Mrs. Lucy B. Johnston and Mrs. Mary V. Humphreys are members of the State Traveling Library Commission, Mrs. Diggs, as State Librarian, being president.
Since the very first time that women voted they have been clerks of elections, and in some instances, judges.
Several small towns have put the entire local government into the hands of women. From 1887 to 1894 there had been about fifty women aldermen, five police judges, one city attorney, several city clerks and treasurers, and numerous clerks and treasurers of school boards. In 1896 a report from about half the counties showed twenty women county superintendents of schools,and 554 serving on school boards. They are frequently made president or secretary of the board.
Women have been candidates for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, but none has been elected.
A number of women within the past few years have been elected county treasurers, recorders, registers and clerks. They serve as notaries public. Probably one-third of the county offices have women deputies.
The record for 1900, as far as it could be obtained, showed the women in office to be one clerk of the district court, two county clerks, seven registrars of deeds and twenty-seven county superintendents of schools. This list is far from complete.
About twenty-five women have been elected to the office of mayor in the smaller towns of Kansas. In several instances the entire board of aldermen have been women. The business record of these women has been invariably good and their industrious efforts to improve sanitation, schools, sidewalks, and to advance the other interests of their town, have been generously seconded and aided by the men of their community. Among the most prominent of the women mayors were Mrs. Mary D. Lowman of Oskaloosa, Mrs. Minnie D. Morgan of Cottonwood Falls, and Mrs. Antoinette Haskell of Gaylord. Mrs. Lowman, the second woman to be elected, conducted a great work in improving the conditions of the municipality, morally and physically. She held her office two terms with entire boards of women aldermen, and refused to serve a third term, saying that she and her boards had accomplished the work they set out to do. They retired with much honor and esteem, having made a creditable amount of street improvements and left the treasury with more money than they found in it. Mrs. Morgan is editor with her husband of a Republican newspaper, an officer in the Woman's State Press Association and holds high official position in the Woman's Relief Corps. Mrs. Haskell is the wife of a prominent lawyer and politician. She held the office of mayor for two terms and the last time her entire board of aldermen were women. Her administration of municipal affairs was so satisfactory that she was besought to accept a third term but declined.
Occupations:The constitution of the State, framed in 1859, opened every occupation to women.
Education:This first constitution also required the admission of women to all the State educational institutions and gave them a place on the faculties. As early as 1882 one-half of the faculty of the State University was composed of women. This university, the State Agricultural College and the State Normal College average an equal number of men and women graduates. Women hold places on the faculties of all these institutions.
In the public schools there are 5,380 men and 7,133 women teachers. The average monthly salary of the men is $39; of the women, $32.
Suffrage:The constitution for Statehood, framed in 1859, provided that all women over 21 should vote at all School District meetings the same as men, the first one to contain such a provision. This excluded all women in first and second class cities in after years, as their school affairs are not managed through district meetings. When a test case was made it was decided by the Supreme Court that no women could legally vote for State or county superintendents, but only for trustees. (5th Kansas, p. 227.) Both the constitution and the statutes are confused as to the qualifications of those who may vote for various county and township officers but women never have been permitted to do so.
In 1887 the Legislature granted Municipal Suffrage to women. The law is as follows:
In any election hereafter held in any city of the first, second or third class, for the election of city or school officers, or for the purpose of authorizing the issuance of any bonds for school purposes, the right of any citizen to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex; and women may vote at such elections the same as men, under like restrictions and qualifications; and any women possessing the qualifications of a voter under this act shall also be eligible to any such city or school office.
In any election hereafter held in any city of the first, second or third class, for the election of city or school officers, or for the purpose of authorizing the issuance of any bonds for school purposes, the right of any citizen to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex; and women may vote at such elections the same as men, under like restrictions and qualifications; and any women possessing the qualifications of a voter under this act shall also be eligible to any such city or school office.
This law includes women in all of the villages, as these are known as "third class cities." Women in country districts, however, continue to have only a limited School Suffrage. It does not give women a vote on any questions of taxation which are submitted to the electors except for school purposes.
Nevertheless this was an advanced step which attracted the attention of the entire country. While in Wyoming women had Full Suffrage, it was a sparsely settled Territory, with few newspapers and far removed from centers of political activity. Kansas was a battle-ground for politics, and great interest was felt in the new forces which had been called into action. From the first women very extensively took advantage of their new privilege. It was granted February 15 and the next municipal election took place April 5, so there were only a few weeks in which to accustom them to the new idea, make them acquainted with the issues, settle the disputed points and give them a chance to register. The question was at once raised whether they could vote for justices of the peace and constables, and at a late hour Attorney-General S. B. Bradford gave his opinion that they could not do so, as these are township officers. This made separate ballot-boxes necessary and in many places these were not provided, so there was considerable misunderstanding and confusion. On election day a wind storm of unusual violence, even for that section of the country, raged all day. Through the influence of the Liquor Dealers' Association, which had used every possible effort to defeat the suffrage bill, reporters were sent by a number of large papers in different cities, especially St. Louis, with orders to ridicule the voting of the women and minimize its effects. As a result the Eastern press was soon flooded with sensational and false reports.
An official and carefully prepared report of 112 pages was issued by Judge Francis G. Adams, secretary of the Kansas State Historical Association, and Prof. William H. Carruth of the State University, giving the official returns from 253 cities. The total vote was 105,216; vote of men, 76,629; of women, 28,587. In a few of the very small cities there were no women's votes. In many of the second-class cities more than one-half as many women as men voted. In Leavenworth, 3,967 ballots were cast by men, and 2,467 by women; in Lawrence, 1,437 by men, 1,050 by women. In Kansas City, Topeka and Fort Scott about one-fourth as many women as men voted. In these estimates it must be taken into consideration that there were many more men thanwomen in the State. In 1890, three years later, the census report showed the excess of males to be about 100,000.
The pamphlet referred to contained 100 pages of extracts from the press of Kansas on the voting of women, and stated that these represented but a fraction of the comment. They varied as much as the individual opinions of men, some welcoming the new voters, some ridiculing and abusing, others referring to the movement as a foolish fad which would soon be dropped. The Republican and Prohibitionist papers almost universally paid the highest tribute to the influence of women on the election and assured them of every possible support in the future. The Democratic papers, with but few exceptions, scoffed at them and condemned woman suffrage. The immense majority of opinion was in favor of the new regime and was an unimpeachable answer to the objections and misrepresentations which found place in the press of all other parts of the country.
The interest of Kansas women in their political rights never has abated. The proportion of their vote varies in about the same ratio as that of men. Upon occasions when the character of candidates or the importance of the issue commands especial attention a great many go to the polls. Their chief interest, however, centers in questions which bear directly upon the education and welfare of their children, the environment of their homes and those of kindred nature. When issues involving these are presented they vote in large numbers.
There is always a larger municipal vote in the uneven years when mayors are to be elected, and therefore a comparison is made in five prominent cities between the vote of 1887 and that of 1901 to show that in the fourteen years the interest of women in the suffrage has increased instead of diminished.
Town.Year.Man-Vote.Woman-Vote.Kansas City18873,9561,042Kansas City19018,9004,582Topeka18874,5801,049Topeka19017,3385,335Fort Scott18871,273425Fort Scott19011,9691,270Leavenworth18873,9672,467Leavenworth19015,5903,018Wichita18873,3122,984Wichita1901..........
