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Elizabeth Polly

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Elizabeth Polly
Peter Felten, Jr.'s portrayal of the walking spirit of Elizabeth Polly.
Elizabeth Polly Park, Hays, Kansas.
Born
Elizabeth Decker[1]

c. 1843[1]
Died1867
Fort Hays
Other namesBlue Light Lady
OccupationHospital matron
Known forTreating dying soldiers and haunting Sentinel Hill

Elizabeth Polly is traditionally[2] the name of a beloved hospital matron at Fort Hays, Kansas, an "angel of mercy"[3] during the cholera outbreak of 1867 who also died of the disease. Local legend has it that her ghost is still seen walking the area.[1]

Service and death

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In 1867, Fort Hays was established on a low slope south of Big Creek, its role being to provide security for the Smoky Hill Trail. For the most part, the "fort" was still just a bivouac of hundreds of tents in the late summer of 1867[4] when it became the center of a war with the plains tribes over the construction of the Kansas Pacific Railway parallel to the trail.

Ephraim Edward Polly was a Civil War veteran who enlisted in the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment on Sept 11, 1861. Ephraim separated from the Army on Aug 23, 1865, and then, around age 24-25, reenlisted as a hospital steward, or male nurse.[5] He served in that position in the early months of the U.S. Army encampment at the newly established Fort Hays.[6][7]

With the maiden name Decker, Elizabeth is identified as Ephraim Polly's wife from a c. 1864 marriage. As would be common for wives of hospital stewards, Elizabeth served as a hospital matron.

By August 1867, a cholera epidemic had broken out among the tents of over 1000 troops. The cholera soon spread to the 1200 railroad construction workers who were sheltering near the camp in the new village of Rome,[7] fearing attack from the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.

Elizabeth sought to help the sick and dying soldiers deal with what were, for many, their final hours. Often in the evening she would walk to the high limestone bluff a mile and a half southwest of the fort, now known as Sentinel Hill, where she is said to have found some comfort and solace.[8]

When it was apparent that she had contracted the disease herself, she pleaded with her husband to bury her on top of that hill. Upon her death, soldiers were detailed to dig her grave on the crest of Sentinel Hill; but only inches beneath the sod they struck massive limestone bedrock.[9] Unable to dig a grave on top of the hill, the sorrowful soldiers instead buried her on a lower slope nearer to the fort.[9] Given a military funeral, her burial clothing was the uniform she wore while caring for the suffering, a blue dress and a white bonnet.

Mr. Polly continued in Hays City as a pharmacist for a few years and remarried.[7] Leaving Hays in 1873, Ephraim Polly purchased a Texas Panhandle ranch to operate as a trail station on the military road between Fort Supply and Fort Elliott, and he was elected the first Judge of Hemphill County, Texas.[10][11]

"The Lonely Grave"

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A long-standing mystery in the county is the location of Elizabeth's supposed lost grave.

One tradition for her gravesite is that there was no tombstone, possibly only two wooden planks, barely readable years later, from which was reportedly read her name (Elizabeth), her birth date (1843), and her birthplace, (Liberty).[12][9] From the idea that Elizabeth came from Liberty, Missouri, comes a story that a decade after her death, her grave was inspected by an incognito visitor from Liberty, Jesse James, presumably on behalf of Elizabeth's surviving relatives. That the grave had no durable markers suggests a reason her grave was lost.

Another tradition holds that her gravesite was lost because it was marked by four limestone posts, supposedly stolen by a matching number of four thieves. The legend claims that tragedy found each of the thieves in the hours after the theft: one felled in a gunfight, two killed in a carriage accident, and the other hit by a train. If the grave was indeed marked by posts made from the particular bedrock limestone from "Elizabeth's Hill", the soldiers would not have been aware that Fort Hays Limestone posts crumble and rot away in a number of years.[13][14]

Regardless of how her grave may have been marked, the site would have been separate from the military reservation and not within the fort's military and civilian cemeteries. When the fort was closed 22 years later, the soldiers' remains were relocated to Fort Riley or Fort Leavenworth, while civilian graves were moved to the north of Hays City, but no known grave for Elizabeth Polly was moved.[15][3]

Multiple attempts to locate her gravesite have been made. While multiple bodies have been exhumed from the farms and ranch land surrounding the hill,[citation needed] none was conclusively shown to be that of Elizabeth Polly. Some contend that a particular grave found at the base of the hill was not Polly's, being instead that of a Mexican cattleman, based on the marker's Spanish inscription. In fact, the "Lonely Grave," as it is called, may not be an actual burial site at all, as no remains were found in attempts to fulfill Miss Polly's wishes by moving her to the top of the hill.[citation needed]

Blue Light Lady

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She's up there on that hill somewhere
'tho her grave has long been lost
And her rest is disturbed, for she walks without a word
Among us -- who count her cost

— Bob Maxwell, Ballad of Elizabeth Polly[16][3]

Around the community of Hays, Elizabeth Polly is known as the "Blue Light Lady."[17] Her spirit is said to still walk Sentinel Hill, also called Elizabeth Polly Hill[18] and Blue Light Lady Hill,[19] looking for soldiers to comfort[17] or to find her peace at the hilltop.

Some tales say that she walks the hills holding a blue lantern, which if you look into[citation needed] you become one of the spirits trapped inside. Many people have made attempts to witness her spirit firsthand. Some have claimed that she has appeared wearing a blue, prairie-style dress and bonnet, while others claim that she is a misty blue light. Other people have claimed that while waiting at the top of the hill for Elizabeth's spirit to arrive, footsteps have been heard walking up the hill and suddenly disappearing at the top, yet nobody was to be found around the hill.

A particular event was reported in 1950 when a police officer radioed a report to dispatch saying that he had just hit a woman dressed in blue on the road between Big Creek and the old fort. He quickly exited his car and searched for a body, but found none.[citation needed]

Memorials

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  • A pyramid monument of local stonepost limestone was erected atop the Sentinel Hill gravesite a century after her death (1967-1968) by Peter Felten, Jr., sponsored by the Saturday Afternoon Club, the Fort Hays Nurses Club, and the local chapter of the Kansas State Nurses Association.[20][21][22]
  • Elizabeth Polly Park was established by the city of Hays in 1982, featuring the Peter Felten, Jr., sculpture Elizabeth Polly.[23][24]

Further reading

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  • Jim Hoy, Professor Emeritus of English at Emporia State University (2020-10-15). "The Legend of the Blue Light Lady". Humanities Kansas. Retrieved 7 February 2023.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Elizabeth Polly". Kansapedia. Kansas Historical Society. April 2015. Retrieved 2023-01-30. Elizabeth Decker was born around 1843. ... He was transferred to Fort Hays around 1867 [year of the fort's founding] where he served as hospital steward. ... The hospital steward's wife usually served as the hospital matron. In that capacity Elizabeth worked in the ward helping patients during a cholera epidemic. She was exposed to cholera and became a victim herself.
  2. ^ Randy Gonzales. "Former FHSU Football Coach Now History Researcher". FHSU News. Retrieved 2023-02-03. "We are not here to state whether she's a ghost or she's not," Vincent said. "My team and I are not ghost hunters. However, the legend of Elizabeth Polly gives rise to a tremendous amount of history." Lacking definitive proof that Elizabeth Polly was at the fort in 1867, or even of her existence, Vincent detailed circumstantial evidence to make his case. Vincent showed copies of newspaper articles through the years that mentioned Polly, and he presented evidence of why those articles should be believed.
  3. ^ a b c C.E. 'Bud' Brann (August 17, 2005). "A tale of two cities — Hays and Salina". Hays Daily News. Hays, Kansas. Retrieved 2023-02-04. During a cholera epidemic in 1867, an angel of mercy, Elizabeth Polly, tirelessly tended to the ill and dying soldiers at the fort. She, too, caught cholera and before dying requested to be buried on sentinel hill, behind the fort. She could not be buried on top because it was bedrock. When the fort closed, soldier's bodies were moved to Fort Leavenworth and civilians were moved to Hays. Only the angel of mercy still lies on Sentinel Hill. Even today, people claim to see a lady in a blue dress, glowing with a blue light, walking Sentinel Hill. She is known to Hays residents as the Blue Light Lady.
  4. ^ Alexander Gardner's late-summer 1867 photograph from the Hays City train station shows the rows of tents on the far side of Big Creek where the month's old fort lay.
  5. ^ Vivki Bryan (ed.). "Hemphill County, Texas 1890 Veterans Schedule". Texas Genealogy Trails. Retrieved 2023-02-07. Ephraim E. Polly ... Sept 11, 1861 ... Aug 23, 1865 ... re-enlisted Hospital Steward
  6. ^ C. Robert Haywood (2006). Trails South. Prairie Books. pp. 51–52. ISBN 9780974622224. Retrieved 2023-02-07. The station was known in the early days as Polly Hotel, named after Ephraim E. Polly and his wife, who operated the stations from 1874 to 1884. Polly had been a pharmacist in the Army at Fort Hays and was considered competent physician by both whites and Indians.
  7. ^ a b c ""Doc" Ed Polly". Hays Daily News: 13. February 6, 1972. Elizabeth Polly was a civilian nurse and used her nursing skills working long hours during the cholera epidemic which hit Fort Hays and the ill-fated town of Rome during 1867. Note: The article was confused by alternate records for Ephraim Polly and Edward Polly. In fact, the two names were one person, Ephraim Edward Polly.
  8. ^ "Ghost seeks solace near Hays?". The Salina Journal: 13. Jan 11, 1979. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  9. ^ a b c T. J. Bryant (February 6, 1972). "From the Hays Republican, July 6, 1901". Hays Daily News: 13. I now descended from the hill and as I did so I observed a long grave with a plain board at the head and one at the foot ... The inscription upon the board at the head of the grave had become illegible and was almost completely effaced by the ruthless hand of time ... The name of the woman who lies buries on the foot of the hill was Mrs. Polly, wife of Ephraim Polly. Her request was that she be buried upon the top of the hill, and the soldiers who were detailed to prepare the grave, actually commenced work on making her grave upon the summit of the hill. But owing to the fact that the soil was so shallow they soon struck rock and their work was abandoned, and they made the grave at the foot of the hill where the soil was deeper.
  10. ^ Susan Caudle (2009). Hemphill County. Arcadia Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7385-7113-3. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  11. ^ Virginia Scott. "Wolf Creek Heritage Museum Notes". High Plains Observer. Retrieved 2023-02-12. In 1874 , Polly's Station was the military road between Fort Supply and Fort Elliott as well as the way station for buffalo hunters and other travelers.
  12. ^ "Cholera Victim Mrs. Ephraim Polly". Hays Daily News: 13. February 6, 1972. An early wooden marker on the grave read: Elizabeth Polly, wife of Ephraim Polly, Liberty, Missouri.
  13. ^ Warren G. Hodson (1965). Geology and Ground-Water Resources of Trego County, Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Bulletin 174. University of Kansas Publications, State Geological Survey of Kansas. p. Economic Geology, continued. The Fort Hays also tends to absorb water [particularly when in contact with soil] and thus to deteriorate through freeze-and-thaw action and from spalling.
  14. ^ Alvin R. Leonard; Delmar W. Berry (1961). Geology and Ground-water Resources of Southern Ellis County and Parts of Trego and Rush Counties, Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Bulletin 149. University of Kansas Publications, State Geological Survey of Kansas. p. Geography. The Fort Hays Limestone member ... is not as weather-resistant as the "Fencepost" Limestone bed ... and spalls badly when used for foundation stone.
  15. ^ ""Doc" Ed Polly". Hays Daily News: 13. February 6, 1972. All of the other cholera victims were later removed from the fort cemetery and reburied at Fort Leavenworth, but as Mrs. Polly's grave was not mentioned in the official order, her body [supposedly] still lies on the hill southwest of town.
  16. ^ Tom Isern (Dec 17, 1992). "Plains Folk". Council Grove Republican: 4. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  17. ^ a b "Elizabeth Polly". Kansapedia. She is known in the community as the "Blue Light Lady," an apparition that is said to walk the hill looking to comfort soldiers.
  18. ^ Mike Corn (February 8, 2008). "Dumping Death". Hays Daily News: B8. Retrieved 2023-02-02. ... in the shadow of Elizabeth Polly Hill ....
  19. ^ Schlegel, Lisa (2011). Meditations on Place and Spirit. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas. p. 59. Looking out toward what local college students called Blue Light Lady Hill, ...
  20. ^ "Finishes Polly Memorial". The Salina Journal: 9. May 17, 1968. Retrieved 2023-02-12. Fritz Felten, Hays sculptor, has finished another historical stone memorial. ... The memorial is a stone pyramid .... The previous marker and an iron fence were destroyed by vandals.
  21. ^ "Gravekeepers protest power line". The Olathe News: 9C. March 4, 1979. Retrieved 2023-02-12. The keepers of "the lonely grave" southwest of Hays, where the legendary Elizabeth Polly is buried [so claimed], have raised objections to the proposed construction of a high voltage power lin past the gravesite. ... She found solace by walking the mile and a half to the tallest hill southwest of the fort. ... A limestone monument was erected there a century later [1968] by the Saturday Afternoon Club, the Fort Hays Nurses Club, and the local chapter of the Kansas State Nurses. ... But, cautions Fr. Burkey, many of these early stories are garbled. Historical records concerning Miss Polly and the location of her grave are difficult to come by.
  22. ^ "Will lonely graves soon be responsibility of counties?". The Salina Journal: 18. July 10, 1979. Retrieved 2023-02-12. Controversial because of plans to runs [sic] a high-voltage power line along the scenic rolling hills nearby. Is Mrs. Polly's body actually buried under the cairn of limestone blocks and a marble stone bearing her name?
    According to anonymous members of the local historical society, her true resting place may be further down the hillside, possibly down under the weeds and muck near a stone barn. More than 50 years ago, this grave was surrounded by a neat picket fence, some older residents recall.
    The truth apparently went to the grave with the people involved in the relocation project, done by the WPA or NYA or whichever group was char[g]ed with moving her body and raising the monument.
  23. ^ "Elizabeth Polly". Kansapedia. The community placed a monument atop Sentinel Hill in her memory in 1967. In 1982 the city of Hays designated the Elizabeth Polly Park in her honor, at 26th and Indian Trail, featuring a statue by Peter Felten.
  24. ^ "Elizabeth Polly Park". haysusa.com. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
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