Tales of Korean nobles and American women: Part 2

By Robert Neff

A Korean man in traveling clothes, circa 1900s Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

• Published Feb 14, 2022 11:23 AM KST
• Updated Feb 14, 2022 8:19 PM KST

They say every story has two sides and both sides have to be heard before a fair judgment can be reached. As we saw in

yesterday's article

, many newspapers in the United States seemingly had an agenda to portray Eugene Hughes, a Korean student, in a very negative light. Today's article will look at him from a more sympathetic perspective and allow you, the reader, to judge whether or not he was guilty of “white slavery” or just of naivety and a victim of the Yellow Peril.

Hughes was born in Korea around 1883 and claimed that his “grandmother was the queen of Korea under the old form of government.” It was a bold and surprisingly fairly common claim. Unfortunately, it is one that cannot be verified, as we do not know which queen he was talking about, nor do we know his Korean name. At some point, Hughes went to Japan where he graduated from a medical school, and then in 1905 he moved to the United States where he “graduated from two colleges” before moving to Kansas City, Missouri, and entering into “a business life to raise money to enable him to continue his studies…”

The business he entered was a partnership in the Farn Marlow Chop Suey Parlor, which was described at the time as “fashionable.” Of course, there were some problems, especially in the beginning, with his Midwestern neighbors.

In March 1910, he was involved in a shouting match with C. Harrison Shields, a photography studio owner who “disliked chop suey parlors ― especially near his studio.” Fortunately, before blows could be exchanged, the police were summoned and Shields was arrested.

In court, Shields tried to justify his acts by claiming he was provoked. He explained that “[Hughes] swore at me in Korean. I couldn't understand, but I knew he was cussing.”

Hughes didn't deny the charge and told the judge in broken English: “[Shields] swore at me in English. I couldn't understand either, but I knew he was swearing.”

The amused judge warned Shields to leave Hughes alone and both men were released. For Hughes, Shields was the least of his problems.

Shortly after he opened his chop suey parlor, Hughes met Flake Julian, a young and pretty actress working at the open-air theater at the Electric Gardens. It isn't clear how they met, but I like to think she was a customer at his restaurant. It appears that chop suey parlors were somewhat popular places for Korean men and American women to meet.

In July 1915, Joe Kim, the owner of a chop suey parlor in Olney, Illinois, married Blanche E. Archibald, one of his customers. According to a local newspaper, Kim was well-known not only for his food but also for his storytelling. Many of his customers ― one of them being Archibald ― “liked to linger over their chop suey, chow mein or egg foo yung while [Kim] related marvelous tales of old Korea." Kim and Archibald fell madly in love and ― knowing that their relationship might be scorned upon by their peers ― eloped to Chicago and got married.

When the bride's mother learned of the marriage, she said that she “was willing to overlook the racial difference, but objected to the differences in ages” ― Kim was 45 years old and her daughter was only 20.

While Kim and Archibald's relationship resulted in marriage, Hughes and Julian's relationship resulted in incarceration and unhappy endings all around.

Julian was not the innocent 16-year-old (later, some articles claimed she was 20) girl portrayed in yesterday's article; she was, in fact, 30 years old, married with children, and her real name was Madeline “Flake” Baker.

Everything associated with Madeline Flake Baker (who will now be referred to as Madeline) and her past has to be taken with a large pinch of skepticism. Half-truths, exaggerations and bold-faced lies are sprinkled throughout her testimonies.

According to a 1906 article, her father was a wandering player and she appeared on stage with him at an early age. In 1896, at the age of 15, she married George Baker ― who worked as an agent for her father ― and by the age of 25 she had given birth to nine children, though only three were alive when the article was published. Madeline and her husband were estranged but still married. Their relationship was volatile and potentially violent; she had threatened to “blow his head off with a gun.”

Apparently, when she met Hughes she saw him as a means of escape. Hughes claimed she “hounded" him but admitted he fell in love with her, and when he moved to Salt Lake City and started his business (presumably a chop suey parlor), he wrote to her “repeatedly and asked her to get a divorce from her husband and [move to Salt Lake City] and marry him.” She consented to move eventually and he sent her railroad fare with the understanding that she would file for divorce.

In Salt Lake City, “she took up fashionable quarters with Hughes” and he “bought her everything she wanted, dressing her elegantly and treating her with the greatest of courtesy.” Madeline soon became aware that Hughes had no money, having spent everything on her, and she sought comfort in the arms of another man ― a Korean named Kwon Ha-rai, “who had visited her at her apartments, and who apparently was in love with her.” These apartments appear to have been in a brothel.

