Prostitution in the Gilded Age

by Kevin Murphy

  [115] “Births, Marriages and Deaths, Vital Statistics, Hartford, CT,” Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford.

  [116] U.S. Census Reports, 1870, 1880.

  [117] Sanger, 158, 524.

  [118] Woolston, 1921, 66.

  [119] “The Girls,” Cincinnati Daily Star, July 25, 1878, 1.

  [120] “Births, Marriages, and Deaths,” Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford.

  [121] “The Rev. Samuel A. Davis,” Hartford Courant, March 18, 1897, 5.

  [122] Ibid.

  [123] “Article 5—No Title,” Hartford Daily Courant, November 1, 1860, 2.

  [124] “The Rev. Samuel A. Davis,” Hartford Courant, March 18, 1897, 5.

  [125] “Births, Marriages, and Deaths,” Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford; “John E. Higgins. . .,” Hartford Courant, December 11, 1900, 7.

  [126] “Death of Thomas A. Hollister,” Hartford Courant, December 28, 1894, 3.

  [127] “Brothels Must Go,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 22, 1898, 68.

  [128] Ibid.

  [129]48th Annual Report of the Park Commissioners of the City of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, the Smith – Linsley Co., 1908, 8-17, State Archives, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. Bushnell Park was accepted by the voters in 1854, but not officially dedicated until 1868.

  [130] Ibid; Baldwin, 1999, 20-29.

  [131] “Soap & Candle Making Business,” Connecticut Courant, August 15, 1810, 5; “Nichols & Humphrey,” Connecticut Courant, November 12, 1822, 4.

  [132] “Obituary: Lemuel Humphrey,” Hartford Daily Courant, October 7, 1881, 2.

  [133] Hartford Land Records, Hartford City Hall, Main Street, Hartford, Vol. 187, p. 297, June 2, 1882; “Pen and Ink Sketches of the Brothels of Sin . . .,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 31, 1896, 11.

  [134]“Hartford’s Immorality,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 31, 1896, 11.

  [135]Ibid.

  [136] Hartford Land Records, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. Vol. 26, p. 58, January 9, 1806; Vol. 42, p. 306-7, September 25, 1822; Vol. 185, p. 701, April 12, 1882; Vol. 187, p. 297, June 2, 1882; Vol. 198, p. 30, March 25, 1885; “Obituary 1—No Title,” Hartford Daily Courant, August 20, 1853, 2; “Atlas of The City of Hartford and the City of West Hartford,” Springfield: L. J. Richards & Co., 1909; “Atlas of Hartford,” Springfield: L. J. Richards & Co., 1896; City Atlas of Hartford –1880, Philadelphia: G. M. Hopkins, C.E., 1880. Maps courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford.

  [137] “Fire Loss 1—No Title,” Hartford Courant, November 29, 1886, 2.

  [138] Hartford Land Records, Vol. 228, p. 649, March 27, 1894, Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford.

  [139] Murphy, Kevin, 2010, 176; Murphy, Kevin, 2014, 137-8.

  [140] “Hartford . . . Then and Now,” Hartford Courant, March 31, 1957, SM13.

  [141]“A Full Dock,” Hartford Daily Courant, June 3, 1895, 3.

  [142] “Strike at Miss ADA’s,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, April 11, 1897, 18; “Obituary, Adella E. Leffingwell,” Hartford Courant, November 18, 1901, 4; U.S. Census Records, 1900.

  [143]“ No. 5 Arch Street Raided, Hartford Courant, August 23, 1892, 1; Hartford Land Records, City Hall, Main Street, Hartford, Vol. 226 p. 707, April 29, 1893.

  [144] Ibid.

  [145] Ibid.

  [146] Ibid.

  [147] Ibid.

