POOR ELLEN SMITH
(Traditional)
Henry Whitter - 1924
Dykes' Magic City Trio - 1927
Molly O'Day & The Cumberland Mountain Folks - 1949
The Kossoy Sisters - 1956
Charlie Waller, John Duffey & The Country Gentlemen - 1960
The Kingston Trio - 1963
Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys - 1964
The Hotfoot Quintet - 1981
Gary Brewer & The Kentucky Ramblers - 1996
Neko Case - 2002
Laura Cantrell - 2005
Also recorded by:
Robert Earl Keen; Fleming Brown; John Hartford; New Lost City Ramblers;
Tommy Jarrell; Kristin Hersh; Larry Sparks; Mac Wiseman; Peggy Seeger;
The McPeak Brothers; Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper, The Stanley Brothers;
Tim Obrien; Texas Gladden & Hobart Smith; Jim Mills ....... and others.
SONG HISTORY:
17-year-old Ellen Smith was found behind the Zinzendorf Hotel in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, on the morning of July 21st, 1892. She had been shot through the
heart. The true facts are unclear, but her lover and fellow worker at the hotel, Peter
DeGraff, was charged with her murder and was hanged on February 8th, 1894.
The ballad "Poor Ellen Smith" appeared soon after the execution. Some versions
of the song paint DeGraff as a faithless lover who turned to murder. Others make
the claim that he was innocent, even though he is said to have confessed from the
scaffold to the watching crowd.
As recorded by MOLLY O'DAY:
Poor Ellen Smith, how she was found
Shot through the heart, lying cold on the ground
Her clothes were all scattered and thrown on the ground
The blood marked the spot where poor Ellen was found
They picked up their rifles and hunted me down
They found me a-loafing all around the town
They picked up her body and carried it away
And now she is sleeping in some lonesome old grave
I got a letter yesterday, I read it today
The flowers on her grave have all faded away
Someday I'll go home and stay when I go
On poor Ellen's grave pretty flowers I'll sew
I've been in this prison for twenty long years
Each night I see Ellen through my bitter tears
The Warden just told me that soon I'll be free
To go to her graveside 'neath that old willow tree
My days in this prison are ending at last
I'll never be free from my sins of the past
Poor Ellen Smith, how she was found
Shot through the heart, lying cold on the ground
******************
As recorded by JIMMY MARTIN:
Poor Ellen Smith, how she was found
She was shot through the heart, lying cold on the ground
Her clothes were all ragged and her curls on the ground
And the blood marked the spot where poor Ellen was found
They took up their rifles and they hunted me down
And they found me a-loafin' all around o'er the town
She told me she loved me and she said she'd be mine
But she went and left me here with these troubles on my mind
I got a letter yesterday and I read it today
Said the flowers on her grave, they were fadin' away
I'm going back home, Lord, I'll stay when I go
And on poor Ellen's grave pretty flowers I will sow
Poor Ellen Smith, how she was found
She was shot through the heart, lying cold on the ground
Her clothes were all ragged and her curls on the ground
And the blood marked the spot where poor Ellen was found
********************
As recorded by THE KINGSTON TRIO:
Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found
Shot through the heart, lyin' dead on the ground
Her body was mangled and all cast around
And X marks the spot where poor Ellen was found
They picked up her body, carried it away
And now she's a-sleepin' in some lonesome old grave
Who had the heart and who had the brain
To shoot my little Ellen on that cold lonesome plain
Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found
Shot through the heart, lyin' dead on the ground
Her body was mangled and all cast around
And X marks the spot where poor Ellen was found
They picked up their rifles and hunted us down
They found us a-loafin' all 'round town
The judge may convict me and God knows he can
But I know I died as an innocent man
Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found
Shot through the heart, lyin' dead on the ground
Her body was mangled and all cast around
And X marks the spot where poor Ellen was found
The warden has told me that soon I'll be free
To go to her grave near that old willow tree
I'm free from the walls of that prison at last
But I'll never be free of my sins from the past
Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found
Shot through the heart, lyin' dead on the ground
Her body was mangled and all cast around
And X marks the spot where poor Ellen was found
********************
As recorded by LAURA CANTRELL:
Come all you people my story to hear
What happened to me, June of last year
Oh, its poor Ellen Smith, oh, how was she found
Shot through the heart, lying dead on the ground
Its true I'm in jail, a prisoner now
God is here with me, hears every vow
So I do promise the truth to relate
I'll tell you all that I know of Ellen's sad fate
I saw her on Monday before that sad day
Found her body lying, took it away
That she had been murdered never entered my mind
Till a bullet through the heart they happened to find
Who is so cruel, so heartless, so base
To murder my poor Ellen in such a lonesome place
I seen her laid out so still and so cold
I heard the wild stories the witnesses told
And I choked back the tears as the people all said
"It was you Peter DeGraff, shot our Ellen Smith dead"
Ellen lies sleeping with her hand on her breast
The bloodhounds and the sheriff won't give me no rest
They got their Winchesters and hunted me down
I stole away to Mount Airy town
I laid off a year and I prayed the whole time
The man could be found what committed the crime
I prayed I'd come back and my character save
The flowers have faded round poor Ellen's grave
I came back to Winston my trial to stand
And I'll live or I'll die as the law might command
Ellen sleeps yonder in that lonesome churchyard
And I stare through the bars, God knows it's hard
I know they will hang me, at least if they can
I swear to you I'll die an innocent man
My soul will be free when I stand at the bar
Where God tries his cross, there like a star
That shines in the night will my innocence shine
And I'll make my appeal to the justice of time
********************
ALTERNATE VERSION (1):
Poor Ellen Smith, and it's how she was found
Shot through the heart, lying cold on the ground
Oh, I brushed back my tears when the people all said
That Peter DeGraff had shot Ellen Smith dead
While I would have loved her and made her my wife
Lord, I loved her too dearly to take her sweet life
They grabbed their Winchesters, they hunted me down
But I was away in old Mount Airy town
They carried me to Winston, my trial to stand
To live or to die as the law may command
McArthur will hang me, he will if he can
God knows, if they hang me, I'll die an innocent man
********************
ALTERNATE VERSION (2)
Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found
Shot through the heart, lying cold on the ground
Blood began to fly, blood began to run
They shot my poor sweetheart with a 44 gun
Saw her on a Monday before that sad day
They found her poor body and took it away
Who had the heart, who had the face
To murder my sweetheart in this lonely place
Oh, I stayed out six months and prayed all the time
They might find the one that committed the crime
So I could go back and my character save
Though flowers have faded on sweet Ellen's grave
Now I'm in jail and God knows it's hard
While my sweetheart sleeps calm in the lonesome graveyard
Now I'm in jail, a prisoner am I now
But God is here with me and hears every vow
I didn't love little Ellen to make her my wife
But I loved her too dear than to take her dear life
The jury will hang me, that is if they can
But God knows that I am an innocent man
(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - May 2019)
