Crimes and Witch-Demeanors by Joshua Spellman

May 26, 2021 3 O'Clock on a Thursday

Just north of Appleton, New York lies a winery with a dark past: murderous Free Masons and more than 5 deaths that occurred at 3:00pm on a Thursday. But what is the truth? Let's take a deep dive into the archival record to find out if Marjim Manor serves up more than just good spirits.

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of Crimes & Witch-Demeanors, I’m your host, Joshua Spellman. On Crimes and Witch-Demeanors we go further than the wikipedia page and dive into the archival record to discover the truth behind your favorite ghostly tales.

I hope everyone is doing well and that you enjoyed last week’s diversion from the usual. If you didn’t, now worries! Today I’m back to my old hijinks and looking at a really fun historic haunt that I so desperately hoped to be true.

I love wine, I truly do, and it’s one of the reasons I love Western New York and Southern Ontario — we have so many great wineries — and many of them are haunted. Today I’ll be telling the alleged —and I mean alleged— tale of Marjim Manor, a haunted winery in the Hamlet of Appleton, New York.

Sounds quaint, right? Wrong. Tales of murderous Free Masons and a mysterious death curse plague this winery - and spoiler, a dog dies in the end. But how much of it is true? That’s what we’re here to find out. So let’s dive right in to the purported past of Marjim Manor…

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In order to fully encapsulate the story of Marjim Manor, or at least the story of its ghosts, we must begin in 1826 with a man by the name of William Morgan. William Morgan was a bricklayer from Virginia who moved to Batavia, New York in 1824. Once he arrived in the small village, he attempted to join the local masonic lodge.

Morgan claimed that he had joined the Masons in another country, and his in-depth knowledge of their most secret rituals appeared to confirm this. Despite this, his application to the lodge was rejected. In a fury, Morgan threatened to publish a tell-all book that would expose the Free Masons and their deeply hidden secrets. Morgan recruited a local printer, David Miller, to his cause to publish his expose.

However, before any copies could be printed, Miller’s printing press and his office mysteriously burned down and Morgan was arrested for overdue bills. Miller paid Morgan’s bail but just as Morgan was released, he was locked up again for another past-due bill in the neighboring town of Canandaigua.

Unfortunately, Miller was not able to come to the rescue of Morgan this time - the loss of his business and the first set of bail had depleted what little funds he had. Fortune was on Morgan’s side, however, as a mysterious stranger paid his bail and arranged for a carriage to pick him up outside the jail.

The carriage appeared to be headed to Canada, allegedly to prevent Morgan from being arrested again on similar charges…but the carriage made an unexpected stop at Fort Niagara to pick up a few new passengers. It was here when a handful of Masons grabbed Morgan, tied him with rope, and carried him onto a boat bound for Canada.. However…while the Masons made it safely across the Niagara River and Lake Ontario…Morgan did not.

The Masons had tied William Morgan to a large rock and tossed him overboard into the seemingly endless depths of the Great Lake. William Morgan died just off the shore of modern-day Marjim Manor. A large, natural stone served as a marker for the site of Morgan’s death.

8 years later the parcel of land that served as William Morgan’s death site was purchased by Schubal Scudder Merritt. Merritt promptly set to work on building his dream-home, constructing a 9,500 square foot manor made of stones imported from Italy. Gardens and orchards were planted on the surrounding land and a rock garden was artfully placed around the large stone that marked the site of William Morgan’s death. The estate was proudly deemed “Appleton Manor”, named so for the hamlet in the town of Newfane located just south of the property.

Merritt lived on the property with his wife Sophia Spencer Wilson, his son Lewis, and his two daughters Phoebe Sophia and Cordelia Marie. They lived in bliss for quite some time until March of 1864 when Sophia passed away. Sophias death set their fortune on its head and things only went downhill from there and marked the beginning of the curse of Marjim Manor.

The very next year, Schubal and his son Lewis returned from a hunting trip. Lewis had gone upstairs while Schubal remained in the parlor to clean their guns. While upstairs, Lewis had opened a letter from the University of Rochester stating that his tuition had been raised to $12 a semester. Shocked an appalled at this, Lewis ran down stairs and burst through the French doors of the parlor to tell his father. Unfortunately, Schubal was startled by his son’s dramatic entrance and the gun he was cleaning was accidentally set off — shooting and killing Lewis on the spot. Lewis died on the spot, at 3:00pm on Thursday.

This tragic accident sent Schubal into a spiral of guilt and anxiety. He demanded that the French doors to the parlor be permanently sealed in order to prevent another tragedy and to help block away the memory of that tragic day. Years passed before Schubal Merritt also died in the home on March 2, 1881…at 3:00pm. It was also a Thursday.

After Merritt’s passing his daughter Phoebe Sophia and her husband Lucius Adams moved into the family home after buying Cordelia’s share of the farm. They lived in peace, raising their daughter Elizabeth, void of tragedy for years…until one day, while Phoebe was in the parlor with her husband — the French doors, which had been permanently sealed for years, blew wide open. With a gasp, Phoebe fell to the floor - dead. Again, at 3 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon.

