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Friday, March 8, 2013

History Is It True What They Say About Mother Damnable, the Madam Who Ran Seattle's First Hotel—That She Turned to Stone?

Posted by on Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 12:37 PM

FELKER HOUSE, SEATTLES FIRST HOTEL That woman in the doorway on the second floor—a stout figure in voluminous petticoats—might be Mother Damnable, but we dont know for sure.
  • FELKER HOUSE, SEATTLE'S FIRST HOTEL That woman in the doorway on the second floor—a stout figure in voluminous petticoats—might be Mother Damnable, but we don't know for sure.

This week in The Stranger, writer, researcher, and corpse expert Bess Lovejoy looks into the fantastical piece of Seattle folklore about Mary Ann Boyer, aka Mother Damnable, so nicknamed because she "cursed constantly in five languages." She also kept rocks in her apron to throw at people. As Lovejoy discovered, "There are two main stories told of her life, and both involve her yelling at men."

Anyway, the oft-repeated fantastical story is that she turned to stone after she died. Lovejoy expertly sorts out the facts from the fiction. You gotta read this.

 

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