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 A group of Fort Worth historians placed a granite stone with the inscription "Call Me Madam" on Friday at the resting place of Mary Porter, who operated a brothel
-- or what was then euphemized as a "female boardinghouse."
Donna Donnell, a member of the North Fort Worth Historical Society, began digging into records two years ago in search of information about Porter, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Saturday.
"Mary was a fascinating person," said author Richard Selcer, whose new book, "Fort Worth Characters," is to be published this fall. "Even if her lifestyle wasn't admirable, everyone deserves to be remembered."
Donnell discovered a newspaper obituary that said Porter died in 1905 at the age of 75. Her funeral was held at a Catholic church, and a death certificate indicated she was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
A cemetery official confirmed that Porter was interred in a plot deeded to another local madam. Porter was the fourth and last person placed in the 10-by-25-foot plot.
In his book "Hell's Half Acre," Selcer wrote that Porter probably knew most of Fort Worth's prominent businessmen on a first-name basis.
In 1893-97, she had 130 offenses on record with the Tarrant County court but never spent one night in jail.
"Back then madams weren't rounded up, except maybe at election time," Selcer said. "They were back in business before the day was done."
Porter reportedly paid proportionately larger fines, which reflected her status in the city's vice operations.
Selcer and Donnell were among those who contributed to engrave the headstone, which was donated by a Fort Worth police sergeant.
"Having her grave marked among all of the city's founding fathers and mothers and Confederate veterans appealed to my twisted sense of humor," Selcer said.
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