Person Page - 426

Louis Maxwell

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

10 Jul 2024

Marriage*

Louis Maxwell married Harriet Merrill.

Child of Louis Maxwell and Harriet Merrill

Maud Dellas Maxwell+ b. 1 Apr 1887, d. 24 Nov 1964

Harriet Merrill

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

10 Jul 2024

Marriage*

Harriet Merrill married Louis Maxwell.

Child of Harriet Merrill and Louis Maxwell

Maud Dellas Maxwell+ b. 1 Apr 1887, d. 24 Nov 1964

John C. Pierce

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Marriage*	John C. Pierce married Martha E. (?).
Birth*	John C. Pierce was born in July 1839.

Child of John C. Pierce and Martha E. (?)

James C. Pierce+ b. Nov 1872

Martha E. (?)

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Marriage*	Martha E. (?) married John C. Pierce.
Birth*	Martha E. (?) was born in October 1834.

Child of Martha E. (?) and John C. Pierce

James C. Pierce+ b. Nov 1872

Ethel May Gault

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	Charles W. Gault
Mother	Ida Louise Varney

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Birth*

Ethel May Gault was born circa 1903 in Franklin, Merrimack County, New HampshireG.1

Marriage*

She married John Maurice Pierce, son of James C. Pierce and Rachel Annie Wallingford, on 21 January 1938 in East Rochester, Strafford County, New HampshireG. It was Ethel's second marriage, her first marriage to a man by the surname of Berry ended in divorce. James was a 'dresser' and Ethel was a spooler at the time they were married. He was a resident of South Lebanon, Me. and she was living at 118 Maple Street in Rochester, N.H.2

Charles W. Gault

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Charles W. Gault married Ida Louise Varney.

Child of Charles W. Gault and Ida Louise Varney

Ethel May Gault b. c 1903

Ida Louise Varney

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Ida Louise Varney married Charles W. Gault.

Child of Ida Louise Varney and Charles W. Gault

Ethel May Gault b. c 1903

Helen Teresa Wentworth

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	John Lewis Wentworth b. c 1874
Mother	Margaret E. Murray

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Birth*	Helen Teresa Wentworth was born circa 1906 in Somersworth, Strafford County, New HampshireG.1
Marriage*	She married Harold Chester Pierce, son of James C. Pierce and Rachel Annie Wallingford, on 22 January 1942 in Somersworth, Strafford County, New HampshireG. At the time of their marriage Harold was a dresser tender living in Lebanon, Me. and Helen was a senior stenographer living at 27 Buffumsville Rd. in Somersworth, N.H.2

John Lewis Wentworth

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Marriage*	John Lewis Wentworth married Margaret E. Murray.
Birth*	John Lewis Wentworth was born circa 1874.

Child of John Lewis Wentworth and Margaret E. Murray

Helen Teresa Wentworth b. c 1906

Margaret E. Murray

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Margaret E. Murray married John Lewis Wentworth.

Child of Margaret E. Murray and John Lewis Wentworth

Helen Teresa Wentworth b. c 1906

Doris E. Pierce

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	James C. Pierce b. Nov 1872
Mother	Rachel Annie Wallingford b. Mar 1875

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Birth*

Doris E. Pierce was born circa 1911 in MaineG.1

male Wallingford

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	Amos Wallingford b. 7 Apr 1837, d. 20 Mar 1910
Mother	Lydia Randall b. May 1846

Last Edited

5 Aug 2020

Birth*

Male Wallingford was born in May 1880 in Berwick, MaineG.1

Frederick Sumner Rogers

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	John Mills Rogers b. 1852, d. 1931
Mother	Phebe L. Aaron b. 22 Aug 1859, d. 16 May 1896

