James Walker drinks too much, 1836

[Note: “along shore” is a variant of “alongshore,” which gave rise to “alongshoreman,” an archaic form of “longshoreman.”]

“Police Office, Aug. 12: A New Sort of Laborer Along-Shore.” New York Journal of Commerce [New York, New York] 13 August 1836; p. 2.

On Friday night one of Police officers [sic] saw a person, having the appearance of a seaman, and who said his name was James Walker, lying intoxicated at the corner of Pearl and Chatham streets, and brought him to the watch-house. On arriving there the officer searched the prisoner’s person, and whilst doing so, was not a little astonished to hear the seemingly rough and drunken seaman address him in a soft, effeminate tone of voice, and say “Oh dear, don’t tickle me.” This caused the officer to more closely examine the prisoner’s countenance, and the features were sunburnt and weather-beaten, he thought they appeared somewhat feminine, and having imparted his suspicions to a female who was in the watch-house, she looked at, and spoke to the prisoner, and by some sort of free-masonry known only to the ladies, she at once pronounced the apparent tar to be a member of the soft sex, and she was accordingly locked up with the other females for the night, and brought before the magistrate yesterday morning. On being asked who she was and what was her motive for dressing in man’s apparel, she stated that her name was Jane Walker; that she was a native of the old country, and had been engaged to marry a young man who went to Quebec and had sent her money to go out and join him. That she accordingly left her parents and went to Quebec, where she was informed her lover had gone to New-York, and that having no means to follow him, she had sold her clothes, purchased man’s apparel, and in that guise worked her way on to this city. Here, however, she was equally unsuccessful in discovering the object of her pursuit, and being without friends, and finding by experience how much more independent she could be as a man than as a woman, she determined to retain her assumed character, and had worked along shore for the last two years, and that yesterday evening having drank rather too freely with her male companions, she became intoxicated, and was in that state taken to the watchhouse. [sic She was committed for further examination.

“A Discovery.” Evening Star [New York, New York] 13 August 1836; p. 2.

An intoxicated person, apparently a man, was picked up in the street and conveyed to the Police Office, when it was discovered to be a woman in male attire. Her assumed name, to suit her dress, was James Walker, but her real name is Jane Walker.—Her story was one of disappointed love. She had been the plighted one of a young man who left Ireland for this country, and who, after a short absence, ermitted home to her money to pay her passage, which she took and arrived at, Quebec, but could not find her lover, after staying there some two or three months. Hearing he had come to this city, (this was about two years ago,) she determined to see if she could not find him, and with this intent, thinking that she would be better protected from insult by assuming the garb of a man, she put it on, and has ever since worn it, and has never been suspected, although she lived, slept and worked altogether amongst males. Her purity and virtue are unimpeachable. She has worked along the docks and slips, in the hopes of finding her lost one, for the last two years, yet she has been unable to discover him. She has parents residing in Ireland. Her abode is in Tillery street, Brooklyn. She was taken care of, and the Magistrates lectured her on throwing aside her feminine dress. She is 30 years old, but care and trouble have left the furrows of more advanced age upon her cheek.

“A Man Turned Out to Be a Woman.” The Rhode-Island Republican [Newport, Rhode Island] 17 August 1836; p. 2.

James Walker, brought up in a state of gross intoxication on a cart, from the corner of Chatham and Pearl streets, being examined, states as follows: That she is a woman, and her right name is Jane Walker, and that she lives in Tillery street, Brooklyn, with a person who lives near a distillery, but whose name she forgets. That she follows all kinds of laboring work for a living, principally working along shore. Has been in this country better than three years, and was born in Ireland, and is about 30 years old, and has worn the male attire for two years, and first put it on in Quebec, Can[a]da. That she left home at the solicita[t]ion of a young man to whom she was engaged to be married, who sent out after her and also sent money to pay her passage. That when she arrived in Quebec she could not find him, and after stopping three months and hearing that he had come to this city, she was desirous of coming here to try to find him, and not having good cloth[e]s or any means of bringing her here, she put on the male attire, believing also that it would the better enable her to find him and save her from insult, and also the better enable her to work for her living; further, that she has never been able to find her friend who is a ship-carpenter by trade, and has worked along the docks and about the ship yards for the purpose of endeavoring to find him. Further, that she has slept with and worked among males altogether ever since she put on male attire, and has never been suspected, and has always lived virtuously, having never yet known man. That she generally wore drawers, and took other precautionary measures to prevent exposure, and has never divulged her secret to any being. That she has parents living in Ireland, who knew of her coming out here but to whom she has never written. The five dollar bill found upon her is all the money she had, but has another dress (male’s) in Brooklyn, at her boarding house.

