Mary Sweeny Explained

Mary Sweeny, also known by the first names Maria, Marie, Marion, Mollie, Margaret, Harriet, Anna, Annie or Kit, and by the last names Sweeney, Ricks, Rix, Kelley, Beece, O'Brien, Haley and Anderson,[1] [2] [3] was an American woman known as "the Window Smasher" because of her mania for breaking glass windows across Wisconsin and neighbouring states during the 1890s.

She achieved cultural notoriety in Michael Lesy's 1973 book Wisconsin Death Trip and later in James Marsh's docudrama of the same title. Mary Sweeny was portrayed in the film by actress Jo Vukelich.

Life

Sweeny's name, date and place of birth are uncertain. According to some reports, she was born and lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota, while others state that she was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, circa 1858,[3] 1859[4] or 1862.[5] [6] In 1882, she was reported to have stolen a dress from the woman she worked for,[7] and by late 1885, she had already been committed to and released from a hospital for the insane.[8] [9] She claimed to be the wife of a St. Paul druggist named E.J. Ricks[5] or E.J. Haley.[2] She reportedly worked at one time as a teacher at Stevens Point,[10] and was a great wife and mother of two.[11] An injury to her brain caused her to change,[11] as a result of which she ran away from home in about 1890,[11] and traveled around northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Montana, breaking windows.[11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

Notoriety

One cause of her window breaking sprees was reported to be drinking;[6] [16] it was also noted that she was seeking vengeance against medical doctors.[1] [2] [17] She is said to have used cocaine to self-medicate because "it quiets her nerves".[18] She was quoted as liking "to hear the glass jingle".[2] [19] [20] She broke windows of shops and trains using anything to hand, including stones,[21] sticks of wood,[22] [23] or a satchel.[24] [25] Authorities dealt with her by arresting and jailing her,[11] [12] [15] [21] [24] [26] [27] hospitalising her,[28] committing her to insane asylums,[11] [12] [20] and paying for her rail travel to another town.[12] [19] [21] [22] [29] She boasted that she would quickly escape from hospitals and asylums,[28] and succeeded several times.[11] Her sanity was assessed by doctors, who declared her sane,[30] or as one newspaper stated, "She appears to be perfectly rational on all subjects except that of window smashing".[29] She did not know why she broke windows but did it only "when the craze seized her."

Her window breaking also brought her to the attention of then Wisconsin governor Edward Scofield.[31] [12] [32] She was committed to the Mendota Asylum for the Insane on July 19, 1897, but was released within a few years.[33] She then reportedly married a man named Anderson in North Dakota, with whom she had a child,[33] [34] but claimed that he deserted her after learning that she had been in an asylum.[34]

While it was reported that in 1903, Sweeny was still showing a desire to break windows,[14] by 1904, she was described as having "an uncontrollable desire for roving about the country,"[14] so "plays her role of a window-smasher" in order to get free train travel.[14] [15] By 1906, it was reported that "for several years [she] has not engaged in the plate glass business",[35] though she still traveled constantly.[35] In 1907, several newspapers announced Sweeny's death,[16] [36] [37] but in January 1908 one paper reported that she was in Ashland, Wisconsin.[16] In 1912, she was reported to be in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and was threatening to break windows in revenge for her twelve-year-old son having been committed to a home.[4]

In 1925, she was reported to be searching for her son, who, during World War I, had enlisted and been gassed, and was subsequently charged with desertion, jailed and paroled. In 1924, the son reportedly disappeared from his job in Detroit.[3]

