Haunted Mansion- Tale of Snevets Nor

Tale of SNEVETS NOR[1]

Name: Col. Ronald Stevens

Born: July 4, 1741

Died: December 30, 1800

In 1800, the deed to the Mansion passed to Colonel Ronald Stevens, a wealthy publisher, in the winnings from a riverboat card game. The Colonel began an extensive renovation of the house and grounds. It was as ill fated as the original construction had been. When Fred, a stonemason, was killed by a falling rock, Colonel Stevens took over the stonecutting himself.

He moved his family in on October 31, 1800. Shortly thereafter, the Colonel lost his mind. Neglecting his lithography business, Colonel Ronald Stevens spent his last days carving his name backwards on tombstones. He finally died in a boiler explosion. The remaining bits of him were buried under each of the grave markers he had inscribed with SNEVETS NOR. -GW

            Some have assumed the “1506” inscribed on his grave was the year of his death. This is not true. As the burden of the house grew on his mind, he became ever more resentful of how he came to possess it. The final hand of cards in that infamous game resulted in a debt of 1506 pounds sterling or about $6800 (over 2 years average pay)! Rather than ruin the visiting British dignitaries with whom he was playing, the kind-hearted Stevens decided to accept the deed to some land and a house they held. As the renovations continued his mounting debt and ever more serious accidents overthrew the Colonel’s reason. He began to carve “Snevets Nor 1506” on the tombstones and muttered incessantly as if to turn back time and take the money instead.

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[1] Snevets Nor Tomb by “Effie3” on Flickr.com