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Lock tender Donald Pilch Rowland died a mysterious death on the floor of the Erie Canal.
Records show Donald had checked in for work at Lock 32 in Pittsford on Friday night, January
21, 1921, at 10:00pm. Following his shift, he punched out at 6:00am on Saturday.
What happened between the hours of 6:00am to the time his body was found by assistant lock
tender Martin Quigley at 8:00am on Saturday morning remains a mystery.
Donald Pilch Rowland was born April 2, 1897 at the family home, 2407
Monroe Avenue in Brighton, just over the Brighton-Pittsford town line.
Donald, eldest of John J. and Bertha (Pilch) Rowland’s two sons, grew up in Brighton and became interested in becoming
an electrical engineer. He attended the Mechanics Institute in Rochester (today’s RIT) to learn his
craft. The 1920 Brighton census lists his occupation as “electrician, canal”.
On the fateful morning of January 22, 1922, Donald’s body was found
sprawled out face up at the bottom of the lock. His keys were found
30 feet from his body on one side, while his still lit
flashlight was located a considerable distance away on his other side. His pipe
and a pair of gloves were also found on the four-inch-thick ice on
the floor of the Erie Canal lock.
The conjecture was that Donald, who was blind in his right eye, stumbled and
fell from the top of the lock to the base of the frozen canal bed, a distance
of 42 feet.
A funeral was held on January 25 for the 23-year-old man at the family home on Monroe
Avenue. A large contingent of relatives, including his parents and younger brother, Ralph,
were in attendance. He was also mourned by his fiancée, to whom he had become engaged
just the month before. Donald Pilch Rowland was a valued member of the community and was
involved with the International Order of Oddfellows in Macedon and with the First
Presbyterian Church of Pittsford.
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