The Murder of Jennie Bauters
The life and tragic death of Belgian Jennie, Arizona’s wealthiest madam.
Jennie Bauter's early life is a mystery. Before she became the richest woman in Arizona, she gave birth to a son in Brussels. Jennie and her fourteen-year-old boy, John Phillippe, immigrated to America in July of 1896. She put her son in a Chicago boarding school and ventured out west to the boom-town of Jerome, Arizona.
Jerome is nestled precariously in the Mingus Mountains of Yavapai County. Copper mining boomed in Jerome around 1876, and prostitutes moved in before the miners erected tents. Miners called these ladies “Blanket Whores” since they often conducted business outdoors on blankets.
Jennie arrived in Jerome before any real structures existed. Belgian Jennie had three strikes against her; she was an immigrant, unmarried, and a woman. Yet On October 21, 1896, she was able to secure a mortgage on three parcels of land, where she built a wooden building. On paper, this building served as a boarding house for women. In reality, it was a brothel she named Jennie’s Place.
Jennie’s Place
