The Weeping Woman of Ashland Cemetery

Photo by Theresa
June 2026

I recently made the short trip to Ashland, Ky to attend an awesome presentation at the Boyd County Library. Certified Cryptozoologist, Lacey Williams, gave a wonderful talk titled Bluegrass Beasts, covering a variety of interesting Kentucky creatures. But, before the presentation, I decided to get to town early...

Although I'm less than an hour away from the Ashland area, I don't get down to that area too often. So, when I decided to head that way for Lacey's talk, I wanted to optimize my trip time by visiting at least one spooky local legend. I chose to visit the Ashland Cemetery and seek out the legend of the Weeping Woman. 

Ashland Cemetery is located along Belmont Street. Dedicated back in 1870, this massive cemetery is still receiving burials today. Spanning over 106 acres, Ashland Cemetery stands as an impressive symbol of the city's history, and with the plethora of statues and intricate tombstones, it's also a wonderful collection of art and culture. One such piece of funerary art that gets a lot of attention is the Weeping Woman. 

Also known as the Iron Lady or the Weeping Widow, the Weeping Woman of Ashland Cemetery is a large, seated sculpture of a woman in obvious mourning. Clutching her chest with one hand, and holding a mourning wreath with the other, she appears to be in great distress, lamenting the loss of the couple she watches over. 

Photo by Theresa
June 2026

From what I can gather, the artwork is by the famous Hans K. Schuler, a German-American sculptor and monument maker known for his work around Baltimore and Washington, D.C. and was commissioned to stand over the graves of Ferdinand Carl Fischer and his wife, Elizabeth Ringo Fischer. 

Sarah Elizabeth Ringo was born on December 22 1877 in Clinton, Kentucky to parents Willis Lunsford Ringo and Sarah/Sallie Cresap. Willis was a former Secretary of State for Kentucky and a prominent citizen throughout his life, with interests in the railroad and local improvement councils. He was also a Confederate veteran. Willis, his wife,  and many other members of the Ringo family are also buried in the Ashland Cemetery nearby the Weeping Woman. 

Ferdinand Carl (F.C.) Fischer was born in Cincinnati on July 2, 1857, making him twenty years older than Elizabeth. The two married on June 30, 1896 in Ashland, Kentucky and were blessed with a couple of children. Unfortunately, F.C. would not be long for this world. He passed away September 10, 1906 at the age of 49, leaving his 29 year old wife a widow to raise two small children. According to an article on the Kentucky Kindred Genealogy website about the Willis Ringo family, Elizabeth did remarry. On June 27, 1908, she married Alexander Blucher D. Gordon III, who would go on to outlive her by seven years. 

I'm not sure what her relationship with Alexander was like, but the two did have an additional son together. However, when Elizabeth died on March 20, 1952 in Pennsylvania, she was brought home to be buried by F.C. in her family plot at the Ashland Cemetery. Today, Elizabeth and F.C. lie side by side under matching stones, with the Weeping Woman keeping watch above. 

And, for many years, stories have spread that the Weeping Woman statue may be more than just a statue. Across multiple Face Book and Reddit posts, blogs, and even Instagram stories, nearby residents and visitors to Ashland Cemetery are sharing very similar experiences with hearing the unmistakable wails of a woman in mourning.  

Some individual accounts have been curated at two awesome blogs, The Southern Spirit Guide and Black Flag Horror.  One of my favorite accounts involves a man named Ronald Hinton who was visiting the grave of a loved one in autumn when he heard a woman sobbing. Following the sound, he found a woman seated nearby several graves with her head down, wailing in mourning. As he approached her, she lifted her head and reached out a hand towards him. He could see the tears streaming down her cheeks from her closed eyes, and even drool pooling at the corners of her mouth. But, as she opened her eyelids, he immediately saw that she had no eyeballs! 

Photo by Theresa
July 2026

Taken aback by this, but still wanting to help, he went to get several other visitors who were at the cemetery that day to help him with the strange wailing woman. As the group arrived back, the once-living woman was now simply a statue---The Weeping Lady Statue. 

Although she is mostly heard, Ronald isn't the only one to have seen the woman appear as a living person. Legend tells that on the full moon she arises and walks the cemetery, crying out in grief. But who is she wailing for? The obvious reason might be the Fischer family, particularly F.C., as the statue is of a grieving woman and Mrs. Fischer did lose who husband at a young age. Or, there may be another reason.