It was impossible to obtain the vote of Wichita in 1901 but the registration was 6,546 men, 4,040 women, and out of these 10,586, there were 8,960 who voted. One of the most prominent lawyers in Wichita writes of this election: "The women fully maintained the ratio of the registration. The vote was small on account of inclement weather but I am sure that it kept away more men than women."
At one election it is recorded the vote of women exceeded that of men in one second-class and three third-class cities. In one instance all but two of the women of Cimarron cast their ballots. In Lincoln for several years women have polled 46 per cent. of the entire vote. The percentage of males in the State by the census of 1900 was 52.3.
The question frequently is asked why, with the ballot in their hands, women do not compel the enforcement of the prohibitory law, as it is generally supposed that Municipal Suffrage carries with it the right to vote for all city officials. The same year that women were enfranchised, the Legislature, for whom women do not vote, passed a law authorizing the Governor, for whom women do not vote, to appoint a Board of Police Commissioners for each city of the first class, with power to appoint the police judge, city marshal and police, and have absolute control of the organization, government and discipline of the police force and of all station-houses, city prisons, etc. Temperance men and women strongly urged this measure as they believed the Governor would have stamina enough to select commissioners who would enforce the prohibitory law. This board was abolished at the special session of the Legislature in 1897, as it was made a scapegoat for city and county officers who were too cowardly or too unfriendly to enforce the liquor ordinances, and it did not effect the hoped-for reforms.
In 1898 City Courts were established. By uniting the townships with cities and giving these courts jurisdiction over State and county cases, to relieve the congested condition of State courts, women are deprived of a vote for their officers. The exercise of the Municipal Franchise at present is as follows:
MEN VOTE FORMayor,Councilmen,School Board,City Attorney,City Treasurer,City Clerk,Judge of City Court,Clerk of City Court,Marshal of City Court,Two Justices of the Peace,Two Constables.WOMEN VOTE FORMayor,Councilmen,School Board,City Attorney,City Treasurer,City Clerk.APPOINTED BY MAYORPolice Judge,City Marshal,Chief of Police.
In cities of less than 30,000 the Police Judge is elected and women may vote for this officer. In the smallest places the City Marshal is also Chief of Police.
It will be seen that even for the Police Court in the largest cities women have only an indirect vote through the Mayor's appointments. In all the cities and towns liquor sellers when convicted here simply take an appeal to a higher court over which women have no jurisdiction. They have no vote for sheriff, county attorney or any county officer. These facts may in a measure answer the question why women are helpless to enforce the prohibitory law or any other to which they are opposed.
Nevertheless even this small amount of suffrage has been of much benefit to the women and to the cities. As the years go by the general average of the woman-vote is larger. Municipal voting has developed a stronger sense of civic responsibility among women; it has completely demolished the old stock objections and has familiarized men with the presence of women at the polls. Without question a higher level in the conduct of city affairs has resulted. It may, however, well be questioned as to whether Municipal Suffrage has not militated against the full enfranchisement of women. Politicians have been annoyed by interference with their schemes. Men have learned that women command influence in politics, and the party machine has become hostile to further extension of woman's opportunity and power to demand cleaner morals and nobler standards.[277]
Judge S. S. King, Commissioner of Elections at Kansas City, has given the suffrage question much thought, and he has gleaned from the figures of his official records some interesting facts. Alluding to the mooted question of what class of women vote he says:
The opponents of woman suffrage insist that the lower classes freely exercise the franchise, while the higher classes generally refrain from voting. As women in registering usually give their vocation as "housekeeper" it is impossible to learn from that record what particular ledge of the social strata they stand upon, therefore, in order to locate them as to trades, business, etc., I give them the positions occupied by their husbands and fathers. I take the 17th voting precinct of Kansas City as a typical one. It is about an average in voting population of white and colored men and women and in the diversified industries. The 149 white women who registered in this precinct, as indicated by the vocations of their husbands, fathers, etc., would be classified thus:The trades (all classes of skilled labor), 32; the professions, 26; merchants (all manner of dealers), 16; laborers (unskilled), 15; clerks, 10; public officers, 8; bankers and brokers, 7; railroad employes, 7; salesmen, 5; contractors, 2; foremen, 2; paymaster, 1; unclassified, 16. Thus, if the opponents of woman suffrage use the term "lower classes" according to some ill-defined rule of élite society, the example given above would be a complete refutation. If by "lower classes" they mean the immoral and dissolute, the refutation appears to be still more complete, for the woman electorate in the 17th precinct is particularly free from those elements.
The opponents of woman suffrage insist that the lower classes freely exercise the franchise, while the higher classes generally refrain from voting. As women in registering usually give their vocation as "housekeeper" it is impossible to learn from that record what particular ledge of the social strata they stand upon, therefore, in order to locate them as to trades, business, etc., I give them the positions occupied by their husbands and fathers. I take the 17th voting precinct of Kansas City as a typical one. It is about an average in voting population of white and colored men and women and in the diversified industries. The 149 white women who registered in this precinct, as indicated by the vocations of their husbands, fathers, etc., would be classified thus:
The trades (all classes of skilled labor), 32; the professions, 26; merchants (all manner of dealers), 16; laborers (unskilled), 15; clerks, 10; public officers, 8; bankers and brokers, 7; railroad employes, 7; salesmen, 5; contractors, 2; foremen, 2; paymaster, 1; unclassified, 16. Thus, if the opponents of woman suffrage use the term "lower classes" according to some ill-defined rule of élite society, the example given above would be a complete refutation. If by "lower classes" they mean the immoral and dissolute, the refutation appears to be still more complete, for the woman electorate in the 17th precinct is particularly free from those elements.
It is extremely rare to find a prominent man in Kansas, except certain politicians, who openly opposes woman suffrage. With a very few exceptions the most eminent cordially advocate it, including a large number of ministers, lawyers and editors. It would require a chapter simply to catalogue the names of well-known men and women who are heartily in favor of it. Had Kansas men voted their convictions, Kansas women would long since have been enfranchised, but political partisanship has been stronger than the sense of justice.
