Mary Jane Hendrickson's Grave near Mansfield, Ohio
Lucas, OH
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access during daytime hours. Adjacent private property is posted No Trespassing. Respect cemetery hours and surrounding landowners.
Access
Limited Access
Gravel road, grass, uneven ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Mount Olive Cemetery, also called Lucas Cemetery, occupies a small wooded site in Monroe Township, Richland County, Ohio, near the village of Lucas. The cemetery is the burial place of Mary Jane Hendrickson, born September 22, 1825, in Holmes County, Ohio. According to her obituary in the March 10, 1898 Bellville Messenger, she died in March 1898 at age 72 of a cancerous tumor and dropsy, having lived in the nearby hamlet of Hastings.
Research by Ohio folklorist Jannette Quackenbush, drawing on cemetery records, newspaper archives, and oral histories, has established Mary Jane as a real local figure rather than a witch executed by fire as later legend would have it. Quackenbush's Haunted Ohio series, an ongoing project of more than four decades, includes Mary Jane's grave among the documented folkloric sites of the region.
A large tree that once stood beside Mary Jane's gravestone was cut down by vandals in the late 20th century, an event reported in regional folklore writing and Mansfield-area press coverage. Adjacent land remains in active private ownership; landowners have historically deterred trespassers, including the after-dark visitors drawn to the site by the legend.
Sources
The Mary Jane folklore at Lucas Cemetery layered two distinct narratives across the 20th century. The older version, widely repeated by area teenagers from the 1960s onward, holds that she was burned at the stake as a witch and buried under a great tree that bleeds on the anniversary of her death. The more historically grounded version, documented in Jannette Quackenbush's Haunted Ohio writing, presents Mary Jane Hendrickson as a Native American medicine woman whose practice was reframed by younger generations as witchcraft, and who lived to old age on land tended by a younger farmer who looked after her.
Reported phenomena at the cemetery include sightings of a woman in white near the grave, the apparition of a bearded man elsewhere on the grounds, and electrical anomalies experienced by visitors at the gate. Car doors locking without prompting, vehicles failing to start near the cemetery, and rapid battery drain are recurring elements in the oral tradition collected by regional folklorists.
The Mirror legend — saying her name in a mirror five times — has become attached to the site by association with the broader 'Bloody Mary' folklore tradition, although the published version in Haunted Ohio identifies Mary Jane as a distinct local figure. Adjacent landowners have a documented history of confronting nighttime visitors, a pattern reflected in local press coverage and contributing to the site's reputation.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Visit the small rural cemetery outside Lucas, Ohio where Mary Jane Hendrickson (1825-1898) is buried. The grave became the focal point of a regional folklore tradition documented in Jannette Quackenbush's Haunted Ohio series. Adjacent property is privately owned and posted; remain within the cemetery boundary.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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