River Town Paranormal Society

Researching The Illinois and Missouri Mississippi River Valley
 
 
Home      Woodland Cemetary
                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                 
 
                                                                                                          
 
 
  River Town Paranormal Society's very first investigation took place at Woodland Cemetery, the oldest maintained cemetery in Quincy Il, on the banks of the Mississippi River. It's a beautiful setting,  hand picked by Quincy's founding father, John Wood back in the mid 1800's.  It sits high on the bluff with a perfect view of anything traveling up and down the river.  The cemetery faces west so that every night as the sun sets over the cemetery the red, yellow and orange hues of sunbeams dance gently on each and every headstone or statue that graces much of this historical cemetery.  To many visitors the cemetery is a peaceful spot to reflect upon their family members who have crossed.  To others, more knowledgeable, it is a historic pool of many souls who made  Quincy what it is today. Then  there are those who find it a hot spot of paranormal activity as is evident from all the local groups who come time and again to investigate. RTPS believes they are a good mix of all three of these groups and find Woodland Cemetery never ceases to amaze us.  
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                   
 
In 1912 Woodland Cemetery had rolling hills, bluffs, a rendevors. Citizens of the communtiy gayfully walked and picniced in the grassy knolls.  Once the sky turned dark the park took on a mysterious tone. Laborers who worked at the distillery made a foot path from the west side .  One evening, a man with guestionable behavior named "Cap" thought to head through the cemetery on his latest endeavor. Cap was known by most citizens. He had been in troubled with the law and was given the trade of sharpening scissors and razors. He frequently traveled on his horse and wagon  throughout the county.  Cap wore a small bell, so that gentle folks knew who he was. This particular night, Cap staggered through the cemetery and fell into one of revenors. Each attempt Cap made to lift himself out was met by the earth giving away under his foot hold. For hours Cap tried again and again to left himself out. 
The hour for the night shift was coming on at the distillery. Just as they had on every other night, two labors walked along the footpath through Woodland Cemetery . The two heard what sounded like a tinkling of a bell and went to investigate the troubling sound. As they approached Cap had jumped enough for the two of them to get a quick glimpse of Caps bust only to slide back down again to the bottom. The two men were so startled they started running to the distillery. One of them was so terrified he passes out on the path. Scared out of his mind the first man tells his boss what he thought had happened. The men got together a small group along with the frightened man of the tale. As the excited group came along the path with lanterns in hand, they found the second man still passed out from fright. The group only had a few yards to proceed before they reached the gully where the would be ghost was said to be seen. In moments the men realize that is was "Cap" and ropes were thrown down to help him out. 
Oct 13, 1912  Quincy Dailey Whig.
 
 
                                                       
                                                                
 
 
The more we investigate the more we find that luck is not always on our side. During the ball throwing experiment the night of our investigation neither our digital recorder or night camera were pointing in the direction of where the ball landed. Instead we had them directed into one area of the mausoleum that during a previous investigation we had a response to tapping.  This is one of many times when our cameras are either not pointed in the direction of or not working properly in the direction of questionable evidence. This photo shows the room where our camera was pointed that night instead of down the long hallway.
 
     
          
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
        
 
 
 
 
 
    
               
Woodland Mausoleum
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
One of the local tales of the hauntings at the Woodland Cemetery Mausoleum was the story of Pearl Lycan.  The legend told of a young girl who had died at a very young age and was buried at the mausoleum. Her parents, being very distraught over her death, left Quincy and were never buried with their daughter. It was said that Pearl walked the halls of the Mausoleum looking for her parents.  RTPS went into the investigation using Pearl as the person we addressed and tried to get her to respond to us.  After the investigation we did further research to find out that Pearl Lycan was not a young girl but a adult male who lived a full life and indeed all of his family are buried there at the Mausoleum. No one was left alone there, they are all together. If Pearl did respond it would be to tell us to stop asking him to play "Ring around the rosie". 
 
  
                                             
 
                                                                                                                              
 
                                                                                          
 
                                                                            
 
                                   
                                                                                                                           
 
 
 
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