The Ashland Cemetery is the final resting place for Emma Carico/Thomas, Robert Gibbons, and Fannie Gibbons. The three young people were murdered on the night of December 23, 1881 by an axe and the house they were staying in was set ablaze to cover it up. Seventeen year old Robert and his 15 year old sister, Fannie, were the only members of the family at home, and were being visited by Fannie's 15 year old friend, Emma. The perpetrator was the Gibbons' own father, who had been suffering from mental illness and suicidal/homicidal tendencies following domestic troubles with his wife. This event became known as the Ashland Tragedy, and rocked the city. Could the wails and cries actually be for these three young people taken so violently as some believe?

You can visit the Ashland Cemetery during daylight hours and see the Weeping Woman for yourself! She sits nestled among some bushes in Section 13...Listen closely and you might hear the unmistakable wails of a woman in mourning. 

Sources and Further Reading:

The Southern Spirit Guide: Moaning and Crying-Ashland Kentucky. January 6, 2020, by Lewis O. Powell IV.

Black Flag Horror Wordpress: The Weeping Lady

Kindred Genealogy: Willis Lunsford Ringo Family

Wikipedia Article on Hans Schuler

Find-a-Grave: Ashland Cemetery 

Find-a-Grave Pages for: (Willis Ringo) (Elizabeth Fischer) (F.C. Fischer)

29 December 1881
Ashland Daily Independent 

How Haunted Hollow Got Its Name

Bluestone Lake
Photo by Brian Powell

In the summer of 1862, Phillip Thurmond, along with help from his brother William, formed a band of Confederate volunteers from largely Fayette, Greenbrier, and Monroe Counties. They would become known as Thurmond's Rangers, a sort of Civil War era home guard unit with the mission of assisting the war effort as scouts, spies, and raiders. 

Unfortunately, although Thurmond had a good reputation, the Rangers were seen by many as nothing more than thieves and bushwhackers. Out of this reputation grew a story of a haunted road, deep in the mountains near what is now Hinton, WV. 

As told by Ernest S. Allen in the 20 February 1946 edition of the Independent-Herald, a Hinton newspaper, the Rangers spent several months camped in the Bluestone area, at the foot of Low Gap Mountain. 

One day, a young boy was captured and accused of being an enemy spy. The Rangers tried to scare him into giving them information, but when that didn't work, they resorted to more drastic measures. A group of them took the boy about a mile up the mountain and tied him to a tree. There, they tortured him, but he still wouldn't say a word. It was said that the boy most likely had developmental delays and honestly didn't know anything. At last, they shot him and left his body there, tied to the tree. 

After that, the area became known as Haunted Hollow, as those passing by, especially in the evening hours, truly believed that the spirit of the young boy was still haunting the mountain. His apparition had been seen by some, yet others heard the unmistakable sounds of the marching of phantom soldiers. 

No one can really verify whether this is a factual account or not, but the legend lasted for several generations. As for Thurmond's Rangers, more and more volunteers would join up with them until they were nearly 650 men in strength. Late in 1863, they became the 44th Virginia Cavalry Battalion, making them an official part of the Confederate Army. 

Philip would die in October of 1864 in Winfield, where his body lie unmarked for many years. (Fun fact, I just happened to 'accidentally' be there when archaeologists dug up his remains for reburial). William, however, survived the war and went on to become a prominent citizen in Fayette County and is credited with founding the now infamous ghost town of Thurmond! 

More on Thurmond's Rangers:
McKinney, Tim. "Thurmond's Rangers." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 08 February 2024. Web. Accessed: 15 June 2026.

20 February 1946
Independent-Herald (Hinton, WV)

The 'Ghost' of Walnut Hill Cemetery

 

Walnut Hill Cemetery
Photo by Find-a-Grave contributor Zelda

I love a good 'true' ghost story, but sometimes a spooky case of mistaken identity is just as strange, if not more! That's what happened to John Davis, caretaker of the Walnut Hill Cemetery, located just outside Columbus, Ohio in Hamilton Township. 

Strolling through the cemetery one evening, he noticed a spooky figure sitting atop a tombstone. As he approached the figure, he realized that it wasn't a ghost, but just some guy, wearing nothing but a blanket as almost a cape. The man's clothes were in a pile at his feet. When he noticed Davis' approach, the man inquired as to whether the referee was on his way.

Davis wisely told the man he didn't know, but he'd go check. The man then let Davis know that he was eager for a boxing match. Since he couldn't just leave a naked man sitting in his cemetery trying to fight people, Davis brought the stranger to the county jail. His clothing was searched for personal items and enlistment papers for the army were found. 

It was decided to hold him in the jail until a lunacy inquest could be completed, which begs the question as to whether or not he actually was mentally ill. Was this all staged as an attempt to avoid being sent into military service during World War One? Or, was the thought of going to war actually too much to bear, causing the man's mind to fracture. Perhaps he was already a little...off, or perhaps under the influence. Whatever the cause, it was clear he was NOT a spirit of the little cemetery and to me, that is truly disappointing.   Stay spooky, ya'll!