Last Edited

25 Feb 2023

Birth*	Frederick Sumner Rogers was born on 9 June 1883 in Cambridge, Middlesex County, MassachusettsG.1
Marriage*	He married Gladys Emma Sands, daughter of George Edwin Sands and Katie B. Morton, on 12 November 1904 in MaineG.2
Death*	Frederick Sumner Rogers died in 1942.3
Burial*	He was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in West Buxton, Hollis, York County, MaineG.3
	After his mother died when he was only 3 years old he was living with his father and grandfather Rogers in Cambridge in the 1900 census. He apparently moved back to the home of his Rogers family relatives in Hollis, Maine at some point because by the time the 1910 census was taken he was married and living in Hollis with his father-in-law George Sands, as well as his wife and two young children. He worked as a salesman in a grocery store. When Fred filled out his World War I draft registration card in Sep 1918 he was living in West Buxton Village in Hollis and working as an operator at the Cumberland County Power and Light Company hydro-electric power plant in West Buxton. He was described as being of medium height and slender build with hazel eyes and dark hair. They were in the same place ten years later in the 1920 census, with one more child, and Fred worked as a watchman in a woolen mill. In the 1930 census the family is living in West Buxton Village in Hollis. Fred worked as an assistant operator in a hydro-electric plant. Gladys was a custom dressmaker. Their two sons and her father still lived with them. In 1935 they were in the same place as in 1940, still in Hollis. Fred was a self-employed painter. They owned their own home, a farm, worth $2000. They may have had one more child than the three listed below, as Mervyn was said to be their fourth child on his birth record. Although if they did that child likely died young because it doesn't appear in census records.

Children of Frederick Sumner Rogers and Gladys Emma Sands

Maurice F. Rogers b. 14 May 1905, d. Aug 1981 Frances P. Rogers+ b. 20 Jan 1909, d. 19 Oct 1998 Mervyn Sands Rogers b. 22 Mar 1912, d. 14 Oct 1978

Michael Wolly

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	Moritz Jacob Wolly b. 1834
Mother	Pauline Harris b. 1832, d. 1897

Last Edited

5 Aug 2024

Birth*	Michael Wolly was born on 8 April 1871 in Manhattan, New YorkG.1,2,3
Marriage*	He married Abbie Aaron, daughter of Barney Aaron and Catherine Agnes Harris, on 4 March 1902 in Manhattan, New YorkG.4
Death*	Michael Wolly died of myocarditis and acute cardiac failure on 14 December 1935 at the Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PennsylvaniaG.5
Burial*	He was buried on 17 December 1935 in Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County, New YorkG.6,7
	His mother's maiden name might have originally been Hirsch.
	From the 16 December 1935 Evening News of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: Michael Wolly of New York Dies Here. Michael Wolly, 1 West 67th street, New York City, a traveling salesman, handling supplies for window trimming, was found dead in bed in his room at the Sterling yesterday morning between 12 and 1 o'clock. Mr. Wolly became ill about midnight on Saturday and telephoning to the desk clerk, asked that a physician be summoned. When Dr. John Giering received no answer on his knocks on the door, a hotel employee was called and opened the door. Dr. Giering pronounced the man's death due to a heart attack. The remains have been shipped to a New York undertaker. Surviving are a wife and a daughter in New York City.. There were a few other notices in other Wilkes-Barre papers that provided essentially the same information, although the Wilkes-Barre Record of the same date (p.14) added that he "for years stopped at the hotel when in this section."8

Child of Michael Wolly and Abbie Aaron

Pauline A. Wolly b. 17 Dec 1902, d. 7 Jun 1975

Moritz Jacob Wolly

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

10 Aug 2020

Marriage*	Moritz Jacob Wolly married Pauline Harris.
Birth*	Moritz Jacob Wolly was born in 1834.

Child of Moritz Jacob Wolly and Pauline Harris

Michael Wolly+ b. 8 Apr 1871, d. 14 Dec 1935

William Harris

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

10 Aug 2020

Birth*	William Harris was born in ScotlandG.
Marriage*	He married Mary Moloney.

Child of William Harris and Mary Moloney

Catherine Agnes Harris+ b. Jul 1852, d. 14 Oct 1935

Mary Moloney

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

10 Aug 2020

Marriage*	Mary Moloney married William Harris.
Birth*	Mary Moloney was born in IrelandG.

