Voting & Jury Duty- Chore or Privilege? by Zina Abbott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As if a recent book release, Christmas coming, and a host of other distractions were not enough, I had jury duty this week. Sometimes, people speak and act as though they consider voting, and--especially jury duty--to be a chore, something they would rather not. Yet, the right to those two civic responsibilities were denied women until within the last century and a half. We should not take these privileges lightly.

My experience reminded me of a scene from Marigold, my 2022 book in the Christmas Quilt Brides series. To set the scene, the school board in New Ponca, Oklahoma Territory, where Marigold is a schoolteacher, is trying to convince her to accept less pay than what she was offered and contractually agreed to the previous year. Here is part of the scene:

            “Miss Calloway, you are being paid as much as a male teacher. That is unreasonable.” Scowling, Chairman Duffy ran his palm across the top of his head of thinning hair. “Everyone knows, women only receive one-half to one-third of the pay, depending on experience. The board must also consider the costs of running two separate classes. To pay the salary you received this past year to teach the younger class—”

            “Although I am happy to teach younger students, there is no reason that I must be the one to teach the junior class. I successfully taught all grades last year, including graduating two at the high school level. If cost, not quality of instruction is your primary objective, I will be happy to continue to teach the older students. You can then find a less-experienced female teacher with more limited training to teach the younger grades at the salary you propose.”

            “Miss Calloway, please be reasonable. A man is better suited to teaching the advanced courses of the higher grades and to handle the discipline issues that arise among older students.” Mr. Duffy beat the side of his fist on the table.

            “According to whom, Mr. Duffy? I respectfully disagree with your short-sighted premise. Just because a teacher wears trousers instead of a skirt does not necessarily make that instructor more capable as far as knowing the subject matter. Neither does it make them more organized nor more capable of managing students. Regarding my abilities to handle the more advanced topics and maintain order in the classroom, my experience teaching all of the grades this past year should speak for itself.”

            “Chairman Duffy, I agree with what Miss Calloway said. She has done wonders for our two boys.” A woman in the audience quickly rose to her feet. “Tell them, Henry.” She turned to the man wearing work clothes who sat next to her.

            “Mrs. Smithers, please sit down. We have not opened the meeting to any discussion from the audience. Besides, it is your husband who votes for school board members, not you. You are to allow him to speak for your family.”

            “Sit down, Mabel. Don’t make a scene.” The man seated next to Mrs. Smithers placed his hand on her arm and tugged her downward.

            “Why did you drag me to this backward, uncivilized territory?” Mabel Smithers hissed as she faced her husband. "When we lived in Kansas, not only could I vote for school board members, but I voted for the city taxes and bonds that paid their salaries. The members of the school board were not so quick to dismiss us women.” She turned her head and glared at Mr. Duffy.

 Just like now, issues not covered by federal law were left to the states and territories to decide. So, why did Mabel Smithers claim she had more privileges when she and her husband lived in Kansas? It was because she did.

I wish to quickly review the dates women received certain rights and privileges in four states in which I have set many of my books. For much of this information, I usually refer to my 

well-used copy of The Hidden Half of the Family by Christina Kassabian Schaefer, written to assist in finding female ancestors. The following are some of the dates women received certain rights in Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Wyoming - Most who know even a smidgen of history are aware that Wyoming was the first state in which the territorial legislature gave women the right to vote. They were also given the right to be court justices and to serve on juries. The last two privileges were quickly taken away by that same legislature, due to complaints, mainly by husbands who objected to be left with the care of the children and household chores while their wives served. (Boo-hoo-hoo!) It might be all right for their wives to take over feeding the livestock or help with the plowing, planting, and harvesting, but ask a man to cook a meal or change dirty diapers? Absolutely not! (Again--boo-boo-hoo!) It took a long, long time before women were granted the right to serve on a jury again--anywhere.

Other rights and when they were granted in Wyoming:

1869 - A married woman's earnings are her separate property. (Before that, all money earned by a spouse or minor children were under the control of the husband/father. This came from England's common law and was typical throughout the U.S.)

1876 - A married woman's separate property is her separate estate, which she might devise by will.

1882 - A married woman is granted femme sole status to administer her separate estate.

