Allan Pinkerton, father of the American private detective industry: "What is this I hear about a detective-punching hellcat?" (Image by Alexander Gardner.)
There was apparently one thing that Miss Mamie Wilson of Rockaway Avenue didn’t take kindly to in 1898: being told she was no lady. I came across this article about the ass-kicking Mamie in the August 2, 1898 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. It was subtitled: “Private Detective McCool Fell Victim to Miss Wilson’s Pugilistic Prowess.” An excerpt:
“Miss Mamie Wilson of 176 Rockaway avenue, who had Michael Fiero, an Italian barber arrested one day last week, on a charge of threatening to kill her, because she refused to marry him, appeared before Magistrate Teale this morning, and requested to withdraw her charge. She said that she and her mother were going to move from the neighborhood wherein they at present reside and would then be free from molestation at the hands of Fiero. The case was set down for a hearing on August 9.
The young woman was later arraigned before the magistrate on a charge of dislocating the nasal organ of a young man who says he is a private detective. James McCool, the complainant, who lives at 16 Russell place, alleged that on July 27, he was passing Miss Wilson’s door.
‘She called me a loafer, your honor,’ said McCool, ‘and I said she was no lady. Then she struck me with her fist on the nose and dislocated it.’
In answer to the charge, Miss Wilson said that McCool insulted her. She admitted she struck McCool and said he deserved it. When the magistrate said that she would have to be held for the Special Sessions, the young woman became frightened. She was allowed to go under parole.”
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