Child of Mary Moloney and William Harris

Catherine Agnes Harris+ b. Jul 1852, d. 14 Oct 1935

Edward Phares Risbrough

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	Henry F. Risbrough
Mother	Josephine Phares

Last Edited

11 Aug 2020

Birth*	Edward Phares Risbrough was born on 10 November 1873 in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaG.1,2,3
Marriage*	He married first Charlotte Ining Waterhouse, daughter of Archibald Waterhouse and Annie D. Ining, on 30 May 1900 in Manhattan, New YorkG.4
Marriage*	Edward Phares Risbrough married Phoebe Lee Aaron, daughter of Barney Aaron and Catherine Agnes Harris, on 10 December 1906 in Manhattan, New YorkG.5
Death*	Edward Phares Risbrough died on 27 February 1954.6
Burial*	He was buried in Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, Nassau County, New YorkG.7

Pauline A. Wolly

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	Michael Wolly b. 8 Apr 1871, d. 14 Dec 1935
Mother	Abbie Aaron b. 25 Jan 1882, d. 30 Jan 1962

Last Edited

10 Mar 2023

Birth*	Pauline A. Wolly was born on 17 December 1902 in New York, New YorkG.1,2
Marriage License*	She and Thurston D. Rivers obtained a marriage license on 17 May 1948 in Manhattan, New YorkG.3
Death*	Pauline A. Wolly died on 7 June 1975 in Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, New YorkG.4
	Pauline was recorded on a 10 Dec 1929 passenger list of a ship arriving in New York harbor from Liverpool, England. It includes her date and place of birth and gives her address as 150 West 95th Street in New York City. A few years later she appears on another list, this time with her mother Abbie. It is from the 31 Jan 1938 arrival in New York harbor of a ship from Palermo, Sicily. It includes both of their dates and places of birth, and gives their address as 1 West 67th Street in New York City. When the 1940 census was taken she was living with her widowed mother in Manhattan and gave her occupation as manager of a private school. In Nov 1949 - a little more than a year after she married - she became director of the New York Herald Tribume service club, after having been its assistant director. An article on page three of the 26 Oct 1957 issue of the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal titled "Mrs. Rivers to Be Guest At Elmira Club Luncheon" details more of Pauline's carrer up to this point: "Mrs. Pauline A. Rivers, a trustee of Elmira college and current director of organization activities for the New York Times, will be the guest speaker at the first meeting of the season of the Mid-Hudson Elmira College club, Nov, 2. Luncheon will be served at 12:30 o'clock at the home of Mrs. Donald Miller, Myers Corners road, Wappingers Falls. Mrs. Rivers, whose topic will be "Elmira College Today," is a former director of the Club Service bureau of the New York Herald Tribune. Born In New York City, she received her bachelor of arts degree from Elmira college in 1924 and did graduate work at Columbia university, also studying in France and Italy. The speaker formerly managed the Book shop at the Empire State bullding and the Chatham Book shop and was assistant director of a private secretarial school in New York City. She has membership in the New York branch of the American Association of University Women, Republican Business Women, the Rehearsal club. Advertlslng Women of New York, the National Federation of business and Professional Women, the Woman's National Book association, the English-Speaking union, American Women's Voluntary services and Women United for United Nations." In a 1949 Manhattan city directory Thurston is referred to as an M.D. when he was living at 2 West 67th Street. Pauline and Thurston had no children.1,5
	Her obituary appeared in the 11 June 1975 New York Daily News and read as follows: Pauline Wolly Rivers. Funeral services for Pauline Wollv Rivers, 72, former director of the United Nations Association speakers' service, will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home, Madison Ave. at 81st St. Mrs. Rivers, who lived at 2 W. 67th St., died Saturday in Lenox Hill Hospital.4

Thurston D. Rivers

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

10 Mar 2023

Birth*	Thurston D. Rivers was born say 1900.1
Marriage License*	He and Pauline A. Wolly, daughter of Michael Wolly and Abbie Aaron, obtained a marriage license on 17 May 1948 in Manhattan, New YorkG.2

Henry F. Risbrough

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

11 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Henry F. Risbrough married Josephine Phares.

Child of Henry F. Risbrough and Josephine Phares

Edward Phares Risbrough b. 10 Nov 1873, d. 27 Feb 1954

Josephine Phares

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

11 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Josephine Phares married Henry F. Risbrough.

Child of Josephine Phares and Henry F. Risbrough

Edward Phares Risbrough b. 10 Nov 1873, d. 27 Feb 1954

Charlotte Ining Waterhouse

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	Archibald Waterhouse
Mother	Annie D. Ining

Last Edited

11 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Charlotte Ining Waterhouse married first Edward Phares Risbrough, son of Henry F. Risbrough and Josephine Phares, on 30 May 1900 in Manhattan, New YorkG.1

Archibald Waterhouse

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

11 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Archibald Waterhouse married Annie D. Ining.