1857 Kansas and Indian Territories Map

Kansas - 

1858 - A married woman may devise a will.

1859 - A woman's property rights are written into the territorial constitution. A married woman is guaranteed control over her separate earnings and separate estate.

1861 - Kansas drafts the first state constitution to give a married woman equal control of her children and marital property.

1861 - Women may vote in school elections.

1862 - In intestacy, a widow has the right to choose dower (1/3 of the estate not subject to paying husband's debt for duration of her life) or one half of her husband's estate, absoluteley, both real and personal.

1868 - A married woman may sue and be sued, "carry on any trade or business, and perform any labor or services, on her sole and separate account; and the earnings of any married woman, from her trade...shall be her sole and separate property, and may be invested by her in her own name. "The widow of a deceased husband, or husband of a deceased wife, are 'entitled to the same rights or portions in the estate of the other.'"

1887 - Women may vote in city and bond elections.

1912 - Kansas women receive complete suffrage.

 

What about the state in which my heroine, Varinia Jewell, lived: Colorado? It was actually one of the earlier states to receive complete suffrage.

Colorado - 

1874 - A married woman may devise a will.

1876 - (year of statehood) A married woman's separate estates is property that is held prior to and after marriage. Her separate earnings are also her separate estate.

1893 - Colorado women receive complete suffrage by amendment to the state constitution.

 

Now, let's take a look at Oklahoma, which became a territory separate from Indian Territory  May 2, 1890. Oklahoma did not  become a state until November 16, 1907.

Marigold was set in 1894. Beulah was set in 1896. The following was the timeline of rights granted to both Native Americans and women of other ethnicities in Oklahoma Territory/Oklahoma:

Oklahoma -

1890 -  Organized as Oklahoma Territory; the eastern portion of Oklahoma is Indian Territory under the jurisdiction of Arkansas; the Oklahoma Panhandle is opened for settlement.

- Oklahoma Territory law follows that of Nebraska.

- Indian Territory law followed that of Arkansas.

1918 - Oklahoma women receive complete suffrage.

Considering that Oklahoma Territory followed Nebraska law, here is what applied to women living there after Oklahoma Territory was separated from Indian Territory:

1867 - Women may vote in school elections.

1881 - All property owned by a woman at her marriage "shall be and remain her sole and separate property free from the disposal or debts of her husband."

Missed that when I researched Marigold. My resource is quiet regarding women's rights concerning their children or voting for school bonds, but, evidently, they could vote in school board elections. Maybe at the school board meeting dealing with trying to reduce Marigold's salary, Mr. Duffy should not have been so quick to dismiss Mabel Smithers. 

Beulah was released last Friday and is now available as an ebook and at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. It will soon be available in paperback. To find the book description and current purchase options, 

please CLICK HERE

 

 

My other Christmas romance for 2023 is  

Vinegar Pie by Varinia. 

It is available as an ebook, including at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. It is also available in paperback. To find the book description and purchase options,

please CLICK HERE

Cholera On the Kansas Plains by Zina Abbott

What is cholera and where did it come from?

Vibrio comma or Vibrio cholerae¸ the scientific name for cholera, probably began in India and spread around the world along trade routes.  Symptoms start with a stomach ache that grows to intense pain within minutes. The disease progresses rapidly, attacking the intestinal lining, producing severe diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and cramps.

Within hours the skin wrinkles and turns blue, which is why it was often called the blue death. With no cure or treatment for the disease, the infected person usually died within 24 hours or less.

It first appeared in America in the 1800s. Many western emigrants suffered from the dreaded disease.  Various indigenous tribes who came in contact with these newcomers suffered major losses to their population. It is estimated that the Cheyenne tribe alone lost a third of its people to the 1849 epidemic. Cholera rarely spread from person to person but through the contamination of water sources.

In 1832, it is believed immigrant ships destined for Canada carried the disease up the St. Lawrence River. From there, the cholera traveled down Lake Champlain and west by canal boat from Albany to Buffalo. Before long, it reached troopers at Jefferson Barracks outside St. Louis.

