Stanford White Murder

Harry Thaw later in life

Evelyn, whod given birth to a child during Thaws confinement, never got her million-dollar payment from Mother Thaw. She named the child Russell Thaw, but her husband vehemently denied paternity. The financially strapped Evelyn returned to Vaudeville and Broadway. Despite a second and nearly as short marriage to Jack Clifford, she was always booked as Mrs. Harry K. Thaw. Her later years were marred by alcoholism, drug addiction and a transitory lifestyle. Thaw occasionally took pity on her and offered monetary support, but the kindness never lasted. Evelyns life was a constant struggle.

Evelyn with Jack Clifford

However, the real tragedy of Whites murder has been often overlooked. In her book The Architect of Desire: Beauty and Danger in the Stanford White Family, Suzannah Lessard, Whites great granddaughter describes the lasting effect Whites murder had on his family. In addition to losing a beloved husband and father, the publicity of the murder brought to light truths about White that humiliated his Victorian family and caused his name to be spoken in hushed whispers and vehement denials fifty years after his death. Lessard, a relative born forty years after Whites death, recounts wincing in pride and shame when she heard the name Stanford White spoken aloud. The ghosts of scandal, violence and sexual impropriety still haunt the memory of a brilliant architect and generous father whose faults should be by now forgiven, if not forgotten.