Another tenuous Texas connection

I stole (and edited) this story from Tom's blog. Debbie Kinder told it to him yesterday when they were out canoing in the Wisconsin River.

Wisconsin Dells is home to the grave of Belle Boyd, a Confederate spy during the Civil War. Born in Virginia, she married after the war and lived in Texas. In her later years, after her marriage dissolved, she began touring, giving dramatic readings of her exploits during the war, performing her show in a Confederate uniform and cavalry-style hat.

As Belle's bad luck would have it, she died on tour at the Hile House in the Dells in 1900, and was buried there at Spring Grove Cemetery, with military honors, by the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Belle's grave is in Spring Grove cemetery, and has become something of a monument to the Lost Cause. It is elaborate, as local graves go, and is marked by stones from each of the states of the Confederacy.

As Debbie told the story, the cemetery's Sexton, once removed, was cutting the grass a number of years ago when he saw what appeared to be a Civil War reenactment. A small band of Confederate soldiers was in formation near Belle's grave. The Sexton, initially angered because he was supposed to have been notified of any reenactments, apparently realized that this wasn't a reenactment, got off the mowing tractor, left, quit and never came back.

Cool!