The Adventuress : Murder, Blackmail, and Confidence Games in the Gilded Age / Virginia A. McConnell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McConnell, Virginia A.

Series:

True crime history series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Walkup, Minnie Wallace, 1869-1957.

Walkup, Minnie Wallace.

Murder--United States--Case studies.

Murder.

Husbands--Crimes against.

Husbands.

Women murderers--United States--Biography.

Women murderers.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (264 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press, [2010]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The engaging tale of a nineteenth-century black widow Intrigue, deception, bribery, poison, murder--all play a central role in the story of Minnie Walkup, a young woman from New Orleans who began her life of crime when she was only sixteen years old. Born in 1869 to Elizabeth and James Wallace, Minnie was a natural beauty and attended convent school where she learned social graces and how to play the piano. After the divorce of her parents, she was raised in multiple boardinghouses owned by her mother, and at one of them, met her first husband, James Reeves Walkup. At sixteen, she married Walkup, a forty-nine-year-old successful businessman and acting mayor of Emporia, Kansas. One month later, Walkup died from arsenic poisoning and his young wife was accused of murdering him. Her trial became one of the most sensational cases in Kansas history and was covered by reporters across the nation. The Adventuress details Minnie Walkup's remarkable life and criminal activities. Using newspaper articles, census and probate records, and descendants' reports, true crime writer Virginia A. McConnell depicts a captivating story that is full of scandal, gossip, theft, and murder and that includes events taking place across the South and Midwest. McConnell reveals a fascinating cast of characters revolving around Minnie Walkup, including a former Louisiana governor and senator, a prominent Ohio banking family, the partner of a famous railway tycoon, and a sleazy district court judge from New Orleans. The Adventuress offers a Gilded Age soap opera that seems too far-fetched to be what it is--true. A substantial contribution to crime history, The Adventuress is a welcome addition to any true crime reader's collection.

Contents:

A shootout and a World's Fair

The visitor from Kansas

The mayor takes a wife

Minnie goes downtown

The death of a mayor

A sensation in Emporia

Defending Minnie Walkup

Starring Minnie Walkup

The rise and fall of Minnie Walkup

Intermission

The levee

The death of a club man

Hansen versus Ketcham

Billy, Baby Jo, and the prince

The robber baron's partner

Death from afar

Where are they now?

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-235) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-61277-503-9

OCLC:

794698855