A Michigander, 1862
A Michigander traveling with a young woman appears to have very much enjoyed life as a man before being discovered to be biologically female. The story changes with every version: the nefarious Michigander courting the oblivious girl; the Michigander dressing as a man so the two could travel in safety; the young woman’s mother amused by the situation; the young woman’s mother appalled by the situation. Every version has some standard information: the Michigander’s behavior as a male; the abandon with which money is being spent.
Who the participants were was never revealed. What the story does reveal is stereotypes of male and female behavior and attitudes about the correct behavior of married women.
The first version of the story began an interesting focus on economics. The Michigander’s husband is a “wealthy citizen”; the Michigander and the young woman are spending money freely.
“Local Intelligence: A Strange Case.” New York Evening Express [New York, New York] 1 November 1862; p. 8.
A married woman residing in Michigan, whose husband is a wealthy citizen, is now under arrest at a hotel in this city, for a very strange proceeding. She met a pretty girl on the railroad some time since, fell in love with her, dressed in men’s clothes, and won the girl’s affections. Since then the two have been living as man and wife, spending money prodigally, the money being furnished by the woman’s husband. What the result will be, cannot be told, but the husband is to be informed of the conduct of his wife. The girl has been taken home.
Reprinting this paragraph like a number of American newspapers, the Providence Evening Press added a sarcastic remark; “tell that to the marines” was the original wording of the phrase.
“A Strange Case.” Providence Evening Press [Providence, Rhode Island] 3 November 1862; p. 3.
A married woman residing in Michigan, whose husband is a wealthy citizen, is now under arrest at a hotel in this city, for a very strange proceeding. She met a pretty girl on the railroad some time since, fell in love with her, dressed in men’s clothes, and won the girl’s affections. Since then the two have been living as man and wife, spending money prodigally, the money being furnished by the woman’s husband. What the result will be, cannot be told, but the husband is to be informed of the conduct of his wife. The girl has been taken home.—N. Y. Express.
What nonsense! Two women living together as husband and wife! You may “tell that to the marines.”
Believable or not, the story grew, gathering details the way a rolling snowball gathers snow. The New York Daily Herald treated it as an “amusing” anecdote of life in a city hotel.
“Amusing Incident in Hotel Life.” New York Daily Herald [New York, New York] 3 November 1862; p. 5.
An amusing denouement occurred a day or two since at one of our principal hotels. We give the anecdote, suppressing the names:—
For some weeks past a couple, supposed to be just married, have been much remarked at the hotel from their extremely youthful appearance. The husband in particular has attracted great attention from his youth, small size and delicate frame. Observations have been heard on all hands deploring the marriage of persons so very young—a mere boy and girl, apparently—and some curiosity has been expressed as to who they were.
On Saturday evening the husband—who has been smoking his segars, drinking his cocktails and swinging his cane with a manly air that seemed much beyond his years—was discovered to be a woman. It appears that she is a married lady, and the mother of an infant some six months old. Her health being poor, and her husband thinking that change of air would be beneficial to her, she started on a travelling tour, taking with her a young lady friend. The two ladies soon found it inconvenient to be without an escort, and the married lady concluded to dress as a gentleman, while her friend agreed to act the part of his bride. Certainly they both deserve infinite credit for the perfection with which they acted their parts, and, as this is the only creditable part of the affair, it is but just to give them all praise for it. No one for an instant suspected the true state of the case, and the secret was only discovered finally through the bride’s mother, who passed about a week with them at the hotel, and appears rather to have sanctioned the proceeding, but was indiscreet enough to mention the true circumstances of the case to another lady. Of course when four ladies are acquainted with any fact, secresy [sic] is at an end. The case commenced to be noised abroad, was inquired into, and proved to be as the mother had said. The fair bride was taken to other quarters, while the bridegroom has been obliged to doff her manly clothing and air, and is now, we understand, under arrest, although allowed to remain in her room at the hotel. She considers the whole affair an excellent joke, and is said to bear her arrest with perfect equanimity.
Two weeks later, the episode had gathered more details, though now the mother was much less sympathetic to the relationship. (It’s interesting that while the Michigander is considered to be breaking the law, the other participant is considered “deluded.”)
“A Strange Case.” Rutland Weekly Herald and Globe [Rutland, Vermont] 14 November 1862; p. 1.
A married woman residing in Michigan, whose husband is a wealthy citizen, is now under arrest in New York for a very strange proceeding. She met a pretty girl on the railroad some time since, pretended to fall in love with her, dressed in men’s clothes, and won the girl’s affections.—Since then the two have been living as man and wife, spending money prodigally, the money being furnished by the woman’s husband. It is said the husband does not object to his wife’s amusing herself in any way she pleases; but the Police will not allow her to parade the streets in male attire. The deluded girl has been restored to her friends.
Since the above was in type, we have learned some further particulars of the affair. It seems that the two ladies agreed to the “husband” arrangement for a lark. They were travelling alone, and desiring a protector, the married lady proposed to dress in male attire and pass herself off as the girl’s husband. This she did, and her youthful appearance attracted some attention at the hotel where they were staying. On Saturday she was recognized by the young lady’s mother, who was of course i[n]dignant, and the pretty gallant, who had been smoking his cigars, drinking his cocktails and swinging his cane with a manly air that seemed much beyond his years, was taken into custody, divested of his (or rather of her) false feathers, and thus reduced to the sober position of a wife. It is said that she considers the affair an excellent joke. To others it looks like supreme silliness, and her husband should keep her under lock and key.
So now the mother is “indignant” to find her daughter “pretending to be married” to the Michigander—what a convenient way to minimize the situation! The phrase “reduced to the sober position of a wife” says a lot about expectations about married women in 19th-century America. (An Ohio woman’s thoughts on the expectations in 1859 were quite caustic.) And then there’s the unjocular suggestion that the Michigander’s husband “keep her under lock and key” …
What happened next? Perhaps recorded only in the annals of the judicial system or in the private history of a family; the unnamed individuals don’t appear again in American newspapers.
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