Local legend has it that a Catman creature, in life a graveyard caretaker who had catlike features, watches over the cemetery from beyound the grave. He is said to scare away teens who come to the graveyard to party. Some say he’s buried in an above-ground tomb in the center of the cemetery, and that if you knock 3 times on the brick wall behind the cemetery, the Catman will tinker with your car so that it won’t start when you try to leave.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- Long Cemetery
Frankford, DE
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 38.50965926556458, -75.24516320219851
- County:
- Sussex County, Delaware
- Nearest Towns:
- Frankford, DE (0.8 mi.)
Dagsboro, DE (2.7 mi.)
Selbyville, DE (3.7 mi.)
Bishopville, MD (5.4 mi.)
Millsboro, DE (6.2 mi.)
Millville, DE (7.1 mi.)
Whaleyville, MD (8.4 mi.)
Ocean View, DE (8.8 mi.)
Long Neck, DE (9.2 mi.)
Ocean Pines, MD (9.3 mi.)
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Comments (15)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
My husband and I paid a visit to this Graveyard yesterday afternoon as he is a Frankford native and had heard these stories. There was no above ground tomb, no brick wall nor did we even find a name on any of the headstones that was close to Catman or anything????
Cheryl
I grew up in Dagsboro and Frankford, DE. In fact, my grandparents owned the farmland surrounding the cemetery. There was indeed a red brick mausoleum there which was torn down around 1994 due to vandalism by the local teenagers. The bodies that were once in the mausoleum are now buried in the ground in the same Cemetery. I was just back in Frankford last weekend for the funeral of my great aunt and visited Catman’s Cemetery for the first time in years. It looks so different now. It’s a shame that the mausoleum is no longer there.
As a child, I was afraid of the cemetery even in the daytime. Catman was a real person. His last name was Hudson. I can’t remember his first name, but he was related to me on my mother’s side (maiden name, Hudson). I never met him, but my grandmother use to tell us stories about him. In fact, my uncle just told us last weekend a story about him.
Watch CJ Faisons video about it on you tube
There actually was a mausoleum, i saw it years ago. They tore it down and threw it in the woods behind the graveyard. Now there is a long flat grave stone in its place only one there of its kind so not hard to miss. You forgot to mention his wife…… my dad actually saw his wife in the mausleum….. very dead wife, as for actual hauntings its just a fun story to tell ive been there so many times and nothing ever happened, its fun to scare your friends though
I only go there during the day to visit my parents grave. I leave my car on every time! The catman must be sleeping during the day! lol lol
The mausoleum was torn down by my husband at the request of the family, and the remains of the dead were interred in the ground. Catman was not in the mausoleum, he was the caretaker. The family of the persons in the mausoleum were tired of the teenage parties and vandalism .
From my experiences in this graveyard, I believe it to be truly haunted, either by Catman (if he ever existed) or someone else.
A strange cemetery … Many 1812 and civil war burials … Most cemeteries have family plots and you can see relationships: ie: husband/wife, sons and daughters … but here most of the graves are singles. It’s an oppressive and very unkempt place … it seems as though current family members have long forgotten their relatives. Very sad …
You can see the full set of photos here …
https://www.facebook.com/BeachedPawsPhotography/?ref=hl
Catman, was my grandfathers cousin. He was a mentally challenged man whose family was share cropers and his real name is Leroy Hudson. He’s not buried in that cemetery either.
I was there this morning. It is not unkept. I found it easily and found it easy to walk through, read headstones etc. Yes there are some War of 1812 soldiers buried there. I did see a pile of rubble up front in the left hand corner. This could possibly be the remnants of the mausoleum that someone referred to.
I did stretch and crane as much as I could to see into the woods to see if I could spot anything that could be a native American burial spot and saw nothing.
I did a Google search on Leroy Hudson (another commentor said that’s the old caretakers name) and found one buried in Frankford in the Hudson cemetery. I managed to locate him via findagrave.com.
Birth: Apr. 23, 1896
Death: Feb. 22, 1964
I may try on another day to locate this cemetery. And BTW, the name of the long road is Cat Man’s Road and it runs off of Route 113.
The remaining family of Leroy Hudson wishes to keep his final resting place unknown to the general public. So if you are able to find his grave & decide to visit, do so in remembrance of a man who during life was often teased and ridiculed because of his limitations and unique eyes. And instead of continuing to mock his memory, lets remember Leroy Hudson as the kind man who looked after numerous graves of the love ones who had passed away. Leroy Hudson was not a monster or someone to fear — he was a man who was just a little different than some that was deeply loved by his family.
That’s very sweet
I was touched by your comment and some others about
this man….
my friend and I go there at least once a week and not once do we even get an uneasy feeling about the place its not haunted.
we even went there with a spirit box and got nothing
When I was a teenager we would go there and it was a cement above ground tomb, I was dared to go in it since I was so skinny and could fit in the slat on each corner, Of course I was stupid enough to do that and I saw a glowing eye, probally a cat or racoon, I was so scared I barely squeezed back out. My Dad told me was a relative of his las name Hudson. They called him Catman because he lat his nails grow like a cat and was a old Judge who had passed and was mentally ill or senile at time of death.
^^People should really read the previous comments before posting, especially if you’re not 100% sure you’re speaking in facts.