Four Corner's Burial Ground

Four Corners Burial Ground

Resting place of famous local witch Hannah Crannah. There are many stories and tales about Hannah and her otherworldly powers. This gravestone below was a gift from the Monroe Historical Society to commemorate her burial spot.

The Legend:

Hannah Crannah, Witch of Monroe (b. 1783 - d. 1859 or 1860)

Hannah was in her 70's when she died, but during her life she lived in the Turkey Roost and Cutlers Farm Roads area. She was married to Captain John Hovey, whom she was thought to have cursed after a short walk in the woods found him dead at the bottom of a cliff by a search party comprised of local townsfolk.

Hannah herself did not discourage the rumors and was thought to be a witch. She was avoided if at all possible as word spread of her unnatural abilities. One story tells of Hannah's asking a neighbor for a pie, the neighbor's husband's favorite. The woman offered Hannah a different smaller pie, refusing to relinquish the one coveted by Hannah. Stomping away, Hannah must have sursed the poor housewife as she was never able to bake a pie again. A fisherman who dared to dared to cast his line on the Hovey brook was never able to snag another fish in his life it is said after being caught trespassing by Hannah. She assisted one farmer by bringing rain to his withered crops - in exchange for his soul, the story goes.

Locals would set their clocks by Hannah's 'familiar spirit' aka 'Old Boreas' a rooster who would crow without fail at midnight. It was Boreas's death that sent Hannah into deep mourning and she held a candlelight ceremony for his burial. This set into motion Hannah's foresight of her own demise and she gave a neighbor strict instructions regarding her own funeral procedures. Per Hannah her coffin must be carried by hand to grave and by all means not interred before sundown. Hannah died the very next day.

A massive snowstorm buried most of the residents of Monroe that day except those who were the unfortunate pallbearers who chose to ignore Hannah's wishes and draw the coffin to the gravesite by employing a horse and cart. With much effort and strain the cold and weary attendants hauled the coffin on the cart and proceeded uphill. At some point the casket broke free of it's bonds and slid all the way down to her front steps. They then chained the coffin to the cart but to their shock and dismay it shook so violently that they decided (finally) to remove it carry it through the accumulating snow to her final resting place. "Thank God" thought the neighbor as he realized the sun had retired, fulfilling her wishes...

On return from the graveyard the troup found Hannah's house engulfed in flames. It then burned out of control until only a smoking cellar hole could be seen as testament to where her house had once stood.

My sense is that if you are a nature loving, fair and sincere person, Hannah will not have a problem with you. Being an herbalist and bit of a "kitchen witch" myself, I've had more than one occasion in the area that I felt that Hannah was actually working her magic from beyond in my favor.

For instance there was one nightime occasion that a fellow Cosmic Society Member and I were standing along the roadside taking photos of the cemetery when a large white SUV slowed down and up next to us. The windows were blackened so we could not see into the vehicle. We just stood there and the truck sped up and drove away. It went a short distrance, made a U-turn and sped back towards the two of us. Again it slowed down parallel to us and drove off. We were now getting nervous and thinking of packing it in for night. Our car was parked further down the road than was comfortable now and we would have to face the yet again oncoming SUV in order to reach it. We decided it was in our best interest to get back to the vehicle and we began running towards it. Sure enough the SUV, which had been sitting at the end of the road facing us, idling now started towards us. It sped up as did we in a crazy race towards my old gray station wagon (the "Grey Ghost" we used to call it!). As we approached each other out of nowhere appeared a police car, lights flashing and siren on, behind the white truck, making him speed past us and around a corner. The cop folled him and we were now safely inside my car. As the two cars went around the corner we hear the siren for just a short duration and then ... Nothing! We headed in the same direction around the corner and drove around looking for the white SUV or the police car.. both seemed to have vanished! The photo of the globule above the gravestone was taken on this night.

However if you even think of being disrespectful or destructive or scorn the idea of her story, she may have a trick or two in store for you! One "skeptical investigator" I once had the non-pleasure of being on a photo shoot with, started the evening off by trying to run down a cat on the road this cemetery is situtated on. He thought this was very funny. I told him to knock it off, and get a grip.By this time I already didn't want to be in the dark, in a deserted graveyard with this guy (jerk).But there was a local TV film crew with us so I couldn't very well up and walk out. He entered the gravesite with a cocky attitude; "C'mon you ugly old hag, show yourself!" were his first words, and proceeded to swear and repeatedly made degrading remarks. I was thoroughly disgusted but that didn't last long.

The crew had a picked a location to shoot from, and we had rehersed a few small lines of introduction. For some unknown reason "Joe" couldn't say his full name properly after repeated tries. Then the camera equipment began to act up - one of the crew's camera began to rewind the tape and refused to roll forward when the play button was hit. At that point "Joe" had become speechless and literally was white as a ghost.

We asked what was wrong and he complained of being kicked in the behind! No one was standing anywhere near him at the time and it really helped to change his tiring, belittling attitude. Aside from his lines, I don't think he said another two words for the rest of the duration of our stay. It was quite humbling for him I believe!