Riverboat travel spread cholera

Wintering each year in the Deep South, in the spring the disease joined the emigrants heading west. Cholera made its way up the Missouri on riverboats. An outbreak on board the Yellowstone in July 1833 turned it into a floating death trap. One of the few survivors, Joseph La Barge, later recalled that just below Kansas City he buried eight victims in one grave. Fear of an epidemic caused Missouri residents in Jackson County to threaten to destroy the ship.

In the mid-1830s reports of cholera lessened. Then the disease reappeared during the Gold Rush of 1849. Historian George Groh wrote the "The gold rush was to cholera like wind to fire." St. Louis was struck in early 1849.  By the end of summer, estimates of dead ranged from 4,500 to 6,000. The number of trail deaths is difficult to determine, however, there are estimates as high as 5,000 in 1849 alone.

In 1850 the losses appear to have been greater. One Missouri newspaper estimated that along a stretch of the Overland Trail one person per mile died from the disease. Historian Merrill Mattes estimates the possibility of four graves per mile along the Platte River route.

The first time Cholera struck the Kansas area was in 1849.

Fort Leavenworth, the first fort built in Kansas in 1821, suffered a high incidence of the disease in 1849 and 1850. Used as a supply center and staging area for the west, cholera made it appearance more than once.

Fort Leaveworth - 1858

Then, in August of 1855, cholera struck the new Fort Riley. Established first in 1853 as Camp Center, it was in the process of having its first stone buildings constructed. Although the epidemic lasted only a few days, it left in its wake some 75-125 people dead. Included among the deceased was the Fort Riley commanding officer, Major E. A. Ogden.  That same year, Kansas City suffered a large epidemic.

At that time, both of those forts were on the frontier. The government had barely opened the territory to settlement the year before, and most white Americans who moved there lived close to the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. Before that, the forts provided protection for the caravans that traveled the Santa Fe Trail.

Monument to honor E. A. Ogden at Fort Riley - 1867

For the next ten years, the plains remained relatively free of cholera. Then, in 1866 and 1867, it all changed.

Cholera reappeared on the military posts across the nation in 1866.

Fort Riley reported its first case of Asiatic cholera on August 30, 1866. In total, there were 59 cases and 27 deaths. Likewise, Fort Leavenworth reported 20 cases with its first fatality from the disease on September 18th. The cases were among recently-arrived persons.  These cases prompted a study presented in Circular No. 5. One suggestion was that, in the future, all infected troops should be quarantined.

First permanent hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas - 1865-69

Then in the summer of 1867, another cholera outbreak began in Kansas and spread west. Hard hit were the soldiers of the four companies of the 38th Infantry, also known as Buffalo Soldiers by the Native Americans, stationed at Fort Harker (formerly Fort Ellsworth).

It is believed that the disease carried over from the year before, becoming less active in cold weather and manifesting itself in host bodies as diarrhea. It probably never fully went away, but resurged as the weather warmed.

Cholera notice

Some sources speculate that the disease probably arrived with these infantrymen who traveled to the fort from Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, where there was a cholera outbreak was also occurring. 

Other sources believe it was the civilian population coming from Missouri and other states bordering the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The civilians tended to get sick before the soldiers at the forts, and they suffered the larger loses. Also, although there were increased incidences of diarrhea at Jefferson Barracks, the cholera outbreak there did not start until weeks after the soldiers from the 38th departed. Either way, the disease spread across the plains. It was particularly bad from the end of June through August, but cases appeared up to the end of the year.

Gen. George M. Sternberg

 The first case of cholera at Fort Harker was   diagnosed on June 28. The same day the disease appeared in the 38th infantry, an employee of a beef contractor developed a fatal case. For a few days the infection was confined to the troops camped about the post rather than in the garrison itself but the sickness soon spread to not only the post but the town of Ellsworth. Dr. George M. Sternberg of the post eventually reported 79 cases in his hospital with 29 deaths but he agreed that probably as many as 200 died at and in the vicinity of Fort Harker. Among the dead were Mrs. Sternberg and her cook who died a day apart.

 The epidemic continued through the remainder of 1867, and by the end of the year, the official report tabulated 392 cases with 24 deaths among the white troops and 500 cases with 22 deaths among the black troops stationed at or near the fort.

