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| Logan Cemetery |
The
Logan Cemetery in Logan, Utah is located within the campus of Utah State
University, stretching from central to north campus. Students walk through to
get to classes, to get home, or even to find a quiet place to study. Near the
center of the cemetery is an eerily lifelike statue of a woman kneeling in
grief which has come to be known as the “weeping woman.” Able to be seen from
several of the residence halls, it’s no surprise that this spooky cemetery is
the source of an urban legend of its own.
The Woman, the Myth, the Legend
Although
there are many variations of the tale, each version is similar in one way: if
you visit the statue at night, you will be able to witness tears rolling down
her face as she weeps for her deceased children. However, the details vary in
almost every imaginable way. Some say you have to visit at midnight, others
claim the anniversary of her children’s deaths or on a full moon. Certain
versions even say that you must “make a circle around the statue with your
friends and say ‘weep, woman, weep,’ or ‘cry, lady, cry’” (qtd. in Lambert). Some
say her children were killed by her. People even debate over whether she cries
actual tears or tears of blood. It is told that if you visit her, you can still
see stains on the statue from where the tears ran down her face. However,
having visited myself and failing to see these stains, I can’t help but wonder
if they are a manifestation in the imaginations of people who tried to visit
during the safe hours of the day, desperately hoping for their own tale to
tell.
The Tragedy of Julia Cronquist
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| The graves of the Cronquist children |
The weeping woman statue was erected
to memorialize Julia Cronquist by her husband Olif after five out of eight of
their children died before adulthood. The tragedy begun in March 1889 when
scarlet fever first struck the Cronquist household, killing her twins, Olif and
Oliver, when they were just six years old. Five years later, she lost another
child, Lilean. It is unclear whether Lilean was stillborn or died shortly after
birth, but regardless, Julia had her second chance at happiness taken from her
before she even had a chance to enjoy it (Jenn). Seven years after that,
scarlet fever made its return and she lost two daughters, Emelia and Inez, on
the same day at the ages of four and two respectively. Julia visited the graves
of her lost children often to grieve the losses that had occurred before she
eventually met her end in 1914 (Family).
Julia died from heart disease, most likely a complication from when she had
contracted scarlet fever earlier in her life (Jenn). She met an almost poetic
end: a broken heart caused by the same disease that killed half her children.
Logic Behind the Legend
It is not uncommon for ghost stories
such as this to circulate among college campuses. For many students, they are
experiencing the biggest change in their lifetime. Dropped in a strange city
with strange people away from family, students tend to tackle the fear of the
unknown by first tackling the fear of the supernatural. Exchanging stories
between peers helps with the adjustment by increasing their understanding of
the new environment, even if the tale shared is not realistic (Major 238).
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| The Weeping Woman |
There are two forms of inclusion that
occur when people partake in legends. The first form benefits ego over
relationships and can be related to gossip. People tend to feel more
comfortable when they are “in the know” of the world around them. Being able to
say “Yes, I actually have heard of the weeping woman. This is the version I
heard,” provides the same sort of satisfaction as saying that you know two of
your acquaintances have started dating. In both cases, the information holds no
importance to your life, but you feel good knowing it because it means someone
liked you enough to tell you the story.
The other form of inclusion the legends
bring to campus is known as “legend tripping” or “legend questing.” Legend
tripping is the event where a group of friends go out and try to verify the
legend for themselves. This presents a deeper level of interpersonal trust than
the mere sharing of the tale. When people check out haunted locations together,
there is an unspoken understanding that, should something happen, no one will
be sacrificed to the ghoul for the sake of everyone else’s escape. Even further
than that, collegiate legend quests are described by some as “a significant
kind of experiential learning” (Tucker 185). When students at Utah State form a
ring around the weeping woman statue and chant, they experience campus in a way
that very few dare to, enhancing their connection to this strange new place that
they now call “home.”
The Haunting Lives On
Erected
in the early 20th century, this haunted statue is almost as old as
the university that surrounds it. Between regular commutes through the cemetery
and folklore assignments given every semester in a course required for all
university students, this particular legend shows no signs of slowing down.
Whether this legend will withstand the test of time remains to be seen, but
some solace can be found in the fact that, as long as this legend circulates, Julia
Cronquist will never be alone again.
Works
Cited
Family History. Utah
Department of Administrative Services Division of Archives and Records Service,
22 Mar. 2013, http://archives.utah.gov/research/guides/familyhistory.htm.
Accessed 17 Oct. 2016.
Jenn.
“Weeping Woman – Logan Cemetery.” The
Dead History. 14 Oct. 2012, www.thedeadhistory.com/cemeteries/weeping-woman-logan-cemetery/.
Accessed 14 Oct. 2016.
Lambert,
Katherine. “Haunted history surrounds Utah State campus.” The Utah Statesman. Utah State University, 30 Oct. 2014, http://usustatesman.com/haunted-history-surrounds-utah-state-campus/.
Accessed 14 Oct. 2016.
Major,
Claire, and Nathaniel Bray. "Exam Scams And Classroom Flimflams: Urban
Legends As An Alternative Lens For Viewing The College Classroom
Experience." Innovative Higher Education 32.5 (2008):
237-250. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Tucker,
Elizabeth. Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of
American College Campuses. University Press of Mississippi, 2007.
Photo Credits:
Fig. 1: Kirsten Mara, 11 Oct. 2016
Fig. 2: Kirsten Mara, 11 Oct. 2016
Fig. 3: Kirsten Mara, 11 Oct. 2016
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