Clover was well known for her passion as a photographer, and she became one of the earliest portrait photographers, both taking pictures and developing them in her darkroom. His wife, Marian “Clover” Hooper Adams, was an American socialite, a darling of the elite world in which she lived, and rumored to be the inspiration behind two of writer Henry James’s works: Daisy Miller (1878) and The Portrait of a Lady (1881). But, it wasn’t quite so, Black Aggie was actually a knock off of a statue originally created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the request of Henry Adams (An American political historian and grandson of President John Quincy Adams). So why was the Smithsonian interested in Black Aggie? Sadly, not for her paranormal activities, but because the remaining Agnus family believed she was a priceless piece of art. This became such a common occurrence that her family became concerned about the vandalism to their family plot and finally decided to remove Black Aggie, donating her to the Smithsonian in 1967. Many kids dared each other to break into the graveyard and creep up to Black Aggie during the night. This urban legend led many to believe that sitting on Black Aggie’s lap at the stroke of midnight would result in death. He came upon the scene, Black Aggie sat still and silent in the night, the dead boy rested in her lap, his face locked in the grip of fear. Shrieking, the other two boys fled the scene and caused such a commotion that the on-site caretaker went to investigate. As the pledge perched upon her lap the other two boys saw her eyes begin to glow and her arms reach out to encircle the boy. According to legend, two boys from the local fraternity dared one of their pledge’s to sit on the lap of Black Aggie. The most frequent story about Black Aggie was the death of a frat boy during pledge week. It was said she could cause the death of any unborn baby if a pregnant woman passed too close, and she melded with other folkloric tales in the community – saying Black Aggie in the mirror three times would summon her into the looking glass in a local variation of Bloody Mary. Word of Black Aggie spread, and she became a figure of local horror lore. It was said in the evenings, after the sun began to set, Aggie’s features would become completely shadowed by the shroud draped around her then that her eyes would begin to glow, two tiny red beacons looking out for victims in the night. Rumors spread about Black Aggie’s paranormal activity, her demonic powers further evidenced by the fact that the earth before her figure remained a barren wasteland where even the green grass found throughout the rest of the cemetery grounds feared to grow. Her face covered by a shroud, Black Aggie sat in mourning watching over the Angus family plot. Black Aggie is the local name given to a statue that haunted the Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville, Maryland until it was removed in 1967.

Marcella raggedy ann story 1929