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List of Veiled Prophet Belles and Queens

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List of Veiled Prophet Belles and Queens
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This is a list of women who have been particularly honored at the Veiled Prophet Ball in St. Louis, Missouri, as either belle or queen.

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Some Veiled Prophet Queens, St. Louis Republic, September 23, 1900. They are, clockwise, from top left, Hester Laughlin, 1894; Jane Dorothy Fordyce, 1897; Marie Theresa Scanlan, 1898; Ellen Humphries Walsh, 1899; Mary Louise McCreery, 1896; and Bessie Kingsland, 1895. The woman in the center was not identified.
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Origin

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Suzanne Slayback, 1878

The custom of singling out a young woman for special attention began with the first Veiled Prophet Ball in 1878, when Suzanne (Susie) Slayback was chosen by the first Veiled Prophet, John G. Priest, to be the "belle" of the ball at the age of 16. According to a 1958 article in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, in those earlier times it was "the custom of the Prophet to select a girl for his partner in the first dance at the ball."[1][2][3]

The first crowned "queen" was Hester Bates Laughlin in 1894, whose coiffure was topped with a headpiece supposedly a replica of that worn by Queen Victoria.[1]

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Hester Bates Laughlin, 1894
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Marie Scanlan, 1898
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Ellen H. Walsh, 1899
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Louise Chouteau, 1903
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Jane Taylor, 1912
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Adaline Capen, 1913
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Ella Zeibig, 1914
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Jane Shapleigh, 1915
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Mary D. Jones, 1916
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Marian Franciscus, 1919
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Ada R. Johnson, 1920
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Eleanor Simmons, 1921
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Alice Busch, 1922
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The Veiled Prophet honorees have been:

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Belles

1878–1893

  • 1878 Susie Slayback[4]
  • 1885 Virginia Joy[5]
  • 1886 Louise (Lulu) Scott[5]
  • 1887 No honoree due to visit of President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland[6]
  • 1888 Louise Galennie[5]
  • 1889 Miss Wain (from Cleveland)[7]
  • 1890 Katherine (Kate) Hill[5]
  • 1891 July Thompson[5]
  • 1892 Ellen Sturges[5]
  • 1893 Florence Lucas[8]

Queens

1894–1900

  • 1894 Hester Bates Laughlin [2]
  • 1895 Bessie Kingsland[2]
  • 1896 Mary Louise McCreery[2][9]
  • 1897 Jane Dorothy Fordyce[2]
  • 1898 Marie Theresa Scanlan[2][9]
  • 1899 Ellen H. Walsh[2]
  • 1900 Susan Larkin Thomson[2]

1901–1950

1951–2000

2001 and after

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See also

References

Further reading

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