A Marital Entanglement, Part 1
“Facts of a decidedly racy character” in a story of a woman who married three men all from the same family…without their knowledge
The Tangent
I have seen more than a few think pieces about whether we are living in another Gilded Age, that era from roughly 1870 to 1900 that was marked by rapid industrialization, aggressive deregulation, and dysfunctional democracy. Most of these pieces focus on the massive income inequality of the period, but few recognize the period as a Golden Age of Grift. There were street-level cons, identity thefts, ponzi schemes, and almost any crime you can think of on small and grand scales. It was not so very different than today.
I was recently teaching a class on Gilded Age New York at a College of Criminal Justice where we talked about Lord Gordon Gordon, who successfully swindled tycoon Jay Gould out of millions of dollars. When the con was discovered, Gordon (real name John Crowningsfield) fled to Manitoba, Canada. Gould, one of the richest men in the world, sent agents to abduct Crowningsfield in an event that almost started a military conflict between the US and Canada. When I was reading the 1872 article reporting on Gould’s lawsuits against Gordon, I came across this improbable headline on the same page:
Who could pass up a chance to dig a bit deeper?
Husband #1: A Young Man About Town
The story begins with a whirlwind romance between Alexander Owens, “a young man about town,” and a woman named Eliza Brownell. The newspaper does not give any background about the lovers, but it takes a not-so-subtle dig at Brownell by noting that she has “already numbered her conquests about town by the score.” Whatever the nature of their romance, Owens had quickly proposed marriage and she had readily accepted.
After the ceremony, the couple went on a tour of the US. Things got sticky when they arrived in New Orleans. According to the article (which cites no sources), Brownell was accused of unspecified “improper conduct” both in the hotel and on the street. The couple were forced to return to New York, where the story takes a decidedly unromantic turn.
Without three months, the couple separated. After living apart for about two years, Owens filed for divorce. Here, things get dicey. The article paints Brownell as a scheming grifter. In its telling, she deviously has Owens arrested on trumped-up charges just so that she could get the upper hand in divorce negotiations. However, with the help of archivist Ken Cobb at the NYC Municipal Archives (a rock star in the field), I was able to look at her court testimony in the case, which revealed a strikingly different picture.
An Unexpected Caller
On one innocuous March night, the bell of Eliza’s house rang around 8pm. She had no idea who it would be, but she opened the front door to find Owens. Without waiting for an invitation, he burst inside. She had not seen him for a while, but she was immediately on edge because he looked “in a dreadful rage.” She tried to leave the entry hall. He shouted, “You cannot escape me!” as he bounded after her. Upstairs, cornered her in a parlor. She stood firm until he drew a large carving knife from his sleeve. He issued his ultimatum:
“You know what I came here tonight for, I came here to kill you unless you swear on your knees you will live with me from today and thereafter.”
Ever the survivor, Eliza quickly swore that she would stay with him forever, even though, as she testified, “I did not intend to do so.”
With things so delicately balanced, Owens hesitated, stuck between whether to embrace or kill Eliza. Before he could make his next move, the doorbell rang. Eliza moved to answer the call, which sendt Owens into a tailspin. As she headed to the stairs, he chased after her, shouting “Are you going to run away?” and “You cannot run away!” Eliza coolly gave him her hat as if offering some kind of security and said, “I cannot go without my hat.”
Owens cautiously accepted her assurances but he did not put his knife away. He said he would let her answer the door but if she was not back in three minutes, he would set fire to the house.
Eliza answered an unnamed caller, and, to her relief, saw a police officer passing on the street. She quietly beckoned him inside and explained the situation in whispered tones. When Owens discovered this conference, he waved his knife in the air and boasted that if the officer came inside, he would murder him“instantly.”
The unnamed officer in question was not deterred, but went upstairs to confront Owens. A few minutes later, the pair peacefully descended the stairs and Owens was taken to the nearest police station. The divorce went through and Brownell received a sizable alimony settlement.
Thus, the business with the first husband was finished, but Eliza Brownell was only getting started.
The next installment of this mini-series will introduce Owens’s uncle, Husband #2. Plus, we’ll look into who Eliza Brownell actually was and what secrets lurked in her house.
Notes
In writing this, I found that I’m apparently not the only one to randomly come upon the story of Lord Gordon Gordon.
A lot of my posts touch on crime and the law in nineteenth century U.S. society, especially in New York City. If you want to delve deeply into any of those subjects, please let me recommend the substack Judge Knickerbocker, one of the most detailed and well-researched sources that you are likely to find. Ever.
I can't wait to hear the rest of this story.