Cora Crane
Encyclopedia
Cora Crane was an American writer, journalist and brothel
owner. She was married to Captain Donald William Stewart, one of the key figures in the War of the Golden Stool
between the British and the Ashanti, but she is best known as the common-law wife
of writer Stephen Crane
until his death in 1900.
A move to New York City
proved to be a series of adventures and misadventures for her. Because unmarried women required chaperons, Cora married her first husband, Thomas Vinton Murphy, who was the son of the former Collector of the Port of New York
. They went into business, running munitions and a gambling house. Two years later she married Captain Donald William Stewart, the son of Sir Donald Martin Stewart, 1st Baronet who was the Commander in Chief of India for Queen Victoria. Cora liked England, where she cut a social swath after the fashion of fellow American Jennie Jerome, who had married Lord Randolph Churchill
in 1874. However, when Captain Stewart was assigned to India, Cora elected to stay behind as what they called an Empire widow. During their marriage, her husband became the British Resident in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and was heavily involved in the War of the Golden Stool
against the Ashanti. After moving to England to the family estate, Cora quickly became disenchanted with life in the country, and she threw herself into the glamorous swing of London society. Almost immediately she found herself in the middle of a highly publicized affair with the heir of the Chase Bank fortune.Lillian Gilkes, Cora Crane: A Biography of Mrs. Stephen Crane, Indiana University Press
; 1st edition (1960)
Stewart always hated Cora for not remaining faithful to him in his absence. She made a fool of him after he lowered himself, in the eyes of British society, by making an honest woman of a wayward wife. After sailing into American waters on a private yacht, Cora apparently quarreled with her yachtsman lover and swam ashore in her shift, to start from scratch in Jacksonville, Florida
. Calling herself Cora Taylor, she bought the Hotel de Dreme from its proprietor, Ethel Dreme, and remodeled it into a popular "nightclub" called the Hotel de Dream. The elegant establishment was not technically a brothel
because, though a man could meet a girl there, they had to go elsewhere to conduct "business".
went to Jacksonville en route to Cuba
to cover the Spanish-American War
. He stayed in the St. James Hotel. He was already famous for his book The Red Badge of Courage
, a Civil War
novel. Cora, whose legal name was Lady Stewart, met Crane in 1896, and soon became his lover. She later called herself Cora Crane, despite the fact that the couple was never legally married. They maintained a tumultuous relationship until his death.
Cora Crane became known as the first female war correspondent when she traveled with Stephen to Greece
to cover the Greco-Turkish War
for the New York press. Her pen name was Imogene Carter. After the war, the Cranes settled in England, socialized with the literary elite and joined the Fabian Society
. While there, they camouflaged their limited finances while entertaining lavishly. They leased Ravensbrook, a villa in Oxted
, where Cora was a celebrity due to her status as Lady Stewart and her actions in a scandal involving the wife and mistress of Harold Frederic
. When Frederic died, his legal wife had his mistress, Kate, jailed for manslaughter because Kate, a Christian Scientist, had summoned a faith healer
to pray for the dying man. Entangled in the squabble were the potential royalties from Frederic's posthumous bestseller, The Market Place
. Pillars of Victorian morality, among them prominent publishers' wives, rallied behind the legal wife, raising funds for her children in newspaper campaigns. Cora Crane took the illegitimate children to Brede Place while their mother was in jail, and she ran a parallel campaign to raise funds for them. This prompted Joseph Conrad
to call Cora "the only Christian in sight."
While visiting Badenweiler
, Germany
, a health spa on the edge of the Black Forest
, Stephen Crane died of tuberculosis
at the age of 28. In his will he left everything to Cora. He is buried in his home state of New Jersey
.
. Miraculously the Ward Street Bordello District had escaped the general destruction, and she quickly found financing to build her signature brothel in the LaVilla District. Called "The Court", it was located at the Southwest corner of Ward (Now Houston) and Davis Street. The two-story brick building had 14 bedrooms (parlour
rooms), ballroom, kitchens, and dining room and an annex with eight bedrooms. Business boomed and within short order Cora had expanded to partial ownership in several other "resorts" as well as building a grand tropical bordello at Pablo Beach that she called the Palmetto Lodge.
On June 1, 1905, Cora married Hammond P. McNeill, the 25-year-old son of a prominent South Carolina family, and an employee of Cora's as the manager of The Annex, a bar she partially owned at the Everett Hotel. He was also the nephew of Anna McNeill Whistler
, the mother of the artist and subject of his famous painting known as Whistler's Mother
. McNeill shot and killed a lover of his wife's, although he was acquitted because the laws of the time allowed this type of protection. The couple was divorced shortly afterward. The divorce decree forbade her using the name McNeil, therefore, she reverted to using Crane.
