Notorious Victoria
Page 36
5. On June 27, shortly after . . .: WCW, July 25, 1874, p. 11; The Beecher-Tilton Scandal, p. 39.
6. Tilton told the panel . . .: WCW, Aug. 8, 1874, pp. 5–7.
7. He also detailed his relationship with Victoria . . .: WCW, Aug. 8, 1874, p. 6; Waller, p. 132; The Beecher-Tilton Scandal, pp. 77, 100.
8. He said that all association with Woodhull . . .: WCW, Aug. 8, 1874, p. 6.
9. She was hounded by reporters . . .: New York Herald, July 12, 1874, p. 3; “The Beecher-Tilton Scandal, pp. 121–23.
10. “Correspondent—’Do I understand . . .” Shaplen, p. 146; The Beecher-Tilton Scandal, pp. 119–20.
11. Later, while not denying . . .: Shaplen, p. 146.
12. Beecher denied every bit . . .: Shaplen, pp. 195–96; Hibben, pp. 271–72; WCW, Aug. 8, 1874, p. 11; WCW, Aug. 29, 1874, pp. 3–4.
13. Elizabeth Tilton sided with Beecher: Shaplen, p. 188; Hibben, p. 267; New York Herald, July 12, 1874, p. 3; WCW, Aug. 8, 1874, pp. 7, 11.
14. By August 27, 1874, the Plymouth Church . . .: WCW, Sept. 12, 1874, p. 11.
15. Tilton swore out a complaint . . .: Shaplen, p. 199.
16. The Associated Press at one point . . .: Shaplen, p. 199.
17. One reporter’s stakeout position . . .: Shaplen, p. 205.
18. Another reporter went so far . . .: Sun article reprinted in The Beecher-Tilton Scandal, p. 106.
19. He drafted a “letter” . . .: WCW, Oct. 25, 1873, p. 9.
20. “Nearly a year ago a lonely . . .”: WCW, Oct. 25, 1873, p. 9.
21. The Treat pamphlet accused . . .: Treat, pp. 1–16.
NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 1875
Pages 246–47
1. In January 1875, she was back . . .: WCW, Jan. 30, 1875, pp. 5–6.
2. Increasingly she was forced to cancel . . .: WCW, Feb. 20, 1875, p. 4; WCW, March 13, 1875, p. 4.
3. In April 1875, the Weekly ran an open appeal . . .: WCW, April 3, 1875, p. 4.
4. By the spring, perhaps driven . . .: WCW, May, 1, 1875, p. 4.
5. In the May 6 Weekly . . .: WCW, May 6, 1875, p. 4.
6. Victoria’s remaining followers accused her . . .: WCW, May 6, 1875, p. 4; WCW, June 16, 1875, pp. 5–6; WCW, July 24, 1875, p. 5.
NEW YORK CITY, MAY 1875
Pages 248–51
1. On May 11, Victoria was subpoenaed . . .: The Sun, May 12, 1875, p. 3; Shaplen, p. 243.
2. By 11:30 the crowd had become . . .: The New York Tribune, May 13, 1875, p. 3.
3. At 11:35 the court door . . .: New York Commercial Advertiser article reprinted in WCW, May 29, 1875, p. 7.
4. “One of the most marked . . .”: The New York Tribune, May 13, 1875, p. 3.
5. “Scandal folks” . . .: The Sun, May 13, 1875, p. 3.
6. “A greater phenomenon than . . .”: New York Herald, May 13, 1875.
7. “Mrs. Woodhull was apparently . . .”: The Sun, May 13, 1875, p. 3.
8. Beecher’s lawyers were disappointed . . .: The New York Tribune, May 15, 1875.
9. “My Dear Victoria . . .”: The Sun, May 15, 1875, p. 3.
10. “My dear Victoria: Emma . . .”: The Sun, May 15, 1875, p. 3.
