The Coachman Was A Lady

A book excerpt on the facts known about Charles Parkhurst, the first woman to (illegitimately) vote in California, due to living the majority of her life as a male stagecoach.

Notables: Charley Parkhurst / Charles Darkey Parkhurst / Charley Darkey Parkhurst, Gold Rush, Hank Monk, Charlie Crowell, Jared Crandall, Ebenezer Balch, Liberty Childs, James E Birch, Franklin House, What Cheer Stables, Frank Stevens, California Stage Lines, Wells Fargo, One-Eyed Charley, Andrew Jackson Clark, Pacific Exchange Hotel, Frank Woodward, Risdon Place, Moss Ranch, Odd Fellow's Cemetery, George F Harmon, Otto A Stoesser Sr, Nancy Mann Hayes, Peter Hauer, Helen Tolman Tarr, Matt McGowan, Ernest Werner, Edward Ferguson, Sol Alexander, Anna Stoesser
Creator: Mabel Rowe Curtis
Source: Pajaro Valley Historical Association
Date: 1959
Type: BOOK; EXCERPT
Coverage:
  • Biographies
  • Suffrage
  • Santa Cruz
  • Watsonville
  • 1950s
  • Pajaro Valley
  • Searsville
  • San Mateo County
Identifier: MS-SANTA CRUZ-BIOGRAPHY N TO S-6

Citation

Curtis, Mabel Rowe. “The Coachman Was A Lady.” Pajaro Valley Historical Association. 1959. SCPL Local History. https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/138458. Accessed 24 Sep. 2025.