Ghost/Haunting/Legend: The Grave of Midnight Mary - New Haven, CT

The Grave of Midnight Mary

New Haven, CT

N 41° 18.207 W 072° 56.718

Short Description: 

The grave of Midnight Mary is located in Evergreen Cemetery at 769 Ella T. Grasso Blvd in New Haven, CT.

Long Description:

Mary E. Hart died under unusual circumstances at midnight October 15, 1872. Her quick death and the large raised inscription on her grave marker has led to a great deal of speculation and created several urban myths. She has become known as Midnight Mary.

A large pink block of granite carries the inscription:

THE PEOPLE SHALL BE TROUBLED AT MIDNIGHT AND PASS AWAY. 

AT HIGH NOON

JUST FROM, AND ABOUT TO RENEW

HER DAILY WORK, IN HER FULL STRENGTH OF

BODY AND MIND

MARY E. HART

HAVING FALLEN PROSTRATE:

REMAINED UNCONSCIOUS, UNTIL SHE DIED AT MIDNIGHT,

OCTOBER 15, 1872

BORN DECEMBER 16, 1824

Three legends have arisen following the death of Midnight Mary.

1. She was accidentally buried alive. He body was exhumed and their was blood on her fingernails and the inside of her coffin was shredded.

2. Her restless spirit wanders the area around her home on Winthrop Avenue which is the eastern boundary of Evergreen Cemetery and close to her grave. A lady matching Mary's description would hitchhike rides to her home. Only later would the drivers realize the home was that of Midnight Mary and the lady was a spirit who had disappeared.

3. Some believe that Mary was a witch and the inscription was actually a curse. If anyone were to visit the grave at midnight she would rise from the grave. That person would later suffer a terrible death. Also, anyone who strikes her gravestone will die at midnight.

The legends probably arose from a misunderstanding of the the large, black, raised inscription: THE PEOPLE SHALL BE TROUBLED AT MIDNIGHT AND PASS AWAY is actually taken from a Bible verse from Job 34:20 (King James version): "In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand."

BUT! I only took pictures of the grave at about noon and the next day I was sick enough with severe bowel cramps to be sent home from my volunteer job at the library.