Sunday, November 13, 2011

Goodleberg Cemetery, Wales NY, in October



 Sacred grounds, cursed. The final resting place of American Revolutionary, Civil War veterans. A dismembering, elusive serial killer. An early 1900's abortion doctor, disposing of bodies in a nearby cemetery. In secluded, small-town America. And why, yes, there is a very good possibility it is the site of an ancient Native American burial ground. Also, evidence of satanic or otherwise dark rituals and vandalism have happened and been reported on the grounds.

 All these things make up the myth, legend and truth that surrounds Goodleberg Cemetery, in Wales, NY. About a half hour from my home, the legend of what happened and continues to occur around the small cemetery continually tops lists of the most haunted places in Western New York. For years I read local supernatural researcher and author Mason Winfield's writing on the subject, and, of course, grew up with bits and pieces of the legend. Naturally, Goodleberg was the perfect destination for an October cemetery this past month.

 Here is what I knew about Goodleberg going in. Sometime in the early 1900s, a doctor who performed abortions disposed of the bodies/fetuses and, on occasion, the body of a mother who did not survive the procedure, in and near a small, rural cemetery and its pond. Decades later, when serial killings took place throughout Western New York, pieces of the victims had turned up around the infamous doctor's cemetery-- and, of course, the land which housed the graves gained the reputation of being haunted, cursed, by the women and children the doctor had buried there.

 All this sounds like the elements of a decent, if not stellar, horror film. For, the stuff of local legends, while hardly ever true, makes great fiction. But. Most of Goodleberg's legend is true.

 Thankfully, we have Winfield's writing and research on the subject to confirm this, as even Goodleberg's Wikipedia page is quite sparse and uninformative, at best. And, quite perfectly, when my partner, friend and I made the trip to Goodleberg this past October, we ran into Winfield at a nearby coffee shop afterwards.

 The facts are among the following. Loosely translated, Goodlberg can mean "Hill of Ghouls." According to the website Dark Destinations, the term "ghoul" is an Arabic one, and it is argued that the name originates more from simply the surname "Goodle," as there is an early woman with the name interred there (although the website is lacking any proper citations.)

 Goodleberg's doctor was named Albert Speaker. According to Mason Winfield's research, Dr. Speaker (1880?-1948) appears to have been a "medical examiner," who acted as more of a coroner. Dr. Speaker had an office in Buffalo (not too far from my house) and a residence in South Wales, on Hunter's Creek Road, very close to Goodleberg. On our trip to the cemetery, we had thought the foundation of a house which can be seen from among the graves may have been Dr. Speaker's-- however, the home he lived in is still standing. It is apparently common knowledge among locals that Dr. Speaker performed abortions, most likely in his home. Whether this alone was enough to spring urban legends of disposed bodies in the nearby cemetery in pond, or whether these locals who have given life to the story are telling the truth-- it is not certain. No police evidence exists of any found bodies-- but, as with so many things about Goodleberg, so many macabre possible coincidences have come together over one, small, country-side cemetery. In his reasearch, Winfield has found the possibility that Dr. Speaker was connected to "crime elements," which may factor into his demise or some of the other, more grisly happenings around Goodleberg.


In October 1948, local papers reported that Dr. Speaker had died of a heart attack. Again, locals disagree, stating that his death was most likely a suicide (of hanging, by some reports, in a nearby tree) to avoid the shame of a trial. Whether this trial may have been connected to performing abortions or missing women, though, remains to be seen. Interestingly enough, Speaker is not buried in Goodleberg, but is interred in a New York City cemetery, by his surviving siblings. There does appear to be a documented connection between Dr. Speaker, the cemetery and at least one of the missing women who did turn up murdered. In August of that same year, Speaker's home was searched by police in connection with the disappearance of Helen Lindeman.

The pond, directly behind the cemetery.
 Some back story on Mrs. Lindeman. The wife of a prosperous dentist (who would have been involved in the same professional and social circles as Dr. Speaker), Helen disappeared while running errands in a small village suburb of Buffalo, NY. Body parts began to be discovered on Hunter's Creek Road five weeks later. Two weeks after that, a torso and head were discovered in remote areas of nearby Cattaraugus County. Dental records were used to identify the remains as that of Helen Lindeman. On Halloween of the same year, after the murder and death of Speaker, fire was set to Dr. Speaker's home. By who, we may never know. Someone trying to conceal evidence? A husband? Locals who knew or presumed to know more of the story?

Other murders in later years came to be linked with the Lideman murder, although no tangible connection ever surfaced aside from being discovered close to Goodleberg Cemetery.

