Monstrous Mondays: Old Annie, the Mauvaisterre Hag

Everyone in Jackson, IL knows about "Old Annie" though not everyone agrees on what or who she is. The most popular story is that "years ago," Annie was a local woman who lived near the river. She had three (maybe four, maybe two) children. Her husband left her, and she drowned her children. Then, in a fit of grief, she drowned herself. At least that is the most common story. Everyone has a story about seeing her, or someone who has seen her, or heard her wails at night when she is supposedly out looking for her drowned children.Others include an escaped patient from the Illinois State Hospital who fell into the river and drowned, and now her ghost is trying to find her way out. Others claim the whole thing is a hoax and point to a 1967 Jackson Gazette story of faternity pranks at MacAlister College where pledges were forced to dress up as Old Annie to scare people.“Don’t go near Mauvaisterre River, Old Annie will snatch you.”Everyone has a theory of who Annie was, including a woman…