By Anne Adams
Jan 26, 2021
The old Jefferson Hotel is one of the most visited haunts in Jefferson. Jefferson Hotel, courtesy/tripadvisor
Athens in 1877 was still a small community, but its East Texas neighbor Jefferson was larger â probably because it was still an important river port. So when a man and an attractive bejeweled woman arrived in Jefferson they attracted attention. However, a few days later and after the woman was found dead in the snow outside town her death and the results would certainly give Jefferson national attention.
Registering as âA. Monroe and wifeâ at Jeffersonâs Brooks House Hotel on Jan. 19, 1877, the couple was actually Abe Rothschild and his mistress, Bessie, whose real name was Annie Stone. With her black hair and gray eyes she was strikingly beautiful and because she wore diamond jewelry and since her companion was heard to call her âBessieâ she became known as Diamond Bessie. (Though s