11. “Victoria: I have a room . . .”: The Sun, May 15, 1875, p. 3.
12. Beecher’s crestfallen lawyers . . .: New York Daily Tribune, May 13, 1875, p. 3; Chicago Tribune, May 13, 1875, p. 8.
13. She was escorted home . . .: The Sun, May 13, 1875, p. 3.
14. After 112 days . . .: Shaplen, p. 259; Hibben, p. 273.
15. Declined to swear on the Bible . . .: Hibben, p. 277.
16. The church raised $100,000 . . .: Hibben, pp. 281–82.
17. Tilton did not have the resources . . .: Hibben, p. 283.
NEW YORK CITY, OCTOBER 1876
Pages 252–55
1. She was applauded in the press . . .: WCW, Sept. 18, 1875, p. 6; WCW, Oct.2, 1875, p. 6.
2. In September, Victoria officially resigned . . .: WCW, Sept. 4, 1875, p. 6.
3. Keep the association alive . . .: Braude, p. 172.
4. “Pecuniarily the paper has . . .”: WCW, Nov. 13, 1875, p. 4.
5. Financial depression in 1876 . . .: Harris, p. 6.
6. She would later say . . .: Woodhall & Claflin’s Journal, Jan. 29, 1881, pp. 4–5.
7. He once said that it was work . . .: Roger Deane Harris, p. 78.
8. “It is further ordered and adjudged . . .”: Woodhall & Claflin’s Journal, Jan. 29, 1881.
9. As stated in the code . . .: Greeley and Owen, p. 189; Macrae, p. 443.
10. In 1876, the country was once . . .: Sutherland, p. 263.
LONDON, AUGUST 1877
Pages 256–59
1. An examination of his holdings . . .: Hoyt, pp. 218–20.
2. He was the richest man in America . . .: Gordon, p. xxiii.
3. Flags were flown . . .: Hoyt, p. 212.
4. The reading of Vanderbilt’s will . . .: Hoyt, pp. 218–20.
5. The Vanderbilt children felt . . .: Hoyt, pp. 220–21.
6. William Vanderbilt, who stood to lose . . .: Vanderbilt, p. 61.
7. In August, Victoria, her two . . .: Vanderbilt, p. 61.
8. Took a home at 45 Warwick Road . . .: SIU; Sachs, p. 318.
9. “God only knows what we . . .”: SIU, Tennessee Claflin to Buck Claflin, ca. 1877.
10. She wrote to Vanderbilt . . .: SIU, Tennessee Claflin to William Vanderbilt, ca. 1877; Stasz, p. 68.
11. For September she lined up dates . . .: HM; London Times, Dec. 12, 1877, p. 8.
12. “I see a slight woman . . .”: Brief Sketches, p. 22.
13. “Held precisely the same views . . .”: BPL, reprint of John Biddulph Martin obituary, New York Press, March 24, 1897.
LONDON, OCTOBER 1883
Pages 260–67
1. Martin had been prepared . . .: HM.
2. “As soon as woman raises . . .”: The Humanitarian, March 1895.
3. “Knowing the horror . . .”: The Humanitarian, March 1895.
4. “England, we believe . . .”: The Humanitarian, March 1895.
5. Martin and Victoria’s courtship . . .: Underhill, pp. 279–81.
6. In 1878, the Beecher scandal erupted . . .: Hibben, p. 292.
7. Henry Bowen also came out . . .: Shaplen, p. 266.
8. She issued a statement . . .: “Victoria Claflin Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin, Revival of a Page of American History,” Westminster Times, Jan. 11, 1890.
9. She began to call herself . . .: Woodhall & Claflin’s Journal, Jan. 29, 1881, p. 4.
10. Martin, who lived at the exclusive . . .: HM.
12. Martin was reluctant to commit . . .: Underhill, p. 281.
12. “There were only two . . .”: SIU, JBM notes.
13. By November 1880 they were making . . .: Underhill, p. 281.
14. “I am very sorry . . .”: BPL, JBM to his parents, Dec. 1, 1880.
15. Tennie said later . . .: SIU, Tennessee Claflin interview.
16. The Treat pamphlet had . . .: Underhill, p. 282.
17. She published one issue . . .: Woodhall & Claflin’s Journal, Jan. 29, 1881.
18. Victoria took her campaign . . .: The Cuckoo, April 14, 1881, and April 21, 1881, p. 6.
19. “In the London Court Journal . . .”: The Cuckoo, April 28, 1881, p. 9.
20. He swooned at the sight of her . . .: Roger Deane Harris, p. 80.
21. Which she acknowledged as “justifiable” . . .: Woodhall & Claflin’s Journal, Jan. 29, 1881, p. 4.
22. “The grandest woman in the world . . .”: Roger Deane Harris, p. 90.
23. Victoria and John Martin were married . . .: SIU, JBM-VCW marriage certificate.
24. “I think that my telegram . . .”: SIU, JBM telegram to his parents, Nov. 3, 1883.
25. The marriage certificate indicated . . .: SIU, JBM-VCW marriage certificate.
LONDON, OCTOBER 1885
Pages 268–70
1. Its gardens were bursting . . .: New York Herald, Oct. 23, 18
92; The World, Feb. 17, 1897, p. 12.
2. The interior was resplendent . . .: New York Herald, October, 23, 1892; The World, Feb. 17, 1897, p. 12.
3. The Martins’ household staff . . .: Sachs, p. 320.
4. “My dear little wife . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, n.d.
5. “Darling Wife, I turned back . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, n.d.
6. “Darling, I was so grieved . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, n.d.
7. “My darling husband . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, n.d.
8. “Precious darling . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, n.d.
9. In August 1884, Francis Cook . . .: Underhill, pp. 278, 287.
10. She half warned, half threatened . . .: SIU.
11. She also enlisted the help of Cook’s dead . . .: Sachs, p. 320.
12. Predictably, the reports were . . .: The World, Oct. 25, 1885, p. 3.
13. “My father, Reuben B. Claflin . . .”: SIU, VCW notes to The Sun, Nov. 20, 1885.
14. Scotland Yard was even called in . . .: Sachs, pp. 321–22.
NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 1886
Pages 271–74
1. The previous month she had become Lady Cook . . .: SIU; Underhill, p. 278.
2. She even received a request for money . . .: SIU.
3. Cook and Martin joined forces . . .: Ross, Charmers and Cranks, p. 130; “Victoria Claflin Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin, Revival of a Page of American History,” Westminster Times, Jan. 11, 1890.
4. They also offered five hundred dollars . . .: SIU, The Sun, April 14, 1876.
5. Byrnes was a formidable foe . . .: Morris, pp. 230–31.
6. “She has a large circle of acquaintance . . .”: Byrnes, p. 375.
7. On April 2, 1886, the agency . . .: SIU, letter to JBM from Moony & Boland Detective Agency, June 25, 1886.
8. “I am lonely tonight love . . .: BPL, VCW to JBM, n.d.
9. Belva Lockwood made derogatory . . .: SIU, JBM notes, May 13, 1890.
10. A Miss Schoenberg authored . . .: The Talebearer; HM, JBM diary, Jan. 17, 1890.
11. Even after meeting the policeman . . .: Sachs, p. 337.
12. “Don’t you think you are following . . .: SIU.
13. They wounded his pride . . .: The Humanitarian, May 1897, p. 333.
14. “Be strong & brave . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, n.d.
LONDON, JANUARY, 1893
Pages 275–78
1. A convention planned for April . . .: Hamilton College Library, unsigned letter to Mrs. Nettie Sanford Chapin, Chairman of the National Equal Rights Committee, April 27, 1892.
2. “Shattered in health . . .”: Brief Sketches, p. 26.
