Stephen Foster wrote a song about Nellie Bly. We had a Nell at our nursing home to whom I used to sing “Nellie Bly” when I gave her her meds. lol
Foster was such a great songwriter. I didn’t know he wrote one about her.
Suzy Bogguss did some great covers of his songs on her American Folk Songbook album.
The named her after the Nelly Bly Foster song, written in 1850.
In Jimmie Rodgers Frankie and Johhny, Johnny was fooling around on Frankie with a girl named Nellie Bly.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kNq532Cyhu0