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Stanford White Killed by Jealous Husband January 07 2014
Stanford White, of the famous architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, (we have many of their plans on our website) was brutally murdered 0n June 25, 1906 by Harry Thaw at the Madison Square Garden (see photo), a building White designed. Thaw, a wealthy man who inherited his money from his father, was obsessed with the suave and accomplished White.
Stanford White was at the center of the New York scene and was a magnet for young debutantes, including the woman who Thaw eventually married, Evelyn Nesbitt. A low born woman of loose morals, White deflowered the young Nesbitt and callously cast her off. Oddly, it was said that it was for this reason that Harry Thaw married her--he wanted the bask in the reflected glow of the great Stanford White.
But Evelyn Nesbitt made Harry's life a living hell by constantly comparing him to White, even going so far as to tell her close associates that Harry had, comparatively, a very small member. The constant humiliation was too much for Harry and on the night of June 26 he cornered Stanford White and shot him three times in the chest.