The Stranger

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When a small family disembarked from a stage coach on a bitterly cold day in January 1851, nobody paid them much mind. The man, woman, and young boy walked into the old Phillip’s Tavern (replaced in 1852 by Phillip’s Hotel) and rented a room for the night. They were tired and covered with dust, telling the proprietor they were on a long journey and intended to stay one night and be on their way the next day. Despite her tired and dirty state, the woman has consistently been described as extraordinarily lovely in recountings of the story.

Unfortunately, the journey did not continue for the lovely woman. The man roused the innkeeper in the middle of the night and told him to fetch a doctor quickly, there was something wrong with his wife. Despite medical treatment, she died that night.

During this time period, it was not customary or required for guests to register or identify themselves to get a room for the night. Despite renting the room and receiving medical treatment, this woman’s identity was not revealed, nor was her husband’s. As the undertaker prepared for the funeral and presented the bill to the husband, he asked for their names. The traveler remarked, “I will pay you, but I will not tell my name.”

At every turn, he was asked again for her name, but again he declined to reveal their identities. Although they were certain he’d reveal her name for the tombstone, they were again denied. Instead, her tombstone was simply inscribed with:


A Stranger
Died Jan 4, 1851
Aged 24
Her kind and gentle spirit’s gone,
To a world of light above.

The unidentified woman was buried at Old Greencastle Cemetery, located at the intersection of South Broadway and Miami Chapel Road. Shortly after the funeral service ended, the man and child quickly left the cemetery. Nobody reported seeing them after that day.

Adding to the mystery, flowers started appearing on her grave every Memorial Day. This tradition continued for years and was still occurring 81 years later in 1932 when Dayton Daily News reported on this story. The groundskeeper for Old Greencastle Cemetery, where she is buried, reported the flowers would mysteriously show up at the grave, but he never saw a person leaving them. A man with gray hair and long gray beard had been frequently spotted walking through the graveyard. Some speculated he was the husband, long since dead but making an appearance from beyond the grave to leave flowers. Could it have been the son leaving flowers on his mother’s grave? The question remains, who was this woman and why wouldn’t they identify her?

What do you think?