Notes

Prologue

“elite of the French nation” Unidentified Marseilles newspaper clipping in scrapbook owned by Annie Londonderry’s granddaughter, Mary Goldiner, hereinafter referred to as “Goldiner Scrapbook.” Locating hundreds of contemporaneous newspaper and journal accounts of Annie’s journey required reliance on many different people and methods. In some cases, I relied on local librarians or hired local researchers both in the U.S. and abroad. Copies were not always entirely legible, depending on the quality of microfilm, and page numbers were not always noted or available. Many articles from the French press, and a few from U.S. newspapers, were located in the Goldiner Scrapbook. In most cases Miss Londonderry did not note the name of the newspaper, the date, page number, or the city of publication, though the city of publication was often discernible from the text itself. In a few cases, I was able to locate other copies of these stories and to source them completely. Where I have page numbers I have cited them, but it would be a Herculean task to recover every one.

“captured the hearts” “Les Aventures de Miss Londonderry,” Le Petit Marsaillais, 16 January 1895.

“inventive genius” “She’s Gone From Us,” Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 29 July 1895, 4.

Chapter One: Going Woman

“Going Woman” (chapter title) Boston Post, 26 June 1894. Kapchowsky is a misspelling.

“the event lost something” “Emulating ‘Paul Jones,’” Boston Evening Transcript, 25 June 1894, 8.

“Her face was unmistakably Polish” “Going Woman,” Boston Post, 26 June 1894.

“a State dignitary” “Emulating ‘Paul Jones,’” Boston Evening Transcript, 25 June 1894, 8.

“the same chances as men” The short piece of dialogue and descriptions that follow has been reconstructed from “Emulating ‘Paul Jones,’” Boston Evening Transcript, 25 June 1894, 8; “Will Journey on a Wheel,” Boston Journal, 26 June 1894; “Going Woman,” Boston Post, 26 June 1894; “Female Paul Jones on a Wheel,” Boston Daily Globe, 26 June 1894, 2.

“the advertising man” “Mrs. Kapchowsky [sic] Has a Big Contract,” Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, 26 June 1894, 1.

“didn’t come up to say goodbye” “Going Woman,” Boston Post, 26 June 1894.

Bennett may have thought Annie’s younger sister, Rosa, was also present at the State House according to the Boston Post.

“like a kite” “Emulating ‘Paul Jones,’” Boston Evening Transcript, 25 June 1894, 8.

“one of the most novel wagers” “’Round the World,” Clinton (IA) Herald, 10 September 1895.

$20,000 to $10,000 The terms of the wager were described repeatedly in newspaper accounts of Annie’s journey, though not always with consistency. While most reports said the bet was $20,000 to $10,000 that Annie would not succeed, some news accounts reported the wager to be $10,000 a side (see, e.g., “Wheeling Around the World,” Cambridge (OH) Jeffersonian, 19 July 1894, and “Will Soon Reach Syracuse,” Syracuse Daily Journal, 2 November 1894, 6); or simply $10,000 (see, e.g., “Around the World on a Wheel,” Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, 25 September 1894); or some simply $30,000 (see, e.g., “Mlle. Londonderry en Route,” Syracuse Standard, 6 November 1894, 8). One French cycling journal put the wager at $10,000 “against” $5,000 (“Miss Londonderry,” La Bicyclette, 25 January 1895, 4249.) Regardless, a lot of money was at stake. Some newspapers reported Annie was required to ride a minimum of 15,000 miles on her bicycle (see, e.g., “Round the World,” Buffalo Express, 1 November 1894); a few newspapers said the minimum was 10,000 miles (see, e.g., ‘She Is Nearly Home,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 September 1895, 5.). One newspaper reported Annie had to cover a minimum of “15,000 miles on foot or on a bicycle (see “An American Lady on Tramp,” Galignani Messenger [Paris], 10 December 1894.) Most never mentioned a minimum. Some reports suggested Annie was allowed 500 miles by train across the American desert (see, e.g., “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895, and Item, Tucson Daily Star, 21 June 1895); another that train travel was prohibited “where the earth’s surface is to be traversed” (“A Girl Girdling the Globe,” San Bernardino Daily Sun, 30 May 1895), and yet another that she could travel 2,200 miles by train or boat (see, “Miss Londonderry in Town,” Utica Daily Press, 12 November 1894, and Item, Canajoharie (NY) Courier, 13 November 1894). The last seems preposterous since short of riding over the North Pole Annie would have to cover more than 2,200 miles by sea unless she had figured out how to ride a bicycle on water (something she just might have claimed to have done). The San Bernardino Daily Sun reported that the wager permitted Annie no train travel “where the earth’s surface is to be traversed,” and on water Annie was required to book “the highest priced cabin passage.” Also there were to be “[n]o lodging houses, or cheap hotels or staying with friends, but the best hotel in the town, and no accepting free entertainment at the hand of big hearted landlords.” While on land, said the Daily Sun, Annie was required “every day” to “report…and send her net receipts, after deducting expenses, to Boston, certified by some club man, or hotel keeper, or banker, and then start for the next place empty handed. Therefore, at every new town she arrives dead broke and must earn enough money at least to pay her expenses. If she can’t make terms with the best hotel and can’t earn enough money to pay board and lodging, she sleeps out of doors. Frequently, I have been obliged to do this,” Annie told the Daily Sun. (“A Girl Girdling the Globe,” 30 May 1895). One French newspaper reported that the wager required Annie to make the journey in one outfit. (“Le Tour du Monde à Bicyclette,” Journal de Valence, 7–8 January 1895, 2.) Many French newspapers and cycling journals reported that Annie had 16 months to make the circuit (see. e.g., “Le Tour du Monde avec 5 Centimes,” Le Véloce-Sport, 3 January 1895, 18, and Item, L’Abeille de Fontainebleau, 4 January 1895, 1.) A Colorado newspaper reported that Annie could “carry no more than five cents from any one town or city, but what money she earns must be forwarded to a Boston paper.” (“Miss Londonderry,” Trinidad [CO] Weekly Advertiser, 1 August 1895, 1.)

the formidable sum There is no simple way to determine the current value of an 1895 dollar. Some calculations suggest that $1 in 1895 would be $15 dollars today. But other calculations suggest a dollar in 1895 would be worth $80 or more today. For perspective, the average annual salary for a working American in 1895 was about $1,000. $5,000 was a daunting sum, and the wager stakes were quite substantial, to say the least.

If she succeeded See, e.g., “Miss Londonderry,” Buffalo Courier, 1 November 1894.

Talking to reporters “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29. See also, “Around the World,” San Jose Daily Mercury, 19 April 1895, and “A Lady Cyclist,” Salinas Weekly Index, 2 May 1895.

earning money as a journalist “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

“must dispatch a postal card” Item, New York Daily Tribune, 27 July 1894.

prohibited her from contracting matrimony “A Tramp to Strauss,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 1895, 1.

the West End I am grateful to Ellen Smith of Brandeis University for sharing her knowledge of the history of Boston’s West End with me. This description of life in the West End is also drawn from Jonathan D. Sarna and Ellen Smith, eds., The Jews of Boston (Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, 1995), 71–90.

“Anybody who knows Boston” Mary Antin, The Promised Land (Penguin, 1997), 145–146.

“No one in the tenements” Gail Collins, America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines (William Morrow, 2003), 264.

“what America was all about” Jonathan Sarna, American Judaism: A History (Yale University Press, 2004), 158.

when she was just sixteen The precise date of Annie’s birth is uncertain. The weight of the evidence suggests she was born in 1870 or 1871.

“a baby under my apron” This according to Annie’s granddaughter, Mary Levy Goldiner. (Interview with Mary Levy Goldiner, 6 November 2003.) Late in her life Annie did on occasion acknowledge some guilt about how her children had grown up, but never any regret about her bicycle trip.

“a heaven-born talent” “Boston’s Globe Trotter,” Atlanta Constitution, 19 July 1894, 5.

“by selling candy” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894.

“I have studied medicine” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894. Annie’s claim to have studied medicine, a claim she would repeat at various points on her journey, was dubious.

“a man named Kapchowsky” This is one of the last references I could find to Annie by either her maiden or married name for most of the duration of her trip. The last reference to her by a name other than Londonderry was a reprint of this article that appeared in the Hagerstown (MD) Herald and Torch Light on 23 August 1894 and in the Trinidad (CO) Daily News more than a year later on 2 August 1895. After the trip, she was again identified as Mrs. Kapshowsky [sic] in the September 19, 1895, edition of The American Wheelman.

“the world will see” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894.

the first truly global news story Simon Winchester, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 (HarperCollins, 2003), 194.

excavation of a canal David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870–1914 (Simon & Schuster, 1977).

Thomas Stevens Stevens wrote an exhaustive account of his trip, recently republished in 2001. Thomas Stevens, Around the World on a Bicycle, (Stackpole Books, 2001).

a hero’s welcome See. e.g., Brooke Kroeger, Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist (Time Books, 1994). 139–84.

the cycling craze The cycling craze and the woman’s movement, two of the most powerful social trends of the 1890s, are discussed in more detail in chapter 2.

“on to Honolulu” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894.

208 East Broadway This address pops up in news stories and on correspondence just after the end of her trip, too, for she stayed with the same friends when she returned to New York in September 1895. Efforts to identify the residents at that address through the 1900 and 1910 censuses were of no avail, however.

“I must have something different” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894.

“dark blue Henrietta cloth” “Boston’s Globe Trotter,” Atlanta Constitution, 19 July 1894, 5. Henrietta cloth is a fine, wide wooled fabric often used for women’s dresses.

“In her opinion” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894.

“Not a breath of cool air” “It Was Only a ‘Scorcher,’” New York Daily Tribune, 29 July 1894.

“many of them street Arabs” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 29 July 1894, 3.

“Nellie Bly hat” “Mlle. Londonderry Starts,” The Referee, 3 August 1894, 1.

“a deafening shout” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 29 July 1894. 3. The Referee, a cycle trade journal, reported Annie’s departure somewhat differently. “Six hoodlums yelled ‘hurrah’ and then promptly forgot all about her.” “Mlle. Londonderry Starts,” The Referee, 3 August 1894, 1.

