This was the same date that Wyatt Earp and his brothers arrived. [109]:259, Grace Welsh Spolidora, Welsh's daughter, spent a lot of time with the Earps. She often appeared on stage and in publicity photos wearing a corset and pink tights: shocking attire for the 1870s. Free shipping for many products! Bat Masterson, a friend of Wyatt Earp's who was in Tombstone from February to April 1881,[29]:41[30] described her to Stuart Lake as "an incredible beauty"[31] and as the "belle of the honkytonks, the prettiest dame in three hundred or so of her kind. She gambled away the filing fees and lied to Wyatt about what happened to the lease, which later turned out to be valuable. Wyatt Earp enthusiasts have made the gravesite the most visited in that Jewish cemetery and once even stole the tombstone. It was here that he met Mattie Blaylock, with whom he started an affair and moved to the town of Tombstone on Dec. 1, 1879. [71] Josephine was addicted to gambling on horse racing and her wagering increased until Wyatt gave her an ultimatum. [17] Although the biography became a bestseller, it was later strongly criticized for fictionalizing Earp's life and was found to be markedly inaccurate. After Wyatts notorious gunfight at the O.K. Related read: The Real Story of Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate. "[19], As late as 1936, Josephine took legal action to suppress certain details of her and Wyatt's life in Tombstone. [26]:52 In March 1882, Sadie sent a postal money order to her mother, Mrs. H. Marcus, in San Francisco. Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp, by Ann Kirschner", "Testimony of Wyatt S. Earp in the Preliminary Hearing in the Earp-Holliday Case", "The Earps, Doc Holliday, & The Blonger Bros", "Long Green's Bodyguard Swears he is a Poor Man", "San Diego Walking Tour: Gaslamp Quarter", "Wyatt Earp: The Missing Years, San Diego In The 1880s", "Shady Ladies in the "Stingaree District" When The Red Lights Went Out in San Diego", "The Story of New San Diego and of its Founder Alonzo E. Horton", "Seattle newspaper reports on November 25, 1899, that Wyatt Earp will open a gambling house in the city", "1900 United States Federal Census for Mrs W S Earp", "Earp Historical Timeline San Francisco and Alaska", "Earp Historical Timeline Page 12 The Final Years", "Cemetery of the Week #116: Wyatt Earp's gravesite", Rare Original Letters: Josephine "Sadie" Earp, 1914 "Kaloma" valse hesitante by "Gire Goulineaux", a pseudonym of Johann C. Schmid (19701951), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Josephine_Earp&oldid=1152582421, Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, Colma, California, frontier adventurer; gambler; possibly prostitute, This page was last edited on 1 May 2023, at 03:08. John Wilson Vermillion (1842-1911), also known as " Texas Jack " or later as " Shoot-Your-Eye-Out Vermillion ", was a gunfighter of the Old West known for his participation in the Earp Vendetta Ride and his later association with Soapy Smith . Blaylock was said to have suffered from headaches, and while in Tombstone, Arizona, she became addicted to laudanum, a then-common opiate and pain killer. [26], Professor Pat Ryan stated that Josephine or Sadie may have used the stage name May Bell as a member of the Markham stage group. Mattie Blaylock Celia Ann "Mattie" Blaylock was involved with Wyatt Earp after the death of his first wife, and is often termed as Wyatt's "common law" wife. [28] When Stuart Lake was researching his book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal he heard stories about Sadie's personal history. 5 Facts About the Wild West's Deadly 'Doc' Holliday They planned to head for Alaska to join in the Alaska Gold Rush, but their departure was delayed for three weeks when Wyatt fell while getting off Market Street streetcar and bruised his hip. No documentation proves they were married, but they claimed their wedding took place in Iowa or Nebraska. The Rufus Buck gangs exploits didnt last long, but they were brutal enough to quickly go down in, Wyatt Earp may be lionized for his role in the gunfight at the O.K. The Messed Up History Of Tombstone, Arizona - Grunge [26]:11 In November 1874, a woman named Sadie Mansfield took a stagecoach from San Francisco to Prescott along with several prostitutes working for Madame Hattie Wells. [19], Each may have engaged in extramarital affairs. Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, died in 1944, and her remains now rest with his. He met another woman, Josephine Sadie Marcus, around 1882 and spent the rest of his life with her. [70] He held onto his San Diego properties but their value fell, but he could not pay the taxes and was forced to sell the lots. Blaylock was said to have suffered from headaches, and while in Tombstone, Arizona, she became addicted to laudanum, a then-common opiate and pain killer. Wildcat - The Untold Story of Pearl Hart. Celia Ann Mattie Blaylock was involved with Wyatt Earp after the death of his first wife, and is often termed as Wyatts common law wife. She described the harsh discipline meted out, including the "sting of rattan" and "being slapped for tardiness". [78] Earp speculated in San Diego's booming real estate market. Blaylocks teenage years featured community picnics and barn dances that she and her sisters enjoyed. Tombstone (1993) - Plot - IMDb Bourke. She took the unusual step of asserting in her divorce petition that Behan "at divers times and places openly and notoriously visited houses of ill-fame and prostitution at said town of Prescott. Tombstone diarist George W. Parsons never mentioned seeing Earp and his next common-law wife, Josephine "Sadie" Marcus, together and neither did John Clum in his memoirs. 113K views 2 years ago Wyatt Earp and his common law wife Josephine of 44 years lived an adventurous life to say the least. [1] Celia had no desire to live on a farm for the rest of her life. The Earps returned briefly to San Francisco in April 1900, but they returned to Seattle before boarding the steamer SS Alliance. Wikimedia CommonsMattie Blaylocks grave at the Pinal City Cemetery in Superior, Arizona. E.C. "[26]:43 From Yuma, the troupe took a stagecoach to Tucson, not Prescott. After learning about Mattie Blaylock, read about Wyatt Earps other wife Josephine Earp. Wyatt would often go on long walks to get away from her. Wyatt Earp had a total of three wives. This family lived only a few blocks from where Josephine lived with her family. [1][14] Sadie was a well-known nickname for Sarah, Josie's middle name, and it was common for prostitutes of that time period to change their first name. Earp developed a reputation as a sportsman as well as a gambler. Wyatt began a relationship with Josephine "Sadie" Marcus, who had during 1880-81 been in a relationship with Johnny Behan in Tombstone. Some critics described the book as a fraud and a hoax, and the University of Arizona withdrew the book from its catalog. [41][42] On October 21, 1879, the Los Angeles Herald reported that May Bell was among members of the Markham troupe. By Kathy Weiser-Alexander, updated February 2020. The moment came between March and October of 1868, when the two adult sisters left town without money or permission from their parents. It was located for sale in a flea market. Mattie Blaylock ran away from home when she was 18. The San Diego Union printed a report from the San Francisco Call on July 9, 1882 that Virgil Earp was in San Francisco (receiving treatment for his shattered arm) and that Wyatt was expected to arrive there that day. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday Weren't That Close It's true that Holliday and Earp were friends. Named Celia Ann Blaylock, she went to church & school, with typical parental discipline of the time. [19] Josephine sought to get her own life story published and gained the assistance of Wyatt's cousins Mabel Earp Cason and Cason's sister Vinolia Earp Ackerman. However, Waters' book has been criticized as biased for its negative portrayal of Wyatt Earp and for including details not mentioned in the original manuscript by Allie Earp (the common-law wife of Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil).[7]. But in August a Tombstone newspaper reported a letter waiting at the post office for Sadie Mansfield. The Tragic Story Of Henry Duke Of Cornwall, Henry VIII's Son Who Died At Just Seven Weeks Old, 32 Disturbing Photos Of Life Inside Soviet Gulag Prisons, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. [19] A town like Tombstone, full of single men, attracted women who sought adventure with little concern for what others might think. She wanted him to look like a church-going saint and blow things up. [43] Rather than leave Tombstone, Josephine later wrote that Behan convinced her to use the money to build a house for them[32] and continued their relationship. He continued to race horses, but by 1896 he could no longer afford to own horses, but raced them on behalf of the owner of a horse stable in Santa Rosa that he managed for her.