(From the March 27, 1909 Galena Daily Gazette)
Galenian Walks Two Miles Around Rather Than Go Through Greenwood Cemetery In The Dark
“If you had been out hunting all day, and had bagged nary a duck, and you were so tired from wading in the mud that you could hardly drag one foot ahead of the other- -which would you rather do, go home by a shortcut that would necessitate your passing through a cemetery after dark, or go two miles around by another road? That was the proposition a well-known Galena businessman, ex-alderman, member of a prominent lodge, baseball fan, enthusiastic hunter, etc., etc., was up against the other night, and in as much as he was so near petered out by the tramp that he could hardly walk and in as much as he preferred to add two more long weary miles to his journey, the inference is plain, (so his friends affirm, at least) that the only reason why he refused to take the shortcut was because he was afraid to tackle that jaunt through the cemetery after dark.
This well known G. B. M. et.al., had been down the river with a friend for two days and a night and had only one measly duck. At the close of the second day they decided to return home and with the mud to their boot tops began the heart breaking journey.
Now one of the hunters wanted to take the shortcut through Greenwood, which would save probably two miles of walking, but the Galena businessman, not he, wouldn’t go through any cemetery after dark no matter how much walking he could save, and to make a long story short- - the bespattered the bedraggled party of two finally got home, but not until they were so fagged they could hardly crawl.
The longest way round may or may not be the shortest way home, but it is the safest way home- - at least that is what one Galena man thinks, when it comes to going through cemeteries after dark."
Courtesy of the Galena-Jo Daviess County Historical Society; Ghosts of Galena book available at the Museum gift shop.