Mollie Johnson

Mollie Johnson was a 19th-century madam in Deadwood, South Dakota. Johnson was born in Alabama, and migrated west in response to the demand for working prostitutes. Indications are that she began working that trade in her early teens, around the age of 15 or 16 by some reports. However, definite information on her early life is unconfirmed.

She first appeared in Deadwood shortly after the gold rush, and was first mentioned in public writing in February 1878, when she married Lew Spencer, an African American comedian who was performing at the time in the Bella Union Theater. The competition for brothel owners in Deadwood was light, as there were very few girls to choose from, but plenty of men. Her main competition during most of her time in Deadwood was Madam Dora DuFran, but there is no indication that the two madams did not get along.

Spencer eventually left Deadwood and was later arrested in Denver, Colorado, for shooting his other wife. she immediately opened another brothel, and suffered two more fires over the course of the years. She reportedly left Deadwood, as business dropped off, in January 1883. Where she went or what happened to her following her departure of Deadwood is unknown.