Alternative names used for the occupation include "fallen angel." In 1880, an enumerator in Champaign, Illinois, listed "fallen angel" as the occupation for both 25-year-old Nellie Hobin and 19-year-old Emma Bracket.
Along those lines, "fallen woman" was in vogue at times. In 1880, we find ten residents at the Home for Fallen Women in Baltimore, Maryland. These women appear to have left a life of prostitution. We find a 21-year-old "inmate," Laura Airoba, enduring cancer. A search for "lewd woman" will lead us to 25-year-old Katie, a Chinese immigrant living in Grantsville, Nevada, in 1880, with her brother. In 1880, Minnie Cooper was a 32-year-old boarder in Bois D'Arc, Arkansas, whose occupation was simply "lewd." In Morgan, Alabama, we find four lewd women living together. We have no reason not to believe that Ida Settles, Bettie Watts, Lew Day, and Maggie Roberts gave their real names to the enumerator. Most enumerators used the term prostitute. Search for the term in any genealogical database, and it will show up as an occupation. In fact, in 1880, there were at least 4,700 reported prostitutes in the United States. The majority of the prostitution community consists of women. But don't rule out men."Pimp" has been used as an occupation, and so has "panderer." At other times, enumerators gave them more prestigious occupations like "Proprietor – Fallen House." Any of these terms can refer to either men or women. The Family Community We are often surprised to find prostitutes living with their family. In 1900, we find Mary Arnet living in Mispillion, Delaware, with her husband four children – and working as a prostitute. It is a bit less common to find them living with their husband. But, prostitutes living with their own family appear in the censuses in all areas of the country. The Prostitute's Residences There are identifiable prostitution communities and trends. Prostitutes rarely live alone, except in very densely populated urban areas where there may be three or more neighbors working as prostitutes. Prostitution followed remote and transient communities like mining or logging communities in Idaho, California, and elsewhere. In California prostitution communities, we see a unique trend with opium dealers and prostitutes often living in the same neighborhood. Stockton, California, is a good example of this. We find 17 Chinese prostitutes living with Yep Gum, an opium dealer, in 1880 Stockton. It is quite possible that most of them gave their legal names with the sole exception of a 35-year-old prostitute from Canton named "Topsy." River towns, all across the United States, seemed to draw prostitutes. A 20-year-old prostitute, Bell Angel, lived alone and worked as a prostitute on the shores of the Great Mississippi in Quincy, Illinois, in 1880. She was born in Illinois, but reported that her parents were born in Germany and Pennsylvania. We can probably assume that Bell Angel invented her own name. One community where prostitutes can be found is the almshouse or poor farm. A couple of prostitutes were living at the Ottawa, Illinois, almshouse in 1880. Among them was S. S. Armstrong, a 19-year-old with a month-old baby. Houses of prostitution are also known as brothels. A brothel in St. Louis was home to Rose Bell, in the late 1800s. She lived with Mabel Bishop, Ethor Sowers, Mary Nesana, and Alice Kelly. Divorcee Mary Murphy, who gave her occupation as "Wash & Iron," appeared to be the proprietor. She was head of the household and, at age 39, was the eldest of the women. Murphy claims to have arrived from Ireland, but her ladies were born in the United States. With the exception of Rose Bell, all of the other women possibly reported their legal names. It is highly unlikely that three of the five prostitutes living together at Lizzie Gillis' boarding house in Yankton, Dakota Territory, in 1880, were named Annie at birth. We also find a number of prostitutes, at various addresses in that enumeration district all using the last name of either King or Kingman. After much scratching out, the enumerator for one district in Escanaba, Michigan, appeared to have given up on the hope of properly identifying the seven young women living with Robert Palmer, who gave his own occupation as "pimp." In the end, the enumerator recorded all of the women as prostitutes. As with many women in the trade, they used names ending with "ie." While Mr. Palmer could be traceable, the sketchy information about Lottie, Annie, Anna, Ida, Katie Hattie, and Isabella is not at all helpful since none of them were identified by last name. The half-erased notes look as though Palmer originally may have tried to pass the women off as his daughters. Usually, the relationship between pimps and prostitutes within a household is defined as boarders. Other times, prostitutes may be listed as servants, as is the case of several pimps in Escanaba, Michigan. It appears that Tony Harden is the head of the household and "keeps house of ill fame," employing four pimps along with a string of prostitutes. An unfortunate community where we find prostitutes living is in hospitals. In 1880, the Female Hospital in St. Louis, listed everyone by occupation and illness. The enumerator duly recorded prostitutes, such as 17-year-old Bell Cunningham, with venereal disease, syphilis, gonorrhea, or alcoholism, alongside housewives giving birth. Summary As you search for prostitutes in the censuses, keep in mind all the possible terms for the occupation. Pay attention to the names and relationships of others in the household. And, do keep in mind that prostitutes are people, too, and deserve to be remembered alongside everyone else in the family. Other Articles In This Series:- Genealogy of Communities
- Genealogy of Communities: Logging Camps
- Genealogy of Communities: Fishing Camps
- Genealogy of Communities: Seminaries and Other Educational Communities
- Genealogy of Communities: Indian Reservations
- Genealogy of Communities: Prisons
- Genealogy of Communities: Asylums, Hospitals, and Sanitariums
- Genealogy of Communities: Faith-Based Communities
- Genealogy of Communities: The Utopias
- Genealogy of Communities: Intentional Community in the Next Century