Above: A map published in LOOK magazine February 26, 1952
identifies Logansport as one of 29 "hot spots" of prostitution
across the country and along the Mexican border.
Imagine Logansport, Indiana in the 1800s; horses
and buggies traveling the dirt streets and folks walking from shop to shop on
wooden sidewalks. Imagine ladies gathering up their dress material to keep
their hemlines from dragging in the dust and the mud.
Construction
of the Wabash & Erie Canal proceeded west reaching Huntington by 1835,
Logansport in 1838, and Lafayette in 1841.
Painting of Wabash & Erie Canal E. Market and, when filled in,
the canal became Fifth Street. - Wils Berry, artist
The
railroad came to Logansport in 1848. The first train engine was delivered in
1855.
The Panhandle shops opened during the Civil War in 1863 and
made several train engines. They were later owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The Vandalia shops were built around 1875, and by 1889 travelers and goods from
Logansport could reach Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Peoria,
Pittsburg, Toledo, and St. Louis. With access to the Great Lakes and the Ohio
and Mississippi Rivers, goods from iron to cotton could be quickly and
economically imported, creating a boom in manufacturing that sparked
unprecedented growth: Logansport’s population nearly doubled between 1880 and
1920, from 11,198 to 21,626.
Above: 8th and Broadway 1800s
As
the saying goes, “with the good comes the bad.” And the bad was located in
various places around town, with names like the “Patty Ranch,” the “Yellow
Cottage,” and “Paradise” — all houses of ill repute.
At the time of the 1880 Census, over 20 young women actually listed “prostitution” as their occupation. Prostitution was illegal but managed to flourish. Madams were fined to keep the respectable citizens happy, but the amounts were usually small.
THE PATTY RANCH, which disguised itself as a “hotel,” was on the south side and was
owned by the Patty sisters, Nancy Jane and Belle.
The Patty sisters were arrested one evening for disturbing
the peace as they, along with some male escorts, had gone from saloon to
saloon, racing their buggy down Market Street, singing loudly and taunting
passersby. In the end, the sisters were forced out of business — at least in
Logansport — when a patron who had flashed a wad of cash around was waylaid and
murdered by two other patrons. The Patty Ranch burned to the ground before the
police had finished their investigation.
The
God-fearing, law-abiding neighbors were thrilled to see the place gone, but the
police had lost a crime scene.
PARADISE, which was run by a Ms. Cochran, was near the cemetery.
Ms.
Cochran, proprietor of “Paradise,” was arrested one night in 1860 for “liberal
drinking, fighting, and obscenity.”- source Logansport Journal
THE YELLOW COTTAGE was on Logansport's east end.
Some brothels had no fancy names, such as
one located at Sixth Street operated by Miss Ella Troutman. Her name can be
found here and there throughout the police records. In 1873, the Logansport
Evening Star reported that Ella had been fined eleven dollars for “operating a
house of ill fame.”
In 1873 Mrs. Frank Ashton, a widow and owner of a house next to Miss Troutman’s,
explained to the court that she was trying to close, but clients kept showing
up. The Judge did not believe her and fined Mrs. Ashton $20. - source: Logansport Evening Star
The
fact is that the economy of a town benefited from even this type of business.
In those days, some of the nicer houses, run by madams, had bouncers — plus the
girls were outfitted with fashionable clothing and their own room. They made anywhere
from $5 to $30 for the whole night and received a commission on drinks, cigars,
and food purchased by their patrons — but had to pay a portion to their madam.
The
prostitutes on the other end of the spectrum lived in two-room apartments that
had a bedroom in the front and a kitchen in the back. These women made much
less money — as little as 25¢ to one dollar per customer.
These
women also had a madam or a man who took a portion of their earnings. The sad
truth of the matter is that most of these women died young and in poverty.
Suicide was extremely common among prostitutes of this era. Others drank
themselves to death or overdosed on laudanum, which was a form of liquid opium. Life for a prostitute in the 1800s was nothing like the
movies.
AN ANGRY WIFE 1890 story from the Logansport Pharos:
“Mrs. Will Chandler made things lively on Twelfth street for
a time last night, by bombarding a house of ill repute in that neighborhood.
She entered the place, found her husband enjoying the society of the soiled
inmates, lead him out by the ear, and stationing herself on the street proceeded
to demolish every window in the ranch by throwing rocks through them. The
mistress of the house thought to frighten Mrs. Chandler away by firing several
shots at her from a revolver, but it was of no avail, for the plucky little
woman stood her ground like a major, and responded to each shot with a perfect
shower of rocks.”
1940s THE "DISTRICT" IS LOCATED BEHIND THE RAILROAD DEPOT ALONG E. WABASH AVENUE
Line of houses on E. Wabash Avenue. Most are gone now.
Above: The home of "Kitty Kelly" - a well-known madam in the 1950-60s
As told to me by John Henry (born about1930), Logansport
As a boy John Henry
delivered newspapers to the “red light” district - houses on E. Wabash Avenue. He grew up on 12th
Street.
JESSIE WINDSOR
“She was a heavy
set woman who could be seen sitting on the front porch most days.” - John Henry
MILDRED
“She had 2 small
dogs – cocker spaniels – one black and one brown. One was sort of mean so she’d
watch for the paper boy (John) to
calm that dog. One day Mildred was weeping because the black dog had died. She
asked if I (John) wanted to see the
dog. I was 12 years old – of course I wanted to see a dead dog! There in the
parlor was a child-sized coffin surrounded by stuffed animals.”
I have heard a multitude of stories about the E. Wabash Avenue neighborhood. Stories by delivery men whose wives would send a son along to make sure Dad did not linger; electricians who were offered "services" in lieu of cash (who purportedly denied such suggestions); shop owners who benefitted greatly by offering after hours shopping in order to sell clothes and jewelry to the working girls and stories about good deeds, charitable deeds, by the madams over the years.
The business "district" was finally cleared out when Logansport's first female mayor, Mayor Jone Wilson, took over in the 1980s.
