Born in Philadelphia in 1886, Inez L. Burns often spoke of her family’s extreme poverty forcing her to work as a child employee in a pickle factory. How much truth there was to that story we cannot know for certain but Inez claimed the experience embittered her–she also learned the value of hard work, according to her granddaughter Caroline Carlisle.
At age 15 when Inez arrived in San Francisco, she had matured into a “natural beauty” with hazel eyes and titian colored hair. She also came armed with an ironclad will to succeed in a man’s world.
Working as a manicurist at the famous Palace Hotel, Inez met a Dr. West–whom Caroline Carlisle says taught her grandmother how to perform abortions.
…To Be Continued…