Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for July 26, 2015

King was also the original namesake of King County, Washington whose seat is Seattle (now it’s named after Martin Luther King, Jr. since 1986).

Strange about the Mary Ellis grave. It’s currently a parting lot for a Loews movie theater and Famous Dave’s Restaurant. It’s also believed her story is the inspiration for the Looking Glass song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”.

But why didn’t they didn’t just move her grave elsewhere instead of go through the trouble of building around it?

From Weird NJ.com

For the past 187 years Mary Ellis has resided on what she probably thought would always be a stately piece of property overlooking the scenic Raritan River. In actuality though, Mary had really just been monopolizing a prime parking space for the better part of the Twentieth Century. The legend of how poor Mary came to rest beneath the asphalt of the Loews Theater parking lot on Route 1 in New Brunswick is a romantic, and ultimately tragic story, not unlike a Bronte novel.As the story goes, Mary Ellis came to New Brunswick in the 1790’s to stay with her younger sister Margaret. It was around this time that she met and fell in love with a man who was a sea captain, and former Revolutionary War officer. The Captain sailed down the Raritan and out to sea one day, vowing that when he returned he and Mary would be wed. He even left her his beloved horse to look after in his absence.Every day after her captain’s departure, Mary would ride his horse from her sister’s house, on what is now Livingston Avenue, down to the banks of the river to eagerly await a glimpse of her lover’s returning ship. In 1813, she purchased a parcel of farmland overlooking the river from which she would maintain her daily vigil. Mary died there fourteen years later in 1828, still faithfully anticipating her captain’s return. She was buried on the property, and was eventually joined by with her sister and other family members, and according to local lore, the captain’s horse.The plot, which was originally surrounded by an ornate wrought iron fence, lay in a rural, wooded setting well into the mid-20th Century. Over the years the ownership of the land changed hands several times, and the neighboring area has given bloom to a blight of strip malls, and discount outlets. Mary’s farm was paved over, and for many years was the site of the Route 1 Flea Market.Stranded high and dry in the Market parking lot, Mary’s four-foot-high grave remained adrift in a sea of tarmac and bargain hunter-mobiles. For most of that time the small, grassy island was enclosed by a chain-link fence and sporadically maintained by Mary’s descendants. Often though, the weeds on the plot were so tall that one could park right next to the grave without even noticing the two-and-a-half-foot tall marble head stone inside.After the demolition of the Route 1 Flea Market some twenty years ago the property was redeveloped and became the Loews Cineplex. The parking lot was re-graded, making Mary’s grave stand even taller than before. Still parked in a prime spot, Mary’s grave has been given a new retaining wall, and a few small trees have even been planted close by. The final resting-place of Mary Ellis seems to have been given an extended lease. It’s just too bad the theater isn’t a drive-in.A curious side note to the story of the parking lot grave is that it was believed by many to be the inspiration for the 1972 AM radio smash hit “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by the band Looking Glass. The local rumor was that the band, which was formed at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, wrote and recorded the song as an ode to Mary Ellis. “Brandy,” according to the song’s lyrics, was in love with a ship captain who could not leave his true love, the sea, to marry her. Sounds like a familiar tale, doesn’t it? Look Glass band members have denied there is any connection between “Brandy” and Mary.

I was pretty sure about it, then looked it to be absolutely sure, that King was Franklin Pierce’s running mate.