Echoes of Appalachia

Next month marks the 107th anniversary of a chilling tragedy that still haunts the quiet hills of the Smoky Mountains. In February 1913, the small community of Jonathan Creek was shaken by the disappearance of a two-year-old girl, Roberta Putnam, and the subsequent discovery of her body in a remote rock crevice. The story of Nance Dude, the woman at the heart of this dark chapter, is one that’s hard to forget, even after all these years.

In 1913, a child’s body was discovered in a rock crevice on Adtate Knob—a small, isolated spot in the mountains of western North Carolina. The child was two-and-a-half-year-old Roberta Putnam, and the discovery sent shockwaves through the tight-knit mountain community. It was the kind of tragedy that raised immediate questions: how did she end up there, and who was responsible for her death?

The story that followed would become one of North Carolina’s most chilling and enduring mysteries.

Nance Dude, a 64-year-old woman found herself at the center of the investigation. The cold winter morning in February 1913 had started like any other, but this day would be different. Nance had taken her granddaughter, Roberta, up the mountainside near their home, but she returned alone. Roberta was gone, and no one knew where. Days later, her body was discovered, hidden away in the rocks.

What happened on that mountain, and why would Nance have taken her granddaughter’s life? The answers, it seemed, were not as straightforward as they appeared.

In the months that followed, Nance was arrested, tried, and ultimately convicted of second-degree murder for Roberta’s death. She pled guilty. Her sentence was harsh: 15 years of hard labor. At 65, she entered prison, her face etched with age and hardship, but that was not the end of the story. In 1929, when Nance was 80 years old, she was paroled—her health and frailty perhaps a factor in the decision. She would go on to live another 24 years, dying at the age of 104.

Yet, despite the conviction and the years of punishment, something about the story of Nance Dude never quite sat right with the people who lived through it.

The folklore surrounding her crime began to spread, and like many legends, it took on a life of its own. Over time, details became distorted, and the truth became clouded by speculation. Some whispered that Nance was simply a poor, mentally unstable woman from the mountains, driven to madness. Others claimed that she had committed the unthinkable out of cold, calculated malice. But those closest to the case never fully believed it.

As it turns out, there may have been more to Nance’s story than what met the eye.

Throughout her trial, Nance had maintained a consistent account of events. She claimed that she had given Roberta to a traveling preacher—one who had apparently known Nance from her earlier days working with him, though the details are hazy. This preacher, she said, had brought her a child, one bitten by a rattlesnake. He was desperate for her to heal the child using her knowledge of mountain remedies, but despite her best efforts, the child died. As the story goes, the preacher, having no other choice, decided to leave Roberta with Nance. At that time, Roberta’s parents were reportedly struggling financially and had sent their daughter to Nance, instructing her to take the child to a state home.

But in the most curious twist of all, Nance said she convinced the preacher to switch the dead child with Roberta. The dead child was left behind, hidden in the cave, where it was later found two weeks after Roberta’s disappearance. Some believe that the preacher had simply abandoned both children, leaving Nance to handle the aftermath, while others argue that Nance was trying to cover up a grave mistake.

The truth remains uncertain. No one can ever know for sure what happened in the depths of Nance Dude’s mind or what led her to make the decisions she did on that fateful day. Was it an act of mercy gone tragically wrong, or was it something far darker? The complexities of her life and the story surrounding her crime defy easy explanation. In the end, it’s a tale that raises more questions than it answers.

The mystery of Nance Dude continues to haunt the Smoky Mountains. While she lived a long life after her release from prison, her name is forever associated with one of the most chilling tales to come out of early 20th-century North Carolina. Perhaps in time, as more details are unearthed, the truth will emerge—until then, we’re left with the strange and tragic story of a woman whose actions, whether born of desperation or something darker, will never be forgotten.

-Tim Carmichael