THE LEGEND OF THE ADA WITCH
Sometime during the 19th century, a woman had been unfaithful to her husband and would disappear into the night to meet with her secret lover. Her husband started to suspect his wife was up to something and one night pretended to fall asleep. After his wife got up and quietly left the house, he followed and found her in the arms of another man. Rage welled up inside of him and he attacked the adulterous couple, killing his wife first. The two men fought viciously until they both died from the wounds they inflicted upon each other. People claim they have heard the sounds of a fight taking place in the area, only to find no one around. The land at one point had been open for hunting before much of it became zoned for residential use. There have been reports from past hunters feeling a presence around them, hearing a ghostly fight and getting tapped on the shoulder from behind, only to turn around to no one. And of course, there are the sightings of The Lady in White a.k.a. The Ada Witch herself in the cemetery. Ada resident Julie Wiley told news channel WZZM13 about her sighting. “I was driving home from work, heading down Bailey Dr.”, said Wiley. “I was coming up the crest of the hill and all of the sudden I see a woman sitting in the middle of the street. She had a long, flowing blue dress on. She was sitting there waving her arms, and the words coming out of her mouth, to me, looked like she was asking, ‘help me; help me.'” “I’m a 100% believer of it, “Wiley said. “I know what I saw. I didn’t drive that way for the longest time because I was afraid I was going to see her again.”We first visited Findlay Cemetery back in 2005 with the hope of glimpsing the “ghost lady” but we just encountered idiots and the police. It was a nice summer night for an evening investigation. The moon was full and the cemetery was lit up. The place is small but well-taken care of. We wandered in and headed towards the back where it was wooded and more private. Small tombstones trickled into the woods making for an eerie little graveyard forest. It was also rumored to be a more “paranormally” active part of the cemetery so we set up some basic equipment – the usual audio and video recorders.
In the middle of the cemetery was an old, broken tombstone – its top half missing and the bottom held up by two wooden posts. At some point in time, it became known as the grave of the “Ada Witch.” People had left trinkets, coins, and candles by it so there was no doubt that we were looking at the right spot. Seeing there was no historical evidence backing the legend, there was no evidence that the grave actually belonged to the famed Ada Witch.
We knew we were in for an interesting and annoying night when a couple of lackluster “ghost hunters” showed up smelling like beer and stupidity. They introduced themselves and informed us they were part of a paranormal team (naturally.) We talked to them for a bit and then they wandered off into the cemetery somewhere.
When the police decided to show up to investigate the cars parked alongside the cemetery, the drunk couple ran from the front of the cemetery to the back yelling, “the cops are here, the cops are here!”
No…that didn’t look suspicious or anything. Idiots.
We picked up our gear and proceeded to walk “calmly” to talk to the police. As we approached the gates, the cops stepped out of their cars and were already shining their flashlights at us. One of our gang coming from the back of the cemetery had started to jog to catch up with everyone. An overzealous cop thought she was fleeing the scene and yelled, “Freeze…stop running!”
“I’m just trying to catch up!” she yelled back, sounding irritated.
The cops had confused look on their faces as we walked out of the cemetery and lined up. Our range of ages was the 20s–50s. The cops thought they were going to find a bunch of teenagers partying in the cemetery, not a gang of people dressed in dorky matching black t-shirts with our group logo on them.
“What are you guys doing here?” a cop asked, clearly confused.
“We’re ghost hunting,” we said like it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing.
The officer arched an eyebrow and asked for our ID’s. While he was looking at them, we explained we were a paranormal team (Great Lakes Paranormal Research back then) and what we did during our investigations. I was waiting for the cops to smell the beer on the drunken couple’s breath, but he never said anything to them.
The next thing we knew, a voice came through the officer’s radio and asked if everything was okay.
“It’s okay…they’re paranormal investigators,” he radioed back.
That was the last thing I had expected to hear. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. He gave our ID’s back and told us to let them know when we were going to be in the cemetery next time. They were happy they didn’t have to bust a bunch of kids and even told us to go back in and keep investigating because we’d probably scare the kids away for the night.
Yeah but what about these drunken idiots next to us…take them with you!
The whole episode was kind of humorous after it was over. The police even asked us if we had found anything paranormal yet. We stayed on for a little longer but the Ada Witch wasn’t going to show up for us that night.
A few days later, “dirt from the grave of the Ada Witch” was posted on eBay, sold by none other than the drunken ghost hunters. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from them. The dirt never sold.
