Wicked Philadelphia

by Keels, Thomas H.

• ISBN13: 9781596297876
• ISBN10: 1596297875
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-12
• Publisher: History Pr

Summary

Prim and proper Philadelphia has been rocked by the clash between excessive vice and social virtue since its citizens burned the city's biggest brothel in 1800. With tales of grave robbers in South Philadelphia and harlots in Franklin Square, Wicked Philadelphia reveals the shocking underbelly of the City of Brotherly Love. In one notorious scam, a washerwoman masqueraded as the fictional Spanish countess Anita de Bettencourt for two decades, bilking millions from victims and even fooling the government of Spain. From the 1843 media frenzy that ensued after an aristocrat abducted a young girl to a churchyard transformed into a brothel (complete with a carousel), local author Thomas H. Keels unearths Philadelphia's most scintillating scandals and corrupt characters in his rollicking history. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

A Note on Geography	p. 7
Acknowledgements	p. 11
Introduction	p. 13
Oh! It's a Lovely War!: The Mischianza, 1778	p. 17
Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection: The Rise of the Red Light Districts, circa 1820	p. 28
The Victorians Called It "Seduction": The Heberton-Mercer Murder Case, 1843	p. 38
"Is There No Law to Hang-Them?": Body Snatching at Lebanon Cemetery, 1882	p. 50
The Best Little Whorehouse in Philly: James R. Applegate's Flying Circus, 1890	p. 61
My Mother, the "Countess": The Anita de Bettencourt Fraud, 1892	p. 69
The Frayed Fabric of Our Lives: The Storey Cotton Con, 1905	p. 77
The Sugar Daddy and the Broadway Butterfly: The Dot King Murder, 1923	p. 88
The Sesqui Sinks: The World's Fair Fiasco, 1926	p. 94
What Lies Beneath: The Lafayette Cemetery Scandal, 1946	p. 106
Good Night, Sweet Prince: John Barrymore Comes Home, 1980	p. 114
Select Bibliography	p. 123
About the Author	p. 127
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