Rothschild you say? How was I not going to post this? kek
Traces of Texas
@TracesofTexas
When a well-dressed couple calling themselves “A. Monroe and wife” stepped off the train in Jefferson, Texas on January 19, 1877, nobody knew they were setting in motion one of the first sensational trials in Texas history. “A. Monroe” was actually Abraham Rothschild, son of a Cincinnati jeweler, traveling salesman for his father’s business. His companion, Bessie Moore, had been born Annie Stone up in Syracuse, New York, the daughter of a prosperous shoe dealer. Her life had taken a hard turn—by her teens she’d been attached to a man named Moore and kept his name long after. Newspapers later claimed she’d worked the brothel circuit in Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Hot Springs before meeting Rothschild, but whether or not that’s true, the two traveled as man and wife though they never legally married.
Two days before Jefferson, they’d stayed in Marshall at the Old Capitol Hotel under their real names, Rothschild and wife. By the time they checked into the Brooks House in Jefferson, they were back to being “the Monroes.” That Sunday morning, Abe bought two picnic lunches from Henrique’s Restaurant, and the pair were seen walking into the fog over the footbridge on Big Cypress Creek. Only Abe returned. When asked about his wife, he said she was “visiting friends in the country” and would meet him Tuesday. But Tuesday came, and their hotel room was empty. Abe was gone on the eastbound train—alone, with the luggage.
Bad weather swept in. A week later, when the snow melted, a woman gathering firewood found the body of a finely dressed young woman under a twisted oak, with the remains of a picnic nearby. She had been shot in the head. Citizens buried her in Oakwood Cemetery under no name. It didn’t take long to connect the dots: the dead woman was Bessie Moore, and “A. Monroe” was really Abraham Rothschild. By then, Rothschild was back in Cincinnati, drinking heavily and claiming someone was after him. He tried to kill himself, failing but blinding his right eye. He was arrested in the hospital, and after a bitter fight, extradited to Texas.
What followed was a legal circus. Practically every lawyer in East Texas wanted in—some for the money, some for the fame. The governor even asked prominent attorneys to help the prosecution. Rothschild’s family hired some of the best defense lawyers money could buy, including future Texas governor Charles A. Culberson and U.S. senator David B. Culberson. With that much legal firepower, the case dragged on for years. The first trial in 1878 ended with Rothschild convicted of murder and sentenced to hang—jury foreman C. R. Weathersby even drew a noose on the wall to make his point. But the defense appealed, the court found the trial unfair, and a mistrial was declared.
A second trial finally opened in 1880. This time, the defense chipped away at the state’s case, arguing the body was too well-preserved to have been lying in the woods since Rothschild left town. A witness even claimed to have seen Bessie alive after Abe’s departure. On December 30, 1880, the jury found him not guilty.
Right about here in this tawdry tale is where the history and myth merge. Tales spread that bribes bought the verdict, that every juror met a violent end, that Bessie had been pregnant. Years later, in the 1890s, an old man with a patch over one eye visited Bessie’s grave, left roses, prayed, and paid for its upkeep. Some swore it was Rothschild, seeking forgiveness. A headstone mysteriously appeared in the 1930s, and in the 1960s a fence was placed around her resting place. To this day, the case is officially “unsolved.” Jefferson still keeps the story alive—since 1955, locals have staged a courtroom drama of the “Diamond Bessie” trial each spring during the Jefferson Historic Pilgrimage.
Shown here: the grave of Diamond Bessie Moore.
A weathered tombstone with a pointed top, marked with faint text, stands in a grassy cemetery. Red poinsettias wrapped in red foil are placed at the base of the tombstone. Several empty martini glasses are arranged in front of the tombstone on a marble base. A black wrought-iron fence with decorative arches is visible in the background.
11:30 AM · Oct 1, 2025 · 7,185 Views
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