Spooky stories from our files

Halloween is coming up, so I thought I would mine the vertical file at the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center and pull up a couple of local legends of the spooky variety.

The vertical file is a collection of mostly secondary resources, newspapers or pamphlets, with some maps and even a book of poetry by the late Myrtle Sheppard. But I do get asked about a couple of oft-repeated stories, so I thought I’d devote some space to fleshing out the bare bones.

The Hanging Tree

“Hey, how about that old hanging tree on the courthouse lawn?” I hate to kill a good story, but alas, it’s more likely that no one was ever hanged from that tree. It was on the northwest corner of the 1908 Cape Girardeau County Courthouse lawn (now being remodeled into office space for the county government – if you haven’t been by to see the new copper being added to the dome and cornices, it’s quite a sight), and the long branch parallel to the ground was not anywhere near high enough to have hanged anyone taller than about four feet. No, the county’s few executions by hanging were probably conducted at a gallows constructed for each circumstance.

The most recent execution by hanging in Cape Girardeau County was in 1899. John Headrick, hired hand of James Lail, was convicted of Lail’s murder and sentenced to death by hanging.

Lail is buried in Jackson City Cemetery, and a man named John Headrick (1868-1899) is buried at Old McKendree Cemetery.

The tree was removed in 2016 due to ill health.

Old Saint Francis Hospital

Long purported to be a haunted place, Old Saint Francis Hospital’s former site is absolutely teeming with local history. Today, anyone so inclined can drive by and see the apartment complex Fort Hope, at 801 Good Hope Street.

The building had fallen into disrepair by the time Southeast Missouri State University began using it for dormitory space in the 1980s. Tales of hauntings abounded, none of which, unfortunately, are documented in the file on the hospital building.

The hospital was demolished in 2000.

Even before the hospital was built, the site had been home to a Civil War fort. Cape Girardeau had four forts, all earthworks, each with a letter as its name, A through D. Fort D is the only site remaining to be used as a fort, although the building on the site was a later addition, constructed in the 1930s.

The Dead Guy Files

In the Genealogical Society library, a few binders are devoted to the “Dead Guy” Files, which are profiles on local prominent figures written by Southeast Missouri State University students, long ago. These files are immensely interesting, and offer some depth of perspective on the people who worked to build many of the organizations, institutions, businesses and other elements that enrich the Cape Girardeau County experience. Biographical information sometimes includes the person’s genealogy, or their associates, or any number of other facts that can help enlighten the reader.

Marybeth Niederkorn is the director of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center in Jackson. She is a member of various societies devoted to the region’s history, and is on Jackson’s Historic Preservation Commission. Educated at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, she holds degrees in philosophy and professional writing.