Clara Robertson was a thirteen year old student at the school. One evening she was practicing her scales (which she didn't like), something happened which no one has been able to explain. The date was February 21, 1871. Clara looked up from the keyboard and saw a girl. But this was no ordinary girl. She was wearing a moldy pink dress, and her flesh seemed to be in a bad state of decay. Clara was frightened, and ran from the room screaming. When she told everyone what she had seen, they didn't believe her. The ridiculed her, and made her feel very embarrassed. There had been rumors that the school was haunted by it's founder, Mr. Brinkley, but this didn't match that story at all.

Clara was too frightened to return to the school. Her father, J. R. Robertson, managed to console her, and persuaded her to return. She did, and the girl appeared to her again, one week later. This time it spoke to her, telling her too dig under a stump and recover a jar. She told her father this, so he had some men dig there. They didn't expect to find anything, but were surprised when they really did find a jar! The girl then appeared to Clara again and told her that since she didn't recover the jar, they must wait sixty days before opening it. The group agreed to this.

When Clara described the ghost girl, local residents recognized the description as matching Lizzie Davis. Lizzie Davis was a young girl who had died a decade earlier and been buried in her pink dress. No one could explain how Clara's description could so perfectly match that of a girl who had died when Clara was only three years old.

Word began to spread around Memphis of the amazing events, and newspaper headlines blared the incredible story. Soon curiosity seekers came around, clamoring to see the contents of the mysterious jar. J. R. Robertson decided to open the jar publicly, and charge $1 admission to see the opening. The opening was set to be held at the Greenlaw Opera House, where everyone could see.

Sadly, the opening was not to be. One night J. R. Robertson heard noises outside. He went to investigate. When he didn't return, the servants became concerned, and went to look for him. They found him badly beaten, and laying in a pool of his own blood. He told authorities he had been attacked, and forced to tell his hiding place of the jar (hanging from a rope in seat the outhouse). They had taken the jar.

The guilty parties were never captured, and the jar was lost forever. Clara never saw Lizzie again, but years later she thought she made contact with her during a seance. According to the reports, Lizzie told her the jar contained $2,000 in gold coins, a diamond necklace, some jewelry, and some "valuable papers."

As Clara grew older, she became a nice lady who loved to tell the story of the ghost girl and the jar. Brinkley Female College fell into some tough financial times, and went downhill. Finally it was forced to close down for good. The building that housed the college was finally demolished in 1972.

No one knows what became of Lizzie's ghost. There are a few vague reports of sightings in Memphis, but nothing to get too excited over. Still, this story from the 1870s has withstood the test of time, to become one of the Volunteer State's greatest paranormal tales.

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