The Loon Lake Cemetery
tales
from the
iowa great
lakes
A quiet burial ground in southern Minnesota became the subject of one of the region's most persistent legends. But as we explore in this episode, the truth is quieter - and more complicated - than the stories suggest.
For more than 70 years, teenagers from southern Minnesota and northern Iowa have made late-night trips up the hill to see the site for themselves. Since at least the 1950s, the cemetery has been a local dare, a place to test your bravery, or tempt fate.
In case you don't know, here's the basic story: a young woman named Mary Jane in Lakefield, Minnesota, had supernatural powers. She was accused of being a witch. The townsfolk hung her, but before she died, she vowed her revenge on the community that killed her and placed a curse on her grave. If you go to the cemetery and jump over her grave or cross her grave three separate times, she will appear, and you'll die within 3 number of hours, days, what have you.
Long before the cemetery gained notoriety, it served as the final resting place for members of the Jackson County community, with burials dating from the 1870s to 1926. Over time, that community disappeared. Myths of beheaded witches, metal music, and vandalism took the place of memory.
This post takes a closer look at the historical record, shared by the Jackson County Historical Society.
We begin with a photo of the cemetery as it appears today, followed by the original deed, granted to Salmon Dickinson, who buried his son there.
There are a few surviving photographs from the cemetery's early years. But we've included links to the Find-A-Grave pages for several individuals mentioned in our episode:
Salmon C. Dickinson
John Terwillegar
Theola "Phoebe" Bowman Terwillegar
Mary Jane Terwillegar
Caroline Christensen
These are just a handful of the lives that deserve to be remembered.
We've also included materials that help illustrate the cemetery's past: a deed to an individual plot, a photo of the Loon Lake Baptist Church (one of two churches that once cared for the grounds), and—perhaps most revealing—a plot map from 1896.
In the decades that followed, the cemetery fell into neglect. Below, you'll find a clipping from the Jackson County Pilot dated November 27, 1980. The image shows the site strewn with beer cans. The original headstones, removed from the cemetery over time, are now preserved by the Jackson County Historical Society.
But the story doesn't end there.
Mary Chonko led extraordinary research into the lives of those buried at Loon Lake Cemetery, locating descendants and even writing a book about the site. Her niece, Teresa Chonko, now heads the Loon Lake Restoration Association—a volunteer group that maintains the grounds and continues the work of remembrance. Together, they’ve partnered with families whose loved ones’ headstones were taken or lost.
At the cemetery, a sign offers a quiet invitation:
“Missing stones can be returned... no questions asked. If you know the whereabouts of any stone suspected to be from this cemetery, please contact the JCHS at 507-662-5505.” Rewards are offered, thanks to the descendents.
Dismantling the myth of the Witch's Grave will take time. But that work is rooted in something more enduring than legend: the lives of real people, and the commitment to honor their place in history.
episode info
A quiet burial ground in southern Minnesota became the subject of one of the region's most persistent legends. But as we explore in this episode, the truth is quieter - and more complicated - than the stories suggest.
For more than 70 years, teenagers from southern Minnesota and northern Iowa have made late-night trips up the hill to see the site for themselves. Since at least the 1950s, the cemetery has been a local dare, a place to test your bravery, or tempt fate.
In case you don't know, here's the basic story: a young woman named Mary Jane in Lakefield, Minnesota, had supernatural powers. She was accused of being a witch. The townsfolk hung her, but before she died, she vowed her revenge on the community that killed her and placed a curse on her grave. If you go to the cemetery and jump over her grave or cross her grave three separate times, she will appear, and you'll die within 3 number of hours, days, what have you.
Long before the cemetery gained notoriety, it served as the final resting place for members of the Jackson County community, with burials dating from the 1870s to 1926. Over time, that community disappeared. Myths of beheaded witches, metal music, and vandalism took the place of memory.
This post takes a closer look at the historical record, shared by the Jackson County Historical Society.
We begin with a photo of the cemetery as it appears today, followed by the original deed, granted to Salmon Dickinson, who buried his son there.
There are a few surviving photographs from the cemetery's early years. But we've included links to the Find-A-Grave pages for several individuals mentioned in our episode:
Salmon C. Dickinson
John Terwillegar
Theola "Phoebe" Bowman Terwillegar
Mary Jane Terwillegar
Caroline Christensen
These are just a handful of the lives that deserve to be remembered.
We've also included materials that help illustrate the cemetery's past: a deed to an individual plot, a photo of the Loon Lake Baptist Church (one of two churches that once cared for the grounds), and—perhaps most revealing—a plot map from 1896.
In the decades that followed, the cemetery fell into neglect. Below, you'll find a clipping from the Jackson County Pilot dated November 27, 1980. The image shows the site strewn with beer cans. The original headstones, removed from the cemetery over time, are now preserved by the Jackson County Historical Society.
But the story doesn't end there.
Mary Chonko led extraordinary research into the lives of those buried at Loon Lake Cemetery, locating descendants and even writing a book about the site. Her niece, Teresa Chonko, now heads the Loon Lake Restoration Association—a volunteer group that maintains the grounds and continues the work of remembrance. Together, they’ve partnered with families whose loved ones’ headstones were taken or lost.
At the cemetery, a sign offers a quiet invitation:
“Missing stones can be returned... no questions asked. If you know the whereabouts of any stone suspected to be from this cemetery, please contact the JCHS at 507-662-5505.” Rewards are offered, thanks to the descendents.
Dismantling the myth of the Witch's Grave will take time. But that work is rooted in something more enduring than legend: the lives of real people, and the commitment to honor their place in history.
episode info
episode info
- Interviews with Nick Riordan, Museum Director at the Jackson County Historical Society
- Visit the Jackson County Historical Society, which starts with prehistoric bison bones and ends in the present.
- Make a donation to the JCHS to power their incredible historical research.
- Here's a beautiful feature about Mary Chonko and the restoration at The Loon Lake Cemetery from The Globe.
- Here's a link to a live performance of Megadeth's Mary Jane in 1988, when the song was recently released.
- Even in the 2020s, the ghost hunting and witch hunting remains strong. Here's a Jackson County Pilot article about a paranormal documentary shot at the Loon Lake Cemetery.
