160 Year Old Jane Doe Case – The Lady Who Danced Herself to Death
Since then I have become involved with a group of people called the DoeNetwork and we work unidentified cases throughout the world.
I first learned about the Harrodsburg case in late June, 2002. I was looking for an adventure in Kentucky and this one showed up in the search. And she was right up my alley! A Jane Doe…. in Kentucky – more than a century ago! “The Lady Who Danced Herself To Death” is about a 160 year old case! By far the oldest Jane Doe case I have ever encountered. Fitting she should be in Kentucky’s oldest town of Harrodsburg – Buried at the edge of Young’s Park. She is, by far, the oldest case to grace the files of the DoeNetwork as 265UFKY. There are several clues left behind as to who she might have beenâÂ?¦ alias, Virginia Stafford … maybe Mollie Black Sewell?
As I communicated with the Mercer County Public Library and a member of the local historical society …I learned about her registering as Miss Virginia Stafford, a fictitious name. She claimed to be the daughter of a Louisville JudgeâÂ?¦ but it seems this particular judge didn’t have a daughter. Might there have been a clue left behind in Louisville folklore? And years later … Mr. Joe Sewell in Tazewell, Tennessee allegedly claims that estranged wife, Mollie Black Sewell, was the mystery woman.
Even further rumors that she had a child who grew up in Laurel County, Kentucky. Maybe even unaware of his past? Maybe something that local historians from those areas can help lend a clue. I have uncovered a clue that a man named Joe Sewell did exist during that time period in Tazewell …but I have seen nothing on Mollie Sewell or a Mollie Black. And since none of the family ever officially came forward to verify any of the pieces to this mystery, this leaves her with a tentative ID at best. The initial lure to the tale for me was the ghost story. I indeed did spend an evening at the park.
I hoped to catch a glimpse of the girl …. who in Dr. Lynwood Montell’s book, Ghosts along the Cumberland, …still haunts the park. Could a clue lie in the southern tales of apparitions dancing in the park? Try as I might … she and I did not cross paths that night. But are there those out there that have seen what they think to be the spirit of the “Girl Who Danced Herself To Death” at Graham Springs … around 160 years ago? I have to wonder how time has distorted the tale … what really happened that night at the hotel? Why did she use a fictitious name …. and I venture further to say … is she still here among us? On a case like this one, a different approach is required. I can’t find a private investigator … or check driving records or the NCIC. We have to go back a bit more … folklore, ghost stories and genealogy records. I hope anyone out there that might have information of any kind on the case would share it with me.
Urban Legend, Halloween tale or genealogical mystery?