04 January 1918
The Big Sandy News (Louisa, KY)

Sleeping with the Spirits at the WV State Penitentiary

 

Convicts in the prison yard of the WV State Pen (1914)
Source: WV History on View

Over the course of its long history, the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville has suffered from a multitude of logistical problems, the most common being overcrowding. In late 1922, the prison had once again exceeded its designed capacity and was now home to well over 1600 inmates. Warden Terrell was running out of sheer space to store all these men, so he came up with a brilliant plan!

The Death House, which was a small building annexed off the main prison, had four cells. As these cells were only used to house inmates who had an upcoming date with the gallows, they weren't in full operation. What if some of the overflow was housed there?

The decision was made to select 35 inmates, all African Americans, to bunk down in the Death House. I cannot come up with a reason other than sheer racism why the black prison population was chosen, but they were. However, this wasn't without problems.  

A trope that continually shows up in these old newspaper articles I share is the stereotype that African Americans are extremely superstitious and afraid of ghosts and spirits. Therefore, the article in question notes that it took a while, but 35 men were found who claimed, "no fear of spooks."  Warden Terrell managed to find almost three dozen men that had no qualms in sleeping in the area where a quoted two score of men had spent their last moments, waiting to die at the hands of the state for crimes accused.

I don't like to think of myself as a particularly superstitious person, but even I have to admit a certain ick factor when it comes to using such a dark place for regular inmates. But it worked out. After a thorough cleaning and disinfecting (which included the removal of anything that would remind the prisoners where they were), the men were ready. Each night, they'd move 35 cots into the area, which were set up in and around the annex and cells. It was said that the sleeping arrangements were just as comfortable as anywhere else in the prison, with an added bonus of increased security features, allowing one guard to manage all 35 inmates. It was even said that many of the inmates assigned to the Death House annex had a sense of pride concerning their new quarters.  I wonder, though....did anyone actually ever have a paranormal experience there? Did the spirits of the executed men ever make their presences known to the 35 inmates who temporarily got a taste of death row?

*MORE WV State Penitentiary Articles!*

03 December 1922
Charleston Daily Mail

The Ouija Board and the Frat Pin

 

During the autumn of 1920, Miss Fannie Levings was distraught. She had lost a valuable frat pin and after searching everywhere and asking all her friends if they had seen it, the pin seemed gone forever.  Life had to go on, and Miss Levings left her home in West Virginia's northern panhandle to travel to Parkersburg for a meeting of the State Educational Association. On the way there, she stopped in Clarksburg to visit with friends.

Fueled by a rise in Spiritualism following World War One, the Ouija Board dominated the 1920s as a fun parlor game, used to connect with the other side for the purpose of asking groundbreaking questions such as "who will I marry?"

Miss Levings and her friends decided to ask the board the whereabouts of the missing frat pin. The response was prompt and concise: "In Fannie's bed."  Miss Levings wrote a letter home to her mother, asking her to thoroughly inspect the bed for the missing pin. Much to everyone's surprise and delight, the pin WAS found in Fannie's bed! 

Perhaps the spirits were feeling especially helpful that fateful day and led Fannie in the right direction. Or, is there a more logical explanation? I'll let you decide. Stay spooky! 

18 November 1920
Shepherdstown Register

Bleeding Corpses

Painting titled 'Bier Right' (1879) by Jeno Gyarfa

Today's blog post is a quick little fright bite on some interesting folklore I read about awhile back!

Cruentation (or bier-right) was a ritual in which a suspected murderer was made to touch the corpse of his alleged victim. If the corpse began to bleed, froth at the mouth, or otherwise show unusual signs, it was determined that the accused was guilty. The idea was that the corpse retained the ability to hear and see for some time after death and could identify their murderer.

 
This practice was most widespread in England and surrounding countries from the 1100s up until the 1800s and was brought to Appalachia by early settlers. And although in most places, cruentation couldn't be used to legally convict a murderer after the early 1700s, there were still cases reported of its use in the United States up through 1869. Here, in the isolated mountain communities of Appalachia, the practice was used as least through the Civil War, and is discussed further in such publications as Laura Wright's Appalachian Curiosities.

With Appalachia being such an isolated area, as well as one of great superstition, it just made sense that justice was sometimes meted out without the aid of formal law enforcement, who may take days (if not longer) to actually come investigate. And in the place of any living witnesses, who better to identify an assailant than the victim, living OR dead?