Cora became a regular contributor to the leading publications of the country, including Smart Set and Harpers Weekly. Toward the end of her career, however, she became restless and took on the Bohemian lifestyle, similar to what Stephen Crane had done in New York while he wrote The Red Badge of Courage. She had been planning to return to Europe and take up her writing again in a European atmosphere.
For the last three years of her life, she spent much of her time in Pablo Beach
, Florida (now Jacksonville Beach), but she maintained a home in the city of Jacksonville. She suffered a stroke after helping push a stranded car out of the sand, went back to her house and died there on September 5, 1910 aged 45. She is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida.
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
owner. She was married to Captain Donald William Stewart, one of the key figures in the War of the Golden Stool
War of the Golden Stool
The War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Third Ashanti Expedition, the Ashanti Uprising, or variations thereof, was the final war in a series of conflicts between the British Imperial government of the Gold Coast and the Empire of Ashanti, a powerful, semi-autonomous...
between the British and the Ashanti, but she is best known as the common-law wife
Common-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
of writer Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
until his death in 1900.
Early life
Cora Ethel Eaton Howarth was born July 12, 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts to John Howarth and Elizabeth Holder. She led a life of refinement, socialized with the well-educated of Boston and gained recognition for her talent in short story writing.A move to 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...
proved to be a series of adventures and misadventures for her. Because unmarried women required chaperons, Cora married her first husband, Thomas Vinton Murphy, who was the son of the former Collector of the Port of New York
Collector of the Port of New York
The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, sometimes also as Collector of Customs for the Port of New York or Collector of Customs for the District of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import...
. They went into business, running munitions and a gambling house. Two years later she married Captain Donald William Stewart, the son of Sir Donald Martin Stewart, 1st Baronet who was the Commander in Chief of India for Queen Victoria. Cora liked England, where she cut a social swath after the fashion of fellow American Jennie Jerome, who had married Lord Randolph Churchill
Randolph Churchill
Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill, MBE was the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston from 1940 to 1945....
in 1874. However, when Captain Stewart was assigned to India, Cora elected to stay behind as what they called an Empire widow. During their marriage, her husband became the British Resident in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and was heavily involved in the War of the Golden Stool
War of the Golden Stool
The War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Third Ashanti Expedition, the Ashanti Uprising, or variations thereof, was the final war in a series of conflicts between the British Imperial government of the Gold Coast and the Empire of Ashanti, a powerful, semi-autonomous...
against the Ashanti. After moving to England to the family estate, Cora quickly became disenchanted with life in the country, and she threw herself into the glamorous swing of London society. Almost immediately she found herself in the middle of a highly publicized affair with the heir of the Chase Bank fortune.Lillian Gilkes, Cora Crane: A Biography of Mrs. Stephen Crane, Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. It was founded in 1950. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana....
; 1st edition (1960)
Stewart always hated Cora for not remaining faithful to him in his absence. She made a fool of him after he lowered himself, in the eyes of British society, by making an honest woman of a wayward wife. After sailing into American waters on a private yacht, Cora apparently quarreled with her yachtsman lover and swam ashore in her shift, to start from scratch in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. Calling herself Cora Taylor, she bought the Hotel de Dreme from its proprietor, Ethel Dreme, and remodeled it into a popular "nightclub" called the Hotel de Dream. The elegant establishment was not technically a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
because, though a man could meet a girl there, they had to go elsewhere to conduct "business".
Life with Stephen Crane
Writer and journalist Stephen CraneStephen Crane
Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
went to Jacksonville en route to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
to cover the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. He stayed in the St. James Hotel. He was already famous for his book The Red Badge of Courage
The Red Badge of Courage
The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane . Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound—a "red badge of courage"—to...
, a Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
novel. Cora, whose legal name was Lady Stewart, met Crane in 1896, and soon became his lover. She later called herself Cora Crane, despite the fact that the couple was never legally married. They maintained a tumultuous relationship until his death.
