Tiny Baldwin Cemetery sits in the woods at the end of a drive off South County Road 25 W (Tunnel Mill Road), south of Vernon, Indiana. It is flanked on two sides by an exaggerated meander in the Muscatatuck River. For generations, local residents have searched for the grave of a woman named Mary Smith or Mary Crist, located somewhere in Baldwin Cemetery. The legend is so popular that every year the Jennings County Historical Society and Jennings County High School Drama Club include a vignette about Mary during their annual ghost walk. There are many stories about Mary, including one account claiming she was a witch who was hanged from the branches of a large tree in the cemetery and then buried beneath it. In 2003, a woman claimed to use a dowsing rod to locate Mary’s grave beneath a large tree. According to the Jennings County Historical Society, Mary and her sister Gladys lived alone on a farm in the 1830s. One night, an unidentified assailant raped and murdered Mary and escaped into the darkness. Months after her burial, a drunken man was staggering through the cemetery when he tripped and fell over her grave. The ghost of Mary appeared wearing a bloody nightgown, and the man fled in terror. Many also believe that if you step on Mary’s grave, blood will gush from the ground.
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