History

10 Female Husbands Of The 1800s

Elizabeth Yetter March 22, 2016

Think gay marriage is a new concept? Newspapers from the 1800s reveal this couldnt be further
from the truth. Although our 19th-century ancestors seemed to act more surprised when reading
such stories, there was always a chance that Harry and Sally mightve really been Harriet and
Sally.

After all, in recent American and European history, women sometimes disguised themselves as
men. Life was much easier for males. They had more freedom and got better jobs. Getting a wife
was a way to further disguise a womans true identity. Who would think their effeminate
coworker was anything but a man if he/she was married?

10 Death Of A Brick Setter

In 1859, a newspaper reported on an inquest held in Salford, England, regarding the body of a
man found in a sluice on the River Irwell. The corpse was identified as Henry Stokes, but upon
further investigation (conducted by two women), it turned out that Henry Stokes was actually a
woman named Harriet Stokes.
Harriet had run a beer shop in Manchester when she was younger, and afterward, she worked as
a brick setter for over two decades. Living as a man for roughly 40 years, she is believed to have
married twice in her life. One of her marriages was to another woman.

The jury at the inquest gave the verdict as found drowned. No further information was given as
to how or why she drowned or if foul play was suspected, but the discovery of Henry Stokess
biological gender caused quite a stir at the time.

9 From Wife To Husband

In 1883, newspapers across the United States rocked the nation with a story of a woman
pretending to be a man. While this sort of thing didnt usually cause such a big stir, this particular
tale had a bit of a twist.

Frank Dubois dressed like a man and was even married to a woman. But one day, a fellow named
Hudson recognized Dubois as his wife. In fact, Dubois was the mother of his two children.
Naturally, Dubois and her wife quickly packed up and left town, only to be hounded by
journalists. After moving a second time to escape prying reporters, Dubois finally admitted to the
public that she was indeed a woman. Her wife confirmed the suspicion of her gender but claimed
she hadnt known until their wedding night. But it appears that in spite of the deception, the wife
was determined to remain with her female husband.

Once again, newspaper reporters went into a tizzy and wrote outrageous statements such as:
The idea of a woman playing husband, and trying to split wood, or drive team, is absurd. The
best woman in the world could not take the place of a man, and do chores around the house, and
go down town nights, and come home full of election whisky, without giving herself away.

On the subject of whether a female husband could handle a house burglar, the article went on to
say:

Imagine a burglar entering a bedroom occupied by such a couple, in the dead hour of night, to
burgle. The spectacle of two heads going under the bedclothes at once, and two female screams,
where there was one pair of pants on the floor, would mix up the most hardened burglar, and
make him think he had struck a lunatic asylum.

8 The Effeminate Stranger

If an effeminate stranger comes to town, you should probably get to know him a little betteror
at least examine the goodsbefore getting hitched.

Back in 1878, a stranger showed up in the town of Tiffin, Colorado. All anyone knew about him
was that he came from Colorado. One of the local teenagers fell in love with the stranger, and
against the wishes of the uncle she was living with, the 16-year-old married the newcomer.

By nightfall, she discovered that her new husband was really a woman on the run. The woman
needed to give undeniable evidence that she was a he, and what better proof than marrying a
female? She threatened the girl, saying if she told anyone, she would kill her.
The two soon moved into a neighboring district, but the woman continued threatening and
beating the girl. Finally, the woman decided to flee the country, and the teenager was set free.
The girl returned to her uncles home, and she told him the story about her strange husband. He
went on to report the incident to the local newspaper. No names were given in any of the reports,
and there was no follow-up on what or who the woman was running from.

7 From Maidservant To Butcher

In 1822, the Glasgow Chronicle printed a doozy of a story that sent the entire world into a gossip
frenzy. Helen Oliver was a maidservant whod become friends with a young man. However, it
turned out that the man was actually a woman in disguise. This gender-bending friend inspired
Helen to also pose as a man. Helen became John, and she worked as a plasterer and a butcher for
four years. No doubt, the pay was much better than working as a maidservant.

Eventually, for reasons that arent completely known, Helen started to court another woman.
Some believe she was doing this to remove suspicions that she was really a woman. Another
train of thought says she was just playing a cruel joke. Either way, Helen proposed to her
girlfriend, but the marriage never happened because a former acquaintance realized Johns true
identity. Helen fled the scene and drifted off into obscurity.

6 The Ladies
Women had many personal reasons for becoming men, and not every wife who took a female
husband was blind to her spouses true gender.

In 1876, the American Citizen published an excerpt of a letter sent from a man in Scotland to his
friend in Virginia. The letter told a tale of two ladies who were unhappy in their respective
marriages. They confided to each other about their marital misery . . . and then decided to do
something about it.