FOOTNOTES:[263]The History is indebted for this chapter principally to Mrs. Annie L. Diggs of Topeka, State Librarian and former president of the State Woman Suffrage Association. The editors are also under obligations to Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Salina and Mrs. Anna C. Wait of Lincoln, former presidents.[264]SeeHistory of Woman Suffrage, Vol. I, p. 191.[265]SeeHistory of Woman Suffrage, Vol. III, Chap. L.[266]At this meeting, on motion of Mrs. Johns, the yellow ribbon was adopted as the suffrage badge, in honor of the sunflower, the State flower of Kansas, the one which follows the wheel track and the plough, as woman's enfranchisement should follow civilization. It was afterwards adopted by the National Association in recognition of Kansas, then the most progressive State in regard to women. Those of a classical bent accepted it because yellow among the ancients signified wisdom.[267]Secretary, May Belleville Brown; treasurer, Elizabeth F. Hopkins; Mrs. S. A. Thurston, Mrs. L. B. Smith, Alma B. Stryker, Eliza McLallin, Bina A. Otis, Helen L. Kimber, Sallie F. Toler, Annie L. Diggs; from the National Association, Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the organization committee, Rachel Foster Avery and Alice Stone Blackwell, corresponding and recording secretaries.[268]Now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas.[269]Of Mrs. Diggs' speech Mrs. Johns writes: "It was one of the most masterly arguments I ever heard. At one point she said: 'The great majority of you declare that woman suffrage is right, (a roar of 'yes,' 'yes,' went up), and yet you oppose this plank. Are you afraid to do right?' Her reply to the flimsy objections of the chairman, P. P. Elder, was simply unanswerable. She cut the ground from under his feet, and his confusion and rout were so complete that he stood utterly confounded. That small woman with her truth and eloquence had slain the Goliath of the opposition!"[270]The following speakers and organizers were placed at fairs, Chautauqua assemblies, picnics, teachers' institutes and in distinctive suffrage meetings: James Clement Ambrose (Ills.), Theresa Jenkins (Wyo.), Elizabeth Upham Yates (Me.), Clara C. Hoffman (Mo.); Mrs. Johns, J. B. Johns, the Revs. Eugenia and C. H. St. John, Mary G. Haines, Luella R. Kraybill, Helen L. Kimber, Laura A. Gregg, Lizzie E. Smith, Ella W. Brown, Naomi Anderson, Eva Corning, Ella Bartlett, Alma B. Stryker, Olive I. Royce, Caroline L. Denton, Mrs. Diggs, May Belleville Brown, J. Willis Gleed, Thomas L. Bond, the Rev. Granville Lowther, Prof. W. H. Carruth and Mayor Harrison of Topeka.During the autumn Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe (Ills.), and Mrs. Julia B. Nelson (Minn.), made addresses for one month; Mrs. Rachel L. Child (Ia.) spoke and organized for two months.[271]Returns were received from 71 out of the 105 counties, covering 714 of the 2,100 voting precincts. These returns were carefully tabulated by Mrs. Thurston, acting secretary of the amendment campaign committee. The result showed that of Republicansvoting on the proposition, 38½ per cent. votedfor; of Populists, 54 per cent.; of Democrats, 14 per cent.; of Prohibitionists, 88 per cent.Of the entire vote of the Republican party for its ticket, 22 per cent. were silent on the amendment; of the entire vote of the People's party, 22 per cent.; of the Democratic, 28 per cent.; of the Prohibition, 24 per cent.[272]Others who have held official position are vice-presidents, Mesdames J.K. Hudson, Sallie F. Toler, Noble L. Prentis, Abbie A. Welch, Fannie Bobbet and Emma Troudner; corresponding secretaries, Mrs. Priscilla Finley, Miss Sarah A. Brown, Dr. Nannie Stephens, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Hopkins, Mrs. Ray Mclntyre, Mrs. B.B. Baird, Mrs. Alice G. Young; recording secretaries, Dr. Addie Kester, Mrs. Alice G. Bond, Prof. William H. Carruth, Mrs. M.M. Bowman, Mrs. Emma S. Albright, Miss Matie Toothaker; treasurers, Mrs. Martia L. Berry, Dr. C.E. Tiffany, Mrs. Lucia O. Case, Mrs. Henrietta Stoddard Turner; auditors, Mrs. Emma S. Marshall, Mrs. S.A. Thurston; parliamentarians, Mesdames Ella W. Brown, Bina A. Otis, Luella R. Kraybill, Antoinette L. Haskell; librarians, Mrs. May Belleville Brown, Dr. Emily Newcomb; State organizer, Miss Jennie Newby; superintendent press work, Mrs. Nannie K. Garrett.A number of these filled various offices and some of them bore the brunt of the work continuously for years. Other names which appear frequently are J. K. Hudson, editor TopekaCapital, Dr. Sarah C. Hall, Mesdames M. E. De Geer, M. S. Woods, E. D. Garlick, E. A. Elder, L. B. Kellogg, Jennie Robb Maher, Miss Emma Harriman, the Rev. W. A. Simkins, Judge Nathan Cree, Walter S. Wait, Sarah W. Rush, Dr. J. E. Spaulding, Dr. F. M. W. Jackson, Henrietta B. Wall, Mrs. Lucy B. Johnston, Miss Genevieve L. Hawley.[273]Miss Susan B. Anthony was in the National Convention at Washington and this news was telegraphed her as a birthday greeting.[274]Among the most influential workers for this bill during the three sessions of the Legislature, in addition to those mentioned, were Thomas L. Bond; Mesdames Bertha H. Ellsworth, Hetta P. Mansfield, Martia L. Berry, S. A. Thurston and Henrietta B. Wall; Misses Jennie Newby, Olive P. Bray and Amanda Way.[275]Mrs. Johns says of this occasion: "If we had ever had any doubt that even our small moiety of the suffrage would strengthen our influence for righteousness, the effect of our protest at this time and the attitude of the politicians toward us would have dispelled that doubt. We felt our power and it was a new thrill which we experienced."[276]Among these were the following:The relations of man and wife "are one and inseparable" as to the good to be derived from or the evil to be suffered by laws imposed, and the addition of woman suffrage will not better their condition, but is fraught with danger and evil to both sexes and the well-being of society.This privilege conferred will bring to every primary, caucus and election—to our jury rooms, the bench and the Legislature—the ambitious and designing women only, to engage in all the tricks, intrigues and cunning incident to corrupt political campaigns, only to lower the moral standing of their sex; it invites and creates jealousies and scandals and jeopardizes their high moral standing; hurls women out from their central orb fixed by their Creator to an external place in the order of things. Promiscuous mingling with the rude and unscrupulous element around earnest and exciting elections tends to a familiarity that breeds contempt for the fair sex deeply to be deplored.The demand for female suffrage is largely confined to the ambitious office-seeking class, possessing an insatiable desire for the forum, and when allowed will unfit this class for all the duties of domestic life and transform them into politicians, and dangerous ones at that.When the laws of nature shall so change the female organization as to make it possible for them to sing "bass" we shall then be quite willing for such a bill to become a law.It is a grave mistake, an injury to both sexes and the party, to add another "ism" to our political creed.Republican—A. H. Heber, W. R. Hopkins, F. W. Willard, J. Showalter.Democrat—J. O. Milner, G. M. Hoover, T. C. Craig, F. M. Gable.Populist—Robt. B. Leedy, J. L. Andrews, Wellington Doty, B. F. Morris,Levi Dumbauld, C. W. Dickson, Geo. E. Smith of Neosho.[277]In 1901, in Topeka, a candidate for the mayoralty, supposed to represent the liquor element, speaking on the afternoon of election day—bleak, dismal and shoe-top deep in snow and mud—said: "I will lose 1,000 votes on account of the weather as the women are out and they are opposed to me. It is impossible to keep them from voting."
[263]The History is indebted for this chapter principally to Mrs. Annie L. Diggs of Topeka, State Librarian and former president of the State Woman Suffrage Association. The editors are also under obligations to Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Salina and Mrs. Anna C. Wait of Lincoln, former presidents.
[263]The History is indebted for this chapter principally to Mrs. Annie L. Diggs of Topeka, State Librarian and former president of the State Woman Suffrage Association. The editors are also under obligations to Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Salina and Mrs. Anna C. Wait of Lincoln, former presidents.
[264]SeeHistory of Woman Suffrage, Vol. I, p. 191.
[264]SeeHistory of Woman Suffrage, Vol. I, p. 191.
[265]SeeHistory of Woman Suffrage, Vol. III, Chap. L.
[265]SeeHistory of Woman Suffrage, Vol. III, Chap. L.
[266]At this meeting, on motion of Mrs. Johns, the yellow ribbon was adopted as the suffrage badge, in honor of the sunflower, the State flower of Kansas, the one which follows the wheel track and the plough, as woman's enfranchisement should follow civilization. It was afterwards adopted by the National Association in recognition of Kansas, then the most progressive State in regard to women. Those of a classical bent accepted it because yellow among the ancients signified wisdom.
