Boy, What A Miser...!

Hard to believe that some folks can be such penny pincers, even when they have enough money to do anything they want anyway. Human nature, I reckon!

Hetty Green

1834 – 1916

Hetty Green was an eccentric miser who became known as the “Witch of Wall Street”. With her business acumen she accumulated such wealth that she was the richest woman in the world. In order to save money, Hetty would work out of trunks at her local bank so she wouldn’t have to pay rent. When her son fell ill, she disguised herself and took him to a charity hospital; when they realized who she was, she fled claiming she would cure her son herself. Unfortunately he contracted gangrene and had to have his leg amputated. She always wore the same black dress and never changed her underwear unless it wore out. She moved back and forth between New York and New Jersey in order to avoid the taxman.

I can't imagine anyone living like that on purpose. Guess she was not only rich, but probably a bit touched in the head as well.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning.