The Heart Balm Racket in 1901: Jail Time for Loss of Love

FULL TEXT: A nineteen-year-old boy named Michael Beck was locked up in Ludlow Street Jail yesterday because of his inability to furnish $2,000 bail in a suit brought against him by Matilda Wood, twenty years old, for breach of promise of marriage. She wants $10,000 damages.

Miss Wood avers that she met Beck in January 1901, and that he immediately professed the most ardent love for her. She says he visited her daily and wrote her fifty fervent love-letters in as many days. On June 16, 1901, Beck, she declares, asked her to marry him, and she assented. They went to Portchester to a clergyman's, but Beck being only eighteen and she nineteen the minister refused to perform the ceremony.

Then Beck’s love cooled and he wrote breaking the engagement.

[“Sends Boy Lover To Jail. - Miss Wood, 20, Wants $10,000 Heart Balm from Beck, 19.” The World (New York, N.Y.), Oct. 17, 1902, p. 14]

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For more on the Heart Balm Racket, see:

Predatory Women & the 20th Century Extortion Scam Called the “Heart Balm Racket”

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Serial Killer Couples

►Male-Female Couples (Alphabetical List)

Aldrete, Sara (Villarreal) & Adolfo De Jesus Constanzo – Mexico City, Mex. – 1989
Beck, Martha Julie & Raymond Martinez Fernandez – Grand Rapids, Mi. – 1949

Birnie, Catherine & David Birnie – Willagee, Western A, Australia – 1986

“Bloody Innkeeper & Wife” – Pultoe, England – 1675
Blauensteiner, Theresa & Johann Wurm –  Tragwein, Austria – 1929

Bundy, Carol Mary & Douglas Daniel Clark – Los Angeles, Ca. – 1980
Dorothee Buntrock & Fritz Erbe – Osnabrück, Germany – 1892

Campbell, Carol & Barry Austin Brown – Santa Cruz, Ca. – 1974

Carson, Susan & James Michael Carson – San Francisco, Ca. – 1984

Claus, Catherine & Charles Claus – Long Island, N. Y. – 1890 (baby farmers)

Coffman, Cynthia Lynn &  James Gregory Marlow – San Bernardino, Ca. – 1986

Cooper, Martha & Daniel Cooper – Newlands, New Zealand – 1923 (baby farmers)

Copeland, Faye & Ray Copeland – Mooresville, Mo. – 1989
“Copenhagen Baby Farm Couple” – Copenhagen, Denmark –1860

Creighton, Mary Frances &  Everett Appelgate – Newark, N.J. – 1939

Delpech, Marie Gaillard & M. Delpech – Montauban, France – 1868

Diarne, Lady Blanche & husband – near Bucharest, Romania – 1893

Dumollard, Marianne & Martin Dumollard – France –1862
Dvoracek, Anna & Karl – Iglau, Czechoslovakia – 1925

Felton, Bernice – Rockford, Illinois, USA – 1937

Gallego, Charlene (Williams) & Gerald Armand Gallego – Sacramento, Ca. – 1980
Gizzi, La & consort – Volturara district, Italy – 1867
Glynn, Mary & Edward Glynn – Pittston, Pa. – 1882

Gomes de Oliveira, Maria “Maria Bonita” & Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, “Lampião” – Pernambuco State, Brazil – 1938

Graham, Gwendolyn Gail & Catherine May Wood – Grand Rapids, Mi. – 1989

Grigsby, Holly & David "Joey" Pedersen – Eureka, Ca. – 2011
Guemuchot, Anne-Marie & Pierre Moucaut – Chapelle-Saint-Saveur, France – 1878
Gul, Shirin – Kabul, Jalalabad, Afghanistan – 2004

Herrera, Francesca & Molina – Seville, Spain – 1908

Hindley, Myra & Ian Duncan Brady – Hattersley, England – 1965

Holmen, Mrs. & Gustav Holmen – Stockholm, Sweden – 1906 (baby farmers)

Homolka, Karla & Paul Bernardo – Saint Catharines, Ont., Canada – 1993
Huijie, Li & Tian Xueqin – China – 2001

Ishikawa, Miyuki & Takeshi Ishikawa – Tokyo, Japan – 1948 (baby farmers)

