Topeka Cemetery offering ghost tours

One way to mark this spooky time of year is to tour a cemetery and learn about its residents, some of whom are said to wander the grounds.

Historic Topeka Cemetery, which served as the main burial place in the city’s first 50 years, is a place to relive Topeka’s early years and perhaps encounter some of the town’s earlier residents.

Lisa Sandmeyer, superintendent of Historic Topeka Cemetery, answered questions about this year’s ghost tours at the cemetery.

Could you tell us a little about Topeka Cemetery?

Topeka Cemetery had its first burial in December 1859. In the 160 years since, more than 35,000 souls have come to rest here. The most prominent person in our care would be Charles Curtis, Topeka’s notable native son. He was vice president from 1929-1933 with Herbert Hoover after a long career in Congress, including serving as the first Senate majority leader from Kansas.

Many of the city’s founders are here, including Cyrus K. Holliday, first chairman of the Topeka Town Association and creator of the city’s lifeblood, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway; John Ritchie, active in the Underground Railroad; and Dr. Franklin Crane, who offered his homestead as a burial ground. You’ll see the names of many city streets on headstones here, too: Huntoon, MacVicar, Jewell, Croco, Morse, Lyman, Paramore, and Branner are just a few examples.

The cemetery offers ghost tours every October. When will this year's tours take place? What is the charge for them? Who can go on them?

The tours begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be Oct. 18, Oct. 19, Oct. 25 and Oct. 26. We meet at the Civil War section, which is just up the hill from the main gate at S.E. 10th and Leland. The tours include history along with the mystery, so children and teens might be bored. There are no haunted house effects — we let the stories and the surroundings cast their spell.

The cost is $10 per person, payable at the gate in cash. We have a link on the Historic Topeka Cemetery Facebook page and at TopekaCemetery.com for people to make reservations, as we can handle only about 20 people per tour. The area being toured has several residents with stories especially appropriate this time of year. We have some new stories, too, so people who came last year won’t get the same tour.

Who conducts the tours?

Tours are conducted by members of the Friends of Historic Topeka Cemetery. This group formed to support the cemetery’s outreach mission by raising funds for materials and other needs. The Friends also sponsored the Yoga at the Cemetery on Oct. 5 and last June, and they organized the Seance in the Cemetery on Oct. 12. In just its second year, the seance was sold out more than two weeks before the event.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Nearly everyone who has worked at Topeka Cemetery has had an encounter of some kind. There’s an elderly gentleman who stops to chat when he sees a worker setting a headstone or digging a grave. Look away, though, and when you turn back he is gone. A former office manager has been seen walking by the office frequently, and many people report seeing a little girl on the balcony of the house. Note that these sightings are in broad daylight — you don’t have to wait until dark to meet some of our residents. The Kansas Paranormal Research Society has been out to record and photograph after dark. Among the sightings after sundown is a lantern that moves along Mausoleum Row, disappearing as it reaches the north end.

I also understand there will be a seance this year. How did it come about? When will it take place and what is the charge for it?

We heard about Heartland Medium Vicky and asked if she would be interested in coming to Topeka Cemetery to see what connections she could make. At last year’s event, individual connections were made for everyone in the audience. Vicky also heard from a few of the nearby residents.

One of the visitors may have been Fred Emmick, a Santa Fe brakeman injured in a train accident in August 1883. Mr. Emmick’s leg had to be amputated, and he had the leg buried in Topeka Cemetery. If he makes contact this year, we will try to find out where the rest of him is. This year’s seance is sold out. The Friends may consider adding a spring seance event if the demand is there.

How many people have gone on these tours in the past?

We had about 60 people on the ghost tours last year, and several were back from 2017. We always look for new stories so people can return every year. It’s the same way with regular (daytime) tours. First-timers get the early Topeka history tour, including Mausoleum Row and the Civil War section. Returnees can request an area or a subject. We’ve done a program on musicians in the cemetery, a tour of newspaper publishers, and a tour of the newer south end of the cemetery.

Why do you think the tours have been so popular, especially since some of the local ghostly legends, such as the Albino Lady, are residents of other cemeteries in the Topeka area?

The Albino Woman is a great story to tell in any cemetery. And she is Topeka’s best-known ghost. But we have tales of murder, body snatching and souls never properly laid to rest. Also, most Topekans have some tie to Topeka Cemetery, as it was the main burial place in the city’s first 50 years and has the largest cemetery population in town.

What do you and the staff like best about these tours?

One of the missions of Historic Topeka Cemetery is to remind the community how excited and proud the founders of this community were, how they believed there were no limits to their success. We need more of that attitude in Topeka today. By sharing the stories of the successes, adventures and innovations of our forebears, we hope to increase the pride people feel for this wonderful city.

Are there any projects currently under way at Topeka Cemetery? If so, could you tell us a little about them?

There are always things that need to be done that we need help with. Our staff is small, so we don’t have a deep pool of expertise. We have some great opportunities for Eagle Scout projects. And we’d love to have some folks who know carpentry to volunteer their skills to help us fix a few things. In the office, we are adding information to our new website, TopekaCemetery.com. We also have taken charge of the records for Mount Auburn Cemetery across the street, which the city owns. We are going through each file, verifying the information and updating the electronic records and FindAGrave.com. We’re about halfway through.

Anything else you would like to add?

Historic Topeka Cemetery provides tours free of charge during daylight hours and when temperatures permit. We also can bring a program with a slide show to social and service group meetings. All tours are walking. The terrain is mostly gravel and grass. Though many people think the city operates Topeka Cemetery, it is in fact privately owned. Mount Auburn, on the east side of California Avenue, is owned by the city of Topeka, but Topeka Cemetery maintains Mount Auburn’s records and handles burial arrangements there.

Carolyn Kaberline is a freelance writer from Topeka. She can be reached at carolyn.kaberline@gmail.com.

GHOST TOURS

Where: Historic Topeka Cemetery, beginning in the Civil War section

When: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26

Cost: $10 per person, payable in cash at the gate

Information and reservations: www.TopekaCemetery.com or Topeka Cemetery on Facebook