Charley Parkhurst

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Memorial stone for Charley Parkhurst

Charley Darkey Parkhurst , born Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst (* 1812 in Sharon , Vermont , † December 18, 1879 in Watsonville , California ), also known as One Eyed Charley or Six-Horse Charley , was an American stagecoach , farmer and rancher in California. Born a woman in New England , Parkhurst grew up an orphan and ran away at the age of 12. He took the name Charley and lived as a man from then on. Parkhurst trained as a coach driver and worked in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Georgia.

The gold rush took him to California in 1849 and there he became a well-known stagecoach driver. He was believed to be the first woman in 1868, but to vote as a man in California's presidential election. After his death it turned out that he was a woman and that she had given birth to a child.

Life

Charley Parkhurst was born Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst in Sharon, Vermont in 1812. She was the daughter of Mary Parkhurst, nee Morehouse, and the judge Ebenezer Parkhurst. Parkhurst had two siblings, Charles D. and Maria. Charles D. was born in 1811 and died in February 1813, just two months after the death of his mother Mary in December 1812 in Sharon. Charley and sister Maria were given foster care and moved to Lebanon , New Hampshire .

Parkhurst ran away at the age of 12, taking the name Charley and adopting a masculine appearance. In Worchester , Massachusetts he met Ebenezer Balch, a rental stable owner, and under his care he ended up in Providence , Rhode Island . Balch treated Parkhurst like his son and from him he learned how to deal with horses. Since he showed great talent, Balch also taught him to drive, first with one horse, later with four and six horses.

He found employment as a coachman with the What Cheer Stabels . In 1849 he drove elegant carriages for the stable owners William Hayden and Charles Henry Childs. In 1851 Charley Parkhurst traveled from Boston to Panama on the RB Forbes ship . After crossing the isthmus , he traveled on to San Francisco on the SS Golden Gate .

In Panama Parkhurst met John Morton, who was on his way back to San Francisco. Morton owned the Morton Draying and Warehouse Co. and offered work to Parkhurst.

Charley Parkhurst lost an eye when a horse was kicked in 1856 and was nicknamed One Eyed Charley or Cockeyed Charley . He later worked for Jim Birch and earned a reputation as one of the West Coast's finest coachmen, known as Whip . Another nickname, Six-Horse Charley, grew out of this reputation. Together with “Foss”, “Hank Monk” and “George Gordon” he was classified as one of the best drivers of his time. Post coach drivers were also called “Jehus” , according to a passage in the Bible .

The routes he drove in Northern California included the routes from Stockton to Mariposa , the "great stage route" from San José to Oakland and from San Juan Bautista to Santa Cruz . In addition to the mail, the stagecoach drivers also transported passengers and had to deal with robberies, bad weather and dangerous, primitive routes. When the railroad reached California and took over transportation, Parkhurst retired as a coachman and settled in Watsonville. There he ran a farm and in the winter wood industry. Charley Parkhurst lived in a small hut and suffered from rheumatism in his later years . He died of tongue cancer on December 18, 1879.

autopsy

After his death in December 1879, neighbors came to prepare his body for burial. They discovered that Charley Parkhurst was a woman. Rheumatism and tongue cancer were found to be the cause of death. In addition, the doctor who examined his body found that Parkhurst had given birth to a child. A baby's clothes were found in a chest in the house. These facts became a sensation and were reflected in the national newspapers.

The Parkhurst obituary in the San Francisco Call was published in The New York Times on January 9, 1880 . The headline read:

"Thirty Years in Disguise: A Noted Old Californian Stage-Driver Discovered, after Death, to be a Woman."

"Thirty Years in Disguise: After the death of a well-known old California stagecoach driver, it was revealed that he was a woman."

- The New York Times

“He was in his day one of the most dexterous and celebrated of the famous California drivers ranking with Foss, Hank Monk , and George Gordon, and it was an honor to be striven for to occupy the spare end of the driver's seat when the fearless Charley Parkhurst held the reins of a four-or six-in hand ...

Last Sunday [December 28, 1879], in a little cabin on the Moss Ranch, about six miles from Watsonville, Charley Parkhurst, the famous coachman, the fearless fighter, the industrious farmer and expert woodman died of the cancer on her tongue. She knew that death was approaching, but she did not relax the reticence of her later years other than to express a few wishes as to certain things to be done at her death. Then, when the hands of the kind friends who had ministered to her dying wants came to lay out the dead body of the adventurous Argonaut , a discovery was made that was literally astounding. Charley Parkhurst was a woman. "

“He was one of the most skillful and celebrated of California's famous drivers in his day, ranked Foss, Hank Monk, and George Gordon, and each sought the honor of occupying the vacant end of the driver's seat when the fearless Charley Parkhurst took the reins Four or six in hand ...

Last Sunday [28. December 1879], in a small cabin on the Moss Ranch about six miles from Watsonville, Charley Parkhurst, the famous coachman, fearless fighter, hardworking farmer and skilled forest worker, died of cancer of the tongue. She knew death was approaching, but she did not give up the reluctance of her later years, just expressed a few wishes about what to do when she died. Then, as the hands of the kind friends who had accompanied her dying were trying to prepare the body for the final voyage, a discovery was made that was literally astonishing. Charley Parkhurst was a woman. "

The article described how unusual it was that Parkhurst had been able to hide her gender for so long and had worked in professions that required the highest physical qualities such as strong nerves, courage, daring and perseverance, and was intended to give him an almost romantic personal bravery that it did had enabled him to fight his way through an enemy ambush. Almost unbelievable, but there was enough evidence to prove everything.

