- -
Titº
H. A. F. E.
or
ELLEN JEWETT;
ILLUSTRATIVE OF
HER ADVENTURES:
witH VERY IMPORTANT INCIDENTS,
-º-one ºre-seºcºons to the Period of her ºnes-aer.
TOGETHER WITH
VARIous EXTRACTS FROM HER JOURNAL,
Ceºltºspond ENCE, AND PoETICAL EFFusions.
New-York :


page 41.


*REFACE.
The author has been induced to lay before the public
such information as a diligent research would warrant,
relative to the unfortunate personage who is the sub-
ject of the following pages, by the many reports that
have, since the demise of Miss Jewett, been widely cir-
culated by the ill-disposed, whose prejudice against her,
owing to her immoral career, has prevented correct
information from reaching those who are desirous of a
true statement.
The publication of this little volume has been defer-
red till such information was gathered, from sources
that can be relied on, as will effectually “rob prejudice
of her sting,” and cause the tongue of slander to palsy
in any attempt to add new atrocities to the already toe
numerous crimes of the unfortunate Ellen Jewett.
The very individuals who now censure her for im-
moral conduct, are the very instruments who have
created it. The villainy of the seducer was the prima-
ry cause, and the opinions of the world the occasion
of its continuance; the first mingles among society
and is received with cordiality, and the last still points
at the victim, whose too confiding love has led her into
error, and whese strong sense of degradation has
plunged her deeper into infamy.
0. Ellen thou who hast mingled in society—were

iv.
its pride and ornament—are now its scoff and jest;
though the lips upon whose surface the smile of affec-
tion has played are now cold and lifeless, and the eye
whose animation lit up the admiration of those around
you with its beams, is closed forever: still, still, are
thy follies and premature death the subject of jest, and
wants of compassion in thy calumniators biasses the
public mind against thee! An orphan, with no
guardian, with none to protect thy insulted ashes or
drop a tear to thy memory; with the opinions of a
world against thee, none have dared openly to vindicate
or protect from false aspersions thy memory.
I would not be considered an advocate of vice, but I
would protect from insults the ashes of those who have
already atoned, by an untimely death, the follies of their
youth; especially if those follies are created by a corrupt
society, whose dupe was the unfortunate Ellen Jewett.
I shall merely lay before the public a plain statement
of facts, trusting to their candid opinions for a decision
of the enormity of those crimes, that have produced so
tragical an effect, and caused so much reproach.
THE AUTHOR,

H.IFE OF ELLEN JEWETT.
As a narrator of the various incidents in the
Life of Ellen Jewett, I do not consider it neces-
sary to give a minute description of her earlier
days, as nothing of importance transpired till
she had arrived at that age which is the most
important period in the life of woman.
Ellen Jewett was nother real name, but have
ing adopted it to screen her relatives and guar-
dian from the imputation herº infamous life
would have brought upon them, it was continued
till the period of her demise. She was the only
daughter of Col. B-, a native of Boston,
Mass., who, leaving that portion of the country,
placed his daughter Maria, (whom we shall
hereafter call Ellen Jewett,) at a Boarding-
School a few miles from Boston, under the guar-
dianship of an intimate friend,
Never was a being more beloved by those
around her, than the little scholar; respected by
her associates, and admired by all who saw her,

6
not only for her personal attractions, but her re.
fined mind, intelligence and premature under-
standing.
From the pretty girl, time soon changed her
appearance to that of a beautiful, lovely and ac-
complished woman; in the purity of her own
mind, which suspicion never haunted, she dream-
ed not of crime in those with whom she was ac-
quainted, she reposed confidence in all who ad-
dressed her, and until the moment her credulity
was grossly imposed upon she had never thought
of the critical positions in which her sex was
hable to be placed.
It was at this institution for the education of
females, at this academy for inculcating morals,
that the son of a respectable merchant was ad-
mitted, and allowed to visit under penalty of the
displeasure of the parent, who was a patron of
the establishment; it was here he had first seen
and became violently enamored with the lovely
girl; he succeeded in securing an introduction,
and obtaining her confidence; he was a con-
stant visitor, an accepted beaux; he “basked in
the sunshine of her favor,” and luxuriated in
the enjoyment of her affections; and had his
engagements been consummated at this period,

7.
existence would have been a treasure to him,
and happiness the result of his union, for Ellen
was indeed possessed of every qualification a
man could desire, had every requisite for a com-
panion and a wife; none looked at her but ad-
mired her beauty, none knew but esteemed her
for a pure mind and amiable disposition. After
revelling for a time in the enjoyment of her aſ-
ſections, in which jealousy, the most selfish of
passions was unknown, promises were ex-
changed, and at the altar it was agreed to place
the happiness of each at the disposal of the
other; the day for the celebration of their nup-
tials never arrived; they were never united,
save in infamy and crime. The kiss of the se.
ducer rested on her lip, the embrace of the lib-
ertine was returned, and his amorous caresses
polluted the deluded victim of his lust.
“Could her betrayer see the mangled corpse
of the once fascinating and innocent inmate of
the boarding school, he would, if human, need
no further punishment than the remorse which
would then gnaw his inmost soul.”
What should cause the distinction between
the vicious of either sex, the like depravity ex-
ists, though the effects are not the same. Is the

8
weakness of a female more to be reproached
than the vices of a libertine, whose false vows
and violated oaths have caused the error of the
unhappy girl whom they deceive? or should
the penalty be visited on the instigator, rather
than those who have, by too implicit reliance on
the truth and fidelity of others, forsaken the
path of virtue, and are banished from society,
to infamy and disgrace? -
The rake may boast of his wars against vir.
tue, of the number of miserable beings his arts
have proved fatal to, and his success in entwi-
ning his image around the softer feelings of the
hearts of the confiding unsuspecting maidenshe
has caused to weep over their own downfall,
but the crime committed is the same, though so-
ciety permit it, and he is at least as culpable,
though he escape just indignation.
How many unfortunates might have been re-
claimed, how much vice could have been pre-
vented, and how much misery and degradation
escaped our observation, if the victim of man's
perfidy had been treated with compassion rather
than severity, if the hands of their relatives were
extended in token of forgiveness rather than re-
jection, if the tongues of their friends had been

