Maggie Hall December 26, , Dublin [1] - January 17, , Murray, Idaho [2] was a prostitute and brothel madam originally from Dublin , Ireland in early Murray history. Hall was born in Dublin, Ireland to an English Protestant father and an Irish Catholic mother, both of whom were well educated. They ensured their daughter was also well educated.
Hall felt confined in Ireland and, despite her parents begging her not to, she sailed for America to seek her fortune. Once there she started working as a barmaid. Hall wanted a Catholic marriage, but Burdan wanted to marry immediately. He woke a city official who promptly married them. Burdan thought Maggie too common a name for the wife of a man in his position, so she changed her name to Molly. The marriage was kept a secret from Burdan's father who would not approve and gave his son a generous monthly allowance.
Without any income, and now in debt, Burdan tried to talk his wife into prostitution. She eventually, and reluctantly, agreed. With her husband making more demands on her and her love for him fading, in around , Hall left her husband to work solely for her own rewards. At one stage she was reputed to be the mistress of a millionaire. After hearing about the gold strikes in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains she headed to Idaho in Whilst heading there on a train she met Calamity Jane , although their paths diverged at Thompson Falls, Montana.
Hall brought a horse and joined a pack train heading to Murray, Idaho. When they arrived in Murray the day after the train, word of her actions had spread and she was admired by the townsfolk. O'Rourke helped her to find a cabin in Paradise Row where she set up a brothel. In some accounts this originated from O'Rourke misshearing her when she told him her name; Molly Burdan her married name.
On miner's payday Hall would fill a bathtub with water in the alley behind the brothel and invite miners to throw gold dust in it. When enough had been thrown in, she would strip off and bathe in the tub. For extra gold dust, the miners could help wash her. Hall was known for her kindness and charity. She would home the homeless, feed the hungry and nurse the sick. Murray had only one doctor. When the town was affected by smallpox in , Hall rallied the town into setting up makeshift hospitals and led the nursing of the sick.
