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RIDGE COUNTY HISTORY

A county covered in blood

TOPIN, Ridge County – March 13th 2015 — © The Thrill Pill

Ridge County

It seems like a lovely holiday destination, at first sight. With endless tourist attractions, nature as far as the eye can see and plenty of history, it's a must-see place written down on a lot of our go-to destination lists. It has something for all, young and old. But whomever looks past the For Lorn amusement park, the dozens of beautiful hiking trails and endless of shopping malls, will find a hidden world were the thrill seekers amongst us could only dream off.

Who's the founder?

Ridge County's mystery starts at the beginning; its founder. Official documents point towards Anthony Miller as founder of Miller Town, Miller Woods, and in essence, all of Ridge County. Antony Miller founded the Ledgers Mill in Miller town, Antony Miller initiated the first railroad to Miller Town, and Antony Miller expanded the county's grounds.

Diving deeper into these documents, one will discover that Anthony Miller wasn't the first owner of the original grounds we now call Ridge County. For the thrill seekers amongst us, here is the first big mystery: why was it necessary to remove the former owner from official documents?

Thomason Baywick

Thomason Baywick (April 27th, 1597 – September 17th, 1637) is known as a Scottish serial killer who was convicted in absentia for killing six men in the months leading up to his death in September 1637. Baywick was later also convicted in absentia of conspiracy against the church and for witchcraft, essentially causing his name to be removed from the records as landowner of Ridge County.

Thomason Baywick and his wife Lucia Baywick-Devlin first reported visit to the area was set in 1619, before they later moved to the area permanently after Baywick purchased the land for no more than five guilders. Baywick's land reached from the north of what was then called Baywick's Forest, To East of Miller Town and slightly South of the village now known as Greenville. It wasn't until after Baywick was cleared from the records that the cities of Topin, Lorn and Crunton were added to Ridge County.

Dark pages

Ridge County isn't a big county, but it sure measures up with the big ones when it comes to scandals, mysteries and dark pages in its book that aren't being read out loud. With only five towns in its county, thrill seekers will be surprised to find that there are at least an equal amount of locations that are considered haunted or forbidden. With three centuries long abandoned and supposedly haunted mansions in the area (Brook Mansion, Monsa Hill and Topin House), a forbidden forest guarded by the national guard and erased paragraphs in its history books, Ridge County screams mystery on top of the dark pages in its book.

But what exactly causes all of these locations to be off-limits, considered haunted, or even guarded heavily? One can only guess, as Ridge County has been notorious for hiding their dark pages.

Baywick's Forest, Baywick Woods, Miller Woods

Whichever search term one will use doesn't matter; they all tell the tale of a mysterious forest haunted by the horrible events during the seventeenth century. Stories do vary, and one can only guess which details are correct, but all stories do agree on a few points.

For starters, Thomason Baywick was the original landowner, who split Miller Woods in two equal parts: one part for hunting, the other for hiking. These parts were named Deer Trail and Hikers Trail. He himself lived in the woods, and built several (16 in total) cabins for hunters and their family to stay in. These cabins were named The Devlin Cabins (15) and Lake Ranger Cabin, all located in Hikers Trail.

Baywick later reportedly killed six hunters after having several arguments with them about hunting in the wrong area of the woods. As we concluded, Baywick was convicted for these actions in absentia, after his death in September 1637. The eery detail about his death is that it had been villagers who reportedly forced him into his cabin, before setting it on fire. Ever since these events, several children have gone missing in the woods, leading to the entire closure of the woods in 2014.

Official counts

Official counts state that there have been 39 deaths: 7 adults and 32 children. But when looking into missing children cases, it can be concluded that the death toll in Miller Woods, since 1637, lies anywhere between 50 and 100.

For these cases, found or not, three men have been convicted over the years. It does seem like an excuse to keep the people of Ridge County quiet, as all three men were convicted in absentia like Baywick himself. In fact, in over 350 years, not a living soul has ever been questioned, let alone held responsible for the events in Ridge County; a County truly covered in blood.