02 November 2010

Suffragettes & The Right To Vote In Detroit

From the Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Papers Project - Women Who Voted:

Catharine Stebbins and Mrs. H. J. Boutelle tried to register to vote in the 5th Ward. Nannette Gardner voted in the 9th Ward.WJ, 22 Nov. 1873.

From History of Woman Suffrage: 1876-1885:

The Nannette B. E. Gardner papers are housed at the Bentley Library at the University of Michigan.

Also from History of Woman Suffrage: 1876-1885:

...Mrs. Giles B. (Catherine) Stebbins has applied to this board and demands the right to register.....

Mr. & Mrs. Stebbins were living in Detroit in 1900 on Pitcher Street. Giles B. Stebbins, lecturer and writer, son of Eldad & Lydia (Fitch) Stebbins, died 31 Oct 1900 in Detroit, Michigan. Catherine Stebbins died in 1904 and is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY. [Catherine A.F. Stebbins in a group photo can be seen here]

Mrs. (Harriet J.) Boutelle was also mentioned in the History of Woman Suffrage:


From the hand book of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (1908):

Mr. A(lexander) A. Boutelle* and his daughter, Miss (Alace) May Boutelle early in November gave $100 to the state treasury in memory of the late Harriet J. Boutelle**, who for many years was one of the foremost and ablest workers for woman suffrage Michigan ever had.

*Alexander A. Boutelle, a Civil War veteran, died Nov 15, 1913 (in Atlantic City)
**nee Harriet J. Carpenter; with her parents, Horace & Jane Ann Carpenter in 1850 & 1860. She died 11 December 1906 in Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan.

2010 - Women have had the right to vote for 90 years
(19th Amendment ratified August 18, 1920)

2 comments:

Susan Clark said...

Terrific! Thanks for reminding us that for some of us the right to vote is pretty recent.

PalmsRV said...

Nolichucky Roots -- Glad you liked it. My son-in-law's grandmother, who was born in 1918, is still alive. It's amazing that she was born before women had the right to vote.

Cathy