7 "Upon the Foot-Stool of God" Working Conditions of Prostitutes
1. [Smith], Madam Restell , 47-48, 34. [BACK]
2. Berg, Remembered Gate , 80. [BACK]
3. Foster, New York by Gas-Light , 62. [BACK]
4. Walkowitz, "We Are Not Beasts," 56. Sanger and others used the term "dangerous classes" although Stansell says it was not a term used widely in the United States until after the Civil War (Sanger, History of Prostitution , 484). See also Foster, New York Naked , 160; Stansell, City of Women , 200. [BACK]
5. Ellington, Women of New York (1869); McCabe, Lights and Shadows (1872), New York By Sunlight (1882), Secrets of The Great City (1868); Crapsey, Nether Side of New York (1872); Smith, Sunshine and Shadow (1868), Wonders of a Great City (1887). See also Griesinger, Lebende Bilder (1858). [BACK]
6. Herald , 12, 13 April 1836. [BACK]
7. Eastman, Fast Man's Directory , 5. [BACK]
8. Gentleman's Directory , 36. [BACK]
9. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 557-58. [BACK]
10. Ellington, Women of New York , 208. [BACK]
11. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 560-61. [BACK]
12. Sun , 4 May 1840. [BACK]
13. Sun , 29 May 1834. [BACK]
14. Ellington, Women of New York , 167-72, describes the decline in status and comforts but says most prostitutes entered at the second or third level. In History of Prostitution , 557, Sanger notes that many in the second class originally entered in the first. [BACK]
15. Eastman, Fast Man's Directory , 5, 10, 13, 18; Free Loveyer, Directory to Seraglios , 21, 22; Sanger, History of Prostitution , 554. [BACK]
16. See U.S., Census, 1850, Wards 5 and 8; N.Y., Census, 1855, Wards 5 and 8. The necessity for business skills is stressed by George Kneeland in Commercialized Prostitution In New York City , 92. [BACK]
17. Sun , 25 January 1847; Superior Court, "Ralph Lockwood v. Julia Brown," January 1847. [BACK]
18. Kate Ridgley had substantial fire damage from heating pipes, and Adeline Miller had to make extensive repairs to her house after rowdies attacked her brothel. [BACK]
19. Kimball, Her Life , 193. [BACK]
20. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 558; Herald , 4 January 1850; Police Gazette , 12 January 1850. [BACK]
21. Kneeland, Commercialized Prostitution , 92-93; Sun , 30 December 1833, 21 March 1834. Ellington says madams were "cold and cynical" ( Women of New York , 235); see also Hart, The New Yorkers , 97. [BACK]
22. Rosen, Lost Sisterhood , 90-91; Walkowitz and Walkowitz, "We Are Not Beasts," 204-5. Both Julia Brown and Rosina Townsend provided for the funerals and burials of prostitutes killed in their houses ( Tribune , 1 June 1841; Herald and Sun , April 1836). [BACK]
23. See Chapter 8 for examples. [BACK]
24. Superior Court, "Forrest v. Forrest," 3 January 1852, 354-57. [BACK]
25. Free Loveyer, Directory to Seraglios , 18, 23, 27-28; Sun , 16 April 1834; 12 March 1835. [BACK]
26. Advocate of Moral Reform , 15 April 1836; Sun , 12 June 1834, 22 June 1836. [BACK]
27. Sun , 16 April 1834. See also Sanger, History of Prostitution , 541, 551; Foster, New York in Slices , 24. [BACK]
28. See Rosen, Lost Sisterhood , 94-98; Gilfoyle, "City of Eros," 415, 459 n. 5. Gilfoyle said it was not uncommon for prostitutes to see over one hundred men in the course of a week, and a conservative number would be ten men per day. He lists several prostitutes who "efficiently entertained a remarkable volume of clients." "Bojtta" saw 185 men in one week, "Lina" saw 273 men in two weeks, and ''Darlie" 360 in three weeks. [BACK]
29. The concept is from E. P. Thompson, "Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism," 56-97. [BACK]
33. Herald , 10 June 1836, 20 September 1842; Sun , 12 February 1842; Police Gazette , 11 July 1846, 3 January, 8, 15 August 1846. See Chapter 4 for other case examples and use of law, and see Chapter 6 on the issue of moving and for a discussion of the possible relationship of moving to the small number of cases filed. [BACK]
34. Walling, Recollections , 579-80, gives a description of the 1850s. He notes that it was illegal to harass clients. [BACK]
35. Advocate of Moral Reform , January, February 1835, 15 July 1836, notes both upper- and lower-level houses treated missionaries well. See also McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 598-600. Sometimes relations became overly friendly, as when missionary John Cough got "lost" and spent several days in a brothel ( Herald , 13-16 September 1845; Lockwood, Manhattan Moves , 146; Hone, Diary , vol. 2, 746 [entry for 15 September 1845]). [BACK]
36. Transcript , 23 April 1836. [BACK]
37. Herald , 23 April 1836. [BACK]
38. Herald , 9 August 1848. [BACK]
