Women dressed as men

[vbetts]

...and at this point I am NOT talking about the military, but in civilian life. I've run across various articles in various places about women being arrested for the act of wearing men's clothing, meaning that evidently there were laws on the books against such things. Has anyone else seen articles about this sort of gender bending in the 19th century US? Just today I have found the following articles published in Memphis, 1861:

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], July 24, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
The Livery Stable Clerk.—A livery stable in this city has, for a week or ten days, been under the management of a sprightly fellow, who told a good story, cracked his whip with a knowing jerk, and handled the ribbons with an off-hand skill that never failed to draw admiration from the profound students in horseflesh, who "know a thing or two." Dan Edson, for that was the young fellow's name, kept the books, fingered the money, managed the stable boys, let out horses and buggies, and discussed the points of a horse and the achievements of a racer as occasion called for, and all with the off-hand, decided style that he exhibited in everything he said or did. Dan, although not long in his new place, was becoming a favorite. The old frequenters of the place found it refreshing to rub up their slow ideas against Dan's rapid enunciation and trenchant vehemence. The young "bloods" about town—who love to drive to Fort Pickering at as near a 2:40 pace as whip lash can procure and hired hacks achieve—were fond of dealing with Dan. In their eyes, Dan was knowing; he had a jaunty air and a saucy look about him; and he always contrived, he did not know how, to make them on better terms with themselves than usual. They never felt so pleased with the set of their hat, the cut of their coat, the ring of their bootheels on the pavement, the glisten of the brooch in their bosom, or the color of their ungloved hands, as when Dan unobtrusively but insinuatingly called their notice to excellencies and beauties, distingue results they had often sighed for, but seldom before dared to hope they had attained. Dan was not in a situation to come much into the company of ladies; yet sometimes a lady would get into, or leave a carriage near the stable; Dan was then a model of attention and politeness. His manner was demure, but yet full of archness. The lips and brow expressed gravity, but the very duce was dancing bold and riotous pranks beneath the two arched eyebrows. Of course the few ladies who had enjoyed the pleasure of Dan's ready aid, as they mounted or left the steps of their carriages, were admirers of his. His modest demeanor and rakish looks delighted them. They were sure he was "the very devil among the girls." In fact Dan was on the way to greatness. But a few days he had taken the stable in hand, yet already everything seemed going like a piece of clock work, of which Dan was the regulator. The stable was feeling the benefit of his popularity, and by day and by night the empty halls of the neighboring grand hotel echoed with the tread of horses, and the trundle of wheels from the stable over the way. We must now take a graver tone. Man is mortal, and mortality is changeable, and a change came over Dan's expanding fortunes, and envious fate dashed from his hands the flowing cup of sweet prosperity. A whisper was muttered that expanded into a rumor, and the rumor grew into a downright assertion that Dan, the polite, roguish, smart, industrious Dan, was a woman! The assertion became accusation, and accusation stamped the story with certainty, when, yesterday, the chief of police and officer Winters waited upon Dan with an invitation to accompany them to jail. But Dan was not disconcerted—nothing disconcerted Dan Edson; he laughed in the faces of his visitors, and told them he had not time just then to attend to their jokes. Capt. Garrett put on his gravest look and assured the young scapegrace that it was a very serious matter. "Can't attend to you now, gentlemen, that's flat," said Dan. "I let one of our horses to a gentleman yesterday, and he's gone and killed it. Rail fences, and mud roads after a thunder storm, don't do for hurdle and race practice. The fellow has to pay us for our horse, and I expect him every minute. I'm fond of fun, gentlemen; but we'll settle the jail subject when you call again. We can then take a laugh and a sherry cobbler together. Good day, gentlemen," and Dan was retiring into the abysses of the stable, with one of his saucy, laughing nods, when a few more words from the police convinced her that the play was ended, and the part she had assumed must be abandoned. With a jail for a green room, this was not so pleasant; but it had to be done, and there Dan. Edson was placed on the charge of being, properly, a tenant not of pants but of petticoats, and entitled to the name of Mrs. Ray. It is said that behind this adventure of playing clerk in a livery stable lies a story, to move to tears, of an outraged wife, sorrowing and heart-broken, but we cannot touch on grief that is too sacred for public exposure. What may come to light, at the investigation that will take place before the recorder this morning, we cannot tell.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], July 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 3
The Livery Stable Clerk.—Daniel Edson, the livery clerk of whose arrest we have given an account, was before the recorder yesterday morning on the charge of being a woman, Mrs. Ray, in man's clothes. A large crowd filled the court on the occasion. The lady appeared to answer the charge in the manly garb which she has chosen instead of crinoline and accompaniments. She was fined ten dollars, which she paid.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], July 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Can a Woman Legally Wear Pants?—This question was presented in the criminal court, Judge Swayne, presiding, on Tuesday, in the case of N. D. Wetmore, livery stable keeper, who was arrested on a charge of employing Mrs. Ray as his clerk, she being dressed in man's apparel. We are indebted to a legal friend for the following report of the case, the petitioner, Mr. Wetmore, applying for his discharge on habeas corpus: In the matter of Mr. N. D. Wetmore, petition for habeas corpus, the facts appeared as follows: That a person supposed to be a female was in the employ of the petitioner as a clerk, or hand, at his livery stable; but there was no direct proof that said person was in fact a female, or was so known to petitioner to be. The petitioner was in custody, as the return of the city jailer showed, by order of a policeman. The questions raised under the proof were, whether the petitioner was guilty of any offense in law, and whether he was detained by authority of law. The court allowed time for the examination of the law on these questions, which was done by H. Vollintine, Esq., at the instance of the court, on the part of the jailer. It was afterward, on reference to the law, agreed that a policeman could not imprison a party in the day time, without examination before the recorder. It also appeared to the court, from the authorities, that employing or retaining a female in man's attire in service, was not an offense known to the law, however liable the female might be herself for thus being in a man's attire. Hence, the petitioner was discharged as before announced, there being no law to detain him.