“will never finish the trip” “Off On a Long Journey,” New York Times, 29 July 1894, 3. The day after Annie left New York City was even hotter: the temperature reached 104 degrees, and ten people died of heat-related causes, according to the New York Herald of 30 July 1894 (“Ten Died of Heat”).

crossed the Harlem River The Washington Bridge is not to be confused with the George Washington Bridge (GWB) that spans the Hudson between Manhattan and New Jersey. The GWB didn’t exist in 1894.

rode into Albany The L.A.W. route from New York to Chicago is not the most direct route. On a direct line it would be shorter to travel across New Jersey and the breadth of Pennsylvania. But this would be a rugged trip over hilly terrain. By following the Erie Canal across New York State, cyclists enjoyed a relatively flat ride on the well-worn Erie Canal Tow Paths.

“three square meals a day” “A Fair Traveler,” The American Athlete, 9 November 1894, 385.

George T. Loher Loher’s journal was published as The Wonderful Ride: Being the True Journal of Mr. George T. Loher who in 1895 Cycled from Coast to Coast on his Yellow Fellow Wheel (Harper & Row, 1978).

possessed with abundant muscleBrocton (NY) Grape Belt, 31 August, 1894, 1.

a Harvard studentWestfield (NY) Republican, 5 September 1894, 1.

“is in the city” “Around the World on a Wheel,” Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, 25 September 1894.

“kicking her heavy cycle” “A Globe Girdler,” Rochester Union, date unknown, clip in Goldiner Scrapbook.

Chapter Two: Female Paul Jones on a Wheel

“Female Paul Jones”Boston Daily Globe, 26 June 1894, 2.

his plan was a “fake” “Paul Jones Taken to Jail,” Boston Daily Globe, 25 February 1894, 7.

a small headline “A Woman to Rival Paul Jones,” New York Times, 25 February 1894, 12. Note that this story doesn’t speak of a trip around the world by bicycle, only that the traveler will “travel through cities on a bicycle.” (emphasis added) A similar story appeared in the Washington Post the same day: “New Feature in Globe Trotting,” Washington Post, 25 February 1894, 1.

“Emulating ‘Paul Jones’” “Emulating ‘Paul Jones,’” Boston Evening Transcript, 25 June 1894, 8.

“Female Paul Jones” “Female Paul Jones on a Wheel,” Boston Daily Globe, 26 June 1894, 2.

“backed by rich merchants” “Going Woman,” Boston Post, 26 June 1894.

John Dowe “Round the World,” Clinton (IA) Herald, 10 September 1895; “Won a $10,000 Purse,” Oswego (NY) Daily Palladium, 24 September 1895. This last article also appeared, verbatim, in at least two other newspapers “Won a $10,000 Purse,” New York Recorder, 29 September 1895, and “Won a $10,000 Purse,” Marion (OH) Daily Star, 30 September 1895.

“two wealthy clubmen” See, e.g., “The New Woman on a Tour,” San Francisco Examiner, 24 March 1895, 8.

“two rich men” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894.

“Stock Exchange Men” “Annie Londonderry’s Long Ride,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 25 September 1894, 11.

“Sugar-men of the Hub” “Round the World,” Buffalo Express, 1 November 1894. The Hub is Boston’s egocentric nickname, as in “hub of the Universe.”

Albert Reeder Reeder was in his early forties at the time of Annie’s trip. He died tragically, some sixteen years later, by his own hand on Christmas Day 1910, at age fifty-eight. He did himself in by inhaling illuminating gas. In one of those ironic twists that cannot help but make you shake your head and wonder, the doctor who signed Reeder’s death certificate was Timothy Leary, MD. Harvard Professor Timothy Leary—who would earn fame in the 1960s and ’70s for his advocacy of the ingestion of other substances, namely LSD—was the grandson of a Massachusetts physician by the same name. But that Dr. Timothy Leary hailed from Springfield, not Boston, and he is probably not the same Timothy Leary who signed Reeder’s death certificate. There were other doctors in Boston named Timothy Leary at the time so it was more likely one of the Boston physicians.

“There are those who say” “Going Woman,” Boston Post, 26 June 1894.

“an advertising scheme” “Will Journey on a Wheel,” Boston Journal, 26 June 1894. The subhead on this article also cast some doubt on what Annie was up to. It read, “Mrs. Annie Kapchowsky [sic] Starts from the State House on an Alleged Trip Around the World.”

a leading industrialist See, e.g., Stephen B. Goddard, Colonel Albert Pope and His American Dream Machines (McFarland & Co., 2000).

Alonzo D. Peck I am grateful to Pope historian Bruce Epperson for much of my information on Pope and Pope Manufacturing. We spoke at the International Cycling History Conference held in Davis, California, in September 2005.

an advertising solicitor On June 25, 1894, the Boston Evening Transcript reported that Annie “has been an advertising solicitor for local papers for several years.” Many newspapers also reported that she had been a journalist or a newspaperwoman, and some, the Syracuse Daily Journal, for example, were even more specific. The Journal reported on November 5, 1894, that Annie had been “a dramatic writer and telegraph editor on the Boston Advertiser.” This cannot be verified, however; and if she did work for the Advertiser, it is odd that the paper didn’t cover her June 25, 1894, departure from Boston.

“The Great Bicycle Exhibition” The exhibition was described in “The Big Bicycle Show at the Garden,” New York Sunday World, 19 January 1896, 19.

“a general intoxication” Irving A. Leonard, When Bikehood was in Flower (Seven Palms Press, 1983).

“more to emancipate women” “Champion of Her Sex,” New York Sunday World, 2 February 1896, 10.

the size of the front wheel In some cases, the larger wheel was the rear wheel.

“It knows no class distinction” “A Blessing for Women,” The Bearings, 5 September 1895.

“their relationship with their garments” Sarah Gordon, in Beauty and Business: Commerce, Gender, and Culture in Modern America, Philip Scranton, editor (Routledge, 2001), 25.

“Miss Londonderry expressed the opinion” “A Whirl ’Round the World,” Omaha World Herald, 25 August 1895, 5.

“depravity and boldness” Item, Arizona Daily Gazette, 16 June 1895.

“provided a space” Sarah Gordon, 26.

“future ill health” “Taking Chances,” Iowa State Register, 28 August 1895.

“When woman wants to learn anything” “Woman and Her Bicycle,” Chicago Daily News, 17 October 1894, 8.

“Why, pray tell me” Quoted in Lynn Sherr, Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words (Times Books, 1995), 196.

“the first new woman” “The First New Woman,” The Washington Post, 11 August 1895, 20.

“every reef and sail” “Mrs. Stanton Likes Bloomers,” Rocky Mountain News, 11 August 1895.

“an abomination” “Bloomers Abhorred,” Iowa State Register, 7 September 1895.

“all honorable means” “They Don’t Like Bloomers,” Chicago Sunday Times-Herald, 8 September 1895.

“The New Woman of Ancient Egypt”Omaha World-Herald, 25 August 1895.

“Her bloomers were too loose”San Francisco Chronicle, 1 April 1895.

“a freedom machine” Robert A. Smith, A Social History of the Bicycle (McGraw Hill, 1972), 76.

Frances Willard’s 1895 book” Frances Willard, A Wheel Within a Wheel: A Woman’s Quest for Freedom (Applewood Books, 1997). Willard’s essay was originally published in 1895 as “How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle.”

“The occasional denunciation” “Woman and the Bicycle,” Scribners, June 1895, 702–703.

the number of Female cyclists Petty, Ross, “Women and the Wheel: How the Bicycle Led from Social Control to Social Freedom,” published in the Proceedings of the Seventh International Cycling History Conference (van der Plas Publishing, 1997).

hardly the only woman The brief descriptions of women bicycle tourists are derived from Duncan Jamieson, On Your Left: A History of Bicycle Touring, unpublished manuscript.

“gone wheel mad” “Woman Awheel,” Boston Daily Globe, 19 April 1896, 36.

many famous women” Russell cut quite a figure riding through New York’s Central Park on a bicycle given to her by her paramour, “Diamond Jim” Brady, the legendary financier known as the Prince of the Gilded Age.

“gave her a machine” “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro (Paris), 7 December 1894. Another Paris journal reported, “She entered into an arrangement with a bicycle maker, whereby, provided she rides no other patent, a machine will be given to her, plus $500, at the end of her journey.” “An American Lady on Tramp,” Galignani Messenger (Paris), 10 December 1894. This appears to refer to the Columbia for the account describes the origins of Annie’s journey.

“anti-Semitism” Larry Tye, Home Lands: Portraits of the New Jewish Diaspora (Henry Holt, 2001), 105.

“Scarcely a week passes” Item, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 1895, 7.

Chapter Three: A Woman with Nerve

“A Woman with Nerve”Sandusky (OH) Register, 22 October 1894; “A Riding Advertising Agency” Buffalo Express, 1 November 1894.

“a new scheme” “Among the Wheelmen,” New York Times, 11 October 1894, 6.

“I was completely discouraged” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Syracuse Herald, 5 November 1894, 5.

“to carry the Sterling banner” “Miss Londonderry,” Buffalo Courier, 1 November 1894.

“has advertising contracts” “Miss Londonderry,” Buffalo Courier, 1 November 1894. Many Sterlings including Annie’s were equipped with Morgan and Wright Tires. The company name is visible on the tires in the photograph Annie had taken of her Sterling in San Francisco in the spring of 1895. It is unlikely Annie’s contracts were worth $3,500, however, and later in her trip, when she arrived back in the United States, there were reports that she had, at that point, earned only about one-third of that amount toward the $5,000 required by the wager.

as one newspaper reported “On a Long Journey,” Toledo Commercial, 22 October 1894. Sterling’s racing bike, similar in shape to Annie’s, weighed 19 pounds. Perhaps Annie’s Sterling was something of a hybrid, part racer, part roadster. These weights are given in the 1894 Sterling Cycle Works Catalogue.

a single gear There is one report, in the Singapore Free Press, that Annie’s Sterling was “fitted with two gear-wheels, one for gearing the machine to 68 inches and the other to 63 inches, the latter to be used if the road to be traversed is hilly” (“The New Woman in Singapore,” Singapore Free Press, 14 February 1895). According to cycling historian David Herlihy, some bikes were equipped with two gears, attached to opposite sides of the rear wheel. To “shift” gears the rear wheel had to be removed and flipped around. Thus, the rider would anticipate the general nature of the terrain ahead before setting out, as it was utterly impractical to be switching gears regularly during a ride. But, was Annie’s Sterling equipped with two gears? The one detailed photograph of her bicycle known to exist does not appear to show a gear on the left side of the rear wheel, which is the side closest to the viewer.

the Sterling lacked something One French cycling journal commented, “It is difficult to believe that a frail young woman would dare to confront such a voyage on such a machine, with no comforts, without brakes or mud guards.” (Item, Le Vélo, 24 December 1894.)

compared with the 42-pound bicycle Annie’s decision to switch to a Sterling suggests that either The Pope Manufacturing Company didn’t make a substantial financial commitment to Annie or that Sterling made an equally attractive or better offer.