References

  1. News: The Window Smasher . 5 April 2019 . Chippewa Herald-Telegram . 26 August 1894 . Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin . 3.
  2. News: The Window Smasher . 5 April 2019 . The Saint Paul Globe . 31 March 1892 . Saint Paul, Minnesota . 1.
  3. News: 22 September 1925 . Maria Sweeney Scours Nation; Seeks Lost Son . 5 . . 8 April 2019.
  4. News: Maria Sweeney Is Back In La Crosse. Noted Window Smasher Returns After Absence of Thirteen Years . 5 April 2019 . Green Bay Press-Gazette . Associated Press . 30 October 1912 . Green Bay, Wisconsin . 4.
  5. News: A Refuge for Maria Sweeny . 5 April 2019 . News-Record . 26 March 1895 . Neenah, Wisconsin . 1.
  6. News: The Last of Maria . 5 April 2019 . The Daily Telegram . 27 April 1897 . Eau Claire, Wisconsin . 3.
  7. News: State News . 14 April 2019 . Wisconsin State Journal . 6 November 1882 . Madison, Wisconsin . 2.
  8. News: Here and There . 14 April 2019 . The Stevens Point Journal . 19 September 1885 . 5.
  9. News: County Government . 14 April 2019 . The Stevens Point Journal . 2 January 1886 . 9.
  10. News: Woman Tramp - Mary Sweeney, the Window Smasher, Goes to Jail . 5 April 2019 . Chippewa Herald-Telegram . 27 February 1897 . Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin . 3.
  11. News: Still Breaking Windows . 5 April 2019 . Montreal River Miner and Iron County Republican . Hurley, Wisconsin . 15 October 1892 . 6.
  12. News: Mary the Window Smasher . 29 March 2019 . Ann Arbor Argus . 26 March 1897.
  13. News: Jottings About Town . 5 April 2019 . Sioux City Journal . 20 March 1896 . Sioux City, Iowa . 8.
  14. News: Woman Tramp is Kept Going Along . 5 April 2019 . The Butte Miner . 19 July 1904 . Butte, Montana . 4.
  15. News: Gores . Stan . Maria Sweeney Smash Hit in Fond-du-Lac, Elsewhere . 14 April 2019 . Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter . 17 March 1967 . Fond du Lac, Wisconsin . 4, S2.
  16. News: Does Maria Still Live? . 5 April 2019 . The Gazette . 22 January 1908 . Stevens Point, Wisconsin . 1.
  17. News: The Smasher Again . 5 April 2019 . The Oshkosh Northwestern . 22 April 1892 . Oshkosh, Wisconsin . 5.
  18. Book: Lesy, Michael. Wisconsin Death Trip. 2016-08-15. University of New Mexico Press. 9780826358400. en.
  19. News: Sweeny the Smasher . 5 April 2019 . Appleton Post . 14 December 1893 . Appleton, Wisconsin . 1.
  20. News: The Window-Smasher Here . 5 April 2019 . Appleton Post . 6 December 1894 . Appleton, Wisconsin . 5.
  21. News: Mary Sweeny the "window-smasher" . 5 April 2019 . The Neenah Daily Times . 16 March 1895 . Neenah, Wisconsin . 5, col. 2, top.
  22. News: Mary Sweeney Again . 5 April 2019 . The Oshkosh Northwestern . 11 March 1895 . Oshkosh, Wisconsin . 1.
  23. News: Around a Great State! Past, Present and Future Occurrences in Badgerdom . 5 April 2019 . The Saturday Evening Press . 28 February 1891 . Menasha, Wisconsin . 1.
  24. News: Town Talk . 5 April 2019 . The Neenah Daily Times . 22 August 1893 . Neenah, Wisconsin . 4.
  25. News: Two Celebrities - Fond du Lac Cages Mary Sweeney With Frankie Blunt . 5 April 2019 . The Oshkosh Northwestern . 22 August 1893 . Oshkosh, Wisconsin . 1.
  26. News: Window Smasher Arrested . 5 April 2019 . Star Tribune . 15 November 1893 . Minneapolis, Minnesota . 2.
  27. News: Smashing Marie Rix . 5 April 2019 . The Oshkosh Northwestern . 8 March 1892 . Oshkosh, Wisconsin . 1.
  28. News: Mrs. Sweeney Again . 5 April 2019 . The Oshkosh Northwestern . 14 July 1891 . Oshkosh, Wisconsin . 4.
  29. News: Maria Again on Her Travels . 5 April 2019 . Green Bay Press-Gazette . 13 February 1894 . Green Bay, Wisconsin . 3.
  30. News: Badger Brevities: Marion Ricks, or Maria Sweeney, the "Window Smasher" . 5 April 2019 . The Weekly Wisconsin . 11 November 1893 . Milwaukee, Wisconsin . 3.
  31. Web site: Historical Research Services - Mary Sweeney, the Wisconsin Window Smasher. wamboldresearch.com. 2019-03-22.
  32. News: Governor Scofield Acts - Commitment of Mary Sweeny in an Asylum Ordered . 5 April 2019 . The Weekly Herald . 25 March 1897 . Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin . 3.
  33. News: Mary Ricks Coming North - Woman Who Obtained Fame as a Window Breaker Helped Out of Town . 5 April 2019 . Chippewa Herald-Telegram . 31 August 1900 . Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin . 3.
  34. News: Window-Smasher Didn't Stop . 5 April 2019 . The Post-Crescent . 7 September 1900 . Appleton, Wisconsin . 3.
  35. News: Mary Sweeny in Town . 5 April 2019 . The Marshfield News and Wisconsin Hub . 13 September 1906 . Marshfield, Wisconsin . 1.
  36. News: Death of Maria Sweeney . The Stevens Point Journal . 17 April 1907 . Stevens Point, Wisconsin . 1.
  37. News: Maria Sweeney Passes Away . 14 April 2019 . Chippewa Herald-Telegram . 18 April 1907 . Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin . 3.

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