Legend of the Bloody Bridge: Real or Myth?

ST. MARYS - On a cool fall night in 1854, Minnie Warren and Jack Billings crossed a bridge just outside of Spencerville as they made their way home from a party.

Waiting for them on the bridge was a lone figure holding an ax. Upon further inspection, the couple realized it was Bill Jones, a man who had competed for Warren's affection and lost.

In a fit of rage and jealousy, Jones severed Billing's head in one swing. Horrified, Warren screamed in terror before falling from the bridge into the water below to her death.

Now known as Bloody Bridge, the site is a popular tourist destination, especially during Halloween.

Located off of County Highway 182 in St. Marys, the bridge is on the Towpath Trail of the Miami and Erie Canal, a historic transportation route that runs the length of Auglaize County from Minster to Spencerville, according to Alison Brady, an Auglaize County park commissioner for the Heritage Trails Park District.

According to legend (and the Heritage Trails Park District), Billings and Jones were once friends who worked as mule drivers for the canal boats.

Billings worked on a boat named "Daisy" while Jones for the "Minnie Warren," a vessel named after the captain's beautiful daughter. Both men were infatuated with Warren, but Billings ultimately won her heart.

In June 1854, both vessels reportedly were docked in Kossuth, and Billings and Warren went out for dinner and a party. It was after the party that Jones reportedly confronted them, swung his ax and decapitated Billings on the bridge.

After letting out a guttural, heart-wrenching scream, Warren fell into the water - though whether she fell or was pushed remains a mystery, according to the Heritage Trails Park District. Regardless, legend says her body was pulled from the water later that night.

Almost immediately after Jones' murder, residents began claiming they encountered a headless apparition on the bridge.

Others, if they were brave enough to peer over the side, claimed they would see Warren staring back at them from the water.

The park district also claims Billings' blood stained the bridge and was visible until the 1890s.

Park commissioner Brady said she views the urban legend as an unconfirmed story.

"It's a great little ghost story," she said. "I would put the Bloody Bridge story as a tale and enjoy it for what it's worth. I don't know if we have historical data to back that."

As for Jones, no one knows what happened. He was never seen again, and his whereabouts remained a mystery. However, some think a skeleton that was found close by belonged to Jones.

"When a skeleton was found years later in a nearby well, people asked 'Was it suicide or justice?'" according to a plaque installed by the Auglaize County Historical Society in 1976.

Although she doesn't believe the legend, Brady said it's entertaining to watch other people's reactions.

"I've been out with groups and had little kids look down and see the rust from a bolt holding together the structure and swear it was blood," she said. "It's a hoot."

True or not, the local legend encapsulates the public's fascination with urban legends and other things that go bump in the night.