Drawing lots, they decided who would become the man in their new relationship. The one who
drew the short straw changed her name to James Han, and together, they moved to Epping,
Essex. Once there, they leased a home and started an inn. They hired a servant and lived as a
married couple, and evidently, they were quite comfortable with their new roles. They were
together for 31 years before the wife passed away. As for the husband, James Han held many
positions within Epping and nearly became churchwarden before being discovered.

5 The Female Hunter

On February 21, 1882, the Omaha Daily Bee briefly mentioned a female husband who was living
as a hunter in Long Eddy, New York. Born as Lucy Ann Lobdell in 1829, she took up hunting as
a young woman to help provide for her family. At some point, she married a man named George
Washington Slater, but he was abusive and eventually abandoned Lucy Ann and their infant
child.

After her husband left, Lucy Ann decided to live as a man and continue hunting. She named
herself Joseph Israel and married Marie Wilson in 1877. The two of them lived in caves
throughout Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and they survived on berries, roots, and whatever else
people gave them to eat.

Lucy Ann was reported as dead in 1879 and again in 1882, but research shows that she didnt
actually pass away until 1912. She died in Binghamton, New York, and as for her wife, she was
mentioned in the newspaper clipping from 1882. According to the story, she was 45 years old
and in terrible health.

4 False Pretenses
In 1856, a report came out of Syracuse, New York, that a woman had been arrested for marrying
under false pretenses. She was living as man and had married a young woman. A few days later,
the father-in-law somehow discovered the gender of his son-in-law, and he promptly
complained to the authorities.

As for the young wife, she felt that the gender of her husband did not matter when it came to
their marriage. The newspapers reported that, The young bride didnt seem to think that it made
any difference and clung to her female husband with all a wifes affection. Nevertheless, the
female husband was arrested and sent to prison, to which one newspaper remarked, Under what
law she can be punished we confess ourselves ignorant.

The woman was eventually brought before a judge and released. Neither her name nor the brides
were released, but one does hope they were able to live out their days in peace.

3 Happy As Clams
In the late 1870s, a female husband named Samuel M. Pollard married a woman named Marancy
Hughes in 1878. The two lived together for six months before Marancy went back to her parents
home. As soon as she returned, Marancy outed her husband as a woman, claiming that Pollard
had married her as a cruel joke. Plus, she said the marriage was supposed to help Pollards
transformation as a man.

The two must have had an explosive relationship. The wife also claimed that Pollard threatened
to hurt her if she ever revealed her true gender. On the other hand, Pollard claimed that Marancy
left for completely different reasons.

Since the mining town of Tuscarora, Nevada, was short on women, the men were happy to learn
that Marancy was once again available. But their happiness was short-lived because Marancy
and Pollard soon resolved their differences. A final report declared that, Mrs. Pollard had
returned to the arms of her female husband, and they are again living together as happy as clams
at high water.

2 Countess Sarolta Vay

Not all female husbands took wives in order to get higher-paying jobs. Take Countess Sarolta
Vay, for example. She was the daughter of a colonel, and because this guy had so many
daughters, he began raising Sarolta as a son.

Eventually, the colonels wife gave birth to a boy, but Sarolta decided to remain a male. She
didnt enjoy being treated like a girl. Later on, she left her family and became known as Count
Sandor Vay. She married a schoolteacher who was the daughter of a civil servant. But then Vay
made a mistake. The count began borrowing money from the father-in-law, and tensions began to
rise.

Finally, the wife confessed to her father that Vay was actually a woman. Upon further
investigation into the case, it was revealed that the clergyman whod married the couple probably
wasnt an actual priest. Therefore, the marriage was seen as a fraud and non-binding.

1 Arrested For Vagrancy

When 1899 rolled over in 1900, it was the beginning of an exciting, new century. But while the
1800s might have ended, the trend of outing female husbands certainly did not.

In 1906, The Spokane Press ran an article on a female husband who went by the name of John A.
Whittman. As the story goes, Whittman was born as Pauline Webster, and he eventually married
a waitress named Etta Jelley. The two had plans to put their money together and start their own
restaurant. However, a man named Cornett was holding onto Ettas money, and when she asked
for it, he refused. Even worse, he began looking into her new husbands background.

Three days after Etta and John were married, Cornett had Whittman arrested on a false vagrancy
charge. It was then discovered that John was actually a woman. John had decided to live as a
male after discovering she could earn more money doing mans work. When Etta learned that
John was actually a woman, she broke into tears. Still, it was reported that, Etta loved John
and after his arrest, held his hand, brought him delicacies, and otherwise conducted herself
as any bride of three days might have done under the circumstances.

Elizabeth spends most of her time surrounded by dusty, smelly, old books in a room she refers to
as her personal nirvana. Shes been writing about strange stuff since 1997 and enjoys traveling
to historical sights.