Does the headless horseman ride again?

Editor’s note:(please keep as poem format)

October brings the most macabre

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And we would like to share

A phantom parade, a headless horseman,

So join us if you dare.

Each week we’ll have a cryptic tale

Of gruesome ghouls and fatal desire.

Harness your fears, grab your friends

And gather ’round the ol’ campfire.

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A rider waited, dressed in black and shrouded in darkness. As two men headed west, coming home from a trip to Wabash River, they were joined by the dark stranger on a coal black steed. His cloak appeared to stop just bellow the neck, yet his head was completely covered.

The men quickly brought their horses to a gallop, but the mysterious rider kept pace. He stayed near them.

They panicked and hurried home, crossing the creek at its lowest point, where a bridge now stands. They were halfway across when the horseman suddenly veered his horse south, disappearing into the mists of the creek.

Word spread through the mid-19th century town. The two men kept silent, fearing madness would be to blame, but it was not long before others began talking of their strange experiences near Lakey Creek – and the murder of a friend.

Days before, they had buried Lakey, a local man who made his home near a creek that bears his name in McLeansboro.

But the townspeople felt his spirit had not been laid to rest.

Lakey had been murdered – decapitated – by his own axe as he completed construction on his cabin on the south side of the creek, a mere 25 feet from where U.S. Route 14 now crosses.

His body was found propped against the trunk of a tree he had removed to complete his home. His severed head lay nearly 10 feet away near his own bloodied axe.

Lakey had no enemies to speak of, and townspeople often referred to him as mild-mannered and kind. Neighbors had seen him busily putting the finishing touches on his cabin as he strove to finish his roof within the next few days.

But it would never be completed.

Some settlement records refer to Lakey as being murdered by his son-in-law, although who it is and why it was done are never mentioned, and the identity of his daughter is never revealed.

Regardless, the murderer was never brought to justice.

Some say the ghost haunted the creek with motives of revenge, others to protect the cabin he never finished.

Sightings heighten. Residents often claimed to hear the gentle break of hoofs, with no horse or rider to be found. But that was years ago.

The cabin is gone. It was demolished more than 50 years back, and then was only a pile of rubble. Any trace was decimated as the woods surrounding the creek turn to farmland. People no longer fear the creek. Slight trenches surround the area as many residents utilize the paths for four-wheelers and dirt bikes.

The creek now holds little water as dry spells shrink it every year.

Any trace of the once infamous headless horseman has disappeared. His legend fades as few can remember a time when he was said to haunt the very creek that bears his name.

But not all can be what it seems. Late at night, enshrined by darkness, the senses can catch a trace of what once was, and may continue to be.

Is the silent thumping the gentle clank of his horse’s hoofs? Is the black figure cloaked in darkness a man seeking justice?

As the silence takes over, and the imagination runs wild, some find themselves asking a single question – does the black phantom ride again?

Reporter Katie A. Davis can be reached at [email protected]

(Italics) Facts, events and background information came from John Mead, current owner of Lake Creek in McLeansboro, Haunted Heartland, by Beth Scott and Michael Norman and the History and Legend of Lakey, by Ralph S. Harrelson.