The election of 1868

The Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 17, 1868, places Charles Darkey Parkhurst on the official electoral roll for the 1868 presidential election in the United States . However, there is no record of whether Parkhurst actually voted.

If he did vote, he would have been the first transgender man to vote in a presidential election. Contrary to what the Parkhurst tombstone says, he was not the first woman in the United States to vote in a presidential election. Some states had allowed women to vote before 1868.

Honors

Board at the fire station in Soquel
  • At the fire station in Soquel there is a board with the inscription:

“The first ballot by a woman in an American presidential election was cast on this site November 3, 1868, by Charlotte (Charley) Parkhurst who masqueraded as a man for much of her life. He was a stagecoach driver in the mother lode country during the gold rush days and shot and killed at least one bandit. In her later years he drove a stagecoach in this area. He died in 1879. Not until then was he found to be female. He is buried in Watsonville at the pioneer cemetery. "

“The first woman to vote in the presidential election was held at this point on November 3, 1868, by Charlotte (Charley) Parkhurst, who lived her life as a man. He was a stagecoach driver in this country during the gold rush and shot at least one bandit. In her later years he drove a stagecoach in the area. He died in 1879. Only then was it discovered that he was a woman. His grave is on the Watsonville Gioneer Cementery. "

  • In 1955 the Pajaro Valley Historical Association erected a monument on Parkhurst's grave with the following inscription:

Charley Darkey Parkhurst (1812-1879) Noted whip of the gold rush days drove stage over Mt. Madonna in early days of Valley. Last run San Juan to Santa Cruz. Death in cabin near the 7 mile house. Revealed 'one eyed Charley' a woman. First woman to vote in the US November 3, 1868.

“ Charley Darkey Parkhurst (1812-1879) Well-known gold rush Whip rode carriages over Mt. Madonna in the early days of the valley. Last drive from San Juan to Santa Cruz. Died in a cabin near the 7 Mile House. Uncovered one eyed Charley woman. The first woman to vote in the US election on November 3, 1868. "

  • In 2007, the Santa Cruz County Redevelopment Agency built the Parkhurst Terrace Apartments , named after Charley Parkhurst.

Aftermath

  • The Autry National Center in Los Angeles hosted a series of Out West-themed events from 2009-2010 . This included exhibitions, readings, films and other material about homosexual, bisexual and transgender people and their contribution to the Wild West. Charley Parkhurst was among the people featured on this series.
  • Pam Muñoz Ryan wrote a fictional biography about the life of Charley Parkhurst for children in 1999. The title is Riding Freedom . The book was illustrated by Brian Selznick.
  • Fern J. Hill wrote a fictional memo based on Parkhurst's life, Charley's Choice: The Life and Times of Charley Parkhurst (2008).
  • Karen Kondazian wrote a fictional historical novel, The Whip (2012), based on the life of Charley Parkhurst.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Those Daring Stage Drivers. In: ca.gov. CA State Parks, accessed April 4, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b c d 'Out West' at the Autry examines the history of homosexuals and transgender people in the Old West . In: Los Angeles Times . December 15, 2009 ( latimes.com ).
  3. ^ A b Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: PZ . University of Nebraska Press, 1991, ISBN 0-8032-9420-4 .
  4. ^ The Life and Death of Fearless Stagecoach Driver, Charley Parkhurst .
  5. ^ Settlers of the American West: The Lives of 231 Notable Pioneers . McFarland, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7864-9735-5 , pp. 127 ( books.google.de ).
  6. ↑ Craig MacDonald, Cockeyed Charley Parkhurst: The West's Most Unusual Stage Whip, Colorado: Filter Press, 1973, p. 22
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Thirty Years in Disguise - a Noted old Californian Stage-driver Discovered, after Death, to be a Woman. ( nytimes.com [PDF]).
  8. ↑ Oscar Osburn Winthur, Via Western Express & Stagecoach, California: Stanford University Press, 1947
  9. ↑ a b Metroactive Features | Charley Parkhurst. In: metroactive.com. Retrieved April 4, 2017 .
  10. ^ Charley Parkhurst (1812-1879) - Find A Grave Memorial. In: findagrave.com. Retrieved April 4, 2017 .
  11. ^ Parkhurst Transforms Troubled Site . In: Housing Finance . August 1, 2008 ( housingfinance.com ).
  12. ↑ Review of Pam Muñoz Ryan's Riding Freedom , Publisher's Weekly , reprinted at Amazon.com
  13. ↑ Fern J. Hill, Charley's Choice: The Life and Times of Charley Parkhurst , Infinity Publishing, 2008
  14. ^ Karen Kondazian: The Whip . Ed .: Hansen Publishing Group. 2012, ISBN 978-1-60182-302-1 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Parkhurst, Charley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Parkhurst, Charley Darkey (full name); Parkhurst, Charlotte Darkey (maiden name); Charley, One Eyed; Charley, Six-Horse
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American stagecoach, farmer and rancher in California
DATE OF BIRTH 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH Sharon , Vermont
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 1879
Place of death Watsonville , California