“At some point near the start of the 17th century a certain Thomasine Hall was born in the northeastern part of England. Christened and raised like other girls of her time, Hall spent her later childhood in London. But then came a startling change: upon reaching adulthood she cut her hair and joined the army ‘in the habit of a man.’ When mustered out a few years later, Hall reassumed the appearance of a woman and supported herself by doing needlework.

In 1627 Hall, now called Thomas, traveled to the nascent colony of Virginia, having reverted to the status of a man. Soon other colonists became curious about the actual nature of the newcomer in their midst. Local magistrates ordered an official inquiry, including a careful body search. And gossipy neighbors sought to resolve the question for themselves, by examining Hall while he (she) slept or by attacking and undressing him (her) on the street to 'see what thou carriest.’ For a time Hall was ordered to 'be put in women’s apparel’ and treated as a maidservant. Eventually, however, the colony’s highest court determined that he (she) was both 'a man and a woman’ and must henceforth wear men’s clothing combined with a woman’s cap and apron.”

All we can really know is that Tom Hall must have been the most alone soul in the world at that moment, and furthermore, that s/he looked ridiculous.

I came across this story in the book Founding Mothers, as reviewed in the above-linked article, and it touched me; I’m just sorry this isn’t a portrait of what that whole sorry scene must have looked like.

I’ve been reading up on early American history lately, and I wish that I’d realized earlier in life how much I enjoyed it, because it is horrible. I’m not speaking of the Here-Are-Bad-Things-That-Happened-to-Minorities textbook horrors, although God knows they were there, and worse in fact than any schoolbook teaches even yet. I refer purely to the quotidian, the stories that make you stop and wonder: what must they have been thinking? What did these people think about when they stared at the ceiling and tried to sleep that night?