At the turn of the last century, the area below Government Street was bereft in bars and ladies of the evening that frequented the waterfront area. But not all women who plied their late-night trade fit into this category. There is a legend that involves a renowned character called “Barefoot Mary” who was known for wearing no shoes, dressed in ragged attire, and since she did not bathe very often, they said that she tended to smell. Her actual name was Mary Jane Conner Thorsen (1863-1941) who earned her living not from her body but from her excellent memory.
As the story goes, as soon as the sun went down Mary began prowling the red light and saloon infested districts, which she considered a target rich environment. The prey she was looking for was any of the community’s respectable gentlemen who happened to be visiting any of the saloons, gambling rooms, dance halls, or bordellos where they might ought not to be. Shortly, these gentlemen would get a visit from Mary usually in a public place such as the bank, out on the public street or when they were coming or going to their offices. A discreet buck or two would slip from their pockets and into her hands and would buy her silence on the whole affair until their next visit to the promised land. But perhaps she went too far one day and may have attempted to extort the wrong person because she just disappeared from the pages of history never to be heard from again. However, that was the legend, not the reality of her life's ending.
The reality was that a man by the name of Thomas K. Thorsen was born in Norway on December 15, 1867 and immigrated to the US where he married Mary Jane on December 14, 1894 before Judge Thomas R. McCullough. His wife had been born in Alabama with her father from Ireland and her mother from Scotland. Thomas supported their family as a fisherman and would pass away on August 7, 1923 at the age of 55-years ago and was buried in St. John's Cemetery. After his death, Mary lived on at their home and was supported by her son Archie Andersen (1882-) who was working at the local drydocks. Mary's own death came on March 16, 1941 at her home that she had owned for several decades at 415 Fort Street in Pensacola. She was buried in St. John's assumedly beside Thomas in the family's vacant space.
So, since part of the legend has proven to be wrong, perhaps the rest of it is as well!
Comentarios