May 26, 1865 Boston, Massachusetts John Doe

 On May 26, 1865, the body of a young boy was found in the Boston Harbor in  Boston, Massachusetts. He was never claimed and was buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery in an unmarked grave in the potter's field. 

It's believed the boy was around 8-years-old. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

January 15, 1865 Nashville, Tennessee

 On January 15, 1865, in or around Nashville, Tennessee a man was killed by a shotgun blast that severed his arm. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

October 4, 1867 Fannin County, Texas Stranger

 

On October 4, 1867, a man was found wandering the yard of J.S. Donaldson in Fannin County, Texas. The man was very sick and incoherent and was unable to give his name before he died.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

August 27, 1863 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Jane Doe

 On August 27, 1863, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania an unknown woman would die. She would be buried at the Philadelphia Almshouse Cemetery.

Jane Doe is a white female around 30-year-old.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

1864 Larimer County, Colorado Unidentified Mexican Friend

In 1864 a man was buried at Modena Cemetery in Larimer County, Colorado. His Tombstone reads Unidentified Mexican Friend. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

May 1864 Vigo County Indiana Stranger

In May 1864 a person would drown in Vigo County, Indiana. On May 21st they would be buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Terre Haute

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

The Visitor of Caroline Christine Walter

Caroline Christine Walter was born in 1850  to a poor family in Germany. A tragedy hit the family as her parents haddied. Caroline and her affectionate sister, Selma, would go to live with their grandparents in Freiburg. Caroline would grow up to become a beautiful young lady and was loved by many who knew her. 

At 16/17 the young lady would contract tuberculosis and would then pass away in just a few weeks. Her sister would have her buried at the Alter Friedhof Freiburg im Breisgau. Her sister had a life-size tomb statue of her sister falling asleep reading. The book's inscription is "It is surely God’s will to separate from what is dearest to you."

After a few weeks, Selma would notice that someone else had started leaving flowers at the grave. It didn't seem that anything stopped the visitor from leaving a flower. Caroline was a beauty and had many suitors it's unknown if she had someone she was seeing. Some think that she and a particular teacher were seeing each other. Some think that it was someone who loved her but regretted never telling her. 

For the next 150 years, someone left flowers on her grave. Unless the original visitor is some sort of immortal person others have taken over this tradition. It's unknown who these people are or why the visits continue.

SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Atlas Obscura

English News

Freiburg

Medium

April 1860 Vigo County, Indiana Stranger

 In April 1860 an unknown person died drowning in Vigo County, Indiana. They would be buried on April 4th at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Terre Haute. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

July 1863 Douglas County, Nebraska John Doe

On July 12, 1863, an unknown black man was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

1864 Garnett, Kansas Jane Doe

An elderly African American woman was part of a group of refugees that a man named John Horn rescued from Missouri in 1864. It was believed that she died from fright because she was afraid that Bushwacker would take her back to Missouri. She was living in a hut on what was called Thompson hill. She would die in Garnett Kansas and because she was without clothing she would be buried in John Horn's Army overcoat.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Unidentified Wiki

November 14, 1869 Door County, Wisconsin

On November 14, 1869, the body of a young man was found at the Southwest point of Washington Island, Wisconsin. He could not be identified and it was believed he was in the water for some time. It's possible that he was a sailor

John Doe's race is unstated, but he was a male around 17 to 18-years-old. He was around 5 ft and had black hair. 

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find a Grave

April 8, 1866 Evansville, Indiana Jane Doe

 On April 8, 1866, boys playing on Chesnut Street in Evansville, Indiana found toes sticking out of the dirt. Recent rain had washed away and revealed the body of a woman in a shallow grave. Her head was not found with the body. It was believed that she had been dead for at least 2 months. It was strange that she was undiscovered even buried where found because Chestnut St. was a busy street.

Her race was unknown. She was 5'6". She was wearing a nightgown.

In 1873 a Frederick J Smith who used the alias Meyer was indicted for the murder. He had lived in Evansville at the time, but moved by the time he was indicted. 

I'm not sure if she was identified articles would just refer to the woman as the headless woman. I'm not sure if he was convicted or not it just states he was indicted. It doesn't even state why he was suspected.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Evansville Daily Journal April 9, 1866

Seymore Times March 20, 1873

Fort Wayne Daily Gazette March 13, 1873

1866 Lincoln County, New Mexico John Does

 In 1866 two unknown men were buried in The Casey Ranch Cemetary in Picacho, New Mexico. The two were listed as being killed by Indians. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES:

Find A Grave (Unknown Man 1)

Find A Grave (Unknown Man 2)

Lincoln County New Mexico Genealogy and History

Unidentified Wiki (Man 1)

Unidentified Wiki (Man 2)

Murder of Martha Halliday

On the night of June 10, 1861, 55-year-old Martha Halliday in Kingsworth, England slept alone at the Rectory. The owner Rev. Samuel Benard Taylor and family went to stay with his father-in-law. Martha looked after the rectory that night. Her husband had left the place to go home as she slept there. The next morning he went to go get her so she could do some household chores at their home. He was alarmed to see the shutters were not opened yet and the back door was still locked.

He then went around to the front of the house and found that door ajar which scared him more. He rushed to the kitchen but found nothing strange there. He then rushed to the room that he believed she was sleeping in and found his poor wife.

Martha was found bound on the floor in her nightdress. Her dress seemed to have been lifted over her head as if from being dragged out of bed.  Her hands and legs were bound in a cord. A colored silk handkerchief was found around her mouth and tied to the top of her head. She was dead. She had suffocated from the gag.

It's believed that the murderers first tried to enter the house through the kitchen windows, but because the shutters were secured there was no way in through there. They then climbed on the small roof that was in front of Martha's window. They broke the window and climbed in. The murderer must have cut themselves doing this as blood was found at the scene.

A pocketbook not belonging to anyone in the Rectory was found at the scene. It was believed to have fallen out of their coat pocket. Things in the place were ransacked and stolen.

They found a 25-year-old German suspect by the name of Johann Carl Franz. He initially gave his name as August Saltzman. He lied about his name, but it was found it was false. He then said that a man named Adolphe Khron stole his personal belongings at Leeds and said he was going to rob a priest.

They put Johann Carl Franz on trial.   Inside Martha's room, one of Johann's books were found. Everything was circumstantial though and the evidence was not strong. The Jurors came back with a not guilty for the crime.


SOURCES:
Unsolved Murders
Lloyds Weekly Newspaper
The Hull Packet East Riding Times
Rivals of The Ripper (Chapter 1)
The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser