27. A New England Blueblood Scion’s Adultery Scandal Was Eclipsed by a Murder Scandal
The 1840s’ juiciest society scandal revolved around a New England blueblood rich kid, a prostitute, and murder most foul. In his early 20s, Albert Jackson Tirrell, the scion of a wealthy family from Weymouth, Massachusetts, caused a scandal when he left his wife and two children to be with Maria Bickford, a married prostitute living in a Boston brothel. Tirrell fell in love with Mrs. Bickford, who seemed to return the affection. However, that did not stop her from continuing her profession.
That state of affairs did not sit well with Tirrell, and it was a constant bone of contention throughout the relationship. The result was an even bigger scandal that left the earlier one in the dust. On the night of October 27, 1845, loud noises were heard from Maria Bickford’s brothel room. Soon thereafter, the brothel owner awoke to the smell of smoke to discover that somebody had set three fires in his establishment. After dousing the flames, he entered Mrs. Bickford’s room and discovered that she had been brutally murdered, savagely beaten and with her throat slit from ear to ear with a razor cut deep enough to nearly sever her head. Suspicion immediately fell on Albert Tirrell.
