Mary Isobel Taber, nee Lovejoy, “Diamond Tooth Gertie” (1874 - 1957) Mary Lovejoy was born in Pepperell, Massachusetts to parents Daniel and Angela Lovejoy. She married Fred Ellis circa 1896.1)
In April 1899, The Klondike Nugget newspaper reported that Mary accompanied United States Consul James McCook to the Phoenix Dance Hall and they shared a bottle of wine before McCook embarked on a famous binge that cost him his reputation.2) There is a story that in January 1900, Gertie Lovejoy and others were living in the Monte Carlo above the saloon/dance hall. When a chimney fire broke out, they each lost between $1000 and $2000 worth of money, jewellery, and clothing. Gertie danced under the nickname of Diamond Tooth Gertie and had a diamond fastened between her two front teeth.3)
Mary and Charles W.C. Tabor, a Dawson lawyer and long-time friend of George and Martha Black, were married in Portland, Oregon in 1901. The Blacks hosted many parties and the Tabors were invited to one. It roused the social station conscious members of the town to righteous indignation.4) Charles Tabor died in a fire at Dawson’s Yukonia Hotel when his wife was outside the territory. She was the sole beneficiary of his estate worth less than $15,000.5)
When Tabor died, his wife was identified in the estate as Mae Isobel Tabor. Three years later she married Stephen C. Hart of San Francisco. She was eleven years his elder, and they were together for thirty-five years until his death.6) Isobel/Gertie Taylor joined The Mother Church of Christian Science in 1926 and was a Christian Science practitioner in 1928. She died in San Mateo, California.7)
The first legalized gambling establishment in Canada was located in Dawson City, and it is named Diamond Tooth Gerties after Gertie Lovejoy. The building was constructed as the Arctic Brotherhood Hall in 1901. From about 1925 to 1933 the building served as Dawson’s community centre. It was taken over by the Fraternal Order of Eagles when their lodge burned in 1929. The City of Dawson obtained title to the land and building in 1951 and it was renamed the Centennial Hall in 1967. The City leased the building to the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) in 1971 and they transformed it into Diamond Tooth Gerties. KVA is a non-profit organization and the gambling profits are re-invested in the community.8) Diamond Tooth Gerties is Canada’s oldest casino. It was dedicated a Municipal Historic Site in 2015.
Thanks to Kathy Jones-Gates for her additions and edits, 27 June 2020.