Travelers passing through Chester, South Carolina, have often noticed here this large stone in a prominent place here on Main Street.

Few South Carolinians are aware of the role it played in the early 1800s, in what was perceived to be an armed insurrection against the government of the newly-formed United States of America.

It's a story that begins on an island paradise in the Ohio River near Parkersburg, West Virginia.

It's a story of daring men, broken hearts, shattered dreams... dreams of glory.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ In 1798, Parkersburg, West Virginia, consists of a few rough-hewn log cabins and a boat landing situated at the mouth of the Kanawha River.

It's called Newport and "the Point."

The island you see down river, a long, narrow strip of land in the Ohio River, is 1 1/2 miles from the site of the settlement.

It will come to be known as Blennerhassett Island, named after an aristocratic Irishman who arrives here in the summer of 1798 with his young bride to seek a new life on the American frontier.

It is through the rooms of a stately mansion on this island that three men will pass and spin the threads of alleged conspiracy.

The first is a wealthy Irish immigrant known as Harman Blennerhassett.

He is about to stake his fortune and his future on a desperate gamble.

The second is a disillusioned former vice president, of the United States and the third is Joseph Alston of Georgetown, South Carolina, one of the wealthiest men in the United States.

His tragic death will be forever linked to decisions that are made on this enchanted isle in the Ohio River.

Harman Blennerhassett does not fit the typical profile of the rugged frontiersmen who come to this mountain wilderness out of choice.

He is in fact, a landed and wealthy Irish aristocrat.

Why then did Blennerhassett leave his ancestral acres in Ireland to come here to the wilderness?

There were two reasons.

One...to escape arrest for treason.

The other... to avoid the scandal created by an incestuous marriage.

♪ ♪ ♪ While in Ireland, Harman is a member of a secret society.

Founded in Dublin in 1790, the Society of United Irishmen is a Protestant organization designed to overthrow the British domination of Ireland.

Many of Harman's friends had been arrested, and Harman is beginning to fear for his own life and safety and begins to think about leaving Ireland for that reason.

Also, there is a dark secret within Harman's life.

In 1794, he marries his niece Margaret, the daughter of his sister Catherine.

Catherine is incensed about this marriage!

The family will not accept this incestuous arrangement, which is against all the laws of the Church of England.

So, due to two reasons, Harman finally sells the ancestral acres in Ireland for $140,000.

With his bride Margaret, they are now ready to set sail for adventures in the American wilds.

He and Margaret arrived in New York City on August 1, 1796.

On August 18, 1796 he writes his nephew Thomas de Courcy, "On first setting my foot on American soil, "I was visited with sensations which I certainly never experienced in the old country."

Then, he goes on to regret that his loved ones are so far away, but he finds consolation in the fact that, "Grand barriers are between me and my enemies."

After visiting in New York and Philadelphia, he and Margaret go to Pittsburgh.

From there, they start down the Ohio River by keelboat to find a new home in the American West.

One of their stops along the way is Marietta, Ohio, 12 miles upriver from here.

The local people of the area were enchanted with the young Blennerhassetts.

Harman had been educated as a lawyer.

He was a witty and clever conversationalist.

Margaret herself was extremely beautiful, very well-educated, and charming.

They too, found the society of the area to their liking and decided to make their home here, rather than travel farther west.

Now, it was here we see one of the first examples of Harman's inability to handle money.

He bought 170 acres here on this north end of the island for the sum of $4,500, whereas five years earlier the entire island had been sold for the sum of $833.33 and a half cents.

Harman named his new property Ile de Beau Prairie , or "Beautiful Prairie."

Now imagine what this area looked like in 1800.

It is the American frontier bounded by virgin forest.

Few settlers live in these untamed mountains of Western Virginia.

Indian warfare has only ceased to be a threat within the last ten years.

The black bear, cougar, and copperhead still rule the dense forests.

Then imagine the occasional traveler rounding a bend in the Ohio River and seeing before him this magnificent mansion.

Befitting the lifestyle of his Irish nobility, Harman Blennerhassett creates an island paradise in the middle of the American frontier.

According to his neighbors, Harman is a tall stooping fellow who is so nearsighted that, in order to read, his nose almost has to touch the page of the book.

When he goes hunting, a pastime which he enjoys very much his servant not only has to point his gun, but he has to tell him when to fire.

Harman spends a great deal of time in his laboratory.

He's fascinated by this new thing called electricity.

He has composed many things for the bass viol and the cello, which he plays well, indeed as he's quite an accomplished musician.

In contrast, Margaret Blennerhassett is the opposite of her husband in many ways.

She's a very practical woman, self-confident, graceful, and very charming.

Margaret has dark blue eyes, brown hair, and a very fair complexion.

She's quite beautiful.

A young man who lives on the Ohio side is so enamored of her that he's rented a field of corn here on the island so he can just watch her as she goes about her daily outdoor chores.

Two sons are born to the Blennerhassetts, and they are extremely happy.