J. Manz and Company One of the young apprentices at J. Manz and Company in 1894 was J. C. Leyendecker, who later became famous for his iconic magazine covers for The Saturday Evening Post. It is not clear whether Leyendecker had a hand in the image of Annie on her Sterling, but he had done other sketches of young women on bicycles in the 1890s, no doubt a popular subject at the time.

“an ardent wheel woman” “Miss Annie Oakley,” The Bearings, 17 August 1894,

“more posters were created” Jack Rennert, 100 Years of Bicycle Posters (Harper & Row, New York, 1973), 3.

“I’ve cheek enough” “Wheel Around the World,” New York Herald, 3 July 1894.

around the world going east Some newspapers reported that Annie cabled for permission to reverse course and that the bettors agreed. As I doubt there was a wager at all, this, too, is almost certainly apocraphyl.

“from Bordeaux southward” “Londonderry, Globe-Girdler,” Cycling Life, 11 October 1894, 19.

as far as Pullman “Miss Londonderry to Start Again,” Chicago Sunday Herald, 14 October 1894, 8.

“all along the route” “Miss Londonderry Departs,” Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, 15 October 1894.

“an admiring friend” “An Earth Navigator,” Kendallville (IN) Weekly News, 18 October 1894.

“Miss Londonderry is unusually vivacious” “Around the World,” Elkhart Daily Truth, 17 October 1894. It is considerably less than 180 miles from Chicago to Elkhart, so it’s not clear how the Truth arrived at these figures.

“attracted considerable attention” Item, Goshen (IN) Democrat, 24 October 1894, 3.

“to advertise the wheel” “A Couple of Transcontinentalists,” Goshen (IN) Daily News, 18 October 1894, 1.

“on her way around the world” Item, Ligonier (IN) Banner, 25 October 1894, 5.

rode to Wawaka Item, Ligonier (IN) Leader, 25 October 1894, 5.

“a plucky and goodlooking lady cyclist” “An Earth Navigator,” Kendallville (IN) Weekly News, 18 October 1894.

if she spoke of her marriage Though the New York World had already reported that Annie was married with three children, there was no reason to emphasize the fact, and news didn’t travel in the 1890s as it does today. Few, if any, people along her route knew she was a married mother.

“It seems rather shocking” Item, Butler (Indiana) Record, 26 October 1894, p. 5.

“shot down Jefferson street” “On a Long Journey,” Toledo Commercial, 22 October 1894.

“she sells silk handkerchiefs” “Annie Londonderry in Norwalk,” Sandusky (OH) Register, 24 October 1894, 1.

“[A] remarkably good performance” “Plucky Lady Rider,” Unidentified Cleveland newspaper clipping in Goldiner Scrapbook.

a guest of Mr. Wright “Miss Londonderry in Cleveland,” The Bearings, 2 November 1894.

Mr. Bliss There was a famous bicycle racer named Bliss active on the racing circuit at this time. Whether this is the same Bliss who accompanied Annie from Cleveland is unknown.

“clever and intrepid” “Miss Londonderry,” Buffalo Courier, 1 November 1894. In Toledo, Annie told essentially the same story about a sheriff requiring her to obtain a permit to wear bloomers, but this time she set the story in Fort Wayne, Indiana. See, “On a Long Journey,” Toledo Commercial, 22 October 1894.

in nine hours “Miss Londonderry Continues,” Buffalo Express, 2 November 1894.

“nearly dropped dead” “Miss Londonderry Continues,” Buffalo Express, 2 November 1894.

thence to India “Miss Londonderry,” Buffalo Courier, 1 November 1894.

“riding at least 15,000 miles” This is one of the handful of reports that Annie was required to cover a stipulated distance by wheel.

“$400 for one firm’s ad” On November 29, 1894, Cycling Life also reported that parts of Annie’s body were for sale. “Fair Annie Londonderry’s back is for rent to advertisers. She wants $300 for it while she is scouring the earth on her wheel. For the advertisement that adorns her left breast she gets $400. For her left arm she receives $100. On her left leg she carries another hundred dollars worth of ‘business.’ All the space on the left side but Annie’s blooming cheek is sold. Ribbons she flies for a score of firms until she rivals the rainbow in the hues displayed. The hook and eye sharps ought to lease gentle Annie’s upper posterior aspect and blazon it with the stirring words: ‘See that Hump!’”

“in barns” “Miss Londonderry,” Buffalo Courier, 1 November 1894.

“exceedingly unfeminine costume” “A Plucky Wheelwoman,” Illustrated Buffalo Express, 11 November 1894, 8.

“Belated pedestrians” “Another Dead Broke Rider,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 2 November 1894.

“a bedraggled appearance” “Around the World,” Rochester Post-Express, 2 November 1894.

“prepossessing in appearance” “Around the World,” Rochester Post-Express, 2 November 1894.

“a suspicious character” “Likes Bloomers,” Rochester Herald, 3 November 1894.

“the stare of people” “Likes Bloomers,” Rochester Herald, 3 November 1894.

“I’ll marry some good man” “A Globe Girdler,” Unidentified Rochester newspaper clipping in Goldiner Scrapbook.

her visit was much anticipated Item, Syracuse Standard, 30 October 1894, 8; “Cyclets,” Syracuse Courier, 31 October 1894, 2.

“a hard struggle” “Mlle. Londonderry En Route,” Syracuse Standard, 6 November 1894, 8.

“the query of pedestrians” “Is it a Girl?” Syracuse Courier, 6 November 1894.

“laughingly describing her trip” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Syracuse Herald, 5 November 1894, 5.

“an intrepid woman” “The Woman Globe Girdler,” Syracuse Standard, 4 November 1894, 6.

“a horrible nightmare” “Miss Londonderry,” Syracuse Post, 2 November 1894, 6.

She left for Utica The Syracuse Post reported on November 8, 1894, that Annie left Syracuse the previous day, paced by Ross French of the Centuries Cycling Club. However, the Sunday Journal of Utica reported on November 11 that she arrived in Utica on the tenth, having ridden forty-eight miles that day from DeWitt. De Witt is just a few miles east of Syracuse. The Utica Daily Press also reported that Annie arrived on the tenth from East Syracuse. Perhaps Annie did leave Syracuse on November 7, only to remain a few miles out of town in De Witt until the tenth, or the Post simply got the story wrong.

announced the arrival “A ‘Dead Broke’ Girl,” Utica Sunday Journal, 11 November 1894, 1. Annie had at least one trunk with her belongings that she shipped from point to point.

“a tramp” “Miss Londonderry the Cyclist,” Utica Sunday Tribune, 11 November 1894.

Frank Lenz “Where is Cyclist Lenz?” Utica Sunday Journal, 11 November 1894, 1.

Lenz was already dead David Herlihy, Bicycle: The History (Yale University Press, 2004), 255.

“Everybody ought to be present” “A ‘Dead Broke’ Girl,” Utica Sunday Journal, 11 November 1894, 1.

boarded a train “Paragraphs for the Wheelmen,” Utica Observer, 12 November 1894. Annie’s eastbound trip through New York State was one of the last pieces of the puzzle I put together, making a road trip to upstate New York in December 2004 to do some research. I was quite sure Annie had passed through Schenectady because it was on the New York L.A.W. route and though Annie was headed eastbound in November of 1894, I worked my way westbound simply because driving from Boston, Schenectady was the first place I reached. I spent a full morning at the Schenectady County Public Library going through microfilm, and, in the case of the Schenectady Gazette, a very fragile volume of original newspapers that crumbled when touched. To my disappointment, I found absolutely nothing about Annie in Schenectady. Around midday, I hit the New York State Thruway going west towards Utica and decided to exit the Thruway near Fonda, a town I knew to be on the main cycling route between New York and Chicago. I was playing a hunch. I followed Route 5 West to Palatine Bridge, then crossed the Mohawk River into Canajoharie, also a name I recalled from the L.A.W. “Tour Book.” Canajoharie is a small town on the banks of the Mohawk dominated by a huge Beech-Nut Food plant. At the post office I asked for directions to the public library. At this point, I was primarily in the business of hunting down articles about Annie in the larger city newspapers, but for the fun of it I thought I’d see whether she had managed to find her way into a small town newspaper in Canajoharie, if, indeed, a newspaper was even being published there in 1894. As it turned out, the Canajoharie Public Library had the Canajoharie Courier on microfilm for 1894 tucked away in a gray metal filing cabinet. But the library’s lone microfilm reader was in a state of advanced disrepair. The film had to be advanced by hand, and the illumination left a lot to be desired. I knew Annie was likely in the vicinity of Canajoharie in mid-November, and since the Courier was a weekly, I only had to examine two or three issues. Within a few minutes I found a small article about Annie and immediately understood why I had come up empty in Schenectady. The article reported she had taken the train from Utica to Albany. When I arrived at the Utica Public Library later the same day, I found articles from the Utica newspapers also reporting Annie had left town by train for Albany. By doing my research on her eastbound trip while traveling west myself, I had unwittingly fallen into a research trap Annie had set for me 110 years ago. Had I gone to Utica first, I could have skipped Schenectady, as she had, because I would have known she had taken the train to Albany. But, then again, I would have missed the thrill of bumping into Annie’s ghost in Canajoharie.

Chapter Four: Le Voyage de Miss Londonderry

“Le Voyage de Miss Londonderry”Le Jour (Paris), 4 January 1895.

“a piece of France itself” http://www.greatoceanliners.net/latouraine.html, accessed March 8, 2007.

She regaled everyone she met “Transatlantic Travelers,” New York Tribune, 24 November 1894. Mr. Palmer was a partner of Marshall Field’s and was largely responsible for the development of Chicago’s State Street, including the famous Palmer House Hotel. Mrs. Palmer, the former Bertha Honoré, sometimes called “the Queen of Chicago high society,” was a patron of the arts and had been president of the Board of Lady Managers of the World Columbian Exposition, the world’s fair that had graced Chicago the year before.

her ivory and gold Sterling Annie’s journey was reported in the French cycling press at least as early as November 1894. In one report, her white Sterling “with threads of gold” was described as “a veritable work of art.” (“Miss Annie Londonderry,” Les Journal de Vélocipédistes, November 1894.)