Jackson, Pearl & Odell Jackson – Birmingham, Alabama – 1925
Julien, Mme. & M.Julien – Le Puy, France – 1867

Kaneiko, Ineigo & Husband – Tokyo Japan – 1921

Knotek, Michelle & David Knotek – South Bend, Washington – 2004
Komarova, Sofia & Vasili  – Moscow, Soviet Union – 1923
L., Lydia & Siggie S. – Germany – 2012

Lelièvre, Yvetta &  André Lelièvre – Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, France – 1969
Lobacheva, Elena & Paul Voitov – Moscow, Russia – 2015

Lynch, Susan & Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. – Greensboro, North Carolina – 1985

Makin, Sarah & John Makin – Sydney, Australia – 1892 (baby farmers)

Martin, Marie Breysse & Pierre Martin – Peyrebeille, Lanarce commune, Ardèche, France – 1831

Martin, Michelle & Marc Dutroux – Belgium – 1996

Martinez Bernal, Patricia & Juan Carlos Hernández Behar – Ecatepec, Mexico – 2018

McCrary, Elizabeth Carolyn & Sherman – Santa Barbara, Ca., etc. – 1972
Meyer, Mary &  D. H. Meyer (Reuter, Mayler) – South Bend, In. – 1893
Molloy, Josephine Ellen & Herbert Carsburg – Maryborough, Queensland, Australia –1953
Nain, Kusuma & Lala Ram-Shriram (also: Ram Asre Tiwai alias Phakkar Baba) – Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India – 2004

Neelley, Judith Ann & Alvin Neeley – Fort Payne, Al. – 1982

Ogata, Junko & Futoshi Matsunaga – Fukuoka, Kyodo, Japan – 2002
Olivier, Monique & Michel Fourniret – Ardennes region, France – 2003

Oliveira da Silveira, Bruna & Jorge Negromonte da Silveira – Garanhuns, Brazil – 2012
Oliviero, Maria & Pietro Monaco – Cattanzaro, Italy – 1865
Orellana couple – Seville Spain – 1897

Padgett, Ruby Carolyn & Mitchell Carlton Sims – South Carolina, Calif. – 1985

Paśnik, Józefina & Szczepan Paśnik – Warsaw, Poland – 1922

Permiakova, Anastasia – Perm, Russia –1924
Petcovic, Mrs. & Mr. – Krepoinija region, Yugoslavia –1939

Phillips, Charmaine & Pieter Grundlingh – South Africa –1983
Pimlett, Mary & Joseph – Runcorn, England –1846

Pires, Isabel Cristina & Jorge Negromonte da Silveira – Garanhuns, Brazil – 2012
Pishianova, Ekaterina & husband – Chita, Russia – 1921
Reese, Laura Michelle & William Dathan Holbert – Panama – 2010

Reignolds, Mary & Nelson Reignolds – Holliston, Maassachusetts – 1875 (baby farmers)

Rice, Mary & Billy Boyette – Alabama, Florida, USA – 2017

Rongzi, Lao & Fa Ziying – Jiangxi, China – 1999
Ruiz Villeda,Anna Maria & Rudolfo Infante Jimenez – Matamoros, Mex. – 1991
Sanchez Aguillon, Felicitas & Roberto (or Alberto) Covarrubías – Mexico – 1941 (baby farmer)
Schaeffer, Line & Gerrit – Rotterdam, Netherlands – 1958

Schneider, Rosalie & Franz – Vienna, Austria – 1891

Riva Schulkin & Schliom Schulkin – Minsk, Russia – 1890 (baby farmers)

Madina Shakirova & Aleksey Vasilevich Suketin – Kazan, Tatarstan, Soviet Union – 1985
Shepherd, Julia & William Shepherd – Chicago, Illinois – 1925
Shuxia, Yan & Long Zhimin – Shaanxi, China – 1985

Singh, Leila & Bhagaval – Elanthoor, Kerala, India – 2002

Spanjers, Aarne & Klaas Annink – Twente, Netherlands – 1775

Stodolova, Dana & Jaroslav S.– Czech Republic – 2003
Stone, Donna Marie Stone & George Ballard – Belleville, Illinois, USA – 1961

