Prostitution in the Gilded Age
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[282] “Briefs in Bridge Suit,” Hartford Courant, April 22, 1897, 7; “Bridge Law Sustained,” Hartford Courant, May 3, 1898, 3.
[283] “New Dry Bridge,” Hartford Courant, March 22, 1899, 3.
[284] “Frisbie or Preston, Which?” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, March 27, 1898, 21.
[285] “Citizens’ Eyes Open,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 16, 1894, 9.
[286] “Hartford’s Awful Shame,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, August 4, 1895, 10.
[287] Ibid.
[288] “Lally, Subduer of Toughs, Dead,” Hartford Courant, December 29, 1906, 13.
[289] “Hartford’s Awful Shame,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, August 4, 1895, 10.
[290]“Ordinance No. 224.” Los Angeles Herald, April 24, 1886, 1; “Evidence Of Seamy Past Dug Out In Downtown LA,” http://articles.latimes.com/1996-05-31/news/mn-10475_1_archeological-evidence, (Accessed 7-28-2014); Sharpless, Megan. Unity in Numbers: The Archeology of the Demimonde (1840-1917). (paper) University of Wisconsin, Senior Thesis, May 2008.
[291] “A Special Charge,” Daily Alta California, April 13, 1872, 1; Kerr, Courtney. Geographical History of Prostitution in San Francisco. Journal of Urban Affairs, San Francisco State University, 1994, 54.
[292]Some More Valuable Expert Testimony . . .” St. Paul Globe, April 20, 1900, 1 (From Dispatch editorial, January 26, 1900)
[293] Cott, Nancy F. (Ed.). Prostitution, (Munich: K.G. Saur Verlag, GmbH & Co., Walter De Gruyter, Inc., 1993, 219; Woolston, 1921, 29-30.
[294] Woolston, 1921, 104.
[295] “Hartford’s Immorality,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 31, 1896, 11.
[296] Ibid.
[297] Ibid.
[298] Ibid.
[299] “Yesterday’s Sensation,” Salt Lake City Herald, February 7, 1896, 1.
[300] Ibid.
[301] Ibid.
[302] “New Bridge Meeting,” Hartford Courant, February 8, 1902, 7.
[303] “The City Government,” Hartford Courant, March 25, 1902, 9.
[304] “It Is To Be A Stone Bridge,” Hartford Courant, March 11, 1903, 10.
[305] “Caisson Work Begins,” Hartford Courant, March 2, 1904, 3.
[306] “Work On The Bridge,” Hartford Courant, August 7, 1903, 4.
Chapter 8 – The End Of An Era
[307] “Wealth Did McGuire No Good,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 2, 1900, 11.
[308] Murphy, Kevin, 2013, 52-3.
[309] “Obituary 6—No Title,” Hartford Courant, April 30, 1900, 8; Cedar Hill Cemetery, Lot 147, Section 5, Maple Avenue, Hartford.
[310] “Frank McGuire Found In Cleveland. . . .,” Hartford Daily Courant, May 22, 1900, 5; Passenger Lists – Ancestry.com; U.S. Census Records, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900.
[311] Ibid.
[312] Ibid.
[313]“Frank McGuire Sick”, Hartford Daily Courant, June 14, 1900, 2; “Mrs. Hollister’s Estate,” Hartford Daily Courant, October 11, 1900, 4; “Francis McGuire Dead,” Hartford Courant, November 28, 1900, 3.
[314] “Will & Inventory of Jennie G. Hollister,” April 26, 1893, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford; Hartford Land Records, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Vol. 222, p. 604, July 1, 1892; Vol. 264, p. 203, February 7, 1899.
[315] Last Will and Inventory of Jennie G. Hollister, April 26, 1893, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford.
[316] “Jennie Hollister’s Will,” Hartford Courant, May 8, 1900, 4; “Mrs. Hollister’s Estate” Hartford Daily Courant, October 11, 1900, 4; “Will of Mrs. Jennie G. Hollister,” Hartford Daily Courant, May 5, 1900, 5; “Will of Mrs. Jennie G. Hollister,” Hartford Daily Courant, May 5, 1900, 5. .
