St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Father Henry David Jardine was found dead in a St. Louis sacristy in 1886 with chloroform at his side and a rusty iron chain welded around his waist as penance, after an ecclesiastical court convicted him of misconduct with female parishioners. His ashes were interred under St. Mary's Episcopal Church's high altar in 2000, and staff near the altar hear footsteps and smell incense when none has been burned.

When they found Father Henry David Jardine's body in a St. Louis sacristy on January 6, 1886, he had a handkerchief over his face, a small bottle of chloroform at his side, and an old, rusty iron chain welded around his waist. The chain was an act of penance. What he was atoning for depends on which version of his story you believe.

Jardine arrived from Canada in 1879 to lead St. Luke's Mission, which later became St. Mary's Episcopal Church at 1307 Holmes Street in Kansas City. He was part of a faction within the Episcopal Church that wanted to bring it closer to its Catholic roots, reintroducing confession, altar boys, incense, candles, and elaborate ritual. That made him enemies among the more Protestant-leaning congregation members almost immediately.

It also made him popular with female parishioners, which caught the attention of Kansas City Times editor John C. Shea. Shea published a scandalous article titled "Jail-Bird Jardine," and the damage spread fast. An ecclesiastical court convened at Grace Episcopal Church in September 1885. It took about a month to find Jardine guilty of inappropriate behavior with female parishioners and habitual use of chloroform.

Jardine traveled to St. Louis on January 5, 1886, to appeal the verdict to the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Father George C. Betts found him the next morning in the sacristy of Trinity Church, looking as if he were asleep. He wasn't. His death was ruled a suicide.

His ashes were interred under the high altar at St. Mary's in 2000, more than a century after his death. Staff who work near that altar have heard footsteps when the church is empty. Unexplained sounds move through the building at odd hours. The smell of incense drifts through rooms when none has been burned. People report the sensation of being watched, particularly in the area around the altar where Jardine's remains rest.

St. Mary's doesn't hide from this history. The church has celebrated its haunted reputation publicly, which is unusual for a functioning parish. Most churches would downplay a scandalous dead priest whose ghost walks the sanctuary. St. Mary's leans into the story, hosting events and acknowledging the strangeness as part of the building's character.

The iron chain is what stays with you. Jardine welded it shut around his own body before he died. He couldn't remove it without tools. Whatever he was guilty of, real or exaggerated, he carried the weight of it literally.