39. See Chapters 5 and 8. For other theft cases, see Sun , 5 November 1835, 25 June 1836, 7 May 1840; Tribune , 16 January, 25 October, 18 December 1843; Herald , 23 January 1844, 7 January, 28 July, 8, 12 September 1845, 12 May, 15 August 1850; Police Gazette , 10 January 1846. [BACK]
40. See Sun , 28 February 1834, 26 January 1835, 6 October 1836, 6 January 1842, and other cases in Chapters 5, 8, and 9. [BACK]
41. Sun , 6 October 1836. [BACK]
42. Sun , 3 May 1834, 26 January 1835. [BACK]
43. Police Gazette , 14 February 1846; Sun , 14 April 1840. [BACK]
44. Herald , 10 October 1850, and subsequent issues through January 1851. [BACK]
45. Police Gazette , 14 February 1846; New Era , 5 September 1839; Sun , 21-22 January, 7 March 1840. [BACK]
49. Gentleman's Directory , 47. [BACK]
50. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 573, 586-89, 646, 672, 675; [Smith], in Madam Restell , 40, argued that having syphilis ought to be a misdemeanor and noted that the only reason not to cure venereal disease was that fear of disease deterred some sexual activity. By the end of the century, medical examinations were being performed in many brothels, and prostitutes were paying houses $1-$3 weekly for treatment (Gilfoyle, "City of Eros," 459 n. 5). [BACK]
51. Goldman, Gold Diggers , 130-31. [BACK]
52. Gentleman's Directory , 54. [BACK]
53. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 633-34, 594-97; Herald , 6 January 1850; Sun , 13 April 1840. [BACK]
54. Sun , 13 April 1840. [BACK]
55. Studies consulted by Rosen indicated that the percentage of prostitutes contracting disease ranged from 10 to 86.5 ( Lost Sisterhood , 99). [BACK]
56. CGS, People v. Robinson , 19 April 1836, Coroner's Inquest, 10 April 1836. [BACK]
57. HRCH, no. 1623 (1835); Sanger, History of Prostitution , 454-55; Hart, The New Yorkers , 96-97; Walkowitz, "We Are Not Beasts," 83. [BACK]
58. Venereal disease was a problem for all women, as Strong illustrated in his diary with the story of Jake LeRoy's respectable wife, who died from the disease she got from her husband ( Diary , vol. 3, 69 [entry for 4 December 1860]). [BACK]
59. Linda Gordon, "Voluntary Motherhood: The Beginnings of Feminist Birth Control Ideas in the United States," in Clio's Consciousness Raised: New
Perspectives on the History of Women ," ed. Mary Hartman and Lois Banner, 64; Mohr, Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy , 1800-1900, 83-85, 196-97. [BACK]
60. Linda Gordon, Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control In America , 28, 45, 62. Rosen, in Lost Sisterhood , 99, says that Progressive prostitutes knew when they were in their fertile period. See John S. and Robin M. Hailer, The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America , 114-17. [BACK]
61. Gentleman's Directory , 54. [BACK]
62. Goldman, Gold Diggers , 126; Gordon, Woman's Body , 42. [BACK]
63. Gentleman's Directory , 54; [Smith], Madam Restell , 5. [BACK]
64. Mohr, Abortion in America , 26-39, 49-50; Sun , 18 September 1841. By 1860 the ratio was 1 abortion for every 4 births. [BACK]
65. Police Gazette , 14, 21 February 1846; Herald , 10, 14 October 1850; Mohr, Abortion in America , 117-27; [Smith], Madam Restell , 21. [BACK]
66. After the war there was a stricter enforcement of the abortion law and a retrenchment in the practice of abortions. Mohr, Abortion in America , 46-53, 86-94, 116-70, attributes this partly to a concern by nativist leaders that a majority of the women having abortions were white, native-born, married, and Protestant—those whose offspring would have been "preferred" as future citizens. [BACK]
67. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 478-79.
68. Ibid., 483, 482; Mohr, Abortion in America , 79, quoting the 1868 report of the Registrar of Vital Statistics. [BACK]
67. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 478-79.
68. Ibid., 483, 482; Mohr, Abortion in America , 79, quoting the 1868 report of the Registrar of Vital Statistics. [BACK]
69. McDowall's Journal , May 1833, 37. [BACK]
70. Hailer, The Physician and Sexuality , 216, 284; Goldman, Gold Diggers , 127; Herald , 12 February 1844; Sun , 17-18 January 1840; Mohr, Abortion in America , 6-12, 53-69. [BACK]
71. Police Gazette , 28 February 1846; Sun , 18 September 1841; New Era , 17 August 1839. On trials and convictions, see Mohr, Abortion in America , 231. [BACK]
72. Taylor, "Diary," 14 February 1846; Police Gazette , 31 January, 14 February 1846. [BACK]
73. Ellen Gallagher lived in a number of houses that were associated with prostitution and assignation. She claimed this style of life was a result of her seduction by Davis. The various houses were listed in Sun , 17, 18, 20, 22 January 1840.
