TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE
A Woman Passes for a Man for a Quarter of a Century in California.
“Charley Parkhurst,” ‘Pioneer, Stage Driver, Farmer, Woodman, Etc, Dies at the Age of 67, and is Found to be a Woman.
WATSONVILLE, December 31st.~The Pajaronian, to-morrow, will contain the following : On Sunday last, in a little cabin situated on the Moss Ranch, six or seven miles from town, died a person 67 years of age, well known to the old farmers here, and to stage drivers and stage men generally, as Charley Parkhurst. He was one of the best drivers in early days in various parts of the State — from Stockton to Mariposa, from Oakland to San Jose, and from San Juan to Santa Cruz, when San Francisco was reached via San Juan. For 15 or 20 years past he has been engaged in farming, working in the woods, etc., and it is said that he accumulated several thousand dollars. For years he has not done much, being troubled with rheumatism, which caused him great sutferlng, a well as considerable deformity. The immediate cause of his death was a cancer of the tongue. He had the best of care till the last, and died without conversing with any one except to express various wants . Now comes the strange part of this sketch. It was discovered, when friendly hands were preparing him for his last home, that Charley Parkhurst was unmistakably a well developed woman. It could scarcely be believed by persons who had known Charley Parkhurst for a quarter of is century. It is one of the most wonderful of the few of such cases on record. That this woman, living among men thirty years or more, going through all the dangers and vicissitudes of California life, should conceal her sex, can hardly be believed, but it was a fact. On the Great Register of this county of the year 1867 appeared this entry : ” Parkhurst, Charles Durkee, 55, New Hampshire, , Farmer, Soquel,” where he then lived. It is said by several, who knew her intimately, that she came from Providence, R. I. Of course great curiosity is excited as to the cause that led this woman to exist so many years in such a strange guise. There may be a strange history, that to the novelist would be a source of inspiration ; and, again, she may have been disgusted with the trammels surrounding her sex, and concluded to work out her fortune in her own way. More light may be thrown on the wonderful case.
Daily Alta California, 1 January 1880
Sacramento Daily Union 3 January 1880
THE REPORTED MAN-WOMAN CASE.
The newspapers have been filled with accounts of an alleged extraordinary discovery made on the death of Charley Parkhurst, a once famous stage driver of this State. It is said that in preparing the body for burial it was discovered that the supposed man was a woman, of perfect physical formation. The statement that certain physicians examined the body and certified to the fact would have been much stronger had their names been appended. As the case stands there is in fact no verification of it before the public, and as such verification could not have been in the least difficult, the truth of the whole narrative is seriously impeached by the omission. There is, however, nothing intrinsically incredible in the story, for women have in many remarkable and well-authenticated cases played the part of men, and maintained such disguises to the end. Parkhurst was a noted whip, and of courage once proved conclusively in a fight with highwaymen. A case, however, is on record in which a woman spent the greater part of her life as a common soldier, and engaged in many battles, fighting as sturdily and bravely as any of her male comrades. It is indeed much commoner to find women capable of personating men than men capable of personating women. Of the latter the Chevalier D’Eon is the most remarkable example. During his life the most conflicting reports as to his sex were circulated, but there never was any doubt of it. He was, however, so effeminate in appearance that when he dressed in women’s clothes he was always believed to be a woman, and at one period of his life he wore this disguise for several years. If the story of Parkhurst be true it will add another and a particularly consistent and well-rounded instance to the catalogue of abnormally masculine women. In such a case it is evident that the masculine character is present in the fullest sense, and that the physical marks of sex are scarcely more than abortive developments. Such a woman is very much more of a man than anything else, and in adopting male clothing and habits she only obeys the law of her nature, which is in such cases no doubt the safest guide.