The wretched creature states that she is 30 years of age, but care and exposure appear to have laid their hard hand upon her, and she appears to be older than that. The Magistrates spoke to her of the impropriety of her course. She has been taken care of.

“Awful Disclosure.” New York Herald [New York, New York] 15 August 1836; p. 2.

Jane alias James Walker, who figured in the morning papers conspicuously last week, has come out with a counter-statement.—She is now living with a young woman named Elizabeth Cumings, [sic] as her husband to whom she was married in Scotland. This girl, she under the guise of a man, induced to come to this country, from a Cotton Factory in Glasgow, and although Elizabeth has long possessed the secret of her husband’s sex, she has, mirabiledicta kept it. Had it not been for the drunken frolic, which exposed her, she would probably have lived the remainder of her life in peace and quiet. The she husband is still in custody, as there may be some things hidden which should be disclosed.

“Police Office—August 13th: Extraordinary Case of a Female Husband.” New York Journal of Commerce [New York, New York] 15 August 1836; p. 2.

A paragraph appeared in this paper on Saturday relative to a female who was found intoxicated in the street, on Friday night dressed in man’s clothes. The account she gave of herself turns out to be also false, or at least she has since told a different story, in consequence of a further and more extraordinary discovery having been made in relation to her. On Saturday morning a decently dressed woman called at the Police Office and asked to see James Walker, [(]the name by which the female called herself before her sex was discovered) whom she said was her husband. This woman was informed of the discovery which had been made, and was permitted to see the person in question, to whom however she declined speaking, and went away. In consequence of this occurrence, James or rather Jane Walker was again brought before the magistrate, and underwent another examination, in which she stated that she was a native of Liverpool, that her real name is George Moore Wilson, and that George is a name commonly given to females in England; that both her parents died when she was very young, and that when she was twelve years old, in consequence of being ill treated by her friends, she ran away from them, put on boy’s clothes, and made her way to Scotland, the native place of her parents. When she arrived there she went to work in a factory, still retaining her boy’s dress, and remained in it until she had nearly arrived at manhood, when she married a Miss Eliza Cummings, with whom she set sail for Quebec two days after their marriage. A few days after her marriage she imparted the secret of her sex to her wife; but notwithstanding this the two females have lived together ever since as man and wife. Fifteen years have passed since their union, during which it appears they experienced a great variety of fortune, but kept the secret of the husband’s sex so well that it never before transpired, and remains even unknown to the wife’s father who has resided for some years with them. As the first account which this woman gave of herself appears to be false, this one may be also untrue, but it stands corroborated to a certain extent, by the wife having called to see her on Saturday, and by the vexation and rage she evinced on hearing that her husband’s sex was discovered; and also by a marriage certificate having been found on the prisoner’s person, certifying that the marriage was solemized [sic] at the time and place which she stated in her examination. The magistrate considered the matter altogether so extraordinary, that he has detained her until it can be more fully enquired into.

“New Mode of Matrimony.” Monmouth Democrat [Freehold, New Jersey] 18 August 1836; p. 2.

From the New York Times, of Monday last.
New mode of Matrimony.
A WOMAN MARRIED TO A WOMAN

We gave, in our paper of Saturday, an account of a person who had been brought to the police office in a state of intoxication, wearing men’s clothes, but who declared herself next day to be a woman. Since then something more singular has come to light. She has told a different story from the first, and it appears was actually married to a woman in 1821, and they have lived as man and wife together for fifteen years—this one wearing the breeches, and the other taking care of the house.