“earned 150 Francs” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

arrived at Le Havre Except for a short time during the Civil War, passports were not required of U.S. citizens traveling abroad before World War I. It appears from indeces maintained by the National Archives that Annie did not apply for a passport.

listed among the ship’s arrivals “Passengers on La Touraine,” Journal de Havre, 2–3 December 1894, 3

impounded her bicycle “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro (Paris), 7 December 1894.

“in a predicament” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29. According to her granddaughter, Mary Levy Goldiner, Annie did not speak French. Several French newspapers also noted that she did not speak French. See, e.g., “Le Tour du Monde à Bicyclette,” Journal de Valence, 7–8 January 1895, p. 2.

“printed a large placard” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, p. 29.

The Paris where Annie arrived Annie’s arrival in Paris was noted in the New York Times though it wasn’t until December 23 that the Times reported: “Miss Londonderry, the round-the-world wheelwoman…has reached Paris.” Cycling Life reported Annie’s arrival in Paris on 3 January 1895, almost a full month after her arrival there.

“In a short time” “All Paris A-Wheel,” Arsène Alexandre, Scribner’s Magazine, August 1895, 195.

in rode Annie French roads were generally far better for cycling in the 1890s than American roads. In 1891, there were 328,000 miles of paved roads in France. By 1904, only 154,000 miles of American roads were paved. Of course, a paved road is not always ideal for cycling. For example, cobblestone roads would make for a very uncomfortable ride, far worse than an unpaved road of hard packed dirt. Nevertheless, French roads generally were superior for cycling.

“is now in Paris” “Miss Londonderry,” Boston Daily Globe, 5 January 1895, 4 (quoting the European edition of the New York Herald).

“muscles and nerve” “24,000 Kilomètres avec un Soul,” Unidentified newspaper clipping in Goldiner Scrapbook.

“is not of their race” “Causerie,” Le Progrès Illustre (Lyon), 13 January 1895.

“her boyish charms” “Chronique Lyonnaise,” La Revue Vélocipédique, 14 January 1895, 33.

“Mannish” “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro, 7 December 1894.

“a young boy” “Le Tour du Monde en Bicyclette,” Le Jour (Paris), 14 December 1894, p. 1. One cycling journal said nearly the same thing: “Miss Londonderry could easily be taken for, at first sight, a young man rather than a young woman…” (“Le Tour du Monde a Bicylette,” La Revue Vélocipédique, 4 January 1895, 8.)

“a Herculian build” “Vélocipédie,” Le Nouvelliste (Melun), 3 January 1895, 3.

any interest in romance “Causerie,” Le Progrès Illustre (Lyon), 13 January 1895.

“an orphan” “Le Tour du Monde en Bicyclette,” Le Jour (Paris), 14 December 1894, p. 1.

a law student “Le Tour du Monde en Bicyclette,” Le Jour (Paris), 14 December 1894, p. 1.

a doctorate of law “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro (Paris), 7 December 1894.

a medical student “Les Aventures de Miss Londonderry,” Le Petit Marsaillais, 16 January 1895, 2.

a businesswoman “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro (Paris), 7 December 1894.

an accountant “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro (Paris), 7 December 1894.

a reporter “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro (Paris), 7 December 1894.

a wealthy heiress Les Aventures de Miss Londonderry,” Le Petit Marsaillais, 16 January 1895, 2.

the founder of a newspaper “Le Tour du Monde d’une Américaine Sans Argent,” Le Figaro (Paris), 7 December 1894.

the cousin of a United States congressman These claims were reported by a French journalist who provided the story to Le Progrés de Saigon, 14 February 1895.

“truly a miracle”Le Petit Marseillais, a Marseilles newspaper, reported that Annie “wounded her attacker with two revolver shots” and that the man was arrested and sent to prison for two years. (“Les Aventures de Miss Londonderry,” 16 January 1895, 2.)

“quite the rage” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29. See also, “The New Woman on a Tour,” San Francisco Examiner, 24 March 1895, 8 (“I became the advertising rage in Paris, and was well paid for the work I did.”)

a five day indoor bicycle race Item, Echo de Paris, 8 December 1894.

The race was cancelled “Poor Miss Londonderry!” New York Herald (Paris Edition), 9 December 1894, 3.

“Not one in a hundred” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

“keep that flag” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

Annie left Paris Item, Le Petit Parisien, 29 December 1894.

“Please show her the way” “Les Aventures de Miss Londonderry,” Le Petit Marsaillais, 16 January 1895, 2.

“half-frozen riders” “Miss Londonderry,” La Bicylette, 4 January 1895, 4156.

local cyclists from Melun “Vélocipédie,” Le Nouvelliste (Melun), 3 January 1895, 3.

“known under the pseudonym” Item, L’Abeille de Fontainebleau, 4 January 1895, 1.

“By the bye” “A Lady Cyclist,” The Egyptian Gazette, 26 January 1895.

“spattered with mud” “Voyage à Travers le Monde en Bicyclette,” La Parole de Nemours, 5 January 1895, 1.

“in a very good state” “Sur la Route de Chine,” Le Vélo (Paris), 3 January 1895.

a box of chocolates “Sur la Route de Chine,” Le Vélo (Paris), 4 January 1895.

“a hospitable family” “Le Tour du Monde á Bicylette,” Le Cosnois (Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire), 5 January 1895, 2.

Velocipedic Union of France Throughout her trip through France Annie’s travel was facilitated by the U.V.F. and its members.

“the deplorable state of the routes” “Sur la Route de Chine,” Le Vélo (Paris), 4 January 1895. None of the eight newspapers publishing in Nevers, one of the major towns before Lyon, mentions Annie’s presence there, and Lyon Vélo, a cycling periodical, reported, with some sarcasm, that she arrived by train. (“[The train] goes faster and fatigues less,” said Lyon Vélo.) Why the Lyon dailies didn’t mention that Annie had arrived by train is not known; she may well have tried to elide that fact by slipping into town late.

“She had just enough time” “Miss Annie Londonderry,” Salut Public (Lyon), 5 January 1895, 2.

three Lyon wheelmen “Sur la Route de Chine,” Le Vélo (Paris), 8 January 1895, 1.

well below freezing “Miss Londonderry,” Lyon Vélo, 12 January 1895, 2. One presumes the temperature was given in Celsius. Five below zero would be twenty-three degrees Fahrenheit.

on to Vienne “Sur la Route de Chine,” Le Vélo (Paris), 8 January 1895, 1.

arrived in Valence “Sur la Route de Chine,” Le Vélo (Paris), 8 January 1895, 1.

“her valiant enthusiasm” “Le Tour du Monde à Bicylette,” Journal de Valence, 7–8 January 1895, 2.

“Her endurance is remarkable” “Le Tour du Monde à Bicyclette: Miss Londonderry à Valence,” Journal de Valence, 9 January 1895, 2.

the Achilles tendon “Sur la Route de Chine,” Le Vélo (Paris), 8 January 1895, 1.

“It is a man’s bicycle” “Miss Londonderry,” Journal de Valence, 10 January 1895, 2.

“Pray do wait” Handwritten note on the back of a business card from l’Hôtel de la Tête d’Or in Goldiner Scrapbook.

“likes French men” “Le Tour du Monde à Bicyclette: Miss Londonderry à Valence,” Journal de Valence, 9 January 1895, 2.

on the morning of January 10 “Miss Londonderry,” Lyon Vélo, 12 January 1895, 2; “Sport Vélocipédique: Miss Londonderry,” Messager de Valence, 9 January 1895, 2; “De Valence a Orange avec Miss Londonderry,” Messager de Valence, 12 January 1895, 3.

“To explain to you “De Valence a Orange avec Miss Londonderry,” Messager de Valence, 12 January 1895, 3. Twenty kilometers an hour would have been an excellent pace even for a rider without an injury.

the Cercle Musicale Item, New York Clipper, 2 February 1895, 771.

“will pass through Avignon” Item, Mistral (Avignon), 9 January 1895, 3.

“redoubling their zeal” “Sport Vélocipédique,” La Semaine Mondaine, 9 January 1895, 1.

“Hip! Hip!” “Voyage Autour du Monde,” L’Echo de Jour, 13 January 1895, 2.

“stocked with drinks” “Sport Vélocipédique,” Le Semaine Mondaine, 16 January 1895, 2.

reached Salon de Provence “Une Bicycliste Qui Fait le Tour du Monde,” Le Petit Marsaillais, undated newspaper clipping in Goldiner Scrapbook.

“One night I had an encounter” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

“the elite of the French nation” Unidentified Marseilles newspaper clipping in Goldiner Scrapbook.

“When she left for Marseilles” “Les Adventures de Miss Londonderry,” Le Petit Marsaillais, 16 January 1895, 2.

“nothing stops me” “Miss Londonderry, Distributrice de Prospectus,” Le Petit Provençal, undated newspaper clipping in Goldiner Scrapbook.

visitation hours Item, Le Petit Provençal, 19 January 1895, p. 2.

“a huge swarm of ants” “Le Départ de Miss Londonderry,” Le Petit Provençal, 21 January 1895, 2.

Chapter Five: A Girl Globe-Trotter

“A Girl Globe Trotter”Washington Post, 14 April 1895.

a trip made miserable “A Tramp to Strauss,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 1895, 1.

In India “Miss Londonderry,” El Paso Daily Herald, 27 June 1895.

the company of German royalty “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

Nearly killed “Miss Londonderry,” El Paso Daily Herald, 27 June 1895.

She rode overland “She Rides a Wheel,” San Francisco Chronicle, 24 March 1895, 20.

to keep from being molested “Won a $10,000 Purse,” New York Recorder, 29 September 1895.

Caught up in the Sino-Japanese War “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

She endured freezing nights “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

she logged thousands of miles There was, and is, no governing body to establish guidelines for what constitutes a crossing of the continent by bicycle, or, indeed, a circuit of the earth. No rider of the time literally rode across every inch of the country, or pedaled a continuous circuit. Bicycles sometimes had to be hauled over rough terrain, walked along impassable roads, or carried as the rider waded through water.

After leaving Marseilles “A Lady Cyclist,” Egyptian Gazette, 26 January 1895. Nearly two months later, on March 22, The Referee, a cycling magazine, would report, “Miss Londonderry, who was last heard from at Alexandria, Egypt, succeeded in raising 1,100 francs ($220) in Marseilles before she embarked for Japan, by selling photographs and souvenirs.”

