In 1981-82' I was back at ICC and was finally on a trajectory leading to some kind of job skill and or experience. I was a Communications Major and was involved in Television Production. While in school, I met a couple guys from Morton who were both musicians.
Eddie Heidenrich, was a wonderful piano player and I was even lucky enough to play in a band with him for a short period of time. He had a great sense of humor and we hit it off immediately. The other Mortonite, was Mitch Marine who was one of the finest drummers to ever come out of Central Illinois. Mitch has been playing drums for world famous country star, Dwight Yokum for many years and I'm so proud and happy for him.
But before his success , we were just a couple of kids in our early 20's looking for fun and excitement. One day after classes, we were walking to our cars and he asked me a question. "Don't you live in Bartonville? Isn't that where that crazy hospital is?" "You mean the old Peoria State Hospital for the Criminally insane?" I replied. "Yeah, don't you live by that crazy hospital?' he asked. 'I live pretty close," I replied. He said, "We should go and check it out today." I knew that they'd had some open house visits recently as they were going to knock down all the old buildings and build an industrial park. So, our afternoon was planned....and Mitch followed me to Bartonville.
We parked our cars down the road from the hospital and walked through a corn field and entered the vacant institution. On our walk, I told him the story of "Old Book' who had been a patient at the Zeller hospital and was notorious for weeping at the grave sites of those who passed away at the hospital during his stay. Let me see if I can find some documentation to this set this story up:
Old Book is the name given to a purported ghost or spirit that haunts a cemetery and tree on the grounds of the Peoria State Hospital in Bartonville, Illinois. While rumors of ghosts and ghost stories are highly speculative, the Old Book tale has been documented many times. Among those documenting the tale is the first director of the state insane asylum, George Zeller.
The living Old Book
The name Old Book is the name given to a popular patient at the hospital. The well-liked Old Book worked as a gravedigger during his time at Peoria State Hospital. It is said that following burial services for deceased patients he would lean against an old elm tree and weep for the dead.[1] Various sources report that Old Book's official name was recorded as Manual Bookbinder aka A. Bookbinder (1878 - 1910), grave marker 713 on the cemetery grounds.[2][3] It is said that Old Book was mute, so no one could ask him his name. No one knows what his given name was, but he is allegedly called Bookbinder because of his previous occupation at the printing house where he worked before he was brought to the hospital. Despite his disabilities, he was one of the staff's most favored patients.[4]
The Crying Tree
The superstitious tale surrounding Old Book is somewhat unusual among ghost stories in that it was reportedly witnessed by hundreds of people. The story goes that when Old Book died his funeral was attended by hundreds of patients and staff members who became witnesses to the ghostly phenomenon that was about to transpire. As workers were attempting to lower what should have been a heavy casket they discovered that it instead felt empty. Suddenly, a crying sound echoed from the Graveyard Elm and everyone in attendance turned and looked, including Dr. Zeller, who later detailed Bookbinder and the surrounding events in his diary. They all claimed to have seen Old Book standing by the tree. They so believed it to be true that Zeller had the casket opened to ensure that Old Book still lay inside. As the lid was opened the crying ceased and Old Book's corpse was found undisturbed in the coffin. Days passed and the tree began to die. Several of the grounds crewmen tried to remove the Graveyard Elm or the "crying tree", as it was also known. None were successful, citing the weeping emanating from the tree.[1] One man even tried to cut it down with an axe, but when striking the side, terrible wailing would sound as if Old Book himself was being chopped.[4]
In later years the elm was struck during a lightning storm and was finally removed from the potters field.
So after telling Mitch the story of Mr. Bookbinder, we set off looking for the grave site. I seem to remember the grave site being 714 at the time but the Wikipedia has it listed as 713, either way, we finally found the grave sites and were certain that we had found the actual grave of "Old Book". After that escapade, we were thirsty for more excitement and mystery.
Our next stop was slipping though a window and entering an old building that was quite dark inside. The only light coming from the afternoon sun shining through the broken glass of a few windows. We continued down a hall and came upon what looked like, cells with old discarded equipment strewn around. Could this have been where the Electrocution therapy took place? We weren't sure, but soon, we came to what was unquestionably... the morgue.
The only light came from a tiny window in the back of the room which held some gurneys and four doors on a rusted metal apparatuses that resembled a giant refrigerator!!! Upon closer inspection, we concluded that these were where the hospital's dead were kept temporarily. We opened a couple of the drawers, and they squeaked as we pulled them out of the ex refrigeration units. Mitch climbed up on one of the tables and laid down. Not to be outdone, I climbed up on another hard cold table and had him ROLL ME INSIDE THE UNIT!!!!
Once inside, I imagined what a DEAD PERSON would feel like inside that dark space. Of course, that made me chuckle since as I realized the irony that they wouldn't have noticed anything...they were dead!!! All was funny until......a thought crossed my mind.....I wonder if there were RATS in that drawer!!!! LEMME OUTTA HERE!!!!
Soon, we were back out on the grounds but had to keep a low profile since there were maintenance people working in various buildings and after all...we were trespassing!!! One worker did notice us and yelled something, but we ran and hid before entering the main administration building where most of the patents had lived. On the floor, were lots of old papers, some dating back from the 1950's. These had probably been in desk drawers and filing cabinets throughout the years. After about a half hour, we decided we should try and get back to our cars before being apprehended and booked for trespassing.
We did manage to get back to our cars safely and should have been happy with our afternoon recognizance mission. However, it was decided that we should try to repeat our mission, only with the black of nighttime as our cover and with more supplies...maybe a 12 pack of Paspst Blue Ribbon!!!
We never even made it past the cornfield on our second attempt. Bartonville police seperated us and began their questioning. Luckily, we both told the story of "OLD BOOK" and our misson was none other than a ghost hunt. Vadalism was not our priority. We were both let go and...... we got to keep the beer!!!! Just another Ghost Tale from The Orange Room!!!
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