9
used to inculcate morality instead of exposing
their follies. But such is the present state of
society, and until it can be reformed, until we
become sufficiently enlightened to consider the
inducements to the crime as partial extenuation,
and trace it to the fountain-head, holding him
whose vices have caused the destruction of vir-
tue as a criminal, rather than the misled instru-
ment whose penalty is sufficient in the conse-
quences that follow, until then must our brothels
be filled, and the fairest portion of our commu-
nity become the most degraded; until then may
we expect the frail daughters of vice, will be
marked out for the venom of falsehood, and the
death-blow of the assassin!
If a murder is committed, a search is at least
made for the perpetrator; if a man is robbed,
we seek to detect the thief; if goods are ob-
tained under false pretences, an action can be
instituted against the offender; but if the virtue
of a lovely girl is stolen; if she has been be-
trayed by a heartless villain ; if she has been
lured by his deceit and false promises; however
respectable her connexions, however elevated
her position in society, or amiable her general
character, the villain is welcomed by those who

10
are acquainted with the transaction, the hand
of friendship is extended to him, and none cen.
sure his conduct or express doubts of his honor,
he is still suffered to move in his former circle
of acquaintance, to add new victims to his ſus,
and acquire fresh laurels to boast of among his
companions, while the weaker vessel is driven
from the shore by the gale of exposure that fol.
lows her false step, to sink in the sea of dis-
grace.
The less guilty of the parties is cast by those
who should be her protectors, from her home,
from those who are capable of advising her, to
become the inmate of a brothel, the despised,
degraded and abused prostitute, to be subject to
the rude assaults of the dissipated and vicious,
and end her career by disease, or deprived of
existence by the hatchet and the flame.
Those who, if placed in the same situation
would have acted similarly, would have taken
the false step I allude to, those who should at
least have charity for the weaknesses of their
own sex, are the first to point at their faults, and
severely censure others for their follies, though
they were never tempted to commit them, and
can form no idea of the inducements that led to

11
the degrading faults. Why is it thus, do they
expect, that proving a scarcity of virtue to exist
will raise the value of their own; or that their
own, (never having been exposed to temptation)
by contrasting it with the less spotless of others,
will show more brilliantly?
Fearful of exposure, and dreading the dis-
pleasure of her friends, Ellen was prevailed up-
on to elope with him who had already proved
his baseness, villainy and deceit, in betraying
her confidence to satisfy his selfish passions and
gratify his lust.
Boston became her future residence, and in
one of its sinks of infamy was she concealed.
Dilligent search was made for her, but without
effect, and months rolled by before her retreat
was discovered by her friends; during that
time, a series of brutal conduct was the result
of her error, and her mind became corrupted
with the poison infused into it by her associates.
The pride of the boarding-school was now the
misused kept mistress, and the once virtuous El-
len Jewett was a prostitute.
Her place of concealment was discovered by
her guardian, he proceeded thither, with the
principle of a man, with those feelings that pre-

12
vented unjust censure of the betrayed, and se.
verely vented their indignation on the unprinci.
pled seducer. On his knees he entreated her to
return to his protection, and abandon the society
of her base companions and heartless seducer;
she yielded to this request, for reason predomi-
nated over her sense of shame in returning to
those who were aware of her degradation, and
the roof of her guardian received her.
Legal proceedings were immediately institu.
ted against W , the betrayer of her inno-
cence, to compel him to make good the promi-
ses made to her, and endeavor to cover their
vices, by making her his bride who had only
been taken to his arms as a mistress. Per-
ceiving that society would not tolerate him
should such justice be done to the unfortunate
girl, that he would be shunned by his associates
and despised by most of his former friends and
acquaintances, he resolved to flee from the re-
sponsibilities, with the same want of every
thing like an honorable disposition that had
characterized the seduction and elopement.
He fled, none knew whither, leaving his securi-
ties for appearance at court, to suffer for their
misplaced confidence. Perhaps, even now the

13
loud mirth of the inmates of a brothel, or loun-
gers of a tavern is excited by a recital of the
ruffian's exploits in escaping the penalty of a
breach of vows and well conducted seduction;
even now may a repetition of the same scenes
be enacted, or the seducer still be prowling to
obtain new food to satisfy his lascivious appe-
tite, that gluts itself on virtue and innocence.
Although kindly treated by her guardian, she
was but too soon aware, that to regain her for-
mer position in society was impossible, and she
had already been pointed at in derision, treated
with contempt, and openly derided by those
who had condescended to associate with her,
when a resolution was formed and adopted, to
leave the scene of her previous follies, alone and
unprotected, and seek to form a reputation, in a
land where she was a stranger. Unknown, and
destitute of the means of subsistence, she de-
serted the hospitable roof of her guardian, to
seek that respect among strangers, her acquaint-
ances had denied her. Little did the unthinking
girl imagine the difficulties she was compelled
to encounter, of the trials in waiting for her,
and the vicissitudes she would in after life be
subject to, little did she dream the city she now

14
entered would contain her funeral pyre, and
the reputation she sought to preserve was so
soon to be blasted, that her name would be
breathed by every lip in her country, and her
history published and eagerly sought after, by
every inhabitant of the stately edifices, she now
for the first time beheld. She entered New-
York, knowing not whither to bend her steps, or
in what manner to obtain that assistance which
was necessary to furnish the means of subsist-
ence. Application was made for employment,
but it was not obtained, for she did not possess
a knowledge of any pursuit in which she could
find employment, and without recommendation
no person would receive a domestic in their
employ, however prepossessing their appear-
ance. It was at this critical moment her fate
was decided.
The evening was far advanced, and the lone
and unprotected girl still walked the streets,
without a roof to shelter, or a guide to direct
her, when she was rudely accosted by a person
whose outward appearance betokened gentility,
but whose language and actions reversed the
opinions of the houseless wanderer, whose first
impressions were widely different from those
that followed after he had addressed her.

