Fanny White
Encyclopedia
Fanny White, a.k.a. Jane Augusta Blankman (1823–1860) was one of the most successful courtesans
of ante-bellum New York City
. Known for her beauty, wit, and business acumen, Fanny White accumulated a significant fortune over the course of her career, married a middle-class lawyer in her thirties, and died suddenly a year later. Rumors that she had been poisoned caused a public outcry, which forced an inquest into her death.
, Otsego County, New York, the eldest daughter of farmers Jacob and Jane B. Funk. Her mother died when Jane was 8 years old and her father died in 1847. She received a basic education and was considered a bookish girl.
At age seventeen or eighteen, Jane “became the victim of a seducer.” A “seducer” was an older man who seduced naïve young women, often with a promise of marriage, only to abandon them. “Seduced and abandoned” women were considered ruined and were shunned by middle class
Victorian society
. Seduction
reportedly was the third most common "cause" of prostitution in New York in the early 1800's, after economic motives and “inclination,” and was viewed as a social problem by moral reformers
.
In the fall of 1842, Jane went to New York City, to her older brother John H. Funk, a house carpenter who had moved there six years earlier. Jane’s husband would later accuse John Funk of refusing to help his ruined sister. Jane found menial work at a hotel to try to support herself. In 1843, Jane Funk joined a “house of prostitution at 120 Church street,” where she assumed her professional name of Fanny White.
or syphilis
.
Fanny White had the business sense and good luck to beat the odds. A few months after starting work at 120 Church Street, White moved up to Julia Brown’s brothel on West Broadway, near the National Theater. By 1847, the 24-year-old Fanny White was managing the brothel at 120 Church Street where she used to work.
Also by 1847, she had met lawyer and Tammany Hall
brother Daniel Sickles
. Fanny's staff considered Sickles to be Fanny’s “man,” or her significant other. Nineteenth century prostitutes commonly had a “man” or a “friend” with whom they developed a romantic attachment. A prostitute’s paramour did not normally pay for her attention, although Sickles did give White generous gifts of jewelry and money.
In 1851, White purchased a building at 119 Mercer Street, which she outfitted as a discreet, high-class brothel. “[H]er customers were merchants, Congressmen, and those belonging to the diplomatic corps on visits to New York.” White carefully maintained good relations with the police so her establishment would escape official notice.
Her indiscreet relationship with Daniel Sickles, however, attracted considerable notice. After Sickles was elected to the New York State Assembly
in 1847, he brought Fanny to his hotel in Albany, where he introduced her around the breakfast table to the dismayed guests. He took Fanny to visit the State Assembly Chamber, for which action he was censured by the Whigs
. Another evening the two of them went out on the town with Fanny illegally dressed as a man, and ended up spending the night in jail. Sickles almost certainly arranged the mortgage on Fanny’s Mercer Street brothel, using the name of his friend Antonio Bagioli
. Rumors that Fanny contributed her own earnings to Sickles’ election campaign would haunt Sickles for the rest of his political career.
In September 1852, Sickles hastily married sixteen year old Teresa Bagioli
. Fanny was rumored to be so angry that she followed him to a hotel and attacked him with a riding whip. But in August 1853, when Sickles traveled to England as the secretary to James Buchanan
, the U. S. Minister to the Court of St. James
, Fanny accompanied him in lieu of his wife. One source alleges that Sickles arranged for her passport. Fellow madam Kate Hastings moved to 119 Mercer to manage Fanny’s brothel in her absence.
In England, Fanny accompanied Sickles openly to theaters, operas, and diplomatic events. Most sources agree that Fanny White made her curtsey to Queen Victoria at a reception at Buckingham Palace
, where Sickles introduced her as “Miss Bennett of New York.”
Historians speculate that Fanny talked Sickles into the introduction, and that Sickles was further motivated by his intense dislike of both the monarchy and of the editor of the New York Herald
, James Gordon Bennett, Sr.
Queen Victoria apparently never learned the truth, but Bennett was furious at the use of his name. The Life and Death of Fanny White, however, alleges that White legally changed her name before she left for Europe. And after 1853, Fanny White seems to have used the name “J. Augusta Bennett” extensively when dealing with New York businesses.
When Teresa Bagioli Sickles arrived in London in the spring of 1854, Fanny White left. One source claims that White made a tour of the Continent - she “visited Paris
, Baden-Baden
, Vienna
, and other interesting and fashionable aristocratic resorts,” and was removed from the Paris Opera
by gendarmes after making a drunken scene - returning to New York later in the year. Back in New York, White established a second brothel behind the St. Nicholas Hotel and also resumed management of 119 Mercer Street.
