone for Lucy Robertson, wife of John. She died on July 19, 1882.
The tombstone of John Corbit, who was the first of three siblings to die in the fall of 1832. John died on October 23, 1832 at 19-years-old.
James Corbit died on October 25, 1832 just two days after his brother John.
Sarah Corbit died on November 5, 1832, eleven days after James. She was 17-years-old. The cholera epidemic swept through the state around this time. Perhaps they were victims of the disease or some other tragedy.
The large tree at the rear of the cemetery is where Elisabeth was supposedly hanged. The empty field is where a church used to stand.
The pile of broken stones had grown since our earlier visits.
One of the many broken tombstones belonged to John P. Augustus. He died at 48-years-old on July 9, 1888.
This broken tombstone belonged to James A. McCoy, who died on October 10, 1867 just days away from his 34th birthday.
Some of the tombstones were covered with vegetation, like this one that belonged to Nancy Ann Abernathy. She died in July 22, 1881 at 72.
Some tombstones had fallen into a wooded area behind the cemetery.
These pieces of tombstone had made their way into the woods.
It seemed there were more broken stones in the pile than standing in the cemetery.
We decided to go a bit farther into the woods to see if any tombstones had been carried away.
A couple of bricks or tombstone markers?
While in the woods, we found this marker in the ground that simply read "U.S." We believe it is a property marker for the wildlife reserve.
Looking back to the cemetery from the wooded area.
Looking deeper into the woods.
We attempted to record EVP at the tombstone pile but nothing was recorded during this visit.
Looking toward the cemetery from the tombstone pile.
This tree next to the tombstone pile was probably too young to have been where Elisabeth was supposedly hanged.
However, this large tree near the opposite corner could be old enough.
There was an open field between the two trees.
A partially broken tombstone for Adam Turner. He died on September 11, 1841 at 74.
This large granite McCoy family monument was located near the front of the cemetery.
The tombstones for William and Orlando Junk. William died on September 19, 1862 at 52. Orlando died on December 16, 1882 at only six years old.
Rebecca Junk, William's wife, was buried nearby. She died on November 14, 1878 at 62-years-old.
This tombstone was partially buried. We uncovered it and found that it belonged to Solomon Houseworth. Solomon died on July 20, 1845 at 53-years-old.
A handmade tombstone for Harry McCoy. Harry died on March 17, 1924 at 65.
The last grave we visited for the day belonged to Civil War soldier Harrison Beard. He died from tuberculosis on February 18, 1864.
Foreign Language: This sounds like a foreign language to us. Several people have written in stating it sounds Native American and a few have even suggested Polish. Another person states they hear French “[Unidentified] qui êtes-vous?” translated to “[Unidentified] who are you?” I-Town Ghost Hunters have stated they hear, “Oh, go check the door.”