15
The person who thus accosted her, is well
known in this city, and again appears upon the
page of this fatal history, but we dare not give
publicity to his name, owing to the demise of
the only witness whose evidence would be suf-
ficient to prove our assertions.",
She repulsed with indignation his first famil-
iarities, with tears in her eyes she entreated
him to desist, and represented her destitute sit-
uation, thinking to enlist his compassion in her
favor; he appeared to relent, and apologized
for his ill treatment, assigning as his reasons, that
he had believed her, when he first spoke, to be
one who was used to such familiarities, and
wished to trifle with him. He then offered her
his home as an asylum to protect her from far-
ther insult, representing himself as a man of
family, and proffering his arm for her accept-
ance. -
There was no alternative, she must either
accompany him, or subject herself to further
insult from every night reveller who passed her,
and ere long they had reached a house in Chap-
* Ellen Jewett, who has narrated many incidents here
recorded to one from whom we have obtained much in-
formation.

16
pel-street and awaited an answer to the myste-
rious knock given by her companion at the
door. Her delicate limbs shook, as the thought
of her new danger rushed across her mind;
the summons of her companion was answered,
and the chain clanked as it was loosened to
allow the door to admit them.
Reader, were you ever beneath the unhallowed
roof of a brothel' have your ears drank the
profanity of its inmates, or your eyes witnessed
its midnight orgies" if so, the description I have
gleaned from the information of others, may be
passed over with neglect, for it it is only a faith-
ful repetition of what you have been witness
to, but if you have been spared the pain of be-
holding this concentration of vice, the following
remarks may enlighten you.
The first person who was presented to the
notice of the deceived girl, was the mistress of
the house; or in other words, “ Mother Gal-
lagher;” who in replacing the chain, which is
the usual guard of the entrance of these recep-
tacles of the lewd of both sexes, commonly called
houses of assignation, muttered several angry
curses on the disturbers of her rest, for demand-
ing admittance at so late an hour, and placed

º
17
in the hand of him who had thus brought his
victim to the charnel house of virtue, a candle,
and led the way to the room they were to oc-
cupy.
The unfortunate girl solicited an explanation
to the mysterious conduct of the bawd, and her
reasons for thus securing the door; and was
informed that it was customary in New-York,
to prevent the possibility of being robbed, to
provide such fastenings; and also that the vul-
garlanguage of his servant he begged she would
excuse, since it arose from ignorance. They
entered a room, which was immediately vaca-
ted by the bawd, and the sense of her situation
burst upon her, with a full knowledge of her de-
fenceless condition, and the necessity of again
following her former pursuits. Thus ensnared
by the wretch who pursued such revolting
traffic, the unfortunate girl was compelled to
submit, and again participate in crime. Thus
do we leave them in their debaucheries and
iniquity, to visit the apartments assigned to
others, and picture the revolting scenes therein
enacted.
On entering another apartment of this estab:
lishment of syrens, your eye would be greeted

18
by the disgusting appearance of the wretched
girl whose continued commerce had brought
upon her a loathsome disease, and was now en-
during with pain the embrace of some unthink-
ing paramour, whose after history would fully
explain how dearly he had purchased her em.
braces.
In another reposed the dissipated father of a
family, whose neglected wife, too severely feels
the effects of his infidelity when she beholds his
destitute and half starved offspring. There lay
the dissipated husband, luxuriating on forbidden
fruits, and adding new crimes to the page of his
iniquity.
In another room, hung with lewd and indecent
paintings, and decorated in a style of grandeur,
might be seen the unblushing female occupant,
whose wily arts had drawn some gay and
thoughtless youth into her chamber, and whose
amorous caress had deprived him of that virtue
that alone should entitle him to a standing in
soeiety, such as he had previously filled,
Enough of this, for I need not tell you that the
scenes so often change, and the variety of houses
of this description are sonumerous, that I should

19
tire your patience, and offend your moral feel-
ings, were I capable of reciting them.
The die was cast; with rapid strides the un-
fortunate girl hastened onward to destruction.
She had the second time been betrayed, and
earth contained nothing whose influence could
prevent her from pursuing her immoral career.
Beauty, intelligence, accomplishments and gen-
tility of appearance, procured her admission into
one of those resorts frequented by the fashiona-
ble, vicious and dissipated, for which this city
is so celebrated; and she became an outcast
and a prostitute, despised even by the fashiona-
ble profligate, whose garden of morality not
being properly cultivated, gave forth none of
the fruits of virtue, but was suffered to nourish
only the weeds of debauchery.
Night after night came these votaries of
crime, and as often were received, however dis-
gusting their embrace to her whose subsistence
depended on her arts to please. It was at
this place that Ellen met a Capt. Burke, a
British officer, who having had a dispute with
her in relation to money matters, offered the
proprietor a three dollar bill in payment for
some wine, the bill having been pronounced a

20
counterfeit, Ellen related to the company his
ungentlemanly conduct towards her; and it was
only by the interposition of those present that
her existence was spared for the still more hor.
rid deed that was afterwards perpetrated.
Unable to satisfy his revenge by rude assaults
upon a woman, this true specimen of heroic
valor, not by means of the formidable weapon
that had hung for years useless at his side, but
by the assistance of the lady's scissors, cut to
pieces several of her dresses, to the amount of
one hundred dollars, that they were rendered
completely useless. She lodged a complaint
against him ; and this venter of malice on a wo-
man's apparel was brought to the Police Office,
to answer the charge preferred against him.
Col. M appearing and testifying for his
friend to his respectability of character, and
proof being given of his ignorance of the bill be:
ing counterfeit, the complaint was withdrawn
on condition that he paid the value of the dresses
he had destroyed.
If the above statement be correct, and we
have it from a source that should not be doubt.
ed, we have an instance of the permicious dis.
tinction between the sexes, as regards immoral

