Shiloh Baptist Church Cemetery
Lafayette County Ms.
Article & Photos by Angela L MSSPI
I have been going to Shiloh Church Cemetery since I was a little girl. I have grandparents, grt-grandparents, grt-grt grandparents and many relatives buried here. I remember when this cemetery was on a dirt road that came to a dead end at the cemetery. Now there is a blacktop road which runs thru it. However, it is still considered out in the country and is surrounded by cow fields and a few distant farms.
Tony and I visit this cemetery several times a year, not only to take flowers to the relatives but also to investigate. When we first started recording in this cemetery, the responses on the recorder were not exactly friendly. I have heard stories told for many years about the Shiloh Cemetery. There is an unmarked Confederate Mass grave on the grounds, which no one knows exactly where it is anymore. Originally it was lined with cannon balls to mark the site, but over the years all the cannon balls have been stolen.
One story I was told by my dad, was that in the early 1950's, when he was a small boy, there were heavy rains in the area and the mass grave, which sits in a gully was hit hard. Bodies of Confederate soldiers rose to the top. Local farmers and church members, my grt-grandfather and my grandad being some of them, volunteered to rebury the dead.
Photo by Angela L in the oldest part of the Shiloh Cemetery 2008
There is an old section of the cemetery that has been reported for years as being haunted by a Confederate soldier who walks the cemetery keeping watch for vandals. Many times in past years the cemetery has been ransacked by vandals, knocking over headstones and looting.
There was also a fire in the old church building many years ago which destroyed some of the cemetery records and there are unmarked graves in the old section of the cemetery. The church has since been rebuilt on the original site.
When I was a little girl, I never ventured to the older part of the cemetery. I was warned that there were ghost back there that were not friendly. I took it mostly that the older folks didn't want me to fall into an unmarked grave and get hurt, but my feelings about that have changed since I have grown up and had the oppertunity to investigate that area of the cemetery.
As time has passed and my face has become known to the spirits that dwell in this old resting place, the evp sessions have not been as spine chilling as in the beginning. But I do believe this cemetery has unexplained presences and you can not convince me it isn't haunted. I have seen too many unexplained things happen here. I would not recommend you go there after dark. When you hear some of the EVP clips you will know why. If you are brave enough to venture there, please get the proper permissions from the church and be respectful of those buried there. This is my family's resting place and my all time favorite cemetery.
Click Here to listen to this crazy weird clip. We recorded 19 minutes of this bazaar static mixed with voices. We have not been able to recreate it after 5 consecutive visits. This is a large clip approx 55 seconds of audio, so please give the player a chance to load properly.
Photo of Tony, where he had a hair raising experiences which we recorded. This recording is unlike any we have ever recorded anywhere. We had this clip analyzed by a former Navy Audio and Radio Specialist. He sent it back completely freaked out. He claims that there were so many voices, that he could not seperate them all. He counted at least 23 seperate voices, all on decible levels unheard by the human ear. Everything from cries for help and screams to get outs and growls.
It was a quiet Sunday morning about 3 hours before church was to begin. Our recordings were quiet give or take a few evp, but as we began walking in the old 1800 section of the cemetery a strange noise became evident on our recording. Like the static on a roaming am station, which lasted for 19 full minutes. However there was no one at the church at this time, no electrical wires or explainable causes for the interference on our recorder.
Photo of the area where Angela felt the most overwhelmed and uneasy the day we recorded the strange and threatening EVPs.
Click here to listen to the warning Angela recorded next to these same markers on this same day as the photo above.
We had several personal experiences while in this area. Tony thought he heard footsteps behind him, he got cold chills and felt numerous cold spots which should not have been there as it was an 80+ degree day with no wind. I personally, had several episodes of feeling watched, as if someone were standing right behind me, feeling someone breathe on my neck and a strange tightness and shortness of breath, that came over me several times while in the old section. The air was very still and eerily heavy in that area of the cemetery. When we left the area, the odd sounds on the recorder faded and returned to normal. We have not been able to duplicate this noise on any of our return trips to the cemetary.
Photo by Angela L MSSPI of the front of the old section of Shiloh Cemetary
A strange photo taken by Angela L when she thought she heard a voice and saw a flicker of movement behind her.
We have no idea what this is, but Angela saw it flash like a movie flicker several times, so she took several pictures and captured it in one of them.
Below are just a few of the EVP Clips we have recorded over the past 2 years at Shiloh Cem. You can hear more evp clips by visiting Angela's Shadowdance bookmarks on the Internet Archives
Click here to listen to: help me.
Click here to listen to: humming womans voice
Click here to listen to: I remember
Click here to listen to: let her be, this was recorded next to the above ground field stone graves in the photo of Tony above.
Click here to listen to : static scream recorded in the old 1800's section of the cemetery
Click here to listen to : get back in the car
Click here to listen to :we want it back
Click Here to listen to : a song hummed at the front of the cemetery on a different visit than the humming clip above but in the same general area.
Click Here to listen to : Tony get a response.