Pere Cheney Witch’s Grave - Rural Crawford County, Michigan

Now a ghost town, the village of Pere Cheney in north-central Michigan has a tragic history. Perhaps that is why its cemetery, which contains the graves of around 90 persons, is rumored to be home to a witch’s grave, as well as many supernatural occurrences. Pere Cheney was originally settled in 1874 by lumberjacks, who believed the site of George M. Cheney’s sawmill was an ideal location to set down roots. In 1881, its population was 922. Just a few years later, however, diphtheria swept through the area and many children died. As the community tried to recover, a fire broke out, and in 1893 there was an outbreak of smallpox, scarlet fever, and diphtheria. Diphtheria, a bacterial infection that mainly affects children, struck again in 1906. By 1818, only 18 residents remained in Pere Cheney, and the village was soon completely abandoned. According to legend, people from surrounding communities deliberately set fire to Pere Cheney to prevent the spread of disease. Others say that the epidemics and fires were caused by a witch who cursed the land after her neighbors banished her to the surrounding wilderness. She was later hung from a tree in the cemetery and her body was burned. To this day, some visitors claim to see her ghost in Cheney Cemetery.