“A great deal of amazement” “An Unusual Scene in the Fort,” Ceylon Examiner, 7 February 1895, p. 3.

Annie found time “The New Woman in Singapore,” Singapore Free Press, 14 February 1895.

“writes a book” Annie never did write a book.

“Astonishment, curiosity, and amusement” “The New Woman in Singapore,” Singapore Free Press, 14 February 1895.

“the lady cyclist who might have been seen” “The New Woman in Singapore,” Singapore Free Press, 14 February 1895.

the Sydney sailed to Saigon “Une Célébrité va Encore Nous Arriver, Aprés-Demain par le Sydney: C’est Miss Londonderry,” Progrés de Saigon, 14 February 1895.

sent a telegraph message “Une Célébrité va Encore Nous Arriver, Aprés-Demain par le Sydney: C’est Miss Londonderry,” Progrés de Saigon, 14 February 1895. In a related article on the same date titled “With Miss Londonderry,” the writer makes a strange statement about Annie’s arrival by steamer: “If Miss Londonderry did not come by bicycle, it is because the Hebrews perspired so much crossing the tropical regions that they [the regions] were transformed into a sea of salt water.” Did the writer know Annie was Jewish? Was this an anti-Semitic remark? It’s difficult to tell.

On the pedestal The poem and the sketch are in the Goldiner Scrapbook.

at the theater the night before Item, Le Courrier de Saigon, 18 February 1895.

“The Cyclewoman, Miss Londonderry” “Critique Théâtrale,” Le Courrier de Saigon, 18 February 1895.

“All who had the good fortune” “Miss Londonderry,” Le Courrier de Saigon, 20 February 1895, 1.

“is hardly a success” Item, Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph, 14 January 1895.

Another sour noteCycling Life’s editorial stance was decidedly chauvinistic in any event. For example, it had this to say on September 6, 1894, about the first women’s bicycle race held in the United States, at Louisville: “As a drawing card there is no doubt but that the woman’s race was a howling success. As an artistic or sporting event, it was a dismal failure. People went to see it for the same reason that they go to see living pictures, or risqué burlesques at variety theaters. Anticipated Frenchiness roused the curiosity of the rabble…We are famed the world over for the refinement, the gentleness, the beauty, the womanliness of our woman. When they engage in sports that are designed and intended for strong, athletic men, they lose their lovable qualities. It is not a pretty or an inspiring sight to see a crowd of women togged out in picturesque costumes, rushing madly over dusty roads, with eyes sunken, cheeks flushed, hair loose, and lips and tongues dry and parched. Let our wives, our sisters and sweethearts ride their wheels for the pleasure in them, but leave racing for husbands, brothers and beaux. With the advent of the women’s race will begin the decline of the bicycle as an exercise and pastime for women. Let us have no more of it.” Is it any wonder the audacious Annie, who in addition to racing around the world by bicycle was doing so on a men’s bicycle, often in a men’s riding suit covered with money-making advertisements, would fall into disfavor with the editors of Cycling Life?

“Glib and vulgar” Item, Cycling Life, 24 January 1895, 14.

“Did you see the scorching” Item, Cycling Life, 24 January 1895,14.

arrived in Hong Kong Item, Hong Kong Daily Press, 22 February 1895. (“We had a visit yesterday morning from Miss Londonderry, a young lady in a Bloomer costume who is a bicyclist, traveling around the world. She crossed the Atlantic from that port to Havre, wheeled from Havre to Marseille, took passage by the Sydney at that port and will go on by her to Yokohama, where she will tranship to one of the Pacific liners, and from San Francisco, or whatever her port of arrival may be, she will travel on her machine back to Boston.”) [emphasis added]

“describes herself as a journalist” Item, Hong Kong Daily Press, 22 February 1895.

“I left Boston last June” “Got as Far as Shanghai,” Boston Daily Globe, 30 March 1895, 20. According to the Daily Globe, Annie’s note was dated February 21, 1895. Either Annie misdated the letter or there was a reporting error, because she had just arrived in Hong Kong on February 21 and wouldn’t reach Shanghai for several days.

Annie wrote a note “Around the World Without a Cent,” Celestial Empire, 1 March 1895, 293.

“at once informed her interviewer” “Around the World Without a Cent,” Celestial Empire, 1 March 1895, 293.

“[W]hen I reached Shanghai” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

“The result proved” This contradicts later reports that Annie arrived in Chicago $100 shy of the $5,000 needed to win the wager and sold her Sterling back to the company for promotional purposes.

“Admiral Ting sent a flag” “Weiheiwei Surrenders,” North China and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette, 15 February 1895, 215.

arrived in Nagasaki “Shipping News,” Japan Weekly Mail, 9 March 1895. Though she traveled under her real name on La Touraine, she was listed among the Sydney’s passengers as “Annie Londonderry.”

the Belgic The only surviving page of the Belgic’s manifest, held in the National Archives in San Bruno, California, establishes that the Belgic sailed from Japan on this date.

“with a bicycle” “Around the World on a Wager,” Japan Weekly Mail, 9 March 1895.

“The general run of American consuls” “Miss Londonderry,” El Paso Daily Herald, 27 June 1895.

was a workhorse By 1895, laws restricting Chinese immigrants to the United States had been passed, so by the time Annie sailed on the Belgic her fellow passengers would have included many Japanese but probably few Chinese.

“I found out what they liked” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

Chapter Six: Annie Is Back

“Annie is Back”The Bearings, 10 May 1895.

“[W]hen I reached San Francisco” “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

“Annie Londonderry has proved” “The New Woman on a Tour,” San Francisco Examiner, 24 March 1895, 8. The Examiner story appeared in its entirety a few weeks later in the Washington Post (“A Girl Globe Trotter,” 14 April 1895) and, in summary form, in the Chicago Tribune (“New Woman on a Tour,” 13 April 1895, 16). It was, in effect, Annie’s reintroduction to her countrymen and her opportunity to begin building the legacy she hoped to create.

“considerable latitude” “The New Woman on a Tour,” San Francisco Examiner, 24 March 1895, 8.

“buxom young woman” “She Rides a Wheel,” San Francisco Chronicle, 24 March 1895, 20. If Annie indeed kept a diary, it has not been found.

ridden across India “Made Her Way on a Wheel,” San Francisco Call, 24 March 1895.

“a long fatiguing journey” “She Rides a Wheel,” San Francisco Chronicle, 24 March 1895, 20. A few days after her arrival in San Francisco, Cycling Life reported, “Annie Londonderry, who is now in Spain, writes that thus far the Morgan & Wright tires with which her machine is fitted have not yet been punctured. The roads, she declares, are wretched.” (Item, Cycling Life, 28 March 1895, 20.) The message was apparently contained in a letter; there’s no other logical explanation for why it took so long to reach Cycling Life in Chicago. But, Annie was never in Spain and we do not know how this information reached Chicago.

“7,280 miles” “Made Her Way on a Wheel,” San Francisco Call, 24 March 1895.

had sent only $1,500 “The New Woman on a Tour,” San Francisco Examiner, 24 March 1895, 8.

“She is fully capable” “Made Her Way on a Wheel,” San Francisco Call, 24 March 1895.

“The two men rode on ponies” “The New Woman on a Tour,” San Francisco Examiner, 24 March 1895, 8.

“proposals of marriage” “A Tramp to Strause,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 1895, 1. None of these letters, unfortunately, made it into Annie’s scrapbook.

“Miss Londonderry, about whose fate” Item, Le Petit Parisien, 29 March 1895.

“a postal message from Saigon” “Miss Londonderry Found Again,” Radfahr-Chronik, 3 April 1895, 1027. Despite the existence of the telegraph, news didn’t always travel fast in 1895. A few weeks later, on April 27, the same journal reported that a French cycling journal, Le Vélo of Paris, “got sign of life from the courageous American from Yokohama, and…. another one from San Francisco.” According to the second dispatch from San Francisco, the cyclists of the city organized a concert for Annie’s benefit, the proceeds of which “filled her bag and gave new cause that she will win her bet.” (Item, Radfahr-Chronik, 27 April 1895, 1201.)

“just to learn the road” Item, Santa Maria Times, 11 May 1895.

“through Morgan Hill” Item, Morgan Hill (CA) Sun, 2 May 1895.

But the very next morning The various newspaper accounts of the accident conflict about the date it occurred. But it was either April 10 or 11.

While riding downhill Annie’s accident near Stockton was reported as far away as Trenton, New Jersey, in the 12 April 1895, edition of the Trenton Times (“Accident to a Woman Girdler”).

“The couple were going” “Bicyclists Hurt,” Stockton Evening Mail, 11 April 1895, 1. This story suggests the accident occurred the previous day, April 10. However, a story in the 12 April 1895, edition of the San Francisco Daily Morning Call suggested the accident occurred on the morning of April 11 (“Injured Near Stockton,” 11 April 1895, 12).

“Her bicycle was damaged” “Bicyclists Hurt,” Stockton Evening Mail, 11 April 1895, 1.

“[a] black eye” “Bicyclists Hurt,” Stockton Evening Mail, 11 April 1895, 1.

stereopticon views This is a reference to Annie’s lantern slides, which were not true stereopticons.

“a high fever” “It Rounds the Form Well,” Stockton Evening Mail, 13 April 1895, 1.

“almost three-quarters of the journey done” “Around the World,” San Jose Daily Mercury, 19 April 1895.

Asked about her route “On a Wheel,” San Jose Daily Herald, 19 April 1895, 8.

“the longest ride ever undertaken” “A Long Bicycle Ride,” Salinas Weekly Index, 2 May 1895.

“Here I met the famous Anna Londonderry” “Winder’s Wendings,” Illustrated Buffalo Express, 2 June 1895, 11. Winder’s book, Around the United States by Bicycle: Entertaining Sketches of the Fun, Pleasure and Hardships, the Sights and Scenes Incident to 274 Consecutive Days of Riding, was self-published in 1895.

“according to her own story” Well, at least according to one of her own stories. Her story had infinite variations.

had ridden through England “A Lady Cyclist,” Salinas Weekly Index, 2 May 1895.

“Smart girl, Annie Londonderry” Item, Cycling Life, 11 April 1895, 13.

“Folks will pity” Item, Cycling Life, 30 May 1895, 8.

“she is not elevating” Item, Nairn’s News of the Wheel (London), January 9, 1895, 105.