By 1856, Fanny White was seen riding around New York in the carriage of the wealthy, much older Jacob Rutgers LeRoy, one of the LeRoys
of the Triangle Tract
in western New York. In 1856, she also turned management of 119 Mercer Street over to Clara Gordon and moved into a house she owned at No. 108 Twelfth Street, accompanied by two “lady boarders.”
Jane Augusta Blankman was generous to her family. In 1856 she paid her brother John $2,500 for a life-long lease on a house he owned, and gave the lease to their widowed sister, Mrs. Eliza Williams. Jane contributed half the money to purchase a Funk family lot at Green-Wood Cemetery
in Brooklyn. Jane bought her younger brother, Hiram Funk, enough shares in the Resolute Fire Insurance Company that he was able to obtain a position as surveyor for the company. She helped to raise and she paid for the schooling of her niece, Lillian “Bennett”. She owned the fashionable property at No. 49 West. 34th Street where she and her new husband lived as Mr. and Mrs. Blankman. She refused, however, to sign the property over to Edmon Blankman when he asked for it. When a friend asked her why not, Jane allegedly replied that “she was not such a fool,” and “that ever since her suspicions had been aroused with regard to [Edmon] trying to have intimacy with her niece, she had lost all confidence in him.”
. Her body was packed in ice and taken to Green-Wood Cemetery to be interred.
But on October 16, motivated by continued rumors of poisoning, city Coroner Schirmer and District Attorney Waterbury ordered that her remains be re-examined at Bellevue Hospital
. The three day inquest became a cause célèbre and was reported in The New York Times
.
The doctors who re-examined Jane Blankman’s body reported signs of exposure to tuberculosis and syphilis, as well as symptoms of cardiovascular disease
and extensive bleeding in the brain, but found no sign of poisoning
. The Life and Death of Fanny White describes her as “frail,” but the doctor who pronounced her dead described her as “very stout.”
On October 20, 1860, the Coroner affirmed the verdict of death by apoplexy. Her siblings wanted to bury
“Jenny” in the Funk family plot, but Jane Augusta Blankman’s remains were buried on March 25, 1861 in the Blankman family plot at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
The “total value of her property at the time of her death was variously estimated at from $50,000 to $100,000” - or $1 to $2 million U.S. as of 2010 - but that may have been a significant underestimate of its real value. In the will presented by Edmon Blankman, Jane left almost her entire estate to her husband. Her siblings contested the will, claiming that it had been forged by her husband after her death. On June 26, 1861, after months of acrimonious testimony, Surrogate
William H. Freeland ruled in favor of Edmon Blankman. Jane’s siblings appealed, but the New York Supreme Court
upheld the verdict in late September. Edmon Blankman began liquidating his wife’s estate in October 1861.
Engraving of Edmon Blankman. http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113957
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
of ante-bellum New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Known for her beauty, wit, and business acumen, Fanny White accumulated a significant fortune over the course of her career, married a middle-class lawyer in her thirties, and died suddenly a year later. Rumors that she had been poisoned caused a public outcry, which forced an inquest into her death.
Early life
Jane Augusta Funk was born on March 22, 1823 in Cherry ValleyCherry Valley (village), New York
Cherry Valley is a village in Otsego County, New York, United States. The population was 592 at the 2000 census.The Village of Cherry Valley is in the Town of Cherry Valley...
, Otsego County, New York, the eldest daughter of farmers Jacob and Jane B. Funk. Her mother died when Jane was 8 years old and her father died in 1847. She received a basic education and was considered a bookish girl.
At age seventeen or eighteen, Jane “became the victim of a seducer.” A “seducer” was an older man who seduced naïve young women, often with a promise of marriage, only to abandon them. “Seduced and abandoned” women were considered ruined and were shunned by middle class
American middle class
The American middle class is a social class in the United States. While the concept is typically ambiguous in popular opinion and common language use, contemporary social scientists have put forward several, more or less congruent, theories on the American middle class...
Victorian society
Victorian morality
Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria's reign and of the moral climate of the United Kingdom throughout the 19th century in general, which contrasted greatly with the morality of the previous Georgian period...
. Seduction
Seduction
In social science, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person to engage. The word seduction stems from Latin and means literally "to lead astray". As a result, the term may have a positive or negative connotation...
reportedly was the third most common "cause" of prostitution in New York in the early 1800's, after economic motives and “inclination,” and was viewed as a social problem by moral reformers
New York Female Moral Reform Society
The New York Female Moral Reform Society was established in 1834 under the female leadership of Lydia A. Finney, wife of revivalist Charles Grandison Finney...
