Haunted Michigan: The Ada Witch, Findlay Cemetery, and More

 

Findlay Cemetery, Courtesy Find A Grave

As a child, I spent almost as much time in Michigan as I did in Ohio. Not only did my mother's mother live there, but so too did most of her siblings. I can still remember feeling annoyed when she made me pack up my Christmas gifts mere hours after opening them to head north. Had I known about the many ghosts in the Wolverine State, I likely would have complained less.

One of the locations I plan to visit in the future is Findlay Cemetery. This cemetery is home to the lovingly nicknamed Ada Witch.

To get to the bottom of this story, you need to go back to the 19^th century. Unhappy with her marriage, a young woman started seeing another man. To keep her affair a secret, she waited until long after her husband to fall asleep before stealing away. Though she tried to keep things as quiet as possible, the husband had some suspicions.

One night, waking to find his wife sneaking out of their bedroom, he quietly got up and followed her. Though he already suspected she wasn't faithful, he didn't expect to find her in the arms of another man, especially not in a field just minutes away from their home. In a fit of rage, he attacked his wife.

Trying to help her, her lover fought back but to no avail. The husband killed his wife on the spot and then turned his attention to her lover. While he fought to kill the man who stole his wife, her lover fought in her honor. The end result was that both men suffered some extreme injuries that they passed away in the field long before help could arrive.

Stories from locals about seeing a strange woman in white popped up years ago. Some even claimed to see her in the days and weeks after the incident. The land where their field once was is now the cemetery she haunts. Legend says you have a better chance of seeing her if you visit during a full moon or on a nearby day. In most cases, people say they see a woman in white who roams the area around the cemetery in a desperate attempt to find her murdered lover.

The stories are quite common among people driving by at night. They claim to see a woman in a long white dress they describe as old-fashioned looking. If they try to talk to her or offer help, she flees into the woods. Others got close enough to see the scared look in her eyes before she vanished. I've even heard a few stories from people who said they felt something on their shoulder as if someone tapped them, but no one else was there.

If the Ada Witch still haunts this cemetery, she's far from alone. Police working in Findlay received a call from a panicked resident one night. He told them that there was a huge fight going on and he could hear a woman screaming. They rushed to the scene and found nothing but an empty field and some woods. It was far from the only call law enforcement ever got.

It seems as though dozens of people had similar experiences over the years. They always hear two men arguing in loud voices, followed by a woman's screams, and then more shouts. No matter how quickly they get to the scene, they never see any evidence of other people. It's as though all three are stuck reliving their last moments over and over again.

The Findlay Cemetery in Ada is a nice and peaceful place during the day. Some of its early residents were buried there in the 18^th century. If you hit 2 Mile Road, you'll find the cemetery to the north. I recommend visiting in the late spring or early summer though as it's only open from May to November.

You may not even need to visit the cemetery though because I heard the ghostly woman in white appears outside of it, too. She often appears as a mist that spreads across Honey Creek Egypt Valley. Many say she appears pale blue in color. She may also haunt Seidman Park, which isn't too far. A few stories say the park was the original spot of the field where she met her end. Others say to stay closer to Honey Creek Road as the field isn't too far away and it's where they found her body in the morning.

Honey Creek Road has quite a few odd stories about it. A few people in recent years spotted two men and a woman fighting on the side of the road. At least one group turned around and headed back to see if they should call someone and found the spot empty and no evidence that anyone was ever there. This is also where people claim to feel an invisible presence touching their backs and shoulders.

According to Sarah Mechan of Hawk Herald, paranormal researchers claimed that a local woman named Sarah McMillian was the Ada Witch. They further claimed she was buried in Findlay Cemetery and died of typhoid fever. Their stories became so popular that trespassers destroyed her headstone. Unfortunately, she passed after the story started, making it impossible that she was the Ada Witch.

Talking to WITL, a woman shared her encounter with the witch. She claims she saw a woman in a long blue dress sitting in the middle of the road one night. As she approached, the woman stood and began speaking without any words coming out. The driver was so frightened that she drove away and didn't drive down that stretch of road for quite some time.

A story from Michigan Haunted Houses comes from someone who had an unsettling experience in Findlay Cemetery that didn't involve the woman in white. He claims he saw a man carrying a lantern not far away from him. The man walked behind a tree and vanished. Though he and his friends searched, they didn't find any trace of him.

To find the supposed grave of the Ada Witch, head to Findlay Cemetery and look for a grave covered in flowers and other small items. Many people visit to pay their respects and leave a little something behind. Reach out if you have any stories about this or other haunted sites you want to share!