The year was 1816. A young couple arrived in Virginia after having sailed through the Caribbean. Their ship docked into the Old Town Alexandria port at Prince Street. This well-to-do couple reserved a room at one of the most prestigious accommodations in town, City Hotel (later renamed Gadsby's Tavern). Only their reason for staying was not one of leisure, but rather urgency - the beautiful woman was deathly ill.

Forever immortalized as the "Female Stranger," the young woman passed away in the arms of her mourning husband in Alexandria. He commissioned a beautifully elaborate tombstone for her, yet kept her identity a secret. He fled town almost immediately after the death - perhaps all the way to New Orleans. So why was he so determined to keep her a "Female Stranger" and not reveal her name? Was the mourning just a ploy so that he could quickly escape town? These are questions without answers, yet there is plenty of speculation.

Today, the grave of the Female Stranger can be found at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia. This historical Episcopalian Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because it's one of the earliest instances of Gothic Revival style architecture. But many of the church visitors are more concerned with its graveyard and one particularly cryptic tombstone.

This odd and unusual gravesite has attracted visitors for years. The poetic inscription, pictured above, gives us but little detail of who this woman was. We know that she was just shy of 24 years old, and passed away in her "disconsolate" husband's arms. The last stanza of the poem, beginning with "How loved, how honor'd" is a tribute to a poem by Alexander Pope.

The site of this tragic young death allegedly occurred in Room 8 of the present-day Gadby's Tavern. Apparently, the husband was so distraught that he slammed the door, turning the number 8 sideways into what appeared to be an infinity symbol. This room has since become another tourist attraction, as well as a speculated site for hauntings. The Tavern is located in Old Town Alexandria and was constructed in 1785. It its early days, the Tavern entertained prestigious guests such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Andrew Jackson.

According to the story, room eight was located directly above the Tavern's ballroom. While there may have been dancing and merriment within the Tavern, the outlook for the Female Stranger was grim. She had to be carried into the room due to her declining health. For three weeks, the only ones to see the ailing lady were her husband, the valet, and a doctor. (Above photograph courtesy of the Gadsby's Tavern Musuem, demonstrating a ballroom reenactment).

In her final hours, those who had helped the couple were sworn under oath never to reveal their identities. When she finally passed away on October 14th, her husband fled town immediately. He failed to pay the hotel bill, the doctor's bill, and it was later discovered that the money he had put towards this elaborate table-top gravestone was counterfeit. He had payed $1,500 for the site, which would be equivalent to $25,000 today. No one knows how he could have acquired this amount of fake bills.

So who could this woman have possibly been? One of the most popular speculations is that she was Theodosia Burr Alston (portrait above), the daughter of Aaron Burr. Theodosia was said to have disappeared at sea during the War of 1812. Another theory suggests she was British royalty who had eloped with a commoner. Some even believe that the woman was actually Napoleon Bonaparte dressed in disguise! To this day, her identity and the reason for her husband's quick disappearance remain a mystery.

If you pass through Alexandria today, you can learn more about this unsolved story by taking a Colonial Graveyard Tour. Intrigued by Virginia's mysteries? You'll want to read up on this other fascinating unsolved mystery in Virginia.