Neko Case

Ellen Smith was shot through the heart in July of 1892. Peter DeGraff had been romantically involved with Smith. He stood trial for her murder, was convicted, and was executed for it thirteen months after Smith’s death. At least two songs about this terrible, yet all too typical crime emerged soon after the killing and, musically, things got significantly more complicated from that point on. The two songs used the same meter, although slightly different tunes, and they have been swapping lyrics since that time.

“Poor Ellen Smith” lies right at the heart of what we do–presenting common themes of murder and misogyny, and representing a folk tune that carries varied and often complex meanings for its singers and listeners. The song emerges from one of the core regions of the North American murder ballad tradition, North Carolina’s Piedmont, and I’ve been eager to get back to more traditional material. That “Poor Ellen Smith” emerges from a true story affects some of the questions we ask about it, but not others.

I’ve had this song in mind from the beginning of the blog two years ago, and Shaleane included it in her week with Neko Case‘s “Deep Red Bells.” Case’s performance appeared on The Executioner’s Last Songs, which Alison discussed with musician Jon Langford last summer.

Although I’ve had “Ellen” in mind for all this time, I’ve had trouble finding the “hook” to take it up as part of our ongoing discussion. I don’t know if I’ve fully solved that, but I’m hoping I’ll at least get closer by the end of the next few posts. I doubted whether the song really covers any ground thematically that we haven’t already covered through “Omie Wise” or “Tom Dooley” or “Down in the Willow Garden,” or numerous others.

“Poor Ellen Smith” provides a solid example of how musical depictions of violence against women have the capacity to reinforce misogyny or subvert it. Would that it were the case that turning our attention to these issues was useless. Before we’re done with our posts, we’ll dig up one maverick arrangement of the song that perhaps both reinforces and subverts, depending on who’s singing it–but you’ll have to be the judge of that. Hang in there. It’s a corker. It’s also a mystery that I’ll ask your help to solve. In this “true story,” murder ballad we find variations on our themes of lament, self-defense, confession, and warning.

How was she found?

Randy Furches

With no disrespect to Ellen Smith or the other principals of this case, I won’t spend too much time on the facts of the story. Smith was 17 years old when she died. She worked at a hotel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where Peter DeGraff also worked. She may have already had one child with DeGraff, but that child had died in infancy. Her body was found behind the hotel. DeGraff was charged with the murder, but the sheriff took his time in pursuing him until a public outcry demanded that he take action.

DeGraff was eventually brought to justice, convicted, and hanged for the murder. Reports say that he confessed on the gallows, and warned people of the dangers of liquor, cards, and “bad women.” He was reported to have written one of the songs himself, although that is not substantiated. It’s said that DeGraff’s guilt or innocence was so controversial at the time, that singing the song in public was banned in the interest of preventing riots. DeGraff’s execution was the last public hanging in Forsyth County, North Carolina.

Murder by Gaslight tells the story well. You can also find accounts here, here, and here. Dan Smith published an excellent article in the New York Times on the DeGraff case, DeGraff’s descendants, and the legacy of the song. It includes a non-traditional performance of the song by Randy Furches, a great-great-nephew of DeGraff. Furches adds some spoken word elements to the song, speaking from the voice of his dead relative, and paints in a few details not included in most folk versions.

Poor Ellen Smith from Randy Furches on Myspace.

How firm a foundation?

“Ellen Smith” [Laws F11] and “Poor Ellen Smith are the two main strains of the song emerging in the wake of the murder and execution. The first is generally set to the tune of the hymn “How Firm a Foundation” (“Protection”), and is a more extended ballad. One commentator on the song was surprised by the juxtaposition of murder ballad and hymn tune, although we’ve seen before that some folklorists believe that “Omie Wise” was also so arranged at one time. It’s a good move for popularity, if you ask me.

You can find a version of the “Ellen Smith” lyrics on the Terry’s Songs blog. Recordings of this song are a little harder to come by. Here’s one from a collection of Kentucky mountain music.

Laura Cantrell gives a modern, up-tempo take on the “Ellen Smith” version in this recording, despite using the title more associated with the other version. The arrangement dilutes the connection to “How Firm a Foundation,” but you can hear it still. Consistent with the lyrics cited by Terry’s Songs, Cantrell’s version represents a musically accompanied case for DeGraff’s defense.

Of the two forms of the song, this on has become the minority report, and the shorter “Poor Ellen Smith” has instead emerged as a bluegrass murder ballad standard. Traces of the lyrics of the first song, though, make their way into various performances of the more abbreviated version–as do hints of the original hymn tune, although they are often more difficult to discern as the song kicks up in tempo. Peggy Seeger gives us an example of both of these phenomena.

Although, as I said, it became a bluegrass standard.

Bob Waltz provides one version of the briefer “Poor Ellen Smith” lyrics.

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 De Graff 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.

Stoney (1918-1977) and Wilma Lee Cooper (1921-2011)

As I mentioned, the original “Ellen Smith” song was likely set to the tune of “How Firm a Foundation.” The other song, “Poor Ellen Smith” had the same meter, but perhaps not the same tune. Having listened to dozens of versions of the song, there are few that I can’t sing the “How Firm a Foundation” to, although some bear less family resemblance than others. Once you get it into your head, though, it’s hard to shake it.

As I mentioned in discussing “Omie Wise,” the technical name behind the “How Firm a Foundation” tune is “Protection,” and the lyrics of the hymn talk about God’s protection. It strikes me particularly strongly in the “Omie Wise” case, but also here, that that thematic interplay of the tune with a story in which the victims surely felt betrayed and/or without protection makes the song all the more evocative.

Neko Case’s version above doesn’t really follow the “How Firm a Foundation” tune, but you can hear its echoes in hers and most others. For my money, Case’s version is a direct descendant of Wilma Lee Cooper‘s. Cooper errs a little in giving the age of the song in her introduction to it in the video below, but tears the roof off the song in this 1979 performance. I’ll let it wrap up our first installment on “Poor Ellen Smith.”

Next up

As I’ve mentioned, the tune varies among different performers. The lyrics also vary, but as a rule, all “Poor Ellen Smith” versions involve DeGraff proclaiming his innocence or, like the one written by his great-great nephew, offering a confession of the crime. One glaring exception to that rule about the lyrics will be the subject of our next post–a genuine outlier to the typical lyrical themes. Finally, my third post on “Poor Ellen Smith,” will explore more of the musical variations to the more or less customary lyrics, offering up some great performances along the way.