November 1, 1872 Kings County, New York Jane Doe

 On November 1, 1872, the body of a woman was found at the Navy Yard in Kings County, New York. He cause of death was drowning. There is little information in this case.

Jane Doe was around 35-years-old. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

October 25, 1874 Jo Daviess County, Illinois

On October 25, 1874, the body of an elderly woman was found beneath the bridge that spans the Big Menominee about four miles south of Dunleith, Illinois. She must have been walking on the bridge at night and was struck and killed by the train that left Dunlieth at 7p.m. Her body had been mangled by the train. It's believed that "Her clothing denoted a person in the humble walks of life". 

She was believed to have been in her mid 60's. Her hair was grey. In her pockets was a string of prayer beads, and around her neck was a scapular.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

September 1, 1876 Oyster Bay, New York John Doe

 In early September of 1876, a body was found washed up on High Hill Beach in Oyster Bay, New York. The man had been in the water for two or three days and had been murdered. His head and right arm had been cut off roughly. He was found wearing good quality clothing, but there was nothing to identify him. He was buried on the beach where he washed up. His death date is labeled as September 1st. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

April 19, 1877 Floyd County, Indiana Unknown Man

 On April 19, 1877 an unknown man was found in the river opposite of the Meeken Farm in Floyd County, Indiana. It was believed that he had died accidently drowning. He had nothing on himself that could identify him. He would be buried on April 20th in Fairview Cemetery in New Albany. 

The man was believed to be around 25-years-old.

SOURCES;

Find a Grave

January of 1872, Whitwood, England Stranger

 In January of 1872, someone died in or close to Whitwood, England. The person died falling down a pit. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

1878, Omaha, Nebraska Doe

 On October 1, 1878, an unknown Native American (gender unstated) was buried at the Prospect Hill Cemetary in Omaha, Nebraska. It's stated that they died in September. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find a Grave

1878-1884 Tombstone, Arizona Kansas Kid

 Between 1878-1884 a cowboy (likely male) was killed in a stampede in or near Tombstone, Arizona. They were buried in Tombstone and the graveyard was active between 1878 to 1884. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find a Grave

Tombstone Chamber of Commerce

January 14, 1870 Wallace County, Kansas Doe

  On Jan. 14, 1870, an unknown individual (gender unstated) died of pneumonia in Wallace, Kansas. They would be buried the next day at the Wallace Township Cemetery in Wallace. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Unidentified Wiki

1878-1884 Tombstone, Arizona Two Cowboys

 

Between 1878 and 1884 Two Cowboys who drowned were buried in Boothill Cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona. There is little information in this case. 

 SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find a Grave (Cowboy 1)

Find a Grave (Cowboy 2)

Tombstone Chamber of Commerce 

Ghosts: Minnie Quay

James and Mary Ann Quay moved to Forester, Michigan in 1852, they would own a tavern called "Quay". Their firstborn, Minnie, would be born in May of 1861, their second, James Jr., in 1870, and their youngest Charles in 1874. Forester was a bust lumbering town and had a busy ship port for the lumber. 

Like many of the people in Forester Minnie would also go see the ships. Like many of the girls in town, she fell in love with a sailor. It's unknown now as to who the sailor was, but no one in town approved of the relationship between the young girl and the sailor. People in town would often warn her about the relationship, and her mother would tell her that she would rather see her dead than with that man.

 In April of 1876, 14-year-old Minnie would be devastated by the news of her sailor's ship had gone down in the sea. She was greatly upset especially since she was never able to tell the sailor goodbye. Her parents had not allowed her to go see him before he left for the last time. 

A few days later on April 27, 1876, Minnie would walk through town to Lake Huron. She would then commit suicide by jumping off of the town pier into the icy waters. Her suicide was witnessed by her little brother and he alarmed others of what she did. Though they were quick to help Minnie's body would be found an hour later. 

