Maggie Hall (26 December 1853 17 January 1888) was a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

and

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 ...

madam in the early history of

Murray, Idaho Murray is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, located in Shoshone County, Idaho. It is approximately north of Wallace, Idaho, Wallace along Dobson Pass Road. Prichard ...

, originally from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In local lore she is known as a " Prostitute with a heart of gold" and the "Patron Saint of Murray".

Biography

Maggie Hall was born in Darwen, Lancashire, England, to an Irish father and mother, both of whom were well educated. They ensured their daughter also gained an education, and young Maggie could recite

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

and

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

. The Hall family were tailors, and Thomas Hall moved his family to Manchester in hopes of growing his business. Unfortunately, his investments failed and he fell into debt. Maggie and her sisters - Mary, Bridget and Louisa - would have to find work or marry. Maggie, instead, sailed for America to seek her fortune. She arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1870, according to the census taken in New York Harbor. Once there, she started working as a

barmaid A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, b ...

. Soon, however, she met a wealthy young man named Berdan, and they agreed to wed. Maggie wanted a Catholic wedding, but Berdan wanted to get married immediately, and woke a city official who promptly married them. Berdan thought Maggie too common a name for the wife of a man of wealth and position, so she changed her name to Mollie, which was a popular woman's name in the 1870s. The marriage was kept a secret from Berdan's father, out of fear that he would disapprove and withdraw the generous monthly allowance he gave his son. The father did eventually find out, and cut Berdan off.

Prostitution

Without any income, and now in debt, Berdan tried to talk his wife into

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

. She eventually, and reluctantly, agreed. Feeling guilt for her actions, she went to receive the

Confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...

, but instead of receiving forgiveness, she was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. This event may have caused her distress, as she appeared to be dedicated to her Catholic faith, as evidenced by her gifts to churches. ,With her husband making more demands on her, and her love for him fading, Hall left her husband around 1877, determined to work solely for her own benefit. She travelled to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, United States, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno, Nevada, Reno–Sparks, Nevada, Sparks Reno, NV Metropolitan ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, increasing the amount she charged for services as she went. At one stage she was reputed to be the mistress of a

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. Many national currencies have, or ...

Charles Burchard. Burchard - who owned the building Mollie lived in - came to her aid after a fire in her apartment, and provided her with a new wardrobe. They reportedly began a May/ December romance. During this time she built up an expensive wardrobe as Mr. Burchard was generous. He bought Mollie a trotting race horse named Maggie and a racehorse for himself named BG Burchard. Burchard was working on building the pedestal for the statue of Liberty in New York Harbor and Mollie was privy to the models and sculptures as they were developed.

Murray

In 1884, after hearing about the gold strikes in the

Coeur d'Alene Mountains The Coeur d'Alene Mountains are the northwesternmost portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains, located in northern Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mount ...

, she headed to

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. While en route, travelling by train, she met

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Canary (May 1, 1856 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American American frontier, frontierswoman, Exhibition shooting, sharpshooter, sex worker, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits, she was known f ...

, although their paths diverged at

Thompson Falls, Montana Thompson Falls is a city in and the county seat of Sanders County, Montana. The population was 1,336 at the time of the 2020 census. History Thompson Falls was named after British explorer, geographer and fur trader David Thompson, who found ...

. A potentially apocryphal tale relates that Hall obtained a horse and joined a

pack train A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

heading to

. The pack train encountered a

blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...

while travelling through Thompson Pass. She noticed a woman and child struggling in the snow, and decided to care for them, helping them and finding shelter for the night while the train carried on its journey. Mollie made it to Murray, with woman and child in tow, a day after the rest of the pack train had arrived; word of her actions spread and her heroic actions were much admired by the townsfolk. In Murray, Hall met a man named Philip O'Rourke and the two became longtime friends. O'Rourke helped her to find a cabin in Paradise Row where she set up a brothel. Hall gained the nickname ''Molly B'Damn'' in Murray. In some accounts, this originated from O'Rourke mishearing her when she told him her married name: Molly Berdan. In other accounts, she gained the nickname from her colorful language. On miners' payday, legend has it that Hall would fill a bathtub with water in the alley behind the brothel and invite miners to throw gold dust in it. When enough had been thrown in, she would strip off and bathe in the tub. For extra gold dust, the miners could help wash her. Hall was known for her kindness and charity, gaining a reputation for aiding the hungry and homeless, and helping nurse the sick. While tales differ as to the cause of her death, legend suggests that Mollie attempted to caring for patients sick with some sort of communicable illness, and succumbed to the disease.

Death

Hall contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in October 1887 and died on 17 January 1888, aged 34. O'Rourke was at her bedside. The community pulled all their curtains shut and the bars, gambling dens and surrounding mines shut down for her funeral. The service was given by a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister as the Catholic priest refused. At her own request she was buried as ''Maggie Hall'' in Murray Cemetery. Her

tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

erroneously gives her age as 35.

Legacy

Hall's legendary compassion led the citizens of Murray to name their annual city celebration the "''Molly B'Damn Gold Rush Days''" in her honor. They have trouble casting the role of Molly B'Damn as there are no proven photographs of her. The Sprag Pole Museum located in Murray features a reconstruction of her bedroom as one of the exhibits. In the 1973 film '' The Brothers O'Toole'', the residents of the small Colorado town of Molybdenum consistently mispronounce it as "Molly B'Damn".

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Maggie 1853 births 1888 deaths People from Darwen British emigrants to the United States American female prostitutes British female prostitutes Irish female prostitutes 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis People from Shoshone County, Idaho Tuberculosis deaths in Idaho