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

[markj]

Hi Vicki,

So were these the "girlie-men" Arnold Schwarzenegger was talking about (ha!)? Yes, I've also found reports of men assuming masculine identities in the Indiana papers. At least one lived right here in Lafayette IN.

By the way, I favorably mentioned your name and website to a newly-minted Ph.D. here at Purdue. She has had a long-standing interest in 19th Century women's subjects and issues (e.g., "domestic arts manuals"). She says she might drop you a line in the near future.

Speaking of trousers, here's an interesting thesis:

De Lutis, Karen. Women and Trousers. Being a Work on Dual Garnitures and a Case ‎Study of the Bifurcated Movement in Nineteenth-Century Clothing for Women in North ‎America. 2000, M. A. Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)‎

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[hiplainsyank]

Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, whom perhaps you may know of, served as Pvt. Lyons Wakeman in 153rd NY and died in LA of sickness. She must not have had any brothers, and must have come from a very poor family, because she sent money to her family. And not just before the war, either. BEfore the war she was disguised as a boy and worked on canal boats to earn money for her family.

You might find leads on other research in this area in these:

Burgess, Lauren Cook. An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War LEtters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons WAkeman, 153rd REgiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Blanton, Deanne and Lauren M. Cook. They Fought Like Demons: WOmen Soldiers in the Civil War. New York: Vintage Books, 2002.

[MissAnnaMae]

Attached is an interesting CDV in my collection. It appears to be a man dressed in dapper civilian clothes but upon closer inspection...could it be a woman??? I don't believe we ever came to a consensus in our group...

[markj]

Hi,

I'd bet my next paycheck that it is, indeed, a woman. The *ahem* "physiology" of the individual has all the hallmarks of a typical, well-fed 19th Century female (especially one who had spent a considerable amount of time in corsets). Lots of "roundness," if you know what I mean--bit of an hourglass shape. Her *umm, err,* "superstructure" is also evident as well.

I'll bet if you showed this "blind" to ten women, at least nine of them would also say it's a female. This may have been a gag photo or, perhaps, the woman was an actress playing a "male" role.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[vbetts]

A quick search through some of the online resources offered by my university reveals only one really on topic article--

Chandler, Robert.
Title: ELIZA ANN HURD DEWOLF: AN EARLY CASE FOR CROSS-DRESSING.
Citation: Californians 1993 11(2): 28-30.
Abstract: Describes the attempts at dress reform made by Eliza Ann Hurd DeWolf in California during 1866-69. DeWolf, who had been won over to the cause of women's rights as a result of her belief in spiritualism, first wore men's clothes in San Francisco in 1866 to protest the city ordinance that forbade cross-dressing by either sex, a law that was ultimately struck down by the ruling of a state superior court judge.

I will need to see if I can get this on interlibrary loan--perhaps it will address the issue nationwide. I'm really curious if laws against cross-dressing were created around a certain time in American history, and if there is any particular reason why they went on the books. I can see a custom or social norm on the topic based on the Bible, but a law? with fines? and how much of the other sex's clothing was needed before it became a criminal offense? Evidently actresses were exempt, or Charlotte Cushman would have stayed in jail. Did this law appear only in some parts of the country, and not others?

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

[MissAnnaMae]

Mark-
I like your *ahem* choice of words..LOL Actually, according to one of our gals, it was the "child-bearing" hips that gave her/him away. We still struggled with it as we have a tendency to apply our 21st century eyes to a 19th century photo and often fool ourselves, just as some folks mistakingly I.D. photos of very young-looking male soldiers as females in disguise. Ahhhh...if only the pictures could talk!

[Csayankee]

I can't think of the General, But in the book the Story the Solders Wouldn't Tell. There was two general that had a couple of women with them on the campaign, but would dress like men till they were in a house. It was a Fed Officers. When I get to work tom I will look it up. I just happened to have been reading it today for something to do.

[Masked Battery]

April 8.th [1863] (Wed.) We commenced early in the morning. carried 7 of our Pontoon boats 5 miles down the River from this place [Franklin, VA] for the purpose of crossing the River. There was a deal of heavy work to do, clearing, cutting away the bank, &c. The weather was very cold-- A spy from the Yankees [sic] line was detected and arrested near this place and when closely examined was found to be a woman dressed in male attire.

From "Henry S. Lee's Civil War Diary" edited by John Dixon Davis. Lee was in Co. B, 10th NC.

Oops. Sorry, that's a military account. You wanted pure civilian, right?

[markj]

Originally Posted by MissAnnaMae

Mark-
I like your *ahem* choice of words..LOL Actually, according to one of our gals, it was the "child-bearing" hips that gave her/him away. We still struggled with it as we have a tendency to apply our 21st century eyes to a 19th century photo and often fool ourselves, just as some folks mistakingly I.D. photos of very young-looking male soldiers as females in disguise. Ahhhh...if only the pictures could talk!

I knew you'd like my "choice of words." Yes, I noticed the "hips-thing" too although some males do share this feminine trait. A famous non-Civil War example can be found in surviving images of the Egyptian king Akhenaten, who displays decidedly feminine characteristics. The reason for this is uncertain but a number of researchers have posited that his rather odd appearance was the result of repeated in-breeding (i.e., incestous brother-sister marriages) by his royal forbearers.

Who knows?

Mark Jaeger