Cora Crane became known as the first female war correspondent when she traveled with Stephen to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to cover the Greco-Turkish War
Greco-Turkish War (1897)
The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...
for the New York press. Her pen name was Imogene Carter. After the war, the Cranes settled in England, socialized with the literary elite and joined the Fabian Society
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
. While there, they camouflaged their limited finances while entertaining lavishly. They leased Ravensbrook, a villa in Oxted
Oxted
Oxted is a commuter town in Surrey, England at the foot of the North Downs, north of East Grinstead and south-east of Croydon.- History :The town lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred....
, where Cora was a celebrity due to her status as Lady Stewart and her actions in a scandal involving the wife and mistress of Harold Frederic
Harold Frederic
Harold Frederic was an American journalist and novelist.-Biography:...
. When Frederic died, his legal wife had his mistress, Kate, jailed for manslaughter because Kate, a Christian Scientist, had summoned a faith healer
Faith Healer
Faith Healer is a play by Brian Friel about the life of faith healer Francis Hardy as monologued through the shifting memories of Hardy, his wife, Grace, and stage manager, Teddy.-Synopsis:...
to pray for the dying man. Entangled in the squabble were the potential royalties from Frederic's posthumous bestseller, The Market Place
The Market Place
The Market Place is a novel by American author Harold Frederic. It was published posthumously in 1899.The publication of the book led to a conflict over Frederic's estate, and culminated in a scandal involving most of Victorian society. The resulting furor led to the jailing of his mistress,...
. Pillars of Victorian morality, among them prominent publishers' wives, rallied behind the legal wife, raising funds for her children in newspaper campaigns. Cora Crane took the illegitimate children to Brede Place while their mother was in jail, and she ran a parallel campaign to raise funds for them. This prompted Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
to call Cora "the only Christian in sight."
While visiting Badenweiler
Badenweiler
Badenweiler, a health resort and spa of the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, historically in the Markgräflerland. It is 28 kilometers by road and rail from Basel, 10 kilometers from the French border, and 20 kilometers away from Mulhouse...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, a health spa on the edge of the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
, Stephen Crane died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
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...
at the age of 28. In his will he left everything to Cora. He is buried in his home state of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Return to Jacksonville
Cora returned to Jacksonville in 1901 while the City was still in ruins following the Great FireGreat Fire of 1901
The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the Southeast. It was similar in scale and destruction to the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.-Origin:...
. Miraculously the Ward Street Bordello District had escaped the general destruction, and she quickly found financing to build her signature brothel in the LaVilla District. Called "The Court", it was located at the Southwest corner of Ward (Now Houston) and Davis Street. The two-story brick building had 14 bedrooms (parlour
Parlour
Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...
rooms), ballroom, kitchens, and dining room and an annex with eight bedrooms. Business boomed and within short order Cora had expanded to partial ownership in several other "resorts" as well as building a grand tropical bordello at Pablo Beach that she called the Palmetto Lodge.
On June 1, 1905, Cora married Hammond P. McNeill, the 25-year-old son of a prominent South Carolina family, and an employee of Cora's as the manager of The Annex, a bar she partially owned at the Everett Hotel. He was also the nephew of Anna McNeill Whistler
Anna McNeill Whistler
Anna Matilda Whistler was the mother of American-born, British-based painter, James McNeill Whistler, who made her the subject of his famous painting "Arrangement in Grey & Black", often titled, Whistler's Mother.-Biography:Anna McNeill Whistler was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, the...
, the mother of the artist and subject of his famous painting known as Whistler's Mother
Whistler's Mother
Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother, famous under its colloquial name Whistler's Mother, is an 1871 oil-on-canvas painting by American-born painter James McNeill Whistler. The painting is , displayed in a frame of Whistler's own design, and is now owned by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris....
. McNeill shot and killed a lover of his wife's, although he was acquitted because the laws of the time allowed this type of protection. The couple was divorced shortly afterward. The divorce decree forbade her using the name McNeil, therefore, she reverted to using Crane.
Cora became a regular contributor to the leading publications of the country, including Smart Set and Harpers Weekly. Toward the end of her career, however, she became restless and took on the Bohemian lifestyle, similar to what Stephen Crane had done in New York while he wrote The Red Badge of Courage. She had been planning to return to Europe and take up her writing again in a European atmosphere.
For the last three years of her life, she spent much of her time in Pablo Beach
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Jacksonville Beach is a city on the Atlantic coast of Duval County, Florida, east of Jacksonville. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches community, together with Mayport, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Ponte Vedra Beach...
, Florida (now Jacksonville Beach), but she maintained a home in the city of Jacksonville. She suffered a stroke after helping push a stranded car out of the sand, went back to her house and died there on September 5, 1910 aged 45. She is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida.