Newport is Burning: The Gilded Age Fires of Kate Judd

"I, Kate A. Judd, being of full age, do depose and say that I am a servant girl, and that on the morning of Jan. 23, 1883, I was in the employ of Mr. John G. Weaver, as cook for his family. We were living in Mr. Weaver's House, on Bellevue Avenue, in the said city of Newport, and that on the said morning of January 23, 1883, soon after 5 o'clock, I arose from my bed, and taking a lighted candle from my sleeping-room, went down into the cellar, near the furnace, and then held the lighted candle to some light wood until the wood became well ignited. I then took the candle back to my room, and laid down."

Thus begins the confession of Kate Judd, serial arsonist of the Gilded Age. Her method was to seek work with a wealthy employer, steal what she most coveted, then burn the house to hide the evidence of her crime. Her fires became increasingly frequent and brazen. On the run from detectives in Boston, Kate fled to Newport, Rhode Island, where she committed her most breathtaking crime yet in the heart of America's Society Capital. Her escape from jail, recapture, brutally long prison sentence and eventual release once captivated the nation. Kate Judd's forgotten story of anger, terror and redemption burns to be discovered by a new generation.