One of the earliest mentions in Maryland of someone we could see as trans is that of George Wilson, arrested in 1838 in Baltimore for trying to sell a stolen horse. At first, everything seemed routine—until authorities discovered George was trans during a jailhouse inspection.

George wasn’t shy about who he was. He told jailers that he worked on canals and as a sailor since leaving his native England. When placed in the women’s jail, he insisted on being called George Wilson, refusing to answer to any other name. Maryland Penitentiary records reflected this, listing a prisoner named “George Wilson (a female).”

Prison authorities didn’t know what to do with George. He refused “women’s work” and shrugged off punishments. He was something of a paradox to them: he was too “hardened” to treat like other women, but they hesitated to punish him like a man, because, in their eyes, he wasn’t one. Frustrated and concerned he was a bad influence on female prisoners, they eventually petitioned the governor to pardon George on one condition: he had to leave Maryland and return to England, never to return.

The governor agreed, and George was released—with a ship ticket and money for new clothes. But George had other plans. According to the Baltimore Sun, he ditched the ship, bought a fresh suit, and disappeared. The paper speculated he either bought or stole a horse and rode off for his next adventure.

They may have been right. A year later, the Sun reported a story from Kentucky about a trans male horse thief whose description matched George’s.