The Murder of Omie Wise

Before there were Hippies, there were Folksingers in Washington Square Park in New York. In 1965, I lived in the Village and went to hear the Muse that began a new American Revolution. There is a ballad to be sung in the Rosamond Overturf murders.

Jon Presco

Omie Wise or Naomi Wise (1789–1808) was an American murder victim, who is remembered by a popular murder ballad about her death.[1]

Omie Wise’s death became the subject of a traditional American ballad. One version opens:

Oh, listen to my story, I’ll tell you no lies,
How John Lewis did murder poor little Omie Wise.
In accordance with the broadside balladtradition, lyrics to the original version of the song were written shortly after the murder itself; a 19th century version of the ballad text has recently been discovered.[2][3] The first recorded version of the song was performed by G. B. Grayson, who recorded…