Crying Mary of Oak Hill Cemetery - Battle Creek, Michigan

Established in 1844, the Oak Hill Cemetery located in Battle Creek, MI has some famous residents from the "cereal kings".  W. K. Kellogg and C. W. Post are buried in this cemetery along with a few other historical figures such as the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, MI

However,this cemetery also has one of the most talked about statues in the past decade.  The statue in question is actually the very large, ornate tombstone of Johannes Decker who was a prominent salesman.  His grave marker is topped by a large statue of a Greek goddess.  Legend has it that if you visit this statue at midnight on Sundays, you can see tears flowing from the statue's face.  There are indeed marks on the bronze that look like stains from tears.  Some claim they have actually seen the tears flowing, while many dispute that this is not possible and this is natural weathering.  Given that the statue resembles the Virgin Mary, it has become popularly known as "Crying Mary".

Tombstone that hosts the statue of "Crying Mary"

There are many theories about why the statue is crying, the common belief is that a woman buried there murdered her six children, then killed herself and weeps because of this.  Although they say there are six tombstones of children there in front of the statue, is is said by others that they died of natural causes and believe that the crying statue represents Ruth Decker and she mourns over her lost children.

The face of "Crying Mary"