Murder,
madness, suicide ... all of these elements and more make up the story of
the Swope Park Ruins.
The
Merrihews were among the first to settle in Westport, in 1843. Hieronymus
Merrihew was the scion of English colonists from Maryland. The family was
on hard times; Hieronymus saw opportunity in the newly-opened territory.
With the help of his younger brothers Ezra and Lucas, he started a ferry
service on the river. In a few years, by the dint of hard work and a keen
head for business, Hieronymus had built not only a regular ferry service
for goods and passengers but also a thriving shipping company. Merrihew
barges carried furs and raw materials from "Chouteau's Post" to St. Louis.
Manufactured items from Europe via the port of New Orleans were transported
back to the settlement. In an era where fortunes were made with lightning-like
speed, the Merrihews became very wealthy, indeed. Hieronymus, his two brothers,
and their respective families created estates for themselves; the largest
being Hieronymus' Bellweather House. The Merrihews soon became among the
most glittering and prominent families of Westport. The Merrihew daughters
were captivating, the Merrihew sons charming -- both were eagerly sought
after by ambitious families seeking to make profitable alliances.
But
the strange plague of 1849 changed all that. A sudden and virulent outbreak
of "Asiatic cholera" took the lives of most of the area's settlers. The
Merrihews were no exception. Every member of the Merrihew family fell victim;
only Ezra Merrihew, brother to the patriarch Hieronymus, escaped that fate.
Ezra had taken his young second wife Sara Jane and their new son Josiah
to visit Sara's family, the Puttnams of Boston. It was while in Boston
that Ezra received the horrible news. He and his infant son Josiah were
the last surving branch of the family. Ezra never returned to Westport,
though the Merrihew family still held deed to the estates and Bellweather
House.
Over
the years, both mansion and estate would fall into desolation, the forest
reclaiming much of the land, bats and owls taking up residence in the crumbling
eaves. The great conflagration called the War Between the States would
touch even these dilapidated and overgrown walls...all that remained of
the once-magnificent Bellweather House. Escaped slaves hid there; an impromptu
and makeshift stop on the Underground Railroad. Early in the conflict,
a Confederate band of guerrillas was surprised by a Union patrol. The resulting
skirmish was brief but bloody, the bodies of the slain remaining where
they fell. Vagabonds, bummers, and thieves used the place as a hideout,
lending an unsavory reputation to it. Even more unsettling were the stories
of strange apparitions and eerie sounds in the surrounding dense woods,
disturbing tales of beast-men and demonic creatures of the night half-glimpsed
by the sickly light of a waning moon. Travelers began to mysteriously vanish.
An evil reputation soon built up around the mouldering Merrihew estates:
"Haunted"
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