The circumstances which led to the developement [sic] of this mysterious affair, are as follows:—On Saturday, a decent looking man went to the Bridewell and enquired if there was not a man there named George Wilson, who had been committed the previous day in a state of intoxication. Capt. Swain told him there was no man answering to his description, but there was a woman, who had been brought up dressed in men’s clothes. He said it could not be the one he was seeking, as he and his wife had lived in a part of his house in Forsyth street for some months, and his wife had now sent him to look for him. Capt. Swain, however, suspecting that his prisoner must be the one he alluded to, shewed him to him, when he at once recognised him as being his tenant. He could hardly believe his eyes, for he said he had actually seen his marriage certificate, and he said he would go and bring it. In a short time afterwards he came to the Police office accompanied by his own and the prisoner’s wife. The prisoner was then sent for, and questioned on the story he told on Friday, which he declared to be all false, and then equivocated as to his sex. The oath of a Physician was requisite on this point, which was given, and the man declared to be a woman. Here then was a mystery.—Two women stood in the Court room, one in her own proper habiliments, and the other in small clothes, who had passed as man and wife, reputably and unsuspectedly, for several years. The wife, on being questioned, threw herself upon her rights, and not only refused to answer questions, but was impudent to the Magistrate for asking her, and was walked out of the office. She did not deign to speak, and hardly to look, at her husband. The lady that came with her requested that her name might not be asked, for she had no idea as to the company she was in, and felt ashamed of it. Persons in the neighborhood had frequently seen Mister Wilson go to the pump for water, and perform other errands.

The following is the account which Mr. George Wilson now gives of himself. Taken in connection with the woman who calls herself his wife, and what is really known about them, the probability is that it is true. The story is certainly entitled to rank among the marvellous, and we give it in her own words:

Jane Walker, being further examined says, that what she said in her last examination is entirely false, and further says that her right name is George Moore Wilson, and that she was christened by that name, and that there are many females in Scotland bearing males’ names. That she was born at 20 Atherton street, Liverpool. Her parents were Scotch—that she was brought up in Scotland. Parents are both dead. Her father died when she was six years old. Mother died when she was about nine years old. It was after their death that she went to Scotland to live, owing to bad usage of her step father. That she ran away from her grandmother when she was 12 years old, and after she was a short distance from her home she put on male’s attire. That she bought the clothes she then put on with five shillings her grandmother, Mrs. Mary Wilson, had given her to buy a bladder of snuff with. That she put them on, expecting she should be pursued, that she lived in Glasgow about three years, and worked in a cotton factory the whole of the time, that she was married to Miss Elizabeth Cummings on a Friday, and left there on the following Tuesday for Quebec, Canada, via Greenock. That his wife, Elizabeth Cummings, did not know she was a female until after they were on board ship, and had left Greenock. That after she was married she went back into the country some distance to a place called the Shaws, and left word with an acquaintance of her relatives that George Moore Wilson (meaning herself) was in Glasgow, who requested them to send word to her friends. That the aquaintance spoken of was named James M. Duff, a cotton spinner, with whom deponant had formed an acquaintance, but who was entirely ignorant of whom she was or of her sex. That she worked in a man’s garb all the time she lived in Glasgow, that herself and wife arrived in Quebec and went immediately to Montreal, and then to New Limerick, where they purchased a farm of one hundred acres for one hundred dollars, and lived on the same from June to March, when her money being run out, she came on to the United States, and went to Patterson, New Jersey, and worked in a Cotton Factory.—That she worked about at different places, and while in Albany she learned to make fur caps, which is her present business. That she has been in the country altogether about 15 years, that after she had been here seven years she sent for her father-in-law, (her wife’s father,) and family, who arrived in this city, when she and her father-in-law, with family, went to Patterson, where she worked in the Cotton Factory of Clark & Robinson, and her father-in-law worked for Mr Collett, for nearly a year, and when they had collected money enough together, her father-in-law (whose name is Edward Cummings) and his family left for Canada, and are now living on her farm there, of which she has before made mention. That she worked in a Cotton Factory in Glasgow with her father-in-law for two or three years before coming to this country, who never knew but what she was, what she appeared to be and what she passed for, viz: a male. That he thinks so to this day, notwithstanding their having worked and lived together. That the marriage certificate now here, dated Glasgow, 2d April, 1821, between Geo. Wilson cotton spinner, and Elizabeth Cummings, signed Wm. Clugston, Sess. Clerk, and John M’Farline, minister is the original marriage certificate between herself and wife. That her grandmother, with whom she resided in Scotland, lived in Ayrshire, and is named Mary Wilson. That she does not know her precise age, that herself and wife worked latterly at the Fur cap making, and worked last for Mr. Barrow in Water street, near Burlingslip, that herself and wife had never accumulated any money nor done any more than make a living. That she continued to wear the garb of a male to enable her to get along better through the world.

