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Theodosia Burr Alston
The disappearance of
Theodosia Burr Alston, the daughter of disgraced U.S. Vice President Aaron
Burr, is one of history’s continuing mysteries.
Theodosia was considered an intellectual prodigy in a time when women rarely received anything but a marginal education. At the age of eighteen she married James Alston who would become the 44th Governor of South Carolina. In 1807 her father, Aaron Burr was tried for treason, and although found innocent, went into self-imposed exile. Theodosia acted as Burr’s agent in America, raising money and raising support among the political elite for his return to America.
In December 1812 Theodosia boarded the schooner Patriot bound from South Carolina to New York. Neither Theodosia nor anyone onboard the Patriot was ever heard from again. Legend has surrounded her disappearance ever since, including tales that: (1) she was captured by pirates and became the mistress of a pirate captain; (2) she was made to “walk the plank” by the pirate Dominique Youx; (3) she was discovered by a Karankawa Indian chief on the Texas Gulf Coast in the hulk of a wrecked ship but died before she could be returned to civilization;and (4) Theodosia Burr Alston may have been the Mysterious Female Stranger who died in Alexandria at Gadsby's Tavern on October 14, 1816. The Female Stranger was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery with a gravestone inscription:
Theodosia was considered an intellectual prodigy in a time when women rarely received anything but a marginal education. At the age of eighteen she married James Alston who would become the 44th Governor of South Carolina. In 1807 her father, Aaron Burr was tried for treason, and although found innocent, went into self-imposed exile. Theodosia acted as Burr’s agent in America, raising money and raising support among the political elite for his return to America.
In December 1812 Theodosia boarded the schooner Patriot bound from South Carolina to New York. Neither Theodosia nor anyone onboard the Patriot was ever heard from again. Legend has surrounded her disappearance ever since, including tales that: (1) she was captured by pirates and became the mistress of a pirate captain; (2) she was made to “walk the plank” by the pirate Dominique Youx; (3) she was discovered by a Karankawa Indian chief on the Texas Gulf Coast in the hulk of a wrecked ship but died before she could be returned to civilization;and (4) Theodosia Burr Alston may have been the Mysterious Female Stranger who died in Alexandria at Gadsby's Tavern on October 14, 1816. The Female Stranger was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery with a gravestone inscription:
To
the Memory of a
FEMALE
STRANGER
whose
mortal sufferings terminated
on
the 14th day of October 1816
Aged
23 years and 8 months.
This
stone is placed here by her disconsolate
Husband
in whose arms she sighed out her
latest
breath and who under God
did
his utmost even to soothe the cold
dead
ear of death.
How
loved how valued once avails thee not
To
whom related or by whom begot
A
heap of dust alone remains of thee
Tis
all thou art and all the proud shall be
To
him gave all the Prophets witness that
through
his name whosoever believeth in
him
shall receive remission of sins.
Acts.10th
Chap.43rd verse
Grave of the Female Stranger
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