  [148] U.S. Census Reports, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930; Ancestry.com; FamilySearch.com (LDS); Geer’s City Directories 1845-1863; “Hartford Fifty Years Ago,” Hartford Daily Courant, January 14, 1857, 2; “City Intelligence,” Hartford Daily Courant, November 16, 1863, 2; “Article 7—No Title,” Hartford Daily Courant, November 17, 1863, 2; “Article 4—No Title,” Hartford Daily Courant, January 27, 1862, 2; “The Riverfront To Lose Landmark,” Hartford Courant, December 16, 1904, 5; “Deaths: Mary Ann Atherton (Sept 25),” Hartford Courant, September 26, 1901, 5.

  [149] “Waterfront Once Busy Place,” Hartford Courant, June 27, 1908, 11.

  [150] “Four Fires,” Hartford Daily Courant, March 2, 1885, 2.

  [151] “Tenderloin in Tears,” Hartford Courant, March 17, 1899, 1.

  [152] No Title, Boston Evening Transcript, August 15, 1883, 2.

  [153] “The River Front To Lose Landmark,” Hartford Courant, December 16, 1904, 5; Landmarks Torn Down By Commission,” Hartford Courant, November 29, 1907, 15.

  Chapter 4 – The Demimonde

  [154] “Caused Consternation,” Bridbeport Sunday Herald, June 7, 1896, 11.

  [155] Rosenzweig, 1983, 95.

  [156] Baics, 2001, 54.

  [157] Baics, 2001, 65.

  [158] “’Diamond Lucy’ Chapman,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, October 2, 1904, 11.

  [159] Ibid.

  [160] “Died In Agony,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, October 2, 1904, 3.

  [161] “Death of Lucy Chapman,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, September 28, 1904, 4.

  [162] “Fight In A House of Ill Fame,” Hartford Daily Courant, February 18, 1878, 2.

  [163] “House of Ill Fame Raided,” Hartford Daily Courant, March 25, 1878, 2.

  [164] “Honoring The Dead,” Hartford Courant, October 10, 1891, 2.

  [165] “Lucy Chapman’s Case,” Hartford Daily Courant, June 25, 2014, 2.

  [166] “Society of the Sinners,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, March 14, 1897, 8.

  [167] “Raid of Miss Chapman,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, January 3, 1897, 9.

  [168] “ A Gilded Den.” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, March 27, 1898, 6.

  [169] “Prindle Street Reformed,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 8, 1898, 7.

  [170] “Lucy Chapman’s Career Closed,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, February 15, 1903, 1.

  [171]“Death of Lucy Chapman,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, September 28, 1904, 4; “Died In Agony,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, October 2, 1904, 3.

  [172]“The Girl of the Period,” The Charleston Daily News (repr. from London Saturday Review), April 18, 1868, 1.

  [173] Ibid.

  [174] Ibid.

  [175] Ibid.

  [176] Ibid.

  [177] “The Latest Folly,” Evening Star (DC), September 27, 1879, 1.

  [178] Ibid.

  [179] Ibid.

  [180] Ibid.

  [181] “Auditorium Sold…,” Hartford Courant, February 25, 1905, 12.

  [182]“Change of Location,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, January 29, 1899, 11.

  [183] “Masquerade Ball,” Hartford Courant, January 24, 1899, 11.

  [184] “The Malley Trial, “ Hartford Daily Courant, May 2, 1882, 2.

  Chapter 5 – Tom Hollister’s Passing

  [185] The 1880 map of G. H. Hopkins C. E (Philadelphia) and the 1896 map of L. J. Richards & Co. of Springfield, Massachusetts, show very nicely the differences of the footprints between Lemuel Humphrey’s old home on Maiden Lane, and the Hollister’s creation of a parlor house at 76 Wells Street, Hartford. Also, the layout of the old Hollister place and the changes the Hartford Saengerbund made in 1910 can be gleaned from “New Building For Saengerbund,” Hartford Courant, March 11, 1910, 4. (Jennie Hollister died on April 29, 1900 and the Hartford Saengerbund bought the house from Ada Leffingwell’s estate on October 12, 1902.) The maps mentioned earlier can be seen at the Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford.

