A small and historic town called Palestine is located in the county and is said to be the oldest white settlement in the state of Illinois. It is also the oldest town in Illinois that is still in it's original location. Fort LaMotte was said to be located in Palestine and was constructed during the war of 1812 to protect the early settlers in Crawford County from Indian attacks. A street is now named after the fort that no longer exists. An attempt to locate the original site of the fort unearthed an even greater discovery! A large Native American village that dates as far back as 300 AD was found. Many strange noises and lights have been seen in this area.
The Hutson Massacre took place within the county in 1812. Isacc Hutson's wife, his five children, and neighbor were massacred. One of Isacc's daughters was believed to have been captured by Indians. The massacre took place while Hutson was away at Fort LaMotte in Palestine. When Isacc arrived back home he found his house in flames and his family murdered. The family had been decapitated and the heads of his family were placed on posts around the cabin. He then joined the army and was later killed himself by the Indians. Some say the Hutson's are not at rest and their spirits still wonder the site of the reconstructed 1812 settler village that sets just yards from the original location in what is now Hutsonville!
Down in the south east corner of the county near Heathsville is the Gravesite of Elizabeth "Betsey" Reed. She was the first woman ever publicly executed and the only woman executed by hanging in Illinois. Convicted of poisoning her husband with arsenic laced sassafras tea, she was put to death on May 23, 1845. It is said that she rode to her execution site right beside her casket singing. Elizabeth some how started a fire in her cell that burned down the Palestine jail where she was being held at with absolutely nothing in the cell to start a fire with! Her grave site and the cemetery it is located in is now a very haunted location. We have witnessed many strange events happen there along with scientific data from our equipment indicating something paranormal was taking place!
The Wabash River is located on the east side of Crawford County with neighboring Sullivan County, Indiana on the other side of the river. South of Heathsville along the Wabash River is the site of the only Naval battle fought on the Wabash during the Revolution. The Hutsonville Ferry went into operation in 1854, and was the only route across the Wabash. The first Hutsonville bridge opened in 1939 making ferry travel obsolete. It was while the ferry was in operation and Model T's were new, a woman from Graysville tried to cross the ferry and her auto rolled back into the river drowning her. It is said that her spirit still roams the banks of the Wabash trying to get across!
The Embarras River cuts through the south west corner of the county and has many haunted locations along its banks aswell. There is an area along the river known as The Bend or The Dark Bend. This area was a popular hideout back in the middle to late 1800s for horse thieves, killers, and bank robbers. Even today it holds a reputation for being a forbidden place!
A little creek by the name of No Bussiness runs along the Crawford and Jasper county line on the west side of the county. My Grandpa and Grandma used to tell stories of what they called the Red Lanterns. They were balls of light that would travel in the area along the creek and when approached they just vanish into thin air, sometimes even chasing people! Maybe this is what other people are seeing in other states like Missouri known as The Ghost Lights.
Two Historic Churches are located in the county. One being the Quaker Church located 1.25 miles west of Route 1 on the Annapolis Road. It has been in continuous services since it's inception in 1818. The second historic church is the Canaan Primitive Babtist Church and was formed in 1817 inside Fort Allison. The church has held continous services since then. It is located south of Palestine.
The Crawford County Illinois Ghost Hunters Society is located in the town of Oblong. The town became a tent city over night along with Stoy back in 1906 when oil was struck fourteen feet down on the John Shire farm near Stoy. The decision for drilling the well in that spot was made by tossing an empty whiskey bottle into the air and drilling where it landed! The Crawford County oil boom was on, and from 1908 to 1910, the county was credited as being the greatest oil producing area in the world.
I have just barely touched on the history and hauntings of Crawford County. History is still being made in the county along with new haunted locations because without history there can be no hauntings!
The next time your in the area driving on that deserted road late at night with the full moon over head and you pass by that old cemetery or house and feel your hair stand on end wandering if your alone, well you better look in the back seat because you might be riding with one of the many ghosts that haunt Crawford County Illinois!