The death of the unknown woman in many clothes

Editor's Note: The following column originally appeared in the July 26, 2002 edition of the Nevada Daily Mail.

A story that has no satisfactory ending remains in the memories of those who have heard it as a haunting mystery. This is the case of the unknown grave near Ellis that has been written about, put on national TV and discussed over many a cup of coffee. Those that have grown up in that area have made a regular pilgrimage to the grave to see if it is still being tended and to ponder anew what really happened.

It has caused at least two who grew up in that vicinity to use their talents to immortalize the story. Connie Sloan Barker has painted a picture showing her idea of how the burial took place. Ellen Gray Massey has written a novel, "A Grave Situation," describing what she imagined could have happened. Many articles in the Bushwhacker Musings or other Vernon County Historical Society publications have dealt with the story.

The pull of this story goes beyond Vernon County, however. James J. Fisher, a columnist for the Kansas City Star, wrote about the grave in his column, "The Midlands," on April 25, 1988, and in 1990 the television series "Unsolved Mysteries" features the story in one of its segments. For that series the possible scenario was played out by actors, some of them from our CCPA group and a new grave was dug to make the story more authentic. However the program ignored known facts such as dates of the happening in their effort to establish the identity of the occupant of the grave. These are the facts from existing records. A Dec. 1, 1888, issue of the Nevada Daily Mail has an article titled "Murder Melange." A subtitle continues, "Some Reminiscences of Old-Time Mysteries." This story tells about two murders, one, the murder near Ellis. It places the murder at the 21st of April 1877. A body of a young woman less than 20 years of age was found near the M.K. and T. railroad tracks about three-quarters of a mile east of the Ellis station. It mentions that "Squire Danley, of Deerfield Township, held an inquest over the remains but nothing came of it save a description of the articles of dress worn by the deceased."

The clothing list is a mystery in itself. Why would a young woman have been wearing all of these garments? Here is the description in the article. "She had on a small black velvet cotton hat, turned up on the left side, with black feather; a brown and blue veil, a red, white and blue balmoral shawl; a small wire chain about the neck to which was attached a black glass breast pin, and ear appendages to match the pin. On the third finger of her left hand and the little finger of her right hand were glass imitation carnelian rings. She had on a green worsted waist, a grayish woolen knit jacket with blue and white border; black calico skirt, two calico dresses; plain cotton chemise, pair of bluish, gray knit men's drawers, bluish garters, made of ordinary elastic; cheap corset; cotton handkerchief with red border and small black figures, and a pair of No. 3 goat, or imitation goat, shoes, but little worn and apparently too small for her feet.

"Near the body was found a large sized, old style, cheap oil cloth satchel. It contained some calico, a pair of cotton gloves, two cheap thimbles, some baker's bread, bologna sausage and butter, half a sheet of letter paper and one or two other articles of small value, or importance, but not a line to indicate the name of the dead woman, or whence she came."

Later when the county attorney returned to town (10 days later) he held another inquest. Dr. Rockwood made a post-mortem examination and reported that the woman had "come to her death either by a blow which had broken her skull over the right temple, or by a heavy navy pistol ball which entered her forehead and was cut out from the back of her head."

The woman was reburied in the same grave near the spot where she was killed. In spite of various rumors and stories, no evidence has ever been found to show her identity nor has any record appeared as to what happened to the man who got off the train with her. From the day of her burial until now the grave has remained well-tended. Live and artificial flowers are added to the grave often. When Ruth and Lloyd Moody lived in the house just east of the grave they remarked that they would remove the faded flowers regularly but new ones would be added very soon. Since the Moodys have moved, the new owners also keep the immediate area around the grave cleared and the grave itself is covered with gravel from the railroad right of way.

Mysteries remain to keep the memory of this unknown woman alive. Not only the identity of the two people, but also the reason for the abundance of clothing worn by the woman hint at a deeper story we would like to hear. We are sure that the young woman would never have thought that 125 years after her death strangers are wondering why she was wearing men's underwear, or would know that her corset was a cheap variety.

We hope she would be pleased to know that her grave is lovingly tended and that her tragic tale still touches the hearts of all that long to hear the rest of the story.