[266]At this meeting, on motion of Mrs. Johns, the yellow ribbon was adopted as the suffrage badge, in honor of the sunflower, the State flower of Kansas, the one which follows the wheel track and the plough, as woman's enfranchisement should follow civilization. It was afterwards adopted by the National Association in recognition of Kansas, then the most progressive State in regard to women. Those of a classical bent accepted it because yellow among the ancients signified wisdom.
[267]Secretary, May Belleville Brown; treasurer, Elizabeth F. Hopkins; Mrs. S. A. Thurston, Mrs. L. B. Smith, Alma B. Stryker, Eliza McLallin, Bina A. Otis, Helen L. Kimber, Sallie F. Toler, Annie L. Diggs; from the National Association, Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the organization committee, Rachel Foster Avery and Alice Stone Blackwell, corresponding and recording secretaries.
[267]Secretary, May Belleville Brown; treasurer, Elizabeth F. Hopkins; Mrs. S. A. Thurston, Mrs. L. B. Smith, Alma B. Stryker, Eliza McLallin, Bina A. Otis, Helen L. Kimber, Sallie F. Toler, Annie L. Diggs; from the National Association, Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the organization committee, Rachel Foster Avery and Alice Stone Blackwell, corresponding and recording secretaries.
[268]Now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas.
[268]Now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas.
[269]Of Mrs. Diggs' speech Mrs. Johns writes: "It was one of the most masterly arguments I ever heard. At one point she said: 'The great majority of you declare that woman suffrage is right, (a roar of 'yes,' 'yes,' went up), and yet you oppose this plank. Are you afraid to do right?' Her reply to the flimsy objections of the chairman, P. P. Elder, was simply unanswerable. She cut the ground from under his feet, and his confusion and rout were so complete that he stood utterly confounded. That small woman with her truth and eloquence had slain the Goliath of the opposition!"
[269]Of Mrs. Diggs' speech Mrs. Johns writes: "It was one of the most masterly arguments I ever heard. At one point she said: 'The great majority of you declare that woman suffrage is right, (a roar of 'yes,' 'yes,' went up), and yet you oppose this plank. Are you afraid to do right?' Her reply to the flimsy objections of the chairman, P. P. Elder, was simply unanswerable. She cut the ground from under his feet, and his confusion and rout were so complete that he stood utterly confounded. That small woman with her truth and eloquence had slain the Goliath of the opposition!"
[270]The following speakers and organizers were placed at fairs, Chautauqua assemblies, picnics, teachers' institutes and in distinctive suffrage meetings: James Clement Ambrose (Ills.), Theresa Jenkins (Wyo.), Elizabeth Upham Yates (Me.), Clara C. Hoffman (Mo.); Mrs. Johns, J. B. Johns, the Revs. Eugenia and C. H. St. John, Mary G. Haines, Luella R. Kraybill, Helen L. Kimber, Laura A. Gregg, Lizzie E. Smith, Ella W. Brown, Naomi Anderson, Eva Corning, Ella Bartlett, Alma B. Stryker, Olive I. Royce, Caroline L. Denton, Mrs. Diggs, May Belleville Brown, J. Willis Gleed, Thomas L. Bond, the Rev. Granville Lowther, Prof. W. H. Carruth and Mayor Harrison of Topeka.During the autumn Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe (Ills.), and Mrs. Julia B. Nelson (Minn.), made addresses for one month; Mrs. Rachel L. Child (Ia.) spoke and organized for two months.
[270]The following speakers and organizers were placed at fairs, Chautauqua assemblies, picnics, teachers' institutes and in distinctive suffrage meetings: James Clement Ambrose (Ills.), Theresa Jenkins (Wyo.), Elizabeth Upham Yates (Me.), Clara C. Hoffman (Mo.); Mrs. Johns, J. B. Johns, the Revs. Eugenia and C. H. St. John, Mary G. Haines, Luella R. Kraybill, Helen L. Kimber, Laura A. Gregg, Lizzie E. Smith, Ella W. Brown, Naomi Anderson, Eva Corning, Ella Bartlett, Alma B. Stryker, Olive I. Royce, Caroline L. Denton, Mrs. Diggs, May Belleville Brown, J. Willis Gleed, Thomas L. Bond, the Rev. Granville Lowther, Prof. W. H. Carruth and Mayor Harrison of Topeka.
During the autumn Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe (Ills.), and Mrs. Julia B. Nelson (Minn.), made addresses for one month; Mrs. Rachel L. Child (Ia.) spoke and organized for two months.
[271]Returns were received from 71 out of the 105 counties, covering 714 of the 2,100 voting precincts. These returns were carefully tabulated by Mrs. Thurston, acting secretary of the amendment campaign committee. The result showed that of Republicansvoting on the proposition, 38½ per cent. votedfor; of Populists, 54 per cent.; of Democrats, 14 per cent.; of Prohibitionists, 88 per cent.Of the entire vote of the Republican party for its ticket, 22 per cent. were silent on the amendment; of the entire vote of the People's party, 22 per cent.; of the Democratic, 28 per cent.; of the Prohibition, 24 per cent.
[271]Returns were received from 71 out of the 105 counties, covering 714 of the 2,100 voting precincts. These returns were carefully tabulated by Mrs. Thurston, acting secretary of the amendment campaign committee. The result showed that of Republicansvoting on the proposition, 38½ per cent. votedfor; of Populists, 54 per cent.; of Democrats, 14 per cent.; of Prohibitionists, 88 per cent.
Of the entire vote of the Republican party for its ticket, 22 per cent. were silent on the amendment; of the entire vote of the People's party, 22 per cent.; of the Democratic, 28 per cent.; of the Prohibition, 24 per cent.
[272]Others who have held official position are vice-presidents, Mesdames J.K. Hudson, Sallie F. Toler, Noble L. Prentis, Abbie A. Welch, Fannie Bobbet and Emma Troudner; corresponding secretaries, Mrs. Priscilla Finley, Miss Sarah A. Brown, Dr. Nannie Stephens, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Hopkins, Mrs. Ray Mclntyre, Mrs. B.B. Baird, Mrs. Alice G. Young; recording secretaries, Dr. Addie Kester, Mrs. Alice G. Bond, Prof. William H. Carruth, Mrs. M.M. Bowman, Mrs. Emma S. Albright, Miss Matie Toothaker; treasurers, Mrs. Martia L. Berry, Dr. C.E. Tiffany, Mrs. Lucia O. Case, Mrs. Henrietta Stoddard Turner; auditors, Mrs. Emma S. Marshall, Mrs. S.A. Thurston; parliamentarians, Mesdames Ella W. Brown, Bina A. Otis, Luella R. Kraybill, Antoinette L. Haskell; librarians, Mrs. May Belleville Brown, Dr. Emily Newcomb; State organizer, Miss Jennie Newby; superintendent press work, Mrs. Nannie K. Garrett.A number of these filled various offices and some of them bore the brunt of the work continuously for years. Other names which appear frequently are J. K. Hudson, editor TopekaCapital, Dr. Sarah C. Hall, Mesdames M. E. De Geer, M. S. Woods, E. D. Garlick, E. A. Elder, L. B. Kellogg, Jennie Robb Maher, Miss Emma Harriman, the Rev. W. A. Simkins, Judge Nathan Cree, Walter S. Wait, Sarah W. Rush, Dr. J. E. Spaulding, Dr. F. M. W. Jackson, Henrietta B. Wall, Mrs. Lucy B. Johnston, Miss Genevieve L. Hawley.