3. Given the name “stirpiculture” . . .: Rugoff, Prudery and Passion, pp. 210–11.
4. Her ideas raised eyebrows . . .: New York Morning Advertiser, June 1, 1892.
5. “She was busy with manuscripts” . . .: New York Herald, Dec. 23, 1892.
6. “Hum on display at Paddington . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, Sept. 1, 1893.
7. “The gestation period is over . . .”: Brief Sketches, p. 5.
8. She and Martin arrived in New York . . .: Sachs, pp. 363–64; Ross, Charmers and Cranks, p. 132.
LONDON, FEBRUARY 1894
Pages 279–89
1. In February 1893, John Martin . . .: BM, JBM letter to the Principal Librarian, Feb. 8, 1893.
2. Did not feel satisfied . . .: BPL, JBM to VCW, March 13, 1893.
3. They were in court . . .: BM, notes, Jan. 23, 1894, pp. 3–5.
4. If the museum were found guilty . . .: BM, notes on British Museum trustees’ receipt of Principal Librarian’s suggestion that library be closed if case goes against the museum, Feb. 10, 1894, p. 19.390; London Times, Feb. 28, 1894, p. 9.
5. Sir Richard Webster said his clients . . .: BM, Feb. 23, 1894, pp. 2–22.
6. “It is next to impossible . . .”: London Times, Feb. 24, 1894, p. 11.
7. “And would it be true . . .:” BM, Feb. 23, 1894, pp. 107–39.
8. The courtroom erupted in laughter . . .: London Times, Feb. 24, 1894, p. 11.
9. “Did you in Indianapolis . . .”: BM, Feb. 23, 1894, p. 141–42.
10. “I think for a short time you were . . .”: BM, Feb. 23, 1894, p. 109.
11. “You were held to bail?” . . .: BM, Feb. 23, 1894, pp. 151–52.
12. “Will you allow me a few words . . .”: BM, Feb. 23, 1894, p. 115.
13. “It may not be necessary . . .”: BM, Feb. 23, 1894, p. 171.
14. Baron Pollock announced . . .: London Times, Feb. 24, 1894, p. 11.
15. “But to allow this lady to make . . .”: London Times, Feb. 26, 1874, p. 4.
16. The defense ended by asking . . .: London Times, Feb. 27, 1894, p. 3.
17. “The case which has occupied . . .”: London Times, Feb. 28, 1894, p. 3.
18. “The Principal Librarian reported . . .”: BM, trustees’ notes, May 12, 1894, p. 19.462.
19. John Martin paid . . .: BM, trustees’ notes, July 14, 1894, p. 19.504.
20. “Dearest little wife, keep . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, Nov. 10, 1894.
26. “Dearest little wife, I have been . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, Dec. 6, 1894.
LONDON, JANUARY 1895
Pages 290–92
1. “It is not always easy to draw . . .”: The Humanitarian, Jan. 1895.
2. The Humanitarian attacked the cruelty . . .: The Humanitarian, Jan. 1896.
3. “Internal dissensions . . .”: The Humanitarian, July 1896.
4. “Undoubtedly the most injurious of all . . .”: The Humanitarian, 1898.
5. “Thus it comes about . . .”: The Humanitarian, Aug. 1895.
6. “[I am] working hard to undo the wrongs . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, n.d.
8. One was bound in heavy stock . . .: SIU.
9. “Sitting here today in this north . . .”: Woodhull-Martin, Autobiography.
LAS PALMAS, MARCH 1897
Pages 293–96
1. “Mouth like a furnace . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, May 5, 1896.
2. Diagnosed with . . .: BPL, JBM note, Oct.7, 1896.
3. “I am glad to hear from you . . .”: BPL, JBM to his father, Oct. 24, 1896.
4. In his diary, John hinted . . .: HM, JBM diary, Jan. 13, 1897.
5. “I have determined to get to Tenerife . . .”: BPL, JBM to his father, Jan. 12, 1897.
