after she travelled to Alexandria with her husband. On her deathbed, she made the people surrounding her swear an oath that they would never reveal her identity. The promise was kept; her grave, a table-like structure in St. Paul's Cemetery is marked "Female Stranger". Her ghost is said to haunt the cemetery and Room 8 of Gadsby's Tavern, the room in which she died. The unusual monument and story surrounding it have long been noted as a peculiar oddity of the town. 19th and 20th century In the decade of the 1890's Frederick Schwab (a veteran who had served in the Alexandria Artillery also known as Kemper's Battery) was proprietor of a saloon located in the original 1785 tavern portion of Gadsby's Tavern at 132 N. Royal Street (See 132 street number with “Sal.” for Saloon at the site of the 1785 tavern in the 1891, 1896, and 1902 Sanborn Maps of Alexandria, VA.). He lived there with his family until his death in 1901. By the turn of the 20th century, the building no longer operated as a hotel. Once considered one of the finest establishments of its kind in the country, the building had fallen into complete disrepair. The rooms that had been the setting for political dinners, grand balls, and elaborate public affairs were relegated to housing odd shops and rental apartments. On May 21, 1917, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City purchased some of Alexandria's most important pieces of history, the ballroom woodwork. In doing so, they inadvertently preserved the original historic ballroom when it was moved to New York. The Met negotiated with the owners of the 1792 City Tavern & Hotel to purchase architectural elements from the hotel. The Met purchased the unique musicians gallery, cornice, door frames, and mantelpieces from the ballroom. Two mantelpieces from the City Hotel dining rooms and the exterior doorway were also sold. On November 11, 1924, the American Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art — featuring the permanent installation of the recreated Gadsby's Tavern Ballroom with original woodwork (now named the "Alexandria Ballroom") — opened to the public Famous guests George Washington frequently visited the taverns, and twice attended the annual Birthnight Ball held in his honor. Other prominent customers of the tavern included John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson was feted in 1801 with a banquet in the