Posey Chapel & Cemetery Investigation

Posey Chapel was built in 1841 for the families in the area of the Methodist faith. It was one of the county's older landmarks. See our Galena Township church histories for photo and additional information. The Chapel was located next to the Posey Chapel Cemetery where, for well over 125 years, families had laid their departed to rest. Although many records state that the first burial at Posey was 1844 or 1845, old transcriptions of this cemetery show that two infant sons of Thomas and Lucetta (Sutherland) Foster, who died in 1838 and 1839, are buried here. It is possible that others were buried on the hill before it was designated as a cemetery or, as we have seen at other pioneer cemeteries individuals first buried near the family home may have been removed and reinterred at the cemetery at a later date.

A sad note must be added to this page. The Chapel was located next to the Posey Chapel Cemetery where, for well over 125 years, families had laid their departed to rest. On the evening of January 26, 1972 arsonists struck and burned the structure to the ground. They were later apprehended.

The chapel had not been used in several years with the exception of an occasional family reunion. But the La Porte County Historical Society had been maintaining the building as one of La Porte 's landmarks. An open pavilion now stands approximately where the church once stood.

Address: East of Fail Rd. on 1000 N. near Hesston , Indiana

GPS: 41.45172, 86.37627

Directions: From Hwy 20 turn North onto Fail Rd. (it will be at a stoplight). Go down Fail Rd. for about 4 miles. You will come to a stop sign and see Hesston Bar on the Northeast corner. Turn East and go about 2 miles and you will see the cemetery on the North side of the road.

The GRS investigated Posey Chapel and Cemetery on April 14, 2012 with GRS member Dale Kaczmarek and help from Krys Roman, Emil Beeg III and others from Paranormal Sciences.

Hauntings: More than any other in the county, Posey has been saddled with the reputation of being haunted. It’s unknown why Posey has been singled out by Ghost Hunters and amateur ghost chasers to be a target of research and of published accounts of hauntings. The stories range from a mysterious black dog appearing from nowhere and causing vehicles to crash to baby buggies rolling down the hill at midnight, to a small child in the cemetery calling “MaMa”. Many of the accounts can be chalked up to the imagination, power of suggestion and just plain fabrication. While it’s certainly not in my power to determine whether there may be occasional visits to Posey by unrested soles, it seems highly unlikely there are malicious or evil spirits wandering the area. At night you can see the activity under the pavilion that is where the chapel once stood. Red eyes can be seen and a red light of some sort can be seen moving through the woods. Also many orbs are seen in this area, you may also hear a woman singing and someone playing a guitar in the background. Some even say that a preacher hung himself from a tree that can still be seen today in the cemetery. It’s the one in very bad shape near the front of the cemetery.

Equipment setup: No actual equipment was set up however hand held equipment was used throughout the cemetery including IR camcorder, Ovilus X device, Ghost Box, digital recorder, digital camera, digital trap camera and Paracorder 667.

Experiments performed: EVP sessions were conducted in several sections of the cemetery and under the pavilion where the original chapel once stood. Our team of five was split into three and two people and later we joined up for a group EVP at the pavilion.

Personal experiences: I did not feel anything out of the ordinary while there investigating the cemetery. It seemed pretty peaceful with the occasional animal and possibly a horse sound. A group of teenagers later came into the cemetery and were curious as to what we were doing and just observed our EVP at the pavilion.

Evidence collected: One unusual photograph at first glance appeared to be a figure crouching over near a tree in the distance was later debunked in broad daylight by Beeg as a stone.

Fluttering come on.MPG a strange unidentified fluttering sound was recorded in the background followed by a female whispering, “Come one.”

Posey.MPG a Ghost Box session under the pavilion, during repeated questioning, I believe I hear the name Posey come out near the very beginning of the session.

Posey_yes.MPG during a Ghost Box session under the pavilion, a question was asked, "Are you a pastor?" The Ghost Box responds with, "Yes."

Stop.MPG a Ghost Box session under the pavilion, a voice is said to say, “Stop.”

We are.MPG a Ghost Box session under the pavilion, a question is asked, “Are you having problems speaking?” The box responds in a male voice, “We are.”

Weird sound.MPG during the 2^nd EVP session in the graveyard, a weird sound is heard in the background. It could very well be a live animal.

Conclusions: No other unusual images were captured with either my regular digital camera or the digital infrared trap camera. While the location has had a reputation of being haunted in the past, I wonder if it’s no more than urban legends and wild teenage fantasies and nothing more. I believe a more thorough investigation of this location with additional equipment, manpower and time might possibly yield some evidence however not much was gathered the evening of our investigation.