Keeping with the Halloween spirit I thought I’d share a newspaper clipping we recently found in the collection. This is from the Bloomington Telephone, a bi-weekly paper, from Friday, April 17, 1891.
The Worral family that live just north of Crossroads church, have had some trying experience with ghosts. On one occasion the mysterious forms were seen at the window, trying to enter, when they were seen at the window, trying to enter, when they were told if they came in the name of the Lord, to come in, but if they came in the name of the Devil to depart; and they departed.
Cross Roads United Methodist still exists today on W. State Road 48/W. Third Street/Whitehall Pike and is one of the oldest churches in town. According to a 1947 article titled “Old Bloomington….” from an unknown newspaper, several Worralls were listed as members in 1885. But which Worrall (spelled Worral in the 1891 article, Worrall in all other sources) had ghosts? After some digging around I found an obituary for Albert Worrall from the Bloomington Times dated June 21, 1937. In the obituary it stated that Albert died at his home on Whitehall Pike and that he lived there for 48 years. Based on this information it is safe to assume that Albert and his family,wife Rebecca, and children Glen, Mary, and Raymond, were the Worralls who had a paranormal experience back in 1891.
Albert left England with his parents and siblings when he was just 8 years old. His family lived in Northern Indiana for one year before relocating to Monroe County. Albert lived in Bloomington for 66 years and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery along with his wife, parents, and other family members. It is unknown if they experienced any other ghost sightings after 1891.
Blog post by Megan MacDonald