Wisconsin’s Most Haunted Cemetery and Its Legendary Ghostly Guardian

Dartford Cemetery in Green Lake, Wisconsin is one of the oldest cemeteries in the state, and it is also the most haunted.

Haunted Cemeteries

If you're a history lover, old cemeteries are fascinating places to explore due to the stories they can tell if you look hard enough. What was life like for the people that have been buried there for hundreds of years? How did they die? Could any of these headstones be marking a distant ancestor? Do any of their spirits still walk amongst the living?

If you want to go on an adventure at some of the oldest and most haunted cemeteries in America, Dartford Cemetery in Green Lake, Wisconsin should definitely on the top of your list.  Why? Because it's really old, and many people say, REALLY haunted.

The Spirits of Dartford Cemetery

When you start reading about Dartford Cemetery you will learn very quickly that many people claim it is a hotspot for paranormal activity, but two of Dartford Cemetery's most legendary stories involve a ghostly Native American chief and a creepy old crypt.

Let's start with the mysterious crypt.

According to an article from wisconsinfrights.com, there is a mysterious crypt on the grounds that has a crack in the roof, and if you sit on it, (especially on Halloween night), ghosts will push you off.

Ok, that's definitely creepy, by Dartford's most famous resident is a ghost named Chief Highknocker.

Highknocker was the last Winnebago Indian Chief who drowned in a nearby river in August of 1911. He was originally buried on the banks of the river, but his son moved him to Dartford Cemetery in the 1930s so he could near "the lake he loved so much".

Wisconsin Frights' article says many people have claimed they saw "the apparition of a Native American chief in full ceremonial dress, inexplicably changing epitaphs on the headstones, and mysterious scratches."

Obviously, I can't prove that either of these popular legends are true, but I did find a post from 2022 in the Strange Wisconsin Facebook group from a woman named Amy Wilson that said;

Took a walk through Dartford Cemetery in Green Lake today. I did NOT sit on the cement thing and wait for the ghost to push me off, ha. Highknocker grave is downright creepy, it feels like the eyes follow you.

Here's the picture she shared of Highknocker's grave...

Yup, I'm creeped out just looking at a picture of it...what do you think?

Here are more creepy places to check out the next time you're in Wisconsin...