October 1920: The Women Who Led the Way: Early Birds

Mary Bulkley was born in New York in 1868.  By 1900, per the Census, she was living in Hartford at 924 Asylum Ave, with her widowed mother and brothers.  Mary was the leader of the Hartford District of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, one of the first white members of the Hartford branch of the NAACP, and worked as a nurse during the Spanish Flu Epidemic.  She also volunteered her car for use by the CWSA to deliver food and medicine to sick families during the epidemic.

Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn was born in 1878 near Buffalo, NY into a wealthy family.  She was highly educated, receiving both a Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees.  She married Dr. Thomas N. Hepburn and moved to Hartford, where she lived for the rest of her life.  Katharine Served as President of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association from 1910 to 1911, and 1913 to 1917, helping to breathe new life into the Connecticut suffrage movement.  She was also very concerned about the conditions in which many poor women were forced to raise their children, and became an early and ardent supporter of legalizing birth control.  The Hepburns were the parents of six children, the youngest of whom was actress Katharine Hepburn. Katharine died in 1951.

Mary M. Hooker was born in Pennsylvania in about 1864. The widow of the former Mayor of Hartford, Edward W. Hooker, she was nominated by acclamation for the Republican ticket and was elected as a State Representative for Hartford in 1920, the first women to do so.  Before being elected, she had served on the Board of Education, was active with the Red Cross during World War I, and served on the executive committee of the Community Welfare Branch of the Center Church Women’s Council. Mary died in Hartford in 1939 and is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery. 

Hartford Courant, September 15, 1893

In 1893, when women were first allowed to register to vote on educational issues, Rose Peyton was the first woman of color to register in Hartford, and possibly the first in the State of Connecticut.  Rose was born in Virginia in about 1856 and married Fountain Payton in 1876.  They are listed in the Hartford City Directory as early as 1883.  Fountain was a cook at a restaurant; Rose is listed as a laundress, and later a nurse. They lived with their daughter, Lillie (Lillian), first at 35 Liberty Street, and later at 215 Windsor Street. By 1900 they had purchased a home at 198 Bellevue.  Fountain died in 1907, and in 1910 Rose was still living at 198 Bellevue with her daughter and son-in-law, Earl Mason.  It is not known whether Rose moved away or died before she was able to vote in the 1920 election.

Frances Ellen Burr was born in Hartford on June 4, 1831, into a family descended from the city’s founders.  She became interested in the issue of female suffrage early on and was one of the founders, in 1869, of what came to be known as the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association.  Frances actively participated in the CWSA for most of her life and served as recording secretary from 1869 to 1910.  In addition to her Suffrage work, Frances worked as a proof-reader at the Hartford Times, the paper at which her brother, Alfred Burr, was editor.  She died in Hartford in 1923, at the age of 91, having witnessed the passage of the 19^th Amendment three years earlier.

Mary Townsend Seymour was born in Hartford in 1873.  She was an orphan by the age of 15 but was adopted into the family of famed Civil War veteran and social activist, Lloyd G. Seymour. She later married his son, Frederick W. Seymour.  It was in their home, in 1917 that the first meeting of the Hartford branch of the NAACP was held.  During World War I, Mary joined the Home Service section of the Red Cross and saw first hand the deplorable conditions in which many black families were living.  This experience led her to help form the Circle for Negro War Relief, Inc. in the spring of 1918.  This organization helped to care for Negro soldiers abroad, and their families stateside.  In early 1918 Mary also joined the newly formed Colored Women’s League of Hartford, an organization dedicated to the education and support of young Negro women and girls.  She lobbied prominent white suffragettes, both locally and nationally, to make sure suffrage work was including the enfranchisement of women of color.   In 1922, Mary ran for Secretary of State on the Socialist and Farm Labor tickets.  She was defeated, but was the first woman of color to run for statewide office.  Mary Townsend Seymour died in Hartford in 1957 and is buried in Old North Cemetery. 

1893 vs. 1905

We know that Rose Peyton registered in 1893. Why, then, does her card have the date as 1905? As best we can tell, cards were not being used in the 1890s. Men and women were also kept on separate lists. That had changed by the early 1900s. Additionally, in 1905 there was a bill that, had it passed, would have allowed women to vote in municipal elections. This could have been an impetus to create their cards. 

Many men and women were against Woman Suffrage.  Their arguments against ranged from “It is not very ladylike” to “it will overly tax a woman’s constitution” to “there is no need because the men in their lives will look after them.”  The Antis had been present all along, but in the years leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment, organizations such as the Connecticut Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage and the Connecticut Anti-Suffrage Association, became more vocal.  They argued that most women in the state did not want the right to vote, and that it was only the work of a few radicals.

Even so, some Anti-Suffragists still registered to vote! We do not know the exact reasons these women registered. It's possible they registered, but never voted. Perhaps they felt strongly about educational issues (which were considered to be in the woman's sphere), and wanted to have their voices heard in that regard. There are also stories of women in other states who used their newly earned suffrage to vote against the men who were in favor of the amendment. 

Photo of Mrs. Grace Markham, Hartford Courant, November 13, 1921

Grace Markham served several terms as President of the Connecticut Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage.

Caroline Maria Hewins was born in Roxbury, MA, the oldest of nine children. In 1875 she moved to Hartford to run the Young Men's Institute Library, a private organization that would eventually merge and become Hartford Public Library. Caroline became HPL's first librarian, a position she held until shortly before her death. She was involved with many local organizations, and dedicated herself to Hartford's children. Civics was among the many topics she championed. When women gained the right to vote on school issues in 1893, Caroline was among those considered for the women's ticket created for that November (she declined). 

Isabella Beecher Hooker was born in Litchfield, CT in 1822, into the famed Beecher family.  She came to live in Hartford with her half sister, Mary.  It is during this time that she met and married John Hooker, descendant of Thomas Hooker, one of Hartford's first White settlers.  John practiced law and regularly read to and kept Isabella informed about the lack of legal rights for women.  She began corresponding with some of the early Suffragists and became dedicated to the cause, spending the rest of her life writing and lecturing about women’s rights.  Isabella was one of the original organizers of what came to be known as the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association.  She died in Hartford in 1907 and is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Josephina H. Maxim was born in Maryland in 1870, the daughter of the former governor of Maryland.  She married Hiram Percy Maxim, the famed inventor and moved to Hartford.  Josephina was a socialite and an activist.  She served on the Board of Education, the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, and was one of the founders of the Connecticut League of Women Voters.  Josephina was the first Connecticut woman to be appointed to the Democratic National Convention.  She died in 1936.

Photo of Miss Elizabeth Burnell, Hartford Courant, March 14, 1926

At the time Elizabeth Burnell registered to vote, she was Vice President of the Connecticut Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage.

The 1913 meeting, at which Elizabeth Burnell stated women were too simple minded to vote, took place at Annah Cook's home (click headline to view full article).