Child of Archibald Waterhouse and Annie D. Ining

Charlotte Ining Waterhouse

Annie D. Ining

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

11 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Annie D. Ining married Archibald Waterhouse.

Child of Annie D. Ining and Archibald Waterhouse

Charlotte Ining Waterhouse

Mary Ann Enwright

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

22 Jan 2023

Birth*	Mary Ann Enwright was born circa 1843 in New YorkG.1
Marriage*	She married first Barney Aaron, son of Barney Aaron and Phoebe Lee, on 19 January 1863 at the Allen Street Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in New York, New YorkG.2

Louisa Jordan

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Father	William Jordan b. c 1821, d. 11 Sep 1901
Mother	Louisa Johnson b. s 1823

Last Edited

13 Apr 2024

Birth*	Louisa Jordan may have been born on 27 November 1843 in Manchester, EnglandG.1
Marriage*	She married second Barney Aaron, son of Barney Aaron and Phoebe Lee, on 11 October 1875 in Chicago, Cook County, IllinoisG.2,3
Death*	Louisa Jordan died on 22 November 1925 in Windsor, Ontario, CanadaG.4
Burial*	She was buried on 23 November 1925 in Windsor Grove Cemetery in Windsor.4,5
	Louisa or Louise, Jordan or Farley, or whatever was her real name, was one of the more notorious female criminals of her day. In 1886 Thomas Byrnes, New York City's Inspector of Police and Chief of Detectives, published a book titled "Professional Criminals of America," profiling over 200 criminals of the time. Number 131 was "Louise Jourdan, alias Biglow, alias Darrigan, alias Little Louisa." Here is what Byrnes had to say: DESCRIPTION. Forty-two years old in 1886. Born in England. Married. Medium build. Height, 5 feet 3 inches. Weight, about 135 pounds. Brown hair, blue eyes, dark complexion, round face. Is lady-like in manner and appearance. Wears good clothes. RECORD. Louise Jourdan, alias Little Louise, is an expert female thief, well known in New York, Chicago, and all the principal cities in the United States as the wife of Big Tom Biglow, the burglar. She was born in England. Her father once kept a public-house in Manchester, England. She served a term in an English prison for larceny. Upon her release she went to Brazil as a companion of a wealthy Spanish lady. While in that country she stole all her mistress’s diamonds, was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to receive forty lashes at the whipping-post, and was condemned to have the lower part of her right ear cut off. She wears her hair over her ears to cover this deformity. Louise afterwards appeared in New York City as the mistress of Billy Darrigan, a New York pickpocket. She was arrested for shoplifting at A. T. Stewart’s dry goods store, and sent to Blackwell’s Island. After her release she operated in Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities. She was married several times after leaving Darrigan; first to Tom McCormack, the bank burglar, who killed Jim Casey in New York, some years ago, while disputing over the proceeds of a robbery. After him, she took up with Aleck Purple, an Eighth Ward, New York, pickpocket; then with Dan Kelly, who was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in State prison for a masked burglary, with Patsey Conroy and others. After that she lived with a well-known New York sporting man, and finally married Big Tom Bigelow, and has been working the country with him since. She has been in several State prisons and penitentiaries in America, and is considered one of the smartest female pickpockets in this country. Louise Jourdan was arrested again in Cincinnati, Ohio, under the name of Mary Johnson, on May 19, 1886, in company of Sarah Johnson, a tall, blonde woman, charged with picking the pocket of a woman named Kate Thompson of $90, in one of the horse-cars. They both gave bail in $1,000, and at last accounts the case had not been disposed of. Her picture is an excellent one. More recently a man named Jerry Kuntz created a blog based on the Byrnes book called "Professional Criminals of America — REVISED: Revised biographies based on NYPD Chief Thomas Byrnes 1886 book, 'Professional Criminals of America.'" His 14 Feb 2018 blog entry was about Louisa [https://criminalsrevised.blog/2018/02/14/louisa-farley-131/]: Chief Byrnes’ profile of Louisa prefers the last name Jourdan, but she adopted that name in the late 1860s, when she was the companion of sneak thief Johnny Jourdan. A few facts are known about her origins, but there is (as yet) no definitive proof of her real name. Though she traveled with many different men, her only documented marriage was to the bare-knuckle champion prizefighter, Young Barney Aaron. On that Chicago marriage application, she gave her last name as Farley–a name which is not in any of her arrest records or newspaper mentions as an alias. This might lend credence to “Farley” being her true name. In her younger years, she was described as being very attractive, and dressed stylishly. In her later years, she cultivated comparisons to the elderly Queen Victoria–and may have assumed that as a style. According to several reports, Louisa was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England–sometime between 1842 and 1844. Byrnes indicates that she was 42 in 1886; however, an earlier article from 1878 said that she was then 36. There are apocryphal tales of her early years in England: she began stealing at 10; married a burglar at an early age and was imprisoned; after her release, she