74. Ibid. [BACK]
73. Ellen Gallagher lived in a number of houses that were associated with prostitution and assignation. She claimed this style of life was a result of her seduction by Davis. The various houses were listed in Sun , 17, 18, 20, 22 January 1840.
74. Ibid. [BACK]
75. On the law, see Mohr, Abortion in America , 124; Police Gazette , 3 October 1846. [BACK]
76. Walkowitz, "We Are Not Beasts," 238. [BACK]
77. Prostitutes had 72.9 percent incidence of sperm-agglutinating antibodies, whereas the incidence in a group of single women was 20 percent. Prevention of exposure to semen led to a fall in antibody levels. The pregnancies of women before they became prostitutes resulted in 68.5 percent live births, while afterwards, their pregnancies resulted in 34.3 percent live births (Walter Schwimmer et al., "Sperm Agglutinating Antibodies and Decreased Fertility in Prostitutes," 192-200). [BACK]
78. See DBA, City Inspector's Report , vol. 24, doc. 11 (1857). Abandoned infants were sent to the Almshouse, where few lived beyond one year. In the late nineteenth century, the head physician at the Almshouse said that the 96 percent infant mortality rate at the institution was "not as bad as it looks" because many infants were sickly when they arrived (Duffy, History of Public Health , vol. 2, 211). See also McDowall's Journal , May 1833; Advocate of Moral Reform, 15 January 1836; Herald , 27-28 April 1849; Sun , 21 June 1836.
In his diary, Philip Hone recorded a poignant story of the discovery of an infant abandoned on his doorstep during a dinner party at which he was entertaining some of New York's most illustrious citizens. The guests were charmed by the "lovely week-old infant," but also cautious, as Hone indicated when he wrote:
My feelings were strongly interested, and I felt inclined at first to take in and cherish the little stranger; but this was strongly opposed by the company, who urged, very properly, that in that case I would have twenty more such outlets to my benevolence. I reflected, moreover, that if the little urchin should turn out bad, he would prove a troublesome inmate; and if intelligent and good, by the time he became an object of my affection the rightful owners might come and take him away. So John Stotes was summoned, and sent off with the little wanderer to the almshouse.
Given the Almshouse statistics quoted above, the infant faced a dismal, and most likely short, future (Hone, Diary , vol. 1, 370-71 [entry for 8 December 1838]). [BACK]
79. Sun , 29 October 1841. See Chapter 9 for more on prostitutes as mothers. [BACK]
80. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 542, 541.
81. Ibid., 543.
82. Ibid., 540-41; Ellington, Women of New York , 227; McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587-97. [BACK]
80. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 542, 541.
81. Ibid., 543.
82. Ibid., 540-41; Ellington, Women of New York , 227; McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587-97. [BACK]
80. Sanger, History of Prostitution , 542, 541.
81. Ibid., 543.
82. Ibid., 540-41; Ellington, Women of New York , 227; McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587-97. [BACK]
83. Ellington, Women of New York , 309-10.
84. Ibid., 220, 227-28, 461, 469; McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587. [BACK]
83. Ellington, Women of New York , 309-10.
84. Ibid., 220, 227-28, 461, 469; McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587. [BACK]
85. [Smith], Madam Restell , 32-33. [BACK]
86. McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587. [BACK]
87. Ellington, Women of New York , 223. [BACK]
88. Strong, Diary , vol. 1, 203 (entry for 16 May 1843). [BACK]
89. Goldman, Gold Diggers , 132. [BACK]
90. McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587; Ellington, Women of New York , 223-29. [BACK]
91. [Smith], Madam Restell , 32; Strong, Diary , vol. 1, 203 (entry for 16 May 1843); Sanger, History of Prostitution , 541-45; Greisinger, Lebende Bilder . [BACK]
92. Sun , 9 July 1836. See also the case of Cynthia Stage, Sun , 19 September 1836. [BACK]
93. [Smith], Madam Restell , 32-33. [BACK]
94. Lewis Saum, The Popular Mood of Pre-Civil War America . [BACK]
95. Ellington, Women of New York , 328.
96. Ibid., 288; McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587. [BACK]
95. Ellington, Women of New York , 328.
96. Ibid., 288; McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 587. [BACK]
97. McCabe, Lights and Shadows , 584. [BACK]
98. Times , 8 October 1851. See also Tribune , 21 July 1842; Advocate of Moral Reform , September 1835. See Chapter 9 for more on depression and suicide. [BACK]
99. Heyl, Madam as Entrepreneur , 197-235; Ellington, Women of New York , 190-91. [BACK]
100. Rosen, Lost Sisterhood , 102-4, says that prostitutes in the twentieth century used one name only. [BACK]
101. See references to the Jewett, Holland, and Gage trials, Chapters 1, 5, 7, 8. [BACK]
102. Sun , 21 October 1842; Herald , 17 September, 21 October 1842. [BACK]