21
conduct. A gentleman of high standing in so-
ciety, comes forward in a public court, and
openly testifies or makes affidavit of the respect-
ability of character of one who had been drag-
ged from a brothel to answer at the bar of
justice for a criminal charge; would the same
gentleman acknowledge that he was acquainted,
or be seen conversing in the streets with the
partner in crime of this “respectable charac-
ter,” whose gentility and language could not
possibly be compared with that of Ellen Jewett?
No and why, I would ask, should this distinc-
tion exist! Is it because society permits those
who are least subject to such ungovernable pas-
sions to enjoy them, while others whom nature
formed with desires almost impossible to be
controlled, are compelled by such unrighteous
judgment of such as are acquainted with their
error, to become the scoff, the outcast, and the
refuse of society. Why discountenance the un-
chaste female, and allow the companion of her
polluted bed to enjoy your seciety? I despise
such one-sided opinions, and would cast from
my friendship as freely the dealer in such vice,
as the convicted felon.
Mothers, beware of the virtue of your daugh-

22
ters, when you admit to their society, and coun-
tenance with your favor, the slave of his pas.
sions who leaves your domicil directing his
steps to the habitation of those children of frailty,
who were once as virtuous as your own; but
now alas, through intimacy with one of the caste
I have alluded to, have prostituted both body
and mind, and are discarded from society to
become companions of the low, vicious and pro-
fligate. You would not allow your daughters
to associate with a lewd female; and yet you
suffer them to become acquainted with those
whose nights are spent in their company. You
would drive from your door a daughter who
would depart from virtue, and hold illegal com-
merce with a man, and still permit a son to
spend his evenings in a brothel, and impute it to
the wildness of his youth. Is this your code of
morals' Are these the principles that parents
should possess? If the “wild youth” is let loose
upon the world, he can at least find some re-
spectable occupation; but if the misused female
is heaped with reproach, driven from her home,
and turned upon an unfeeling community; what
else save by prostitution, with such disgrace
heaped upon her, could she expect to gain a

23
livelihood; what else save such degradation
could she have recourse to, or adopt. The in-
dulgence of such sensual gratifications, owing to
the partial manner in which society favors the
male, is more widely extended among his sex,
than in those who are abandoned to the sneers
and insults of the heartless and despicable.
Each prostitute may be considered on the ave-
rage to receive the visits of three different para-
mours during the week, the proportion cannot
possibly be less than three to one, and if I am.
not mistaken in my calculations, there are five
times the number of males who indulge in such
intercourse, as there are prostitutes within our
brothels. Should the false opinions of the moral
community give way to reason, and the guilty
of either sex be considered equally culpable,
the youth of our country would preserve his
morals, and virtue often appear among the
daughters of a family, where now there exists
but a semblance.
Let us return to Ellen, whose misfortunes
increased in proportion to the depth she sunk
ininfamy; and who, sensible of her own degra-
dation, cared not to conceal it. But notwith-
standing her once pure and cultivated mind had

24
now become corrupted, still was her language
free from impurities, and she shrunk from the
vulgarities of her companions, as ifactuated by
some concealed innate moral principle. Though
subject to the gross insult of those who had be-
come cloyed with the sweets of libidinous in-
dulgence, or were aware of her infamous pur.
suit, she refrained from retaliating in the same
manner her frail companions had adopted, and
quietly submitted rather than gave vent to her
resentment. Indeed, so kind was her disposi-
tion, and so meek, and in all outward appear-
ance, modest her deportment, that were she met
by one unknown to her pursuits, she appeared
like an object to be admired, rather than shunned.
An indictment was preferred against the house
No. 106 Duane-street; it was the same in which
Ellen resided, and the unfortunate girl was again
before the police, in company with some ten or
twelve others. Here have we proof of the
value, and superiority of her morals over those
who were criminated as her associates in vice,
for her quiet and genteel deportment procured
her dismissal, while her companions whose ap-
pearance and morals were not as favorable,
were subject to the rigour of the law.

25
-
Ellen Jewett then became acquainted with the
celebrated Rosina Townsend, and resided with
her for ten months, without anything of import-
ance transpiring during that time, save the
abuse and disrespect constantly attendant on
one of her habits, when she resolved to change
her residence. -
New lodgings were obtained by our outcast
heroine, but there were no difficulties to be over-
come, for her beauty entitled her to become an
inmate of the most fashionable of these resorts
of the depraved, and accordingly she took board
at the “Broadway Nunnery,” (so called) but not
liking her host or the company who visited the
house, and fearful of a repetition of the same
calamities her former residence had been sub-
ject to, she removed, and transferred her “busi-
ness” to a den of pollution, which is at this pre-
sent period the court of vice in Theatre Alley.
It was here that those connected with her
welfare, and bound by the ties of kindred, dis-
covered her by accident, What must have
been the feelings of a relative, who had been
one of the first to expose and openly censure
her frailty, on finding himself her associate
whom he had proclaimed against for the com:

26
mittal of a fault, of the same nature as his own
passions had brought him to her residence to
commit. And how great the gratification of
this creature of circumstances, when she made
herself known to him, and allowed his own
feelings to crucify, rather than express the
satisfaction she then felt. He solicited her to
return to her relatives, and abandon her present
despicable pursuits, offering to shield and pro-
tect her from insult, and acknoweledged his ex-
ror in becoming one of the instruments that had
driven her from home and friends. The purely
honorable feelings of Ellen here displayed them-
selves in their most brilliant characters, for she
refused to bring that disgrace upon her rela-
tives that had already been heaped upon herself,
and chose rather to pursue her present path,
than return to those whose opinions she esteem-
ed, to be despised and neglected.
In looking over an old common-place book,
at this time in the possession of Mr. Horace
McLº, and bequeathed to him by one who
was a constant visitor'to Ellen, at her residence
in Theatre Alley, and who has since departed
from this scene of crime, to mingle no more
among the impurities of the living, the following

27
sketch was observed and extracted, written in
pretty characters by herself, and bearing her
signature. Though her own experience would
have led many to assert, were they situated in
like manner, that all mankind were prone to
deceit, but the enlightened, talented and gene-
rous Ellen imputed to the few, what others
would have condemned the mass as capable of
Beneath the sentiments of one who was at that
period under the same roof as the authoress of
of the following lines, and who had been similarly
deceived, were Ellen's ideas gilded, to be
presented at this time to the public, as an
answer to the invectives of the opposer of
mankind, who had ranked the whole sex as
deceivers, because she had found one who had
betrayed her. Thus ran Ellen's effusion.
I'm told that men are false, their promises
Made but to be broken, and too often
Given without reflection; that their sole
Study is to deceive; that when they breathe
Their adoration, 'tis meant but to allure
One they profess to love, as the meteor
Doth the weary traveller to the false
Bosom of the bog. And all are ranked
Deceitful, treacherous, and base, because
The vices of a few have prov'd the shroud
ºf lovely woman's faith and confidence.

