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Swope's sudden illness and demise happened under mysterious circumstances, as did several others in the family. Swope was known to be mild-mannered and self-conscious, and was a lifelong bachelor. He lived alone until later in life when he moved into the turreted red brick mansion of his late brother
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Swope's last days were preoccupied with how best to bestow his wealth. His real estate alone was worth three and a half million dollars. In his last days Swope was sometimes treated by Doctor
Bennett Clark Hyde, who had married one of his nieces (Logan and Margaret Swope's daughter, Frances). On
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Eight and a half years after his death, Col. Thomas Swope was laid to rest in Swope Park. On April 8, 1918, he was buried high on a hill amid a forest of trees, overlooking his gift to Kansas City. His remains lie beneath a Greek temple of white granite, guarded by a pair of stone lions.
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Hyde was charged, tried and convicted on May 16, 1910, of the murder of Thomas Swope. On appeal, the verdict was overturned on procedural grounds. Three more trials, seven years and a quarter of a million dollars later, the charges against Hyde were dropped and he was released.
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opened and settled in Kansas City in 1857. Swope began purchasing property here and would later go on to become the largest individual land owner in Kansas City. Mr. Swope was called "Colonel" Swope, but the title was honorary and not from military service.
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October 3, 1909, just 18 days short of his 82nd birthday, Col. Swope died suddenly in his sister-in-law's home with Dr. Hyde in attendance, the aftermath of a perplexing, brief and violent illness. Swope's body lay in state at the
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Swope was a Yale graduate with money to invest. After living in several states, he eventually made his way to
Missouri when he moved to St. Louis and began working in real estate. He came west in 1855 as the
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Logan Swope, home of his sister-in-law
Margaret "Maggie" Chrisman Swope as well as seven nieces and nephews. The frugal millionaire commuted daily by streetcar to his downtown Kansas City office in the
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Three months after Swope's death, Dr. Hyde came under suspicion and was charged with murder by strychnine poisoning in "a plot for money." The body of Thomas Hunton Swope was exhumed by coroner
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In 1893, civic reformers put forth an effort to beautify the city with parks and boulevards. Swope actively opposed the plan because he would be heavily taxed for owning vacant real estate lots.
628:"February 9, 1910 CONVULSIONS TOLD OF BY THE NURSE. Testifies That Capsule Was Given on Order of Dr. Hyde. STRYCHNINE THEN USED. Hypodermic Injections Made When Philanthropist Was Unconscious"
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In 1896, the seventy-year-old Swope donated 1,334 acres (5.40 km) of land to be used as a public park. The land lay seven miles (11 km) southeast of town and was used to create
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By Thomas Samuel Duke, Captain of Police, San
Francisco; Published with Approval of the Honorable Board of Police Commissioners of San Francisco, 1910. (Public Domain Free Download)
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conducted a postmortem examination of the internal organs and reported that Thomas Hunton Swope's body contained lethal amounts of both strychnine and cyanide.
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where thousands of mourners paid their respects. Until a tomb could be prepared in Swope Park where he had requested burial, he lay in a holding vault.
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but never practiced the profession. Instead of practicing law, he became interested in real estate and mining in New York and St. Louis.
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responded to his opposition by calling him a greedy mossback who "evaded taxes, fighting progress, and getting rich."
654:"SWOPE CHEMISTS FIND POISON TRACES; Cipher Message Conveys News to Executor J.G. Paxton, Who Is Summoned to Chicago"
307:( ed.). Center for Counterproliferation Research, National Defense University, Fredonia Books. pp. 91–93.
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with the "Colonel" wandering around the crowd while they listened to a two-hour speech honoring his benefactions.
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Duke, Thomas Samuel (1910). "Dr. B. C. Hyde's diabolical plot to gain possession of Col. Swope's millions".
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142:. His death in 1909 became the focus of one of the most publicized murder trials in the early 20th century.
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Dr. Hyde
Arrested As Swope's Slayer; Accused of First Degree Murder, He Has Hearing and Is Released on Bail
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159:. In his youth, Swope was an avid reader known as "bookish and delicate". After graduating from
138:(October 21, 1827 – October 3, 1909) was an American real estate magnate and philanthropist in
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Deaths on
Pleasant Street : the ghastly enigma of Colonel Swope and Doctor Hyde
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Bioterrorism and biocrimes : the illicit use of biological agents since 1900
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James A. Reed : legendary lawyer, marplot in the United States Senate
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734:"Colonel Swope's Nephew by Marriage Formally Accused and Arrested"
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Jason Roe, Kansas City Public
Library: "Dr. Hyde and Mr. Swope"
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Dr. Hyde (Swope Murder) Trial (1910): Links & Bibliography
388:. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press. 1999.
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Philanthropists from the Kansas City metropolitan area
580:. San Francisco, CA: James H. Barry Company. pp.
340:"Chapter 3: State of Missouri vs. Bennett Clark Hyde"
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Thomas Hunton Swope was born on
October 21, 1827, in
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New York Times, Friday, February 11, 1910, page 1A.
204:. 18,000 Kansas Citians celebrated opening day for
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749:church purchased it in 1923 and razed it in 1960.
546:"Wife of Dr. Hyde, Alleged Slayer, Seeks Divorce"
468:. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press.
778:People from the Kansas City metropolitan area
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743:. 1928, Photograph, Independence, Missouri
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400:"Dr. Hyde and Mr. Swope | KC History"
338:Cronan, J. Michael (March 10, 2018).
301:Carus, W. Seth (September 24, 2002).
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773:People from Lincoln County, Kentucky
577:Celebrated Criminal Cases of America
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712:University of Missouri, Kansas City
684:Kansas City Parks & Recreation
221:until the month before his death.
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462:Fowler, Giles (September 2009).
386:Dictionary of Missouri Biography
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658:Special to The New York Times
280:, book covering Swope's death
98:Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
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680:"Thomas H. Swope Memorial"
227:Kansas City Public Library
432:. City of Kansas City, MO
278:Deaths on Pleasant Street
219:New England Life Building
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723:"Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde"
157:Lincoln County, Kentucky
54:Lincoln County, Kentucky
632:The Kansas City Journal
263:William Rockhill Nelson
783:Yale University alumni
491:"Return to the scene"
489:Hicks, Jesse (2013).
258:Walter Stanley Haines
238:Walter Stanley Haines
167:in 1848, he attended
140:Kansas City, Missouri
73:Kansas City, Missouri
727:St. Petersburg Times
525:The Kansas City Star
195:The Kansas City Star
730:- October 29, 1950.
707:Linder, Douglas O.
268:Jesse Clyde Nichols
136:Thomas Hunton Swope
123:Real estate magnate
81:Cause of death
25:Thomas Hunton Swope
660:. January 29, 1910
634:. February 9, 1910
165:Danville, Kentucky
736:VintageKansasCity
552:. October 3, 1920
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67:(1909-10-03)
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757:Categories
285:References
206:Swope Park
202:Swope Park
189:Swope Park
151:Early life
95:Swope Park
46:1827-10-21
146:Biography
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252:See also
85:Homicide
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
