The Curse of the Blennerhassetts

6/17/2024

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Can a place be tainted by the misdeeds of those that lived there? Can the land remember even when they have all gone to their graves?

Margaret Agnew Blennerhassett (1771-1842)

The Curse of the Blennerhassetts came about due to the action of Harman Blennerhassett Sr. He was born in 1764, the son of Conway and Elizabeth Blennerhassett in England, however in 1766 the family returned to Castle Conway the family estate in County Kerry, Ireland.

He was the youngest of three sons and six daughters, and he went on to study the law. Harman inherited the family estate in 1792. He joined the Society of United Irishmen which evolved into a militant radical group.

In 1794, when he was 30 years old he was sent to pick up his niece Margaret Agnew at her boarding school. She was the daughter of Major Robert Agnew, governor of the Isle of Man, and his sister Catherine. Instead of returning the girl to her family he ran off with her, and they married. The scandal was so great, the couple had to flee Ireland two years later and went to America. He sold his estate in Ireland to his cousin Lord Ventry.

However there is one problem with this version of what happened. In 1794, Margaret was 23 years old and not a school girl. Whatever the circumstances of how this illicit relationship blossomed it ended in an illegal marriage, since a union between an uncle and niece was considered incest. A record for the nuptials has never been found. Margaret as a consequence was disinherited by her family.

Blennerhassett Mansion

The couple bought a 174 acre tract of land on an island on the Ohio River 1.5 miles downstream from what is present day Parkersburg, West Virginia. This land once belonged to George Washington, but was thereafter known as Blennerhassett Island. They built a 7,000 square foot sumptuous residence that was completed in 1800.

The couple adopted their first child named Dominic born in 1799. He was the son of a French doctor and the grandson of Elijah Backus who sold them the land on the Ohio River.

In 1801, they had a daughter named Margaret who died in 1803, the same year they had their son Harman Jr. He would become a lawyer, but ended his days as an invalid being looked after by his mother. He died at age 50 in a poor house after his mother passed away. Description of Harman Jr. included the word intemperate, which was a euphemism for alcoholic. Another daughter was born, also named Margaret who died when she was six years old. The youngest son, Joseph Lewis born in 1812 in a plantation the family owned in Missouri, went on to become a teacher, lawyer and accomplished scholar.

However before misfortune came knocking at their door the couple lived a lavish lifestyle and invited the gentry of the area to their extravagant parties. Among the visitors was one time vice-president Aaron Burr, and his daughter Theodosia Burr Alston and her husband. Burr sought financial support from the wealthy landowners in the area, and Blennerhassett would go on to lend him $5,000. The estate became the headquarters for Burr's 1806-1807 expedition to the Southwest, in a scheme to separate the Louisiana Territory from the American Union with the aid of the British.

Mrs. Blennerhassett on the Marietta Trail

President Thomas Jefferson thought they were trying to take over the country. Burr and Blennerhassett were arrested along with their followers. The local Virginia militia occupied the estate in December 1806, and Margaret Blennerhassett had to flee with her children.

Blennerhassett fled, was arrested twice and ended up in the Virginia State Penitentiary. He was released after Burr was acquitted in 1807 for treason. The Blennerhassetts never returned to the estate and it was destroyed by fire in 1811. It was held by Robert Miller in lieu of debts owed by Blennerhassett.

Harman Blennerhassett was not done with politics though, and on October 30, 1807 he met Burr, Luther Martin and others in Baltimore where they narrowly escaped mob violence. He had to hide in the attic of the hotel where he was staying, since he heard the mob meant to tar and feather him. He returned to Natchez in February, 1808 where his family waited for him.

Blennerhassett Island

The couple settled in the Mississippi Territory on a 1000-acre cotton plantation they named La Cache, situated on the outskirts of Washington City, near Chubby’s Creek Fork of Bayou Pierre.

Blennerhassett lost what was left of his fortune due to the War of 1812's embargo on cotton. It was during their time there that their second daughter Margaret was born and passed away.

During those years Blennerhassett supervised the construction of a stockade as protection from the Indians. He also had troubles with some neighbors. Rumors were that he shot one, and threatened another with an ax. Another time they were accused of beating a neighbor into insensibility. They (Harmon and Dominic) were arrested, and fined $1,000 after being found guilty and serving a short jail term.

In 1816, the ruined mansion and lands on Blennerhassett Island were sold to Joseph L. Lewis for $10,000. Outstanding debts were subtracted from the sum, and barely $5,000 made it to Harman Blennerhassett.

Another rumor that circulated involved Margaret Blennerhassett in which it was said she could drink as much as any man, and that she had once danced at a tavern, which whether true or not disgraced her socially.