The post surgeon’s records show that cholera hit Fort Hays rather hard, also. It was at the same time that the 38th Infantry and other regiments such as the 7th Cavalry had been deployed to the fort in response to increased conflicts with Plains Indians. It proved quite a challenge since a flood in June forced relocation of the fort. The decision was made to move the fort thirteen miles away so that it would be next to the railroad tracks. When the first case of cholera at Fort Hays appeared July 11, 1867, the post hospital had not yet been built. Soldiers and civilian patients were housed in tents. The epidemic lasted two months, killing 36 soldiers and approximately 150 civilians.

Fort Hays - after the time of the cholera epidemic

It is believed the greater number of cases at this fort was due to several factors. Because the fort had been forced to move due to severe flooding of the Smoky Hill River, it was not set up well. Disorganization led to unsanitary practices. Sinks were not properly dug or treated with lime, trash abounded, animal and human waste was allowed to flow into the same creeks used as water sources, and things were not kept clean. The greater than usual rain and flooding led to an increase of drowned animal carcasses and rotting plant matter. These unsanitary conditions were particularly true in the areas where the contract freight wagons camped, which led to many of their employees getting the disease. In those forts that enforced the stringent sanitary practices of the time including the use of disinfectant, the cholera was better controlled among the people who lived there.

Fort Larned - 1867

Fort Larned experienced a mild cholera epidemic in the summer of 1867. It was brought to the fort by a company of the 38th infantry, on its way to New Mexico territory. The commander of the fort knew that the detachment carried the dreaded disease, but contrary to the request of the surgeon general he allowed the men to stop there. The first case broke out on July 6 and the victim died ten hours later. Two more cases occurred on the 10th and 11th; one died in six hours and the other recovered.

At Fort Dodge, there was a severe outbreak between July 21 and July 31, 1867. Forty-nine cases reported with twenty-four recovered or convalescing and 25 deaths.

Fewer in number, cases of cholera were reported at Forts Wallace and Zarah. Although in 1867 Fort Riley reported two cases contracted by contract employees of the quartermaster department, the post surgeon reported that none of the troops stationed at the fort contracted cholera that year.

It was equally devastating to civilian populations in the communities that had recently appeared in response to the railroad construction and cattle shipping in central Kansas. For example, the town of Ellsworth had a civilian population about 1,000 before the epidemic struck Fort Harker. People fled, leaving about forty left in town. The papers reported there were not enough people to prepare the dead or dig graves.

In my recently-published book, Mail Order Penelope, Marcus is a post surgeon from Ft. Larned who leaves the fort in the hands of his assistant while he travels to Fort Hays to help deal with the overwhelming outbreak there. Penelope has arranged to travel west as a mail order bride, but waits until October after the worst of the cholera epidemic has ended. You may find the book description and purchase link for this book by CLICKING HERE.

 

In my next book now on preorder, Hannah’s Highest Regard, it also takes place in Kansas. Jake is a quartermaster kept busy with providing supplies and livestock to his assigned fort to deal with the increase of soldiers and the demands of dealing with hostile Native Americans, primarily Cheyenne. He is also aware of the cholera epidemic. It adds to his frustration that he dare not try to visit Hannah in Salina until the disease has passed for fear of carrying it to her. You may find the book description and purchase link for that book by CLICKING HERE.

 

 

Sources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-fortriley/ 

https://www.kshs.org/p/the-west-breaks-in-general-custer/13206; 71. "Epidemic Cholera," Report of Surgeon General's Office, June 10, 1868, Circular No. 1. 72. Alice Blackwood Baldwin, Memoirs of the Late Frank D. Baldwin (Los Angeles, 1929), pp. 133, 134.

https://www.kshs.org/p/the-story-of-fort-larned/13139

Wikipedia-Fort Harker

http://www.ftwallace.com/HFront.html

https://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1971/1971winter_powers.pdf

Bonner Springs, Kansas

Among the rolling hills on the edge of the Kansas River just before it joins the Missouri River, Bonner Springs is one of the oldest cities in the state of Kansas. For years, the area around Bonner Springs, Kansas was inhabited by the Kansa (Kanza/Kaw) tribe of Native Americans. The tribe had settled the area because of the mineral springs and abundant fish and game.

