Caroline Hall, aka Charles Winslow Hall, was born in Malden, Massachusetts in 1860 in architect John R. and Caroline Winslow Hall. John R. Hall was born in Massachusetts in about 1830. Caroline Winslow Hall, born in Massachusetts in 1835, was the daughter of Captain George Winslow (born 1792) and his wife Elizabeth (born 1800). In 1890 Caroline left America and began touring Europe as a man. She participated in shooting contests, of which she won several, and was a frequent gambler and drinker. In about 1897 she met, and eventually married, Guisseppa Boriani of Milan, Italy. In September 1901 the couple set sail for New York from Genoa. Caroline/Charles had not been in the United States for a decade. While aboard she became ill from complications due to alcoholism. The ships doctors discovered that she was a woman and informed the Captain, but she/he died before the ship arrived in New York on September 30. Morning newspapers across the country told the story of the woman and her wife and on October 2 the body was claimed by Caroline's father. Only friends and family attended the funeral services in Boston, with the exception of Guisseppa Boriani, who was not considered family but still invited.
Documents
Newspaper Articles
Davenport Daily Republican (Davenport, Iowa) - October 1, 1901
TRAVELED AS MAN
DEATH ON STEAMSHIP REVEALS A STRANGE STORY
'TWAS WHIM OF AN ARTISTCaroline Hall of Boston Masquerades
as Married Man Until Death
Yields Up SecretNew York, Sept. 30 - A strange story was revealed today by the death of Miss Carolina Hall of Boston, aboard the steamship Citta Di Terino, which arrived from Mediterranean ports. On the passenger list she appeared as "Mr. Charles Windlow Hall," and with "him" was Mrs. Hall.
Supposed Man a Woman
Not until the former was stricken with mortal illness did the ship's surgeons make the discovery that the supposed man was a woman. Before that no one suspected that "Mr. Hall" was not a man, and "he" and "his" wife were received as such. She addressed her companion as "Mrs. Hall," and spoke of her as "my wife." The woman is an Italian, and through her it was learned that Miss Hall resided abroad ten years and had met her companion, Guisseppina Poriana, in Milan three years ago. Miss Hall decided that men can get along better in the world than can women, and she adopted male costume. She traveled thus with the other for two years, and, as she was an artist, went about among the art interest painting, and working at her profession.
Wins Rifle Tourney Prizes
Being a good rifle shot. Miss Hall is said to have entered several tournaments and won prizes. When she decided to come here, she asked the Italian woman to accompany her.
Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) - October 2, 1901
REVEALED BY DEATH
Boston, Mass., Oct. 2 - A well known Boston architect, J. J. Hall, is the father of Miss Caroline Hall, who died at sea while disguised as a man and whose body now is in New York.
Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) - October 2, 1901
WOMAN WHO POSED AS MAN
She Was the Daughter of Prominent Boston ArchitectBoston, October 1 - A well-known Boston architect, J. R. Hall, is the father of Miss Caroline Hall, the artist who died at sea, while disguised as a man and whose body is in New York.
An aunt of the dead woman, at whose home the father lives, being an invalid, admitted the identity today and said that the news had proved a great shock to Mr. Hall.
Marion Daily Star (Marion, Ohio) - October 3, 1901
THE BODY OF MISS HALL GIVEN BURIAL TODAY
Boston, Oct. 3 - The body of Miss Caroline Hall, who died on board the steamship Citta Di Torinto, and who had for ten years lived in Italy under the name of Charles Winslow Hall, was buried in Forest Hill cemetery this afternoon. There were services at the grave only, and none but relatives were present at the service of prayer.
Josephine Boriani, the woman who traveled as Miss Hall's companion for ten years, alleging to be the wife of the woman in masculine attire, has been invited and will attend the services.
Davenport Daily Republican (Davenport, Iowa) - October 9, 1901
NOT A NEW WOMAN FREAK
Many Women Have Masqueraded in Garb of MenNew York World: Miss Caroline Hall, whose masquerade as a man was ended by her death on an Atlantic steamer, spent her time smoking and playing cards, while her "wife" chated with the ladies. The fact that her death was due in part to alcoholism hints that these ruder masculine ways were not new to her.