became a maid to a wealthy Brazilian woman. In Brazil, she stole the woman’s diamonds and was caught; her punishment included “ear-cropping,” i.e. the cutting off of the lower part of her right ear–a mark that police detectives in the United States delighted in discovering, knowing who they had captured. [Note that ear-cropping was not a standard form of punishment in Brazil, so that story is suspicious.] She arrived in the United States in the mid-1860s. An 1867 Philadelphia newspaper indicates that she was already recognized by police as a professional pickpocket. However, as Byrnes’ profile suggests, what distinguishes Louisa’s career is her talent for hooking up with bad men. Starting in the mid-1860s, she was associated with: William “Billy” Derrigan/Darrigan (#180 in Byrne’s book), a New York pickpocket known to have mistreated another woman in his life. Tom McCormick, a bank robber William J. Sharkey, an infamous burglar, pickpocket, and gang leader who committed murder in 1872 and escaped from jail with the assistance of Johnny Jourdan’s sister, Maggie Jourdan. Sharkey fled to Cuba, abused Maggie (who fled back to the US), and was never heard from again. Aleck Purple, a colorfully-named New York pickpocket Dan Kelly, aka “Dan the Rioter,” a masked house burglar. Patsey Conroy, another masked burglar. Johnny Jourdan, the bank sneak thief often seen with Rufus Minor and George Carver. After Johnny Jourdan was sent to prison in the early 1870s, Louisa migrated to Chicago and married the English bare-knuckle prizefighter, Barret “Barney” Aaron. Claiming abuse, she divorced him in 1878. She quickly rebounded by becoming the common-law wife of Big Tom Bigelow, a bank thief. She lived a comparatively quiet life with Bigelow in Windsor, Ontario, until his death in New Orleans in 1886. Louisa’s final known paramour was a villain of many names, known in the east mainly as James Maguire. Maguire tried to possess Louisa’s properties in Windsor, and was said to have abused her. However, it was an assault on a man that sent Maguire, aka Frank West, to a prison in Canada. He escaped, fled to Australia, and for several years committed robberies under the name George Walter/William Russell aka W. G. Burton. Louisa made a habit of combing the crowds at World’s Fair exhibitions as a pickpocket. She was arrested a final time in 1899 on suspicion, but was released, claiming that she had retired from crime sixteen years earlier. Kuntz's blog entry missed the story of her arrest in Chicago in 1894: THEFT IS HER TRADE. Arrest of Crop-Eared Louise Bigelow. Noted Shoplifter Caught. "Little Louise" Bigelow, an expert shoplifter known to the police of all the large cities of the United States, and wanted throughout Great Britain and on the continent of Europe, was arrested by Detectives Cronin and Stevens, at Chicago, Tuesday afternoon. Two women, local shoplifters, were with her when she was arrested. They will be given the alternative of leaving town or serving a term in the Bridewell. "Little Louise," as she is known to the pollce everywhere, is celebrated not only as a clever shoplifter but also as having been the wife of Barney Aaron, an English light weight champion, and also the spouse of Tom Bigelow, a safe blower and thief of national reputation. Another thing that adds to her celebrity is the absence of the top portion of her left ear. This is the "Mark of Cain" put on her over thirty years ago while serving a second term for shop-lifting in a London prison. This distinguishing mark she always kept concealed when on the street under a heavy veil.Tuesday afternoon, when presenting her to the view of the Central Station officers, Lieutenant Haas attempted to take off this veil. She resisted, tried to scratch his face, and declared she was insulted. The veil was taken off, however, and the detectives all feel assured that with her veil off they will always recognize "Little Louise' in the future. [Bureau County Tribune, Princeton, Illinois, 9 Mar 1894, p.2] Another newspaper account provides additional details: "LITTLE LOUISA BEHIND BARS. Arrest of Three Clever Female Crooks at Chicago. CHICAGO, March 7.--Louisa Bigelow, Anne Farley, and Nellie O'Brien, three of the cleverest female crooks in the country,were arrested last night and lodged in jail. So bold were the women that they were plying their pocket picking in front of the United States Express building, within half a block of the city hall. Each one of the women is a specialist in thieving, but the noted one is Louisa Bigelow, better known in police circles as "Little Louisa." She derives her name from Tom Bigelow, the notorious forger, to whom she was married years ago, and with whom she traveled all over this country and Europe. The pair were arrested in all the principal cities in the old world, and for a clever job in London the upper lobe of Louisa's left ear was cut off. Bigelow was accounted a very clever forger, and amassed considerable money, which was invested in Windsor, Canada, and today "Little Louisa" is worth $40,000. Her home is at Windsor, from which she makes predatory excursions. Before she took the name of Bigelow Louisa was the wife of Barney Aaron, and since Bigelow's death has continually consorted with Jimmie McGuire, alias "Cap" Roach, the notorious "west side gopher." Of late years Louisa has given Chicago a wide berth, but the world's fair and the crowds proved too much attraction for her. [Evening Star, Washington, D.C., 7 Mar 1894, p.3] In 1899 she was arrested on