Crown Hill is a huge 40 acre or so cemetery in Indianapolis, IN.  It’s the final resting place of such notables as John Dillinger, Benjamin Harrison, and James Whitcomb Riley.  Crown Hill is a beautiful place with lovely old trees, beautiful lawns, and fantastic monuments and statuary.  People go there to have a quiet walk or to ride their bikes.  I have seen wildlife there such as a herd of deer and a coyote.

I was introduced to it by Beth, with whom I work.  She is in love with the place and has been going there for over 30 years.  It’s her place of peaceful retreat.  She’s a wonderful tour guide, full of interesting information about so many of the gravesites and their occupants.  She is even considering having her wedding there in the beauty and spiritual atmosphere of her favorite place.

I have gone back a few times myself, camera in hand, to capture photos of the incredible statuary.  My first visit and photos produced a very puzzling and intriguing surprise.  At home and looking at the images I caught, I found one with an interesting mist at the gravesite of General A. D. Streight.  I showed the picture to some friends who had more technical knowledge about photography than I do to see what they thought. 

They had no pat answer other than to suggest that I go back again for more pictures and see what happened.  So, I went back to visit the General, and a second shooting revealed another mist in attendance at his site.  The first, as shown by the photo here, has a more blanket like and obvious mist by the site.  The second photo shows a smaller and circular mist near the top of the tombstone and off a bit to the left.

The two pictures were taken on different days, one sunny and one overcast.  They were also taken on two different cameras.  Other pictures were taken on both days of different sites with no mists appearing in them.  A third trip and new pictures showed no mist at all. 

I have included the pictures below so that you may judge for yourself.  I have also given a brief history of the General and his wife, who I find a very interesting woman, especially her actions after the death of her husband. 

General Abel. D. Streight was a book and map publisher.  He joined the Union army in 1861 as a colonel in the Fifty-first Indiana Infantry.  He was captured and was a prisoner of war for 10 months at Libby Prison in Richmond.  He and 107 other soldiers escaped from the barracks by digging a tunnel under the prison grounds. 

His wife, Lovina, accompanied him on his campaign nursing the wounded.  She was captured three times and traded twice for war prisoners.

His campaigns were disappointing because the budget didn’t allow for him to have horses so he and his troops went to war on mules.  His battles were unsuccessful.He retired a brigadier general and became a senator for Indiana. 

His wife had him buried on the front lawn of their home and then arranged a yearly reunion of the Fifty-first regiment.  Soldiers would camp on her lawn.  When she died, she was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery with full military honors.  Abel Streight was exhumed from the front lawn of the family home and buried beside her. 

Relatives contested her will stating she was not of sound mind and body when she signed it.  “Evidence” of her lack of mental stability was her practice of picnicking at her husband’s gravesite, wearing bright clothes, and dancing with the neighborhood children.  She had also embraced spiritualism and would have lengthy conversations with Abel at his gravesite.  A jury agreed that she was not of sound mind, and her will stipulating that her property and possessions be used for the purpose of establishing a home for elderly women was declared invalid.

To be honest, the mysterious mists by the General’s grave have made me feel that it wasn’t the general.  I can’t say why, it just felt that it might be from another source.  Upon reading this information about his wife, Lovina, I feel it more likely that if the mist is to be attributed to anything or anyone in a spiritual sense, it would be her.  She sounds to me like the type of personality to be hanging around in such a way.