Hickory Hill Plantation - Illinois’ The Old Slave House
Hickory Hill Plantation in Equality, Illinois - Also known as the Crenshaw House or the Old Slave House is a mansion that was built in 1838 by John Crenshaw (November 19, 1797 – December 4, 1871) and his brother Abraham. Crenshaw owned vast salt mines and used his slaves to haul and boil the brackish water of Southern Illinois for salt. He owned over 740 slaves and was a known member of the “reversal underground railroad”, meaning he kidnapped free slaves and sold them or used them in his salt mines. It is also said that the house once had a tunnel that connected the basement to the Saline River, where slaves could be loaded and unloaded at night. He was charged with kidnapping and slave trafficking on several occasions. He kept a number of slaves in barred, cramped cells in the third floor attic of the mansion. There were reports that the mansion was haunted as early as 1851 with reports of people hearing strange sounds, mysterious voices, and moaning coming from the attic.
#8 Most Haunted Place in Illinois - Peoria State Hospital
Bartonville, Illinois
The hospital began in 1885 as Bartonville State Hospital. No patients were ever housed or treated in that building, however, and it was torn down in 1897. The institution was rebuilt and reopened in 1902 with a new name and a new superintendent. Now called Peoria State Hospital, a progressive physician named Dr. George A. Zeller took over the facility and instituted new, more humane treatments for mental illness. During his tenure there, he recorded many stories of daily life, including some that were almost beyond belief.
The main story associated with the hospital concerns the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of one of the patients, A. Bookbinder. Dr. Zeller assigned Bookbinder to the hospital’s burial corps, and he performed his job admirably. Old Book, as he was sometimes called, mourned the passing of each and every person he helped inter in the cemetery. When Bookbinder died, Dr. Zeller wrote that four hundred staff and patients observed his ghost mourning at his own funeral just as he had for countless others while he was alive. They even opened the coffin to confirm that Old Book was really dead. His corpse was securely inside.
For more info on the Peoria State Hospital: Click Here
