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The Legend of Della Barnes
By Donna L. Marsh

Della Barnes 1874-1897

According to Paducah, Ky., legend, the young Della Barnes was either married or engaged, and her significant other doubted her fidelity. After an intense argument, Ms. Barnes was either murdered or committed suicide, followed by her gentleman cutting off either her left hand or just its fingers in order to retrieve the large diamond ring he'd given her.

After her burial, her distraught family commissioned a concrete statue of the young woman to stand on her grave so that all might know how beautiful she was. Her right hand held a rose at her breast and her left hand held her gathered skirt at her hip.

For the next fifty or sixty years, it was reported that the fingers on the left hand of the statue would mysteriously drop off. The family would have them patched and replaced, but they would fall away again.

As the legend of Ms. Barnes' and her statue grew, local youth began to camp out around her grave at night, having parties and hoping to see one of her fingers mysteriously disappear. Sometimes the young people would break them off as souvenirs. Sadly, at some point in the mid '70s, someone went even further with their vandalism, and the top half of the statue was completely broken off and stolen. Today, Ms. Barne's memorial is only a slender skirt with a delicate concrete shoe peeking out from under the hem.

In reality, Ms. Barnes was a young, single woman with a stomach ailment. Her doctor prescribed calomel capsules, a popular laxative of the day, but Ms. Barnes had difficulty swallowing the capsules so the pharmacist substituted calomel powder instead.

On the evening of June 26, 1897, Ms. Barnes and a visiting friend prepared for bed. The friend later reported that Ms. Barnes mixed some white powder with water, drank it and then followed it with a glass of sweet milk. Complaining of stomach upset awhile later, Ms. Barnes mixed another glass of water and white powder, drank it and went to bed.

The guest was awakened around 11:00 p.m. by Ms. Barnes' groans, and she attempted to wake her. When she was unable to rouse the ill woman, she alerted the other members of the household who proceeded to call the physician. Unfortunately, nothing could be done for Ms. Barnes, and she passed away around 5:00 on the morning of June 27.

It was later discovered that the pharmacist had inadvertently given Ms. Barnes morphine powder, and she, in fact, died of a drug overdose.

Ms. Barnes' distraught father, a city councilman, commissioned the concrete statue, and there was at least one instance of the fingers on the right hand requring some repair. However, it appears that most of the damage to the statue was merely the result of young vandals.

Sadly, the tribute a grieving father erected for his beautiful daughter fell victim to the legend it inspired.

 

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