Ida Wood had a secret. Born Ida Mayfield in New Orleans, Ida moved to New York in the 1850s and through her marriage to Benjamin Wood, publisher of the New York Daily News, she entered society. 

By the 1870s, Ida’s name was regularly found in the social columns of the city’s newspapers. So why, in 1907, did Ida Wood cash in – withdrawing her fortune from the bank and then, along with her sister and daughter, retreat into a suite at the Herald Square Hotel… for decades?

This is the story of a Gilded Age Belle turned recluse, who chose to withdraw from society while still living in the heart of it. It’s also the story of the fortune hunters who circled around her in her final years. 

And most incredibly – it’s the story of what happened next. 

Check out the Bowery Boys website for photos of Ida, Ben, the Herald Square Hotel, plus the "alternate ending" proposed by Joseph Cox, author of The Recluse of Herald Square.

After listening to this episode, dive into these past shows with similar themes and locations
-- Herald Square
-- Fernando Wood
-- When Longacre Square Became Times Square

This episode is part of the Bowery Boys Season of Mysteries, running through September and October:

-- The Ghosty Men: Inside the Collyer Mansion

 

This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon