Lakey Creek Ghost

 since it is that time of the year, I thought I would post some of the Carbondale and southern Illinois ghost stories the Carbondale Times published this fall

Heading east out of McCleansboro on State Route 14, the driver will pass a Dollar General Store and soon cross over a small concrete slab bridge spanning a shallow creek, located just east of the intersection with County Road 1050. The stream beneath is  Lakey's Creek and was one of the most haunted spots in Southern Illinois during the mid 19th century. The haunting of Lakey's Creek dates back to the early 1800's when a man named Lakey built a cabin a short distance south of where the bridge crosses the creek ( Research among old property deeds from the era did find that a Joel Leaky, a variation in the spelling of Lakey,  owned property in that area at approximately the time when the story takes place so that much is true) . Like many early single homesteaders, Lakey was fairly withdrawn, having little to do with his neighbors. so they thought little of it when they did not see him in town or visiting with neighbors. 

However, after several days of no sightings of Lakey, some travellers on the road that passed north of his cabin noted no smoke coming from its chimney. Given that the weather was cooling and a fire was necessary even for making most meals, they found this odd so turned their horses from the road towards Lakey's homestead. Arriving in the yard, they found Lakey's body sprawled in the yard, his head severed and placed on a nearby stump. According to one version of the story , the killer was never caught, but another says his son in law was arrested and tried for the crime, though what happened afterwards is unknown.

For years afterwards,evening  westbound travelers on the old wagon road north of Lakey's abandoned cabin would occasionally be joined by a headless rider on horseback, who would either ride with or pursue them until they reached the middle of the ford across the creek, at which point the ghost would either vanish or at that spot or turn and ride downstream, vanishing in the mists rising from the creek. 

As with the spirits of Dug Hill, the advent of the automobile caused sightings of the ghost to dwindle to almost nothing, though there have been a few  reports by drivers crossing the bridge who saw something "strange" and, upon slowing down, saw a large horse standing by the creek