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Modern Day Foodie
The 'Black Widow' of Denver: the Titanic, Silver, Typhoid, Another Woman: A Love Stories?
2024-02-09
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She was a very successful businesswoman, a respected mine owner, the second woman member of the American Association of Mining Engineers, a founder of Mesa Verde National Park, and a leader of Denver Society’s “Sacred 36.”
Lena Allen Webster Stobier Robb Ellis, the silver “Bonanza Queen” of Colorado was also known as a “Black Widow” because of her four husbands. So, what happened to all of them?
Lena Stoiber was also known as: "Captain Jack", "Jack Pants", "Helen". Along with the last names "Ellis", "Rood", and "Webster. Yes, she had that many husbands.
Lena Allen was born during the Civil War in 1862 in Minnesota. She became one of the best-known socialites and “Black Widows” in Denver, Colorado and died a lonely rich woman in Italy.
Lena Allen Webster Stobier Robb Ellis, the “Bonanza Queen” of ColoradoPhoto byPublic Domain
Lena Allen Webster came to Silverton, Colorado in 1884 as a married woman and her husband, F. C. Webster, supposedly disappeared or died mysteriously a few months later.
She was known as the “Bonanza Queen” of Silverton for the fortune she made in silver. Known as “Captain Jack” or “Jack Pants” to the miners who worked for her.
She was a tough woman and boss who worked in conjunction with her second husband, Edward G. Stoiber, at the Silver Lake Mine in Silverton. He managed the engineering, and she managed the miners, outswearing them and ruling with an iron first. She has become a mythicized figure in Colorado history, often sensationalized for her four marriages and her colorful life, which did not correspond with cultural expectations for elite women at the time.
Would you get married 4 times? Let us know in the comments.
First Husband
Lena Allen Webster came to the famous mountain mining town of Silverton, Colorado in 1884. At the time she was married to Frederick Charles Webster (F. C. Webster). Frederick was a Yale graduate and successful lawyer. They were married in Minneapolis on August 7, 1877. She was only 15-16 years old.
Frederick C. Webster's headstone in Missoula, Montana.Photo byFindAGrave.com
They soon moved to Colorado and settled in the mining town of Leadville. Where Frederick served as city attorney. The Websters divorced on April 9, 1887. Frederick moved to Montana and Lena remained in Colorado. Many references say Frederick disappeared or died mysteriously while still in Colorado. Adding to Lena's reputation of a "Black Widow."
But despite the myths of his death, he does have an obituary in the "Obituary of Yale Graduates" that he died June 14, 1927, in Missoula, Montana. With that information, I was able to find his grave profile on Find-A-Grave.com. I am having Find-A-Grave add Lena as a spouse to his profile. I also discovered he became a judge in Montana and had remarried. Mystery solved!
Second Husband
Edward G. StoiberPhoto byPublic Domain
Edward G. Stoiber (September 18, 1855 – April 21, 1906) was a mining engineer and owner of the Silver Lakes Mines and Mills near Silverton, Colorado. In 1888, he married Lena Allen Webster who would become joint owner of the business and an operational manager.
Edward married Lena in Chicago on March 29, 1888. His business was in its beginnings. Lena started taking in boarders, working in the mine by managing the miners, and installing machinery. She would wear men's clothing while she worked. She gained the nickname of "Captain Jack" for her colorful language and tough demeanor.
Around 1901, the Stoibers sold the Silver Lake mine and relocated to Denver and began to travel the world.
Stobier mausoleum built for him at Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, ColoradoPhoto byGenerations Found YouTube
He died April 21, 1906, at the aged 50 of typhoid fever in Paris. He is now buried in one of the nicest mausoleums in Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Colorado. Lena had the mausoleum built for him at Fairmount Cemetery. It is made of Vermont granite at a cost of about $30,000 of 1906 money. The interior is made of Parian marble.
Have you ever heard this story before? Let us know in the comments.
Third Husband
Hugh Rood was born August 23, 1873, in Anita, Iowa. In 1909, Lena Stoiber married Hugh Rood. If that birth date is correct, he was 11 years her younger. Rood was a wealthy businessman from Seattle. They made their home in Seattle, where he was vice president of the Pacific Creosotin Company.
They were in Paris when Mr. Rood booked a single passage on the Titanic for a business trip to New York. Lena and her maid were to follow on another vessel. Rood boarded the Titanic at Southampton, U.K as a first-class passenger (ticket number 113767, £50), he occupied cabin A-32. He died, April 15, 1912, at the age of 38 in the sinking of the famous ship. His body, if recovered, was never identified.
I heard stories that each year after this tragic event, Lena would cross the North Atlantic at the approximate spot where the Titanic sank and threw an armload of red roses into the ocean in memory of her husband. That is true love!
Fourth Husband
US Navy Commander Mark St. Clair Ellis painted by Norman Rockwell, at the Charleston Navy Yard, circa September-October 1918.Photo byNavy History
US Navy Commander Mark St. Clair Ellis was Lena’s forth husband. The Commander was born March 30, 1893, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Making Lena 31 years older than him. He was a Naval Officer from 1892 onward and Graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy.
The couple did not have a happy marriage and separated after only a year. She separated from Ellis following lawsuits that were brought by another woman. They divorced March 15, 1932.
After their separation, Lena began spending most of her time in Europe. She bought a villa on a lake in Stresa, Italy, and remained there for the rest of her life.
Mark St. Clair Ellis' headstone in Alington Cemetery.Photo byFind-A-Grave.com
Ellis died May 27, 1952, at the age of 79. He was survived by his third wife. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Do you think this marriage was doomed from the beginning? Let us know in the comments.
Stoiber-Reed-Humphreys Mansion
The house is one of the many great mansions that border Cheesman Park in Denver. It is still privately owned. But can be seen from the west side of the park or from Humboldt Street and E 10th Avenue.
Stoiber-Reed-Humphreys Mansion. Humboldt Street and E 10th Avenue next to Cheesman Park.Photo byGenerations Found YouTube
Mr. Stoiber made drawings for what wanted built. But he died in Paris before construction started. After his death, Lena commissioned for the house to be built based on Mr. Stoiber’s sketches.
Stoiber Mansion, also called Stoiberhof, was built in 1907. This 30-room house was built to be a social center, with a 50-foot entrance hall, a main-floor drawing room of 40 feet, and more than 16,000 square feet in total. There are nine bedrooms and nine baths. The house was built with a basement swimming pool, a bowling alley, and a barber shop. It also has an elevator to the second floor.
After Lena’s second husband died on the Titanic, she sold the house. Since then, it has had several owners. Including the socialites, Albert Humphreys and Ruth Boettcher Humphreys in 1920.
Have you ever seen the mansion? Let us know in the comments.
Lena Dies Alone
Lena Alma Allen Stoiber Rood Ellis passed away on March 27, 1935, in Stresa, Italy. Her body was brought back to Colorado and buried with her second husband, Edward Stoiber, in his mausoleum at Fairmount Cemetery. Her name is not inscribed on the mausoleum.
Stoiber left a large estate and no children. In her will, she named her siblings, nephews, Stoiber family members, employees, and friends as heirs. Her brothers-in-law inherited most of the estate.
My Final Thoughts
After researching and learning about Lena. I get the sense that she was just looking for love and a very kind person. But that Lena’s true love was and will always be her second husband Edward Stoiber. I do not feel she deserved the moniker "Black Widow."
Who do you think Lena loved most? Did she deserve to be called a 'Black Widow?' Let us know in the comments.
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