Over the years, people have continued to visit Findlay Cemetery, hoping to experience something paranormal. Many have visited respectfully, but those who haven’t have hacked away at the supposed grave of the Ada Witch to the point that even its bottom half wasn’t left anymore. In 2013, Nicole Bray was doing research for her book, Ghosts of Grand Rapids and learned that the destroyed grave had belonged to Sarah McMillan, who had died of Typhoid Fever in 1870 at the age of 29 – not by the hands of her enraged husband. Her grave had become entwined with the West Michigan legend and suffered for it. Bray got in touch with a few monument companies and one gladly donated a new stone. Will the new grave continue to be associated with the legend? Hopefully not, but no doubt people will continue to report seeing the ghostly apparition of the Ada Witch, whoever or wherever she may be.
How to Find the Ada Witch
While this apparition has been associated with the cemetery, more often it’s the nearby roadways she is seen on. People have claimed to see her wondering along Honey Creek Road, around the area of Honey Creek and Conservation NE near Seidman Park and also along Egypt Valley Ave. If you do decide to go in search of her, please be respectful to the people who live in the area and to the cemetery.
Short follow-up to previous comment. Tapped another link that popped up after I posted just now. Have never seen or heard this detail before. Another viewer posted on another sight that they suspect they saw the Ada Witch as a “misty blue figure that floated past”, within 3 miles of the cemetery where sightings happen. My house was within 3 miles of Findley Cemetery. This can’t be coincidence. Goosebumps! (Not scary, just validating.) Wish I knew her name.
Being Halloween, I decided to Google the Ada Witch once again. Now living in California, I did live in my Ada house in the woods for 5 years, with much acreage, as a single woman, no children. Grew up in Grand Rapids. My first cousin is buried in Findley Cemetery, next to his stillborn twin brothers, as well as a friend. It is a peaceful, serene little place. I have seen the Sarah McMillan grave, as pictured.
Two things to mention. Was speaking with my sister’s contractor one day at her Grand Rapids home. Where my house was located came up in conversation. He told me my property used to be undeveloped hunting land in the middle of nowhere, and that he believed his great aunt was the authentic Ada Witch. No name given. He said she was eccentric, yet ridiculously intelligent, & rather a loner. Having been quite successful, she had owned all the surrounding land. Lived off the grid, & built as he described a “Hobit house” out of cinder blocks in the side of a hill near the stream. My house sat on this same stream. She lived alone her whole life, living off the land & foraging for her food. His family visited her from time to time over the years, & he said she had long white hair, & often wore no clothing. She would go to the stream to bathe, & occasionally would run into hunters, who were startled & did not know what to make of her appearance, & being out where a single older woman would never be, certainly not unclothed. This intrigued me, as my house was within close range of the sightings. She had been deceased for some time at the point I heard this story.
There was a pool in the backyard of my house. One night–late (3:00 a.m.)–my then boyfriend went out back to shut off the hose that had been adding water to the pool. He was “Mr. tough guy”, & didn’t buy into such things. He came back into the house, & pardon the expression, looked like he’d just seen a ghost. He was pasty white, & could hardly form a sentence. He said he sensed someone was watching him as he squatted at the pool’s edge, & felt something touch his back. He thought it was me–it wasn’t, as he found me inside at the other end of the house. When he looked up, he said he saw the transparent figure of a bluish-white woman that just floated past him & on down the hill (30-foot ravine), down toward the stream, then vanished. We both said, “Ada Witch!” It wasn’t scary, & I went in the yard alone at night frequently to walk the dog, not afraid.
Oh, 3rd thing. Once had a very vivid dream worth mentioning. Lots of deer in the area. I fed them year-round (20+ of them). Harsh winters, coyotes, mountain lions, bears. Wanted to help them. Area heavy with wildlife, avid animal lover. In dream, 7 deer came to bay window by kitchen table, V-formation. They morphed into native Americans (used to heavily populate the area), authentic garb, & leader spoke in their language to me, but I understood perfectly what he said in the dream: “Thank you for taking care of my people.” They morphed back into deer, turned, walked back into woods & vanished. Very spiritual land, between 2 major rivers.
So, in a nutshell, I think that lady may be the true Ada Witch, & that she was completely in tune with nature, as I felt myself to be, too. I have no doubt what my boyfriend saw that night was her.
Wow!!! Thank you for sharing your excellent story! That’s very interesting about the older woman. It really makes one wonder if she was the inspiration for the story everyone tells today!
Ummmm…I have lived in the area of Cascade and Ada for my entire life. There are no coyotes or mountain lions. Zero! NONE!!! There have been rare sightings of bears. (Very rare) I don’t believe any of this persons description of an encounter.
I disagree wholeheartedly. My second cat, Zo, was killed and eaten by a coyote right in front of me. I’m not sure on the mountain lion topic, however.
There are tons of coyotes around Cascade and Ada, and there have been recent bear sightings as well.