suspicion of criminal activity twice, once in Brooklyn and a few months later in Buffalo, N.Y. In June of 1899 appeared this news story: NOTED WOMAN CROOK CAUGHT IN BROOKLYN. Louise Jourdan Is Well Known to the Police of Two Hemispheres. IS CHARGED WITH VAGRANCY. The Woman Led Police Captain Reynolds' Son a Merry Chase After He Spotted Her. Louise Jourdan, alias Bigelow, but better known to the police of two hemispheres as "Little Lou," was locked up in the Adams street police station this afternoon as a vagrant. The police do not really believe that she is a vagrant, for she has wit enough to take such good care of herself that the chances are that she has a comfortable home somewhere. Louise is famous as the "Queen of Shoplifters," but she has a shining reputation as a pickpocket, too, and a thief of the first class. Her arrest was brought about through the natural inquisitiveness of James Reynolds, the son of the captain of the detective squad, who is a special officer in Abraham & Straus' store. About two weeks ago young Reynolds saw the woman in the store. She was attired in rusty black and her stout little figure moved about with a degree of agility that seemed to be far beyond possibility for a woman of 55 or thereabouts. Reynolds is just beginning to learn something of the ways of shoplifters and crooks and he became convinced that the woman was not in the store on an honest errand. He followed her about and pretty soon she left by the front door and went directly to Matthews' store, a little further down the street. There, at the soda fountain, he saw the woman fumbling with another woman's dress. She was evidently looking for the pocket, but did not find it at once, and it is probable that she realized that she was being watched, for she gave up the pursuit of the woman's pocketbook and went out into the street again. Young Reynolds followed her, convinced that he had made no mistake, and proceeded to put in the rest of the day following her. He did not realize the extent of his undertaking until he returned home at night tired, sick and disgusted. After the fashion of a skilled crook, the woman had simply led the young man on and after she had tired herself out adroitly gave him the slip. But in that time Reynolds must have traveled fifty miles he thinks. First It was over the bridge; then uptown Manhattan in a cable car; then, suddenly across town to the North River. There was another loop and Reynolds, jr., found that he was after the woman again on her way down to the Battery. She boarded another car at the Battery and uptown she went again, with the young detective at her heels. All day she kept dodging him until finally it seems she got tired of the game and disappeared so suddenly that Reynolds thinks that the ground must have opened up and swallowed her. He returned to this borough and told his father, the captain, all about his experiences. The elder Reynolds listened to his son's description of the woman and thought that she might be "Black Amelia," an old time pickpocket. He told the lad to keep his eyes open for her another time. This morning the suspect again visited Abraham & Straus' store. Mrs. Peyser, the woman detective at the shop, and Reynolds, saw her at about the same time. Reynolds was about to follow her around when she suddenly turned and confronted him, to his chagrin. There was a smile of recognition in her eyes and she nodded an adieu and went out at once. The young man went after her again, but meeting Detective Sergeant Weiser and Detective Officer Ruddy told them about her and said that he thought she was a pickpocket. The detectives followed her and Reynolds abandoned the chase. Weiser saw that she intended to board a car at the corner ot Adams and Fulton streets and he determined to arrest her as a suspicious character. She was taken to the office of Captain Reynolds and there gave her name as Mrs. Thompson of Canada. She said that she was visiting in New York and declared that her arrest was an outrage. There was something undefinable about the woman which told the officers that they had in their custody a person who was well acquainted with police methods and old records were looked up. A picture of Little Lou was found and it corresponded with the prisoner. She was confronted with it and confessed that the guess of the police was quite correct. "Yes," she said, "I am Louise Jourdan, but I have done nothing wrong. You may put down my address as Bleecker street, but I do not care to tell you the number. As a matter of fact, I am not here permanently. My home is in Canada and I have just come on to New York on a visit. I have not been doing any work here." The woman was searched, but all that she had was a small sum of money and two parcels, one containing a pair of corsets and the other a book. She gave her occupation as "housekeeper," said that she was a widow, birthplace in England and aged 50. Weiser and Ruddy took her over to the Adams street station, where she was locked up on the charge given above. Nearly all the official books on the subject of professional crooks give pictures and pedigrees of Little Lou, who has an international reputation. She is known as Louise Dartigan in addition to the other names given above. She was born in England about fifty-five years ago and was in trouble for stealing before she was 10 years old. She married a burglar in England and after serving a term there, became "respectable" and found a place as waiting maid for a wealthy Brazilian woman. The woman took Louise to