Woman Suffrage History in the United States

Woman Suffrage In Colonial America

Introduction to Woman Suffrage History

The women’s suffrage movement originated in the United States during the 19th century. In colonial America, as elsewhere in the world, civil law did not recognize the equality of men and women. The perception of inequality, which included the belief that women lacked the capacity to reason as soundly as men, provided the basis for denying women the right to vote. Even before the American Revolution (1776-1783), however, American women participated in public life somewhat more freely than European women. In most colonies land ownership, not gender, determined the right to vote. Although females possessed only limited property rights, women from families that owned property could sometimes vote, particularly if the male head of household was for some reason incapacitated. In Massachusetts women property holders had voting privileges from 1691 to 1780. In this period, groups such as the American Quakers, and some individuals, notably the Anglo-American political philosopher Thomas Paine, also argued that women should possess the right to vote.

After the American Revolution, the framers of the Constitution of the United States reserved decisions about qualifications for voting to the individual states. By the early 19th century, most states had dropped the property qualification and extended voting rights to all adult males. Ironically, the extension of democracy to a broader base of men represented a double setback for women. By definition, laws giving only men the right to vote now excluded women solely on the basis of their gender. In addition, by eliminating property ownership as a requirement for voting, these laws deprived women of the only legal claim for a right to vote that they previously had.” (1)

Women Who Voted, 1868 to 1873

This list consists of Susan B. Anthony’s lists, reports from the Woman’s Journal between 1870 and 1873, and instances located while researching volume two of the Selected Papers.

The examples compiled here (listed by State) occurred in states and territories where the law permitted only adult males to vote. In this same period of time, 1868 to 1873, women in the territories of Wyoming and Utah voted legally.

California

On July 1871 ;in Santa Cruz Description of Events: Ellen R. P. Van Valkenburg applied for registration. (Source: See 20 Aug. 1871 in volume 2 of the Selected Papers. )
On August 1871 ;in Santa Clara Co. Description of Events: Fanny B. Ames, Laura J. Watkins, Louisa Smith, and Mrs. Severance applied to register. Their names were taken but not registered. (Source: WJ, 2 Sept. 1872. )
On February 1872 ;in Vallejo Description of Events: Seven women voted at a special election. (Source: WJ, 10 Feb. 1872. )

CT

On April 1871 ;in Bridgeport Description of Events: Olympia Brown, Anna M. Middlebrook, and 10 others tried to register. Middlebrook and one other woman tried to vote and were refused again. (Source: W&CW, 22 Apr. 1871. )
On April 1871 ;in East Haddam Description of Events: Miss Watrous Mather, Miss Smith, and 18 other women applied to register. Mather and Smith tried to vote and were refused again. (Source: WJ, 22 Apr. 1871. )
On April 1871 ;in Hadlyme Description of Events: E. Louisa Mather and 9 other women attempted to register. Mather tried to vote and was refused again. (Source: W&CW, 22 Apr. 1871. )
On April 1871 ;in Newtown Description of Events: Two women tried to register. (Source: W&CW, 22 Apr. 1871. )
On April 1871 ;in Trumbull Description of Events: Five women tried to register. (Source: W&CW, 22 Apr. 1871. )
On May 1871 ;in Waterbury Description of Events: Women tried to vote. (Source: Rev., 18 May 1871. )
On March 1872 ;in Hartford Description of Events: Sixteen women, including Isabella B. Hooker and 9 taxpayers, Mrs. William Mather, Mrs. Laura P. Kellogg, Mrs. Delia B. Jewett, Mrs. Mary C. Patterson, Mrs. Jane E. Baker, Mrs. L. A. White, Miss A. M. King, Mrs. Eliza Cowles and Mrs. Laura K. Dewey, applied to register. (Source: Connecticut WSA Records;WJ, 16, 30 Mar. 1871. )
On October 1872 ;in Norwalk Description of Events: Sarah M. T. Huntington registered. When her name was omitted from the voting list in November, her attempt to vote was blocked. Another woman attempted to register but had not complied with the preliminary legal requirements. (Source: Connecticut WSA Records and see 11 Nov. 1872 in volume 2 of the Selected Papers. )
On November 1872 ;in Hartford Description of Events: F. Ellen Burr and Isabella B. Hooker registered but were not allowed to vote. (Source: WJ, 9 Nov. 1872. )
On Mar-April 1873 ;in Glastonbury Description of Events: Julia E. Smith, Abby H. Smith, and 4 other women registered to vote. When they later tried to vote, they found their names had been removed from the rolls. (Source: WJ, 19 Apr., 31 May, 6 Dec. 1873. )

