Lafayette Oregon Urban Legend

 *update at bottom

I know it is past Halloween, but his post took a bit longer to get together than I anticipated. I heard about a couple of cemeteries in Lafayette Oregon one of which was an abandoned Masonic cemetery. I went to check them out with the intention of just taking some cool pictures. When I got home I went to Google history regarding them and I found a whole lot of stuff. Apparently there are some pretty cool urban legends and stories regarding this town and those cemeteries.

while looking up some information I found a ton of blogs regarding this town and a so called “curse”. My issue was every blog I looked at had different information and posted different locations. So I had to go to the source. I spent a day last week at the Yamhill county museum going through binders of information so I could get it right.

So here we go. So I’m going to start with the “Gypsy Curse” urban legend. In 1886 a woman and her son killed her boyfriend. Her son was arrested and hanged for the crime. While he was being hanged his mother screamed that the town would burn down three times.

Legend number 2. The “Witches Curse”. The town of Lafayette especially its cemetery is said to have had a curse over it since the 1800’s, when a woman accused of witchcraft was hanged for her supposed crimes. Before she died, she placed a curse on the town that it would burn down three times. Since then, it has burnt down twice. Her ghost is said to roam the cemetery where she was killed to this day.

So let’s get to the real story.

Richard Marple moved to Lafayette from Corvallis in 1885 with his mother Anna Marple and his wife Julia. Although there were a lot of job opportunities Richard wasn’t able to gain steady employment. Instead he made his way through robberies and stealing. He was suspected of multiple robberies.

At some point between 1885 and 1886 Richard’s mother Anna Marple got together with David Corker a shop owner in town.

On November 1st, 1886 David Corker was found dead hacked mercilessly with an ax and the store had been ransacked. The sheriff brought Richard Marple in for questioning and he denied any part in the crime, but spoke derogatorily of Corker in the same breath.

At his home they found evidence of his guilt including a bloody shirt, a bloody piece of paper and tools he could have used to break into the store. Marple claimed that the sheriff’s office planted to evidence to frame him.

Although he continued to claim his innocense and his mother and wife both testified that he was elsewhere during the murder a jury convicted him of first-degree murder on April 9, 1887. His mother was indicted as well as an accomplice but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

On November 11, 1887 Marple was led to his execution next to the county jail. Thirty people were invited to witness the hanging. When Sheriff Harris ordered a black hood placed over his head, the doomed man yelled out, “Murder! May God judge you all!”

When the trapped door was released the knot in the noose slipped under his chin. Rather than breaking his neck, the tightening noose slowly strangled him to death. What came next was an agonizing 18 minutes of him suffering rather than the noose just breaking his neck and him dying.

(This next piece is somewhat debatable of exactly what she shouted, but the was seen multiple times in old newspaper clippings.)

During the hanging Marple’s mother Anna shouted that the town would burn and never prosper.

Marple was buried at the Oddfellows Masonic Cemetery in Lafayette.

Ironically, it turned out Marple had confessed his guilt to a fellow inmate while awaiting execution. And he implicated his mother, saying she had secretly taken up with Corker to gain his confidence.

His mother ended up moving to Jackson County for the remainder of her life and is buried in a cemetery there.

Years after the execution and the mother moving out of the area their home in Lafayette was destroyed during which they found a bloody ax.

Facts vs. legend.

Anna Marple was not a witch or a gypsy that I was able to locate in any of my research. She was buried in Jackson County not Lafayette or the Masonic or Pioneer Cemeteries so it is not very probable that she is the one that haunts them. While there is a lot of stories saying she cursed the town with three fires and that it has since suffered two. I found evidence of multiple fires that the town has endured. Here are some of those dates.

The first major fire was 1895 and burned This fire burned down a general merchandise store, a tin shop and grocery store and a doctor’s office.

The second major fire was 1897 which burned the post office, the butcher shop, a drug store and a candy store.

The third major fire was 1898 which burned a flouring mill and elevator. The elevator which contained 5000 bushels of wheat were destroyed. So that is three majors fires so far.

Here are a few of the following fires. In 1904 came the town’s most destructive fire. It burned down 16 buildings in all. In 1914 there were two fires on the same night that are suspected to be arson. In 1928 there was a fire and again in 1946,

So as you can see there were many fires that burned through the town of Lafayette since the “curse” was put on it. While talking to the ladies at the museum I learned that large fires like these were very common back them because of the all wooden structures and the wood stoves. Lafayette wasn’t the only town in the area plagued by numerous fires around that time.

So while I wasn’t able to find any real information to back up this Gypsy or Witch claim I was told that lots of paranormal activity goes on at the Pioneer Cemetery in town as well as the second building of the museum which is a very old church. So if you are interested in the paranormal it might be worth checking out.

What I found was some great stories and great history and an amazing old cemetery that is somewhat neglected. It was definitely a great trip to Lafayette and to both beautiful cemeteries.

Take some time to adventure into some small town museums. They are full of really great history not to mention great people who are happy to tell you all about it. Happy Exploring

Update

On my way to California for Thanksgiving I stopped by the Jacksonville Historical Cemetery and the volunteers there were nice enough to show me the unmarked grave of Anna Marple. If you’re ever in the area of Jacksonville County you should definitely make a stop at the Jacksonville Historical Cemetery.  It’s truly amazing. 

Yamhill County History