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.
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?
Local Author – Betsy Hughes
Betsy’s first book of sonnets, Breaking Weather was published by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies Press in 2014. Other published collections include Bird Notes, Forest Bathing, and The Lyric. Betsy’s book The Sixth Sense of Loss is dedicated to her husband of 56 years Jim Hughes, who died in 2020. This book includes sonnets and various other genres of formal poetry, including poems of grief.
Summer Events
- What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie? Art Show
Includes Hearse Cruise-In, Vendors, and Food
Secret Chamber of Oddities and Artwork
17 W Main Street, Fairborn
Friday June 13th, 3pm-5pm for the less energetic, 5pm-9pm, for those all in - Pickle Fest
Austin Landing
3700 Rigby Rd, Miamisburg
June 21st, 3pm-10pm - Greene County Strawberry Fest
Greene County Fairgrounds
120 Fairground Rd, Xenia
June 21st-22nd, 10am-5pm - The Great Dayton Food Truck Rally
104 Front Street, Dayton
July 11th, 5pm-9pm
July 12th, 11am-8pm - Columbus Book Festival
Columbus Metro Library
96 Grant Ave, Columbus
July 12th 10am-6pm
July 13th 10am-5pm - Gem City Comic Con
Marriott at UD
1414 South Patterson Blvd, Dayton 45409
July 19th & 20th 9am-4pm
Dayton TikTokers
- Looking for a new place to eat in the Dayton area? Check out the restaurant reviews from Tiktok user @CrustyMcG.
- Learn about Dayton architecture and history with author of Lost Dayton, Andrew Walsh @daytonvistas
- @daytondotcom shares “What to know, What to do, What to Love” in Dayton
- @abet_artistry shares her life in Dayton
- @straightbussinfood tries restaurants in the Southwest Ohio area
- @natalie_reports is a food & dining reporter for the Dayton Daily News
- Explore Dayton with @girlaboutDayton
- Get news stories with @daytondailynews
- @fairbornone shares news and events in Fairborn
- Dayton-rooted @ohhanasun posts content from Dayton and Cincinnati
- @themiamivalleyexp spotlights small businesses in the Dayton area
Check out these businesses from Dayton with their own TikToks:
- @thedollarbookswap
- @roseomn04 – El Rancho Grande in Fairborn
- @baker.benji
Upcoming Spring and Summer Events
- Children’s Free Book Fair
29 West First Street, Dayton
May 17th-18th - Food Truck Rally
Thomas Cloud Park
May 20th at 4 pm - Summer Flea Market
Charles Lathrem Senior Center
June 7th - Troy Strawberry Festival
405 Public Square, Troy Ohio
June 7th-8th - Yellow Springs Street Fair
101 Dayton Street
June 14th - Greene County Strawberry Fest
120 Fairground Rd, Xenia
June 21st-22nd - Hunger Days Food Truck Rally
2910 Trebein Road (Hobson Freedom Park), Fairborn
July 24th at 4pm - Art on the Commons
695 Lincoln Park Blvd, Kettering
August 10th - Greater Dayton Lebanese Festival
50 Nutt Road, Dayton
August 22nd-24th
Dayton Area Book Crawl
- Jay and Mary’s Book Center
1201 Experiment Farm Road
Troy, OH 45373 - Browse Awhile Books
118 East Main Street
Tipp City, OH 45371 - Around About Books
8 West Main Street
Troy, Ohio 45373 - New and Olde Pages
856 Union Boulevard
Englewood, OH 45322 - The Cozy Booknook
4720 South Dixie Avenue
Moraine, OH 45439 - Rabbit Hole Books
29 West First Street
Dayton, OH 45402 - Star City Booksellers
55 South Main Street
Miamisburg, OH 45342
Start your journey at any location and pick up a passport. Get the passport stamped at each location and be entered to win prizes! Make sure to stop in at New & Olde Pages for author speed dating from 1 to 3 pm. Sit for 3 minutes with each author and let them pitch their book or series to you.
Local Author – Meredith Doench
Meredith holds a Bachelors in Special Education from Ball State, a Masters in English from University of Dayton, and a PhD from Texas Tech in English/Creative Writing. She lives in Dayton where she is a principal lecturer of creative writing, literature, and composition at UD. She is a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Sisters in Crime, and Mystery Writers of America. She also serves as a board member of Mystery Writers of American Midwest Region.
Another Wright Brother Bench has been Found!
Local Author C. L. Pauwel
Her novel, Forty & Out, takes place in Toledo where a serial killer has been targeting women on their 40th birthday. The book follows the newly assigned homicide detective as she tries to prevent the body count from increasing. Her desire to solve the case heightens as the killer targets the detective’s sister.
Some of CL Pauwels other works include:
- Unwelcome Ties
- Burned Bridges
- “One Sadistic Muse.” Mock Turtle ‘zine. (Dayton, OH). Fall 2013. (27).
- “Popcorn Memories.” Flights. Dayton, OH: Sinclair Community College, Fall 2015.
- “When I’m 64.” Hags on Fire, Winter Solstice 2022
The Grave at UD
The Founder of the Society of Mary, Father Leo Meyer, came from Alsace to Cincinnati to serve as a missionary in 1949. He found the area in the midst of a cholera epidemic and volunteered to help. The next year he was sent by the Bishop to Dayton to serve at Emmanuel Church, where he met John Stuart.
Stuart owned 125 acres of farmland in the Southeastern section of Dayton. Stuart had come from Scotland and wanted to return, and Father Meyer wanted to establish a colony of Marianists. The two negotiated and made a deal. Stuart would give the land to Father Meyer and allow him to pay back when he could, and Father Meyer would give him his St Joseph Medal as collateral. It took twenty years to pay the debt and get back the medal.
Mary Stuart, infant daughter of John, was buried in St Henry Catholic Cemetery, on Main Street near Ashley and Frank Streets. When St Henry was sold and the bodies exhumed, Father Meyer moved Mary and her monument to the UD Campus in order to fulfill his promise to John Stuart that he would always care for the child’s grave. When the Marianist cemetery was established in the present location, Mary’s grave was moved along with the rest. Stewart Street is named for the Stuart family, but the name was misspelled.
Dayton Unknown 