[82]. Earp's former wife, Mattie Blaylock traveled with other Earp family members in April 1882, to Colton, California, waiting for Wyatt to telegraph her and invite her to join him. [9] The coroner's report of her death was brief. September 8, 2013 Terri J Huck. [27]:117[61] In Josephine's version of her life story, she left San Francisco to join Behan to Tombstone in October 1880,[62] and was hoping he would fulfill his promises to marry her. In the meantime, Wyatt was getting more and more involved with Josephine, who he would later marry. [8] She had been using laudanum and alcohol to excess for some time. [2] The Weekly Arizona Miner of Prescott reported on February 5, 1875, that Sadie Mansfield won a prize in the "Grand New Year Gift Enterprise". Sadie "would always interfere whenever Wyatt would talk with Stuart Lake. What happened to Wyatt Earps Mattie? - TimesMojo Billy Clanton (Thomas Haden Church) Billy Clanton, Ike's younger brother, played here by Thomas Haden Church, isn't so lucky and isn't afforded the opportunity to throw down his red sash. Prominent men were however expected to be discreet. The case was tried the same day with only one witness for the defense, Jennie Andrews. Earp had married a woman named Urilla (sometimes spelled Aurilla) Sutherland in 1870, but she passed away of typhoid fever before the couple could celebrate their first anniversary. The opening date of the Baldwin Hotel is much earlier than the date Josephine said she left for Arizona with the Pauline Markham Troupe in 1879. Tombstone Ending Explained: Legend Passes Into Cinema Three days later, Sieber and Sgt. There, she met Wyatt Earp around 1873 and soon became his romantic companion. What did Wyatt Earps wife drink? Kaloma - The alleged Photograph of Josie Earp - Elzey The rest struggled to get by or gambled their fortunes away while destitute women like Blaylock relied on prostitution and cowboys terrorized towns. My heart was stirred by his attentions in what were very romantic circumstances. When her older sister Martha Jane was 17, she married Charles Probst on July 1, 1870. Instead, he married Marcus within weeks and never spoke of Blaylock again. [79] Between 1887 and around 1896 he bought four saloons and gambling halls, one on Fourth Street and two near Sixth and E, all in the "respectable" part of town. Apartment buildings were crowded and large homes were converted into rooming houses. [26]:44, In I Married Wyatt Earp, Josephine wrote that one day, "I left my home one morning, carrying my books just as though I was going to school as usual. She is buried in the cemetery at Pinal City, now a ghost town, located just west of the former mining town of Superior, Arizona. May 9, 2014. She also told the Earp cousins that Pauline Markham had a maid named Julia. In the gunfight, Virgil, Morgan and Wyatt Earp joined Doc Holliday to . Her parents greeted her cheerlessly and took her back in disgrace.[1]. The divorce also cited Behan's threats of violence and unrelenting verbal abuse. [34], The type of work available to unmarried women without means in that era was as waitresses, laundresses, seamstresses, or other dull work which Josephine avoided. Mattie Blaylock began a relationship with Earp after April 1876 in Dodge City, following his departure from Wichita, Kansas and the end of his relationship with Sally Heckell, who called herself Sally Earp. Corral, which may have contributed to their animosity. [34] Josephine always sought excitement in her life. Josephine Earp - Wikipedia Morgan Seth Earp (April 24, 1851 - March 18, 1882) was an American sheriff and lawman.He served as Tombstone, Arizona's Special Policeman when he helped his brothers Virgil and Wyatt, as well as Doc Holliday, confront the outlaw Cochise County Cowboys in the Gunfight at the O.K. Tombstone Ending Explained: Legend Passes Into Cinema She ran away with the gambler anyway, who later abandoned her in Arizona. [92][93] Although gambling was illegal, the police were paid by John Considine, owner of the three largest gambling concessions, to look the other way. Josephine Sarah Marcus was born in 1861 in New York City, the second of three children of immigrants Carl-Hyman Marcuse (later Henry Marcus) and Sophie Lewis. [44] She said that Sieber and his scouts led her stagecoach and its passengers to a nearby adobe ranch house. There is no legal record of a marriage between the two. He reneged but persuaded her to stay. Her confusing recollection of events show how easily Josephine mixed fact and fiction. In between, they had crossed paths, but it's not as if they went everywhere together. Meet Mattie Blaylock, The Abandoned Common-Law Wife Of Wyatt Earp By Marco Margaritoff | Edited By Erik Hawkins Published March 24, 2022 In the mid-19th century, Mattie Blaylock left her farm life in Iowa behind and eloped with Wyatt Earp, but ended up abandoned by the lawman after the Gunfight at the