28
town that there are those whº need reflection
When excited by the influence of beauty;
That their lips have breathed such vows of faith.
As only such as study to deceive
Are capable of uttering; that those
Who sport with woman's love, are flatºry's slaves,
Whose lips are moistened with her poison,
And whose breath would tarnish even beauty's cheek,
And dim the lustre of the brightest eyes
With its base influence.
Yet I have thought
That there were those among the sex prescrib'd
Whose words, once pledg’d were held too sacred
To be trifled with, and whose confidence
Hm their own sincerity and motives,
Render deceit and flattery useless:
Whose high regard for truth displays itself
In its possessor, tho’ deceived
In her whom he has vowed towed.
New-York, May 10th, 1834. ELLEN Jºwett.
Thus were the ideas of the talented girl
expressed, and I should extract several smaller
pieces that were elegantly written within the
"covers of that little volume, in the same beauti-
ful characters, but bearing no other signature
than an initial, were I not fearful that I should
give her credit for some effusions that by right
belonged to others. -

29
Ellen's time was spent during her residence
in Theatre Alley as it had previously been ;
her leisure hours during the day was diverted
to the cultivation of those finer feelings that
rendered her so much the superior of those
around her, and the improvement of her rich
and intelligent mind from which so many types
of its greatness had emanated, and her evenings
as the companion of the degraded prostitute, and
the voluptuous debauchees. Her visits at the
Theatre became frequent, and it has often been
remarked, that her personal appearance, and
modest demeanor, attracted to her side, while
she sat in that part of the house allotted for the
sale of beauty, (the third tier) those whose
strong sense of morality had previously pre-
vented their association with one of her
habits. -
It was on one of these visits that the follow-
ing disgraceful conduct occurred, which ren-
dered the young man accused still more despi-
cable than the unfortunate girl whom he thus
publicly maltreated. We will not assert that
the statement is correct, but we copy it as it
appeared in the “Transcript” of Monday, June
30, 1834.

30
“A very genteel and pretty young girl, na-
med. Ellen Jewett, came before the magistrates
a day or two since, to lodge a complaint against
a young man named John L. , (son of a
gentleman of that name, who is connected with
the firm of L & G , Pearl-street.)
for abusing and brutally kicking her in the Park
Theatre, on Thursday night. She stated that
she was ascending the stairs leading to the se-
cond tier, she dropped by accident a ten dollar
bill; while looking for the same, she was rudely
accosted by Mr. John L. , and on her re-
questing him to desist, he abused and kicked
her, and then taking his friend's arm, they ran
down stairs, laughing at what they no doubt
considered very gentlemanly conduct. An af-
fidavit of these facts was taken, and a warrant
issued for the apprehension of Mr. L
, who
will have to appear at the Sessions to answer
the charge.”
Such is the treatment these miserable marks
for the indignation of others are constantly sub-
jected to ; such the conduct of those who are
walking without reproach in the bosom of soci-
ety, associating with the chaste daughters of
our wealthiest citizens, and connected with the
31
most substantial firms in our country. Such the
men who are to become fathers of families:
who train up their offspring with no better mo-
ral principles to instilin their young minds; and
if perchance, one of their former companions
should seduce the affections of their daughter,
and convert them to his own base end, this father
who has already been a participator in the bru-
tal treatment of a woman, sentences his daugh-
ter to like insult, and like degradation, for a folly
he might have prevented had he sought better
and more virtuous companions in his youthful
days.
I should not at this period lay before the pub-
lic the name of an individual who passes as re-
spectable, were it not to produce facts for my
readers, and the knowledge that society will
stile countenance and protect him, and that
virtue “is more honored in the breach than the
observance.”
A short period elapsed, after the occurrence
related, when Ellen received a letter from a per-
son with whom she had never been acquainted,
except as he had passed her window; the name
of the individual could be given, did not the au-
thor respect his gentlemanly conduct too much


32
to expose him to unjust censure, for it is now at-
tached to the original letter, found in Ellen's
cabinet, after the fatal 10th of April. The letter
to which we allude contained the following
words:
New-York, July 7th, 1884.
Dear Miss,
The author of the following epistle is a
stranger to you, and common courtesy demands
a perusal of his sentiments. I should have
spoken freely, what I here remark, to your
Own private ear, were it not, I was of opinion,
you would suppose me guilty of trifling with
your credulity, and insulting your misfortune.
I am not ignorant of your present mode of life,
and your degraded situation, and you will
excuse the plainness of both the language and
remarks. It has been my study to reclaim, and
I believe I have succeeded in many cases effect-
ually, the impure and unchaste female, whose
happiness is blighted, and whose life is a con-
tinued series of crime. Under these circum-
stances, I have naturally considered their un-
happy situation, and formed opinions in contra-
riety with mankind in general. Acting with
the impulse of nobler sentiments than those who

