Teresa Susan Donohue (May 1869 – April 1932), better known as Tessie Wall was an American madam who owned and operated brothels in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, from 1898 to 1917. She was married to

gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elem ...

and political boss Frank Daroux, whom she attempted to kill in 1917 as he sought to divorce her. In the 1920s she was the unofficial "queen" of the annual policeman's balls that were held at the Civic Auditorium. She was the most successful madam in San Francisco in the early 20th century.

Origins

Teresa Susan Donohue was born in San Francisco, California, into a working-class

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family that lived south of

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. She was described as having been blonde-haired with blue eyes. In the early 1890s, her first husband Mr. Wall, who worked as a fireman, died and she was left to support herself and small son. She entered the household of wealthy banker Judah Boas as a

domestic servant A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

Madam

It is not known when she left the Boas household, but at some stage she became a dance hall girl and had earned the reputation of having been a hard drinker. She allegedly outdrank boxer

John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing ...

. In 1898, she opened her first brothel – ostensibly a "boarding-house" – at 211 O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin district, according to 1900 US Census, San Francisco, district 257. In 1906, after the devastating fire which followed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake had destroyed her first brothel, she opened her second establishment on the same street at 337 O'Farrell (the current site of the San Francisco Hilton hotel). In the same year, she married Frank Daroux, a political boss who also owned

pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly ser ...

s and gambling dens in the city. Tessie was fond of horse racing and collecting antiques. She owned an elegant townhouse on Powell Street. In 1917, after her husband sued her for divorce, Tessie attempted to kill him by shooting him several times with her revolver. Daroux survived and declined to press charges against Tessie. From the 1920s until her death in April 1932, Tessie was the unofficial "queen" of the annual San Francisco policeman's balls, and it became her custom to lead the Grand March in the Civic Auditorium. On one such occasion Mayor Sunny Jim Rolfe was her escort.Starr, p.142 Her last public appearance was at a policeman's ball in 1932, a month before her death. She was described as having worn a blonde wig, white satin gown, and part of her collection of diamond jewelry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Tessie 1869 births 1932 deaths American brothel owners and madams American people of Irish descent People from San Francisco