We can see this husband and wife relaxing here on the portico, watching the occasional visitor pass along the Ohio River.

For eight years they enjoyed their wilderness paradise.

Then things began to change.

Harman realized that from his great fortune, most of his money had been going out and very little coming in.

Although he had tried various business ventures many of which were of great benefit to the people of the Ohio Valley, for him it was very little income.

Even his own generosity worked against him.

There is a story that a Virginia gentleman owed him a great deal of money but unfortunately lost everything he possessed through a fire.

Harman invited him for dinner and then canceled the entire debt.

Harman was very intelligent and very well educated, but he lacked the know-how for life on the frontier.

He was very impractical in relation to making a profit on his 100-acre farm.

Indeed as a friend from upriver in Marietta said of him, "It was common opinion throughout the country "that Blennerhassett had every sense but commonsense," and too another problem began to bother him, a number of Irish and English immigrants were coming into the area, and the Blennerhassetts were afraid that sometime somewhere, someone would remember their incestuous marriage.

Harman began to wonder if it would be practical to sell his island and move further down river where no one could know who he was.

In May 1805, while on a trip to Marietta, Harman meets a gentleman of national renown a gentleman who might have the answer to all of his problems.

Here we meet the second actor in our drama.

He is the grandson, on his mother's side of Jonathan Edwards, New England theologian.

He fought valiantly in the American Revolution, distinguishing himself at Quebec and the battle of Monmouth and was rapidly promoted by George Washington to the rank of lieutenant colonel, the youngest in the Patriot army.

In 1800, he ties Thomas Jefferson in the electoral votes for the presidency of the United States.

When the House selects Thomas Jefferson as President on the 36th ballot after six days of deadlock, this man becomes vice president of the United States.

He is being accused perhaps unjustly by the Republican Party of trying to undercut their candidate.

Thomas Jefferson never forgives him for this.

But in 1800, he cares little for Jefferson's feelings.

He's at the pinnacle of his success.

His political career is assured.

It is almost certain he will become the next President.

Then he makes a fatal mistake.

He allows his pride to overcome his reason, and in a duel, kills Alexander Hamilton.

The death of Hamilton, resulting from a long and bitter feud, with most of the bitterness being on Hamilton's part, destroys his political ambitions.

The admiration of a once-supportive public turns to hate.

The sweet success turns to bitterness, and when Aaron Burr, age 49, steps off his boat in Marietta in the spring of 1805, he is under indictment in the state of New Jersey for murder.

He leaves Marietta and he stops here on the island.

In a room nearby, he has dinner with the Blennerhassetts, and he enjoys sitting quietly, watching the river gently flow by.

Is he discussing his plans with Harman and Margaret?

Is he talking of conquest?

Or is he perhaps hinting that he needs funds in order to carry out these grand ideas, and he sees in Blennerhassett the gullible Irish gentleman whom he can easily manipulate to follow in his dreams?

Because Aaron Burr was a genius.

He knew how to influence people, how to convince them, how to manipulate them into following his very own ideas.

There has rarely been a personality quite like that of Aaron Burr.

Now, he rarely had any money of his own.

He was always clever in enticing money from friends who would believe in him and in his ideas.

Now, maybe he mentions in his conversation, possibly tonight with Margaret and Harman, that his ultimate dream is to free what we now call Texas and conquer Mexico and set himself up as emperor.

Does he tell them, or is he simply hinting at this wonderful scheme in which he needs their financial help?

Only Harman and Margaret will find out later.

After his visit here is concluded, Aaron Burr continues down the Ohio River to interest other people in his schemes and undoubtedly to enjoy every moment of life.

Their correspondence is voluminous.

We notice in a letter from Harman dated December 21, 1805, the following.

"Having thus advised you of my desire and motives "to pursue a change of life, "to engage in anything which may suit my circumstances, "I hope, sir, you will not regard it indelicate in me "to observe to you how highly I should be honored "in being associated with you in any contemplated enterprise you would permit me to participate in."

So while Harman grows more restless and desperate, Aaron Burr's plans slowly begin to take shape.

♪ We have met two men.

One is anxious to replenish a diminishing fortune and escape an old scandal.

The other is anxious to have a new challenge a new world to conquer.

Something that will fire his imagination with excitement because this was his approach and attitude to life.

But what was Joseph Alston doing with this conspiracy to conquer Mexico?

Alston was one of the wealthiest young men of the country... indeed, the wealthiest young man in South Carolina.

He had been elected to the legislature of South Carolina, and highly respected.

All of his life he had lived the joys and the pleasure and the education of a wealthy, young, Southern planter.

Why was he concerned with a conspiracy?

The only answer is because of his love for the daughter of Aaron Burr, Theodosia.

Aaron Burr married the widow of a British army officer, Mrs. Theodosia Bartow Prevost, on July 6, 1782.

It was indeed a love match, and he said of her, while they were very much in love and idealized each other, that he loved her because, "she had the truest heart, "the ripest intellect, and the most winning and graceful manners of any woman he had ever met."

