Lucinda Grimes Burgess was born on September 25, 1829, in Kentucky, the daughter of Ann and Obediah Grimes. She married William Moses Burgess on July 16, 1847. He preceded her in death as did one son. Lucinda died in Holden, MO on December 12 1910 and is buried in the Holden Cemetery. Following the Civil War and the death of her husband, Lucinda moved to Holden, MO. Holden was a rapidly growing town in central Missouri owning largely to the completion of the Pacific Railroad that ran through town connecting the east and west coasts of the USA. A few years later, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad also traversed the town bringing much commerce and many travelers to the community.
Upon her arrival in Holden, Lucinda, in her mid-30’s, followed the pattern in Sedalia and other railroad towns, opened a brothel which was frequented by the many Section Hands living in Holden and working for the railroad maintenance crews. Her establishment was located on Smokey Row, north of the business district and the railroads tracks. Prostitution became a profitable endeavor generating monies for the proprietor as well as city officials by way of per-capita “licenses” purchased to ensure that law enforcement turned a blind eye to the operation. Brothels of the period became not only a provider of pleasure but of social interaction between a variety of local personalities including the mayor and other officials.
Historically these professional ladies throughout the world have used passion, booze, and sex to obtain sensitive/secretive information. Such was the case when Lucinda Burgess became aware that two men were plotting the robbery of a mail train that would be arriving from the east transporting money to the banks in Holden to pay the railroad workers!
Through her acquaintance with the mayor and other city officials, Lucinda alerted the railroad security and law enforcement of the plot, date, and probable location. It was, of course, in her economic interest to do so in order to preserve her clients and their means to pay for services.
On the morning in question, the two men walked from Pittsville, MO, a community nine miles north, to Holden to commit the crime. It is uncertain if the leak of information, or due to other circumstances, but the plot was abandoned and Lucinda had indeed serviced the entire community.
Following the aborted plot to rob the train, the plotters, George Riley and Charlie Jones, holed up in Lucinda’s bawdy house! A multitude of heavily armed security officers, law enforcement officers, deputies and railroad personnel had been dispatched on an armored train to foil the robbery and were not wanting to return home empty handed. They were determined to raid Lucinda’s establishment suspecting they would find the would-be robbers. There, being the site where the leak of the plot originated, it would seem to be a likely place to begin their search.
Lucinda’s house was surrounded and entry was demanded. They found two men in bed with Lucinda, Charlie Jones and George Riley. Upon hearing the commotion, authorities surrounded the house; Charlie Jones pulled up his pantaloons and broke for the door being guarded by railroad detective, John Jackson. While escaping, Jones fired a shot which struck Jackson in the head above the right eye. Jones escaped in a hail of gunfire. Having lost his trail, dogs were brought in to bolster the pursuit.
George Riley was captured at Lucinda’s house and jailed. In the following days an informant agreed, for a sum of money, to disclose the whereabouts of Charlie Jones at a location near Bristol Ridge. Officers found him (again in bed) and ordered him up under the muzzle of a shotgun. Jones sprung up, knocking the shotgun harmlessly away, and bolted for the door where other officers brought him down in a heap of humanity. A shot was fired but went wide of it’s mark. Jones was arrested and charged with multiple robberies to which he confessed. He was also charged with the robbery of the Pittsville Post Office, a federal offense, and was turned over to federal authorities.
Lucinda Burgess died at the age of 81 years old in 1910. The facts suggest strongly that she was the true proprietor of her establishment and not subjected to the myriad of diseases encountered by practitioners in the trade. It was a profitable endeavor as evidenced by the fact that her daughter continued the business another five years after her mother’s death.