  “The District Telephone,” Hartford Daily Courant, January 27, 1879, 2,

  [186] “AUCTION, AUCTION,” Hartford Courant, December 10, 1901, 7; “New Building For The Saengerbund,” Hartford Courant, March 11, 1910, 6.

  [187] Ibid.

  [188] Woolston, 1921, 132.

  [189] Sanger, 1858, 549-556.

  [190] Woolston, 1921, 64-5.

  [191] Kneeland, 1913, 8.

  [192] “Death of Lucy Chapman,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, September 28, 1904, 4; “Died In Agony,” Bridgeport Sunday Hera
ld, October 2, 1904, 3.

  [193] Sanger, 1858, 549-556.

  [194] “Death of Thomas A. Hollister,” Hartford Courant, December 28, 1894, 3.

  [195] “The Late E. M. Reed,” Hartford Courant,” March 15, 1892, 4; Murphy, Kevin, 2010, 34.

  [196] “Death of Thomas A. Hollister,” Hartford Courant, December 28, 1894, 3; “Death of Thomas B. Seymour,” Hartford Courant, September 4, 1868, 2; “Will of Thomas A. Hollister,” Hartford Courant, January 11, 1895, 4.

  [197] “After Jo Bullock’s Cash,” (Bridgeport Sunday Herald, September 16, 1900, 10.)

  [198] Thomas A. Hollister,” The Hartford Weekly Times, January 3, 1895, 6; Cedar Hill Cemetery, Lot 147, Section 5, Maple Avenue, Hartford.

  [199] “History of the Sixteenth Connecticut Volunteers,” http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31867/31867-h/31867-h.htm (Accessed August 30, 2014).

  [200] “Doctoring in the Field of Battle,” Hog River Journal, Spring 2007; Chemetzky, Jules. Jewish American Literature” A Norton Anthology. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2001, 94-5; “Dr. Nathan Mayer,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, July 11, 1912, 4.

  [201] “Thomas A. Hollister,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 30, 1894, 11.

  [202] “Will Prefer Charges. . .,” Hartford Courant, April 9, 1895, 4; “Complaint Against Westcott,” Hartford Courant, April 24, 1895, 6; “Westcott Wanted Delay,” Hartford Courant, May 25, 1895,6; “Westcott Sued For Divorce,” Hartford Courant, June 7, 1900, 4.

  [203] “East Hartford News,” Hartford Courant, June 6, 1895, 9.

  [204] Section 5, Cedar Hill Cemetery, Maple Avenue, Hartford.

  Chapter 6 – To Every Season

  [205] “Barnum’s Great Show Coming,” Hartford Courant, April 25, 1887, 2; “Barnum,” Hartford Daily Times, April 29, 1873, 2.

  [206] “The President ‘Ducking,’” New York Times, December 29, 1889, 5.

  [207] U.S. Census Reports, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900.

  [208] FamilySearch.org; U.S. Census Reports, 1850, 1860.

  [209] U.S. Census Reports, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900; FamilySearch.org; “Billy West’s Ambition,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 18, 1898, 35.

  [210] FamilySearch.org; “Solicits Shady Business,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 19, 1895, 11.

  [211] FamilySearch.org; “Officer Down Memorial Page,” www.odmp.org/officer/12424-special-deputy-marshal-henry-smith (accessed June 26, 2014)

  [212] Ibid.

  [213] “Jo Bullock’s Wine Closet,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 26, 1895, 11; “Hartford’s Immorality,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 31, 1896, 11.

  [214] U.S. Census Reports, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900; FamilySearch.org; “Solicits Shady Business,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 19, 1895, 11; “Shadows From A Sundial,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 7, 1899, 10; “Death of A Well-Known Minstrel,” Hartford Courant, February 17, 1902, 1.

