An eccentric recluse and her quarter of a century in a golden cage (5 photos)

“Someday luck will smile on you and you will become the wife of a millionaire.” Such predictions from the mouths of gypsies addressed to young girls are not uncommon. But this girl believed in him so much that the meaningless phrase really came true. But with certain nuances.





Congressman, businessman, and owner of the New York Daily News, Benjamin Wood was a notorious ladies' man. Therefore, when the man received a message from a mysterious stranger, he immediately made a stand. The girl described herself as a pretty aristocrat and quite clearly offered herself as a mistress.



Benjamin Wood

Wood agreed. And a woman appeared in his life who took into her hands not only the heart, but also the legacy of the millionaire. True, Ellen Walsh (1838 - 1932) was not any Countess - the girl was born into a family of poor Irish emigrants. I learned about the promising rich man from newspapers, which tirelessly wrote about Wood’s adventures. And she decided that predictions are predictions, but on the path to wealth you have to move your legs yourself.

Ellen remained in the status of a mistress for 10 years. And when Wood’s wife died, the widower led his beloved down the aisle. The wedding was more than modest, because the couple already had a 10-year-old daughter. And Ellen, who changed her name to a more euphonious one - Ida, gained control over her husband’s fortune.

It got to the point that the woman lent money to her chosen one. Which I received in an unusual way. Wood was an avid gambler, but his wife agreed not to make a scene or fight the addiction on the condition that he would give her half of the winnings and a small cash gift if he lost.

Voluntary hermit





Ida Wood

Wood died in 1900. And the 62-year-old widow shone at receptions, traveled a lot and squandered money. But as she aged, the woman’s character began to change. At first, Ida became economical, then tight-fisted, and as a result, instead of a social beauty, a greedy old woman appeared.

In 1907, she sold all her assets, including the newspaper and land, rented a room in New York's Herald Square Hotel and closed herself off from the whole world. Who forgot about the eccentric millionaire until 1932. On a March day, a decrepit old woman turned to the manager for help. Her sister Mary, with whom Ida lived in the room, died. The man, accompanied by the doctor and the undertaker, went inside. The trio was stunned. And they were struck not by the corpse, carefully covered with sheets, but by the chaos reigning in the room. Boxes, old things, garbage were adjacent to the cash that the millionaire, who did not trust banks, kept in the room.



Herald Square

It turned out that another woman lived in the room, who was either the third sister of the old women, or Ida’s daughter. She had died four years earlier.

Number 552 was always locked. The guest would push the bed linen through the slightly open door, grab fresh ones, and lock the door again. She didn't let the maids in. Sometimes she asked for simple food - scrambled eggs, cookies, milk or coffee. An ascetic lifestyle coupled with pathological greed yielded results: the old woman weighed a little more than 30 kg. However, after Mary's death she lived very little. And a year later she followed her sister to a better world.



Herald Square today

The story of a girl from the people who achieved wealth and became a voluntary prisoner of a hotel room for 24 years together with two relatives was made public by lawyer Morgan O'Brien, who talked with the old woman.

The brilliant beauty and rich woman left alone. In the last hour, she was surrounded only by boxes filled with money. However, the prediction came true. And Ida probably died happy.