The date of birth matches exactly, however, he lists his place of birth as France. This is where Elmer's adventures in crime start hitting the public record.On his WWI draft registration, he lists his name as Elmer Louis De Gray. From here, Elmer headed west and in 1915 he was living in Silver Cliff, Colorado. Although he was sentenced for two years, he was released a little early on November 13, 1910. At some point prior to 1909, Elmer was sent to the Nebraska State Industrial School, similar to juvenile detention today.On May 21, 1909, Elmer was admitted to the Missouri State Penitentiary following a conviction for Grand Larceny. From a fairly young age, Elmer got himself on the wrong side of the law, and he would stay there for pretty much his entire life.īy 1900, the Gray family was living in Nebraska. Elmer was from Butler, Missouri and was born on March 12, 1881. It was fairly difficult to trace Elmer's life as he told many different stories and would use different versions of his name, along with aliases. Who Was Elmer Gray?īefore we get to how Lilly and Elmer ended up together, let's get to know Elmer Gray, considering he's the person responsible for her epitaph. It was here that she would meet her third husband, the eccentric Elmer Louis Gray. In 1950, for reasons I haven't been able to figure out, Lilly Zimmerman packed up and headed for Salt Lake City. It seems they might have met through work as the 1930 census states they both worked at a post office in Chicago.Lilly and Frank were married for 17 years until his death in August 1943. Much closer in age, Lilly was 46 by this time and Frank was 50. The widowed Lilly married Frank Zimmerman in November of 1926. Her second marriage took place less than a year after Richard's death. A marriage of convenience perhaps? Their marriage didn't last very long however as Richard died a few years later in December 1925. A 29 year age difference, and she would have been considered an “old maid” back then. At the time of their marriage, he was 67, and she was 38. Walsh in Chicago, Illinois on October 8, 1918. Shortly after the death of her twin sister, Lilly would marry for the first time. Lilly meanwhile was unmarried and still living at home. A side note, Traverse City State Hospital is rumored to be one of the most haunted places in Michigan. In July 1898 Ethel was admitted to the Traverse City State Hospital (asylum) where she would stay until her death in 1917 at the age of 36. She had a twin sister, Ethel Sarah Gray, and Lilly and Ethel were the sixth and seventh of eight children.According to census records the Gray family immigrated to Benzie, Michigan in 1880, following the birth of Lilly and Ethel. Interestingly enough, her maiden name was also Gray, which tended to make tracing her life slightly more difficult. Lilly Edith Gray was born on June 4th, 1880 in Manvers, Ontario, Canada. Let's explore what is known about the life of Lilly E Gray. Other versions of the legend along this same thread were that she was involved in Satan worship, or murdered by Satanists during a ritual. He was denounced by mainstream media at the time for being "the wickedest man in the world" as well as a Satanist. There were others that suggested she was a follower of The Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley. The most popular legend was that she was must have been murdered in some horrific fashion. In the years following her death, legends began to grow about the meaning behind the epitaph. Lilly's, on the other hand, only leaves people scratching their heads about what happened to this elderly lady who died almost 65 years ago, in 1958. Usually, epitaphs are a heartwarming tribute to the deceased. Whoa! Right?! This is not your average epitaph. That is until you get close enough to read what it says: Located on the far northeast edge of the cemetery in Plot X_1_169_4E, Lilly's red, flat granite headstone blends in with the surrounding headstones and is fairly unnoticeable. She must have had a really ornate eye-catching headstone, right? Not quite. The draw to Lilly's grave has nothing to do with who she was, and everything to do with the epitaph on her headstone. Since that first burial, there have been more than 124,000 people buried here.The Salt Lake City cemetery is also home to a few unusual legends such as Emo's Grave, Jean Baptiste, and Lilly Gray. The cemetery saw its first burial in September 1847, however it wasn't until January of 1851 when an ordinance was passed incorporating Salt Lake City, that the cemetery was officially organized. The Salt Lake City Cemetery, located in downtown Salt Lake is a 120-acre cemetery with over 9 1/2 miles of old, narrow roads.
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