Ghosts of The Bissell Mansion
Some men feel called into service and duty. Lewis Bissell was one such man. When he wasn’t on the front lines of a battlefield or blazing a new trail in unexplored wilderness, he was often found at the home he loved.
Some say that he may still be there.
Is the Bissell Mansion haunted?
Many figures have called the oldest brick house in St. Louis home over the years. The first people to do so were the Bissell family after its patriarch, Lewis Bissell, built it in 1823. After the Bisell family moved on, many different owners and establishments called it home in the 20th century.
Now, some ghostly residents may be calling it home today.
Keep reading to learn more about the home and to find out just who may be haunting this historic home. If you want to experience the Bissell Mansion, book a ghost tour with St. Louis Ghosts!
Defense and Discovery
Lewis Bissell came from a long line of distinguished military men. His father, Major Russell Bissell, was Fort Bellefontaine’s first commandant.
His uncle Daniel was a General with a long and distinguished career, serving in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Later, he would work for the US Military Department of Missouris and, as a part of that organization, welcomed the Lewis and Clark expedition when they came through St. Louis.
Military service and exploration ran in the Bissell blood as young Lewis joined at age 19. He quickly distinguished himself when Thomas Jefferson personally dispatched Lewis to the unexplored Western frontier.
Joining the military wasn’t the only way Lewis paid tribute to his uncle Daniel. After returning from exploring the frontier, he constructed his mansion in 1823 and named it the General Daniel Bissell Mansion. A beautiful example of Federal style architecture, the mansion was a fitting tribute to his uncle and served as the Bissell family home for five successive generations until they officially gifted it to St. Louis County in 1962.
Who Haunts the Bissell House?
Lewis Bissell built such a lovely home that a few of his family members didn’t want to leave it, even after they’d died. Over the centuries, numerous people have reported seeing two distinct spirits residing in the mansion.
Captain Lewis Bissell’s Ghost
The first and most prominent ghost is Captain Lewis Bissell himself. The builder of the mansion died in 1868, but many people have reported catching glimpses of him all over the property over the years. He’s most often spotted in what is now the mansion’s parking lot.
Witnesses say that he seems to be keeping a watchful eye over his home. Even after his death, it appears that Bissell is never one to leave his home vulnerable. And his efforts have paid off. The mansion was scheduled to be demolished in the 1950s to make room for the Mark Twain Expressway. However, historic preservationists lobbied to save the building, and it was eventually declared a historic landmark.
Was that only the work of the preservationists, or was the captain subtly guiding them in protecting his home from beyond the grave?
Till Death Do Us Part
Lewis Bissell is hardly alone in defending his home in the afterlife. Lewis Bissell’s wife is the second most commonly spotted ghost that lurks around the property.
It is debated which wife the ghost is. Lewis’ first wife, Mary, died in 1831, almost forty years before his death. Grief-stricken for many years, he eventually remarried in 1837 to Mary Jane Douglas. Whoever this female ghost is, a few things are common in her sightings.
She is always dressed in a long, flowing white gown and is only seen inside the property, unlike her husband. The second floor is her favorite haunt. She’s known to be a bit of a trickster- objects usually disappear and reappear whenever she’s around, and she almost always has a smile on her face. When the property was being renovated in the 1980s, stealing wine glasses was one of her favorite pranks, much to the annoyance of the developers.
The Haunted Bissell Mansion Today
On the subject of development, the property has had various owners and purposes over the years, ever since the Bissell family gave it over to Missouri. During Prohibition and the Great Depression, it was a boarding house for transient residents. During that time, the house began falling apart, and due to the disrepair, it was considered for demolishment to make room for the highway. Once it was declared a historic landmark, it was refurbished and hosted a murder mystery dinner experience and tours.
Unfortunately, the murder mystery dinner is no more and was one of the many businesses that went under during the pandemic. These days, the mansion is for sale. Although, it’s proven a bit difficult to sell. Not because of the property value, mind you – because of the ghosts.
The realtor for the house had a ghostly experience while showing the home to some appraisers. While the appraiser was upstairs, the realtor suddenly found himself trapped in a room. No matter how hard he pushed, the door wouldn’t budge open.
He later found that the door had been blocked with cleaning supplies. But it couldn’t have been the appraiser who did it – he was upstairs on the second level the whole time.
Maybe Captain Bissell isn’t ready to give up his house to new owners yet.
Haunted St. Louis
Missouri is a veritable treasure trove of haunted locations, ghostly history, and spooky places. The Bissell Mansion is just the tip of the iceberg, especially when it comes to the city of St. Louis.
To discover some of the most haunted locations in St. Louis, book a ghost tour with St. Louis Ghosts! Check out our blog for more tales of Missouri’s cursed locations, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Sources:
https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/places/bissell-house/
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mo-bissellmansion/
https://hauntsofmissouri.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/bissell-mansion/
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Haunted-historic-Bissell-Mansion-St-Louis-17369518.php