| Herman, Mr. |
Rich farmer in the Duston Heights area who attended St. Michael's Church in the 1880s. Killed by a "carved stone, a big, heavy pinnacle that had just been put in place" of the church, then under construction, that toppled down and crushed him; later rumored to have been killed magically by Father Baart [The Curse of the Blue Figurine, 18-9].
In the conclusion of M.R. James’ story Casting the Runes, we learn that “...on the afternoon of the 23rd an English traveler examining the front of St Wulfram’s Church at Abbeville, then under extensive repair, was truck on the head and instantly killed by a stone falling from the scaffold erected round the north-western tower, there being, as was clearly proved, no workman on the scaffold at the at moment….” While perhaps mere coincidence, Bellairs was a known admirer of M. R. James’ ghost stories.
It is also speculated Michael Scott died after being struck by falling masonry from a church.
Finally, there is a similar tale in Marshall lore: in 1843, a wealthy member of the Presbyterian congregation, Jabez Fitch, organized the construction of their new church building on Michigan Avenue (132 West Michigan Avenue), and later died from injuries when a portion of the wall fell on him.
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