“What are you giving us” Item, Sandusky (OH) Register, 29 April 1895, 8. This report apparently originated in the American Cyclist for the exact same item, crediting the American Cyclist, also appeared in the Watertown (NY) Daily Times, 18 May 1895, 10, and other newspapers.

“According to original plans” “News Notes for the Wheelman,” Chicago Tribune, 30 April 1895, 11.

“to girdle the globe” “A Fair Globe Girdler,” Olean (NY) Democrat, 3 May 1895. This story was likely picked up from another paper without attribution, most likely the Chicago Inter Ocean. Dr. McIrath, who sent regular dispatches about their two-year bicycle trip to the Inter Ocean, was determined that his wife earn the title of the first woman to circle the world by bicycle and he was intent on discrediting Annie. A couple of months later a British paper would report that, “[u]p to the present…the bicycle hasn’t given her [Annie] much trouble—sea trips seem more in her line.” “Miss Annie Londonderry,” Penny Illustrated Paper, 6 July 1895, 19.

expected soon to be in Mexico Item, Paso Robles Record, 4 May 1895.

According to the Los Angeles Times “The Plucky Girl Who Is Cycling the Globe,” Los Angeles Times, 15 May 1895, 11.

Had the cyclists ridden Annie arrived in Los Olivos with another cyclist named Cox. Mark Johnson had gone ahead to Los Olivos so as not to be late for bicycle races scheduled there.

“the biggest day” “The Races,” Santa Barbara Daily Independent, 14 May 1895, 1.

“nothing less than the earth” “The Races,” Santa Barbara Daily Independent, 16 May 1895, 1.

“nearly exhausted” Item, Santa Maria Times, 25 May 1895.

“the worst part of her journey” “The Globe Wheeler,” Los Angeles Times, 24 May 1895, 7.

When she arrived in San Bernardino “A Girl Girdling the Globe,” San Bernardino Daily Sun, 30 May 1895. But the Daily Sun also reported Annie had earned more than $2,500 in Paris and Marseilles, though perhaps that was before expenses, and we know she earned money in Boston and en route to and from Chicago. The math is, to coin a phrase, “fuzzy.”

“Good looking?” “A Girl Girdling the Globe,” San Bernardino Daily Sun, 30 May 1895. By this time Annie was almost always riding in pants. Perhaps she donned a skirt to go about town.

“Annie Londonderry, who is supposed” Item, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 1895, 11.

“made of cheese-cloth and paper” “The Globe Girdler,” Riverside Daily Press, 31 May 1895, 3.

albeit over short distances The world record for a flying start quarter-mile at the time was twenty-three seconds by John S. Johnson.

“The Bearings has always been opposed” “The Women Again,” The Bearings, 25 July 1895.

a train engineer named Ziegler “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

Annie would later say “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

Multiple reports See, e.g., “A Woman on Wheels,” Arizona Republican, 15 June 1895. The Los Angeles Times reported Annie had reached Indio, California, about half way between Riverside and Yuma with her bike “badly wrecked.” (“Indio,” 19 June 1895, 11.) According to the El Paso Daily Herald, Annie “nearly perished crossing the Yuma desert” carrying her broken down wheel on her shoulder “all but 18” of the 61 miles she was forced to walk. (“A Tramp to Strauss,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 1895, 1.)

“She started from [Indio]” “Indio,” Los Angeles Times, 19 June 1895, 11.

Chapter Seven: Tour on a Bike

“Tour on a Bike”El Paso Daily Herald, 21 June 1895, 1.

entered Arizona Territory Item, Tucson Daily Star, 13 June 1895.

“In speaking of her trip” Item, Tucson Daily Citizen, 19 June 1895.

“She has had an exciting time” “A Woman on Wheels,” Arizona Republican, 15 June 1895.

“threw her hands up” Item, Arizona Daily Gazette, 16 June 1895.

An ad in the Arizona Daily GazetteArizona Daily Gazette, 15 June 1895, 5.

“clever exhibition” Item, Arizona Daily Gazette, 16 June 1895.

After she left Phoenix “Miss Londonderry Arrives,” Tucson Daily Star, 19 June 1895, 4.

So anticipated was Annie’s arrival Miss Londonderry Arrives,” Tucson Daily Star, 19 June 1895, 4.

“Quite a little party” Item, Tucson Daily Citizen, 18 June 1895.

“All the Tucson riders” “Miss Londonderry Arrives,” Tucson Daily Star, 19 June 1895, 4.

One of the riders remarked “Miss Londonderry Arrives,” Tucson Daily Star, 19 June 1895, 4.

“Annie Londonderry, Globe Girdler” “Hotel Arrivals,” Tucson Daily Star, 20 June 1895.

“Miss Londonderry, the lady of the bike” “Miss Londonderry Arrives,” Tucson Daily Star, 19 June 1895, 4.

“fancy riding” Item, Tucson Daily Star, 20 June 1895; Item, Tucson Daily Citizen, 20 June 1895.

She also spent the day Item, Tucson Daily Star, 21 June 1895.

the party passed through tiny Vail’s station Item, Tucson Daily Citizen, 21 June 1895. Bert got a bit lost on the way back and his friends grew worried until he finally returned about 6 P.M. (“The City in Brief,” Tucson Daily Star, 22 June, 1895, 4.)

Annie reached Wilcox Item, Lordsburg Western Liberal, 28 June 1895, 2. The Liberal reported that Annie had arrived there by train from Wilcox and left on a train for Deming.

During her stopover “Miss Londonderry Interviewed,” El Paso Daily Herald, 25 June 1895, 1.

“What make of bicycle” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 25 June 1895, 1. Annie probably told the reporter she had ridden but one bicycle on her journey because she was now engaged to promote the Sterling brand. But it is also possible she said so because her circuit of the earth, for the purposes of the “wager,” had now begun in Chicago where she acquired the Sterling.

had now earned $3,000 “The New Woman,” Deming (NM) Headlight, 28 June 1895.

“the El Paso cyclists are preparing” “Tour on a Bike,” El Paso Daily Herald, 21 June 1895, 1. From other stories in the El Paso press, it appears Mr. Williams may have been a journalist who was involved in organizing Annie’s El Paso visit.

“Preparations are now being made” “Tour on a Bike,” El Paso Daily Herald, 21 June 1895, 1.

“Say reader” “A Tramp to Strauss,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 1895, 1. Before retiring for the evening Jim Williams sent a telegram to the Herald’s competitor, the El Paso Daily Times saying “Met Miss Alice Londerery [sic] here at 10:45. Found her tired, but will leave here early morning for El Paso.” (“Miss Londonderry this Morning,” El Paso Daily Times, 26 June 1895.) This suggests Williams worked for the Daily Times.

“She is a bright, vivacious woman” “A Tramp to Strauss,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 1895, 1.

“horrified city fathers” Item, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 1895, 6.

“against the law of Texas” “A Tramp to Strauss,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 1895, 1.

“She says the native princes” “Miss Londonderry,” El Paso Daily Herald, 27 June 1895.

“The impression is prevalent” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 27 June 1895, 1.

“such a sweet…smile” Item, El Paso Herald, 2 July 1895, 4.

“But in eighteen days” This may have been what Annie said but she left Chicago on October 14, 1894, and eighteen days later, on November 1, she was in Buffalo. She didn’t reach New York City for another two weeks.

“the hold-up racket” This is a reference to Annie’s story about being robbed by highwaymen north of Marseilles. Also, it took Annie more than two weeks to reach Marseilles, not six days.

“Thence she went” The reporter’s grasp of geography was a little loose.

“a doctor of divinity” Probably a reference to a missionary. Annie later write that she was accompanied at times in China by newspaper correspondents and a missionary.

“the stereopticon exhibition” Unless there are images that I have not found, it is doubtful Annie took any of the photographs she used in her lecture. For one thing, how would she have carried a camera? There were no miniature cameras at the time. Of the seventy-five lantern slides, referred to in this article as “stereopticons,” located at the home of Annie’s granddaughter, many bear the logo “G.W.W.” for George Washington Wilson, a Scottish photographer who sold popular travel images. Many of the others are meticulously hand-tinted color images.

the desperado Martin Mrose Professor Dennis McCown, of Austin Community College, who has extensively researched the life of John Wesley Hardin, provided this account.

Selman’s son Coincidentally, Selman, too, was a cyclist, “the only police officer so far that has attempted to ride the steel horse.” (Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 27 June 1895, 1.)

“I am opposed to the bicycle” Item, El Paso Daily Times, 30 June 1895, 6.

“All those who have ridden” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 2 July 1895.

“the pace was too much” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 2 July 1895.

“make the pace” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 2 July 1895.

“pulled Bart Allen” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 5 July 1895.

“to cover herself” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 2 July 1895.

She cleared $52 Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 5 July 1895.

“look over her freight train load” “A Tramp to Strauss,” El Paso Daily Herald, 26 June 189, 1.

“as far as their nerves” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 5 July 1895.

she headed north Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 6 July 1895.

Chapter Eight: A Whirl ’Round the World

“A Whirl ’Round the World”Omaha World Herald, 25 August 1895, 5.

A repair kit Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 8 July 1895, 1; “She is Coming! Miss Londonderry on Her Famous Bicycle Trip,” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 11 July 1895.

“went on her way” “She Is Coming!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 11 July 1895.

the thirty-mile trip to Las Cruces It seems most likely that Annie rode her bicycle, the tire now repaired, to Las Cruces. However, the Rio Grande Republican of Las Cruces reported that she walked from El Paso to Las Cruces “as her bicycle was out of repair.” See, “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.

“blinding rain” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.

compelled to remain in the city “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.

She sold photographs “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.

While in Las Cruces I have been unable to locate a copy of Kelly’s denunciation of Annie. The microfilm of the Las Cruces Independent Democrat held by New Mexico State University at Las Cruces is missing many editions of the paper, including all of the July 1895 editions. According to an e-mail I received dated June 22, 2006, from Faith Yoman, librarian at the New Mexico State Library, all of the microfilm of the Independent Democrat came from the same original source and “there are no [other] known copies of the 1895 Independent Democrat.” The paper was a weekly.

“was on a whiz” Item, Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, 2 August 1895, 1.

Her grievance Item, Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, 1 August 1895, 2.

“With the usual disregard” “One of the Many,” Rio Grande Republican, 19 July 1895, p. 1.

“The alleged female person” “Editor Kelly Makes His Point,” Las Cruces (NM) Independent Democrat, 14 August 1895.

