Thomas H. Swope

Thomas Hunton Swope (October 21, 1827 – October 3, 1909) was a real estate magnate and philanthropist in Kansas City, Missouri, His death in 1909 became the focus of one of the most publicized murder trials in the early 20th century.

Career

Born in Lincoln County, Kentucky, 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 Kansas Territory 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.

Swope Park

In 1896, the seventy-year-old Swope donated 1,334 acres (5.40 km2) of land to be used as a public park. The land lay four miles (6 km) southeast of town and was used to create Swope Park.

Death

Swope's sudden illness and demise happened under mysterious circumstances. 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 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 New England Life Building until the month before his death.

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. Usually given to self-doctoring, in his last days Swope allowed himself to be treated by Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde, who had married one of his nieces (Logan and Margaret Swope's daughter, Frances). On 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 Kansas City Public Library 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.

Three months after Swope's death, Dr. Hyde came under suspicion and was charged with murder by strychnine poisoning in "a plot for money." Swope's body was exhumed and an autopsy performed. Three trials, seven years and a quarter of a million dollars later, Hyde was freed, his suspected guilt never proven.

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.