Apparitions of all kinds continue to be reported around Goodleberg. There are reports of those who return to their cars and find small, children's handprints on their windows. Some have reported seeing a woman in black, who many connect to Helen Lindeman, as there were reports of people who thought they had seen her in the Goodleberg area after her disappearance and before her murder, hitch-hiking and wearing all black. Some have reported seeing the legendary large black dogs, or hell hounds. Though no homes stand on the side of the road the cemetery is on, houses are on the opposite both before and after the cemetery. Some locals have reported hearing strange chants in the cemetery at night, and finding strange, burnt markings in the ground and vandalism to the cemetery in the morning. And there are those who suggest that all this may be merely kids horsing around-- drinking, singing, smoking and desecrating the sacred grounds. While we absolutely found evidence of such vandalism, I, surely, still wonder. There simply seems to be something dark about the grounds which attracts other dark energy.



On a superficial level, I felt no such darkness walking through the cemetery. I felt a sadness, after having walked the road to the cemetery (after a car struck and killed someone walking on the road in more recent years, parking is not allowed directly by the cemetery), and saw the stones of these long-ago people turned over; cracked, smashed, vandalized and possibly lost to time. However, I would love to return to the cemetery-- perhaps at nighttime, if cemetery hours allow. I'm sure this won't be my last post on Goodleberg.




View my Photo Album of Goodleberg here: 

Goodleberg Cemetery


Read some of Mason's more in-depth writings on the history of the Cemetery HERE. 

Watch Mason discuss Goodlberg on a local program televised several years ago around Halloween:



9 comments:

  1. I have been to the cemetery both day and night. As you said day time you feel a sadness about the place but night time is a total different story. I seen things I've never seen before, heard things that we could not explain and right before we left we had an overwhelming feeling of something telling us to leave. We basically ran out of there and as we started up the road we looked back at our candles we forgot to blow out and we saw a large dark figure standing in the glow of the candles. We started running at that point. This was 7 months ago and asi sit here and write my experience I am still stricken with fear of that night.

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    1. i have been there about 30 times since my youth and taken many mind altering substances on the property but always respected the souls of the dead but convinced the devil still watches over me since my first visit 716 491 0925 is my cell pchernogorec123@gmail.com love to talk

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  2. I have been to the cemetery both day and night. As you said day time you feel a sadness about the place but night time is a total different story. I seen things I've never seen before, heard things that we could not explain and right before we left we had an overwhelming feeling of something telling us to leave. We basically ran out of there and as we started up the road we looked back at our candles we forgot to blow out and we saw a large dark figure standing in the glow of the candles. We started running at that point. This was 7 months ago and asi sit here and write my experience I am still stricken with fear of that night.

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  3. @Stacy Balsano - I've never been to Goodleberg at night, but that is absolutely on my list to of things to do. Perhaps this year as the weather turns to fall...

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    1. I went the at day time yesterday and still here tonight got here at 10 leaving at 1230 and still see and hear nothing

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    2. I went the at day time yesterday and still here tonight got here at 10 leaving at 1230 and still see and hear nothing

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    3. I went the at day time yesterday and still here tonight got here at 10 leaving at 1230 and still see and hear nothing

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  4. On Saturday, June 8th, at approximately 9PM someone took my dog from the Goodleberg Cemeatary, he likes to jump in cars but someone did not let him back out. Our phone number is on the back of his rabies tag, 716 652 9660, if you have any information please call, if you have him please return him.

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  5. This place should not be f#@!ed with.of all the "haunted "places I've been to over the years,this is the only one that still haunts me.I went there in 2002 or 2003,4 of us.we heard all the hype and wanted to check it out.we brought Maglite with brand new batteries in them.not 20 feet into the cemetery none were working.shit.so we keep going past the cemetery into the field behind it.the air feel more and more oppressive further we went.like something was pushing us out.my friend stops and goes"did yous hear that?"we hadn't, but then we did.it was a screeching scream like sound like a cougar woman banshee growl all in one that was right in your ear and all around you at the same time.I took off running first and they followed. We finally stopped running when we get back in the cemetery. We checked the flashlights again one started working a little. Flashing the field to see wtf that scream just came from.then we saw them.about 10 sets of green eyes all along the treeline.big black dog like things.I say dog-like because they didn't move like a natural dog would.almost a stealth to them when they were in the beam trying to get away from it.we booked it to the car and got the f@#! Outta there.this is no joke,this place is dangerous unholy ground if you do go there please be careful because you might not be the same on the way out

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