Published March 29, 2024
By Rudy Ray Seward
The inside of the Washington Theater during its heyday.
(Courtesy of the Washington Theater)
The inside of the Washington Theater during its heyday.
(Courtesy of the Washington Theater)
A carpenter’s death during construction of the Washington Theater in Quincy, Illinois was the basis for a story about a ghost called George. Because the carpenter’s first name was different, his descendants were unaware of their relationship with the ghost for decades.
Soon after teenager Jean Ann Otte started working at the Washington Theater in the early 1960s, she was told the story about the ghost. According to Dave Verducci, who worked at the theater for 12 years, Ghost George was one of the longest-standing bits of Washington Theater lore. Verducci told reporter Edward Husar that every new employee was promptly informed of George, according to an article published in the Quincy Herald-Whig on October 1, 1982, the day after the theater’s final night of operation.
Ghost George’s haunting involved stalking the back of the stage and storage area where supplies were kept, including those for the concession stand. Jean Ann and coworkers often talked about George, while working the concessions. Not surprisingly, they refused to go to the storage area alone when supplies needed restocking.
Theater ghosts are a long-standing tradition often associated with a tragic death. Believers think the unsettled spirit’s presence lingers after a physical body’s unusual demise, as indicated by alleged ghosting activity. Ghosts often make their presence known in particular ways, like moving items, turning lights on and off, and opening and closing doors. Ghosts are rarely anything malevolent.
The originally named Washington Square Theater located on Hampshire Street facing Washington Square Park, opened on June 19, 1924. ‘Square’ was later dropped from both names. The theater joined other nearby vaudeville and moving picture houses but Washington’s elegant and elaborate architecture with its 1,480-seating capacity distinguished it from the other venues. Construction of the theater started October 1, 1923. Pete Pinkelman and Albert Cory, the original owners, planned to open on Easter Sunday of 1924 but due to construction delays the opening was moved to June.
Contributing to the delays was the tragic death of Henry J. Eickelschulte Jr. on April 2, 1924. Henry was employed as a carpenter. He was laying flooring on the balcony on his hands and knees before the railings were installed. He fell backward on his head. He was unconscious when picked up
and died the same morning at 11 am in Blessing Hospital. Henry had just started working there two days before the accident. Previously a Quincy policeman, Henry walked a daytime patrol beat. On the day of his death the Quincy Whig Journal and Quincy Daily Herald published extensive details of the well-known city resident’s life and death. The Daily Herald included his photo.
Henry’s splendid appearance, height, and imposing physique, earned him the nickname ‘Handsome Ike.’ Born in Quincy on January 23, 1891, he was just 33 years old on his fateful day. Henry was survived by his wife, an infant son, his parents, five siblings, and many cousins.
The family’s descendants shared a story that Henry’s wife convinced him to quit the police force because it was too dangerous, and he might be killed. He patrolled the loop district, especially Fifth and Hampshire near the theater, during Mayor Phillip J. O’Brien’s administration. Henry quit May 5, 1923, and eventually joined his brothers and cousins who were part of the construction crew building the Washington Theater.
Officer Henry was well known in the city. His citations, arrests, and other policing were frequently cited in the Herald and Whig papers, but one incident probably contributed greatly to his wife’s resolve for him to quit. The Quincy Daily Herald on September 26, 1921, reported that Henry with motor patrol wagon driver Walter Ritter captured two criminals soon after they robbed at gun point and shot proprietor John Schroeder at his grocery and feed store at 741 South Twelfth Street. They captured and arrested what the Daily Herald described as ‘Big City Bandits’ ahead of the Chief of Police Ryan’s designated posse of officers and detectives.
When employees at the Washington Theater started believing the carpenter’s spirit haunted the theater is unknown. Available evidence suggests belief was constant throughout most, if not all, the theater’s operation. No satisfactory explanation has been found for why he was named George and not Henry. The name George might have been prompted by the large portrait of George Washington, on the initial stage’s fire curtain, which hung in part of the reputed haunted area. Naming the theater in honor of the first U.S. President, no doubt meant the name George would have been bandied about frequently, contributing to the likelihood of that name being given the ghost.
Besides the name George, another change in Henry’s family contributed to Jean Ann and her siblings having no idea that Ghost George was in fact her grandfather Henry. After her paternal grandmother remarried, acknowledgement and contact with the Eickelschulte family eventually stopped.
Even after the Theater closed in 1982, interest in Ghost Henry a.k.a. George and other possible ghosts continued. The Quincy Herald Whig on October 16, 2005, published an announcement for a Ghost Party. Led by a recognized Ghostbuster, guests were given a tour and took part in an investigation of possible hauntings. Surprisingly, neither George nor Henry is mentioned, but an allusion was made to a ‘famous story’ of a guy accidentally hung during construction. No evidence was found to support this claim.
Sources:
Adams, David. “What about theater ghost?” Quincy Herald-Whig, January 31, 2015, 3.
“Henry Eickelschulte Is Killed in Backward Fall From New Theater Balcony.” Quincy Daily Herald, April 2, 1924, 12.
“Henry Eickelschulte, Former Policeman, is Killed by Fall Today.” Quincy Whig-Journal, April 2, 1924, 3.
Husar, Edward. “Curtain closes on Washington Theater.” Quincy Herald-Whig, October 1, 1982, 10B.
Landrum, Carl. “From Quincy’s Past: Theater ‘dream’ nearing end.” Quincy Herald-Whig, September 5, 1982, 4E.
“Quincy’s Most Haunted: Uncover the cream of the crop of haunted Quincy Illinois locations!” Wild Quincy, October 2021.
“Quincy Robbers Imitate Big City Bandits.” Quincy Daily Herald, September 26 1921, 1.
“Theater to host ghost party.” Quincy Herald-Whig, October 16, 2005, 8C.
Washington Theater Redevelopment Commission. 2023. https://www.quincywashingtontheater.org/history/