Phoebe’s husband and daughter moved out of the home shortly after and it began to rent the property. They had rented the home to a man by the name of John Morely, who, while he had died on a Tuesday, his body wasn’t found until…3:00pm that Thursday.

Fed up with the constant tragedy, and the apparent curse, the family eventually sold the property to Dr. Charles A. Ring. Dr. Charles Ring had been the very first director of the esteemed, and very haunted, Richardson Olmsted Complex — or the Buffalo Insane Asylum. Dr. Ring and his wife, Estelle Morse, had dreamt of escaping the city of Buffalo to begin farming.

Dr. Ring and his wife ended up being excellent farmers and were well-known in the region for their outstanding peach crops. However, it seems that the Ring family could not escape the same fate that befell the Merritts. On a Thursday afternoon at 3 o’clock the servants in the home heard a loud bang coming from upstairs. The servants rushed to the second floor office of Dr. Ring and found him dead at his desk from no apparent cause. The bang they had heard was the sound of his skull smashing onto his solid oak desk.

Estelle maintained the peach farm for as long as she could before dying of old age. Marjim Manor was then sold to the Sisters of St. Joseph to be used as a summer retreat and a camp for young girls.

The Sisters of St. Joseph had a dog named Luke, who was doted upon by both the Sisters and the children who attended camp. One day Luke was in the parlor, curled up by the fireplace, when he abruptly sat up and ran over to the French doors. He barked at them three times before going back to his spot by the fireplace, laying down, and dying. It was 3:00pm on a Thursday.

The victims of this apparent curse still haunt the grounds today, making their presence known to all those who visit the grounds. Was this land cursed by the death of the alleged freemason William Morgan or has this land always been a place of tragedy? You can still visit Marjim Manor today, as it operates as a winery and a wedding venue.

No one has died there in quite some time…but I advise you to perhaps avoid scheduling your visit at 3 o’clock on a Thursday…just in case…

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Oh boy. I don’t even know where to begin with this one. I kind of what you to dump most of what I just told you out of your skull, because it’s either not true or incredibly confused, but either way, like ice wine, it’s cause for upset.

A lot of the initial story I obtained from a book titled Haunted Buffalo: Ghosts in the Queen City by Dwayne Claude and Cassidy O’Connor. It’s a nice place to start, but dear god. The inaccuracies. Even the misspellings, but these error aren’t isolated to this book alone and actually plague most of the retellings on the internet and television as well.

The book started of on the wrongest of feet with citing Schubal Merritt’s name as Sue-bell. Which sounds like someone who identifies as a woman and/or a cow.

But the thing that intrigued be about this particular story at Marjim Manor is what a great narrative and curse that follows the occupants of this land and it’s something that could be easily verified or debunked. Well, sort of. You’ll see.

The story of William Morgan and his attempt to swindle the Free Masons is true up until his disappearance. No one really knows what happened to him — whether he was murdered or simply escaped to Canada. It’s actually a much more involved story in its own right and the local library in Batavia has a number of materials related to the story — but that’s not what we’re here for.

The story states that Schubal Merritt built his mansion as soon as he bought the land, but in fact it was actually the third house they had built on the property. The Merritt’s first built a log cabin, then a frame house, and finally, once their business was turning real profits, they built the manor in 1854.

Sophia enjoyed the house for a decade before dying of tuberculosis in 1864. Now a year after this is when their son Lewis tragically died from a gunshot wound in the parlor…or is it? It turns out that story is just that…a story. Lewis wasn’t shot and killed by his father, instead, like his mother, he also died of tuberculosis.

As the story goes Schubal Merritt himself died on March 2, 1881…on a Thursday at 3 just like his son. The tale goes on to say that Phoebe inherited the home but ended up dying as the French doors blew open at 3pm on a Thursday.

Of course there are more deaths, but let’s look at the Merritt family first. I definitely had some trouble locating the records of their death because somehow in the same incredibly small town there was another Schubal Merritt and another Sophia Spencer Wilson who were not married to each other. This sent me into a spiral. But don’t worry, I came out of it and found the right people.

Part of the confusion is the book and many other sources provide variant spellings for Merritt, either one “t” or two, as well as various spellings for the daughter Phoebe.

Adding to the confusion is that Lewis Merritt has two graves in two different cemeteries, both providing different death dates and middle initials. One grave with the inscription of Lewis W. Merritt claimed he died on the 22nd of May in 1863 and the age of 29. Which…would have been a Friday, not a Thursday. The other grave, for Lewis E. Merritt claimed he died on the 22nd of May 1865 at the age of 31…the generally accepted date, which…would have been a Monday.

Okay, strike one!

Well, what about Old Schubal Merritt? Maybe he died on a Thursday, since the day of March 2, 1881 is always cited in the story. Oh, what’s that? That was actually a Wednesday? Yikes. People use this date all the time and never bothered to check. I confirmed it with his gravesite and an excerpt from the Neighborhood News section of the March 7, 1881 Buffalo Morning Express that states “Mr. Shubal Merritt, an old and much esteemed citizen of Newfane died on the 2nd”

Strikeeeeeee two!