Brazil and one night the maid disappeared with nearly all of her mistress' diamonds. She was arrested and received as punishment a short term of imprisonment, forty lashes and mutilation of the left ear. The lower lobe was snipped off as a warning to her to lead an honest life in future. Ever since then Lou has worn her hair down over her ears after the fashion of Cleo de Merode. From Brazil she returned to England, but later she came to this country. Her former husband died and she became the wife of Big Tom Bigelow, a notorious bank sneak and burglar, who died, leaving an estate of about $100,000. She put in a claim for her share of the estate, but what became of the matter is not known. Several years ago she was arrested in Chicago on her return from England. She was detained at the request of the detective officers in Scotland Yard for having stolen a number of valuable diamonds from a dealer in Mincing lane, London. She managed to escape deportage and she fled to Canada. Next it is alleged she stole jewelry worth $12,000 from a jeweler in Hamilton, Ontario and she fled to this country. The woman has a strong resemblance to Queen Victoria and she plumes herseif like a true English woman, on the fact. Lou has had many matrimonial experiences since she left the home of her father, who kept a public house in Manchester. One of her husbands was James Maguire, alias Captain Roche, safe blower and burglar, who robbed the Union Depot ticket office in Detroit in 1889 and then fled to Australia. For the past few years the police had heard nothing from the woman and it was supposed that she had money somewhere and had retired to private life. She did not seem to be at all prosperous when arrested this afternoon. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 23 Jun 1899, p.1] Then a few months later in September: MRS BIGELOW WAS MET AT THE FERRY. Special Caney Recognized Her as a Famous Female Thief--She Is Fifty-One Years Old, and Has a Record. Mrs. Louise Bigelow, who the police claim is the greatest female thief in North America, visited the city yesterday morning. As a rule, according to the police records, when Mrs. Bigelow visits a city, the place suffers. Yesterday was an exception, and Mrs. Bigelow was the only sufferer, being locked up in police headquarters overnight as a suspicious character, on account of her notorious record. Special Caney of the Delavan Avenue Station was standing at Ferry and Niagara streets at 10:30 o'clock yesterday morning, when he saw Mrs. Bigelow coming up the hill from the ferry. Special Caney at once recognized the woman, from the fact that she was pointed out to him about a year ago in Detroit. Mrs. Bigelow's sharp eyes detected an officer in Caney at about the same moment in which he spotted her, and she watched him while she watched her. After standing on the corner a while, she finally signalled a Niagara Falls car to stop, but when about to board it, she was placed under arrest. In response to questions by Special Caney, she said that she had been attending the races at Fort Erie, and desiring to return to her home in Windsor, Ont., had tried to obtain an excursion ticket from Fort Erie to Windsor. Not obtaining any, she said she was about to try her luck in ticket speculating at Niagara Falls. Special Caney brought her to Police Headquarters, where she was locked up, to appear before Judge King this morning. Mrs. Bigelow was well dressed, and did not look her 51 years, many of which have been spent inside prison walls, it is said. Her picture adorns the rogues' gallery at Police Headquarters in Franklin street. Pocket picking and shoplifting are specified as her particular professions. [Buffalo Courier, Buffalo, N.Y., 14 Sep 1899, p.6] Learning from these news articles that she had a home in Windsor, Ontario, a search of news stories in that area turned up this item from 1903: MRS. WM. JORDAN DEAD. She Passed Away at the Home of Mrs. Louise Biglow [sic]. The death occurred last night at the home of Mrs. Wm. Jordan, aged 70 years, widow of the late William Jordan, the well-known wrestler and boxer, who died two years ago. Mrs. Jordan had been ailing for some time and succumbed to an attack of diabetes. She was born in Devonshire, Eng., and came to this country fifteen years ago, where she married Wm. Jordan, the father of Mrs. Louise Bigelow. The funeral will be held from the residence of Mrs. Bigelow to Windsor Grove cemetery Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. One brother in Cleveland survives. [The Windsor Star, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 21 Aug 1903, p.1] This identifies her father as William Jordan, but is it the correct Louisa Bigelow? A newspaper article in the 10 Jan 1907 Windsor Star newspaper, p. 1, titled "Mrs. Bigelow Relates Struggle to Reform," tells something of her life after she says she gave up her life of crime. It talks about a trip to England she made in 1901 upon the death of her uncle Julius Johnston, and how she received a cablegram while there that her father was seriously ill, and that he had died by the time she got home. The William Jordan referenced in the death notice above for his wife died in Windsor in July 1901, so this proves the connection between Louisa and her father William Jordan. Louisa's death certificate in 1925 states that her mother's maiden name was Johnson, but the 1907 newspaper article mentions uncles named Johnston so that may be the correct spelling. When she died she was living at 101 Aylmer Avenue in Windsor.