The authorities discovered this strange relationship, which was a clear violation of the Mann Act. The Mann Act was designed to prosecute men for having premarital and extramarital relationships and committing immoral acts with underage girls. It was also a convenient weapon to discourage interracial relationships.

Before the police could apprehend them, Madeline and Kwon escaped to Idaho (where they were later apprehended) and Hughes went to South Bend, Indiana, and then Chicago, Illinois. While in South Bend, Hughes dated 20-year-old Ruth Carter and convinced her to go with him to Chicago. After they arrived in the city, they quarreled, and Carter went to the police and accused Hughes of “white slavery,” and he was arrested. As mentioned in yesterday's article, Hughes married her before he could be tried in court.

After Hughes was extradited to Salt Lake City, Carter returned to South Bend and was employed as a servant under the name of Miss Ethel Thompson. By the middle of July, Carter's deception was revealed and on Aug. 1 she filed for divorce ― alleging Hughes had abandoned her.

This situation came as no surprise to Madeline. In an interview in June, Madeline claimed that Hughes told her that he cared nothing about Ruth Carter and had only married her because he believed the court would view him in a more favorable light.

According to Madeline:

“[Hughes] has told me since he was sentenced, as he did many times before that I am the only woman he ever cared for and he also has told me that he would get a divorce from his wife and marry me after the expiration of his [jail] term, if I would consent. I have not consented and will not do so. I understand that he is of noble birth. Whether that is true or not, I found him to be a good fellow and I am sorry that he got into trouble.”

Prior to Hughes' release, a jailor overheard a conversation between him and Madeline. According to the jailor, Hughes “did not make Madeline any promises or make love to her.”

After completing his jail sentence, Hughes faded from the news but the same couldn't be said for Madeline.

Madeline finally divorced her husband on Dec. 27, 1911, but it didn't bring her happiness. In November of the following year, she attempted to commit suicide with a large quantity of wood alcohol. A detective confiscated it and made her promise not to do it again.

On Christmas Day 1912, the local newspaper published an expose of her life. It described in detail her fall from beauty queen and social favorite in Kansas City to “a social outcast in Salt Lake, shunned and despised,” and refused entry into even the city's cheapest hotels.

“Few women are better known to the police of Salt Lake today than Madeline Julian,” declared the paper. “Five years ago she was admitted to the most exclusive Kansas City homes. The daughter of one of Kansas City's prominent physicians, she had the advantage of a careful early training and a college education. She was an accomplished musician and immediately following her graduation became a leader in the younger set.”

Madeline served as queen of an annual city pageant and sat upon the throne of an elaborate float, “surrounded by courtiers, maids of honor and vassals of various rank [and] greeted the thousands who lined Kansas City's principal thoroughfares to pay her homage.”

After her failed marriage and the loss of her children (only two were alive in 1912) she sought the “rosy path” as a vaudeville actress and became addicted to cocaine ― it was the drug she held responsible for her downfall.

The article ended by noting “silks and satins no longer drape her perfect figure, and her smile has long since given way to a leer. She is still young, younger than the average woman entering matrimony, but the best of her life, she says, has been lived and she 'don't care.'”

Madeline's story does not end on such a simple sour note. In October 1913, she was up to her old tricks ― with different partners. One night, in her “apartment,” she entertained three men: a Japanese man named Henry Oti and two brothers, Charles (18) and William (16) Samuelson. While the four were partying with a liberal amount of whiskey (and possibly cocaine), Oti made the mistake of boasting he had more than a thousand dollars on him. At around midnight, Oti decided to go home and the two brothers offered to escort him. They ended up beating him severely but, even though “they searched Oti to [the] skin, taking off his shoes in the process,” they did not find any money upon him.

The brothers were soon apprehended, as a result of their “natural vanity.” Wanting to impress Madeline, they presented her with a photograph they had recently “taken in the costume of cowboys and posed with the evident idea of giving a tough appearance.” What became of the boys and the money is unclear, but Madeline seemingly found a path to a better life.

By March 1915, Madeline was married and known as Mrs. Flake Hunter. Having lost touch with her family ― sister, father, grandmother and her 18-year-old son ― she put an ad in a Kansas City newspaper asking for information concerning them. Within a week, she had received letters from her family and hoped to meet them soon. Hopefully she succeeded and she finally found the happiness that had eluded her for so long.

There doesn't appear to be a definitive evil person in this woeful tale, for they all seem to be victims ― especially Eugene Hughes.

I would like to thank Diane Nars for suggesting this story and providing so much information.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.