Julia Brown

Julia Brown (died after 1860) was an American madam and prostitute active in mid-nineteenth century New York City. Brown has been described as "the best-known prostitute in antebellum America". Brown was known for playing the piano in her brothel and for being a guest at functions hosted by the best families in New York. She also had season ticket to two theaters, paid for pews in various churches and contributed generously to local bible societies. She became a popular subject of tourist guidebooks, and her name appears often in diaries from the period. Brothel-keeping In the 1830s, Brown entered a brothel run by Rosina Townsend, and later a house owned by Adeline Miller, a well-known New York madam, in Miller Street, eventually becoming the manager of the house. She did not stay long, however; soon Brown was running a brothel of her own at 133 Reade Street. After a complaint from a neighbor, she was charged with common bawdy house. She pleaded guilty and shut the Reade Street premises, but continued to run brothels on Chapel, Church and Leonard Streets. Brown popularized the brothel ball, which were a risqué masked parties attended by some of New York's elite. These balls were well reported in the press. The Dixon's Polyanthos, a weekly with a circulation of around 10,000, carried a story on "Princess Julia's Palace of Love" in June 1941. The Leonard Street brothel was partially destroyed when the neighboring National Theater burnt down in 1841, and the rear wall of the theater collapsed on the brothel. A young woman, Margaret Yahgar, was killed by the fire that spread into the Brothel. Yahgar had left her parents home in Philadelphia a few days before to "board" with Brown. Brown allegedly sent her employees to save furniture and decor from the burning building. These were used to furnish her new “two thousand dollar parlor house" at another property in Leonard Street. The new brothel in Leonard Street became one of the most famous brothel in New York City, Fanny White, a.k.a. Jane Augusta Blankman once worked there. Vigilantes frequently violently targeted brothels in the area. Brown's brothel in Chapel Street was attacked in 1834, and following another attack in 1840, two men were found guilty of assaulting Brown and her prostitutes.