33
have heretofore addressed you, I would present
for your reflection the following proposal.
If the gifted and fascinating Ellen will for-
sake the rough road on which she has previous-
ly been a traveller, and adopt one more in uni-
son with her enlightened mind, with no otherse-
curity than her own word, he who now presents
this petition will greet her, not as heretofore she
has been, as a mistress, but as one whom the
laws of the land bid him protect, cherish, and
love. I am sensible that world would chide me
for what they term folly, but the purity of my
feelings, the genuine motives that inspire me,
and the knowledge of your disposition and ex-
cellent qualifications that I have gleaned from
the information of others, as well as my own
observations, have instigated this request, which
I solicit may be granted to your suitor, who re-
spectfully subscribes himself,
Yours, in esteem,
REUBEN +****.
To Miss Ellen Jewett, Theatre Alley. "
With surprise did the unfortunate girl peruse
the note, and a deep sense of her situation rush-
ed upon her mind as she sat down to indite the
following answer, which was also found among
her papers,
-

34
Monday, 4 o'clock, July 7, 1834.
Respected sir,
Your kind and sympathyzing re-
marks are indeed welcome, and if really felt,
the miserable subject of them sincerely thanks
the author for the good feeling he has displayed,
and will ever regard him with the warmest
gratitude one in her situation is susceptible of
As regards your offer, an offer, few are there
in my deplorable state who would not embrace,
I can only express my heartfelt thanks for the
pure sentiments that have prompted it; for
never, most kind and generous friend, will Ellen
Jewett add infamy and disgrace to her noble
and high minded correspondent; never shall he
be stigmatized as the husband of a prostitute, of
whose reform the world knows not, and whose
pledge of fidelity is only the word of a degraded
wretch. Forgive me, sir, if the victim of man's
perfidy refuses your proferred hand; for it is
only under these circumstances, and the painful
idea that I should never love another, however
great and good, with the same purity as the de-
stroyer of my happiness was regarded, by
ELLEN JEWETT.
To Mr. Reuben #####.
-

35
The foregoing letters need no comment for
the writers have spoken for themselves, and if
those who peruse them feel not the greatness of
Ellen's reply, what must be their ideas of a lofty
and intelligent mind?
The present visitors of Ellen, were at this
time principally connected with the Theatre,
and a jealousy existing between herself andſ
one less favored by a certain individual who now
frequents the house alluded to, Ellen sought pro-
tection from her infuriated rival, in the object of
their rivalry, who removed her from that place
to private lodgings, where she passed as his
wife, and was respected as such by the neigh-
bors, until the head of one of the families, hav-
ing been previously acquainted with her, men-
tioned it to his wife, who was so careful to pre-
serve the secret, that she treasured it in the
breasts of her neighbors, and they, unable to
keep their knowledge to themselves, called upon
Ellen to inform her of the report in circulation,
which she did not deny, and was compelled to
seek other quarters to protect herself from their
abuse.
Again was she reinstated in new lodgings,
and again was one keeper changed for many,

36
when the appeal of a near relative, whose name
I am not authorized to give by those who have
kindly favoured me with a copy of these letters,
was received and answered by the unfortunate.
It bore on the outside the following superscrip-
tion, “Miss Ellen Jewett, New York, (politeness
of Mr. Cassedy)” and the contents read,
Boston, August, 28th, 1834.
My dear, deluded Maria,
Why do you thus tamper with the feelings
of your relatives? why cause those who are
so deeply interested in your welfare to weep
for your unhappy situation? why create so
much misery to those who love you, and bound
to you by the ties of relationship, to weep for
your degradation? oh Maria, knew you how
freely all who before censured you would
welcome your return, how the hearts of your
relatives yearn towards you, and how happy
would be the hour that should mark the return
of the unfortunate M– B–. Forsake the
haunts of iniquity, leave the revel and unlicen:
ced embrace, and come to the home of your
childhood, and atone for your crimes at the
altar of your God, Too soon, my dear girl, may
that once beautiful form be the seat of disease,
37
and the grave receive it; leave the scenes
of your follies, for the mullen-stalk will mark
the clod of earth that covers you without a tear
to water it. Alas! you dream not of the
precipice on whose brink you now stand, you
reflect not on the tears of your friends, you
see not your former protector as he offers up
prayers, and solicits absolution for the crimes
that hang so heavy over your head, or your
feelings would be aroused, even were you sunk
much lower than you are, and compel you to
seek the asylum we now offer you. Return by
the barer an answer to what I have written,
and reflect, this is the last request that can be
made -
By your sincere well wisher, and relative,
New-York, August 31st, 1834.
Dear,
I dare not call you relative, for by that
term I should heap disgrace upon those whom
I have every reason to respect. I will not call
you friend, for I do not deserve friendship,
especially of the pure and virtuous.
You will excuso me from applying either
and there is no term by which the degraded


- 38.
prostitute can address those who really feel for
her welfare and it is not in my power to coin
one; we must dispense with anything farther
than the monosyllable that attend at the com-
mencement of this letter. I have received your
kind communication, and shall treasure it as a
memento of the compassion of the writer, and
greet it occasionally with the tears of gratitude;
for I am not as yet so debased as to be destitute
of that fountain that is so expressive of the
feelings of a heart bursting with thanks for the
kindness extended towards its owner.
I had not expected to receive what I do not
deserve, the kindness of those whose reputation
I have tarnished, and whose feelings I have
violated by my present conduct; and there-
fore coming so unexpectedly upon me, it has
made a lasting impression upon my mind; so
much so that a recollection of my vices will
make it appear still more brilliant. The star
that should guide me to happiness, is set forever;
the sun that illumines the path of virtue, falls
not upon the road which I now track, for the
vice that o'ershadows it is a barrier to its rays.
The warning voice of friends is not heard, for
the thunders of conscience drown its admoni-

39
tions; the prayers of him whom I revered as
my former protector, are offered to the same
deity whom I now insult with my baseness, and
I must still wend my way unmindful of the
dangers that threaten me, regarding not the
destruction that awaits me. -
I thank you, kindly thank you for the interest
you have taken in one so universally despised,
for it arouses in my bosom, to whom the lan-
guage of respect and regard are almost stran-
gers, a much more grateful feeling than to those
who are accustomed to it. May health, happi-
messand prosperity attend you, and may those
who surround you, feel your kindness as acutely
as the despised girl who now stains the paper
on which she scrawls these lines, with the tears º
of gratitude that flow from eyes that have be-
held nothing save vice and infamy since the
days of her childhood. May your children,
when they arrive at maturity, take warning by,
the unfortunate
MARIA B
To Mr. , (favor of Mr. Cassed).) Bost.
The truly honorable principles of Ellen were
the subject of universal remark to all with whom
she corresponded or conversed; the idea of her

