The Adkins family had been known for decades by the 1920s. They were fine, upstanding people with a name for honesty and hard work. Elishabeth was the family’s eldest daughter. Her beauty was rivaled by none in the area. Elishabeth loved a near-by farmer’s son, Jacob. He was successful and, by all accounts, ready to inherit his father’s vast estate.
The young couple became eager and consummated their union before their wedding. Elishabeth became pregnant. The couple planned on eloping, however, an epidemic of influenza struck the area. With no antibiotics or medicines of any worth, Jacob quickly died before any marital arrangements could be made.
Elishabeth was desperate. She’d kept her secret to herself and didn’t think there was any real reason to speak to anyone aside from Jacob. With her husband-to-be gone, she was forced to tell her family. They were disgraced and forbid her to leave the house. They were so afraid of tarnishing their image that they summoned the near-by doctor to “help” with their problem.
The doctor came by the home and examined the girl. He confirmed she was pregnant. Elishabeth’s parents were heartbroken that their daughter had stooped to behaving like a harlot. They pushed the doctor to prepare an “elixir” to fix the problem.
Elishabeth knew her parents were angry, but she had no idea the “medicine” they provided was a lethal poison.
Elishabeth died shortly thereafter along with her baby. The parents were never suspected of harming their daughter. The doctor was never questioned, either.
To the rest of the world, Elishabeth just grew sick and ill from the same thing that killed her betrothed. All that remained of this tragedy were the whispers of neighbors who knew something wasn’t right..
This legend hails from rural Southwestern Virginia.