Ceely Rose

During the 1800s, David and Rebecca Rose had a successful gristmill business and lived a wonderful life. The Rose family settled in a two-story home in Lucas, Ohio. The couple had a son named Walter. While in their 40s, the couple welcomed their only daughter Cecilia “Ceely” Rose into the world on March 13, 1873.

During Ceely’s childhood, it became clear she had mental issues and unrealistic expectations about life. Not only did she have an unpleasant childhood, but classmates tormented her about her physical appearance. Her classmates were often younger because of her inability to keep up in school with kids her own age. Ceely’s only friends included sisters Cora and Tracey Davis and a young man named Guy Berry, who lived on the farm next door.

Ceely became obsessed with Berry. She told anyone who would listen that she would marry Guy Berry someday. She obsessively watched Berry working in the fields and visited him while he worked on his family’s farm. Although Guy didn’t share Ceely’s feelings, he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

In 1896, Guy had grown tired of Ceely’s obsession with him. Instead of telling her the truth, he lied to her about why they couldn’t be together. Berry told Ceely that neither family would support them engaging in a relationship. Ceely became incensed. She hatched an evil plan to kill her parents and then kill Guy’s parents.

Ceely bought rat poison and poisoned a family meal one evening. Ceely’s father David died immediately. Her brother Walter lingered and died later. Rebecca had only eaten a small portion of food and survived the initial poisoning. She also knew Ceely had poisoned them. But instead of going to the authorities, Rebecca said nothing. She loved her daughter and couldn’t bring herself to report Ceely to the authorities. It was Rebecca’s last mistake. Ceely made a second attempt at poisoning her mother. This time, she succeeded. Rebecca joined her late husband and son in death. Ceely later told authorities how she enjoyed watching her mother die.

With her family dead, Ceely went after Guy’s parents. She baked them a pie and filled it with arsenic. She asked Guy to give the pie to his parents. However, for obvious reasons, she told him not to eat any. Apparently, Guy wasn’t interested in any food from Ceely’s kitchen. He tossed the pie into the yard and left it for the chickens. The pie eating chickens died from arsenic poisoning.

Afterward, Ceely and her friend Tracey Davis had a serious talk. Davis convinced her into admitting to poisoning her family. Unknown to Ceely, the local sheriff was listening to the conversation and arrested Ceely. Authorities declared Ceely insane and sent her to the Toledo Insane Asylum. She remained there until her transfer to the Lima Asylum in 1915. Ceely never saw Guy Berry again and spent her final days at the Lima facility.

According to the Find a grave (www. findagrave.com) website, Ceely died on March 14, 1934; a day after her 61st birthday.

The site also lists her final resting place is at the Lima State Hospital Cemetery. Today, the former Rose family home still exists. It’s part of the Malabar Farm State Park. Over the years, several popular ghost hunter television programs have visited the house.

Depending on whom you ask, Ceely Rose remains at her former Lucas, Ohio home. Visitors claim to have heard mysterious voices inside the house. Others have seen Ceely looking through a window. While alive, Ceely spent many hours staring at the adjacent Berry farm watching Guy Berry working on his farm. Perhaps she now spends eternity staring out the same window trying to catch another glimpse of Guy Berry. Although the Rose farm isn’t open to the public, the park does periodically schedule ghost tours. For more information, visit the www.malabarfarm.org website for more details.