DC

On April 1869 ;in Washington Description of Events: White and black women, Eliza J. Anderson, Sarah Evans, Caroline W. Moore, Sarah Richardson, M. G. Smith, Julia A. Wilbur, and Louisa C. Butler, requested registration in the 1st Ward. (Source: SBA scrapbook 3. )
On June 1869 ;in Washington Description of Events: Twenty–eight women applied to register. (Source: New York Tribune, 2 June 1869. )
On April 1871 ;in Washington Description of Events: First, women tried to register and then they tried to vote. (Source: History, 2:587–99; Rev., 20, 27 Apr. 1871. )

IA

On November 1871 ;in Taylor Co. Description of Events: Kitty Anderson voted. (Source: Rev., 25 Nov. 1871. )
On November 1872 ;in Nevada (federal election) Description of Events: Mrs. J. B. Irwin voted for Grant and Wilson. (Source: SBA scrapbook 6. )

Illinois

On November 1871 ;in Hyde Park Description of Events: Catharine V. Waite tried to register. (Source: Chicago Tribune, 21, 30 Nov. 1871, 13 Jan. 1872; Chicago Legal News, 25 Nov. 1871. )

Kansas

On April 1868 ;in Topeka Description of Events: Between 50 and 80 women voted. (Source: Rev., 30 Apr., 19 Nov. 1868. )

MA

On November 1868 ;in Lawrence (federal election) Description of Events: A woman who demanded that her ballot be accepted instead of her Democratic husband’s, voted for Grant. (Source: Rev., 19 Nov. 1868. )
On November 1869 ;in Worcester Description of Events: A young woman voted. (Source: Rev., 11 Nov. 1869. )
On March 1870 ;in Hyde Park (local election) Description of Events: About 50 women, including Angelina Grimké Weld, Sarah Grimké, and Sarah M. Stuart, cast ballots in a separate box. (Source: WJ, 12 Aug. 1871. )
On November 1873 ;in Worcester Description of Events: Nellie Barnard tried to vote. (Source: WJ, 22 Nov. 1873. )

MD

On Fall 1869 ;in Baltimore Description of Events: Lavinia C. Dundore, Mrs. A. M. Gardner, and Ellen M. Harris, at a recent election in Baltimore, applied to register in the 3d Ward. (Source: Rev., 20 Jan. 1870. )
On Fall 1872 ;in Baltimore Description of Events: Ellen M. Harris and Lavinia C. Dundore tried to register. When they sought to bring suit, Republican lawyers refused to take their case. (Source: WJ, 21 June 1873. )

ME

On September 1868 ;in Lewiston Description of Events: Taxpaying widow of a veteran applied to register. (Source: Rev., 1 Oct. 1868. )

Michigan

On April 1868 ;in Sturgis (prohibition referendum) Description of Events: In a separate ballot box, 120 women voted; 114 voted for prohibition. (Source: Rev., 30 Apr., 7 May, 3 Sept. 1868. )
On September 1868 ;in Sturgis (school meeting) Description of Events: Women voted in a school meeting. (Source: Rev., 24 Sept. 1868. )
On March 1871 ;in Detroit Description of Events: Nannette B. Gardner was allowed to register in 1st district, 9th Ward, but Catharine Stebbins was refused registration in the 5th Ward. Gardner voted in April. (Source: WJ, 8, 15 Apr. 1871; Rev., 6, 13 Apr. 1871. )
On April 1871 ;in Battle Creek Description of Events: Mary Wilson voted. (Source: Rev., 6, 13, 20 Apr., 11 May 1871. )
On November 1872 ;in Battle Creek Description of Events: Sojourner Truth attempted to register and vote. (Source: Narrative of Sojourner Truth, 231–32. )
On November 1872 ;in Detroit Description of Events: Nannette B. Gardner registered and voted. Catharine Stebbins tried to register and vote in the 5th Ward. (Source: WJ, 23 Nov. 1872. )
On November 1873 ;in Detroit Description of Events: Catharine Stebbins and Mrs. H. J. Boutelle tried to register to vote in the 5th Ward. Nannette Gardner voted in the 9th Ward. (Source: WJ, 22 Nov. 1873. )

MO

On October 1872 ;in St. Louis (federal election) Description of Events: Virginia L. Minor tried to register. (Source: History, 2:715–16, 3:606. )

North Carolina

On July 1871 ;in Johnson Co. Description of Events: Dressed in men’s clothing, 200 black women registered and voted. (Source: WJ, 12 Aug. 1871. )

NH

On March 1870 ;in Dover Description of Events: Marilla M. Ricker tried to vote. (Source: History, 2:586–87. )
On March 1871 ;in Dover Description of Events: Marilla M. Ricker successfully voted. (Source: History, 2:586–87. )

New Jersey

On March 1868 ;in Vineland (local election) Description of Events: Portia K. Gage tried to vote and was refused because she had not registered. (Source: Rev., 26 Mar. 1868. )
On May 1868 ;in Passaic (local election) Description of Events: Women voted at an election for Commissioner of Streets and Sidewalks. (Source: World, 5 May 1868. )
On November 1868 ;in Roseville Description of Events: Hannah Blackwell and Lucy Stone tried to vote. (Source: Rev., 12 Nov. 1868. )
On November 1868 ;in Vineland (federal election) Description of Events: Having provided their own ballots and box, 172 women, both white and black, voted. (Source: “Names of Women who Voted in Vineland, Nov. 3rd 1868,” Woman’s Rights and Suffrage File, NjVHi. )
On March 1869 ;in Vineland (local election) Description of Events: In a separate ballot box, 182 women cast ballots. (Source: Rev., 18 March 1869. )
On November 1869 ;in Vineland (county election) Description of Events: In a separate ballot box, 214 women voted. (Source: Rev., 18 Nov. 1869. )
On March 1870 ;in Vineland (local election) Description of Events: In a separate box, 161 women cast ballots. (Source: Independent, 17 Mar. 1870. )
On November 1870 ;in Vineland Description of Events: About 130 women cast ballots in a separate box. (Source: WJ, 19 Nov. 1870. )
On March 1871 ;in Hammonton Description of Events: Fifteen women tried to vote. (Source: W&CW, 1 Apr. 1871. )
On December 1871 ;in Landis Twp. (local election) Description of Events: Portia K. Gage and 10 to 12 other taxpaying women tried to vote in an election on bonding the town to build factories. (Source: WJ, 13 Apr. 1871. )
On November 1872 ;in Jersey City Description of Events: Two women tried to register. (Source: WJ, 9 Nov. 1872. )

