The Girl in Green

The Girl in Green

The Crime

She had been a beauty. Called the "girl in green" by many, Helen Jewett favored and was favored by color of green. Almost everything she wore was that color. Her green eyes were always casting flirting looks at the young clerks of New York City. Her flowing green dresses and cloaks became a societal signature known by all in the demimonde of the East.

However, now all of that green was changing; gushing blood from the several axe wounds to her head and shoulders was mixing in hideous tones. She was almost decapitated due to the fury of the attack. All of her notorious beauty paled on that night of April 10th, 1836 as she lay on the floor of Rosina Townsend's brothel, one of the most famous houses of prostitution in New York City.

The Victim

Helen Jewett had been New York City's most desirable and sought after prostitute. Born in Augusta, Maine, her father soon died and she was raised by a kindly judge. As a teen, however, she rebelled and fled to Portland to become a mistress to a wealthy banker. Soon she would leave him, too, and go to Boston and then New York to become at first a mistress then a prostitute. It was a common career path followed by many young women in the nineteenth century. In New York she became something of a "star" at several bordellos--Mrs. Posts on Howard St., Mrs. Waldron's on Leonard St., Mrs. Gray's on Franklin St., Mrs. Berry's on Duan St., and finally at Rosina Townsend's on Thomas St.

Besides her stunning good looks, her sexual skills had become legend. Apparently, her appetite was insatiable, servicing a dozen rich rakes each night. She even liked to take groups of men to bed with her at the same time, it was reported. Such mass production was terribly lucrative and dangerous. Occasional epidemics of venereal disease spread through out the tenderloin and the whores were blamed. On numerous instances a former client, now diseased, return to take revenge on the prostitute who gave him the "dreaded disease." Nonetheless, Jewett remained popular, a risk worth taking for many. Some famous people--such as Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe--were known to suffer from infatuation. In addition, she was aggressive and seductive, setting her sights on someone who momentarily attracted her and relentlessly pursing them until all the thrill was gone. She was feisty, too, and any man or women who abused or insulted her in any way (but particularly in affairs of the heart) would feel her wrath. One such man was Richard P. Robinson.

The Background

New York City, and the rest of the country for that matter, had undergone some remarkable changes in the generation previous to Jewett's death. For example, the city's population had grown rapidly; between 1814 and 1834 the number of inhabitants increased 63 percent. It stood around 150,000, many of whom were bright and aggressive young men coming from the countrysides of the East and New England. They had a faith that by working hard a good life might be attained. Other people flooding the city were immigrants from Europe, particularly Ireland. The number of arrivals at the Port of New York was more than four times greater in the 1830s than it had been in the previous decade. While the young "dandies" from rural America began to form a new middle class the "paddy" slipped into a disgruntled underclass.

Considerable tension resulted from the rapid and diverse growth that was occurring. Riots and other mob activities, strangely quiet the previous 50 years, broke out anew in most cities of America. New York City had so many upheavals in 1834 that it was long remembered as "the year of riots." Many of these riots were antiCatholic in nature. Unlike the colonial mobs, however, these Jacksonian riots were violent with much death and destruction of property. America was taking on a harder edge.

Crime increased as well. As a symbol of the age on January 30th, 1835, Richard Lawrence tried to kill Andrew Jackson, the first such presidential assassination to date. Lawrence went on to plead innocence by virtue of insanity, the first such use of that defense in America. Professional burglar gangs went on extensive tours of cities burgling and robbing homes and businesses indiscriminately. On occasion they would attack a brothel. Confidence men found the naive new comer easy to bilk. Fraud as entertainment found its expression in the personage and career of P.T. Barnum. Employee dishonesty arose at alarming rates as impatient young workers supplemented their incomes by stealing goods and money from their bosses. Sometimes the temptations of the city made the young live beyond their means, a deficit they made up by theft. A new crime, embezzlement, was being created.

Policing in urban America had not kept pace with changing conditions. There were some flirtations in Philadelphia in the 1830s, but largely the police of early nineteenth century America was as it had been for two hundred years. There was a daytime constabulary of detective type officers who were poorly trained or motivated. At night there was a slightly larger number of watchmen who held a sleepy vigil for fires and criminals. Both had been criticized for generations but they were the right price for a parsimonious society. Generally they sufficed but major crimes and disturbances paralyzed them.