Swinka, Irmgard & Ernst Himpel – Kamm (Berlin), Germany – 1948

Tanaka (wife of Jukichi) – Tokyo, Japan – 1924

Tarverdiyeva, Inessa & Roman Podkopayev (with other relations) – Stavropol, Russia – 2013
Tonuma, Chiemi & Hideaki – Ota Ward, Tokyo, Japan – 2013

“Viennese Dissection Serial Killer Couple” – Vienna, Austria – 1896

West, Rosemary Pauline, West Frederick Walter – Gloucester, England – 1985

Wright, Blanche & Robert Young – New York, NY – 1980

Young, Lila Gladys & William Y. – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Can. – 1936 (baby farmers)

Zbonska, Mrs. & Stanislaw – Grodno, Poland – 1924

Zhiqun, Duan &Ma Yong – Shenzhen, China – 2003

“Zhtomyr Serial Killer Couple” – Zhtomyr, Ukraine – 2002

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►Male-Female Couples (Chronological List)

1675 – “Bloody Innkeeper & Wife” – Pultoe, England

1775 – Spanjers, Aarne & Klaas Annink – Twente, Netherlands

1831 – Martin, Marie Breysse & Pierre Martin – Peyrebeille, Lanarce commune, Ardèche, France

1846 – Pimlett, Mary & Joseph – Runcorn, England
1860 – “Copenhagen Baby Farm Couple” – Copenhagen, Denmark
1862 – Dumollard, Marianne & Martin Dumollard – France
1865 – Oliviero, Maria & Pietro Monaco – Cattanzaro, Italy
1867 – Julien, Mme. & M.– Le Puy, France
1867 – La Gizzi & consort – Volturara district, Italy

1868 – Delpech, Marie Gaillard & M. Delpech – Montauban, France

1875 – Reignolds, Mary & Nelson Reignolds – Holliston, Maassachusetts, USA (baby farmers)

1878 – Anne-Marie Guemuchot & Pierre Moucaut – Chapelle-Saint-Saveur, France
1882 – Glynn, Mary & Edward – Pittston, Pa., USA
1890 – Claus, Catherine & Charles Claus – Long Island, N. Y., USA (baby farmers) 
1890 – Riva Schulkin – Minsk, Russia (baby farmers)

1891 – Schneider, Rosalie & Franz – Vienna, Austria

1892 – Dorothee Buntrock & Fritz Erbe – Osnabrück, Germany

1892 – Makin, Sarah & John Makin – Sydney, Australia – (baby farmers)

1893 – Lady Blanche Diarne & husband – near Bucharest, Romania
1893 – Meyer, Mary &  D. H. Meyer (Reuter, Mayler) – South Bend, In., USA

1896 – “Viennese Dissection Serial Killer Couple” – Vienna, Austria

1897 – Orellana couple – Seville, Spain
1906 – Holmen, Mrs. & Gustav Holmen – Stockholm, Sweden (baby farmers)
1908 – Herrera, Francesca & Molina – Seville, Spain

1921 – Kaneiko, Ineigo & Husband – Tokyo Japan
1921 – Pishianova, Ekaterina – Chita, Russia

1922 – Paśnik, Józefina & Szczepan Paśnik – Warsaw, Poland
1923 – Cooper, Martha & Daniel Cooper – Newlands, New Zealand (baby farmers)
1923 – Sofia Komarova & Vasili  – Moscow, Soviet Union
1924 – Permiakova, Anastasia – Perm, Russia

1924 – Tanaka (wife of Jukichi) – Tokyo, Japan
1924 – Zblonska, Mrs. & Stanislaw – Grodno, Poland

1925 – Dvoracek, Mrs. & Karl – Iglau, Czechoslovakia – gang leader
1925 – Jackson, Pearl & Odell Jackson – Birmingham, Alabama, USA
1925 – Shepherd, Julia & William Shepherd – Chicago, Illinois, USA

1929 – Blauensteiner, Theresa & Johann Wurm –  Tragwein, Austria
1936 – Young, Lila Gladys & William Y. – Halifax, N. C., Can. – (baby farmers)
1937 – Bernice Felton – Rockford, Illinois, USA

