"Bellevernon", as it was originally spelled, was laid out in 1813 by Noah Speer in northwestern Fayette County. French for “beautiful green,” this was the name chosen by both Noah Speer for his little community on the Monongahela River and later by his son Louis, who founded a town with nearly the same name just up the hill (North Belle Vernon).
Noah Speer was the father of Louis M. Speer, Esq., born in a log cabin on the Speer homestead/Gibsonton farm in 1810. The younger Mr. Speer was quite the business man and played a large role in the development of Belle Vernon. During his lifetime, the population grew to about 700 and there was a steam ferry connecting Belle Vernon with Allen Township across the river. The little hamlet also boasted 5 dry goods stores, 4 groceries, 2 glasshouses with 87 employees, a boot and shoe, cabinet, chair, wagon, saddle/harness, blacksmith/tanning shops, and 2 sawmills. Louis Speer owned a sandbank outside of town which produced the best quality glass sand. He also owned a large coal works and a large boat yard with more than 50 employees. Louis resided on the NW corner of Main and 2nd streets.
Boat hulls were built at his boatyard (owned in partnership with a man named Morgan Gaskill), located on 3rd street in the 1830s and 1840s. Several steamboats are noted to have come from the yard including the Minstrel which in 1842 fell of its building docks killing one and injuring 10 (which many say is the start of the rumors that the Speers family was "cursed"). The St. Anthony bound for Galena, IL and the Cassandra headed to Knoxville, TN came from the Belle Vernon yard. Two boats bound for customers in Pittsburgh were the Alert and the Avalanche (1847).
In 1853, Mr. Speer built a sawmill with partner William Latta, a boat builder, below the mouth of Speers Run. It was destroyed by fire in 1877 and rebuilt by his son William F. Speer. William, who spent 3 months in Libby Prison during the Civil War, left the army after attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. William went bankrupt soon after completing the new mill and sold it to the Belle Vernon Saw and Planning Company in 1880. After the sale of his family's business, William F. Speer retired to his home at the Speer homestead, established in 1810, located near the current intersection of State Rt. 201 and Interstate 70.
Susan Burl and William Speer
Susan Burl - Photo taken in 1895 - Last known Photograph of Susan
William Speer was married to Susan Burl, the daughter of the owner of the Burl Dry Goods store along Main Street, in the summer of 1875. Their three children, Samuel (1876), Marcus (1878) and Louise (1880) were raised on the family farm, and home schooled by the strict Mrs. Susan Speer. Mrs. Speer, a god fearing woman professed to educating her children in the "light of God" as opposed to sending her children to learn alongside the "demons and sinners" children at the local school. Through the first years of marriage Susan and William were pillars of the society, interacting at church functions and social events, however, that took a sharp turn with the sale of the Speer family saw mill, which many in the town reported was the will of Susan, not William.
The shocking murders of 1895
William Speer was married to Susan Burl, the daughter of the owner of the Burl Dry Goods store along Main Street, in the summer of 1875. Their three children, Samuel (1876), Marcus (1878) and Louise (1880) were raised on the family farm, and home schooled by the strict Mrs. Susan Speer. Mrs. Speer, a god fearing woman professed to educating her children in the "light of God" as opposed to sending her children to learn alongside the "demons and sinners" children at the local school. Through the first years of marriage Susan and William were pillars of the society, interacting at church functions and social events, however, that took a sharp turn with the sale of the Speer family saw mill, which many in the town reported was the will of Susan, not William.
The town sheriff - Thomas Moore was dispatched by concerned neighbors, who, earlier in the evening heard shouts and upon walking up to the house heard nothing, and upon rapping upon the door many times opened the door to reveal blood near the entrance way and then left to contact Sheriff Thomas Moore.
Upon inspection of the Speer homestead Sheriff Thomas Moore discovered the bodies of William, Samuel, Marcus and Louise, murdered, having their throats cut, and laying in their beds. The bodies had been mutilated, and it is reported that the murder weapon, a butcher's cleaver was discovered on the desk that Susan used to preach from during her home schooling sessions with the children. The children and William appeared to be scalped, it is unsure if the bodies were scalped before or after their death.
Although Sheriff Thomas Moore was at the residence nearly 12 hours after the murders, there were no signs of Susan Burl Speer. Within the week funeral arrangements were held, on the Speer farm, with William and the children being buried on their homestead plot. Susan Burl Speer was never found to be questioned for the murders, and the case remains unsolved. Although there has never been any confirmed or recorded events of supernatural events occurring near or around the Speer Family farm, the surrounding town believed that there were supernatural powers protecting the graves of the children of William and Susan Speer, and when attempts to relocate the buried bodies off of the Speer property to allow development in 1992 failed, many townspeople have attributed the failure of developers based on the supposed haunting and equipment failures were attributed to the spirit of Susan Burl menacing and attacking workers on site.
