The Dark and Sinister Legend of The Candy Lady Clara Crane
Similar to the Joseph Ball article I posted earlier this year, the legend of Clara Crane is rooted in truth but has snowballed into one of the creepiest urban legends to come out of Texas. How much of the Candy Woman is the truth, and just how much of it is fiction? Well it’s hard to tell since there isn’t a whole swirling about online about the infamous widow Clara Crane. While her story may be more urban legend than fact, it’s still an interesting bit of history that makes a great campfire story.
Born in 1871, Crane married an older man, and together they had a daughter. In 1893 tragedy struck the Crane household when their young daughter Marcella died in a farming accident. Clara took the death of their daughter hard. She became withdrawn and angry when she found out her husband Leonard had been drinking at the time of the accident.
For two years, Clara sat on this anger before deciding she needed to put an end to her suffering. In 1895, Clara laced a few caramel candies- her husband’s favourite- with poison and gave them to him. The next day a neighbour of the Cranes came by to check on Clara after noticing her ‘shaken and frenzied state.” Her neighbour promptly called the police; upon arrival, Clara started becoming aggressive toward County Sheriff Fred Springer, who escorted Clara to the police station.
