Welcome to Melville, Michigan
Melville (mel-vil) is the Fictional historic rural village in Huron County, Michigan, United States, located south of Lake Huron in Michigan’s Thumb. It’s the setting of several horror stories by author Jason Betzing including his upcoming debut horror novel, The Cross Witch Curse and short story, The Keeper’s Quarters.
The quaint, but isolated village features a small residential neighborhood, and a Main Street downtown area spanning two blocks. Of architectural significance is “Oxblood Manor” a large Victorian Gothic home built in the 1890’s of red Lake Superior sandstone. It was built by a failed railroad entrepreneur and occultist, and has been restored to serve as a funeral home. The unique choice of material was made for fire resistance, after the devastation of the Great Thumb Fire of 1881. Today, the village is largely self-sufficient with it’s own volunteer emergency services and village government. Melville is noted for having the largest concentration of wind farms in the state.
Suicides at Oxblood Manor
More than the architecture, the home of the failed railroad entrepreneur is known as a place of great tragedy. The owner suffered social and financial ruin, becoming virtually penniless overnight. Unable to cope, his wife took their infant son to the roof and with the baby in her arms, jumped, killing them both. Days later, the entrepreneur was found hanging in the attic, but he wasn’t alone. He’d brought his wife and son to the attic, and surrounded them in occult symbols. He’d apparently tried resurrect them, but failing decided to join them in the afterlife.
Early Settlement and Witch Trials
Archaeological findings such as pottery shards, flint tools, and burial mounds suggest an early Native American settlement, most likely the Wolf Clan of the Wendat tribe. Artifacts show they suddenly abandoned the area for unknown reasons.
The first recorded European-ancestored settlement was in 1861 by a group seeking a place to practice their religion in isolation whose rigid structure was fading in popularity. In the fall of 1862, the men in the settlement were called up to fight in the Civil War. They reported to the 23rd Regiment, Company F, in East Saginaw. Records and journals show the women and children were essentially left to fend for themselves in the new colony that was barely established and not prepared for winter.
There is some evidence that in order to survive, the women resorted to cannibalism. Hostilities and food shortages within the village resulted in hysteria and accusations of witchcraft. And, shortly after only fifteen men returned from the war in the summer of 1865, they held witch trials. At least three accused witches were drowned. The site of the executions is believed to be the Pine Bog Pond at the edge of town. A villager’s journal documenting the events simply called it the Drowning Pool. Little information survives, however, about what transpired at the colony between the witch trials in September 1866 and March 1868, when the village was again abandoned. It is unclear what became of the settlers there and there is no record of them reestablishing elsewhere.
In 1886, as part of the Huron Railroad Expansion by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Melville was reestablished. The railroad is no longer active.
The Melville Missing
Melville gained national attention 1990’s and early 2000’s after a series of missing person cases from the Melville area. The media began calling them “The Melville Missing.” When Melville’s police chief died suspiciously, the abductions stopped and there was speculation that he may have been the culprit. But months later, several more locals, including two teens, were reported missing. The case remains unsolved; no bodies were ever recovered.