“a stupid slander” “Editor Kelly Makes His Point,” Las Cruces (NM) Independent Democrat, 14 August 1895.

“sloshing around in his editorial mudhole” “Editor Kelly’s Complaint,” Santa Fe New Mexican, 5 August 1895, 2.

“had been spread all over town” As quoted in “Two Journalistic Types,” Las Cruces (NM) Independent Democrat, 14 August 1895. I could not locate the original Optic story.

“the valley of death” “She Is Coming!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 11 July 1895.

She arrived in Socorro Item, Socorro Chieftain, 19 July 1895, 1.

“Annie Londonderry, Round the World on a Wheel” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3.

traveled exactly 17,432 miles “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3.

“I have gone hungry” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.

“I started on account of a bet” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3. It’s not clear why Annie said she had to reach Boston. She had only to reach Chicago to have made the circuit. And, according to most reports, she stood to gain $15,000–$10,000 in prize money and the $5,000 she was earning en route—not $30,000. This could be a reporter’s mistake or another example of Annie’s conversational impulsiveness. (The Rio Grande Republican also reported she stood to gain $30,000. “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.) This is one of several places where publication of a book about Annie’s adventures is mentioned. For example, the German cycling journal Radfahr-Chronik reported on April 27, 1895, “After her homecoming the resolute sporting comrade wants to publish a description of her circumnavigation of the globe and her many interesting adventures in a book that will surely find customers.” As earlier noted, if Annie kept a diary, it hasn’t been found and it appears she never wrote the book.

“the royal Bengal tiger” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3

“Since she has been on the road” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3. The Albuquerque Daily Citizen gave Annie’s age as 23, her height as 5 feet 2 inches, and her weight also at 136 pounds (“She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.)

“She is a charming, vivacious talker” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.

Annie earned $400 Item, Raton Reporter, 27 July 1895, 2. This would be more than $8,000 dollars today and seems improbable.

“It looks a little worse for the wear” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.

“[I]f no accident happens” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3.

She reached Cerillos Item, Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 19 July 1895, 4.

“easily ran away” Item, Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, 20 July 1895, 4.

she pedaled towards Las Vegas Item, Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 22 July 1895, 4. The chronology of the next two days is confusing because reports in the Optic are inconsistent. On Monday, July 22 the Optic reported Annie had reached Fulton (population 27) at 1:15 P.M. that afternoon “looking like a drowned rat,” and saying she would remain at Fulton until five A.M. the next day before leaving for Las Vegas, some thirty-three miles further up the line. On Tuesday, July 23, the Optic reported Annie had left Bernal, a tiny outpost between Fulton and Las Vegas, a little after two P.M. and that three cyclists from Las Vegas—Boyce Brash, W. G. Haydon, and G. M. Birdsall—headed down the road towards Bernal to meet her and escort her to the city. (This was desolate country. Bernal, with a population of forty-nine was the largest of the towns between Lamy and Las Vegas.) Yet, on Wednesday, July 24, the Optic reported her arrival in Las Vegas the previous day, saying she had “ridden and walked—largely walked—from Rowe, since breakfast, a distance of 41 miles.” But Rowe is west, and more distant from Las Vegas, than both Fulton and Bernal. If she had already reached Fulton on the twenty-second, she didn’t begin her day on the twenty-third at Rowe.

“a rather forlorn looking object” “She Cycles into the City,” Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 24 July 1895, 4. The Gallinas River runs through Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Charles Ilfeld There are Ilfeld descendants today in the Albuquerque area and even a town in New Mexico by that name.

Whether Annie revealed herself as a Jew One undated article from a French cycling journal did refer to Annie, traveling without money, as “poorer than the wandering Jew,” but it is unlikely that this was a veiled reference to her heritage. (Item, Revue Mensuelce, undated.)

“she is a drawing card” “Clearly She Draws,” Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 27 July 1895, 4.

“sharp as a tack” Item, Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 24 July 1895, 4.

“jocularly referred to as Miss Bostonberry” “She’s Gone from Us,” Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 29 July 1895, 4. The Optic also reported that “[f]our of her escort turned back at the northern edge of town, two of them being ladies and two of them business men who did not care to go further. The remaining seven, consisting of Boyce Brash, Jacob Graaf, George Hayward, Ira Hunsaker, Arthur Holzman, W.A. Therault and Earl Tyler, made the trip to Watrous, whence six of them returned by rail, the seventh, Therault, continuing the escort business as far as Wagon Mound.”

“A map of her route” The map actually shows a line from Chicago to New York, and that she sailed to France.

“in the neighborhood of Siberia” The exact boundaries of Siberia are not defined and many would consider Vladivostok, just north of the Korean border to be part of Siberia. Annie claimed to have cycled in Korea and did collect a lantern slide of the port of Vladivostok. That isn’t proof that she reached that point, but it could be argued she was “in the neighborhood.”

From Las Vegas “Miss Londonderry,” Trinidad (CO) Weekly Advertiser, 1 August 1895, 1.

arrived in Raton Item, Raton (New Mexico) Reporter, 30 July 1895, 3; Item, Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 30 July 1895; “Miss Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Reporter, 1 August, 1895, 3.

a trip “full of adventure” “Miss Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Reporter, 1 August, 1895, 3. Consistent with other reports, the Reporter described Annie as 5 feet 2 inches and 136 pounds. It described her gear as comprising a skirt, a blanket, a change of underclothes, and a canteen. No mention was made of a revolver.

a bicycle-riding exhibition “Miss Anna Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Range, 1 August, 1895, 2.

“She stated that Japan won” “Miss Anna Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Range, 1 August, 1895, 2.

Annie left Raton “Miss Anna Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Range, 1 August, 1895, 2.

twenty miles from there to Trinidad “Arrives at Trinidad,” Rocky Mountain News, 1 August 1895.

“thronged with people” Item, Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 31 July 1895.

“[E]laborate preparations” “Arrives at Trinidad,” Rocky Mountain News, 1 August 1895.

The charge for admission Item, Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 1 August 1895.

On the same page Item, Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 31 July 1895.

reprinted an article “Wheeling ’Round the World,” Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 2 August 1895.

spent one night there Item, La Junta Semi-Weekly Tribune, 10 August 1895.

to Colorado Springs “Courageous Woman Cyclist,” Colorado Springs Gazette, 10 August 1895.

“broken machine” “Annie Londonderry To-Day,” Denver Daily News, 12 August 1895, 3.

sent two telegrams “Annie Londonderry To-Day,” Denver Daily News, 12 August 1895, 3.

“found to be a young lady” “Around the World on a Wager,” Rocky Mountain News, 13 August 1895.

contracted pneumonia “Miss Londonderry Wins,” Omaha World Herald, 14 September 1894, 1

“followed the Union Pacific” “A Whirl ’Round the World,” Omaha World Leader, 25 August 1895, 5.

“left the city before daylight” Item, Cheyenne Daily Sun-Leader, 20 August 1895.

isn’t a single report…until Columbus Item, Columbus Journal, 28 August 1895, p. 3. Though the report appeared on Wednesday, August 28, the story said Annie had arrived “Thursday last,” which would have been August 22.

“The wager made” “A Bicycle Globe Trotter,” Fremont Daily Tribune, 24 August 1895, 1. Interestingly, the Tribune also reported that the war in China had forced Annie to ride several hundred extra miles “going as far north as Siberia. She had traveled nearly 27,000 miles when she reached Fremont.”

“France, Italy, Turkey” “Tells Large Stories,” South Sioux City (NE) Star, 25 August 1895, 3.

“the greatest lady bicycle rider”Omaha Evening Bee, 26 August 1895, 8.

“sensible wheel talk” Item, Omaha World Herald, 31 August 1895.

“quietly wheeled into our city” “Around the World,” Missouri Valley (IA) Times, 5 September 1895, 2.

“The people of the peerless state of Iowa” “Circling the Globe,” Marshalltown Evening Times Republican, 4 September 1895,

“while riding on the C. & N.W.” “Circling the Globe,” Marshalltown Evening Times Republican, 4 September 1895.

“my fall near Tama” “’Round the World,” Clinton Herald, 10 September 1895.

“a drove of pigs” “Won a $10,000 Purse, New York Recorder, 29 September 1895.

That she broke her wrist “Miss Londonderry’s Trip Ended,” New York Times, 25 September 1895, 6.

“the farmer responsible” “In the City,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 7 September 1895.

“[I]f I had broken my arm” “Woman ‘Globe Trotter,’” Davenport Daily Leader, 1 October 1895. In this story, Annie also claimed she was American born, and that her husband, Max, was a Pole and a nobleman. She was not American born and he was not a nobleman, though given his patient wait for Annie’s return he was a noble man.

“She was walking” “In the City,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 7 September 1895.

her cyclometer now read “’Round the World,” Clinton (IA) Herald, 10 September 1895.

precisely 9.604 miles “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.

“talked most entertainingly” “’Round the World,” Clinton (IA) Herald, 10 September 1895. One presumes “Sagon” is a reference to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. However, Saigon is about ten degrees north of the equator, not two degrees south of it.

“an ordinary stock wheel” This is at variance with the report in 22 October 1894, edition of the Toledo Commercial that Annie’s Sterling was “manufactured expressly” for her.

“with a thankful sigh” Item, The American Wheelman, 19 September 1895, 23.

though the Omaha World Herald “Miss Londonderry Wins,” Omaha World Herald, 14 September 1895, 1. More than a week after she finished her ride in Chicago, The Chicago Saturday Blade did report that Annie’s round the world jaunt had come to an end in the city. “A Woman Globe-Trotter,” Chicago Saturday Blade, 21 September 1895, 5. Annie added some colorful details to her accounts of the war between China and Japan. “I was an eye-witness to a great deal of the war,” she told the Blade, “and I have in my trunk photographs that will appear in my forthcoming book to prove what I say. After taking the forts at the battle of Pahsto Island the Japs actually drank the warm blood. The heads of the Chinamen who were only wounded were cut off and flung in the air.”

“a rousing reception” “Has Circled the Globe,” Rochelle Register, 13 September 1895, 1.