Aaron Burr thoroughly enjoyed the company of the ladies, but he worshiped his wife Theodosia.

On July 23, 1783, their daughter, Theodosia, was born.

Again it has been said that, No father ever trained a daughter with more care, and no daughter ever gave to a father more tender devotion.

Theodosia had many suitors.

It is suspected that at one time she was much enamored of the young writer Washington Irving.

However, it was only until she met the wealthy, young planter from South Carolina, Joseph Alston, that she finally decided upon him as her future husband.

On January 13, 1801, their wedding was announced.

In the "New York Commercial Advertiser" for February 7, 1801, we find the following announcement.

"Married at Albany on the second instant "by the Reverend Mr. Johnson, "Joseph Alston of South Carolina, "to Theodosia Burr, the only child of Aaron Burr, Esquire."

After a short wedding trip, Theodosia and Joseph made their home at The Oaks, a plantation which he had inherited from his ancestors, a rice plantation near the city of Georgetown, South Carolina.

Though life in South Carolina is difficult for Theodosia due to her ill health and the climate, she and Joseph are a very devoted couple.

When their son Aaron Burr Alston is born in 1802, their joy was absolutely unlimited.

Theodosia often travels northward to visit her father.

During her absence, she writes many loving letters to her husband.

Joseph pens almost daily epistles to his wife expressing his genuine love and devotion.

It's October 1806.

Theodosia and Joseph Alston have just arrived on Blennerhassett Island.

Harman and Joseph are admiring the orchard with its many varieties of fruit trees.

Margaret and Theodosia, soul mates from the first, are chatting away in the mansion.

Theodosia will return to the island many times, but this is the only time Joseph will come to visit the Blennerhassetts The men discuss, through Aaron Burr, his need for conquest, and Joseph, because of his connection with his father-in-law, guarantees Blennerhassett's financial part of the expedition and himself promises $50,000 of his own money to aid his father-in-law.

It's obvious that it's his love for his wife, Theodosia that causes Joseph to take part in this enterprise.

♪ The stage is now set for the Southwest expedition.

Harman Blennerhassett is in Marietta, arranging for the building of boats.

He goes into Kentucky to acquire more provisions for the expedition.

Meanwhile, Burr is moving further south, having more boats built, acquiring provisions, and recruiting men from the American wilderness to join his expedition.

While on his southern trip, he stops in Tennessee to visit a South Carolinian, Andrew Jackson.

Now Jackson himself is a proponent of Manifest Destiny, the theory that the United States should encompass the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Did Jackson support Burr in his plan to conquer Mexico?

We don't know.

However, it's very interesting to note that 30 years later, Jackson was one of the foremost proponents of the idea of freeing Texas from Mexico.

Was the idea given to him by Aaron Burr?

We can only surmise.

Later, in New Orleans, Aaron Burr meets an old friend, General James Wilkinson.

Wilkinson and Burr had known each other throughout the American Revolution.

They were friends, and Burr trusted him implicitly.

This was a tragic mistake.

General Wilkinson was not to be trusted.

He was a double agent, a spy for both the United States and for Spain.

And he hated Aaron Burr.

He fabricated material, sent it to President Thomas Jefferson, which declared that Aaron Burr was trying to seize the government of Louisiana away from the United States of America.

It's amazing that a man as brilliant, with as keen an intellect as President Thomas Jefferson, would believe this, but believe it he did.

Possibly this dates to the election in which there was 36 votes to determine who would be President and who would be vice president of the United States.

Possibly Jefferson never forgot this, but be that as it may, he signed the proclamation branding Aaron Burr for treason.

Burr and his fellow associates were considered to be conspirators against the government, branded for treason.

Jefferson also signed the papers which sent the federal troops after all of the men who had joined with Burr in his ideas for the Southwest exploration.

♪ ♪ It is days before Aaron Burr learns of this proclamation, but to Margaret Blennerhassett, along with a few friends, and supporters, the news comes quickly.

On December 11, 1806, her home is invaded by the Wood County Virginia Militia.

The entire house is ransacked and vandalized.

The soldiers discover the wine cellar.

In drunken revelry, they destroy the furniture, the walls, the draperies.

They steal the art treasures.

They demolish all the buildings of the grounds, the fences.

Everything is completely destroyed!

The area resembles an army barracks instead of the once beautiful home.

Colonel Phelps, commander of the militia, apologizes profusely, but this does little to lighten the heart of the mistress of Ile de Beau Prairie .

♪ On December 17, after six days of desperate worry and seeing her world fall apart about her, Margaret Blennerhassett and her two small sons set sail on a flatboat, fleeing for their lives in search of her husband.

Ice on the river makes passage difficult, and Margaret looks back upriver.

This is the last time she will see her island paradise.

In Georgetown, South Carolina, at The Oaks, Joseph and Theodosia Alston anxiously await word of the expedition.

♪ ♪ ♪ Program captioned by: CompuScripts Captioning, Inc. 803.988.8438 ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