Jennifer Paynter, playing the role of Goldie Bell Taylor, got a little too much makeup from Samantha Baker during a rehearsal Thursday night. A paranormal group and the East Liverpool Jaycees will be hosting a Ghost Walk Tour at Thompson Park Saturday. Baker will play the role of Gretchen Gill. (Photo by Wayne Maris)
Columbiana County Legends
During Saturday evening's Ghost Walk Tour sponsred by Ghosting 12 Paranormal and the East Liverpool Jaycees, the Columbiana County Legends feature will include:
Bowman's Cemetery Witch - Dressed in black, her hair pulled into a bun, and an angry look on her face, this woman has been seen in the woods surrounding Bowman's Cemetery. A witch was found murdering children in the very spot of the cemetery. She was dragged into the woods and hanged. No one knows where she is buried, though some say in those very woods where she was hanged.
Little David from Sprucevale and Katie from No. 1 Pavilion - David is the little boy who haunted the old house at Gretchen's was only eight years old when he was caught stealing tools from the town blacksmith. Times were hard, and so was his punishment. He was hanged near the house. For years, he haunted the house itself, often being seen from one of the second floor windows. Even though the house is now gone, it is rumored that his ghost is still there.
Katie is the spirit of a young girl that haunts No. 1 Pavilion at Thompson. She is mischievous and playful. There is no way to be sure where she came from or from what time period. She is able to move a child's ball and make knocking noises, when she wants to.
Goldie Bell Taylor - Goldie was four years old when she died. A lovely statue of her marks her grave. She holds a bouquet of flowers if you visit her. Take the flowers and new ones will appear by the next day. No one has been able to catch anyone replacing them. They seem to just appear. Throw the flowers down on the ground and stomp on them and the statue is said to cry.
Esther Hale - Daughter of a Quaker Preacher, Esther Hale lived in Sprucevale (now Gretchen's Lock). She fell in love with a young man who promised to marry her.. They set the date of Aug. 12 to be their wedding day. But on that day, Esther - dressed in a beautiful white gown wandered the streets looking for her lost love. After a few months, she ceased to come to town at all. Finally, some people from town went to her home to check on her. Her front door banged open and closed in the wind. When they entered, they found her sitting at her table, which was still covered with the now rotten wedding feast. She had starved herself to death. Now, every year on Aug. 12, she appears on the bridge looking for her lost love. But beware, if she touches you while on the bridge, you will grow old and wither and die, while she becomes young and beautiful again.
Bigfoot - Ohio actually ranks third or fourth in the country for Bigfoot sightings, right behind the Pacific Northwest. There have been at least 10 sightings in Columbiana County since 1971. Most of these are in the Beaver Creek area. Collectively, between Columbiana, Stark and Mahoning counties, there have been more than 25 sightings.
Julia Walls (The Barrel Lady) - Murdered in 1940, her body was stuffed into a barrel and she was found on the corner of Jennings And St. Clair avenues in East Liverpool. Her murderer was never found.
The Captain and the Lady - Down in the Grimm's Bridge area, there are three canals that belong to the Sandy and Beaver Canal system. There were many people who lived around them. There is the story of a young girl who fell in love with a canal boat captain. They would meet secretly up in the woods above where the Grimm's Bridge is now. He would always be seen walking in the woods, carrying a lantern and being accompanied by two large Russian Wolf hounds. One night, the young girl's father caught them together. A terrible fight occurred and the father killed the Captain and threw him in the creek. In shock and misery at her lover's death at the hands of her father, she threw herself into the creek during a terrible storm and drowned. Now, you can see them walking in the woods, announced by the captain's lantern light bobbing through the woods.
General John Hunt Morgan - During the Civil War, Morgan and his men, Confederate Soldiers, were known as Morgan's Raiders. Coming up from Kentucky, he crossed into the state of Ohio and made his way clear to Columbiana County, where he was finally captured near West Point. This band of soldiers have the distinction of making it the furthest north during the Civil War by the south. General Morgan was taken to Wellsville and stayed as a prisoner of war in the Whitacre House. There, he was treated so kindly, he gifted his war sword to the owner. This sword can now be seen at the River Museum in Wellsville. Morgan was sent to Columbus to the Ohio Penitentiary. He later escaped and returned to Kentucky, where he was shot and killed trying to escape Union Soldiers. His ghost has been seen walking the streets of Wellsville, perhaps looking for his battle sword.
Gretchen Gill - Gretchen's father, Edward Gill, was the engineer for the Sandy and Beaver canals that were built from 1828-1848. At some point during this time, his 12-year-old daughter, Gretchen, came down with malaria and died. Swearing to return her to her native county of Ireland, he had her body entombed in Lock No. 40 until such time that he was finished with the canals and could return home. The story goes that he did in fact retrieve her body and set sail for Ireland. Sadly, the ship went down in a storm taking all hands with it. Gretchen returned to Sprucevale and the lock she had been entombed in and haunts the area to this day. Some believe her body still remains somewhere in the lock.
Unidentified Carnival Girl - An unknown girl who worked at a traveling carnival was murdered in 1942. She was found wrapped in a sheet and strangled. She was never identified and her murderer never found. She was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery.
Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd - Known as Public Enemy No. 1, Floyd was shot and killed on Sprucevale Road, just above Gretchen's Lock in 1934.
Some called him a hero and believe he was actually murdered. To this day, he haunts the area where he lost his life.
Other ghosts making an appearance will include: Jake the Night Watchman, Lucy Cobb, Willis Payne, Sadie Barker, Christina Sloan, the Blue Lady of Thompson Park and Billy Amos.
