Read time: 6 min.

Some distant Quaker relatives of mine -a trio of brothers, in fact- were buried in Knightstown’s Glen Cove Cemetery. My mom and I were circling the grounds searching for their shared tombstone when something unexpected caught my eye. Rising in the distance was what has to be the strangest, eeriest mausoleum I’ve ever seen. In an instant, the family headstone hunt took a backseat to this haunting architectural oddity. Unfortunately, I don’t know a lot about it. 

I hate to remind you, but tomorrow marks the peak of spooky season. It’s the grand finale of that stretch between September and October when the air turns crisp, leaves crunch underfoot, and the number of gigantic roadside skeletons seems to double. It’s the time of year when cemeteries feel a little more atmospheric, abandoned buildings seem to whisper their stories louder, and even the most ordinary backroads can suddenly feel like the way to the Devil’s Backbone.

That said, I think “spooky season” can be a little overplayed. Don’t get me wrong: I love an eerie atmosphere as much as anyone, but I’ve also seen the darker side of the hype. What starts as a dare or a late-night adventure to a remote cemetery too often ends in vandalized stones, broken fences, and damage that can’t be undone. When “spooky” becomes the main lens through which people see them, the quiet dignity and cultural significance of old burial grounds often gets trampled. Often, the damage is literal. 

Fortunately, I saw no sign of that last time I was at Glen Cove Cemetery. There were lots of old markers, sure, but they were all in good repair. The one that stood out to me was that curved mausoleum built into the hill near the grounds’ southern bounds. A stone set into the brick at the front of the unusual monument read J.C. & W. Ramsay on one line, then 1874 on another. 

The Ramsay family is something of a historical enigma- so much so that even the most dedicated sleuths on Find A Grave have struggled to piece their story together¹! I looked into local newspapers, but little verifiable information about their lives or lineage has surfaced. That leaves people like me with more questions than answers. The family mausoleum’s strange design and the scarcity of documented information give it a weird, creepy quality.

That said, the veil of mystery began to lift a little thanks to Arlene Ramsay Roberts, who shared her version of the family’s story in a YouTube video posted by Glen Cove Cemetery on November 2, 2020. Although she lived in Kendallville more than a hundred miles away, Arlene was stunned when she returned to the area and saw the neglected state of her family crypt. Determined to honor her ancestors, she and her husband took it upon themselves to begin restoring the structure. 

For Arlene, the restoration was a continuation of her family’s legacy. As a child, she’d watched her grandfather and great-grandfather tend to the mausoleum with care, keeping it a proud reminder of the Ramsay name. As she began her efforts, though, a surprising challenge emerged: no one seemed entirely sure who was actually buried inside².

Adding to the crypt’s lore is a story Arlene heard when she was young, one that gave the mausoleum a strange kind of local fame. The story is hard to track but according to family tradition, the circus was in town when her grandfather and great-grandfather received a late-night call: someone was robbing the mausoleum. They raced there and startled the thieves in the act. In their rush to escape, the robbers dropped a coffin, which slid down the mausoleum steps. Remarkably, it’s said that the displaced coffin still rests there today.

According to family legend, the coffin contained the body of a young cousin -his name long since lost to time- who was struck by lightning around the age of seventeen. After his death,  the family reportedly noticed something unsettling: his hair and nails continued to grow. Whether out of fascination or superstition, they chose to place his body in a glass coffin, a decision that gave the mausoleum an almost sideshow-like reputation to the passing circus³.

Today, eight caskets are said to rest inside the old Ramsay mausoleum, though no one can say for certain who they belong to. Descendants have tried to rule out which Ramsays aren’t entombed there through headstone hunting in other parts of the cemetery, but what remains is a mix of mystery, memory, and devotion- a family determined to preserve the crypt even as the identities within have faded into obscurity.

In the end, the Ramsay mausoleum stands as more than just a curiosity tucked into a Knightstown hillside. It’s a tangible reminder of how quickly stories can blur and how the past often lingers in fragments rather than full chapters. What began as a chance detour from a family headstone hunt turned into a brush with a mystery that’s part history, part legend, and part eerie folklore.

As autumn fades and spooky season gives way to the hush of winter, I keep thinking about that curved mausoleum on the southern edge of the Glen Cove Cemetery. It’s haunting not just because of its ghostly lore, but because it embodies the way history can slip through our fingers if no one takes the time to remember. The Ramsay crypt may hold more questions than answers, but its enduring presence ensures that the family, however enigmatic, won’t be entirely forgotten.

Sources Cited
1 J C Ramsay (2021, January 4). Find A Grave. Web. Retrieved October 12, 2025. 
2 Tales from the Cove: Arlene Ramsay Roberts (2020, November 2). Glen Cove Cemetery [Knightstown]. YouTube. Web. Retrieved October 12, 2025. 
3 (See footnote 2).