1938 – Maria Gomes de Oliveira, “Maria Bonita” – Pernambuco State, Brazil

1939 – Creighton, Mary Frances & Everett Appelgate – Newark, N.J., USA
1939 – Petcovic, Mrs. & Mr. – Krepoinija region, Yugoslavia
1941 – Sanchez Aguillon, Felicitas & Roberto (or Alberto) Covarrubías – Mexico (baby farmer)

1948 – Ishikawa, Miyuki & Takeshi Ishikawa – Tokyo, Japan – (baby farmers)
1948 – Irmgard Swinka & Ernst Himpel – Kamm (Berlin), Germany

1949 – Beck, Martha Julie & Raymond Martinez Fernandez – Grand Rapids, Mi., USA

1953 – Josephine Ellen Molloy & Herbert Carsburg – Maryborough, Queensland, Australia

1958 – Schaeffer, Line & Gerrit – Rotterdam, Netherlands

1961 – Stone, Donna Marie Stone & George Ballard – Belleville, Illinois, USA

1965 – Hindley, Myra &  Ian Duncan Brady – Hattersley, England

1969 – Lelièvre, Yvetta &  André Lelièvre – Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, France
1972 – McCrary, Elizabeth Carolyn & Sherman – Santa Barbara, Ca., etc., USA
1974 – Campbell, Carol & Barry Austin Brown – Santa Cruz, Ca., USA

1980 – Bundy, Carol Mary &  Douglas Daniel Clark – Los Angeles, Ca., USA

1980 – Gallego, Charlene (Williams) & Gerald Armand Gallego – Sacramento, Ca., USA

1980 – Wright, Blanche & Robert Young – New York, NY, USA

1982 – Neelley, Judith Ann & Alvin Neeley – Fort Payne, Al., USA
1983 – Phillips, Charmaine & Pieter Grundlingh – South Africa

1984 – Carson, Susan & James Michael Carson – San Francisco, Ca.

1985 – Lynch, Susan & Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. – Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

1985 – Padgett, Ruby Carolyn & Mitchell Carlton Sims – South Carolina, Calif., USA
1985 – Shuxia, Yan & Long Zhimin – Shaanxi, China
1985 – Madina Shakirova & Aleksey Vasilevich Suketin – Kazan, Tatarstan, Soviet Union

1985 – West, Rosemary Pauline, West Frederick Walter – Gloucester, England

1986 – Birnie, Catherine & David Birnie – Willagee, Western A,  Australia

1986 – Coffman Cynthia Lynn & James Gregory Marlow – San Bernardino, Ca., USA

1989 – Aldrete, Sara (Villarreal) &  Adolfo De Jesus Constanzo – Mexico City, Mex.

1989 – Copeland, Faye & Ray Copeland – Mooresville, Mo., USA

1989 – Graham, Gwendolyn Gail &, Catherine May Wood – Grand Rapids, Mi., USA

1991 – Ruiz Villeda, Anna Maria &  Rudolfo Infante Jimenez – Matamoros, Mex.

1993 – Homolka, Karla & Paul Bernardo – Saint Catharines, Ont., Canada

1996 – Martin, Michelle & Marc Dutroux – Belgium

1999 – Lao Rongzi & Fa Ziying – Jiangxi, China
2001 – Huijie, Li & Tian Xueqin – China
2002 – Junko Ogata & Futoshi Matsunaga – Fukuoka, Kyodo, Japan

2002 – “Zhtomyr Serial Killer Couple” – Zhtomyr, Ukraine

2003 – Olivier, Monique & Michel Fourniret – Ardennes region, France
2003 – Dana Stodolova & Jaroslav S. – Czech Republic
2003 – Zhiqun, Duan & Ma Yong – Shenzhen, China
2004 – Gul, Shirin – Kabul, Jalalabad, Afghanistan
2004 – Knotek, Michelle & David Knotek – South Bend, Washington, USA

2004 – Nain, Kusuma & Lala Ram-Shriram (also: Ram Asre Tiwai alias Phakkar Baba) – Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India
2010 – Laura Michelle Reese & William Dathan Holbert – Panama

2011 – Grigsby, Holly & David "Joey" Pedersen – Eureka, Ca., USA
2012 – L., Lydia & Siggie S. – Germany

2012 – Oliveira da Silveira, Bruna & Jorge Negromonte da Silveira – Garanhuns, Brazil