O.K. [14]:101 Lake corresponded with Josephine over several years, and he claimed she attempted to influence what he wrote and hamper him in every way possible, including consulting lawyers. With no intentions to waste time and wait to be married off, Blaylock took destiny into her own hands and ran off then met a man named Wyatt Earp. [2], As an adult, Josephine claimed her father was German and ran a prosperous mercantile business. They moved to San Francisco, where Josephine attended dance school as a girl. Josephine told Earp's biographers and others that Earp didn't drink, never owned gambling saloons, and that his saloons didn't offer prostitutes, which all have been documented. Historians have stated that earlier in her life, Mattie began consuming laudanum for headaches and was known to abuse alcohol. Green. The German Jews were usually more affluent, were better educated, and spoke German, while the Polish Jews, who spoke Yiddish, were typically peddlers and much more religious. Previously, Matties grave was unmarked. She wrote, "life was dull for me in San Francisco. Then Blaylock and Earp stopped in the booming silver town of Pinal City, Arizona Territory, for two months in 1879. Mattie and Wyatt spent the next few years together. [42]:p275-198[77], After the Coeur d'Alene mining venture died out, Earp and Josie briefly went to El Paso, Texas before moving in 1887 to San Diego where the railroad was about to arrive and a real estate boom was underway. Josephine Earp: The Truth About Wyatt Earp's Wife - Grunge The horse was a frequent winner and sometimes Wyatt bought Josephine some jewelry with the proceeds. [71] Director John Ford said that whenever Josephine left town for religious conventions, Earp would come into town, play poker, and get drunk with the cowboy actors. Her real name was Leah Hirschberg, whose mother was a music teacher. [26]:56. It was amidst the chaos that Blaylock made her younger self proud and chose her own husband. [Henry] Jaffa told me later that Earps woman was a Jewess. [21] Mattie resumed life as a prostitute and committed "suicide by opium poisoning" on July 3, 1888. Josephine and Wyatt moved throughout their life, from one boomtown to another, until they finally bought a cottage in the Sonoran Desert town of Vidal, California on the Colorado River, where they spent the cooler seasons. Cinergi Pictures EntertainmentMattie Blaylock (left) and Wyatt Earp (center) as portrayed by Dana Wheeler Nicholson and Kurt Russell in Tombstone (1993). Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. Garner and I discuss Wyatt Earp's life as a sporting man and his involvement in horse racing and boxing. Corral. She successfully kept both women's names out of Stuart Lake's biography of Wyatt and after he died, Josephine may have threatened litigation to keep it that way. She said that during the last years of Wyatt's life, Josephine received an allowance from her family and gambled it away, often leaving Wyatt hungry. Some women in Tombstone operated restaurants, boarding houses, and apparel and millinery shops, and a few ran some of the dry goods stores. It tells the story of Wyatt Earp's darkest secret. Wyatt Earp's Grave - Colma, California - Atlas Obscura However, court records indicate that she continued to call herself by her childhood nickname of "Celie", which was often phonetically spelled by court clerks as "Sally"; no court records have been found throughout her life using the name "Mattie". [2][32] Some modern researchers question the likelihood that her father, a Reform Jew, would approve his daughter's union with Behan, a man 14 years older than his daughter, an unemployed office-seeker, Gentile, and divorced father. In the 1880 United States Census Blaylock is listed as Wyatt's wife though there is no record of a legal marriage. In the 1880 United States Census Blaylock is listed as Wyatt's wife though there is no record of a legal marriage. Finding Behan in bed with the wife of a friend of theirs, she kicked him out. Wyatt Earp (1994) - IMDb In 1879, the couple relocated from Kansas to Tombstone, Arizona. At this point, Matties profession was listed as keeping house. Wyatt, Wyatt's wife Mattie, his brother James, James's wife Bessie, James's 16-year-old step-daughter, and Doc traveled by wagon train from Dodge City to Prescott, picking up Big Nose Kate on the way. [105], While they lived in San Diego, Wyatt raced Otto Rex, the horse he had won in a card game. Later in life Josephine described her first years in Arizona as "a bad dream". . [2] Josie attended the Powell Street Primary School on Powell St. between Clay and Washington in San Francisco. "[32], Men in Tombstone outnumbered women nine to one, and the miners were eager to pay substantial fees to women who would cook their meals, provide rooms, wash their clothes, and provide sexual services. 