Tallahassee, Florida has been a city since 1821, making it home to a lot of history. There is remarkable evidence of this throughout the city in museums, monuments and cemeteries. In Tallahassee’s Old City Cemetery, there is an ornate grave for a woman named Elizabeth Budd-Graham who has been nicknamed the ‘White Witch of Tallahassee.’
Elizabeth Budd-Graham, nicknamed Bessie, was born in 1866 to David and Florence Wilson and went on to marry Alexander Budd-Graham in 1887. The married couple had two young children before Bessie’s untimely death due to heart disease in 1889, at just 23 years old. The grieving family buried her beneath an extensive and intricate grave here in Tallahassee. But some details of the grave have led many people to believe they are secret messages that represent her status as a witch.
The grave first caught the eye of visitors due to its massive size, the obelisk towers over other graves in the cemetery, and it is surrounded by a stone wall–taking up much more space than a usual grave. In a closer look, it is apparent that this is the grave of a very wealthy person, not just because of the size but also the many intricate carvings; Large granite vases, sculpted feathers, a cross inside of a crown, and an epitaph beneath her general information. The epitaph comes from a passage from Edgar Allen Poe’s Lenore. It reads:
“Ah! Broken is the Golden Bowl.
The spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll!
A saintly soul
Floats on the Stygian River;
Come let the burial rite be read
The funeral song be sung;
An anthem for the queenliest dead
That died so young
A dirge for her the doubly dead
In that she died so young.”
Many believe that the poem is the main indicator of her witchcraft. The lines “the spirit flown forever” and “floats on the Stygian River ” are meant to imply that a witch’s spirit is unable to ‘cross the Stygian River (of death)’ and is trapped between life and death. The line “for her the doubly dead“ indicates that a witch must be killed twice while “the queenliest dead“ refers to a witch being ‘Queens of the Dead.’ But it is not just the poem, many think that it is unlikely for a regular woman so young to be given such an elaborate grave, leading to the rumor that Bessie bewitched Alexander into marrying her because she was after his wealth, and it was because of this love spell that he felt compelled to commemorate her in such an extravagant way.
Bessie’s grave faces West, against the old Christian tradition that faces graves East, and believers use that as further proof she was a witch. The nickname ‘White Witch’ has nothing to do with race and was given to Bessie under the assumption that she was a good witch. As most know, ‘black magic’ is ‘bad’ magic, but ‘white magic’ is the antagonist of that meaning ‘good’ magic.
Although there is no documentation proving these rumors true during her lifetime, Bessie has the most visited grave in the cemetery. It is frequently visited by curious spectators and is apparently visited by many witches who leave offerings to her. The legend of Bessie has been heard by many across Florida, and there are claims of connections to other witches during her lifetime, but no legitimate evidence can be found of it. So, it leaves the question: Is this a rumor that spread out of control or was Bessie a witch who knew how to cover her tracks?
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