John Aaron

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

30 Aug 2020

Birth*	John Aaron was born circa 1830 in London, EnglandG.1
Marriage*	He married Margaret (?) before 1870.2
Death*	John Aaron died on 23 September 1895 in Manhattan, New YorkG.3
	The identity of this John Aaron is unknown at present. There is at least one newspaper account calling him the brother of the New York pugilist Barney Aaron, but as stated in the notes about Barney that is likely just an error or a story made up for promotional purposes. He was a somewhat well-known fighter himself. The 1860 census of New York City records him as a 'pugalist' living with the family of Samuel and Elizabeth Davis. Searching newspaper databases for 'Johnny Aaron' during this time period, and for the next few decades, leads to several mentions of him in the newspapers. He doesn't appear to have won any major titles or bouts, but does have many local fights and exhibitions. By the 1870 census he was married to Anna and his occupation was given as "dealer in fruit." With them is 16-year-old Timothy Francis Aaron who 'works at sign painting.' According to descendants of Timothy he was the son of Margaret/Anna Aaron's first wife Cornelius Donovan, who died in New York a few years before she married John Aaron. The family believes that he is related to Barney Aaron, most likely the son of the elder Barney and brother of the younger, but as previously stated this is unlikely. By the 1880 census his occupation was given as 'speculator' and he and Anna were living at 200 East Houston Street in the city. In 1882 he returned to London to visit with his 87-year-old mother, five brothers and three sisters, who were all supposedly living in London at the time.

James Grace

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

16 Aug 2020

Marriage*

James Grace married Margaret (?).

Child of James Grace and Margaret (?)

Lena M. Grace+ b. c 1890, d. 5 Apr 1951

Margaret (?)

This research is a work in progress, taken from sources of varying reliability. The information should be verified before being relied upon.

Last Edited

16 Aug 2020

Marriage*

Margaret (?) married James Grace.

Child of Margaret (?) and James Grace

Lena M. Grace+ b. c 1890, d. 5 Apr 1951