It's said that her ghost haunts the beaches. She is seen crying mournfully waiting for her sailor to return back home.  Others state that she tries to beckon young girls to the water and try to drown them.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Find a Grave 

Lost in Michigan

August 28, 1876 Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Baby Jane Doe

  On August 28, 1876, the body of an infant was found on Muskego Ave in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She was a white female around 5 to 6 months old. It's not stated what her cause of death was or how long she had been dead. She was buried in the Milwaukee County Almshouse and Poor Farm Cemetery in Wauwatosa. 

The Find a Grave states that the info was gleaned by Robert J. Felber from Milwaukee Co death records vol 13 page 363

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

April 28, 1879 Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Baby Jane Doe

 On April 28, 1879, the body of a 2-week old infant girl was found in the Milwaukee River in Wisconsin. She was drowned. She was buried in the Milwaukee County Almshouse and Poor Farm Cemetery in Wauwatosa. 

The Find a Grave states that the info was gleaned by Robert J. Felber from Milwaukee Co death records vol 13 page 363

SOURCES:

Find A Grave 

Cochise County Does 1878-1884 Tombstone, Arizona

 

The Boothill Cemetary in Tombstone, Arizona was active between 1878 and 1884. On Row 11, Lot 9 two Chinese Does are buried there. They had died from leprosy, but it is unknown when they had died, but it's likely between 1878 and 1884.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find a Grave

Find a Grave

April 21, 1877 Ellis, Missouri Jane Doe

On April 21, 1877, Mr. Fudge was looking after his stock that was near the railroad tracks in Ellis, Missouri. This was when he would come across the badly decomposed body of a woman. She had been covered with prairie grass that the killer had cut to conceal her body. He notified neighbors and they used pitchforks to retrieve to the body and bury her.

She would be dug back up by the corner and looked at. She had her left temple broken and she had been shot through her right eye and the bullet came out the back of her head. In the pocket of her dress was a map for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Before her body was found a woman's shawl, and a carpetbag with a pocket mirror, a broken ear-bob (earring) was found on the railroad tracks. It's possible these items belonged to the murdered woman.

Apparently, the area where she was killed was in view of 12 houses and could have happened during the night where the killer could sneak away unnoticed.


It is possible that the woman's name could have been Lulu King, but that couldn't be confirmed.

SOURCES:
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Unidentified Wiki
The State Journal May 4, 1877

The Strange Case of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B Cumpston

In early December of 1873, a couple Mrs. Martha Ann and Thomas B. Cumpston experienced a strange occurrence at the Victoria Hotel in Bristol, England. They were staying at Clifton but wanted to proceed to Weston-super-mare in the morning.

They never expected to experience something terrifying that night.

When they settled down around midnight they began hearing strange noises. They let the landlady know and reassured them that it was nothing and not to worry about it.

About 4 in the morning they heard noises again. When they spoke the words they said echoed back to them.  Thomas seemed to more affected by the noises than Martha. The floor felt like it was giving away and then bed opened up beneath them and they fell in a pit. They believed that they were in a den of rogues and thieves and were in fear of their lives.

Thomas fired his revolver at the ceiling when Martha asked him to. To scare off whoever was there.  They were so terrified for their lives they jumped from the window that was twelve feet from the ground. Martha had stated she didn't even remember how they were able to out the window. The two rushed to the railway station finding somewhere away from the room.

The couple was charged with disorderly conduct and firing a firearm. When they spoke in front of the magistrate the charges were dropped. The way they spoke made it seem like they both believed what they were saying. The Magistrate believed that the young couple was suffering from a shared hallucination.

