http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_the_Goat
Sadie Farrell (fl. 1869) was an American criminal, gang leader and river pirate known under the pseudonym Sadie the Goat. She first came to prominence as a vicious street mugger in New York’s “Bloody” Fourth Ward. Upon encountering a lone traveler, she would headbutt men in the stomach and her male accomplice would hit the victim with a slung-shot and rob them. Sadie, according to popular underworld lore, was engaged in a longtime feud with rival female bouncer Gallus Mag who once bit off her ear in a bar fight.
New York in the 19th century. I enjoy thinking about the simultaneity of Sadie’s existence with Edith Wharton’s perception of female “dinginess” at the time.