  [215] “Solicits Shady Business,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 19, 1895, 11;

  [216] “One More Blasted Bud,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, March 3, 1895, 11.

  [217] Ibid.

  [218] Ibid.

  [219] “The Problem Solved…,” Hartford Courant, January 8, 1902, 6; “Says Bank Has Run…,” Hartford Courant, March 30, 1906, 13.

  [220] Ibid.

  [221] “Maggie Doyle’s Chum,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 22, 1898, 93.

  [222] “Protesting Innocence To The Last…,”The Evening Independent, July 30, 1915, 1; “New York Murder…,” Eugene Register-Guard, July 16, 1962, 4.

  [223] Ibid; “Billy West’s Ambition,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 18, 1898, 35; “With Her Lover,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 22, 1898, 11.

  [224] Ibid.

  [225] Ibid.

  [226] “Brothels Must Go,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 22, 1898, 68.

  [227] “Billy West’s Ambition,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 18, 1898, 35; “Shadows From A Sundial,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, August 21, 1898, 10.

  [228] “Hartford’s New Tenderloin, “Bridgeport Sunday Herald, August 21, 1898, 35.

  [229]“Law and Order League,” Hartford Daily Courant, November 19, 1884, 2; “Strikes at South Norwalk” Hartford Daily Courant, September 1, 1886, 4; “Law and Order League,” Hartford Daily Courant, November 19, 1884, 2; “Organized For Business,” Hartford Courant, November 21, 1893,2.

  [230] “Police Captains Vindicated,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, February 3, 1901, 7.

  [231]“Where is the Law and Order League?” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, June 14, 1896, 10.

  [232] “Drug Stores Raided,” Hartford Courant, January 13, 1902, 1; “Fourteen Raids,” Hartford Courant, February 16, 1903, 9.

  [233]“Foote Makes A Raid,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, February 22 1903, 10.

  [234]“State Police Bill,” Hartford Courant, March 11, 1903, 8; May, 1903—House Bill 247, (State police), Longo, Jerry. Connecticut State Police. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, 7.

  [235] “Tenderloin in Tears,” Hartford Courant, March 17, 1899, 1.

  [236] Ibid.

  [237] Ibid.

  [238] Ibid.

  [239] Ibid.

  [240] “Tenderloin in Tears,” Hartford Courant, March 17, 1899, 1: “New Haven Athletic Club,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, February 20, 1898, 10.

  [241] “Brass City Full of Bad Blondes,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, July 31, 1898, 25.

  [242]Miller, Eleanor M. and Romenesko, Kim and Lisa Wondolkowski . Prostitution in the United States. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 1993.n.p.; Woolston, 25-26.

  [243] “Highest Fine Ever Paid,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, July 16, 1899, 7.

  [244]“By Authority,” Dallas Herald, June 15, 1872, 1.

  [245]“Laws That Harm The State,” The Memphis Daily Appeal, July 4, 1868, 1.

  [246]“City Ordinances,” The Louisiana Democrat, October 30, 1895, 1.

  [247]“Metzler Gets His Dose,” The Indianapolis Journal, August 29, 1903, 1.

  [248]“The Chinese Must Suffer,” Daly Alta California, March 16, 1890, 8; “Judgments Affirmed,” San Francisco Call, May 17, 1890, 2.

  [249] “Shadows From A Sundial,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 7, 1899, 10.

  [250] Ibid.

  [251] Ibid.

  [252] Ibid; US Census Records, 1900, 1910, 1920; “Divorce Decrees,” The Day (N.L.), February 20, 1914, 7.

  [253]“Brothels Must Go,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 22, 1898, 68.

  [254] “Buried The Liquor,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, August 20, 1899, 9; Rocky Hill Center Historic District, http://www.livingplaces.com/CT/Hartford_County/Rocky_Hill_Town/Rocky_Hill_Center_Historic_District.html, (Accessed September 3, 2014)

  [255] Sanger, 1858, 487.

