You’ve Been Warned : The Black Angels of Iowa State
Cemeteries will always be creepy af, the moment the sun goes down they become a whole different place. Some Cemeteries are stunning like the Highgate Cemetary in London but some are just plain morbid. However, all graveyards have legends, but none quite so real as the Oakland and Fairview Cemeteries in Iowa. Both are home to black angels and both have been causing mayhem.
The Black Angel of Iowa Cemetary
Image via Pinterest
Since its first appearance in 1912 the Black Angel of Oakland Cemetary, Iowa has been at the heart of Iowa’s legends and paranormal mysteries. Supposedly bringing death to all who dare touch her.
Standing 8 ft tall as a monument to the Feldevert Family. It has strangely changed colour from a golden brown to a penetrating black.
The Black Angel scale, Image Via – Westword
The Legends all seem to revolve around Tereza Dolezal Felvedert, a migrant from Strimilov, Bohemia who came to America to make a new home.
Teresa moved with her son Eddie who died two years later of Meningitis. Others claim he died in a more suspicious fashion, much like the death of a new husband two years after.
To Mourne their deaths, Teresa hired a fellow Bohemian to construct a bronze angel to stand guard over her lost loves. She moved the remains of her son from his original resting place to be next to his stepfather. Then she, herself, shortly followed dying of cancer on November 18, 1924.
Her angels were placed underneath her angel. That’s when the weird things began to happen.
image via – Pinterest
The Stories began after the angel turned black. Of course, this was most likely the natural oxidisation. However, it happened at such an unnatural speed that people became freaked out and rumours about the late Miss Felvedert began to surface.
Worst of all, perhaps, that she murdered her son and then moved his body under the angel. The angel looks down which defies the ‘norm’. Angels traditionally angels look up, with their arms spread towards the sky which is meant to guide the lost souls to heaven. This black angel looks down, with her arms and wings blocking the transcendence and keeping the spirits of her son and husband trapped on earth.
Some say Teresa was a witch and use these theories as proof.
This remains one of Iowa’s most haunted locations regardless. With everyone from University professors to paranormal investigators coming to pay the Cemetary a visit.
In 2013, the SyFy series Haunted Highway visited Oakland Cemetery to devote an entire episode to the Black Angel. When filming they captured a number of odd sounds and visual anomalies. Most significantly when they flicked there thermal cameras on the angel was glowing hot, defying the cold night air surrounding it…
The Black Angel of Fairview Cemetary
Image via Gravely Speaking
On the other side of Iowa stands another Black Angel who is also surrounded by strange tales and paranormal activity.
This angel presides at the Ruth Ann Dodge Memorial, just outside the entrance to Fairview Cemetary. Fairview is also called ” The Old Burial Ground ” and is one of the oldest burial grounds in the country.
It Began as a native American burial ground and was taken over by the Mormons for a short time. This Black Angel was erected to mark the grave of Ruth Ann Dodge, the wife of General Grenville M. Dodge.
Image via – Gravely Speaking
Soon after Ruth Ann’s death, her daughters brought her body to Council Bluff to bury her. They then hired Daniel Chester French to build the angel Ruth Anne saw in her ‘visions’ when she was close to death. Mr French was best known for building the Lincoln Statue in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. I bet she didn’t come cheap.
The Black Angel is said to follow visitors with her eyes and is known to cause sickness if you make eye contact for two long.
The Graveyard is also a well known haunted spot with lights seen hovering behind the older trees on the site, as well a constant feeling of being closely followed.
