Selling Sex

Joseph Holt Ingraham. Frank Rivers, or, The Dangers of the Town. Boston: Published at the “Yankee” Office, 1845.

George Wilkes. The Lives of Helen Jewett, and Richard P. Robinson. New York: [Published by Long & Brother], 1849.

The story of Helen Jewett perhaps best illustrates the double standards of 19th-century gender politics. Jewett, a high-class prostitute at one of New York’s most popular brothels, was murdered in 1836 at the age of 23. She was found in her room with her head smashed in and her body on fire. The prime suspect was 19-year-old Richard Robinson, a respected clerk in the garment trade who came from privilege. Robinson, one of Jewett’s frequent customers, was the last person to be seen with her, and overwhelming circumstantial evidence linked him to the crime. The jury, however, found him not guilty. In addition to Jewett’s profession prejudicing the jury, people widely believed that his well-connected supporters bribed jurors and offered false testimony in his favor.

The Helen Jewett story was enthralling. Occupying the front page of the papers around the country, the scandal greatly expanded newspaper readership. People continued to profit from Jewett long after her death and Robinson’s acquittal. Lithographers sold depictions of Richard Robinson’s trial and authors sold intimate accounts of her life and death. Frank Rivers was the first fictionalized work based on the Jewett affair to appear in print, written by prolific novelist Joseph Holt Ingraham. In the story, Rivers (Robinson’s alias when he called on Jewett) is depicted as a young innocent who falls under the spell of Jewett, the hardened prostitute. The Lives of Helen Jewett, replete with graphic illustrations, first appeared in installments in the National Police Gazette, itself a publication known for prurient and salacious accounts of true crime.