Ramsey County History – Fall 2003: “‘Laid to Rest by Strangers’ Hands’ Death in the Railroad Yards: The Century-old Mystery of a Beautiful Young Woman”

‘Laid to Rest by Strangers’ Hands’ Death in the Railroad Yards: The Century-old Mystery of a Beautiful Young Woman
Author Susan C. Dowd

In the late evening on March 12, 1902, a young woman was run over by a train just west of the railway station at Dayton’s Bluff. Local newspapers were filled with details, and one headline read “Girl’s Death a Mystery.” She was not recognized, and no one from the immediate area was reported missing. Physicians could only estimate her age and describe her clothing and couldn’t tell if her death was accidental or a suicide. Visitors flooded the morgue to look at the corpse, but still no one knew her. A committee of club women arranged a funeral for the woman and provided a cemetery plot and headstone for her burial in Oakland Cemetery. The mystery remains unsolved.
PDF of Dowd article