Most of these new city dwellers also wanted fun and recreation. Living in cramped "gentlemen lodges" or poorer tenements these men sought outlets. Expanded population, generally dominated by males, increased demand for a variety of vices. Drinking was an important activity and by 1835 around 3000 licensed drinking places existed, a ratio of one for every 50 persons. Gambling was important as well and could be defended in some circles as "democratic." Gambling allowed any man an equal opportunity to acquire a fortune and the social status that went with it, it was rationalized. Any poor man, given the right luck, could become an instant rich one. Was not that the American dream?

Perhaps the most important vice for the hordes of young hard working men at this time was sex. There was an ideological bases for much of the youthful sex activities as well. As one author has written: "This male dominated society allowed itself the luxury of occasional sexual dalliances on the grounds that a man's transgressions against the sanctity and purity of family life were far less serious than a woman's." Although less articulated, middle class society was defining women in two ways that allowed for promiscuity to take place. There were the "good women," those pure virginal types to whom a man aspired to marry and raise a righteous family. These women needed to be protected against the natural aggressive appetites of their husbands. Sex was for procuration and not recreation. Then there were the "bad women," those whose weak character allowed them to be seduced and tainted, and those who chose the life of prostitution. The latter could be found as street walkers, dance girls in entertainment halls, and in the growing number of brothels. The brothel girls were the royalty of the profession, and Helen Jewett reigned as queen.

The Suspects

Joseph Hoxie

Mr. Hoxie owned a major gold and diamond store. His daughter had fallen in love with Richard Robinson, one of his clerks. They planned to marry soon and Robinson was thought to be the aggressive ambitious type to head up the store in the future. While youthful indiscretions might be tolerated any major scandals had to be avoided for the sake of the family and the business. Joseph Hoxie had the money and influence to take care of any problems from the tenderloin.

Rosina Townsend

Rosina Townsend was in a highly competitive business and it was considered to be quite a coup when the "star" prostitute had come to her establishment. But Helen was temperamental demanding greater cuts of the earnings and special privileges denied the other residents. Furthermore, there was a rumor that Helen was considering moving on to another house.

Plug Uglies

Recently, numerous street gangs had been forming in the tenderloin section of New York City. The most notorious was the plug uglies. They robbed and raped on numerous occasions terrifying the residents of the city. They were always a menacing presence on the streets around the brothel district.

"Sister Stevens"

Stevens was another prostitute residing at Townsend's. She had formed an attachment to "Pretty Frank" but was displaced by Jewett.

Richard P. Robinson

Robinson was a strikingly handsome young man of 22 when he met and fell in love with Helen Jewett. Like many of the rich rakes who visited the whore houses of the city he went by another name, Frank Rivers. The "girls" nick named him "Pretty Frank." His long flowing blond hair and flashy cap and cloak were well known signature items in the tenderloin districts of New York. In fact, later his style of dress will become a fad among the young men.

Robinson, who worked for a reputable gold and diamond businessman by the name of Hoxie, spent lavishly on Jewett. In addition, he had been seeing another whore at the same time who mysteriously died of poisoning. In order to maintain his profligate life style he embezzled from his employer on a regular basis. When they found out the business partners threatened to have him thrown in jail. However, one of the daughters of the store owners loved him and on the promise of marriage the crimes were forgotten. When Jewett heard of this arrangement she was furious.

"You do not love this girl. You love me. You would but marry her, and rob her of her happiness, as you robbed her father of his diamonds and money. A fine thing--to atone for one crime with another," she rebuked him. After one prolonged absence Jewett would write again: "Do you think I will endure this? Shall I, who have rejected hundreds, sit quite under treatment only invented for my mortification? You have known how I can love. Do not, oh do not, provoke the experiment of seeing how I can hate. But in love or hate , your Helen. She then threatened to expose Robinson to his soon-to-be wife.

The Evidence

Some of "the girls" at Townsends said they saw someone dressed like Robinson enter into her rooms at the brothel. He was the last person, they believed, to be with Helen Jewett on the night of the murder.

A druggist said that Robinson had tried to buy some poison from him, but because of the recent poisoning of another prostitute he was denied.

The axe was discovered in the room near the body. It was traced to Robinson's place of employment.

One prostitute, Stevens, claimed that she saw Robinson flee the brothel the night of the murder. However, Stevens mysteriously died shortly due to some arsenic in her coffee.

A grocer, Robert Furlong, gave Robinson an alibi. But his bank account had mysteriously grown and when this was questioned he committed suicide.

When Robinson was brought to view and identify the body all he would say was that "this was bad business."

Questions to Ponder

1. Who murdered Helen Jewett?

2. Demonstrate your appreciation of DOPE in your analysis.