  [256] “Syphilis From 1880 to 1920: A Public Health Nightmare And The First Test Of Medical Ethics,” http://www.uri.edu/artsci/com/swift/HPR319UDD/Syphilis.html

  (Accessed October 18, 2014); http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/sti-estimates-fact-sheet-feb-2013.pdf (Accessed October 18, 2014)

  [257] “Bristol’s Sarsaparilla,” New York Daily Tribune, September 10, 1842, 1.

  [258] “Kidwell’s . . .,”Daily Evening Star (DC), March 15, 1854, 1; “Samaritan’s . . .,“ Daily Evening Star (DC), February 26, 1867, 1; Rosadalis,” Charleston Daily News, June 5, 1869, 1; “Dr. Mott’s . . . .,” Evening Star (DC), June 14, 1871, 1; Cuticura . . . ,” Memphis Daily Appeal, October 7, 1879, 1; “Acker’s . . .,” Benham Weekly Banner (TX), March 17, 1886, 1; “Africana,” Anderson Intelligencer (SC), September 1, 1897, 1.

  [259] “U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study At Tuskegee,” http://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/syphilis.htm, (Accessed 7-18-2014)

  [260] “Salvarsan,” The Sun (NY), February 13, 1914, 1; “Efficacy and Use of Salvarsan,” Bismarck Daily Tribune, November 28, 1911, 1.

  [261] Benedek, Thomas D. MD. History of the Medical Treatment of Gonorrhea. (paper) University of Pittsburgh. http://www.antimicrobe.org/h04c.files/history/Gonorrhea.asp (Acces
sed 7-21-2014)

  “High Death Rate. . .,” Hartford Courant, February 14, 1917, 17.

  [262] State Census Figures. Office of Connecticut’s Secretary of State.

  [263] “Notorious House Raided Monday,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, February 18, 1906, 6; “Raids Were Evidently Preceded By Tips,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, December 3, 1906, 6..

  [264] “Highest Fine Ever Paid,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, July 16, 1899, 7.

  [265]“Highest Fine Ever Paid,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, July 16, 1899, 7.

  Chapter 7 – Two Random Events

  [266] “Hartford Yacht Club,” Hartford Courant, April 24, 1895, 6; “How The Fire Raged,” Hartford Courant, May 18, 1895, 1.

  [267] Hartford, Conn. As A Manufacturing, Business and Commercial Center. Published by the Hartford Board of Trade, 1889. (Printed by Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford, CT. 20-45.

  [268] Ibid.

  [269] “Hartford Yacht Club,” Hartford Courant, April 24, 1895, 6.

  [270] “Bombarded By Boys,” Bridgeport Sunday Herald, May 22, 1898, 56.

  [271] “Three Of A Kind,” Sacramento Daily Union, September 23, 1892, 3.

  [272] Records of Cedar Hill Cemetery, Maple Avenue, Hartford.

  [273] U.S. Census Records 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920; Records of Cedar Hill Cemetery, Maple Avenue, Hartford; “Attendant To Aetna Life Head…,” Hartford Courant, April 10, 1938, 6; “C. L. Custis Of Aetna Life Dies at 90,” Hartford Courant, October 8, 1910, A10.

  [274] “New Bridge, Sure,” Hartford Courant, August 20, 1894, 5.

  [275] “The Bridge’s Weakness . . . ,”Hartford Courant, January 3, 1895, 3.

  [276] “The End Of The Bridge,” Hartford Courant, May 18, 1895, 8.

  [277] “Old Bridge Gone,” Hartford Courant, May 18, 1895, 1.

  [278] “Police Commissioners,” Hartford Daily Courant, August 4, 1880, 2.

  [279] “The Bridge Gone,” Hartford Courant, December 23, 1895, 1.

  [280] “Disastrous Flood,” Hartford Courant, March 2, 1896, 1.

  [281] “New Temporary Bridge,” Hartford Courant, June 13, 1896, 5.