Odell Cemetery and Ebenezer Chapel

Outside Dayton Oregon is an old pioneer cemetery named Odell Cemetery. Attached to the grounds is a run-down chapel – known as the Ebenezer Chapel. It is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in Oregon.

The original chapel is said to have been built in the 1860’s and was rebuilt in 1926. Legend has it that a preacher only known as Ebenezer founded the Ebenezer Chapel and was supposedly a polygamist cult leader with seven wives.

In a violent rampage, he murdered his thirteen children (aged 9 mo-13 years) then burned their bodies in the chapel’s fireplace. The remains of the corpses were then buried in the cemetery attached to the Chapel.

As romantic and chilling as the above story sounds, there’s no historical data to back the legend. According to historical documents, the chapel was built in the 1860’s. It was rebuilt in 1926 using the original fireplace and much of the building’s materials.

There was no proof of a preacher named Ebenezer. No one is sure how the chapel got its name. There was a man named John Odell who had thirteen children. Like most families from the time period, some of them died, and some lived to have their own families.

There seems to be disagreement on the number of pioneers who are buried in the cemetery. One source says that 105 are buried, 49 in marked graves and 56 in unmarked graves. Another source shows 48 people buried there, eighteen of which don’t have headstones.

Many people have reported sightings of spirits lurking in the nearby cemetery and within the chapel. Some have reported bizarre occurrences such as a strange glowing light drifting through the forest. Some have heard voices and explainable scratching noises in the chapel as well. Many people have also claimed that fully charged camera batteries will drain completely shortly after arriving.

The Odell Cemetery has no sign to mark its location. The cemetery is unattended and in poor shape. The DAR information below was gathered in 1940 which stated that 67 pioneers were buried in the Odell cemetery, 49 with headstones and 17 without headstones. The last burial was in 1941.