2012 – Pires, Isabel Cristina & Jorge Negromonte da Silveira – Garanhuns, Brazil
2013 – Tarverdiyeva; Inessa & Roman Podkopayev (with other relations) – Stavropol, Russia
2013 – Tonuma, Chiemi & Hideaki – Ota Ward, Tokyo, Japan

2015 – Elena Lobacheva & Paul Voitov – Moscow, Russia

2017 – Mary Rice & Billy Boyette – Alabama, Florida, USA

2018 - Martinez Bernal, Patricia & Juan Carlos Hernandez Behar - Ecatepec

2022 – Laila Singh & Bhagaval Singh – Elanthoor, Kerala, India
 

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►Brother & Sister

Springstein, Hernann & Auguste Bock –  Prenzlau, Germany – 1895

►Father & Daughter

“Alt-Ofen Serial Murderess” – between Alt-Ofen & Ueriem, Hungary – 1868
Pandy, Ágnes & Andras Pandy – Brussels, Belgium – 1997

►Female Pair

Atherton, Bessie & Alice Marie Cramer – Peoria, Illinois – 1926 (baby farmers)

Bonny, Anne & Mary Read (lesbian couple) – Caribbean – 1720
Gobay, Annie & Emma Kitchen – Atlanta, Ga. – 1903 (baby farmers)

Golay, Helen & Olga Rutterschmidt – Santa Monica, Ca. – 2008

Graham, Gwendolyn & Cathy Wood (lesbian couple) – Grand Rapids, Michigan – 1989

Porro, Rose & Margarite Coraldi – Castle dell’Oro, Naples, Italy – 1873 (baby farmers)
Read, Mary & Bonny, Anne (lesbian couple) – Caribbean – 1720
Sach, Amelia & Annie Walters – London, England – 1903 (baby farmers)

Sammon, Mary & Jennie Layton – Camden, New Jersey – 1897

Wood, Cathy & Gwendolyn Graham (lesbian couple) – Grand Rapids, Michigan – 1989

►Mother & Son

Bejarano, Guadalupe Martinez de & Aurelio Bejarano – Mexico City, Mexico – 1892
Cazarin Gonzalez, Flor & Roberto Rodriguez Gonzalez – Chihuahua, Mexico – 2018

De Melker, Daisy & Cecil Rhodes Cowle – Johannesburg, South Africa – 1932

Nancy Staffleback & 2 sons, Ed, George – Galena, Kansas – 1897

Sante Kimes & Kenneth Kimes Jr. – New York (Bahamas, California) – 1998

Smith, Mary Eleanor (“Shoebox Annie”) & DeCastro Earl Mayer – Washington – 1938

►Mother & Daughter

C., Audrey & Jocelyne P. C. – France – 2013

Anne & Marit Forrestadstuen – Ringebu, Oppland, Norway – 1832

Anjanabai Gavit & daughters: Renuka Kiran Shinde, Seema Mohan Gavit – Pune, Kolhapur & Nashik, Maharashtra, India – 1996

Skoblinska, sister & daughter – Warsaw, Poland – 1890
Tamarin, Ivanova & Olga – Kurdla, Estonia – 1909

Winters, Amelia & Elizabeth Frost – England – 1889

►Sister & Sister

Altrui, Elisbetta & Maddalena Loffredo (& Angelo Loffredo) – San Pietro, Italy – 1888

Aly Hammam, Raya & Sakina – Alexandria, Egypt – 1920

Flannigan, Catherine, & Margaret Higgins – Liverpool, England – 1884

González – Carmen, Delfina & María de Jesús González – San Francisco del Rincón, Mexico – 1964
Nolan, Katharine & Elizabeth – Waterford, New York –1894
Olah, Suzi & Lydia Olah – Hungary – 1929
Skoblinska, sister & daughter – Warsaw, Poland – 1890

►Mistress & Servant

Jaeyer, Margaret & S. K. Rentner – Hohen Urach, Swabia (Germany) – 1835

►Menage a Trois

 

Singh, Leila & Bhagaval Singh & Shafi Muhammad – Elanthoor, Kerala, India – 2002

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SEE MORE: Female Serial Killer Collections

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