Alexandria's Mysterious Female Stranger

The Female Stranger's Bedroom
at Gadsby's Tavern Museum

One of the more mysterious stories in the D.C. area is that of the Mysterious Female Stranger in Alexandria, Virginia. During the fall of 1816, a couple arrived in the port town by boat and stayed at Gadsby’s Tavern. The woman was ill and probably suffering from Typhoid fever. Though the inn staff and a doctor cared for her, in room 8, she died on October 14.

Her husband commissioned an extravagant headstone and buried her in St. Paul’s Cemetery. What is so odd about this true story is that he did not identify her on the headstone and he asked all the parties involved to never reveal her identity.

These are the words on her gravestone:

To the memory of a
FEMALE STRANGER
whose mortal sufferings terminated
on the 14th day of October 1816
Aged 23 years and 8 months

This stone was placed here by her disconsolate
Husband in whose arms she sighed out her
latest breath and who under God
did his utmost even to soothe the cold
dead ear of death.

How loved how valued once avails thee not
To Whom related or by whom begot
A heap of dust alone remains of thee
Tis all though art and all the proud shall be

To him gave all the Prophets witness that
through his name whosoever believeth in
him shall receive remission of sins
Acts. 10th Chap. 43rd verse.

Quickly after her death, her husband left Alexandria leaving $1,500 in unpaid bills.

Unfortunately for all the curious people out there like me, the oath of secrecy was kept and, to this day, we still do not know who she was.

There are many theories to who she might have been, and why the husband wanted to keep her identity concealed. Perhaps she was some kind or royalty and/or her husband stole her because the family didn’t approve of the marriage. Other’s have postulated the she was Aaron Burr’s missing daughter, Theodosia Alston. Theodosia disappeared after boarding the Patriot in Sout Carolina on December 30, 1812. Her fate, as well as the ship’s is unknown. However, it is unlikely she was the Female Stranger as she was born in 1783, not 1793 as the gravestone indicates.

Photo Courtesy of the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association