The headless horseman of Lakey’s Creek is quite possibly one of the oldest ghost stories in Illinois. Long before a concrete bridge spanned the shallow creek 1.5 miles east of McLeansboro, a frontiersman named Lakey attempted to erect his log cabin near a ford along the wagon trail to Mt. Vernon. One morning, a lone traveler stumbled upon Lakey’s body. Lakey’s head had been severed by his own axe, which was left at the scene. According to legend, his murderer was never found. For decades after the murder, travellers reported being chased by a headless horseman that rode out of the woods along Lakey’s Creek. “Always the rider, on a large black horse, joined travellers approaching the stream from the east, and always on the downstream side,” John Allen wrote. “Each time and just before reaching the centre of the creek, the mist-like figure would turn downstream and disappear.” The headless horseman has been seen much less frequently in recent years.
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