2. Mary Worth Wadsworth, Illinois Witch1Accord to legend, Mary Worth was a notorious witch who lived on a farm west of Gurnee in Lake County in the mid-1800s. Prior to the Civil War, she would capture runaway slaves and torture them in her barn. Outraged locals took the law into their own hands and burned her to death. Some say her bones were buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, but others say they were buried on her farm. Years later, a house was built over the foundation of the former barn. The family who lived there found a stone on the property and used it as a step beneath their front door. Poltergeist activity quickly followed. In 1986, the house burnt to the ground, and subsequent efforts to build at the location have failed. Some researchers believe this tale is the origin of the “Bloody Mary” urban legend.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 03:39:15 +0000