The following is a copy of their marriage certificate:—

Glasgow, 2d April, 1820. [sic]

That George Wilson, cotton spinner, Bridgeton, and Elizabeth Cummings, residing there, have been three several Sabbaths lawfully proclaimed in the Barony Church, in order to marriage, and no objections offered, is attested by

WM. CLUGSTON, Sess. Clerk.

The above mentioned parties were married by me at Glasgow 6th April, 1821.

JOHN MACFARLINE, Minister.

There appears to be more about this strange marriage, and the subsequent course of the parties, than at first meets the view, and Wilson was remanded to Bridewell until such time as the mysterious affair can be more fully and satisfactorily explained.

“A Female Husband.” New York Sun; reprinted in Newbern Spectator [New Bern, North Carolina] 26 August 1836; p. 1.

James alias Jane Walker, alias George Moore Wilson, the man woman—On Friday evening, the female picked up in the street drunk on Thursday evening, in male attire, underwent an examination, on which occasion she told a long rigmarole story of her having followed to this country a lover whom she had failed in finding, and included in her tale quite a series of romance which duly appeared in several of the papers next morning as a veritable instance of romance in real life; the whole of which turns out to be a fabrication. The facts of her life are, however, highly romantic. The facts of her life are, however, highly romantic. She was born in Liverpool of Scotch parents, who afterwards returned to Glasgow, and there both of them died before she was 12 years old. She subsequently lived several years with her relatives, whom she afterwards clandestinely left, and assuming male attire, (which she says is a very common thing with females in Scotland,) and the name of George Moore Wilson, obtained employment as a male in a cotton factory. Whilst so employed she entered into a bona fide courtship of a young woman named Elizabeth Cummins, [sic] who belonged in Glasgow, and whose father was a superintendent in the factory in which she worked; and to whom, after being duly published three successive Sabbaths, at the parish church, she was married, in that city, on the 6th April, 1821. Having between them accumulated some money, they soon after left for this country; and it was not till they had partly crossed the Atlantic that her bride discovered that for a husband she had one of her own sex. The discovery, however, she says, did not in the least appear to disappoint her wife; and they have continued to this time to live and labor together as man and wife in harmony and love; the wife having never disclosed to even her nearest relations, the secret of their singular situation.—They first landed in the Western World at Quebec, and proceeded thence to Montreal, whence they emigrated to Indiana, and finally settled at New Harmony, where they purchased for $100, and still possess, a farm of 100 acres, on which an uncle of the wife’s is now living. They soon became dissatisfied there and returned to this section of the Union. At Paterson, N. J. they worked sometime in Mr. Robinson’s cotton factory; afterwards they removed to Albany, where they learned to make fur caps; and subsequently they came to this city and continued at the latter occupation; and at the time of the unlucky drunkenness which has led to a final explosion of this most singular of all connubial ties with which we were ever acquainted, were living harmoniously together at No. 47 Forsyth street, as veritable a man and wife, for aught that was known to any body acquainted with them, as the most thrifty couple in the city. This is the true story of this woman’s singular life, as told by herself, corroborated by her wife, and an acquaintance who knew them prior to their marriage; and it is stated by the latter that this singularly situated pair have, during the fifteen years of their union, maintained a fair character in all respects. The wife is rather a hard visaged woman, 30 or 35 years of age, and appears to possess a rather fiery temper, which she displayed pretty considerably when Mr. Lownds had her brought up to question her on Saturday evening. The female husband is still held in detention, till some further information can be obtained respecting her; as suspicions are entertained that there is something at the bottom of all this which does not yet appear.