Tocsin, January 1880
On Sunday last, Charley Parkhurst, a well-known stage driver on the coast and one of the acknowledged crack whips, died near Watsonville. When the remains were being laid out the astounding discovery was made that Parkhurst was a woman. Parkhurst had been known on the coast for twenty-five years, and the most astonishing part of the business is that she could keep the secret so long. Parkhurst used to be with Hank Monk a good deal in early days, and when Hank heard the report he was so overcome for several minutes that he gasped for breath and drawled out; “Je —hose phut! I camped out with Parkie once for over a week, and we slept on the same buffalo robe right along. Wonder if Curly Bill’s been playin’ me the same way.” Carson Appeal.
=================================================
Daily Alta California, Volume 32, Number 10862, 10 January 1880
BREVITIES.
” Charley Parkhurst ” left $4000 to a little boy who had been kind to her.
==================================================
Sacramento Daily Union 10 April 1886
HE WAS A WOMAN.
A Female Jehu who Passed for Thirty
Years as a Man.
Peter Elehebarne, of San Jose, has applied for letters of administration upon the estate of Charlotte Parkhurst in Santa Cruz county. The story of Charlotte’s life is thus told by the Santa Cruz Surf: Early in the spring of 1848 there lived near the little village of Sandusky, in Ohio, Frederick M. Parkhurst, his wife and only daughter, Charlotte, the latter at that time a young woman of 20, and as far as can be learned, prepossessing in appearance. About the time mentioned an acquaintance sprang up between Miss Parkhurtt and the town Postmaster, a dashing young Westener. Their acquaintance ripened quickly into affection and love upon Miss Parkhurst’s part, which seemed also to be reciprocated by the young Postmaster. The old, old story was told in the little town one April morning when it was found that Charlotte, or ” Lottie” Parkhurst, as she was known, had disappeared — gone no one knew whither. The distracted father searched for the girl for months, without success, and finally concluded that she had destroyed herself. The California mining excitement, with its attendent sensation throughout the country, broke out in the following year, and thousands flocked to the field of gold. The railroad was unknown, stages were the only means at hand for transporting the miners to different points in the gold fields, and experienced drivers to safely convey the human freight were in demand. Their perilous exploits with the mustang teams and Concord coaches were the stories of the cabins, the campfires and the bar-room. None were oftener mentioned or their during feats recounted more than were those of young Charley Parkhurst. He was in fact ” the whip ” of the hour and pride of the ‘” profession.” For years Parkhurst was a stage driver and a decade ago manipulated the ribbons over a team running between this city and Watsonville. To know Charley Parkhurst, or ” one-eyed Charley,” as he was called, was to respect and admire him. Tiring of stage-driving. Purkhurst sought more congenial pursuits, and was at one time a station agent for a stage company whose coaches plied between this city and Watsonville.
After an eventful career in California, extending over a period of more than thirty years, Parkhurst was one morning found dead in his bed. Investigation by the authorities summoned to the bedside revealed the astonishing fact that Charley Parkhurst, pioneer and celebrated Jehu, was a woman.
Subsequent investigations by parties interested in the settlement of a small estate left by the deceased developed the facts given in the narrative above. The identity of Charlotte Parkhurst, or Charley Parkhurst, as she was known in California, was established beyond doubt. Miss Parkhurst died on the night of December 29, 1879, and it is a singular fact that until to-day, after a lapse of over six years, no effort has been made either by public officers or friends of the woman to settle up the estate she left. Indeed, the exact value or description of the estate seems yet to be shrouded in mystery. Miss Parkhurst had, previous to her decease, told many of ber friends of her lack of confidence in banks, and that she had intrusted to nature’sstrong-box, the earth, all of her savings.
A written note found among her effects directed the payment to one of her friends of a small amount of money found in a buckskin purse in her cabin.” This, as known, is all of her estate administered upon. It may be added that at one time ” Charley” Parkhurst was put in possession of and held a disputed tract of land, now valued at $20,000, when the struggle over the property was so bitter that only a brave and determined man was believed to be equal to the task of holding it.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.