Immigrant Cemetery, Ipswich, MA - July 26th, 2017
I found out about this cemetery because I saw a news article about the textile mills in Ipswich, MA, that were here at the turn of the century, and which employed a lot of immigrants from Poland and Greece. In the article they made mention of this cemetery so I decided to go out and find it. It's ten minutes from my house, so a non issue. The day was gorgeous and quiet and off I went.
When I arrived, I parked in the only space provided and walked in. I read the sign then started my recorder and walked slowly among the stones, reading the inscriptions and trying to pronounce the names of those buried there. There are only about 50 stones up, but there are numerous shallow depressions everywhere and there was evidence that recently some new digging had occurred, whether because a tree had to be removed or due to frost heaves. I don't know.
After about half an hour I had circled back towards the end nearest the gate and I started noticing pieces of white bone in the grass. Big ones, small ones. At first I thought a coyote had killed a deer here and eaten it, but then I noticed that the bones were not only jagged, they were way more numerous than one deer could have provided. 80% of them seemed to be skull fragments and rib pieces. I began to really look and determined that the area with the bone fragments was about 30 by 40 feet big. Maybe a mower had hit them. The grass was, after all, freshly mowed.
When I arrived, I parked in the only space provided and walked in. I read the sign then started my recorder and walked slowly among the stones, reading the inscriptions and trying to pronounce the names of those buried there. There are only about 50 stones up, but there are numerous shallow depressions everywhere and there was evidence that recently some new digging had occurred, whether because a tree had to be removed or due to frost heaves. I don't know.
After about half an hour I had circled back towards the end nearest the gate and I started noticing pieces of white bone in the grass. Big ones, small ones. At first I thought a coyote had killed a deer here and eaten it, but then I noticed that the bones were not only jagged, they were way more numerous than one deer could have provided. 80% of them seemed to be skull fragments and rib pieces. I began to really look and determined that the area with the bone fragments was about 30 by 40 feet big. Maybe a mower had hit them. The grass was, after all, freshly mowed.
But then I got a really uneasy sense that someone was standing beside me and a little behind me. And then the smell of decay began to spread, enough to be noticeable. I would have noticed this when I first walked into the cemetery, as I had been in this place before on the way in. I kept walking and pointedly ignored whatever was following me. I had asked the spirits here to tell me their stories and told them I was just here to visit and talk. So this *whatever it was* was a little eerie.
When I had looked at all of the stones and given the spirits enough time to say what they wanted to, I said my goodbyes and left. As I approached the gate I looked down and saw a black crow feather laying in a sunny spot on the ground. So I stopped and demanded that whatever was following me stop, stay where it was and leave me alone, because it was not welcome.
The smell of decay dissipated immediately.
I got in my car and left.
When I got home, I listened to my recordings. The very first one I caught said "Careful".
And now I know why.
When I had looked at all of the stones and given the spirits enough time to say what they wanted to, I said my goodbyes and left. As I approached the gate I looked down and saw a black crow feather laying in a sunny spot on the ground. So I stopped and demanded that whatever was following me stop, stay where it was and leave me alone, because it was not welcome.
The smell of decay dissipated immediately.
I got in my car and left.
When I got home, I listened to my recordings. The very first one I caught said "Careful".
And now I know why.
Careful
Mom
Recorded as I was looking at a child's grave
I do not
Recorded right after I said "You can talk to me if you'd like to."
Keep it
HERE
I'm pretty sure this is whoever/whatever was following me.
It's me
Recorded after I apologized for standing on people.
I will definitely be going back to this one.