Tennessee Celeste Claflin
| Tennessee Celeste Claflin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
October 26, 1844 Homer, Ohio, United States |
| Died |
January 18, 1923 (aged 78) England |
| Other names | Tennie |
| Title | Lady Cook, Viscountess of Montserrat |
| Relatives | Victoria Woodhull |
| Signature | |
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Tennessee Celeste Claflin (October 26, 1844 – January 18, 1923), also known as Tennie C., was an American suffragist best known as one of the first women to open a Wall Street brokerage firm. She was an advocate of legalized prostitution.[1]
Biography
Personal
On October 15, 1885, Claflin married Francis Cook, Viscount of Montserrat, Portugal. Within months of their marriage, Queen Victoria created a Cook Baronetcy. As the wife of an English Baronet, Claflin would thereafter have been correctly styled "Lady Cook, Viscountess of Montserrat."
Career
With her sister she started the investment firm of Woodhull, Claflin, & Company. The firm was rumored to have been backed by Cornelius Vanderbilt. Claflin is believed to have been his mistress.[1]
During the 1870s she was a flamboyant proponent of women's rights with her sister Victoria Woodhull. Tennessee ran for Congress in the state of New York. She held the controversial belief that women could serve in the military and was elected Colonel of a "colored" National Guard Regiment.
Death and legacy
She died on January 18, 1923 in England.[2]
Together with her sister, Victoria Woodhull, Claflin has been portrayed in two musicals, Winner Take All (1976) and Onward Victoria (1980) and in J.D. Christilian's novel "Scarlet Women" (1996).
See also
Footnotes
- 1 2 SILER, JULIA FLYNN (December 19, 2007). "The Tides of Fortune". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
Not surprisingly, [Vanderbilt] channeled only a small fraction of his wealth to philanthropy, focusing instead on racing horses and dabbling in the occult as he grew older. After his wife Sophia's death, he became entangled with a pair of sisters, the free-love advocate Victoria Woodhull and the spiritualist healer and sometime-prostitute Tennessee Claflin, who became a regular fixture at Washington Place.
Review of Commodore by Renehan - ↑ "Lady Cook Dies in London at 77. Former Tennie C. Claflin Was Spiritualist and Suffragist Here 50 Years Ago.". New York Times. January 20, 1923. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
Further reading
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tennessee Celeste Claflin. |
- MacPherson, Myra (2014). The scarlet sisters : sex, suffrage, and scandal in the Gilded Age (First ed.). New York, NY: Twelve. ISBN 9780446570237. LCCN 2013027618. biography of Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Celeste Claflin
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