The Counting Rhyme That Kept a Town's Dead from Sleep

Legends of Real Spirits · Jul 25, 2026 · 21m

The Counting Rhyme That Kept a Town's Dead from Sleep

A mason jar sealed with tallow wax and a child's looping rhyme tied to a death register: a jar pulled from the wall of a condemned church in 2011 contained a six-verse counting rhyme that names people who died in Grissel, Minnesota in 1883 - written on paper produced after 1957 and yet matching the 1883 register in exact order. Who kept this rhyme circulating for over a century, and why did its author end up expelled from her congregation?

In this episode, you will hear the story behind the jar, the rhyme, and the community that produced…