[272]Others who have held official position are vice-presidents, Mesdames J.K. Hudson, Sallie F. Toler, Noble L. Prentis, Abbie A. Welch, Fannie Bobbet and Emma Troudner; corresponding secretaries, Mrs. Priscilla Finley, Miss Sarah A. Brown, Dr. Nannie Stephens, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Hopkins, Mrs. Ray Mclntyre, Mrs. B.B. Baird, Mrs. Alice G. Young; recording secretaries, Dr. Addie Kester, Mrs. Alice G. Bond, Prof. William H. Carruth, Mrs. M.M. Bowman, Mrs. Emma S. Albright, Miss Matie Toothaker; treasurers, Mrs. Martia L. Berry, Dr. C.E. Tiffany, Mrs. Lucia O. Case, Mrs. Henrietta Stoddard Turner; auditors, Mrs. Emma S. Marshall, Mrs. S.A. Thurston; parliamentarians, Mesdames Ella W. Brown, Bina A. Otis, Luella R. Kraybill, Antoinette L. Haskell; librarians, Mrs. May Belleville Brown, Dr. Emily Newcomb; State organizer, Miss Jennie Newby; superintendent press work, Mrs. Nannie K. Garrett.
A number of these filled various offices and some of them bore the brunt of the work continuously for years. Other names which appear frequently are J. K. Hudson, editor TopekaCapital, Dr. Sarah C. Hall, Mesdames M. E. De Geer, M. S. Woods, E. D. Garlick, E. A. Elder, L. B. Kellogg, Jennie Robb Maher, Miss Emma Harriman, the Rev. W. A. Simkins, Judge Nathan Cree, Walter S. Wait, Sarah W. Rush, Dr. J. E. Spaulding, Dr. F. M. W. Jackson, Henrietta B. Wall, Mrs. Lucy B. Johnston, Miss Genevieve L. Hawley.
[273]Miss Susan B. Anthony was in the National Convention at Washington and this news was telegraphed her as a birthday greeting.
[273]Miss Susan B. Anthony was in the National Convention at Washington and this news was telegraphed her as a birthday greeting.
[274]Among the most influential workers for this bill during the three sessions of the Legislature, in addition to those mentioned, were Thomas L. Bond; Mesdames Bertha H. Ellsworth, Hetta P. Mansfield, Martia L. Berry, S. A. Thurston and Henrietta B. Wall; Misses Jennie Newby, Olive P. Bray and Amanda Way.
[274]Among the most influential workers for this bill during the three sessions of the Legislature, in addition to those mentioned, were Thomas L. Bond; Mesdames Bertha H. Ellsworth, Hetta P. Mansfield, Martia L. Berry, S. A. Thurston and Henrietta B. Wall; Misses Jennie Newby, Olive P. Bray and Amanda Way.
[275]Mrs. Johns says of this occasion: "If we had ever had any doubt that even our small moiety of the suffrage would strengthen our influence for righteousness, the effect of our protest at this time and the attitude of the politicians toward us would have dispelled that doubt. We felt our power and it was a new thrill which we experienced."
[275]Mrs. Johns says of this occasion: "If we had ever had any doubt that even our small moiety of the suffrage would strengthen our influence for righteousness, the effect of our protest at this time and the attitude of the politicians toward us would have dispelled that doubt. We felt our power and it was a new thrill which we experienced."
[276]Among these were the following:The relations of man and wife "are one and inseparable" as to the good to be derived from or the evil to be suffered by laws imposed, and the addition of woman suffrage will not better their condition, but is fraught with danger and evil to both sexes and the well-being of society.This privilege conferred will bring to every primary, caucus and election—to our jury rooms, the bench and the Legislature—the ambitious and designing women only, to engage in all the tricks, intrigues and cunning incident to corrupt political campaigns, only to lower the moral standing of their sex; it invites and creates jealousies and scandals and jeopardizes their high moral standing; hurls women out from their central orb fixed by their Creator to an external place in the order of things. Promiscuous mingling with the rude and unscrupulous element around earnest and exciting elections tends to a familiarity that breeds contempt for the fair sex deeply to be deplored.The demand for female suffrage is largely confined to the ambitious office-seeking class, possessing an insatiable desire for the forum, and when allowed will unfit this class for all the duties of domestic life and transform them into politicians, and dangerous ones at that.When the laws of nature shall so change the female organization as to make it possible for them to sing "bass" we shall then be quite willing for such a bill to become a law.It is a grave mistake, an injury to both sexes and the party, to add another "ism" to our political creed.Republican—A. H. Heber, W. R. Hopkins, F. W. Willard, J. Showalter.Democrat—J. O. Milner, G. M. Hoover, T. C. Craig, F. M. Gable.Populist—Robt. B. Leedy, J. L. Andrews, Wellington Doty, B. F. Morris,Levi Dumbauld, C. W. Dickson, Geo. E. Smith of Neosho.
[276]Among these were the following:
The relations of man and wife "are one and inseparable" as to the good to be derived from or the evil to be suffered by laws imposed, and the addition of woman suffrage will not better their condition, but is fraught with danger and evil to both sexes and the well-being of society.
This privilege conferred will bring to every primary, caucus and election—to our jury rooms, the bench and the Legislature—the ambitious and designing women only, to engage in all the tricks, intrigues and cunning incident to corrupt political campaigns, only to lower the moral standing of their sex; it invites and creates jealousies and scandals and jeopardizes their high moral standing; hurls women out from their central orb fixed by their Creator to an external place in the order of things. Promiscuous mingling with the rude and unscrupulous element around earnest and exciting elections tends to a familiarity that breeds contempt for the fair sex deeply to be deplored.
The demand for female suffrage is largely confined to the ambitious office-seeking class, possessing an insatiable desire for the forum, and when allowed will unfit this class for all the duties of domestic life and transform them into politicians, and dangerous ones at that.
When the laws of nature shall so change the female organization as to make it possible for them to sing "bass" we shall then be quite willing for such a bill to become a law.
It is a grave mistake, an injury to both sexes and the party, to add another "ism" to our political creed.
Republican—A. H. Heber, W. R. Hopkins, F. W. Willard, J. Showalter.Democrat—J. O. Milner, G. M. Hoover, T. C. Craig, F. M. Gable.Populist—Robt. B. Leedy, J. L. Andrews, Wellington Doty, B. F. Morris,Levi Dumbauld, C. W. Dickson, Geo. E. Smith of Neosho.
[277]In 1901, in Topeka, a candidate for the mayoralty, supposed to represent the liquor element, speaking on the afternoon of election day—bleak, dismal and shoe-top deep in snow and mud—said: "I will lose 1,000 votes on account of the weather as the women are out and they are opposed to me. It is impossible to keep them from voting."
[277]In 1901, in Topeka, a candidate for the mayoralty, supposed to represent the liquor element, speaking on the afternoon of election day—bleak, dismal and shoe-top deep in snow and mud—said: "I will lose 1,000 votes on account of the weather as the women are out and they are opposed to me. It is impossible to keep them from voting."
In October, 1886, the Association for the Advancement of Women held its annual congress in Louisville, and for the first time woman suffrage was admitted to a place on the program. It was advocated by Mrs. Ednah D. Cheney of Massachusetts and Miss Laura Clay.
The subject was much discussed for the next two years and in February, 1888, Mrs. Mary B. Clay, vice-president of the American and of the National Woman Suffrage Associations, called a convention in Frankfort. Delegates from Lexington and Richmond attended, and Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace of Indiana was present by invitation. The Hall of Representatives was granted for two evenings, the General Assembly being in session. On the first Mrs. Wallace delivered an able address and the hall was well filled, principally with members of the Legislature. On the second Mrs. Clay spoke upon the harsh laws in regard to women, and Prof. E. B. Walker on the injustice of the property laws and the advantage of giving women the ballot in municipal affairs. He was followed by Mrs. Sarah Clay Bennett, who argued that women already had a right to the ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. At the conclusion of her address she asked all legislators present who were willing to give the ballot to women to stand. Seven arose and were greeted with loud applause.
