October 22, 2025
Introduction: In this article, as Halloween is almost here, Melissa Davenport Berry presents an eerie ghost story that baffled townspeople and outside experts. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
In the early 20th century, a Crawford County, Ohio, newlywed’s home was visited by a bogey bent on wrecking wedding bliss. The ghost created a stir, and the spooky saga made headlines.
Several prominent members of the community, along with members trained in the paranormal, attempted to confront the spirit.
Before I dive into the story, these are some of the families haunted by the Crawford County ghost.
Civil War veteran John Horace Burger (1844-1927), son of Johann “John” Sr. and Maria Anne (Sherer) Burger, served in the 10th Ohio Cavalry, North Auburn, Ohio. He died 9 January 1927 in North Auburn, Ohio, and is buried there at Mother of Sorrows Cemetery.
John married Margaret Martin. The couple had seven daughters and lived in North Auburn, Crawford County, Ohio. In this photo of the Burger family, we see: (left to right, first row) John Horace Burger; Frances Burger (married 1st Raymond Washburn Jr. and 2nd Louis Doersh); Margaret (Martin) Burger; (second row, left to right) Theresa Cecilia Burger (married Peter P. Hines); Mary Magdelyn Burger (married John P. Pifher); Ludwina J. Burger (married Bernard Robert “Ben” Heydinger); Sophina Elizabeth Burger (married Martin Hiler); Odelia Regina Burger (married John W. Cramer); and Emma C. Burger (married Adam Heydinger).
Two of the Burger daughters married two of the nine sons born to John and (Mary Gulling) Heydinger. Below is a photo of the Heydinger clan.
One of these Burger-turned-Heydinger daughters was Emma (1881-1912), who married Adam Heydinger (1869-1939) on 15 April 1902.
Here is a wedding photo of Adam, son of John “Jean” and Mary (Gullung) Heydinger, and his wife Emma C. (Burger) Heydinger. They were the couple who initially had a close encounter with the ghost.
The Grand Rapids Press reported on the ghost haunting the newlyweds’ home.
This article reports:
Bucyrus, O., March 7. – The residents of the northern part of the county are considerably excited over a haunted house, which is located along the main road and is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Horace Burger, who removed it to its present location and fitted it up as a wedding present for their daughter, who was soon to wed A. J. Heydinger.
The house stood in close proximity to a wood in which a year ago J. F. Klinghar [also spelled Klinghardt] committed suicide by hanging himself to a small sapling.
Soon after the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Heydinger, they took up their abode in the little cottage, but their honeymoon was disturbed by strange noises, and at night there would be mysterious opening and closing of doors. Later on the form of a man was seen roaming about the house and his appearance indoors was common during the night. When daylight dawned the apparition would disappear, only to reappear again the next night.
Even youth and love failed to make the presence of this specter congenial, and after a week the young couple deserted the house and moved. Horace Burger ridiculed the idea of a ghost and determined to spend a night in the house. He was awakened at midnight by a cold touch upon the brow, and, convincing himself that there was no doubt about the matter, he left fully satisfied with the comforts of his own home. Mathew Burger refused to believe the stories of his brother and sister, and he also spent a part of the night in the haunted house, but when aroused by the ghostly visitor he remained only long enough to recognize the [face of the] suicide of the year before. In like manner Joseph Oswald was convinced by a single night’s experience at the haunted house. Anthony Hertzer, Philip Cramer, R. D. Whistler, P. A. Smith, George Burger, John Wilford, B. R. Miller, and John Strohm all in turn disputed the authenticity of the report, only to acknowledge, after an examination into it, that the mystery was beyond them.
The volume of evidence and the standing of the men who had gone through the gruesome experience were indisputable and the county at large has come to accept the story as a fact. The traveler whose journey takes him by the little cottage after night, if posted in its history, will make a wide detour to escape the immediate neighborhood, and many a young swain has kept away from singing school and spelling bees because the road to the district school lay by the suicide grove and haunted house.
Dr. Miller of New Washington is said to have been among those who did not believe the story, and in order to prove the fallacy spent a night at the house, and, armed with a camera, he was prepared to photograph the ghost. He was surprised when it did appear, but did not forget to photograph it and has a ghost picture.
The statements of the men who have seen the phantom are not to be disputed, as they are among the leading citizens of their community.
As news of the ghost spread, more people came forward to investigate the phenomenon.
This article reports:
Crawford County Ghost Has Plenty of Admirers.
Bucyrus, O., February 27. – Mayor Valentine is kept busy answering letters from persons who desire to investigate the matter of the haunted house on the farm of Horace Burger, north of this city. The latest letter was from the Society of Psychic Research, of Boston, which desires to make a thorough investigation by sending three men here. B. B. South, of Wapakoneta, asks in behalf of two clients that they be allowed to investigate and receive any reward that is offered. Louisa Talbot, of Toledo, who says she is thirty years old and has seen the world, wants to earn $50 by staying in the house overnight. R. P. Glosser, of Crestline, wants a try at the ghost and others are willing.
According to reports, the Crawford County ghost went MIA later that year, but locals say he still haunts the woods.
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Note on the header image: an AI image of “Suicide Grove,” the woods where J. F. Klinghardt hung himself. Credit: Melissa Davenport Berry.
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