After living twelve years on the cotton plantation in Missouri, the couple sold it in 1819 and left for Canada so Blennerhassett could practice law. In 1822, he returned to England, leaving Margaret and their children in Montreal. He had been promised to be made a judge through the "favor of the Duke of Richmond, then Governor of Lower Canada", but the duke died unexpectedly. Luckily his sister Avice Blennerhassett (1747-1838) settled her fortune on him. Margaret and the children joined the family in Europe in 1825, but for three years she endured hardship due to lack of money.

The family lived with Avice near the city of Bath. Then they moved to the Island of Jersey on the coast of France for the climate. It was a strange household made up of Blennerhassett, Margaret, and Harman's mistress named Mary Nelburn.

No. 1 is on the Mount Row—Prince Albert's Road corner and has a pillar box set in its front garden wall. With the Blennerhassetts lived his sister Avice, his mistress Mrs. Mary Nelburn, a milliner in St Peter Port, and her child—probably his too—also named Avice. He had practically nothing left but Mrs Nelburn had some money and she kept them all. .... He appointed Mrs. Nelburn executrix of his Will and expressed his warm appreciation for her financial generosity, he also expressed the hope that the three women—his wife, sister, and mistress—would continue to live together and he shared his few possessions between them. .... what became of the others and the child Avice is not known.

T. F. Priaulx, in a short note about Blennerhassett in the Quarterly Review of the Guernsey Society (Autumn 1961) XVII (3), p. 49

Blennerhassett Island with the reconstructed mansion c. present day

Blennerhasssett left to the Island of Guernsey where he died in 1831, giving instructions for a common burial to be carried out at night. Once marked by a tombstone, the location of his grave is unknown.

In 1827, it was mentioned that Dominic Blennerhassett was living in Natchez and was observed to be in a state of "great derangement, in consequence of his excessive intemperance." Nothing further was heard from him after 1828, and the circumstances of his life and death remain unknown. Some believe his final resting place was in the Mississippi River.

In 1842, Margaret and her son Harman Blennerhassett Jr. returned to the United States and petitioned Congress for restitution for the destruction of their mansion. Joseph Lewis Blennerhassett who had taught in Ireland and Wales, returned with them to help his mother in her petition to the government.

Margaret and Harman Jr. who was an invalid, lived in a tenement in New York. Before she was granted compensation she died on June 16, 1842 in a poor house in New York City, and was buried in the New York vault of their family friend, Robert Emmet located at St. Paul's at Broadway. Her son Harman followed her to the grave in 1854, and was buried in the same location.

In 1862, Harman Blennerhassett's last surviving son Joseph Lewis died, but in a strange twist his son Edward Blennerhassett who lived in St. Louis was involved in treasonous activity in 1861. He along with a gang of 16 persons were arrested opposite the arsenal. They were suspected of trying to recruit for the rebel army.

It wasn't until 1901, that the true relationship between Harman Blennerhassett and Margaret Agnew came to light to the world at large. No doubt the families kept the secret of the incestuous union very quiet.

The State of West Virginia reconstructed the Blennerhassett Mansion in 1984 on its original foundation where it is presently the site of a state park.

In 1996, the bodies of Margaret and Harman Jr. were reburied on the island in a historical Episcopal ceremony.

Inside the reconstructed Blennerhassett Mansion c.present day

Despite having lived less than 10 years on Blennerhassett Island, the family is said to haunt the land. One of the stories concerns the burial of 2-year-old Margaret, laid to rest before her family fled. The gravesite became abandoned, and the marker was washed away when the island flooded. One legend claims two farmers while plowing a field near where the mansion once stood, unearthed a tiny skeleton, which they reburied in an unmarked grave. The location till this day is unknown.

In the early 70s, either an archaeologist or a surveyor was camping near the old summer kitchen. That night he saw a tall lady come towards him, which was unusual since no boats were running at this time. The lady didn't say a word, but walked around as if she were looking for something. He ran for his tent, and didn't come out until the sun came up. The description fits Margaret Blennerhassett.

It seems her ghost is spotted all over the island, sometimes with a book in her hand. Another story involves campers, who heard rustling outside their tent, and when they peeked out they saw a tall lady reading some of the books they had brought with them.

There are also stories of horses behaving erratically when brought to the island, and a ghost child, seen only by children.

Minnie Kendall Lowther in her 1939 book Blennerhassett Island in Romance and Tragedy noted:

As we already know Harman Blennerhassett and his wife wandered and suffered until they found graves divided by the tossing deep; their children, blighted by dissipation, were a sad disappointment, and their descendants were entirely wiped out early in the second generation... Theodosia Burr and Margaret Blennerhassett were equally favored with the advantages of birth, wealth and education. Everything bespoke promise and happiness. None could have believed that such an awful night was in store for the idolized Theodosia; but the fate of Margaret Blennerhassett was worse. It is another impressive reminder of the vanity, the uncertainty of all human hopes.