There’s an eerie edge to unsolved mysteries. It gives the past a power, a question, a bit of horror that reaches out from beyond the crush of years and keeps us intrigued even today. That being said – 1897 was a rough year in Joelton, Tennessee for the Ade family. Mainly because they didn’t make it out alive…

James Jordan - Flickr
The legend of the Ade family murders is one that's told in hushed voices across the dessert table, or by kids spooking each other by the campfire. The Ade family lived about twenty minutes outside of Nashville on what is now Clarksville Pike. The family consisted of Jacob and Pauline Ade, their two children, Liizze and Henry, as well as a visiting friend, ten-year-old Rosa Moirer. It was March of 1897 when their entire world went up in flames - literally - making their family's story one of the most infamous unsolved mysteries in the Nashville area.
Edwin S - Flickr
It was nearing 10pm at night on March 23rd that Justice Simpson, a neighbor of the Ade's, noticed the sky tinged red near their farm. Under further investigation he realized their home was on fire. He hurried to the property where the home was already collapsing, and he quickly realized the family wasn't emerging from the flames. He rode to warn and tell the neighbors, so a small, late night crowd gathered as the flames spit and went out.
TheWriterrGirl - Flickr
It was quickly determined that the family was murdered - the entire family - due to further investigation on Rosa Moirer's body. She wasn't extremely burned, and her body bore extensive trauma from some kind of assailant. Part of her skull was missing from a blow to the head, as well as a part of her hand. It seemed as if someone came to the farmhouse to murder the family before setting the home on fire as a coverup.
Jeffrey Hood - Flickr
The question of a motive was one of the biggest issues in the case, a large reason why it went cold. Money was found still stocked away in the cupboard, and no one really knew of any family enemies. There was one complaint about a neighbor, Ed Anderson, and a hog discrepancy, but the issue wasn't enough to warrant a question against him.
Rachel Melton - Flickr
An entire family, lost to the late night flames of Joelton, Tennessee. No one knows what happened to the Ade family, and no one ever will. The case was cold from the get-go, leaving the loss forever to the gruesome maw of history.

Let’s get a little bit happier and check out this neat unique town in Tennessee.

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