Okay, well what about Phoebe? Her grave states she died on April 9, 1921 which was a Saturday. BUT according to the NY State Death Index she actually passed away on April 7th which is in fact a Thursday! Woo! We finally have a Thursday death in the house…right? Well…no. Phoebe and her husband Lucius never moved into the home after Shubal’s death. They immediately sold the property to Dr. Ring. And Phoebe died in 1921, outliving the next tenants by over a decade.

Now, even the Dr. Ring parts of the story are sus but they also tell us how this Urban Legend began. The story goes that Dr. Ring moved into the home with his fiancé, Estelle Morse. No. Dr. Ring moved in with his wife, Hannah Denelia Ripley Farwell. How Estelle comes into the picture is…confusing.

Hannah’s father, Reverend Allen Plumb Ripley had a second wife, Florella Celeste Morse…who had a half-sister Elia Estelle Morse. Confused yet? It gets more confusing.

Hannah, Dr. Ring’s wife, died in the home in 1907. However, in January of 1908 he named Elia Estelle Morse, his late wife’s step-mother’s half-sister the heir of the estate. He mysteriously dropped dead the very next month.

What about Dr. Ring? When did he die? According to his grave he died on the 29th of February, 1908 but according to the Buffalo Courier he passed away the evening prior, as stated, on the 28th. The current owner of the house states that it was the 28th and is adamant that this is the only death in the home to be on a Thursday afternoon. However, whichever date you go with, it was either a Saturday and a Friday, respectively, and definitely not a Thursday despite the owner’s claims.

Which is strange, because the owner maintains that none of the Merritt’s died on a Thursday afternoon but claims that the whole of the Ring family did. Which…you guessed it…also isn’t accurate.

Estelle moved into the home promptly after Dr. Ring’s death with her half-sister, Florella, who was Hannah’s…Hannah’s step…mother-in-law? It’s all very confusing and strange. It was a scandal at theme that Estelle inherited the property. She was a shrewd businesswoman so it’s no surprise she managed to wrestle the property from Dr. Ring. A shame he died only a month after he put her in the will…but I digress.

Florella died later that year on September 14, 1908. Again, the owner claims this was one of the Thursday deaths. I am here once again to tell you it was a Monday.

Estelle ended up marrying a farmer who was a caretaker at Marjim Manor until they left the home in 1922. Marjim Manor went into foreclosure before being taken up by the Sisters of St. Joseph who used it has a summer home and a retreat for deaf children from St. Mary’s School of the Deaf. The book states they had a dog named Luke who died, which is partially true. The dog did die, as all living things do, but his name was actually Duke. Luke would make more biblical sense, but you know, he looked more like a Duke. There are photographs of him, but unfortunately I have no way of verifying when he died.

So how did these rumors start? It turns out that Estelle Morse was the one to start spreading these rumors in an article in a The New York World published in 1908. This article was an interview with Estelle that praised her for being such a great businesswoman. I’m sure she wove this tale to try and drum up some interest in her winery. Now, while the source of this information is the owner of the manor, which seems slightly unreliable, I have no reason to doubt it — there is a framed version of it hanging in the home.

In fact, a ghostly occurrence happened with this framed article. It was the day of Estelle’s birthday. The bartender poured a glass of a sweet red wine in honor of her and claimed that it was “A sweet red wine for a lady that may have not been so sweet” and just as the bartender had said that, the framed article flew from the wall and broke the frame’s glass. Apparently she resented that remark.

One of the most active place for ghosts in the house is the front stairs. The Ghost Hunter’s show heard someone say “Who’s in my house?” Without even utilizing their EVP equipment. A young man in Victorian dress has been seen in that very spot — could it be the ghost of Lewis?

The covered front porch is another hotspot for paranormal activity. Estelle Morse is said to greet visitors as they come in the home. It has also been reported on many occasions that people have seen an older gentleman upstairs who began complaining about that same front porch. This is most likely Schubal Merritt, as that particular front porch as not a part of the home when he built it.

A former employee and her family acted as winter caretakers for Marjim Manor since they lived up the street from the property. One day they were making their rounds and making sure the home was in order and that none of the pipes had froze. As they were making their last passes downstairs an alarm clock started ringing upstairs. They went upstairs to turn off the alarm clock but were shocked to find that while it was still going off…it was not plugged into the wall.

But all encounters have not been friendly. The home was also a part of the underground railroad (many orchards were in the area at the time — one of my favorites, Murphy’s orchard was as well). Sadly, even though they were part of the underground railroad, escaped slaves may have to hide for days or weeks in the dark in extremely cramped quarters, literally underground.

Because of the psychic energy and trauma, visitors experience the feeling an intense sadness in the area. Others are instead pinched, poked, and pushed which may indicate a more aggressive or malevolent presence…but I’m willing to bet maybe the victims of these ghostly encounters were just racists and the ghosts of the escaped slaves were just having some harmless revenge.

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