40
own degradation was a sting upon her con-
science, that often caused the tears of bitterness
to flow, and though she mingled in the revels of
the night, her mornings were imbittered by re-
flection. -
One morning, while seated at breakfast, the
following letter was received and immediately
perused.
Maria,
Your benefactor and guardian has departed
from among us, to take up his abode with his
Creator. At his request, I transfer his blessing
to you, and his earnest prayer that you may
forsake your infamous calling.
Your Friend,
W. H.
Sir,
I have received your laconic epistle, and
can only express my regret at the loss of my
only friend, as sincerely as my sorrow that he
did not select some one more worthy of the
charge he has bequeathed to you, of his good
feelings to MARIA B-.
Such was the reply to her unfeeling corres-
pondent, and displays the acute feelings of one

41 -
º
who, though inured to the coldness of others,"
knew how to resent it.
Ellen resolved to visit the grave of her guar-
dian, protector and friend, and drop a tear to
his memory, whom her vile conduct had caused
to shed so many. The tomb of her benefactor
was before her, and as a penitent she knelt,
º
when a footstep approaching, she retreated to
the concealment of a tomb, which prevented the
intruder from observing her, and at the same
time allowed her to overhear any thing that
might escape him. He kneeled at the same
tomb she had just moistened with penitential -
tears; he pronounced the name of her guardian
as his father, and after offering up prayers for
his salvation, turned to leave the spot. Though
her curiosity was excited what must have been
her feelings at discovering him who had ack-
nowleged himself the son of her benefactor, the
very person who had paved the way to crime,
and led her to the slaughter house of virtue on ---
her first appearance in New-York. That son
had deprived her of the virtue his father had
endeavored to preserve, and that son had
brought imprecations from lips that had just ut-
tered their warmest gratitude to his father

42
whose ashes now reposed before her. On ma-
king enquiries, she ascertained that the individ-
ual in question was an officer belonging to a
military company at that time on a visit to Bos-
ton, and was, in reality, an illegitimate son of the
deceased. Though she had been somewhat
penitent, the tide was changed and she still float-
ed down the stream of disgrace.
On the morning of the 18th of March, 1836,
the unfortunate Ellen Jewett entered as a board-
er, the house of Rosina Townsend, (sometimes
called “City Hotel) in Thomas street. Among
the prominent visitors of this establishment were
the two Frank Rivers, Bill Easy, English Char-
ley, Dennis
and a certain manager of a
Theatre whom it is reported was in the sleep-
ing apartment of Mrs. Rosina Townsend on
the night of the murder. Commencing with
the head of the establishment we will endeavor
to give a short description of the associates of
Ellen, and the following is an extract, from the
writings of one who has had some acquaintance
with Rosina Townsend.
“What is the private history—what is the private
character—what are the stains on the life of this
Rosina Townsend. For some years she has occupi-
ed a brilliant position in the Aspasian society of New
-
43
York. Her splended establishmentin Thomas-street,
has been the pride of the gay reprobates from one
end of the Union to the other. She unites under the
same flasing eye, the maners of a lady, the elegance
of a Lais—the passion of a Fury and the cunning of
a serpent. In Greece and in Rome, they had their
celebrated women in a certain line of life—their Lais
—their Aspasias—their goddesses, that united beauty,
buisness, ambition, and luxtiousness in the same
person, and under the same roof. The profusion
and extravagance of the celebrated Aspasia, minis-
tered to by Pericles, the greatest orator of Athens,
were not greater than what was nightly seen during
the summer season at the Hotel in Thomas-street.
With some talent and more taste, Rosina Townsend
stands at the head of her caste. Her house was the
centre of attraction. Eight young females of
surpassing beauty, and three or four, ugly and horible
as sin, by way of contrast, drew crowds of travel-
Jers, clerks, brokers, gentlemen, blackguards, fools,
philosophers, night after night to those splendid
roomshung round with elegan paintings, and taste-
fully decorated with numerous ottomans, scarlet cur-
tains and other emblems of refinement and elegance.
Two large double houses were thrown into one, and
just on the eve of the tragedy, she was preparing to
throw another house into the same establishment,
making splended apartments for an institution of
thirty or forty maidens. Behind this pile of elegant
yellow buildings was a garden decroated with ele-
gantarbors, picturesque retreats, covered in the sum-
mer season with beautiful garlands, evergreens,
flowers, and all the beauties of the vegetable world.
Under the bright shining moon—climbing up the
dark blue heaven, during the soft summer months,
these arbors would be filled with syrens and cham-
-


44
paigne, pine-apples and pretty fles de joie, talking,
chatting, singing, and throwing out all the blandish-
ments their talents and accomplishments could
muster.
The next person whom it is necessary to no-
tice is Maria Stevens, possessed, as she was, of
attractions that lured all who beheld them to
her embrace, she was, till Ellen took up her
residence in Thomas Street, the reigning God-
dess of the establishment, and courted by the
licentious visitors of the temple. Although a
portion of rivalry existed between the fail
beauties, still was she the friend and companion
of Ellen. In speaking of her death, the “La-
dies' Morning Star” says -
“In that house of infamy in a room adjoining
to that where Ellen slept her death-sleep, lodged
a girl named Stevens, who, at the alarum that
was rung on the announcement of the fire, rushed
with her paramour from her apartment, in a dis-
habille, the most indecent. Her alarm, was
doubtless, great. Her paramour fled with pre-
cipitation from the burning theatre of his de-
baucheries, leaving his helpmate in sin, to weep
without the aid of its tears, over the funeral
pyre of her depraved nocturnal joys. That
girl, was represented to have contracted on that
occasion the incipient influence of amalady, that
soon after terminated in her death. It has
been asserted, however, somewhat boldly, that