This was not singular. Miss Hall's female predecessors in man's garb have often distinguished themselves as soldiers, duellists and in other ways indicating a bold spirit. The late Murray Hall of this city, who wore men's garb many years was versed in the ways of the ward politician, and, like her later namesake, was "married." Several women served as soldiers in the civil war - one, Mrs. William Lindley, fighting by her husband's side. That this is not a freak of the "new woman" merely is shown by the valor of Deborah Sampson, who fought and was wounded in the Continental uniform in the Revolution. Mary Anne Taylor at about the same period was for 26 years a drummer boy, cabin boy on a privateer and finally a sailor fighting bravely at sea. Dr. James Barry, though a women, was a cool duellist and rose to be British surgeon-general. The Count (Countess) Sandor (Sarolta) Vay, of Austria, was also a duellist in recent days and dissolute to the point of irresponsibility.
"Jack" Jorgensen, an Australian woman, after a wild life as a bushranger served on the Mounted Rifles. Another Australian celebrity, De Lacy Evans, worked for years as a man in the mines and was three times married. The remarkable career of Ellis Glenn, arrest for yielding to a confused sense of ownership of property while in boy's clothes, is well remembered. The element of pathos, lacking in most of these cases appears strongly in that of Mrs. Julia Forrest, who, shrinking and feminine enough at heart, donned the clothes of her crippled husband to do the roughest work in a Pennsylvania coal mine, but her experience was like the others in its choice of a strenuous career.
In general, however, women have played the masculine not from necessity but for a reason that is, after all, of the "eternal feminine" - namely because they "just wanted."
Census Records
Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts - September 23, 1850
Surname | Given | Age | Occupation | Value of Real Estate | Born |
Winslow | Geo. | 58 | none | 6,000 | Mass |
Winslow | Elizabeth | 50 | . | . | Mass |
Winslow | Catherine | 18 | . | . | Mass |
Winslow | Caroline | 15 | . | . | Mass |
Winslow | Margaret | 13 | . | . | Mass |
illegible | Margaret | 23 | . | . | Ireland |
Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts - June 21, 1860
Surname | Given | Age | Occupation | Value of Real Estate | Born |
Winslow | Elizabeth | 60 | . | 20,000 | Massachusetts |
Winslow | Catherine E. | 26 | . | . | Massachusetts |
Hall | Caroline B. | 24 | . | . | Massachusetts |
Winslow | M. G. | 22 | . | . | Massachusetts |
Hall | John R. | 33 | Architect | . | Massachusetts |
Evans | John | 16 | Laborer | . | Massachusetts |
Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts - July 13, 1870
Surname | Given | Age | Occupation | Place Born |
Hall | John R. | 38 | Architect | Massachusetts |
Hall | Caroline | 37 | Keeping House | Massachusetts |
Hall | Caroline | 10 | Attending School | Massachusetts |
Farley | Catherine | 45 | Domestic Servant | Ireland |
58 Linwood Street, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts - June 9, 1880
Surname | Given | Age | Occupation | Born | Father Born | Mother Born |
Hall | John L. | 52 | Architect | Massachusetts | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
Hall | Caroline W. | 41 | . | Massachusetts | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
Hall | Caroline W. | 20 | . | Massachusetts | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
Gariety | Mary | 28 | servant | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland |
56 Linwood Street, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts - June 13, 1900
Surname | Given | Relation | Birthdate | Years Married | Kids | Born | Father Born | Mother Born | Imm | Occupation |
Hall | John R. | Head | May 1834 | 40 | . | Massachusetts | England | Massachusetts | . | Architect |
Hall | Caroline W. | Wife | Feb 1842 | 40 | 1 | Massachusetts | Massachusetts | Massachusetts | . | . |
O'Connor | Abbie A. | servant | April 1879 | . | . | Ireland | Ireland | Ireland | 1898 | servant |
26 Centre Street, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts - April 20, 1910
Surname | Given | Relation | Age | Status | Kids | Born | Father born | Mother born | Occupation |
Hall | John R. | Head | 83 | Widow | . | Mass | England | Mass | Own Income |
Hall | Helen P. | Sister-in-law | 68 | Widow | 2, 1 living | Maine | Maine | Maine | Teacher, public school |
Hall | Albert B. | Nephew | 42 | single | . | Massachusetts | Massachusetts | Maine | Architect |
Stewart | Emma C. | Servant | 39 | single | . | English Canada | English Canada | English Canada | Servant, private family |
Campebll | Mary A. | Servant | 55 | Widow | 2, 1 living | English Canada | English Canada | English Canada | Nurse, private family |