SOURCES:
Cool Interesting Stuff
Scary Carries
Phantoms and Monsters 
Strange Company
The Bradford  Observer 
The Morning Post
Birmingham Daily Post
The Times

Murders of Charles Henry Morris and Esther Jones Morris

On the night of September 28, 1879, around 8:30 p.m. Esther and Charles Morris were going to bed in their home in Decatur, Michigan

A woman who worked for the Morris's, Jennie Bull, was sleeping upstairs and knew nothing until the next morning. A more recent article from 1987 stated Jennie heard Charles arguing with a man, it scared her, but she didn't hear anything else. Older articles that came out at the time contradict this and state that even though Jennie's room was directly above where Esther was murdered she heard nothing.

The next morning Jennie woke up to find the couple dead. Shortly after sunrise when she told a farmhand as soon as he arrived about their deaths. Another article states it was the handyman who first found Charles when he came over.

Charles was laying on the front porch he had died from a shot to the neck and one to the chest. Esther was laying in a closet and was shot three to four times she was shot in the arm and chest. At her time of death, she was pregnant.

It's believed that it had happened around 9 p.m. the night before. A young man who lived near them saw a man on a horse wearing a funny hat between 9:30 and 10 pm.

Someone must have knocked on the back door and it brought Charles to wake up and answer. This was where he was shot to death. Esther was in the sitting in the sitting room as evidence of a bullet in the wall. She ran and tried to hide in her bedroom closet where she was found dead. Charles's revolver was found on the ground it was believed that she dropped it in the panic of hiding from the killer.

Robbery wasn't a motive of the murder as nothing was stolen except for a horse the killer road off with. The horse was found a few days later in South Bend, Indiana. The horse seemed to be in a jaded and exhausted. It was bearing an unrecognizable branding on the left rear flank.

The family believed that Charles knew the murderer as he didn't answer the door with his gun.

There were suspicions on a handyman that was previously fired by them. He never confessed to it and he had to leave the town because of the accusations. The police tried to beat a confession out of him, but he never did. There were no witnesses to the crimes. So it was never known who really committed the crime. This crime will never be solved.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Detroit Free Press
St. Joseph Herald
The True Northerner
The Herald-Palladium

Who Built The Helix Staircase of Loretto Chapel?

When the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico has the main attraction. Many people go to churches to look at the paintings, statues, and structures. The thing most people come to see is the Helix Staircase that was built by a mysterious stranger. At first, it was a mystery of how the staircase stood, but now people know that it's because of the physics of the staircase.  Now the mystery still lies in who the kind stranger was and where did the spruce wood he used come from.

Here's a bit of history of the Chapel first.

The story of the Loretto Chapel began in 1850. Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy saw a need to educate girls in the New Mexico Territory. Six Sisters were sent to start Loretto Academy for Girls. The sisters also had to learn Spanish as that was a language spoken in the territory. In 1853 when they arrived in Santa Fe the school was opened.

It wasn't until 20 years later in 1873 when they were able to start constructing the Chapel. The Chapel was inspired by French architecture, specifically of Sainte Chapelle in Paris. By 1878 the Architect of the structure had died before finishing the choir loft 22 feet high. Unfortunately, a staircase would have taken up too much floor space and the Chapel had no money to redo it.

It is said that the sisters did a nine-day novena to Saint Joseph the Saint of Carpenters for a miracle. On the final day their prayers were answered, a carpenter appeared. He arrived with a carpenters square and hammers, and he used wooden pegs instead of nails. His only rule for the job was that he was to do it in private. He had completed his job and left just as mysteriously as he arrived.

When the sisters saw the finished product they were shocked. The staircase has two 360 degree turns and has no center pole for support. It was exactly what they needed. It didn't take too much room and the choir loft was useful. later a railing was added so that it was easier to climb. The sisters searched to find out what kind of wood he used, but it turns out to not have been native to the area.

The Sisters were thankful for the stranger. Some believed that it was Saint Joseph himself or someone sent in by Saint Joseph. All that is known is that the Sisters prayers were answered.

SOURCES:
https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/staircase
https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/our-story
https://www.historicmysteries.com/loretto-chapel-staircase/
https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/mysterious-helix-staircase-loretto-chapel-001295