.
In the fall of 1842, Jane went to New York City, to her older brother John H. Funk, a house carpenter who had moved there six years earlier. Jane’s husband would later accuse John Funk of refusing to help his ruined sister. Jane found menial work at a hotel to try to support herself. In 1843, Jane Funk joined a “house of prostitution at 120 Church street,” where she assumed her professional name of Fanny White.
Career of the notorious Fanny White
In ante-bellum New York most brothels were owned and controlled by women. The average prostitute entered the business before age 21 and lasted four years. Some only practiced the trade occasionally; few lasted past age 30. Many contracted tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
or syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
.
Fanny White had the business sense and good luck to beat the odds. A few months after starting work at 120 Church Street, White moved up to Julia Brown’s brothel on West Broadway, near the National Theater. By 1847, the 24-year-old Fanny White was managing the brothel at 120 Church Street where she used to work.
Also by 1847, she had met lawyer and Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
brother Daniel Sickles
Daniel Sickles
Daniel Edgar Sickles was a colorful and controversial American politician, Union general in the American Civil War, and diplomat....
. Fanny's staff considered Sickles to be Fanny’s “man,” or her significant other. Nineteenth century prostitutes commonly had a “man” or a “friend” with whom they developed a romantic attachment. A prostitute’s paramour did not normally pay for her attention, although Sickles did give White generous gifts of jewelry and money.
In 1851, White purchased a building at 119 Mercer Street, which she outfitted as a discreet, high-class brothel. “[H]er customers were merchants, Congressmen, and those belonging to the diplomatic corps on visits to New York.” White carefully maintained good relations with the police so her establishment would escape official notice.
Her indiscreet relationship with Daniel Sickles, however, attracted considerable notice. After Sickles was elected to the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
in 1847, he brought Fanny to his hotel in Albany, where he introduced her around the breakfast table to the dismayed guests. He took Fanny to visit the State Assembly Chamber, for which action he was censured by the Whigs
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
. Another evening the two of them went out on the town with Fanny illegally dressed as a man, and ended up spending the night in jail. Sickles almost certainly arranged the mortgage on Fanny’s Mercer Street brothel, using the name of his friend Antonio Bagioli
Antonio Bagioli
Giuseppe Antonio Bagioli of Bologna, Italy and New York City, New York was a successful composer, music teacher and author, and the father of Teresa Bagioli Sickles, wife of Dan Sickles, central figures in a notorious murder trial in 1859.He is sometimes confused with Antonio Bagioli , a...
. Rumors that Fanny contributed her own earnings to Sickles’ election campaign would haunt Sickles for the rest of his political career.
In September 1852, Sickles hastily married sixteen year old Teresa Bagioli
Teresa Bagioli Sickles
Teresa Bagioli Sickles was the wife of Democratic New York State Assemblyman, U.S. Representative, and later U.S. Army Major General Daniel E. Sickles. She gained notoriety in 1859, when her husband stood trial for the murder of her lover, Philip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key...
. Fanny was rumored to be so angry that she followed him to a hotel and attacked him with a riding whip. But in August 1853, when Sickles traveled to England as the secretary to James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
, the U. S. Minister to the Court of St. James
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
, Fanny accompanied him in lieu of his wife. One source alleges that Sickles arranged for her passport. Fellow madam Kate Hastings moved to 119 Mercer to manage Fanny’s brothel in her absence.
In England, Fanny accompanied Sickles openly to theaters, operas, and diplomatic events. Most sources agree that Fanny White made her curtsey to Queen Victoria at a reception at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, where Sickles introduced her as “Miss Bennett of New York.”
Historians speculate that Fanny talked Sickles into the introduction, and that Sickles was further motivated by his intense dislike of both the monarchy and of the editor of the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
, James Gordon Bennett, Sr.
James Gordon Bennett, Sr.
James Gordon Bennett, Sr. was the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald and a major figure in the history of American newspapers.-Biography:...
Queen Victoria apparently never learned the truth, but Bennett was furious at the use of his name. The Life and Death of Fanny White, however, alleges that White legally changed her name before she left for Europe. And after 1853, Fanny White seems to have used the name “J. Augusta Bennett” extensively when dealing with New York businesses.
When Teresa Bagioli Sickles arrived in London in the spring of 1854, Fanny White left. One source claims that White made a tour of the Continent - she “visited Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and other interesting and fashionable aristocratic resorts,” and was removed from the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
by gendarmes after making a drunken scene - returning to New York later in the year. Back in New York, White established a second brothel behind the St. Nicholas Hotel and also resumed management of 119 Mercer Street.
