In spring 1894, a courtroom became the stage for a scandal that gripped the nation. Kentucky Congressman William Breckinridge faced a lawsuit from Madeline Pollard, who claimed he promised to marry her after nearly ten years together, then broke that promise. The trial exposed a hidden affair, secret meetings, and disputed truths between a rising politician and a woman left behind. The scandal captivated newspapers, packed courtrooms, and reshaped public opinion about one of the South’s most prominent figures.

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Episode Sources

• “Sex, Scandal, and Suffrage in the Gilded Age.” The Historian: A Journal of History, vol. 42, no. 2, Feb. 1980, pp. 225-243. Lexington, Fayette. The Celebrated Case of Col. W. C. P. Breckinridge and Madeline Pollard. Chicago: Current Events Publishing, 1894.
• Ross, Shelley. Fall from Grace: Sex, Scandal, and Corruption in American Politics from 1702 to the Present. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988.
• “William Breckinridge Breach of Promise Trial, 1894.” Encyclopedia.com,
• “Madeline Pollard and the Gilded Age’s #MeToo Moment.” Wednesdays Women,
• “The Fall of Louise of Breckinridge.” StrangeCo, 13 Apr. 2017,

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.