“because of Miss Londonderry’s fame” “Bikeology: Messrs. Upton and Rumble with Miss Londonderry,” Clinton (IA) Semi-Weekly Age, 17 September 1895.

raffle her Sterling The Chicago Times-Herald reported Annie was thinking of raffling off the Sterling. (“Her Task Is Finished,” Chicago Times-Herald, 13 September 1895.)

given a new wheel “Bikeology: Messrs. Upton and Rumble with Miss Londonderry,” Clinton (IA) Semi-Weekly Age, 17 September 1895.

her first stop was New Brunswick “A Globe Rider,” Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, 18 September 1895, 1. According to the Fort Wayne Times-Post, Annie cycled into New Brunswick claiming to have cycled around the world and burst into tears when people did not believe her and produced an album with “the autographs of kings and queens she had met. She threatened also to write a book.” “Female World Girdler,” Fort Wayne Times-Post, 20 September 1895, 1. However, the New York Times, which also reported on Annie’s visit to New Brunswick, said, “She has not ridden her wheel since leaving Chicago.” “Miss Londonderry Coming Back,” New York Times 19 September 1895, 6.

“With her left arm in a sling” “Won a $10,000 Purse” New York Recorder, 29 September 1895. Annie often told the newspapers of her plans to write a book about her adventures, but she never did.

as far away as Milan “Il Viaggio di Miss Londonderry,” Il Ciclista, 31 October 1895; “Miss Annie Londonderry,” La Bicicletta, 3 November 1895.

and Honolulu “Miss Annie Londonderry’s Tour of World,” Hawaiian Gazette, 18 October 1895.

“[won] her race” Item, Tama (IA) Free Press, 19 September 1895, 5.

“not her real name” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 2 October 1895, 1.

“the globe-girdling sign board” As reported in “Around the World on Wheels for the Inter Ocean,” Chicago Inter Ocean, 29 December 1895, 16. The American consul in Yokohama about whom Annie complained to the El Paso Daily Herald was John McLean, not a Colonel McIvor.

Chapter Nine: Capture of a Very Novel “Wild Man”

“Capture of a Very Novel ‘Wild Man’”New York Sunday World, 3 November 1895, 36. This chapter originally appeared, in substantially the same form, as an article titled “The Mystery of the New York Reporter and the Massachusetts ‘Wild Man,’” in the New England Quarterly 77, no. 4 (December 2005).

It all began This account is drawn from the following newspaper stories: “Life in Danger,” Boston Daily Globe, 24 October 1895; “Wild Man in Royalston,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 24 October 1895; “Royalston’s Mystery,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 25 October 1895; “Kept in Fear,” Boston Daily Globe, 25 October 1895; “Is He a Dime Store Victim?” Springfield Daily Republican, 26 October 1895; “The Royalston Sensation,” Athol Transcript, 29 October 1895. The dates of the various events described differ slightly in different accounts, so the timeline presented here is approximate.

“blazed fiercely” “Wild Man in Royalston,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 24 October 1895.

“I thought the man” “Wild Man in Royalston,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 24 October 1895.

Roswell L. Doane There is a photograph of Doane in Athol Past and Present by Lilley B. Caswell (self-published, 1899).

“little gray-bearded man” “Life in Danger,” Boston Daily Globe, 24 October 1895; “Kept in Fear,” Boston Daily Globe, 25 October 1895, 1 (this story was signed “The Globe Man”). Though Richardson described the man as six feet tall, the Globe described him as “little.”

The Western Union telegram Telegram in the Goldiner Scrapbook. “Sanger,” who might also have been the “Globe Man” who wrote the story for the Boston Globe, could have been William H. Sanger, whose occupation is listed in the Boston City Directories for 1895 and 1897 (published by Sampson, Murdock, & Co., Boston) as “correspondent and asst. clerk of [the Massachusetts] Senate”; “correspondent” suggests that he was a newsman. Another possibility is Elizabeth C. Sanger, no relation to William H., who, for thirty-six years, beginning in 1903, was the Boston Globe’s society editor. (See the “Who’s Who on the Boston Globe” form completed by Ms. Sanger and on file at the Boston Globe archives, Boston.) Sanger began her Globe career as a “special story writer” in 1900. In 1895, she would have been thirty years old, perhaps trying to build her journalism credentials by freelancing for the Globe and the World. Or there could be another Sanger altogether.

Postal Telegraph Cable Company Telegram in Goldiner Scrapbook. A number of wild man stories circulated around New England in 1895. On 13 September 1895, the Boston Daily Advertiser and the Boston Daily Globe carried identical stories headlined “The ‘Wild Man’ Coming,” datelined West Hartford, Connecticut. “The wild man has left Colebrook and is now traveling towards Massachusetts,” the stories began. They described a wild man in the vicinity of Colebrook, Connecticut, who was stealing chickens and onions from local farms and chased a farmer for two miles through the woods. Another farmer reported seeing the wild man, described as a “crazy freak,” in his brother’s barn, but the wild man escaped through a small window and headed “to the mountain.”

“to capture the desperado” “Capture of a Very Novel ‘Wild Man,’” New York Sunday World, 3 November 1895, 36. In November 2003, I called the Athol Public Library looking for information about the wild man of 1895 and was referred to a local historian, Richard Chaisson, a retired journalist from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. When I phoned Chaisson, he immediately recognized the story I was talking about. “Oh, yes!” he said, “The New York World even sent Nellie Bly up here to investigate.” When I explained that it wasn’t Nellie Bly but Annie Kopchovsky who had been sent by the World, Chaisson was astonished. We met a few days later at the Athol Public Library and drove up the road to Royalston to the vicinity where the search for the wild man took place.

“One has a strange feeling” “Capture of a Very Novel ‘Wild Man,’” New York Sunday World, 3 November 1895, 36. All quotations from this point to the subsequent footnote are from this same source.

“the difficulty in [the] situation” Item, Worcester West Chronicle, 31 October 1895.

“There are…Royalston people” “Royalston’s Mystery,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 25 October 1895.

“the ‘Wild Man’ turns out” “Latest, the Boy Confesses,” Athol Transcript, 29 October 1895.

after being questioned “sharply” “The Royalston Sensation,” Athol Transcript, 29 October 1895.

“who early formed the opinion” “Richardson Was the ‘Wild Man,’” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 29 October 1895.

“The Royalston ‘wild man’ “Fake Reporting,” Athol Transcript, 5 November 1895.

“Received of A. Londenery” Handwritten note in Goldiner Scrapbook.

“can’t you get” Telegram in Goldiner Scrapbook.

a “brazen capacity” Brooke Kroeger, Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist (Times Books, 1994) 145.

“Young Richardson was released” “Capture of a Very Novel ‘Wild Man,’” New York Sunday World, 3 November 1895, 36.

article on women farmers “New York’s Tenement-House Farmers,” New York Sunday World, 27 October 1895.

never charged with a crime “Capture of a Very Novel ‘Wild Man,’” New York World, 3 November 1895, 36. In March 2005, with the help of Richard Chaisson, I located Charley Richardson’s great-grandson, Jim Richardson, living in Royalston. He had never heard of the wild-man escapade, though he did report that he had heard his great-grandfather was “a little off.” We met in early April, and, with the help of family records, Jim Richardson provided this information about Charley Richardson’s later life.

Epilogue

“The moment she takes her seat” Quoted in Lynn Sherr, Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words (Times Books, 1995), 277.

“one of the biggest frauds” Item, Omaha World Herald, 14 November 1897, 24.

or pushing wagons An excellent collection of photographs of some of these adventurers can be found at www.xoomer.virgilio.it/globetrotters/ (accessed on February 8, 2007). One was “The Man with the Iron Mask,” a walker wearing an iron mask attached to which was a sign saying “$21,000 wager.” The man was Harry Bensley of the United Kingdon and the wager was whether Bensley could walk around the world without being identified.

“should meet with appreciation” “Plays and Players,” Boston Globe, 1 September 1895, 17. The Globe Trotter first premiered in Philadelphia in May 1894, the month before Annie’s trip began.

“Theirs were the glow” Irving A. Leonard, When Bikehood Was in Flower (Seven Palms Press, 1983), 20.

Margaret Valentine Le Long “From Chicago to San Francisco A Wheel,” Outing Magazine 31, no. 5 (February 1898), 497–501.

“‘Every once in a while’” “Around-the-World Wagers,” Washington Post, 10 February 1901, 19.

a self-proclaimed Messiah “A Modern Christ and His Flock,” New York Sunday World, 24 November 1895.

a New York City matchmaker “Wellman’s Matrimonial Spider-Web,” New York Sunday World, 26 January 1896, 17.

the New York mail train “A ‘New Woman’ Mail Clerk,” New York Sunday World, 10 January 1896, 36.

women-only stock exchange “Private Rooms for Women Stock Gamblers,” New York Sunday World, 17 November 1895.

among others See, e.g., “New York’s Tenement House Farmers,” New York Sunday World, 27 October 1895, 29. “Inside the Door of Hope Where Barbara Aub First Confessed,” New York Sunday World, 22 December 1895; and “The Poor Aid the Poor Sick,” New York Sunday World, 2 February 1896.

three letters from the wife of Victor Sloan These letters are in the Goldiner Scrapbook.

in a boarding house According to Annie’s granddaughter, Mary Levy Goldiner, Annie went to California to recuperate from a likely bout of tuberculosis.

Afterword

I first learned about my great-grandaunt My great-grandfather, Bennett Cohen, was the brother who did not come up to say goodbye to Annie the day she left the Massachusetts State House to begin her journey.

date and place of birth Based on all the evidence I eventually uncovered, I believe Annie was born in 1870 or 1871 in or near Riga, Latvia.

living, biological descendant Mary and Paul have two adopted children, Howard and Libby.

all the girls Mount Saint Mary’s is now Marymount College. The school provided me with transcripts, complete with grades, for Annie and Max’s three daughters.

Sister Thaddea Thaddea, derived from St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost or impossible causes. Sion, or Zion, refers both to both Jerusalem and to the religious aspirations of the Jewish people.

a profoundly bitter letter Though the letter begins “Dear Mollie,” Simon often uses the spelling “Molly” throughout the letter. To avoid any confusion, I have changed all spellings to “Mollie.”

Why an American girl “Many Tributes to Sister Thaddea, New York Jewess Who Became Nun,” Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 29 November 1961, 16. Sister Thaddea’s doctoral thesis—she earned her Ph.D. from The University of Ottawa—was dedicated to “the sacred memory of my beloved Father, a true Israelite in whom there is no guile, who left this earth on May 9, 1946, and to my sorrowing mother…” Her thesis topic was “The Economic and Social Conditions in the Ghetto, Together with the Aspirations of the Jews as Described by Ghetto Writers.”

the secret of their eldest daughter Ironically, though my mother knew nothing about Annie or her bicycle trip, she did know that her father, Harry, had a first cousin who had become a nun.