Article about Tall Betsy in 1894 newspaper
Only a few weeks before Halloween, new information has been discovered about the first ever reported sighting of "Tall Betsy" in 1894.
Cleveland businessman Allan Jones said the first ever sighting of the real Tall Betsy was actually reported on Sept. 27, 1894, by the Chattanooga Daily Times.
The article located by Mr. Jones says:
“The mysterious “woman in black” that visits Cleveland every autumn has been parading our streets for the past two or three consecutive nights scaring the late pedestrians out of their wits. A crowd of girls going home from church a few nights ago alarmed all the residents on South Ocoee by their screams. She has been seen by several men, who say that she is tall with a pale face, dressed all in black, wearing a long black silk dress and hiding her face generally beneath a black bonnet. She passes quietly and rapidly along the streets, never speaking to or molesting anyone. George Brown, the City Marshall, was near where the girls were that she scared so badly a night or two ago and saw her. He ran toward her, and when near her, he said she leaped a high picket fence at J.H. Gault’s and disappeared in the darkness.”
Mr. Jones said the J.H. Gaut mentioned in the article was Cleveland’s first attorney, who was 25 years old in the 1850 Bradley County Census.
Attorney Gaut lived on South Ocoee Street in Cleveland in the area where New Life Bible Church is currently located (155 South Ocoee St.), or possibly across the street, according to a 1909 city directory owned by Mr. Jones (believed to be the only one still in existence), but due to street name changes after World War II, the exact house number where the Tall Betsy sighting occurred in 1894 has not been yet determined.
However, Dina Swafford, Bradley County’s Register of Deeds, is working to determine the address and said she should have it soon.
Mr. Jones said he came across the 1894 article while doing research for the second edition of his Jones family ancestry book. A distant relative sent him some newspaper clippings that referenced Mr. Jones’ great-great-grandfather J.R. Taylor, and, while reading the clipping about Tayor, Mr. Jones saw the mention of the Tall Betsy sighting at the top of the page.
“The relative who sent me the article would not have known to look for anything about Tall Betsy,” Mr. Jones said. “So this historic discovery was made as the result of a coincidence.”
Mr. Jones said another coincidence is that the article confirms that the way the real Tall Betsy actually dressed actually “fit to a T” how he imagined the goblin when he began appearing as Tall Betsy on Halloween in 1980. He says it was all by total happenstance.
“I went to Chandler’s Clothing Store in Cleveland to try and decide on a costume,” Mr. Jones said. “The store had flat black fabric and shiny black fabric, and I chose shiny black. I also picked a bonnet for Tall Betsy’s head instead of a traditional witch hat. Now it turns out that, according to this article we have uncovered, what I envisioned for Tall Betsy is actually how she appeared back in 1894!”
In 1980, Mr. Jones was a 27-year-old single parent raising his daughter Courtney and living at 150 Centenary NW. He had heard his mother, Gincy Slaughter Jones, tell stories of Tall Betsy as he was a child growing up at 480 21st Street NW in Cleveland.
Mrs. Jones learned the stories from her mother, and Allan Jones' grandmother, Marie Schultz Slaughter, who lived at 463 8th Street NW, next door to Arnold School.
Mr. Jones’ great-grandfather Dr. William Herman Schultz (father of Marie) had actually seen the real Tall Betsy years ago.
“Dr. Schultz – who was 6 feet 2 inches tall – said the female figure towered over him by more than a foot,” Mr. Jones revealed. “She was wearing a long black dress and had coarse hair. Her face was masked by darkness, sending chills down his body.”
Dr. Schultz was a medical doctor and lived where Arnold School is today. He passed Tall Betsy one night, and she stepped off the curb of the sidewalk to let Dr. Schultz pass, and she still towered over him. As a boy, Mr. Jones had been told that Tall Betsy was a very tall woman who walked the streets of Cleveland in the early 1920s. She always wore black and was referred to by the townspeople as Tall Betsy, Black Betsy, and the Lady in Black.
Marie used the stories of Tall Betsy to get young Gincy to be home before the street lights came on because that is when "Tall Betsy" comes out.
Young Allan was amazed by the story and wanted to dress up like Tall Betsy on Halloween when he was in high school and too old to trick-or-treat.
The Tall Betsy legend came to light again in 1974 when the Morning Sun newspaper published an article by author Sheeny White calling the tall figure a new name.
“The legend went from the Lady in Black and Black Betsy to now Tall Betsy,” said Mr. Jones. “From then on she was always called Tall Betsy.”
Mr. Jones didn't get his chance to appear as Tall Betsy until 1980 when the downtown Cleveland group Central City Action Association, now known as MainStreet Cleveland, wanted to create a goblin for a downtown promotion. Mr. Jones agreed to pay for the outfit and play the character if they would pick Tall Betsy. They agreed.
Tall Betsy first appeared in Johnston Park downtown from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for the event on Halloween day, 1980. Mr. Jones' mother was keeping Courtney and hosting a party for Courtney and her friends before they went out trick-or-treating. Courtney was a first-grader and attended Arnold School. Mr. Jones left Johnston Park and got a friend in a pickup truck to allow him to lie in the back and deliver him to the party at 150 Centenary Ave. Mr. Jones appeared in the backyard and scared the kids. Those kids were the first to see Tall Betsy. As they left to go down the street trick-or-treating, Tall Betsy walked in front of the Jones house and stood waiting for young trick-or-treaters.
The rest is history. In 1993, the Jones’ house kept count and set a world record of 11,201 pieces of bubble gum given away one at a time to young kids coming to the Jones’ door.
Tall Betsy appeared from 1980 to 1998 at 150 Centenary Ave NW. Thousands came to Mr. Jones' door each year and thousands more simply drove by. By 1989, the Tennessee Legislature named Tall Betsy as Bradley County’s Official Halloween Goblin, solidifying her place in Cleveland’s cultural heart.
Cleveland's Tall Betsy