Peter Sewally, better known by the alias Mary Jones, was born on December 12, 1803, in New York City according to court records.  We do not know much about Jone’s life, but what we do know is that she was a person of color, and it is likely that she born free. Jones claimed to have lived in New Orleans at one point. Jones also claimed to have served in the military at some point. Most of what is known about Jones comes from her frequent arrests and trials in New York City. The first of these trials occurred on June 16, 1836. A few nights previous to the trial, Jones was solicited for sex by a stone mason  called Robert Haslem. After their encounter, Haslem claimed that Jones had stolen his wallet and replaced it with that of another man. Haslem tracked down the owner of the other wallet and convinced him to admit to his run in with Jones, and from there the two men went to the police to report the thief. Mary Jones was tracked down by the two men and the police. It was during her arrest that Jone’s genitalia were exposed. Jones’ trial and conviction were set the next day. Made to wear the dress that she was apprehended in, Mary Jone was mocked and ridiculed during the duration of her trial, in which she pleaded her innocence. Jones was sentenced to five years of imprisonment for grand larceny. Following the trial, a lithographic portrait of Mary Jones began to circulate amongst the press, dubbing her the “Man Monster.” The sensation around the Mary Jones case had less to do with what she did, and more on how she did it. One article claimed that Mary Jones placed a slab of meat strategically between her legs, which earned her the moniker amongst the press as “Beefsteak Pete.” Jones had frequent troubles with the law thereafter until records of her vanished around 1858. She is considered by some to be one of the first recorded transgender people in New York history. For more on Mary Jones, read Peter Sewally/Mary Jones, June 11, 1836, by Jonathan Ned Katz and Tavia Nyong'o.