Do the son and great granddaughter of Kansas City’s first millionaire still walk the halls of the home he built in 1856? Many believe they do. The Man - Born in 1814, Majors married Katherine Stalcup in 1834. She would give him nine children, six of whom would live to adulthood. Katherine died of unknown causes in early 1856. A year later, Majors married Susan Wetzel, who was 23 years his junior. Susan would bear four children, with three living to adulthood. By all accounts, Majors was a religious man, with a keen sense of right and wrong. His employees were required to sign an oath not to ‘drink, swear, treat animals cruelly or behave unbecoming a gentleman’. He provided each employee with a pistol and bible. He was also pro-slavery and considered a Unionist. Having grown up a farmer’s son, Majors wanted to provide a better life for his large family, particularly his daughters. In 1848 he started hauling overland freight on the Santa Fe Trail, eventually partnering with William H. Russell and William B. Waddell to form the Russell, Majors and Waddell freighting firm. In 1860 they would go on to found the Pony Express. Throughout the mid-1850s, the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell would manage a freighting operation involving over 1,000 men, 5,000 wagons, and 40,000 oxen. The firm became the chief supplier of the U.S. military in the West. It was during this time that Major’s wealth enabled him to build his home on State Line Road, completing it in 1856 shortly before the death of his first wife, Katherine. Majors also played a crucial role in the development of the city itself. In order to become more efficient and save time and money, Majors developed the practice of unloading steamboat deliveries of westward-bound government supplies directly onto his freight wagons. He began using the landing at the foot of the Missouri River bluffs, several miles directly north of Westport, instead of the more commonly used Wayne City landing site near Independence. This “Westport Landing” area, near what is known today as City Market, became the original town site of Kansas City. The Home - The original six room two story farm house was built just 16 feet from the Missouri-Kansas state line on a tract of 300 acres. Renovations in 1903 would add the “T” shaped rear portion of the home and would include a dining room and kitchen on the first floor with additional bed chambers on the second floor. In 1858, Majors moved his business, family, and six enslaved individuals to Nebraska City. The house, and the remainder of Majors’ slaves, were left to his oldest daughter Rebecca and her husband Samuel Poteet, who was also Majors’ assistant and head wagon master. Although they would remain married, by 1870 Majors and Susan would be living separately. It is believed that Majors wanted to travel throughout the United States, while Susan wanted to live quietly at home in the comfortable life she was accustomed to. Historical documents indicate that in 1870 Majors was living in a boarding house in Utah while Susan was living in the household of their son Elick (Alexander Majors, Jr.) in St. Louis. By 1880 it appears the family was together again in Santa Clara, California, although Majors is also known to have been in Montana during this time. It is believed that, at some point, Susan did move back into the family home with daughter Rebecca. By the time great granddaughter Louisa Johnson purchased the home in 1930, it had sat vacant for several years and had been severely vandalized. She would spend the next 49 years trying to restore the home and preserve the memory of her great-grandfather. She would open the home to her great-uncle, Benjamin Majors, in 1934. Benjamin had been living in poverty and he would spend the reminder of his life there, passing away in the home from natural causes in 1938. When the cost of restoration and maintenance on the home proved to be too much, Louisa moved to the caretaker’s cottage. She would remain there until her death in 1979. Terry W. Chapman, a restoration architect, would inherit the house and structural restoration would finally be complete in 1983. One year later, in 1984, the house would be opened to the public and has remained open for tours and events ever since. Fortune Lost - The firm sustained heavy losses during raids on three large wagon trains of provisions intended for U.S. forces in Utah in the late 1850s, and endured severe winter weather that killed over 1,000 head of cattle. Already deeply in debt, Russell promised a U.S. senator that the firm could establish a faster line of direct mail delivery to California than any other then operating. This resulted in the founding of the Pony Express which moved letters between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. While it was a practical success, due to the skill of its legendary riders, including a young William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the Pony Express was a financial disaster. Just 18 months after it started, with the transcontinental telegraph link in place, the Pony Express was obsolete. A few short years later, with the modernizing of the West, his wagon trains were replaced by railroads. Alexander Majors’ fortune was gone. Majors began drifting Westward with known stops in Utah, Colorado, Montana and California. He would die in Chicago, where he had gone to visit a friend, in 1900. His body was returned to Kansas City and he is buried next to his first wife, Katherine, in Kansas City’s Union Cemetery. It is believed that Majors was living in near poverty, subsisting largely on the proceeds from his published memoirs Seventy Years on Frontier. The book is still regarded as the best first hand account of life on the plains, originally published in 1893 and still available today. His second wife Susan died in California in 1915. Before her death, she unveiled the Pony Express monument in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Haunting – Visitors and volunteers at the home claim that they hear voices and see the ghostly figures of who they believe are Benjamin Majors and great granddaughter Louisa Johnson. We investigated the Alexander Majors House May 14, 2022. It was a very hot day and by investigation time the temperatures were still nearly 80° and would remain there throughout the evening. This location was hard to investigate. There were challenges with audio contamination due to an outdoor wedding being held on the grounds and the close proximity of a very busy Kansas City street. It was nearly 10:30pm before things quieted down enough for us to begin holding EVP sessions. True to the claims, we did hear unidentified voices and footsteps throughout the house. Several EVPs were captured on our static cameras but not on any hand held devices. We were also told to ‘Get Out’ on three separate occasions but were unaware we had captured those voices until we reviewed the audio. While we did not see any ghostly figures, we did have a lot of Rempod activity in the second floor ‘toy room’, which is where we also audibly heard several unidentified voices. During spirit box sessions we seemed to make contact with an angry, imposing gentleman. We’re fairly sure he was the reason for the “Get Out’ EVPs we captured. We also made contact with a man and a woman who were arguing over ownership of the home. Who they are, we can’t say. There is more to the history of the Alexander Majors home than meets the eye. On the night we visited, the spirits were angry and clearly didn’t want us there. Was it Benjamin and Louisa? I don’t think so. I think there is more to the story that needs to be revealed. Hopefully we will get an opportunity to check it out again. Sources:
Biography of Alexander Majors (1814-1900), pony express founder by Daniel Coleman The Waldo Story: The Home of Friendly Merchants LaDene Morton · 2012 US Census
0 Comments
|
AuthorI have been looking for ghosts in haunted locations across the country since 1977. Previous Blogs
All
|