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

ROAD TRIP #history #SweetAmericanaSweethearts

Have you ever experienced that road trip where you have to get there and get back, and have no time to stop and visit the history that is flying by? Recently I did just that on my way to the Western Fictioneers Convention in Oklahoma City, OK. So, I've decided to write a post about what I wished I'd had time to see. At least with some research, I can share what might have been. 

Heading south on Interstate 25 through Colorado I passed Pueblo, Trinidad and went over Raton Pass. All three are part of the Latin American Heritage of Colorado. I know Bat Masterson was city marshal of Trinidad, and Pueblo had its beginnings as a commercial fort. Raton Pass was an early crossing on the Santa Fe Trail. (for more on Raton Pass Raton Pass History)

Capulin Volcano

I headed east along the northern part of New Mexico and Texas.  As anyone who knows Texas, they have so many wonderful historic markers along their roads. Some day I'll read most. Of course the route also took me by Capulin Volcano National Monument. (more on this volcano can be found here: Capulin )

Historic Marker - Texas

Hitting Oklahoma City, I had the chance to visit the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and so what they had on display. The rest of the time was spent with other Western authors and listening to their shared expertise. 

Leaving I headed north toward Dodge City. I drove through the lands that the Indians made their own after being driven to the area. I traveled part of the Chisholm Trail. 

In Kansas, I saw the sign for St. Jacob's Well. I had no idea what it was until I did a search. Pretty interesting. St. Jacob's Well

Of course, who hasn't heard of Dodge City, Kansas. The end of the trail drive. The wild and woolly west with Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and all the others who passed through the town. 

Once I made it to Highway 50 heading west, I was traversing The Santa Fe Trail and Scenic and History Byway Auto Tour Route. It is a lonely stretch of road, but what a time to take in all I'd missed along the way. (Santa Fe Trail- Mountain Route)

Marker in Coolidge, KS

I drove through Syracuse and Coolidge, Kansas. There was something about that area that drew me to it. In fact it was the only place I stopped to take a photo. Since it was Sunday, there was nothing open. When I did some research, I found out why. (Hamilton County Kansas) For those who would enjoy deeper research (Bibliography of Hamilton County) For some history on Coolidge, which from what I understand was a wild place in the 1880s. (Coolidge History) The one thing I really loved, from the site "Coolidge has a city ordinance that prohibits women from riding naked on horseback. Yes this is left over from the late 1880's indicating the wild west issues that occurred with Trail City (headlined in the 1880's as the wickedest town in the west) only two miles away." 

I wondered what the travel would have been like for those who traveled the Santa Fe trail to trade with those businesses in New Mexico. What was it like for Zebulon Pike as he explored the region at the behest of the government? Looking at the land and its features, I wondered at the cattle drives as the made their way north, looking for water, going up and down the rolling land of Northern Oklahoma and Southern Kansas. The twelve hundred plus miles I drove in two day, how long would it have taken a man or woman on horseback? What of the towns that began as someones dreams, some of which grew and others that faded or are just barely holding one?

So the next time a Road Trip comes up, I may have to take a few extra days and stop along the way.  What would your dream trip be?

Building in Coolidge, KS

In the novel "Josie's Dream", Josie travels from her home in Iowa to the plains of Colorado in search of the place she will call 'home'.  Here is a short excerpt:

Breathing deeply of the independence she felt, Josie reached down to pick up her cases. Looking around, Josie took in the small town. It was just as she had dreamed, the main street with its business buildings standing like sentinels to keep the town safe, help it grow. Houses, some with fences, some without, ringed the outer reaches of the area.

Since corresponding with Dr. Harriett Leonard, a past student of her medical school and dear friend, despite the difference in age, Josie had been dreaming of coming to Colorado. Dr. Leonard had offered to let her work at the Spa in Manitou Springs where Harriett was the proprietor, but Josie wanted to create a practice in a smaller town, where people really needed her.

Now here she was in Kiowa Wells, on the eastern plains of Colorado just a few miles from the railhead at Kit Carson. Her biggest obstacle now was finding a place to set up her medical practice.

Despite his reservations, her father gave her a medical bag, equipped with the basics. “Something to remind you of this commitment, your Hippocratic oath,” were his parting words.

Her parents, though still in Iowa, were in her heart. Still, she knew it had been time to leave. While others of her friends were getting married, she had gone to medical school, her path clear to her.

Amazon e-book purchase here

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Member of National League of American Pen Women,

Women Writing the West,

Pikes Peak Posse of the Westerners

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

Photo and Poem: Click Here 

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

Wild, Wild West--An Example

by USA Today Bestselling Author Kristin Holt

"A Reign of Terror", published in Manhattan Mercury of Manhattan, Kansas, on May 3, 1890, illustrating the lawlessness and terror in some parts of the Old (Wild, Wild) West, even as the dawn of the Century approached.

By 1890--the date this vintage newspaper article was published, most of the American West was settled, the Indian Wars were over, settlements had become towns, and most of what made the West Wild had been brought to heel.

Obviously not everywhere. As readers, we romanticize the Old West, and love stories set there (I'm guilty as charged). But to live then? I can't imagine how difficult that would be.

I.T. stands for Indian Territory, now known as Oklahoma. Lehigh, this mining town in the Choctaw Nation, where "a reign of terror" kept 'good people' quiet, sent others scurrying for cover, and pressed many into "emigrating"... a.k.a. skedaddlin'.

I can't imagine living in such lawlessness.

Mining towns were among the most wild, most rowdy, least law-abiding places in the American West. Lehigh's history began relatively late--1877, when a man named Davis discovered coal. Five years later, a post office opened, and railroads came through. After all, coal kept those steam engines rolling.

My first mining town setting was The Bride Lottery, a mining camp trying to make things more permanent, and give their little settlement a chance as a town. To make things last, they need women to marry, start families, and help them carve a life out of the high mountain valley (not far from Leadville, Colorado).

 
I enjoy writing mining camps and towns with significant mining influence. Such settings are icons of the Old West and played key roles in the settling of the American frontier by men and women of various ethnicity. One of my newer releases, Pleasance's First Love, spends a few scenes in historic Leadville, Colorado, smack-dab in the middle of a lawless period much like the one described in this newspaper article. Learn much more about Leadville on my website's page about this title. I'm particularly honored to have been included in the Sweet Americana Sweethearts' group series, Grandma's Wedding Quilts, where this title is book #6.

Hi! I'm Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author of Sweet Romances Appropriate for All Audiences.

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