Coronado Springs

The first contact of the Kansa tribe with Europeans probably came when the Spanish explorer Francisco Vȧzquez de Coronado spent the winter of 1541-1542 there. The diary of Father Juan Padilla records that the expedition reached the 40th degree and came to a great river (the Missouri). An inscription found on a stone near Atchison has been translated as, "Thus far came Francisco de Coronado, General of an Expedition." The explorers traveled downstream to the mouth of another great river, the Kansas, and preceded upstream 16 leagues to camp in what is now Bonner Springs before returning to Mexico. Due to the mineral springs, this legend gave the area its first recorded name, "Coronado Springs".

French Traders

In 1812, two French fur traders, the Chouteau brothers, made their way from St. Louis, Missouri and settled in the area. They built four log cabins near what is now Front and Second street in Bonner Springs and operating a ferry across the Kansas River. They starting a trading post named Four Houses.

This makes the site of Bonner Springs the first settlement in what would become the State of Kansas. The location allowed easy access to trade items, and ferry to cross the Kansas River was added.

Tiblow Landing

In 1830, Henry Tiblow, a Delaware Indian, took charge of the ferry. He also worked as an interpreter for the government. He lived in a small cabin on the west side of the city. At that time, the settlement became known as “Tiblow Landing.” Although he worked the ferry for years, he ended up in Oklahoma with the rest of his tribe. His grave may be found near Nowata, Oklahoma.

The Americans

John McDanield, or "Red John" due to hair color, is known as the founder of Bonner Springs as we know it today. As the owner of a vast majority of land that is now Bonner Springs, McDaniel renamed the town Tiblow, after his friend, Henry Tiblow. He began developing the town of Tiblow around 1866. It remained as Tiblow until Philo Clark platted the area in the 1880’s.

In 1885, Philo Clark purchased 300 acres from McDanield, this plans to capitalize on the mineral springs, then he changed the name of the town to Bonner Springs. The latter portion of the name comes from many natural springs in the area said to have medicinal qualities. The town was also named after Robert E. Bonner, a publisher of the New York Ledger, who was a trotting-horse breeder of note, and Clark believed would help fund the proposed racetrack. However, there is no record this occurred. Philo Clark became the first Mayor of Bonner Springs when the city incorporated in 1898.

Mineral Springs

Springs at Bonner Springs ctsy kgs.ku.edu

Several of the springs in the area were analysed for their mineral content, and the results indicated benefits that would attract visitors. The Bonner Springs Improvement Club, in 1907, created a promotional brochure touting the city as the “Kansas Karlsbad” and listing the contents of five springs near Lake of the Woods: Big Chief, Little Chief, Papoose, Old Squaw and Minnehaha. They listed “grains per gallon” of things like potassium sulphate, carbonate of iron, and chloride of sodium for each.

Big Chief was noted to be “splendid water for anemics, supplying the necessary properties for good red blood and driving out the dead and impure corpuscles.”

Old Squaw was reportedly so named because “the old women of Indian tribes once living in Kansas found relief from their intense dyspepsia caused by their heavy meat diet and little or no exercise.”

Bonner Springs Lake ctsy kgs.ku.edu

To promote the springs, a special train brought investors to the area and cited its proximity to Kansas City, the springs themselves, the fine parks and native trees, the site of a racetrack, and the beautiful residential sites as advantages that would assure the success of the mineral spring venture. 

Today, Bonner Springs is part of the greater Kansas City, Kansas area.

Charlie’s Choice

Although the name Bonner Springs did not exist at the time my story, Charlie’s Choice, takes place, I set my trading post owned by the American, Owen Jones, in that locality. It was also the boyhood home of his son, Charlie. At the time Owen would have married Charlie’s Kansa mother, the tribe was still in the region, and no doubt made good use of the mineral springs that brought the area fame in coming years.

Please CLICK HERE to find the book description and purchase information for Charlie’s Choice, the prequel to my Atwell Kin series.

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://www.triposo.com/loc/Bonner_Springs2C_Kansas/history/background

https://www.bonnersprings.org/774/History

http://www.basehorinfo.com/news/2008/may/15/former_and_current_bonner_residents_find_henry_tib/

http://www.bonnersprings.com/news/2014/mar/10/five-things-you-might-not-know-about-bonner-spring/