Guest Author - Elizabeth Bissette

Polly Ann

Girlfriend or wife of John Henry, (varies from tale to tale), some facts are known about her, as with John Henry. Regrettably, the most-verified is that she was murdered soon after his death and was also the first murder victim to be buried in a church cemetery. Ghost stories of the still-extant Big Bend Tunnel include her, though the most often reported haunting there is the sound of John Henrys' hammer.

The verse that includes the line, 'when John Henry took sick and went to bed, Polly drove steel like a man', has often been dismissed as merely a sexual reference. This may be, many of the verses including her are suggestive. It is also possible, however, (and I like to think), that she did in fact take over the work for him for a bit. Seems like the type of woman John Henry would have married, or been otherwise devoted to after all.

Stack O' Dollars

Girlfriend of the formidable Stagger Lee, (or Stag Lee, Stack o Lee etc), she gambled right along with him and apparantly so well they called her Stack o' Dollars. And/or, she was also one of his 'girls' (Stag Lee was a real man, who had the dubious occupation of, shall we say, managing women of ill repute. She could have gotten her Stack o' Dollars that way too, or both ways. Either way, she obviously was able to take care of herself financially to such a degree she's now a legend.

Billy De Lyons' Wife

Another character in the close to real-life saga of Stag Lee was the wife of the man he killed, Billy DeLyons. According to the legend, she killed Stag, (who even the police were afraid to go after), when he tried to sleep with her after the murder. 'Snuggled up with a gatlin' gun' no less. That was like a machine gun folks. She didn't mess around.

Peggy-O

Pretty Peggy-O of Fernio who could have stopped a war had she but married William, a soldier from an invading army who she appears to have truly loved. At least he told her he'd stop the war if she'd marry him. She said no because they were from different classes and her family/society would never permit it. He died of love for her in some versions, died of love for another woman in others but send word of it back for spite in most accounts. Can't really blame her for not wanting to be a camp follower, (there's a verse that addresses that, which was probably the real issue in light of their apparant love)

To be continued throughout womens history month...