Is Mary Chase haunting the St. John graveyard in Old Worthington?
Two ghost stories for the price of one... but be prepared to not be scared...
While not really scary, the story of Dr. Morrow and the Worthington Medical College was a lot more interesting... to me. There are no grave robbers or angry mobs in the story of Mary Chase but it is about a graveyard that still exists and is at the center of Worthington, Ohio.
This is the story of Mary Chase who is buried n the graveyard at St. John's Episcopal church at 700 High Street in Worthington.
I am going to link to the first Mary Chase video and embed the second. The first is the background story... Mary Chase had not even traveled to Worthington at the end of that plodding video.... I have to admit I did not enjoy storyteller Mary Jane Bellay's (an associate at the Worthington Public Library) delivery of what is described as "Mary's tale of woe as she haunts the churchyard at St. John's Episcopal Church." However the old pictures and the history of Worthington interest me.
"Mary Chase was born in 1779 in Bethel, Vermont. At age sixteen, she married Philander Chase, who was seeking ordination as an Episcopal priest."
Mary Chase Video One Link
Synopsis: if you can't watch the two videos. Each is almost 7 minutes... but felt much longer to me...
Video one: Philander Chase wanted to become a priest in the Episcopal Church, he married Mary when she was sixteen years old. They moved around a lot. According to the video if I understood it, Mary Chase had babies, three boys, one baby died. Mary Chase contracted Tuberculosis. Rev. Chase and Mary moved more... they were called to the wilderness which was Worthington Ohio in 1817.
Video two: Mary traveled 10 months to get from Connecticut to Ohio... she arrived in Cleveland and her husband was not there to meet her... arriving a few hours later... (this was the scary part for me...) they went to Worthington which had been settled only 13 years earlier. Mary Chase was involved in her husband's church... St. John Episcopal church. James Kilbourne the founder of Worthington and Philander Chase did not always get along. At first I understood it as Mary Chase wrote the constitution for the Worthington Female Track Society... but then realized surely it was the Worthington Female Tract Society... Mary Chase gave birth to a baby girl who died with in her first year of life. On May 4, 1818 Mary Chase died and she is buried in the St. John's church graveyard....
Mary Chase haunts the graveyard because of the tragedies in her life?
Thanks to the Worthington Library and Worthington Historical Society for the information about early Worthington. I'd love to hear from you if you have a comment on the topic of Worthington, Mary Chase, the Worthington Library, the videos, the ghosts.... All comments are moderated so you will not see your comment immediately. Thanks.
Copyright 2008 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe
Discover Columbus is a site about Columbus Ohio.
Originally named "Columbus Best Blog," it was never the best blog in Columbus Ohio. It was a blog about the best in Columbus and Central Ohio! Best restaurants, best real estate company, best schools, best neighborhoods..... written by Maureen McCabe a licensed real estate agent with Columbus Ohio's best real estate company, Real Living HER.
Discover Columbus is just a site about Central Ohio.
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