Female Stranger

The Female Stranger was a woman who died anonymously on October 14, 1816 in Alexandria, Virginia. She was buried in the local St. Paul's Cemetery, with a monument erected supposedly by her husband, but which only identifies her as the "female stranger" along with the epitaph. The unusual monument and story surrounding it have long been noted as a peculiar oddity of the town.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

References

  1. ^ "The Legend of the Female Stranger". http://www.subvatican.com/femalestranger.html. Retrieved 2010-05-02. 
  2. ^ Famous mysteries. 1919. http://books.google.com/books?id=fpwMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA166&dq=%22female+stranger%22+alexandria&hl=en&ei=mvHcS6asFIX7lwfM3aX9Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22female%20stranger%22%20alexandria&f=false. "Our account of the mysterious and dramatic happenings to which this unknown woman's death came as a tragic denouement must commence upon the 25th day of July, in the year 1816, when the brig "Four Sons," bound from Halifax to the West Indies, diverted her course to enter the Potomac and anchor off Alexandria. She remained just long enough to lower a boat and send ashore a man and a sick woman. When the small boat pulled up at the wharf it was seen that the invalid had on a thick veil, which, in spite of the heat of that mid-summer day, she continued to wear while being carried through the streets to The Bunch of Grapes, the largest tavern in the city. After engaging the best room that the hostelry afforded, the anxious husband—as he described himself—hurriedly sent for a physician, who was, however, before being admitted to the sickroom, called aside and pledged upon his honor not to reveal what he might see or learn concerning his patient. The physician's lips were sealed until his death, and the only information concerning his patient which could ever be obtained from him was that he had never seen her face." 
  3. ^ Alexander John Wedderburn (1907). Souvenir Virginia tercentennial of historic Alexandria, Va. http://books.google.com/books?id=YVp7ofn6i8YC&pg=PA10&dq=%22female+stranger%22+alexandria&hl=en&ei=mvHcS6asFIX7lwfM3aX9Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22female%20stranger%22%20alexandria&f=false. "One of the unsolved mysteries of the world is to be found in the above grave and epitaph to the Female Stranger. ... 1816, a gentleman, accompanied by a lady very ill, arrived at Alexandria and put up at the City Hotel. ..." 
  4. ^ "Alexandria's Legend". Boston Daily Globe. 22 August 1887. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/563952142.html?dids=563952142:563952142&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Aug+22%2C+1887&author=&pub=Boston+Daily+Globe&desc=ALEXANDRIA%27S+LEGEND.&pqatl=google. 
  5. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=cuYRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA439&dq=%22Female+Stranger%22+alexandria&hl=en&ei=YyEUTd-8JsOB8gbCxLHFDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22Female%20Stranger%22%20alexandria&f=false
  6. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=pswDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA182&dq=%22Female+Stranger%22+alexandria&hl=en&ei=YyEUTd-8JsOB8gbCxLHFDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22Female%20Stranger%22%20alexandria&f=false
  7. ^ (25 September 1932). Virginia's Unsolved Mystery, The New York Times
  8. ^ (2 September 1886). An Old Virginia Town, Lawrence Gazette
  9. ^ (13 October 1848). A Reminiscence, Licking Valley Register