...a visit to the Grave of the Female Stranger...

St. Paul's Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia

I love a good mystery.  I went to visit The Grave of the Female Stranger in St. Paul's Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. I actually visited the entire complex of 13 cemeteries over a little over 80 acres, which I will share about later. It is quite a place.

The grave belongs to a woman who died in 1816. The mysterious inscription (below) and story has quite a romanticized tale. There have been numerous speculations as to her identity along with tales of ghostly sightings in the place of her death—Room 8 at Gadsby's Tavern.

Was she the daughter of Aaron Burr? Probably not but that’s part of the tale. I learned today that while the husband of the mysterious stranger paid for everything- the burial, grave, etc. he did so with with borrowed money from a local businessman whom he repaid with a note from the Bank of England, which actually was forged.

In the mid-19th century, with numerous articles sharing the legend in local newspapers, the grave was a tourist attraction. In my opinion, it still here because here I am.

The inscription:

To the memory of a

FEMALE STRANGER

whose mortal sufferings terminated

on the 14th day of October 1816

Aged 23 years and 8 months

This stone is placed here by her disconsolate

Husband in whose arms she sighed out her

latest breath, and who under God

did his utmost even to soothe the cold

dead ear of death

How loved how valued once avails thee not

To whom related or by whom begot

A heap of dust alone remains of thee

Tis all thou art and all the proud shall be

To him gave all the Prophets witness that

through his name whosoever believeth in

him shall receive remission of sins

Acts. 10th Chap. 43rd verse.

The next to last stanza is supposed to be from Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady by Alexander Pope but there are some differences in the language.

 

First female newspaper printer in Virginia and a lovely old churchyard

Clementina Rind (1740–1774) was the first female newspaper printer and publisher in Virginia. She lived in Williamsburg and upon her husband’s death in 1773, she continued to print The Virginia Gazette and also published Thomas Jefferson's tract A Summary View of the Rights of British America.

Not much is known about Clementina Rind’s life. She was born sometime around 1740 and married William Rind in the mid-1760s. On May 16, 1766, the first issue of William Rind's The Virginia Gazette was printed with the motto, "Open to ALL PARTIES, but Influenced by NONE." Their lives and publication were successful.

After her husband passed away in August 1773, Clementina Rind edited and published the newspaper until her death. 

Clementina Rind's message in the Virginia Gazette after her husband's passing.

The paper included local news as well as international news, and it included correspondence from female readers, which gave the paper a strong female perspective. The paper thrived under her leadership and The House of Burgesses appointed her public printer and continued to support her with business.

Bruton Church

She became ill in the summer of 1774 and died in September.  It is believed that she is most likely buried beside her husband in Bruton Parish Churchyard.

The churchyard is not very large. No one is quite certain how many graves are here or even the date of the oldest burial since many of the markers no longer remain. There are some beautifully detailed markers but because of the number of tourists who visit the area, ropes keep the curious at a distance from many of the more intriguing grave markers. 

The churchyard includes the burial plots of “the Custis children”, the children of Martha Custis who later married George Washington; and it also includes Letitia Semple, the daughter of 10^th US President John Tyler. A self-guided tour is available. Because there isn’t a grave to share for Clementina Rind’s, I wanted to share one of my favorite graves in the churchyard.

The grave of Edward Nott (1657-1706), who was a British Colonial Governor of Virginia appointed by Queen Anne in April 1705.This marble box tomb has so much detail, even from a distance. Pictured on the south facing portion of the tomb is the curtain of life being lowered. I have no idea what is depicting on the north facing grave. One day I'll have to bring a step ladder and some binoculars to see if I can get a glimpse.

 

References:

King, Martha J. “Clementina Rind: Widowed Printer of Williamsburg.” In Cynthia A. Kierner and Sandra Gioia Treadway, eds., Virginia Women: Their Lives and Times. Volume 1. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2015.

 

...aromatic herbs, wreaths, and cocktails...

 

Mountain Mint

At the start of the pandemic, I could only get mountain mint which didn’t work for their intended purpose- my fella’s mint juleps. At the end of the season, after they looked dead in their pots I dumped the pots into the garden. Oops, I’ve heard mint can spread. They’ve mostly stayed in their places and yesterday, thanks to a post on aromatic bundling, I decided to make an aromatic herb wreath with mostly mountain mint, some sage, lavender, and spearmint. It’s all set to dry now.

I’ve also been having fun with cocktails. During the Association for Gravestone Studies conference cocktail, I created a variety of cemetery-themed cocktails. This one is called Country Cemetery, a traditional chocolate martini with spearmint from the garden.

Sweet mint from the garden

A Country Cemetery cocktail with spearmint from the garden

I’m trying to make the most of summer and I’m trying not to look at my countdown of days before I have to return to my university campus. I wish I had known that I would have had 400+ glorious days at home. It’s been a reflective time for me and I’m hoping that some of the boundaries I’ve been working on will stick. For now, I’m officially on vacation until August 16^th when my academic contract resumes.