Camp Chase - Lady in Grey

[lelliott19]

"With so much heartache and loneliness in its past, it is no wonder that Camp Chase cemetery has witnessed a long history of strange occurrences." – Dr. Von Zuko, author

In Columbus, Ohio, Camp Chase served as a Confederate prison camp where the lives of over 2000 soldiers were ended by disease and malnutrition from the notoriously poor conditions. The majority of these men were buried in the prison cemetery. According to legend, the spirit of a young woman in a gray traveling dress haunts the cemetery, pausing to cry over the grave of the Unknown Soldier and marker number 223, belonging to Benjamin F. Allen of the 50th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, Company D. To this day, the mournful weeping of the Lady in Gray can be heard at night behind the locked iron cemetery gates, and fresh flowers mysteriously appear on the tombstone of her lost love, Benjamin. http://www.goddidntchoosesides.com/the-lady-in-grey/

 

[rhettbutler1865]

Wow, Laura--"I believe"...

 

[Northern Light]

Great story!

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Cool.

 

[Patrick H]

That's a very nice story, Laura, and who am I to suggest that those fresh flowers don't appear? I'm glad you posted this!

 

[unionblue]

I, too, have heard this story and visited the cemetery many times.

There is another ghost story in Ohio that is worth sharing, if all don't mind such.

Back in the 1950s or 60s there was a man who worked in the Ohio Statehouse as a clerk or some such and sometimes his duties kept him there at his office until late in the evening.

One night, while working at his desk, he hear music, softly playing, wafting under his closed door. At bit perplexed, the man decided to find out where the music was coming from so he got up, opened his door and peered down the hallway. After a moment, he determined the music was coming from the House chamber and decided to see who was playing this strange, old-fashioned music.

He walked down the hall, up the steps to the House chamber, to the doors that were closed but had the music coming from behind them ever louder than before. The man opened one of the doors and looked in without stepping into the chamber itself. He later reported to the State Highway Patrol detachment that guarded the Statehouse what his bewildered eyes saw at that moment.

He saw no band or radio, no musical insturments at all, but he did see something that shocked him into a frozen stance. There, dancing in the middle of the chamber, bathed in a soft, glowing light, was Abraham Lincoln and the daughter of then Salmon Chase, Kate Chase, dancing to the ghostly music. The man upon seeing this sight, closed the door and ran back down the steps and out of the Statehouse, only telling his story to the State Highway Patrol the next day.

The man's story was supposedly taken seriously by the Patrol, as the man was not a drinker or jokester, but a rather plain, dull, man, dedicated to his work and not disposed at storytelling.

In fact, this very story was told to me during a Civil War reenactment at the Ohio Statehouse (at which our reenacting unit spent the night in the Statehouse rotunda) by a State Highway Patrolman who was making his rounds with his guard dog that night. He also told me that he and other Patrolmen's dogs would often 'hit' at something that wasn't there but always drew the dog's attention, as though they could see something that their human handlers could not.

Never saw old Abe or Kate, never heard any music during my sleepover there, but I have to admit, I listened.

Sincerely,
Unionblue