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One such legend is of E.H. Gill, canal engineer and his daughter Gretchen. According to the legend E.H. Gill, his wife and daughter were traveling from Europe to the United States, his wife died on the way and was buried at sea. The grief-stricken father and his little daughter, Gretchen, completed the journey. At the time the lock above Sprucevale was being built, Gretchen contracted malaria and died. A crypt was prepared in the masonry of the lock and Gretchen was entombed there for a while. When Gill resigned during the panic of 1837 and decided to return to Europe Gretchen’s casket was removed from the crypt in the lock and taken aboard ship to be returned home for burial. On the trip, a storm at sea took the ship and all were lost. E.H. Gill and Gretchen joined their wife and mother in the waters of the Atlantic.
Chris Woodyard has written some very popular books called “Haunted Ohio I, II & III” and “Spooky Ohio”. In these books she recounts the tales of ghosts and superstition from various areas throughout Ohio. Whilst these books are popular they are also a good example of how legends change and become entwined with others.
In “Haunted Ohio” she states concerning Gretchen’s Ghost, ” A network of canals built in the early 1800s opened up the Ohio Territory to commerce and statehood. At Beaver Creek State Park in Columbiana County there survives part of a lock and canal system from 1836.. One of the locks is names “Gretchen’s Lock”. A charming tribute to a family member, one might think, but the place has a macabre history.
Gill Hans, the engineer who built the lock, brought his family over from Holland. His young daughter Gretchen pined for the Low Country until, weakened, she contracted malaria and died August 12, 1838, raving about going home. Distraught Hans had Gretchen’s coffin temporarily entombed in a vault within the lock’s stone work until the family could return to Holland together. He made arrangements to sail; Gretchen’s coffin was loaded onto the ship and the entire family sailed into oblivion. The ship went down in an Atlantic storm with all hands.
Yet even death could not take Gretchen home. On the anniversary of her death, the young Dutch girl can be seen walking along the lock that bears her name.
In Ohio’s Beaver Creek State Park, can be found the remains of what is known as Gretchen Lock. The lock was part of the Sandy and Beaver Canal system and is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl named Gretchen. Her family came over from Europe and during the voyage, Gretchen’s mother died and was buried at sea. Gretchen and her father continued on to Ohio where the father was an engineer on the canal. After a time, Gretchen contracted malaria and died. Her father entombed her in this canal lock until he had completed his work on the canal and could return to Europe. When his work was done, Gretchen’s father removed her remains from the lock and they set sail for Europe only to be caught in a severe storm that sank the ship and all on board. Thus Gretchen and her father were able to rejoin Gretchen’s mother in their watery grave in the North Atlantic.
NOTE: Location is on a trail in Beaver Creek State Park. Our recommendation is to go to the park and ask a local for the exact location.
https://www.carnegie.lib.oh.us/gretchen
http://www.deadohio.com/beavercreek.htm