[317] There are a million ways to compare wages and cost of living numbers over the decades, so the author has simply gone by average weekly wage in 1900 and in 2014. Using government statistics, the average weekly paycheck in 1900 was $9.40, and in 2014 it is $848.00. In other words, the weekly wage has risen by a factor of 90 times. Therefore, the roughly $38,000 that Jennie Hollister left in 1900 would be worth $3,420,000 today. This does not include the value of health and retirement benefits, paid sick days, vacations and maternity leave, none of which existed in 1900. Nor does it take into account the whopping debt of the US government in 2014, all of which could value Jennie Hollister’s estate much higher in today’s dollars.
[318] “Wealth Did McGuire No Good,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 2, 1900, 11; Report of Joan McNulty of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island. Dated: June 9, 2014; “Frank McGuire Will”, Hartford Daily Courant, December 7, 1900, 16.
[319] “An Undertaker’s Bill…” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, June 24, 1900, 9; “Mrs. Hollister’s Burial,” Hartford Courant, June 19, 1900, 5.
[320] Ibid.
[321] Ibid.
[322] Ibid.
[323] “Hollister Funeral Bill,” Hartford Courant, February 13, 1901, 5.
[324] “After Jo Bullock’s Cash,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, September 16, 1900, 10.
[325] “Claim Against Mrs. Hollister’s Estate,” Hartford Courant, September 14, 1900, 4.
[326] Murphy, Kevin, Water For Hartford, 2010, 56-162.
[327] “S.E. Clarke, East Hartford Lawyer Dies,” Hartford Courant, July 10, 1935, 4; Marquis, Albert Nelson, 1915, 1164; “Mrs. Start Sues Hollister Estate,” Hartford Courant, December 28, 1900, 4.
[328] “Mrs. Start’s Claim: She Wants $15,000 From The Hollister Estate,” Hartford Courant, May 22, 1901, 4.
[329] “Mrs. Start Gets Judgment For $800,” Hartford Courant, May 28, 1901, 16.
[330] Ibid.
[331] “Received An $800 Verdict,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, June 2, 1901, 10.
[332] “Investigation Promised by Mayor,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, October 21, 1900, 11; “Mrs. Hollister’s Property Sold”, Hartford Daily Courant, July 12, 1900, 14.
[333] “Obituary, Adella E. Leffingwell,” Hartford Courant, November 18, 1901, 4.
[334] “Classified Ad 3—No Title,” Hartford Courant, December 9, 1901, 7.
[335] “Hartford . . . Then and Now,” Hartford Courant, March 31, 1957, SM13.
[336] “Saengerbund Has Semi-Centennial…” Hartford Courant, January 13, 1908, 13.
[337] “Hartford, Connecticut: Landmarks…,” http://hartford.omaxfield.com/citycenter/eastside1959.html. (Accessed August 8, 2014); “White Women Found…,” Hartford Courant, December 9, 1914, 1.
[338] “The Tough Is Going,” Hartford Courant, May 11, 1904, 3.
[339] “Recruiting The Demimonde,” The Pulaski Citizen,(repr. from Nashville Banner), March 4, 1880, 1.
[340] Trial Record. February 2, 1842, 83. Fairfield County Superior Court, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford.
[341] “Tarred and Feathered,” Los Angeles Daily Herald, October 15, 1887, 1.
[342] “Making Hartford County Too Hot For The Criminals,” Hartford Courant, June 28, 1914, X2
[343] “Revenue Marine Cadets,” Lancaster Intelligencer, June 9, 1881, 1.
[344] “Hartford Girls Lured,” Hartford Courant, August 29, 1901, 1.
[345] Address given by Katherine Houghton Hepburn, wife of Dr. Thomas N. Hepburn, on April 15, 1914 at the National Association of Collegiate Alumni in Philadelphia and published later by the Connecticut Women’s Suffrage House in Hartford.
[346] “Patsy Fusco Is Recalled,” Hartford Courant, August 13, 1917, 6; “White Slave Case Before Grand Jury,” Hartford Courant, October 18, 19111, 2; “Mrs. Cohen Gets Five Years In Prison,” Hartford Courant, October 31, 1911, 15.
[347] “Ethel Graves Required By Law. . .,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, June 10, 1906, 8.
[348] Woolston, 1921, 76.
[349] “Judge Garvan Dead,” Hartford Courant, March 5, 1910, 2.
[350] Police Make Raids,” Hartford Courant, December 7, 1903, 12.
[351] “Keeper of Immoral House,” Hartford Courant, January 31, 1905, 3.<
br />
[352] Ibid.
[353] “Must Check Social Evil,” Hartford Courant, April 9, 1906, 6.
