Edna Milton

Image property of Corbis

Edna Milton, or Mona Stangley in the musical, was the madam of the Chicken Ranch from 1952 until its closing in 1973.

She worked for Miss Jessie for a very short time before buying the land and house from her. Her history before showing up at the Chicken Ranch in unknown.

Edna continued many of the practices that Miss Jessie had started, continuing the amiable relationship between brothel and local government and community support.

After the Chicken Ranch closed, she moved to east Texas and married a restaurant owner. When the Chicken Ranch Restaurant opened in Austin, she became its hostess. After that closed she went on Broadway as Miss Wulla Jean and a consultant to the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

A fun anecdote about how Edna left the show:
One night, as she was saying goodbye to the stage manager, he said he'd see her tomorrow. She said, "No. I'm goin' home," and left. Of course they expected her to show up the next day, not having talked about leaving with anyone. But sure enough, she did not return the next night and had, in fact, left and gone home to east Texas.