When the annual meeting of the American W. S. A. convened in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 20-22, 1888, Miss Laura Clay, member of its executive committee from Kentucky, issued a call to the suffragists of that State to attend this convention for the purpose of organizing a State association. Accordingly delegatesfrom the Fayette and Kenton county societies met and organized the Kentucky Equal Rights Association. The following officers were elected: President, Miss Clay; vice-presidents, Mrs. Ellen Battelle Dietrick, Mrs. Mary B. Clay; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Eugenia B. Farmer; recording secretary, Miss Anna M. Deane; treasurer, Mrs. Isabella H. Shepard.
The second annual convention was held in the court house at Lexington, Nov. 19-21, 1889, with officers and delegates representing seven counties. The evening speakers were Mrs. Clay, Mrs. Josephine K. Henry and Joseph B. Cottrell, D. D. A committee was appointed, Mrs. Henry, chairman, to present the interests of women to the approaching General Assembly and the Constitutional Convention. (See Legislative Action for 1890.)
The next annual meeting took place in Richmond, Dec. 3, 4, 1890. Mrs. Sarah Hardin Sawyer was asked to prepare a tract on co-education, which proved of great assistance in opening the colleges to women. The evening speakers were Mrs. Shepard, Mrs. Henry and the Rev. John G. Fee, the venerable Kentucky Abolitionist.
The fourth convention was held in Louisville, Dec. 8-10, 1891, and was addressed by the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw and the Rev. Dr. C. K. J. Jones.
The fifth annual meeting convened in Richmond, Nov. 9, 10, 1892.[279]Mrs. Lida Calvert Obenchain's paper, "Why a Democratic Woman Wants the Ballot," was afterwards widely circulated as a leaflet. The evening speakers were Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby of Washington, D. C., and Dr. J. Franklin Browne.
The General Assembly of 1892 was in session most of that year and some months in 1893, as there was a vast amount of business to be done in bringing all departments of legislation into harmony with the new constitution. During all this time the State association was busy urging the rights of women; and at its sixth convention, held in Newport, Oct. 17-19, 1893, was able to report that a law had been secured granting a married woman the power to make a will and control her separate property. Among the speakers was the Rev. G. W. Bradford.
The annual meeting took place in Lexington, Oct. 24-26, 1894. The most encouraging successes of any year were reported in the extension of School Suffrage and the passage of the Married Woman's Property Rights Bill. In answer to the petition of the Fayette County society to Mayor Henry T. Duncan and the city council of Lexington to place a woman on the school board, Mrs. Wilbur R. Smith had been appointed. She was the first to hold such a position in Kentucky. Mrs. Farmer gave an address on School Suffrage, with illustrations of registration and voting, which women were to have an opportunity to apply in 1895.[280]
In 1895 Richmond was again selected as the place for the State convention, December 10-12, at which legislative work in the General Assembly of 1896 was carefully planned. (See Legislative Action.)
The convention met in Lexington, Dec. 18, 1896. A committee was appointed to work for complete School Suffrage in the extra session of the General Assembly the next year.[281]
Covington entertained the annual meeting Oct. 14, 15, 1897. Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe of Illinois, a national organizer, was present, being then engaged in a tour through the State. This convention was unusually large and full of encouragement.
The eleventh convention was held in Richmond, Dec. 1, 1898, and the twelfth in Lexington, Dec. 11, 12, 1899. Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee, and Miss Mary G. Hay, secretary, assisted, the former giving addresses both evenings. It was decided to ask the General Assembly to make an appropriation for the establishment of a dormitory for the women students of the State College.
Miss Laura Clay has been president of the State Associationsince it was organized in 1888. Mrs. Ellen Battelle Dietrick was the first vice-president, but removing to Massachusetts the following year, Mrs. Mary Barr Clay, the second vice-president, was elected and has continued in that office. There have been but two other second vice-presidents, the Hon. William Randall Ramsey and Mrs. Mary C. Cramer, and but two corresponding secretaries, Mrs. Eugenia B. Farmer and Mrs. Mary C. Roark. The office of treasurer has been filled continuously by Mrs. Isabella H. Shepard.[282]During all these years H. H. Gratz, editor of the LexingtonGazette, and John W. Sawyer, editor of theSouthern Journal, have been among the most faithful and courageous friends of woman suffrage. The Prohibition papers, almost without exception, have been cordial.
Legislative Action and Laws:During the General Assembly of 1890, a committee of eight from the E. R. A. went to Frankfort to ask legislation on the property rights of women, and for women physicians in the State asylums for the insane. A petition for property rights was presented, signed with 9,000 names. Of these 2,240 were collected by Mrs. S. M. Hubbard. On January 10 appeals were made in Representatives' Hall by Miss Laura Clay for the Women Physicians Bill, and by Mrs. Josephine K. Henry for the Property Rights Bill. The latter had carefully prepared a compendium of the married women's property laws in all the States, which was of incalculable value throughout the years of labor necessary to secure this bill.
The press of the State, with few exceptions, espoused the cause of property rights for women. Seven bills were presented to this General Assembly, among them one drawn and introduced into the Senate by Judge William Lindsay, afterward United States Senator. This secured to married women the enjoyment of their property, gave them the power to make a will and equalized curtesy and dower. Although reported adversely by the committee, it was taken up for discussion and was eloquently defended by Judge Lindsay. It passed the Senate, but, was defeated in theHouse by the opposing members withdrawing and breaking the quorum.[283]A bill introduced by the Hon. William B. Smith, making it obligatory upon employers to pay wages earned by married women to themselves and not their husbands, became a law at this session.
The Constitutional Convention held in 1890-91 was the field of much labor by the State association. In October a committee consisting of Mrs. Henry, Miss Clay, Mrs. Eugenia B. Farmer, Mrs. Isabella H. Shepard and Mrs. Sarah Clay Bennett went to Frankfort to appeal for clauses in the new constitution empowering the General Assembly to extend Full Suffrage to women; to secure the property rights of wives; and to grant School Suffrage to all women. The importance of their claims was so impressed upon the convention that it appointed a special Committee on Woman's Rights, with one of its most esteemed members, the Hon. Jep. C. Jonson, as chairman, who did all in his power to bring their cause favorably before this body.
On the evening of October 9, in Representatives' Hall, Miss Clay, Mrs. Shepard and Mrs. Bennett addressed an audience composed largely of members, being introduced by Mr. Jonson. Later, Mrs. Henry was given a hearing before the committee. Her tract appealing for property rights was read before the convention by Mr. Jonson and supplied to each of the 100 members. In addition she supplied them several times a week with leaflets, congressional hearings, etc., and wrote 200 articles for the press on property rights and thirty-one on suffrage.
The five ladies, with Mrs. Sarah Hardin Sawyer and Mrs. Margaret A. Watts, met in Frankfort again on December 8, and obtained hearings before the Committees on Revision of the Constitution, Education and Woman's Rights. Mrs. Henry also addressed the Committee on Elections, who asked that her speech be printed and furnished to each member of the convention.
On December 12 the Hon. W. H. Mackoy, at the request of the suffragists, offered this amendment to the section on elections: "The General Assembly may hereafter extend full or partial suffrage to female citizens of the United States of the age of21 years, who have resided in this State one year, etc." By his motion the ladies appeared before the convention in Committee of the Whole. They selected Miss Clay as their spokesman and sat in front of the speaker's stand during her address.
The only clause finally obtained in the new constitution was one permitting the General Assembly to extend School Suffrage to women; but the Legislature of 1892 made important concessions.
Among the members of the General Assembly of 1894 especial gratitude is due to Judges S. B. Vance and W. H. Beckner. The former introduced the Bill for Married Women's Property Rights in the House, giving Senator Lindsay credit for being practically its author. Judge Beckner cordially supported this bill, saying he preferred it to one of his own, which he had introduced but would push only if it should be evident that Judge Vance's more liberal bill could not become law. To the leadership of these two is due the vote of 79 ayes to 14 noes with which the bill passed the House. In the Senate it came near to defeat, but was carried through by the strenuous efforts of its friends, especially of Senators W. W. Stephenson, Rozel Weissinger and William Goebel. Senator Weissinger withdrew in favor of the House bill one of his own, not so comprehensive. The bill passed on the very last day of the session possible to finish business. The Senate vote was 21 yeas, 10 nays.[284]It was signed March 15 by Gov. John Young Brown, who always had favored it.
Another signal victory this year was School Suffrage for women of the second-class cities. Since 1838 widows with children of school age had been voters for school trustees in the country districts, and in 1888 this right was extended to allow tax-paying widows and spinsters to vote on school taxes. This general law, however, did not apply to chartered cities. The vigilanceof Mrs. Farmer observed and seized the opportunity offered by the revision of city charters, after the adoption of the new constitution, to put in clauses granting full School Suffrage to all women. At her instigation, in 1892, the equal rights associations of Covington, Newport and Lexington, the only second-class cities, petitioned the committee selected to prepare a charter for such cities to insert a clause in the section on education, making women eligible as members of school boards and qualified to vote at all elections of such boards. This was done, and the charter passed the General Assembly in 1894, and was signed by Governor Brown on March 19. The influence of the State association was not sufficient, however, to have School Suffrage put in the charters of cities of the first, third and fourth classes. The Hons. Charles Jacob Bronston, John O. Hodges, William Goebel and Joel Baker did excellent service for this clause.
The changes wrought by liberal legislation and the part the State association had in securing this will be best understood by quotations from a leaflet issued by the State Association:
In 1888 the Kentucky E. R. A. was organized for the purpose of obtaining for women equality with men in educational, industrial, legal and political rights.We found on the statute books a law which permitted a husband to collect his wife's wages.We found Kentucky the only State which did not allow a married woman to make a will.We found that marriage gave to the husband all the wife's personal property which could be reduced to possession, and the use of all her real estate owned at the time or acquired by her after marriage, with power to rent the same and receive the rent.We found that the common law of curtesy and dower prevailed, whereby on the death of the wife the husband inherited absolutely all her personalty and, when there were children, a life interest in all her real estate; while the wife, when there were children, inherited one-third of her husband's personalty and a life-interest in one-third of his real estate.I. In 1890 we secured a law which made the wife's wages payable only to herself.II. From the General Assembly of 1892-93 we secured a law giving a married woman the right to make a will and control her real estate.III. From the General Assembly of 1894 we secured the present Law for Husband and Wife. The main features of this are:1. Curtesy and dower are equalized. After the death of either husband or wife, the survivor is given a life estate in one-third ofthe realty of the deceased and an absolute estate in one-half of the personalty.2. The wife has entire control of her property, real and personal. She owns her personal property absolutely, and can dispose of it as she pleases.[285]The statute gives her the right to make contracts and to sue and be sued as a single woman. This enables a married woman to enter business and hold her stock in trade free from the control of her husband and liability to his creditors.3. The power to make a will is the same in husband and wife, and neither can by will divest the other of dower or interest in his or her estate.These splendid property laws are pronounced by leading lawyers to be the greatest legal revolution which has taken place in our history.
In 1888 the Kentucky E. R. A. was organized for the purpose of obtaining for women equality with men in educational, industrial, legal and political rights.
We found on the statute books a law which permitted a husband to collect his wife's wages.
We found Kentucky the only State which did not allow a married woman to make a will.
We found that marriage gave to the husband all the wife's personal property which could be reduced to possession, and the use of all her real estate owned at the time or acquired by her after marriage, with power to rent the same and receive the rent.
We found that the common law of curtesy and dower prevailed, whereby on the death of the wife the husband inherited absolutely all her personalty and, when there were children, a life interest in all her real estate; while the wife, when there were children, inherited one-third of her husband's personalty and a life-interest in one-third of his real estate.
I. In 1890 we secured a law which made the wife's wages payable only to herself.
II. From the General Assembly of 1892-93 we secured a law giving a married woman the right to make a will and control her real estate.
III. From the General Assembly of 1894 we secured the present Law for Husband and Wife. The main features of this are:
1. Curtesy and dower are equalized. After the death of either husband or wife, the survivor is given a life estate in one-third ofthe realty of the deceased and an absolute estate in one-half of the personalty.
2. The wife has entire control of her property, real and personal. She owns her personal property absolutely, and can dispose of it as she pleases.[285]The statute gives her the right to make contracts and to sue and be sued as a single woman. This enables a married woman to enter business and hold her stock in trade free from the control of her husband and liability to his creditors.
3. The power to make a will is the same in husband and wife, and neither can by will divest the other of dower or interest in his or her estate.
These splendid property laws are pronounced by leading lawyers to be the greatest legal revolution which has taken place in our history.
A section of the new constitution made it the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law as soon as practicable for Houses of Reform for Juvenile Offenders. The State Woman's Christian Temperance Union decided in 1892 to urge it to act speedily, and the Equal Rights Association co-operated heartily, with a special view to securing provision for girls equal to that for boys, and women on the Board of Managers. A joint committee from the two associations was appointed, with Mrs. Frances E. Beauchamp chairman for the former and Mrs. S. A. Charles for the latter. They compiled a bill with legal advice of Senator Bronston, who had been largely instrumental in securing the section. The unremitting labor of three years was at last crowned with success in 1896, when a bill, essentially that prepared by the women, passed the General Assembly and was signed by Gov. William O. Bradley, March 21.[286]This bill provides for two separate institutions, one for girls and one for boys, on the cottage family plan. The general government is vested in a board of six trustees, three women and three men.
From the General Assembly of 1898 the E. R. A. finally obtained the law making it mandatory to have at least one woman physician in each State insane asylum, for which they had been petitioning ten years. Representative W. C. G. Hobbs introducedthe bill into the House, where it passed by a vote of 77 ayes, 4 noes. Mr. Bronston supported it in the Senate, where it received 26 ayes, one no. It was approved by Governor Bradley March 15.
In the same year the benevolent associations of the women of Louisville secured an act providing for police matrons in that city, the only first-class one in the State, which was approved by the Governor March 10.[287]The first police matron was appointed March 4, before the law required it, at the request of women and through the influence of Mayor Charles P. Weaver, Chief of Police Jacob H. Haager, Jailer John R. Pflanz and Judge Reginald H. Thompson. By the action of the State Board of Prison Commissioners this year, two women were appointed as guards for the women's wards in the penitentiary, their duties being such as usually pertain to a matron.
This year the Women's Club of Central Kentucky set on foot a movement for a free library in Lexington. Senator Bronston secured a change in the city charter to facilitate this object. The act provides that the library shall be under the control of a board of five trustees and was intentionally worded to make women eligible. Mayor Joseph Simrall appointed two of the club women, Mrs. Mary D. Short and Mrs. Ida Withers Harrison. This is the first free library established in Kentucky.