By 1856, Fanny White was seen riding around New York in the carriage of the wealthy, much older Jacob Rutgers LeRoy, one of the LeRoys
Le Roy (town), New York
Le Roy, or more commonly LeRoy, is a town in Genesee County, New York, United States. The population was 7,790 at the 2000 census. The town is named after one of the original land owners, Herman Le Roy....
of the Triangle Tract
The Triangle Tract
The Triangle Tract was 87,000 acre parcel of land abutting the Mill Yard Tract portion of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase in western New York State in the USA...
in western New York. In 1856, she also turned management of 119 Mercer Street over to Clara Gordon and moved into a house she owned at No. 108 Twelfth Street, accompanied by two “lady boarders.”
Reform of Jane Augusta Blankman
About 1857, Fanny White met criminal defense lawyer Edmon Blankman, seven years her junior. They married in 1859 and Fanny White became Jane Augusta Blankman. At the time of her marriage, “it was said she owned several houses in the city, which were allegedly gifts from suitors, as well as a $5,000 annuity and a real-estate lot reportedly given to her by a male friend.”Jane Augusta Blankman was generous to her family. In 1856 she paid her brother John $2,500 for a life-long lease on a house he owned, and gave the lease to their widowed sister, Mrs. Eliza Williams. Jane contributed half the money to purchase a Funk family lot at Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...
in Brooklyn. Jane bought her younger brother, Hiram Funk, enough shares in the Resolute Fire Insurance Company that he was able to obtain a position as surveyor for the company. She helped to raise and she paid for the schooling of her niece, Lillian “Bennett”. She owned the fashionable property at No. 49 West. 34th Street where she and her new husband lived as Mr. and Mrs. Blankman. She refused, however, to sign the property over to Edmon Blankman when he asked for it. When a friend asked her why not, Jane allegedly replied that “she was not such a fool,” and “that ever since her suspicions had been aroused with regard to [Edmon] trying to have intimacy with her niece, she had lost all confidence in him.”
Her untimely and controversial death
On October 12, 1860, Jane Augusta Blankman died suddenly at home. She was 37 and had no known children. Rumors began immediately that her husband had poisoned her to gain access to her fortune. Her brother arranged for an autopsy to be conducted by Doctors Finnell and Sands, who concluded that Jane Blankman had died of apoplexyApoplexy
Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...
. Her body was packed in ice and taken to Green-Wood Cemetery to be interred.
But on October 16, motivated by continued rumors of poisoning, city Coroner Schirmer and District Attorney Waterbury ordered that her remains be re-examined at Bellevue Hospital
Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as "Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest public hospital in the United States. Located on First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television...
. The three day inquest became a cause célèbre and was reported in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
The doctors who re-examined Jane Blankman’s body reported signs of exposure to tuberculosis and syphilis, as well as symptoms of cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease
Heart disease or cardiovascular disease are the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis...
and extensive bleeding in the brain, but found no sign of poisoning
Poisoning
Poisoning may refer to:* Biological toxicity, see toxin and poison.* Catalyst poisoning.* Nuclear poison.* Poisoning, a classification in Cantonese food.* Route poisoning, a computer network concept.* Secondary poisoning...
. The Life and Death of Fanny White describes her as “frail,” but the doctor who pronounced her dead described her as “very stout.”
On October 20, 1860, the Coroner affirmed the verdict of death by apoplexy. Her siblings wanted to bury
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
“Jenny” in the Funk family plot, but Jane Augusta Blankman’s remains were buried on March 25, 1861 in the Blankman family plot at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
The “total value of her property at the time of her death was variously estimated at from $50,000 to $100,000” - or $1 to $2 million U.S. as of 2010 - but that may have been a significant underestimate of its real value. In the will presented by Edmon Blankman, Jane left almost her entire estate to her husband. Her siblings contested the will, claiming that it had been forged by her husband after her death. On June 26, 1861, after months of acrimonious testimony, Surrogate
New York Surrogate's Court
The Surrogate's Court handles all probate and estate proceedings in the state of New York. All wills are probated in this court and all estates of people who die without a will are handled in this court...
William H. Freeland ruled in favor of Edmon Blankman. Jane’s siblings appealed, but the New York Supreme Court
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
upheld the verdict in late September. Edmon Blankman began liquidating his wife’s estate in October 1861.
External links
Engraving of Fanny White/Jane Augusta Blankman.- http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/2968201?n=5&imagesize=1200&jp2Res=.25&printThumbnails=no
Engraving of Edmon Blankman. http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1113957