Kristen Robinson: Thaddeus - Another Altered Ancestor

Another altered ancestor for you! This one a wee bit sinister.....

Dr. Thaddeus Bengough

Dr. Thaddeus Bengough was born to poor Welsh parents in 1903. Spending his youth in public schooling he often felt bored and was ridiculed by the other students. His escape from life’s troubles lie in his books. Living in a small two room flat with his parents and his four brothers, he longed to find quiet away from the rest of the family and the world.

It was at an early age that people took notice of his eccentricities, dressing in the same clothes day after day, tie always askew and glasses, when he wore them lying on the bridge of his nose. Going against all proper etiquette in his youth he wore his hair long and quite messy if you will. There were many that feared him for his intelligence alone.

At the age of 15 his father passed away leaving his mother and his family with nothing. Finding work wherever she could as a wash maid, or a cook Mrs. Bengough brought in very little money. Meals often consisted of cabbage and very stale bread at best.

When Thaddeus turned 16 he met the man that would change his life. Dr. Folsom Hendricks, a scientist who believed that the ability to create life could be found within the hands of men. Thaddeus left home when he was given a small room in the home of Dr. Hendricks gloomy mansion. It was under the watchful eye of Hendricks that he studied and practiced medicine that many found questionable at best.

In 1931 Dr. Hendricks succumbed to madness brought on by a not so pleasant disease that was rather unmentionable at the time. Mourning the loss of his mentor Thaddeus was considerable more driven to succeed in reanimating those that had left the world. The same year Thaddeus’ mother also met her demise, leaving nothing behind as she succumbed to death in the poor house.

Years passed quickly for the man who many deemed “Mad”, spending his days in his laboratory and his nights in the graveyard Thaddeus yearned for the power of creation. Resorting to the worst possible method to obtain bodies he attempted to model his life after that of Jack the Ripper. Thaddeus found his victims on popular street corners tempting them with promises of getting them off the streets. Initially he would study them in has laboratory causing them no great bodily harm. All of this changed when a copy of Frankenstein landed in his hands. Many thought the book to be scary Thaddeus felt it a sign to move forward with his testing. Upping the ante his victims were no longer specimens to study they became experiments in the after life.

It was on a fateful night in 1937 that a group of men came upon Thaddeus attempting to dig up fresh remains of a victim he had read about. Cornering him against a tree they thought the worst, narrowly he escaped into the dark forbidding woods of the cemetery and up the long road to the mansion all avoided.

Giving chase the men followed him, determined to learn what actually went on in the evil ones lair. Coming upon the mansion they instantly heard screams fill the air, breaking down the barrier they entered Thaddeus’ home, searching through rooms they found one victim after another.

The largest group of men entered the laboratory finding Thaddeus sitting quietly at his table, looking for an escape he knew the only way out was through the window that lay at the top of the stairs, overlooking the cliffs below. Determined he would not be taken alive by these men, he fled. Turning to scan the room one last time he took note of the angry faces these men did not understand his life’s work. Turning quickly he plunged into the darkness it is said they never located a body.

To this day there is rumor that Ghosts and screams fill the halls of what is now known as Bengough Manor.