Scammers, Scandals, and Salacious Dealings in the Oil Region
- venangomuseum
- Jun 4
- 6 min read
It’s All History has recently been talking about some quirky (and even shady!) characters who once frequented the Oil Region, like Buffalo Bill and his (yearly) “farewell” tour, the elephants who swam in the Allegheny river, and not to mention, John Wilkes Booth and his journey from failed oil-man to assassin!
This week, our staff wanted to look into a quirky, shady, and downright notorious duo from the 1800s – Ben Hogan, the self-described “Wickedest Man in the World," and his partner, French Kate, a mysterious and alluring figure. Together, this pair found themselves in considerable amounts of trouble and unparalleled mischief during the Oil Boom!
The Wickedest Man in the World
Ben Hogan was born Benedict Hagan in Wurttemberg, Germany, in 1841. His mother was a performer, and his father was a carpenter. Ben was brought to America in or around 1845 with his family and eventually settled in Syracuse, New York. He was described as being “rough and unmanageable” in his youth and spent a considerable amount of time at a reform school due to his run-ins with the police. Hogan’s childhood behavior became so bad that his parents kicked him out of their care at the age of 15 due to his “incorrigible” behavior.
Hogan set out on his own and took on several odd jobs – one of which was the lucrative “bounty jumper” trade. This was a scam in which a person would enlist to fight in the Civil War for $600 and then proceed to jump from the train soon after registering and heading to camp. Then, the person would return to an enlistment station and re-enlist with a new name and new details.
Hogan also worked with a gymnastics troupe during the Civil War. They traveled through Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky. Throughout their travels, they were also close to the battle lines. The group's itinerary allowed for switching between both sides of the war. This led to Ben frequently claiming he was a spy during the American Civil War!
In February 1866, Ben Hogan arrived in the Oil Region. Around one thousand handbills were printed, announcing the arrival of “Hagan’s Dramatic Athlete and Pantomime Troupe.” It was with this group that Hogan first came to the area, alongside Mrs. Lizzie Smith, Miss Isabelle, Mr. J.B. Smith, Mr. Hadley, Master Selegman, and the Whettony Brothers, Leo and James. The group performed in Pithole at the Athenaeum for two nights.
The show was four hours long and featured various acts, notably the act for “Professor Hagan [Ben Hogan] to have a stone weighing 800 pounds broke[n] on his breast!” Overall, their performance was well received, and the spectacle was described as a “rollicking good show,” which played to a packed house on both nights. Police officers were present at the show to maintain order in the rowdy crowd.
The troupe made $1,900 in proceeds from the shows, which Ben Hogan held onto for the group. However, Ben, in an attempt to raise more money for the gang, lost it all in a Farobank gambling game. The troupe went bust and was forced to leave Pithole – without Ben Hogan.
Hogan, without his troupe, began to settle into Pithole. It was around this time that he changed his name from “Hagan” to “Hogan” to capitalize on an Irish, rather than a German-Swiss surname, due to the recent influx of Irish migrants into Pithole.
Hogan was popular within the pugilist rings, fighting twice with Stonehouse Jack. Hogan beat Stonehouse Jack after six rounds, but Jack contested this win. Ben and Jack fought again, and Ben won again, driving Stonehouse Jack from Pithole, defeated and humiliated. Citizens complimented Hogan for “ridding the town” of Stonehouse Jack (who nevertheless did eventually return).
French Kate -- Brains, Beauty, and a Good Shot
French Kate and Ben Hogan became closely associated while they lived in Western Pennsylvania.
French Kate had worked in Pithole at a dance house and brothel, and eventually, she and Ben shared business – and romantic – interests. Hogan was called the “brawn” behind Kate’s “capital and business brains.” Ben Hogan served as a “protector of Kate’s interests.”
She was known by Kate LeConte, as well as Katherine Grant. Ben Hogan once remarked that her name had been Catherine Granger and that she was the widow of a Confederate soldier from Louisiana. Familiarly, however, she was known as French Kate. Kate was known to be a beautiful woman with charm and allure, as Ben Hogan described her as having an “animalistic magnetism.” Ben Hogan was eventually hired at the brothel where she worked and became the manager of the business.
Ben and Kate partnered up to open their dance hall in Pithole. The pair had frequent run-ins with police, Ben most often being arrested and charged for his fighting activities. Kate most often faced the magistrate for her business dealings and “unlawfully keeping and maintaining a certain common bawdy house and palace for the practice of fornication” and selling liquor without a license.
The declining business in the summer of 1866 caused Ben and Kate to leave Pithole and travel to Babylon, near Tidioute. They continued to operate their brothel business and engage in liquor dealings in Babylon, and with Kate managing the finances, it proved to be a successful venture for them.
However, during an argument with another nearby dance hall, rivals attempted to burn down Ben and Kate’s establishment. Their rivals were allegedly “on the verge” of shooting Ben when Kate appeared and shot both of the perpetrators. Ben and Kate were arrested for rioting and attempted murder after this. However, the magistrate let them off without a fine or sentence because he saw the shooting to be “judicious.” Some, however, argued that the reasons for the judges' leniency had more to do with Kate’s “alluring qualities.”
Due to the success of their business in Babylon, the couple decided to travel to Saratoga Springs, New York. But on the way, Ben allegedly gambled away all of their money. This led to Kate firing several shots at Ben with a pistol, even clipping his ear at one point. The pair went their separate ways after this incident.
Leaving Venango County
In 1869, Ben Hogan began a new business venture on a boat, called the “Floating Palace.” The boat, which was 125 feet in length and 30 feet in width, was stocked and fitted with liquor, cigars, and women. Hogan would ferry guests from the riverbank of the Allegheny River, on either side of the Armstrong and Clarion county line. The laws at the time were unorganized, and the counties were unwilling to cooperate in closing Hogan’s floating palace. To escape being hunted by the police in one county, Hogan would let his boat drift to the other county. Ben Hogan would also float to Pittsburgh, which was where it sank in an ice storm one year after the creation of the “Palace of Pleasure."
Ben Hogan continued to open brothels and pursue other business ventures until 1878, when he stumbled into an Evangelical meeting in New York and “renounced the ways of wickedness, took a pledge of temperance, and [...] and acknowledged that God was his savior.”
Hogan returned to the Oil Region in January 1880 to the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. Hogan’s reputation preceded him, as his memory was not easily forgotten. It had only been four years since he left the area, and almost every attendee knew him personally or was aware of his past behavior. The Derrick wrote: “The question on people’s minds must have been: What is this man of sin going to say in a house of God?” The church was filled for his return, and he spoke for almost two hours about his “reformation and the sincerity of his repentance.”
He arrived in Oil City with a “Mrs. Hogan,” whom, at the time, many assumed was French Kate, but was a Mission Worker he had married in New York. After stopping in Oil City, Mr. and Mrs. Hogan moved on to Chicago, where Hogan worked as a preacher for the rest of his life.
There is no record of French Kate after her split from The Wickedest Man in the World.
Thanks for reading!
Did you enjoy this post? Please consider supporting the Museum by making a monetary contribution by clicking the button below, so we can continue to provide content for learning and discovery.
.png)
Comments