The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-10
TELLS OF FATE AT
PIRATES HANDS
Picture of a Salt Lake Woman
Helps Explain Old Mystery.
HOW BURR'S DAUGHTER DIED
les. JEANNE OGDEN MILLER A
DOUBLE OF UNFORTUNATE.
THE PORTRAIT Of a beautiful wo-

THE PORTRAIT Of a beautiful wo-
man found on the deck Of a
stranded vessel, the dying confess
sion of an old sailor and the photo
graph of a woman said to be now hv-
ing in Salt Lake. have furnished the
threads of evidence solving almost be-
yond a doubt the mystery of the tragic
fate of beautiful Theodocia Burr. For
a century past tradition has held that
the beautiful daughter Of Aaron Burr
walked plank from a pirate vessel
to her death in the briny deep. A hun
dred years later the photograph of Mrs.
Jeanne ogden Miller, said to live in
this city, has furnished the missing
link that proves almost TO a certainty
that the traditional story Of the beau
tiful woman's fate is true.
Ever since Theodocia Burr disap-
peared the American people have
sought in vain for seme proof Of her
fate, but not until these threads of
evidence, woven as they are IN webs
of most extraordinary romance, were
discovered and put together, was the
solution to the mystery gained. The
work CT weaving these slender threads
of evidence into a wool of proof was
done by Mrs. Stella Edwards Pierre
pont Drake of Boston, Mass, a sister
of Mrs. Miller. both of whom are
fourth cousins to the famous beauty
who walked to her death in the deep.
1t was by treasuring away family pic
lures and keeping fresh in her memory
nursery tales told her by her mother
that Mrs Drake has been able to
prove to her satisfaction that her
cousin of revolutionary times was cap
tured by pirates. 1t was by cOmpar-
ing a photograph Of Mrs Miller with a
painting of TheOdocia Burr, and both
with picture found on a deserted
vessel nearly a hundred years ago,
that the mystery was cleared.
Captured by Pirates.
The disappearance of Theodocfa Burr
after she set sail from Charlestown
to meet her father in New York, is
known to every reader OF American his
tory. Tradition wove the story that
the beautiful woman fell into the
blood-stained hands of pirates, who
captured the vessel upon which she
sailed, and that she was forced to
walk out upon a plank extended over
the side of the vessel, and was tipped
into the deep by the hand of a, heart
less pirate. This story was told 20
Mrs Drake in earliest infancy, and,
eageF to try and solve the mystery
of that historic tragedy. she began in
early childhood to treasure I'D all in
formation about the famous American
beauty that she could find The first
clue obtained by Mrs. Drake was
that in 1850 an old sailor, who was dy-
ing in a Michigan pOOrhOuse, confessed
to the wife of a Methodist minister
that he was one of the pirates who
captured the vessel upon which TheO-
docia Burr sailed, and that it was his
hand that had tipped the plank which
sent her TO her death in the waters OF
Cape Hatteras during a frightfuI
storm. To the minister's wife he de-
scribed the scene. and told how the
beautiful woman walked the plank and
stood with folded hands gazing heaven
ward until he tipped the board that
sent her to her death. This dying
story Of the old pirate was related to
Mrs. brakes grandmother, and by her
to Mrs. brakes mother, and on down.
Gets Track of Picture
Some years later Mrs. Drake hap
pened TO find a paper giving an account
of a picture N the possession of a doc
tor near Mays Head, IN Virginia, sup
posed to be a picture of TheOdOcia
Burr. The picture had been found in
a deserted ship off the coast nearly a
hundred years before, and besides its
supposed connection with the tragic
fate of TheOdocia Burr, it bore another
history filed with romance. The pic
ture was done on wood, and showed
the subject attired in a white empire
gown The story of how il was found
and how it came into the possession Of
DR.. Pool. who has it, is a remarkable
one. The story is that after a severe
storm on the Virginia coast about a
century ago, some fishermen saw a
I !,
On the deck they found this picture,
and in the cabin they found some wO-
mans apparel, consisting of elegant
dresses. One of the fishermen was in
love with a young girl living near
Mays Head, and gave her the dresses
and picture which he had found, at the
same time telling her how he had OBJ
ts.ined them. Years later, when the
r5herman's sweetheart had married
another man and was sick, DR.. Pool
was called to see her. When he made
his call he took his little daughter with
him The child saw the picture of the
beautiful woman. and made numerous
calls at the house with her father just
to see the beautiful picture. Before her
death the owner of the picture gave it
to Dr. Pool for his little daughter and
today it hangs in Miss Pools room
near Virginia Beach This was Mrs.
brakes second clue.
Gets Picture From Salt Lake.
The key to the mystery was fur
nished when Mrs. Drake received a
picture of her sister in Salt Lake and
was looking through her album for a
Mace to nut it, She found a vacant
place opposite the photograph of an oil
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