Owing to the turbulent political conditions in the General Assembly of 1900, the State association did not send its usual committee to the capital. However, a committee from the W. C. T. U. did go, and succeeded in securing an appropriation to build the young women's dormitory at the State College, receiving in this effort the encouragement of the E. R. A., as agreed upon at their convention of 1899.
The history of the State association would not be complete without recording its failures. In 1893 an effort to raise the "age of protection" for girls from 12 to 18 was made a part of its work. It was deemed expedient to place this in the hands of a special committee, Mrs. Thomas L. Jones and Mrs. Sarah G. Humphreys consenting to assume the arduous task. Mrs.Henry wrote a strong leaflet on the "age of protection," and Mrs. Humphreys sent many articles to the press. A petition was widely circulated and bore thousands of names when the ladies carried it to the General Assembly in 1894. They succeeded in having a bill introduced, and were given hearings before an appropriate committee; but the Assembly adjourned without acting. In 1895, Mrs. Martha R. Stockwell was added to the committee, which again went to the Assembly with the petition; but without success, and the "age of protection" still remains 12 years. The penalty is death or imprisonment for life.
By special statute the Common Law is retained which makes 12 years the legal age for a girl to marry.
A law to make mothers equal guardians with fathers of minor children is one to which the State association has devoted much attention, but which still waits on the future for success. At present the father is the legal guardian, and at his death may appoint one even for a child unborn. If the court appoints a guardian, the law (1894) requires that it "shall choose the father, or his testamentary appointee; then the mother if [still] unmarried, then next of kin, giving preference to the males."
The husband is expected to furnish the necessaries of life according to his condition, but if he has only his wages there is no law to punish him for non-support.
Suffrage:Kentucky was the first State in the Union to grant any form of suffrage to women by special statute, as its first School Law, passed in 1838, permitted widows in the country districts with children of school age to vote for trustees. In 1888 further extensions of School Suffrage were made and in the country districts, including fifth and sixth class cities, i. e., the smallest villages, any widow having a child of school age, and any widow or spinster having a ward of school age, may now vote for school trustees and district school taxes; also taxpaying widows and spinsters may vote for district school taxes.
In 1894 the General Assembly granted women the right to vote for members of the board of education on the same terms as men in the second-class cities, by a special clause in their charter. There are three of these—Covington, Newport and Lexington.[288]
In the one first-class city, Louisville, the five third-class and the twenty or more fourth-class cities, no woman has any vote.
Office Holding:In 1886 Mrs. Amanda T. Million was appointed to the office of county superintendent of public schools. Her husband had been elected in Madison County, but dying at the commencement of his term, Judge J. C. Chenault, after the eligibility of a woman had been ascertained, appointed the widow to fill out the year. Mrs. Million then became a candidate, and was elected for the remaining three years of the term, being the first woman in the State to fill that office. Her case attracted much attention and at the election in 1889 four women were elected county superintendents; in 1893, eight, and in 1897, eighteen.
In 1895 Mayor Henry T. Duncan appointed two women on the Lexington School Board, Mrs. Ida Withers Harrison and Mrs. Mary E. Lucas, to serve until their successors were elected under the laws of the new charter. In August the women held a mass meeting, conducted by a joint committee from the local E. R. A., the W. C. T. U. and the Woman's Club of Central Kentucky, to nominate a woman from each ward. They named Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Ella Williamson, Mrs. Sarah West Marshal and Mrs. Mary C. Roark. This ticket was indorsed the same day by the Citizens' Association (of men). Judge Frank Bullock allowed private houses to be used for women to register, one in each precinct, the registration officers all to be women—clerk, two judges and a sheriff. They were sworn in and did their duty nobly. The Democratic and Republican parties refused to accept the Woman's Ticket. The women therefore selected a man from each ward in addition to the four women nominated, making the required number of eight, known as the Independent Ticket, which was triumphantly elected in November by voters of all parties and both sexes.
In Covington, three women were placed on the Republican ticket, but were defeated. About 5,000 women voted. In Newport two women were placed on the Democratic ticket, but it was defeated. About 2,800 women registered.
The Prohibitionists nominated Mrs. Josephine K. Henry forclerk of the Court of Appeals in 1890. Though in many places the election clerks refused to enter her name on the polling-books, doubting the eligibility of a woman, she received 4,460 votes. This case is worthy of note because it was the first in Kentucky where a woman was a candidate for election to a State office; and because, as she ran on a platform containing a suffrage plank, practically all the votes for her were cast for woman suffrage.
Women have been State librarians continuously since January, 1876, when the first one was elected.
In 1894 the Senate for the first time elected a woman as enrolling clerk, and women have held this office ever since.
During the session of 1900, stormy as it was, the House for the first time elected a woman as enrolling clerk.
Women serve as notaries public. (For other offices see Legislative Action.)
Occupations:Women are engaged in all the professions and no occupation is forbidden to them by law. On Dec. 15, 1886, the Court of Appeals affirmed the right of women to dispense medicines. The case was that of Bessie W. White (Hager), a graduate of the School of Pharmacy of Michigan University. She applied to the State Board of Pharmacy for registration in 1883, complying with all the requirements. They rejected her application, whereupon she applied for a mandamus. The writ was granted but an appeal was taken. Judge William H. Holt delivered the opinion of the Appellate Court, saying in his decision: "It is gratifying to see American women coming to the front in these honorable pursuits. The history of civilization in every country shows that it has merely kept pace with the advancement of its women."
Education:On April 27, 1889, at a called meeting of the Board of Curators of Kentucky University (Disciples of Christ) in Lexington, it was decided to admit women students. This was the result of a petition the preceding June by the Fayette County E. R. A. In response a committee had been appointed, President Charles Louis Loos, chairman, and, upon its favorable report, the resolution was carried by unanimous vote. An immediate appropriation was made for improvements to the college buildings to accommodate the new students, the opening was announcedin the annual calendar and women invited to avail themselves of its advantages. This was the second institution of higher education opened to women, the State Agricultural and Mechanical College and Normal School, also in Lexington, having admitted them in 1880.
In 1892 the work done by Mrs. Sarah Hardin Sawyer resulted in the admission of women to Wesleyan College in Winchester. The Baptist College at Georgetown became co-educational through the influence of Prof. James Jefferson Rucker. The Homeopathic Medical College, opened in Louisville the same year, admitted women from the first and placed a woman upon the faculty. In 1893 the Madison County E. R. A. secured the admission of girls to Central University at Richmond.
Co-education now prevails in all the normal and business schools, and in the majority of the institutions of higher learning; the only notable exceptions being Centre University, Danville; Baptist College, Russellville; Baptist Theological College[289]and Allopathic Medical College, Louisville.
There are in the public schools 4,909 men and 5,057 women teachers. The average monthly salary of the men is $44; of the women, $37.
The Woman's Emergency Association of Louisville, organized during the Spanish-American War, called a non-partisan mass meeting February 6, 1900, "for the special purpose of directing the attention of women to the importance and necessity of using their influence on behalf of good citizenship." The mass meeting was addressed by several prominent gentlemen, who deplored the spirit of lawlessness prevailing in the State and declared that the remedy rested with the women, but the suggestion that these should have the franchise was not once made.
The State E. R. A. sent a memorial to the annual meeting of the Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs in 1900, soliciting their assistance in securing from the General Assembly the extension of School Suffrage to the women of all towns and cities. It was voted to give the co-operation desired.