Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1916-10-12
SPHINX ON PENNY HILL
Another Female Strangers Tomb Has
Caused as Much Speculation as
That Described i'll Yesterdays Ga
Zette.

What is known as penny Hill
cemetery in the southwestern sectlol
of the city, was laid out in coionla
davs. 1t was for long time the onl.
abode of the dead in Alexandria, an'
for years the remains of some OF tn
most prominent and opulent people
of our historic city were inferred
there. AS the town grew in impor
tance and the population increase,
other grave yards were laid out anc
it finally became necessary Tor Al
exandria to have its potter Field
Interments in the old enclosure be-
came less frequent, and in time II
became the resting place OF people
whose relatives were unable to pur-
chase lots in the new burial grounds
Our English ancestors finched at
the name of "Potter's Field and it
was determined to make charge tol
opening graves in the cemetery In
order that it might not bear the manic
of the plot purchased by money
Judas Iscariot cast down in the tenn
Pile. 1t was accordingly decided to
charge one penny 1.-TWO cents of our
money! for single lots. Hence the
name penny H:!l," which it immedi-
ately took and which is has retained
until the present day.
During the past one hundred OF
more years strangers, paupers, ne
groes and bodies from morgues have
been deposited there, until the en-
has been dug over and over
and the dust of hundreds of whites
and blacks mingle awaiting the sound
of the archangeFs clarion.
There is tomb in penny Hill''
which for over century has caused
more speculation than the resting
place of the Female Stranger
the anniversary of whose death was
in yesterdays Gazette,
1t is a curious conception mono
lith of red sandstone, in the shape
of an old fashioned "elbow coffin" al
though much larger than that an
cicnt receptacle Of the dead. 1t bears
no inscription, nor was any ever
placed upon it. Eierodotus tells US
that he visited the Great Pyramid of
Egypt several centuries before the
Christian era, and that in his day
the priests knew nothing Of the his
tory Of that huge monument of stone.
have passed and repass-
ed the curious tomb. here in our city,
for over a century, and no one has
been able to tell anything about it.
Like the Pyramid Of Gizeh, its ori-
gin is unknown.
Situated as it is in a cemetery sell
dom visited by strangers, it is Of
course unknown to them. In fact, it
IS unknown to the larger number of
our own people. Ii -; covered most
of the year by tall grass Or weeds,
and those who find it generally stunt
bic over it accidentally.
The person who placed the stone
there must have been Of some means,
as such a marker must have been
costly. That it denoted the resting
place of some person Of wealth is ap-
parent, but why no inscription? This
is the query which many have pro-
pounded.
There is an old story to the effect
that an actress, prominent in her day,
is buried beneath TIE stone. This is
unlikely as an inscription would un-
have been placed upon it
to perpetuate her name.
Our old and esteemed fellow-citi-
zen, William Phillips, who is ap.
preaching the nonagenarian mile.
post. when asked recently concerning
this grave yard puzzle, said his moth.
er always told him that the stone was
placed over the grave by stonecut
ter to mark the resting place OF hi:
wife. The woman is said, to have beer
of the type Of Hantippe, who never
was in a good humor with Socrates
her husband. At times the wife OF
the stonccutter, while in her wrath
would tell her husband, "Should
die first, I'll haunt you"
There was general belief IT
ghosts in those days. Witches, i
was alleged, sailed through the all
on broomsticks on moonlight nights
and the stonecutter after the deaf!
.r L. u,;fo firmly believing that tn,