[9] Wesner's career was briefly derailed in 1872 when she abruptly left Pastor's shows to elope to Paris with the notorious Helen Josephine "Josie" Mansfield,[10] who had been the mistress of Gilded Age robber baron "Diamond Jubilee" Jim Fisk as well as the mistress of his murderer, Edward S. Stokes.

After the romance cooled, however, Wesner returned to the United States and resumed her career with Pastor, winning even wider audiences.

[11] In the 1880s, Wesner's act included not only songs celebrating the "sporting" life and skits such as her popular rendition of a drunkard getting a barber's shave, but also monologues containing advice for men about how to court, treat and satisfy women.

[2][12] She also sang songs to promote certain brands of alcohol and tobacco; that she was drawing extra income from these advertisements outraged the orchestra involved.

[13] Wesner's career stumbled as styles changed; she shifted routines to become a "quick-change" artist, and eventually faded from vaudeville.