6. “My own dear little wife. . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, Jan. 13, 1897 (letter incorrectly dated as 1896).
7. “My precious husband . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, Jan. 15, 1897.
8. “My darling husband here . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, Jan. 25, 1897.
9. “Dear little wife, I wonder . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, Feb. 1, 1897.
10. “Darling husband . . . Oh could . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, received Feb. 26, 1897.
11. “Precious husband live . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, Feb. 1897.
12. “When coming home . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, Feb. 25, 1897.
13. “Dear little wife, I shall . . .”: BPL, JBM to VCW, March 6, 1897.
14. “Very ill but no . . .”: BPL, hotel manager, Las Palmas, to VCW, March 18, 1897.
15. “My precious husband, I only heard . . .”: BPL, VCW to JBM, n.d.
16. “Martin worse in danger . . .”: BPL, Doctor Melland to VCW, March 1897.
17. “Afraid Martin sinking . . .”: BPL, Doctors Melland and Collam, to VCW, March 20, 1897.
18. “Your dear husband died . . .”: BPL, telegram to VCW, March 20, 1897.
19. “Dear Mrs. Martin, I am sending . . .”: BPL, Dr. Melland to VCW, March 21, 1897.
20. His body was brought back to London . . .: BPL, Robert Holland to VCW, April 4, 1897.
21. Cremated in Woking on April 6 . . .: Stinchcombe, n.p.
22. “Chivalrous, long-suffering . . .”: The Humanitarian, May 1897, p. 334.
LONDON, DECEMBER 1901
Pages 297–300
1. In July 1897, John Martin’s . . .: Stinchcombe, n.p.
2. Victor
ia’s inheritance . . .: SIU, The Statist, July 24, 1897, p. 146; Worcester Journal, July 22, 1897.
3. “Amazing good fortune” . . .: Stinchcombe, n.p.
4. “Daughter to be recognized as . . .”: Woman, Dec. 22, 1897, p. 15.
5. “To-day I see you standing alone . . .”: SIU, George Plommer to VCW.
6. Busts of Seneca and Minerva . . .: The World, Feb. 17, 1897, p. 12.
7. The spread of infection . . .: The Humanitarian, Feb. 1899; The Humanitarian, Jan. 1900.
8. “A man in the act of speaking . . .”: The Humanitarian, May 1900.
9. “Whole colonies of microbes . . .”: The Humanitarian, July 1900.
10. “By a strange irony she allied . . .”: HM, VCW notes.
11. Richard responded . . .: SIU, Richard Martin to VCW, Feb. 14, 1900.
12. “Dear sirs, in reference to the report . . .”: SIU, Robert Holland to Messrs. Steven and Drayton, n.d.
13. In Feb. 1901, she announced . . .: The Humanitarian, Feb. 1901.
14. “Farewell. By the Editor . . .”: The Humanitarian, Dec. 1901.
BREDON’S NORTON, AUGUST 1914
Pages 301–8
1. The village to which Victoria moved . . .: Stinchcombe, n.p.
2. “Sad and neglected state” . . .: Stinchcombe, n.p.
3. “Sleepy hollow has been subjected . . .”: Cheltenham Examiner, 1906.
4. Evans had warned Victoria . . .: Stinchcombe, n.p.; HM.
5. “No one next to our Lord . . .”: Stinchcombe, n.p.
6. “Mrs. Martin’s surroundings are dead . . .”: HM, VCW notes.
7. She had discovered the joy of bicycling . . .: The Humanitarian, Dec. 1895.
8. She was the first woman to drive . . .: Stinchcombe, n.p.
9. To “motor from England . . .”: Stinchcombe, n.p.
10. “Little flotilla”: Stinchcombe, n.p.
11. “Exclusive social company of ladies”: Stinchcombe, n.p.
12. “Given her cachet . . .”: Stinchcombe, n.p.