The Tribulations of Sarah Ann Legg: A Novel Based On the Sensational Murder Trial in Clay County in 1905

A novel based on a murder in Clay County, West Virginia. Sarah Ann Legg was accused of murdering her husband, Jay, in 1904 in the tiny community of Ira which is located a few miles up the Elk River from the town of Clay.

Sarah was the first female resident of the newly constructed jail and was charged with first degree murder.

The trial became something of a sensation because first degree murder without mercy meant that she would be hanged. No woman had ever been hanged in West Virginia.

Needless to say, the regional newspapers began to spread the word.

The incident inspired a folk song entitled The Ballad of Jay Legg. This ballad, like Tom Dooly, is still around and has kept the incident alive. As previously mentioned, this account of the murder and it's aftermath is a novel. Some details have been added in order to make the story more readable. But most of it is based on historical fact and the transcript of the trial itself.