[354] “Ethel Graves and Dick Hyland . . .. ,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, April 15, 1906, 8.
[355] Ibid.
[356]“Ethel Graves Required By Law . . . ,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, June 10, 1906, 8.
[357] “Bridge Commission Gets Land North of State Street: City Will Ultimately Own Large Part Of Riverfront,” Hartford Courant, December 7, 1905, 3.
[358] “Police Raid Ten Resorts,” Hartford Courant, July 8, 1907,1; “City Treasury Got A Big Find,” Hartford Courant, July 9, 1907, 7.
[359] A Twenty Year History,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, July 14, 1907, 20.
[360] Ibid.
[361] “City Of New London…,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 17, 1908, 21.
[362] “First Car Crosses Over . . . ,” Hartford Courant, November 30, 1907, 1.
[363] “Temporary Bridge Is Now Closed,” Hartford Courant, December 26, 1907, 4.
[364] “Cost of New Bridge,” Hartford Courant, February 21, 1908, 8.
Hartford had to pay $2,104,000 and towns on the east side of the river $105,000, for a total of $2,309,000, and the Bridge Commission had income from other sources, which was being used.
[365] “Judge Garvan Dead,” Hartford Courant, March 5, 1910, 2.
[366] Murphy, Kevin, 2010, 95.
[367] “Pastors Take Credit,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, July 14, 1907, 19.
[368] “Resorts Everywhere,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, September 1, 1907, 11.
[369] “Mayor Smith Begins Anti-Vice Crusade,” Hartford Courant, December 30, 1911, 1.
[370] Ibid.
[371]Woolston, 1921, 54-55; Social Hygiene, Vol. 4, The Passing of the Red Light District, Mayer, Joseph, 197-209.
[372]
Acknowledgements
This book presented a unique challenge—fleshing out the lives of some of the most marginal characters of the Gilded Age. The madames, prostitutes, streetwalkers, runners—and a huge cast of supporting characters—made every effort to maintain low profiles. Just as Jennie Hollister made sure that no pictures of her survived, so it was with other members of the demimonde. For the most part, they lived fast, died young, and were almost forgotten forever.
As always, I first must thank my parents, Bob and Mary Murphy, for giving me life, a first-class education, and a million incidentals along the way. I have used these words before, but I don’t know how to say it any better.
Along the same lines, I would like to thank a dear friend, Jody Galvin, who edited the final manuscript. It’s a mystery where these guardian angels come from, but I can assure you it is above my pay grade.
Once again, I am grateful for the help and patience of the staff at the Connecticut State Library, particularly Carolyn Picciano, Jeannie Sherman, Mel Smith, Jerry Seagrave, Kevin Johnson, Glenn Sherman, Maria Paxi, Steve Rice, and Kristi Finnan.
Also at the Connecticut State Library, I would like to thank Connecticut State Librarian Kendall F. Wiggin, and Curator Dave Corrigan of the Museum of Connecticut History at the State Library. They have helped more than they know.
At the Hartford History Center—located on the 2nd floor of the Hartford Public Library—I would like to extend a tip of the hat to Brenda Miller and her staff.
Information about Jennie Hollister’s favorite sister, Katie McQueeney—buried in Section 6, Lot 16, at Saint Francis Cemetery, North Providence, Rhode Island—was unearthed by Joan McNulty of the Archdiocese of Providence. I would like to thank her formally for her help.
The staff members of the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford were very helpful in digging out old documents pertaining to the Hollister family. I would particularly like to extend thanks to Executive Superintendent William Griswold, Karen Baker and Beverly Lucas.
The wild doings of the Gilded Age demimonde were recorded in very few places. The Bridgeport Sunday Herald was an outlier. The author would like to thank posthumously the paper’s managing editor, Richard “Dick” Howell (1869-1932) who chronicled this bizarre—some would say unbelievable—time in Connecticut history. Richard Howell started as a newspaper cartoonist, and later turned to editing. Howell appreciated good caricatures, cartoons, and other art, so his papers were always loaded with top quality line art, making them great fun to read. Howell, a very serious writer, was highly regarded by his peers throughout the state. True, he used the florid style of the day, but he didn’t exaggerate. In checking his facts, the author was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy of Howell’s reportage.
This, I’m afraid, is only a representative collection of the people who contributed to Prostitution In The Gilded Age: The Jennie Hollister Story. For those I have inadvertently missed, rest assured that this book would never have come together without your help. Many thanks.
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