Esther Mae Hobart McQuigg Slack Morris

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Esther Mae Hobart McQuigg Slack Morris

• Suffrage Pioneer
• First Woman Justice of the Peace

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Esthers Life Part I

• Esther Mae McQuigg
• Born August 8, 1814 in Tioga County, NY (Near
  Spencer and Oswego)
• McQuigg was orphaned at age 11
• Apprenticed to a seamstress hat maker.
• Active in the anti-slavery movement
• Esther Hobart Slack
• 1841 Married Artemus Slack (a civil engineer)
  who died three years later. When Slack died, he
  left Esther with 1 infant son.
• 1842 Moved to Peru, Illinois
• Experienced countless legal problems settling her
  husbands estate because she was a woman.

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Esthers Life Part II

• Esther Hobart Morris
• Married John Morris (a merchant). Had 3 kids.
• Moved to WY territory in 1869. (John had moved
  the previous year to set up a saloon.)
• February 1870 appointed justice of the peace for
  South Pass City.

Modern View of South Pass City
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Esthers Life Part III

• 1871 left her husband moved to Laramie with
  her son Ed.
• 1873 on the ballot for state representative for
  Laramie.
• 1890 honored guest at statehood banquet.
  Presided at American Suffrage Association
  gathering honoring Susan B. Anthony.
• 1895 delegate to Republican National Convention
  in Cleveland
• died in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 2, 1902

From her eulogy Her quest for truth in the
world has ended. Her mission in life has been
fulfilled. The work she did for the elevation of
womankind will be told in the years to come, when
the purpose may be better understood.
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Why Morris?

• From Upstate New York moved West
• ? Judge
• The American Women's Suffrage Movement

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The Pilgrimage

• Laramie, WY
• Summer 2001

Inscription Esther Hobart Morris Proponent of
the legislative act which in 1869 gave
distinction to the territory of WYOMING as the
first government in the world to give WOMEN EQUAL
RIGHTS.
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The Female Suffrage Act

• The tea party Col. Brights promise.
• the Mother of Woman Suffrage
• Bill 70 -- The Female Suffrage Act
• Guaranteed the right to vote and hold public
  office to all Wyoming women over twenty-one years
  of age (amended from eighteen).
• Opposition to the Act
• Ben Sheeks Colored women and squaws
• Over 30 only.
• Enacted in 1869, making Wyoming the first
  territory in the world to grant women equal
  rights.
• To the lovely ladies, once our superiors, now
  our equals.

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Wyoming The Equality State

• 1890 application for statehood
• Legislative Example for other states

• Wyoming Facts
• Nickname The Equality StateMotto "Equal
  Rights"
• Practical effect In 1905, 80-90 of women voted,
  constituted 1/3 of total number of ballots.
• Jury service 1870 1890 women could serve on
  juries.
• Same era gave ? property rights and equal pay
  to ? teachers.

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Justice of the Peace, South Pass City, WY

• Her appointment
• 2/14/1870 First ? to Hold a Public Office
• 8 ½ months term (vacated her office 12/6/1870)
• I never looked at a law book in my life.
• Presided over 70 cases
• All of which upheld on appeal.

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Her Courtroom Reputation

• Courtroom rules
• Her well-suited appearance.
• Reputation for making rapid, fair decisions.
• Behave yourselves, boys.

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Memorable Rulings

• The First Case
• The Real First Case
• as told in Chas P Jackson, Esther Morris as
  Justice of Peace The Woman's tribune. Portland,
  Or. May 16, 1891.
• Her husbands guilt and opposition.

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Morris On Having a Career and a Family

I have assisted in drawing a grand and petit
jury, deposited a ballot and helped canvass the
votes after the electing, and in performing all
these duties I do not know as I have neglected my
family any more than in ordinary shopping.
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Official Recognition of her life
1955 WY state legislature voted Morris the
states outstanding deceased citizen.
1960 Statue placed in Statuary Hall in the U.S.
Capitol and in front of the Wyoming state house
in Cheyenne.
Wax Figure. Old West Wax Museum in Thermopolis,
Wyoming.
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Recognition -- Part II
1967 Commemorative Postage Stamp. Asking the
Postmaster General of the United States to issue
a postage stamp commemorating woman suffrage in
WY honoring Morris.
2001 Childrens Book (no mention of John)
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Research Gaps

• How did she live after her parents deaths?
  Who took her in? What happened to her other
  family members (1 of 11 kids)?
• Controversy over Morris role in the passage of
  the Act.
• What about her kids? Other relatives?
• Transcripts of her cases or evidence of her
  actual opinions

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Research Leads

• Small Collection of her papers - off site at
  Harvard
• Dissertations on WY history the Female Suffrage
  Act
• Annals of WY / WY Historical Society
• Women of the West Museum
• Tioga County, NY records
• South Pass City ( other) local newspaper
• 1960 Statue dedication