Anna Wilson (madam)
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Anna Wilson (May 27, 1835 – October 27, 1911) was a pioneer madam in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
. When she died she bequeathed her life savings to the City of Omaha, along with her 25-room mansion
brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
, which was used as a hospital. Wilson was responsible for "establishing Omaha's first serious comfort station", and was known as the "Queen of the Underworld."Sherr, L. and Kazickas, J. (1994) ''Susan B. Anthony Slept Here: A Guide to American Women's Landmarks''. New York: Random House/Times Books.


Biography

Little is known about Wilson's early life. Unsubstantiated rumors circulated around Omaha that she was born into an aristocratic Southern family. Wilson and her long-time partner, Dan Allen, were together in 1870, when famous Lincoln prostitute Josie Washburn worked for her. Wilson reportedly assumed the role of a parent if one of the prostitutes that worked for her got married, including paying the wedding expenses. After Allen died Wilson started investing in real estate. She amassed a large amount of money, and according to one account, half her fortune was made in the last ten years of her life from the purchase and sale of real estate. By 1886, her initial career choice provided sufficient funds for her to build a 25-room mansion at 912 Douglas Street. It was a three-story, 25-room building with racy artwork. She lived there until she left what was known as "the Sporting District." Wilson bequeathed the famous gabled brothel on Douglas Street to the city when she died in 1911. It became the Omaha Emergency Hospital and for many years served as a communicable-disease treatment center. The city would not accept the donation outright, so Wilson compromised and asked for $125.00 a month rent to be paid to her until she died. The building was razed in the 1940s. In 1910 Wilson moved to a fine home at 2018 Wirt Street in the fashionable Kountze Park neighborhood in North Omaha. Anna, who was 76 years old when she died, was said to be worth upwards of a million dollars, and claimed she didn't have one relative in the world. Wilson is buried in Omaha's Prospect Hill Cemetery next to Dan Allen. In her will, Wilson made a clause that she should be buried under nine feet of
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
, so that the "respectable" society women of the town didn't disinter her body from her resting place by Allen and move it out of Prospect Hill. An immense polished stone in the dimensions of a king-size bed with four posts rests over the double graves of Wilson and Allen.


Legacy

Following Anna's death, on each Memorial Day, a wreath was laid on Wilson's grave by Mrs. Thomas L. Kimball because of Anna's generosity over the years toward the Creche Home for Children. Mrs. Kimball's son, Thomas Rogers Kimball, continued the tradition after her death. Thomas was a prominent architect whose buildings include St. Cecilia's Cathedral, the old Public Library, and the Burlington Station. After his death in 1934, the tradition stopped; however, over the years there have been many reports of flowers left on Memorial Day. The Prospect Hill Preservation Society celebrates an annual
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
event. In 1997 they honoured Wilson. The Durham Western Heritage Museum also offers tours related to the story of Anna Wilson, along with other notorious characters from the "Gritty City".(nd
"Durham Western Heritage Museum's Gritty-City tours"
UNMC Today. Retrieved 7/18/07.
A neighborhood bar & restaurant, named "Wilson & Washburn" in an historic building at 1407 Harney, was opened in 2013. The business is named after Anna Wilson and her former employee, Josie Washburn. A speakeasy type of bar called Anna's Place located in Hotel Indigo is named after her.


See also

* History of Omaha *
Founding figures of Omaha, Nebraska The following people were founding figures of Omaha, Nebraska. Their period of influence ranges from 1853 through 1900. The original founding event to establish the City of Omaha was recorded as a picnic on July 4, 1854. It took place on the hil ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Anna Burials at Prospect Hill Cemetery (North Omaha, Nebraska) 1835 births 1911 deaths Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska American brothel owners and madams American prostitutes American female prostitutes Crime in Omaha, Nebraska 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American businesswomen