45
she owed her exit from the world to a very
different cause, and that under the powerful im-
pulse of her feelings, generating remorse for the
viscious life she had led, that in a moment of
mental madness she deprived herself of life.
Be that however, as it may, Maria Stevens, the
next door neighbor of Ellen Jewett, lodging in
an adjoining apartment in the same house in
Thomas-street, participating all the same vi-
scious pleasure and indulgence, after witnessing
the frightful death of her companion in vice,
within little more than a month after that terri-
fic tragedy, died herself in another institution
of infamy adjacent. -
Another child of vice, who then occupied a
room in Mrs. Townsend's Hotel, was Emma.
French, a girl possessed of no personal charms,
unless it were an amorous expression with which
her eye greeted every new visitor that arrived,
and occasionally met with success.
With the exception of Caroline Stewart the
others were of minor importance, and we must
now leave them to drop a tear o'er the mur-
dered Ellen, who, upon the bed she had polluted,
atoned for her frailties, by the hatchet of the
midnight assassin, and the flame of the incendi-
ary. The public are acquainted with the par-
ticulars of the eventful night, (10th of April)
to repeat which would be useless did it come
within our limits.

46
Thus terminated the existence of the unfor-
tunate Ellen Jewett. No relatives grieve that
she has departed; no friends regret her loss;
no pitying eyes are swelled with tears in token
of their sorrow; and nothing now remains to
remind us of her existence, but her blighted re-
putation and death.
She never returned to the dust from which
she sprung; for as in life she had been misused,
so were her remains—the dissecting table re-
ceived them, and the only sorrow expressed for
her, was that uttered by the student, as the mid-
night oil was wasted in carving her remains;
and that sorrow only emanated from him at such
intervals as his bungling hand would sever some
unlucky artery. I am no opposer of science,
but the horrid death of the now lifeless Ellen
Jewett merited at least the ceremony of a fune-
ral before the operation of the surgical instru-
ments. Reader, would you see the lovely be-
ing who was once the pride of the boarding
school, and the ornament of the place of her
nativity " If so, solicit admittance to the Bar-
clay-street College, and you will there behold
the remains of the murdered girl, beautiful in
themselves, though deprived of the animated

47
flesh with which they were once encased, ex-
posed to the gaze of all who have procured ad-
mittance, hanging against its walls, the most
beautiful specimen of anatomy in the cabinet of
the professor.
48
º * . --
PRIVATE PAPERS,
Of ELLEN JEWETT, found after her de-
cease, and supposed to be the productions of her
pen, as the letters were copied from a volume
kept for recording her correspondence.
HOME.
Home of my youth on the wild mountains steep
Home where the charms of simplicity dwell;
From the walls where sweet woodbine and jessamine
creep, -
I take my departure and whisper Farewell
Home of my youth, where hearts of affection,
Have fondly extended their goodness and care;
With feelings of sorrow I leave thy protection,
And remember the kindness that sheltered me there.
Home of my youth, where my juvenile days,
Were greeted with pleasures and comforts anew ;
Kind gratitude lingers—her tribute she pays,
As the moments of time bids me whisper, Adieu !
Home of my youth, on the wild mountains steep,
I leave thee and go with the vicious to dwell;
But long in faithful remembrance I'll keep,
The day that I left, and whispered—Farewell!
ELLEN.
Eºtract from the Journal.
Wednesday, Aug. 7–Arose much earlier
than usual; after breakfast, sat myself dºwn
upon the sofa, and was soon deeply buried in
thought, Never was my mind so harrowed


49
by gloomy feelings; never do I recollect, during
my familiarity with such degrading vices, of
thinking so intently on my truly deplorable sit-
uation, and, as I brought to my memory him
whom I had doated on, sincerely loved and res-
pected, and who had converted my esteem and
affection into a rack that has since tortured my
existence, I thought, for I was in one of those
reveries, that such as think of their own misfor-
tunes can appreciate, that my betrayer was con-
demned to die, that the headsman awaited my
signal, that the axe was already lifted to inflict
the blow, and deprive him of existence who had
robbed me of a greater treasure. I was about
to utter it, but on looking towards him my
tongue palsied, I could not speak, he appeared
as he once did to the unsuspecting girl who had
confided in him, and who was now about to pro-
nounce the signal for his execution. One look
was sufficient—the flame was not extinct—I
still loved him.
-
The following letter was supposed to have
been written to Bill Easy who was at that time
a visitor at 41 Thomas-street, but as it was not
endorsed we are not warranted in making the
assertion.
New-York, March, 14th, 1836.
DEAR SIR,
With pleasure do I accept the beautiful
gift you have been pleased to honor me with,
inasmuch as the volume itself is extremely val-
uable, independent of the beautiful dedication
50
with which you have prefaced it, and an
acrostic that would have reflected credit on the
poetical talent of a Byron ; for much do I
esteem the value of a gift, when I know the
friendly feelings that have prompted it. Though
I cannot freely subscribe to the gross flattery
of one of the poetical effusions with which its
pages are ornamented, still do I appreciate the
sterling talent of its author, in uniting the beau-
tiful words which compose it. It shall become
the companion of my leisure; and ever while I
peruse it, will I think of the donor, whose
generosity entitles him to a place in the heart
of -
ELLEN JEWETT.
-
Another letter directed to a person answer-
ing to the cognomen of Bill Easy is worthy of
record.
New-York, April 6, 1836.
Sir-Your visits having been too frequent of
late, I have thought it very essential to mention
it in the manner I have adopted. My abrupt
manner of expressing myselſ, is in accordance
with the disgust and contempt I have felt for
you since the disgraceful conduct you have
thought proper to exercise towards me. You
will receive by the bearer the kerchief you have
taxed my time to mark, (it is one I have pur-
chased to replace that which my carelessness
had spoiled) and I shall esteem it a favor it
your visits are totally discontinued to
ELLEN JEWETT,
No. 41 Thomas-street.