1880; Tip Top, Yavapai, Arizona Territory; roll 37, page 413A,, enumeration district 22. Grace Spolidora was a teenager during the Earp's many visits to her family's home near Needles, California and sometimes went to San Diego with them. "[26] Prostitution wasn't illegal in the territory as long as the women paid their licensing fees. The Lewis family was Jewish, and came from the Posen region in Prussia, current-day Poland, around 1850. They performed H.M.S. [27], Josephine is quoted in I Married Wyatt Earp that she received a letter and $300 from her father, urging her to return to San Francisco. It is unlikely that he was a "wealthy German merchant" as she described him. In the book I Married Wyatt Earp (1967), based on a manuscript which she purportedly wrote, author Glenn Boyer quotes her as saying, "I liked the traveling sort of man better than the kind that sat back in one town all his life and wrote down little rows of figures all day or hustled dry goods or groceries and that sort of thing My blood demanded excitement, variety and change. The charges against her reported that "one set of German table spoons were stolen from the store of H. Asher and Company in the village of Prescott, Yavapai, A.T." Sheriff Ed Burnes searched Mansfield's residence and confiscated the spoons. [64]:p235 Author Stuart Lake wrote in a letter that "Johnny Behan's girl" was the key to the whole yarn of Tombstone. The Jewish Women's Archive describes Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp as "impulsive, adventurous, and outspoken." The daughter of German-Jewish immigrants, she was born in New York in 1861 and moved to San Francisco with her folks at age seven. For the fictional character, see. Of the countless prospectors who rushed west to mine silver, only a few became rich. [57] Nineteen-year-old Sadie Mansfield, the same person his former wife Victoria had named in their divorce five years earlier, was also living in Tip Top. Behan was gone for 35 days, returning to Prescott on November 11, 1874, where he lost the election. [19] Wyatt had a mischievous sense of humor. Many wives of the prosperous mining engineers, merchants, and business owners lived in better class cities where they didn't have to contend with being confused for a prostitute. Shortly afterwards, Wyatt Earp began his famous "Revenge Ride" to rid the Territory of outlaws. [38][58][59], Josephine wrote much later that her family wanted to keep her "escapades from the public." The two fought side by side in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881's famous gunfight at the O.K. On Oct. 26, the Earps were ambushed by the cowboys in broad daylight. Corral, during which Wyatt and his brothers killed three Cochise County Cowboys. Wyatt is generally tied to three women: Urilla Sutherland, Cecilia Ann "Mattie" Blaylock, and Josephine Marcus. [19] Josephine could be controlling. During the same week, Behan registered at the Bank Exchange Hotel in Phoenix, and on March 5 the Prescott Weekly Journal-Miner reported that Sadie had returned to Gillette from Phoenix on March 2. Corral is quiet, and it's had an unremarkable existence for the two years it's been standingalthough . [85], On August 5, 1897, Earp and Josie once again joined in a mining boom and left Yuma, Arizona for San Francisco. By David Cranmer. Her body was cremated and buried next to Wyatt's remains. This is the book from which the movie Tombstone was based. The first known record of Mattie's presence is a picture taken in Fort Scott in 1871. Cason says she and her sister "finally abandoned work on the manuscript because she [Josie] would not clear up the Tombstone sequence where it pertained to her and Wyatt. Marshal under Marshal J.F. In 1879, five prostitutes lived there. [43], In early 1881, Josephine returned to Tombstone after a trip to San Francisco. [4] In the 1880 United States Census of Tombstone, Blaylock is listed as Wyatt's wife though there is no record of a legal marriage. According to the 1860 census, Celia attended local schools. Nov 13, 2021 57:50. He didn't include them in the book, but he did write about them in letters during 1929. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. [71] Eager to escape the controversy over the boxing match dogging him, Earp gave up managing race horses in San Francisco and on December 20, 1896 he and Josie left for Yuma, Arizona. She was laid to rest in the cemetery about one mile from the old townsite.