There is actually some science behind cruentation. It is believed that the 'bleeding' was actually the release of purge fluid, which looks like blood. This is the by-product of the putrefaction process and drains from the body's orifices, including nose and mouth

I can't think of a more disturbing image than a bleeding corpse somehow having the sentience to identify his or her killer, but the trope of a ghost (or otherwise deceased person) playing an integral role in bringing their murderer to justice is a common one in folklore. Whether or not this practice was actually effective or as widespread as we'd been led to believe is a moot point. What's important is that it makes for one heck of a scary ghost story and a warning to would-be murderers that what is done in darkness will eventually come to light, one way or another. 

The Importance of the Title Search

As a paranormal historian and researcher, one of my favorite aspects of the investigation process is conducting a deep dive into the background of every location in my case file. This deep dive includes studying a multitude of primary source documents, not just concerning the people involved, but the land itself as well!

One such primary source document that is a staple in my research process is the title/deed search. Although it won't give you everything you need (for example, the title will just tell you who OWNED the property, not necessarily who lived/worked there), it is an invaluable source of information. The title deed gives you a run-down of who has owned the land through written record. It can often tell you how that land was acquired from person to person---was it sold or passed down through a will to a family member. It will give you property boundaries and physical descriptions, allowing you to see just how extensive the property is/was and if it was ever part of a larger land tract. Sometimes, if you're lucky, it might even give you a reason for why that property is haunted.

Quite a few years ago now, my investigation team was called into an apartment building in Huntington, WV. Our clients were a young couple who were experiencing some strange paranormal activity. Well, that's not entirely true. The young man was the one experiencing paranormal activity. He was plagued by shadow figures darting around the apartment. Unexplained noises and voices were heard that could not be blamed on the neighbors. Objects would disappear, only to be found much later, and only by his girlfriend. At night, he experienced horrible dreams and interrupted sleep. 

This poor guy was being terrorized by something he couldn't explain. The worst part, however, was that he and his partner were seriously starting to doubt his sanity. Why was his sanity being questioned? Because these things were happening to him and only to him. The young lady wasn't experiencing anything out the ordinary. She'd come home to her partner telling her something had gone missing, and she'd find it right where it was supposed to be. Aside from the nightmares, all other activity, including the shadow figures and voices, tended to only happen when the guy was home alone. 

We spent the night at the apartment with all of our gear. Unfortunately, we didn't experience anything ourselves that night. After reviewing hours of audio and video, we still couldn't find anything that would make us believe there was paranormal activity going on in that apartment. In a way, it was really disappointing, because I know I personally felt that we had let this couple down. 

But, in comes the historical research. Due to work restraints and the urgency of the case, I didn't get to do a full historical write-up before the actual investigation. So, it was several days later before I made my way to the Cabell County Courthouse to pull the title of the property in hopes of at least giving the clients a thorough report. 

What I found was....interesting. The apartment dated back to the early 1930's and was always used as an apartment building. There was nothing unusual with the boundary descriptions or chain of ownership except for one little clause (or covenant) embedded in the original document. The original deed for the apartment clearly stated that PERSONS OF COLOR should never be sold or rented to.  

This was an important detail because the young man was black. His girlfriend, however, was white. We came to the loose conclusion that he was the target of these paranormal hostilities because a deceased racist former owner did not appreciate that covenant being broken. When presented with this information, the clients also believed there may be something to it. The young man had never experienced paranormal activity in any other location before this. If he was just starting to show signs of mental illness, it's likely that his symptoms would also show up while outside the apartment, which they weren't. Everything started after moving into that apartment, and all the activity was contained therein and concentrated on him alone. 

Since their lease was almost up, the couple decided the best thing to do was just to find a different apartment, one without a racist ghost. We checked in on them a few months later, and things were completely normal. I like to think this case had a happy ending, but while we were able to provide some answers to a client, can it really be a happy ending when things like this happen?

From the 1920's to the 1940's, the United States was seeing a population shift. It was the peak of what we call the Great Migration of Blacks from the south into the bigger cities of the north and midwest to find work. It was pretty common and perfectly legal for individual property owners, as well as whole entire neighborhoods, to include covenants in their title deeds banning different races and religions from taking ownership. 

The first step against this practice was the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court case, Shelley v. Kraemer, which ruled that these covenants couldn't be enforced by state or federal governments. However, they could still be socially enforced and often were.  It took another 20 years before the 1968 Fair Housing Act outlawed them completely. But, even then, there were other ways to socially enforce the original covenants and keep certain people out of certain neighborhoods. 

Amazingly, out of all the title searches I've done over the years, that was the only time I actually found one of these covenants included, and it just happened to be for a case where it was significant. But, I challenge you---If title searches are part of your investigative process, keep an eye out for similar wording. You never know when it might be important. 

Read more about racially restrictive housing covenants over on the History Channel!  (LINK)