An Irish-born woman, once a well-known Fort Worth madam, has finally gotten her own headstone.
Mary Porter's gravesite in Fort Worth's historic Oakwood Cemetery has gotten its marker more than a century after she was buried in the unmarked plot.
Some Fort Worth historians paid to inscribe the granite stone with the epitaph "Call Me Madam."
The marker was placed Saturday at the resting place of Porter, who operated a brothel -- or what was then euphemized as a downtown "female boardinghouse."
In his book "Hell's Half Acre," author Richard Selcer wrote that Porter probably knew most of Fort Worth's prominent businessmen on a first-name basis.
In 1893-97, she had 130 offenses on record with the Tarrant County court but never spent one night in jail.
Porter reportedly paid proportionately larger fines, which reflected her status in the city's vice operations.
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Selcer was among those who contributed to engrave the headstone, which was donated by a Fort Worth police sergeant.
Porter died in 1905 at age 75 and had lived in Fort Worth for 18 years. Her funeral was held at a Catholic church.
