The Adventuress: Murder, Blackmail, and Confidence Games in the Gilded Age

Dramatis Personae

viii Part 4: Chicago, 1902–1915 15. The robber Baron’s Partner 181 16. Death from Afar 188 Part 5: Lagniappe 17. Where Are They Now? 201 Notes 217 Bibliography 234 index 236 Contents ix Acknowledgments � Thanks to all those who provided me with information i could not have accessed otherwise: the family members of some of the people involved in this story for information and pictures; robert Loerzel, author of Alchemy of Bones (on the Luetgert case), for the interview of Dethlef Hansen; and Cook County Archives for the Ketcham and Louderback probate files. my sister, martha Greer, and her lawyer friend, sherry Chancellor, were loyal editors throughout, giving me feedback, encouragement, suggestions, and requests for clarification. Barbara Blasey, Ph.D., provided this math-challenged author with the information on the size of a dose of twenty grains of arsenic so that readers (and i) could visualize it. my student steve skinner’s early involvement with this case for an english research assignment was so thorough that he succeeded in piquing my interest. our college librarian, Jackson Vance matthews, not only did yeoman service in ordering all that microfilm for me, but provided a patient (and kind) ear as i ranted, exulted, and sulked over triumphs and disappointments . she, along with my other friends, is no doubt glad to have an end— finally—to my numerous tales of Minnie’s antics. The Lyon County Historical society, emporia, Kansas, graciously provided a copy of the picture of minnie that she had taken after her trial, and also one of William Jay. robert Hodge of emporia sent me some copies of his own research on the Walkup case, and his generosity is much appreciated. x Finally, a very large thank you to Joanna Hildebrand Craig, Joyce Harrison , mary young, and the folks at Kent state university Press for taking a chance on this very quirky project. Acknowledgments xi introduction � What started out as mild curiosity about a woman put on trial for the murder of her husband, the acting mayor of emporia, Kansas, soon turned into a four-year obsession as the facts unfolded—the most startling of which was that she was only sixteen at the time. each aspect of the search, each backgrounding of other characters in the drama revealed new scandals, new layers of venality— on the part not just of minnie Wallace Walkup Ketcham Keating, but of those connected with her, as well. it was like pulling a loose thread from an old wool sweater: one thread led to another and another, and there was just no end to it. As an example, when i was writing the last chapter and tried once more to find the date of death for one of the characters, the avenue I took resulted in the discovery of yet another scam, this one by that character’s husband and with her knowledge. scalawags, scoundrels, scamps, women of easy virtue preying on rich men, a carpetbagger governor, sleazy lawyers, lustful judges, partying rich boys, dueling politicians, wealthy womanizers, a classic robber baron—all of these revolve around the central unifying figure of this black widow from New orleans like a loosely knit band of irish Travelers. if you saw these folks in a movie, you would scorn the director for presenting such improbable plot lines with characters right out of Central Casting. yet they were real, and these events actually happened. i began to realize that, while minnie Walkup was the main character, the storywentbeyondher.Toleaveoutsomeofthoseeventswouldbetodeprive the book of some very entertaining moments. Hence, The Adventuress is xii not just about Minnie, although it is mostly so. She is the fixed foot of the compass, to paraphrase John Donne, to which we always return no matter how far afield we roam. For the most part, these were not nice people, not even those who were murdered. Although they certainly did not deserve to die, they cannot be considered completely innocent victims. And those who were schemed against for blackmail or confidence games all had a hand in their own destruction . Another revealing aspect of this story is how we in the twenty-first century can learn about the mores and customs of the past. it is not the law that reflects this: It’s the newspapers and the people in a courtroom. if you want to learn how...