This interesting tale is about a devoted dog and his master John Heinl…
This quiet, widowed older man, was an immigrant in his youth, who worked very hard
and was successful in the Florist business. He had a good family and many friends who adored him. Everyone knew and loved him; for his florist plantations and hot houses produced the most wonderful plants and seeds that was carefully packed, traveled from Tallahassee, Florida and Terre Haute, Indiana to every state in America by railroad.
His son took over and has learned well the family business. So John spends his retirement days walking around his friendly hometown in Indiana, with his bulldog who had unusual green eyes. That bulldog would go with him to visit the doctor, and the doctor always had a treat ready for him, and that dog would sit quietly and chew on a bone, while John had his check up, and his prescription filled. And he would leave the bone, knowing another one would be waiting for him on the next visit. This dog would devotedly trot along when John would see his friends and family, and they would have a special dinner plate just for him. No one remembers the dog’s real name, but the green eyes were unforgettable, for when you look at them, you thought they glowed like jewels. So his nickname was ‘Green’.
John’s dog never needed a leash, for he stayed close to the aging man, and if he wandered off, a simple whistle would bring him running back to John’s side. Often you would see the man sitting under a tree, smoking a big cigar, and his beloved dog resting close by watching everything with those green sparking eyes. John would often worry about what would happen to his dog when it died, so in his will he wanted Green to be stuffed. And then Green would be permanently placed into the mausoleum’s window watching the world, and to be close to John’s crypt.
Soon John became ill, and bedridden, and Green never left his side, growling threateningly, when someone approached, then whimpered when he heard John moan and told him to ‘hush and behave’. Onlookers eyes would tear up when they saw the pure love and comfort each other gave during John’s illness. When New Year’s Eve in 1921 was being celebrated, John’s family and friends cried when John took his last breath and died at home. Poor distraught Green was trying like crazy to wake John up and had to be forced to leave the room. You could hear Greens howls and scratching at the door.
Green also attempted to jump into John’s casket, and had to be tied up, he cried and howled all during the funeral. And this commotion only caused more people to cry harder, feeling Green’s pain. After his funeral John was placed in a marble mausoleum, where the family crypt was. Green would sleep day and night at the mausoleum and when relatives of John would come and get Green to take him home, he would escape and return to John’s resting place.
After weeks of trying to keep the dog safe, they gave up and the night watchman of the cemetery promised to keep an eye on Green. Green refused to eat the food and water left for him, and died after days and nights of howling and whimpering for his John.
They found the starved body of the bulldog, and the scratch marks and broken, bloody toe nails on his paws, and sadly realized he was trying claw his way through the door to see his master.
They gently carried Green to a taxidermist who lovingly turned the skinny, dull eyed dog into “Stiffy Green” a healthy looking guard dog whose green eyes would watch through the window of the mausoleum making sure no one would bother them.
So, throughout the years the stories of adventurous teens and adults alike would sneak into the cemetery, and out dodge the guard and find the Heinl’s crypt, and shine a light into the window to see Stiffy Green’s eyes shine back at them. Many would swear that the bull dog would growl, and jump through the window and chase after them. When they ran to the gate, they would hear a whistle and the dog would stop and run toward the sound. And in the distance they would see John Heinl waiting for the bulldog to come to him and they would walk off into the mist and disappear.
In 1989, people who visited started shooting at the window, and hit Stiffy Green’s face, so the caretakers had to remove the statue, and it ended up at Vigo County Historical Society.
But that didn’t stop the intruders who even today still dare to visit and encounter an old man walking a dog with green eyes through the cemetery. And there are some dumb enough to call out to Stiffy Green, and try to approach the growling, ghostly bulldog whose green eyes are glaring at them. But at least they are smart enough to start running when they end up hearing the words, ‘sic em!’…
The next morning, those who visit the graveyard, will find chewed up shoes from runners who tripped, and torn pieces of shirts and pants that was left after being ripped off kids who scaled the fence barely escaping with their lives! So when you visit Highland Lawn Cemetery located in Terre Haute, Indiana, leave a bone and a fat cigar at the Heinl’s crypt, and just maybe they will let you walk with them for a while under the moonlight!
Reference Books