I have a strained relationship with the standard American cemetery. On the one hand, I advocate against their design and implementation for many reasons, not the least of which is the significant environmental costs associated with their operation. On the other hand, I find the architecture—the stonework, statuary and, where possible, garden landscape—beautifully meditative and I want these places to remain. One of the great struggles I have is with how much to preserve cemeteries and their legacy and how much to respectfully move and turn under. As a strong case for why one of those two options needs pursuing, here is my take on the case of the Liberty Hill “Witch”, based on the research and post of Anita Dalton from Odd Things Considered.

Outside of Austin, just to the north, is an area referred to as the Texan Hill Country; in this area there is a small town called Liberty Hill. As was true for many rural areas in the 1800s, Liberty Hill has a small cemetery, used almost exclusively by a few families that lived in the area at the time. This particular cemetery was started by a family that occupied the area starting around 1829, meaning that it was ‘in operation’ before the civil war.

As is the common history of such a cemetery, with longer lifespans, better medical access and overall fewer people in the area, the interment rate has fallen off significantly, with probably only a few new residents in recent decades. Even those new people are likely to be related to the family for which the cemetery is named.

According to the new not-so-urban legend, Elizebeth Simpson was a slave to one of the nearby families and, according to some versions, a witch. Tried for horse theft, Elizebeth was hanged in the middle of the cemetery and was later cut down and buried there, but not before uttering a final curse, which is engraved on her headstone: And remember as yo ar pasin by yo must die as well as I. The fact that the egregious misspellings in the epitaph are now taken as “evidence” that this is the grave of a black slave says much more about modern stereotypes than they do in successfully demonstrating any part of the Creepypasta claims about Elizebeth.

Now, given the era in which this cemetery was started and that blatant segregation was in play until far into the twentieth century -regardless of whether the families that started this cemetery had slaves- the reality of the time period is that of all the bodies that are in this cemetery, are likely to be of white origins. This fact seems painfully obvious: whites in a slave state were extremely unlikely to allow the burial of a black person in the same cemetery as their beloved dead. They definitely wouldn’t have had a large tombstone with an inscription—no matter how badly spelled—for said black person. As such, it is quite confusing that the folklore of this cemetery hinges on a slave being killed and buried on its grounds. At any rate, some say that if you go to her grave, you can still hear her moaning.

...and what remains, plus the detritus of her visitors: fake flowers, toys, odds and ends and--in the lower right corner--is that...

Ignoring all the historical improbabilities and inconsistencies in favor of some vaguely “right”-feeling narrative and creepy ending, this new ghost story has had one, and only one, real effect: the destruction of one gravestone, and the defilement and possible continued vandalism and desecration of other nearby gravesites. Elizebeth’s grave has not only been chiseled into, painted, or knocked over, but also has been broken off, nearly at its base. Further, the nocturnal visitors of this cemetery have taken to leaving “tokens” of various sorts: coins, stuffed animals, and a variety of wrappers to name the most prominent.

This isn’t just a problem in old cemeteries, but those with historical grave markers present are more likely to have this sort of problem, after all, it’s much harder to invent tragic stories for more the recently dead, who can potentially be easily found in documentation than a 19th century person. To that end, thrill-seekers, teenagers, ghost-hunters and Halloween tourists across the nation descend onto cemeteries with old graves. Only out for a night of fun, many of these people will inevitably get bored when, contrary to what they’ve heard, walking in front of Elizebeth’s grave doesn’t instantly kill them. Some of these people will then decide to “challenge” the ghost—or whatever is the bizarre rational they have for their chosen antics—by scratching into the grave marker or partaking in other activities that generate the garbage they simply leave there.

Sadly, this is what we have to consider as being a probable outcome for the headstones we’ve put in place since the turn of the twentieth century. At some point, the majority of such markers cease to have meaning and importance. In this particular case, the destruction has come about entirely because of an easily disprovable supposed history fueled by online enthusiasm, but every year there are many instances of such damage across the nation, which I think is symptomatic of the unhealthy relationship that Americans have with death and where we dispose of the dead.

A made-on-the-spot Ouija board to help with someone's "adventure".

In a society that at once tries to both solemnly sanctify the dead while also fearing and actively distancing ourselves from everything to do with death and funerals-- and the artifacts such practices leave behind-- it probably shouldn’t be surprising that the thrill of confronting the dead, or Death, is so attractive to many. As an extension of that, it probably also shouldn’t be surprising that the active desecration of graves is an extension of this confrontation. In an ultimately futile attempt at addressing the problematic psychological underpinnings that lead to such actions, the desire for such a challenge likely functions as a means of demonstrating one’s own aliveness. It seeks to show that one has the ability to do something to the dead, knowing full well that the dead cannot retaliate, as well as “proving” that one isn’t afraid of Death and the dead.

The result, though, is the same. Someone’s gravestone was destroyed, and for a headstone over 100 years old, there is little to nothing that can be done.

Note: All images, with the exception of the intact headstone of Elizebeth were taken from Anita Blake's Flickr. The complete headstone image was taken by a volunteer and submitted to the Find a Grave index.