Phoebe Doty

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Phoebe Doty (died June 9, 1849) was an American prostitute and madam in New York City. She began in 1821 at a bordello in the Five Points area. After about three years she had about $600 in personal belongings. For the next decade she moved between houses and eventually settled in a Church Street brothel, where she was valued at around $800. She adopted a daughter, Sal Wright, who also became a sex worker. By 1839 Doty opened her own brothel on Leonard Street, and by the end of the 1840s her value rose to about $2,000. In the 1840s she was a prominent madam and hosted lavish balls at her brothel to attract clients and mingle with the upper classes. Her high profile drew attention in the penny press. The Libertine even suggested that Doty and another madam, Adeline Miller, should rent the Park Theatre to tell their life stories, predicting the house would be packed and money would be easy to make.