New York

On May 1868 ;in Schenectady (local election) Description of Events: Women voted on erecting waterworks. (Source: World, 23 May 1868. )
On October 1868 ;in Mount Vernon (local election) Description of Events: Dorothy Ferguson, Mary H. Macdonald, M. Jeannette Farrand and Catharine M. White tried to vote. (Source: Rev., 15 Oct. 1868. )
On Fall 1869 ;in New York Description of Events: Honora Arthur tried to vote in the 5th Ward. (Source: Rev., 16 Dec. 1869. )
On July 1870 ;in Ithaca (local election) Description of Events: Women whose names were on the tax-roll voted on a waterworks question. (Source: WJ, 16 July 1870. )
On May 1871 ;in Newport (local election) Description of Events: Fifteen women voted and elected the temperance slate of officers. (Source: Rev., 25 May 1871. )
On July 1871 ;in Fayetteville (local election) Description of Events: Matilda J. Gage and 9 other property-holding women tried to vote in an election to decide on a tax levy. (Source: WJ, 26 Aug. 1871. )
On November 1871 ;in Brooklyn Description of Events: Helen Marion Walton tried to vote in the 4th Ward. She left her ballot on the ballot box. (Source: Rev., 9 Dec. 1871. )
On November 1871 ;in New York (local election) Description of Events: Twelve women, including Victoria Woodhull, Tennessee Claflin, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Leland, Mrs. McKinley, Mrs. Thompson, and Margaret M. Miller tried to vote in the 23d district, 21st Ward. Only Miller succeeded. (Source: Rev., 18 Nov. 1871. )
On November 1871 ;in Nyack (local election) Description of Events: Louisa D. Mansfield, principal, and Mrs. Merrill, Miss Pettis, and Miss Hendricksen, teachers of the Rockland Female Institute, registered. When they voted, their ballots were placed in a hat. (Source: Rev., 25 Nov. 1871. )
On 1872 ;in Oswego Description of Events: Mary E. Walker attempted to vote. (Source: NAW. )
On November 1872 ;in New York Description of Events: Women voted in the 17th Ward. (Source: SBA scrapbook 6. )
On November 1872 ;in Nyack Description of Events: Mrs. George W. Mann, Mrs. G. D. Wilson and others tried to vote. (Source: Savell, Ladies’ Lib, 15. )
On November 1872 ;in Rochester (federal election) Description of Events: Attempts to register were made by Mrs. Dr. Dutton, Mrs. Lathrop, Mrs. Dr. Wheeler, Mrs. Allen, Charlotte W. Griffing, and others. SBA and 14 other women voted in the 8th Ward. (Source: See SBA scrapbook 6, and 5 Nov. 1872 in volume 2 of the Selected Papers. )
On 1873 ;in Rochester (local election) Description of Events: SBA, Mary Pulver, and Mary Hebard voted. (Source: See 4 Mar. 1873 in volume 2 of the Selected Papers. )
On October 1873 ;in Rochester (state election) Description of Events: Amy K. Post and Sarah E. Owen attempted to register to vote. (Source: Democrat and Chronicle, 18 Oct. 1873. )
On November 1873 ;in Rochester Description of Events: SBA attempted to vote. (Source: WJ, 15 Nov. 1873. )
On after June 1873 ;in New York Description of Events: Mathilde C. Weil attempted to register but was refused, the registrar telling her, “It cannot be done, since Miss Anthony tried it.” (Source: M. J. Gage scrapbooks. )

Ohio

On 1871 ;in South Newbury (local election) Description of Events: Nine women tried to vote, including Lima Ober, Lovina Greene, Hophni Smith, Ruth F. Munn, Perleyette M. Burnett, Sophia L. O. Allen, Mary Hodges, Lydia Smith, and Sarah A. Knox. (Source: History, 3:502. )
On April 1871 ;in Yellow Springs (local election) Description of Events: About 20 women, most of them connected with Antioch College, tried to vote. (Source: Rev., 11, 25 May, 22 June 1871. )
On 1872 ;in South Newbury (federal election) Description of Events: A group of women tried unsuccessfully to vote throughout the year. (Source: WJ, 18 Oct. 1873. )
On November 1872 ;in Toledo (federal election) Description of Events: Mrs. J. P. Angier, Mary B. Gleason and Sarah S. Bissell attempted to vote in the 1st Ward, Mary Jane Barker and Mrs. James G. Nolen in the 3d Ward, Mrs. Baird in the 5th Ward, and Charlotte L. Williams and Sarah R. L. Williams in the 8th Ward. Barker and Nolen voted. (Source: SBA scrapbook 6; Toledo Daily Blade, 5 Nov. 1872. )
On May 1873 ;in South Newbury (local election) Description of Events: Fourteen women tried to vote at a municipal election. They placed their tickets, which called for equal suffrage, in their own ballot box. Seventeen women who could not come to the polls sent in their ballots. (Source: WJ, 10 May, 18 Oct. 1873. )
On November 1873 ;in South Newbury (federal election) Description of Events: Several women tried to vote. (Source: History, 3:502. )

OR

On November 1872 ;in Portland Description of Events: Abigail S. Duniway and three other women, white and black, registered and voted, but the ballots were received under protest and may have been thrown out. (Source: New York Times, 28 Nov 1872; Moynihan, Rebel for Rights, 85. )

PA

On September 1871 ;in Philadelphia Description of Events: Carrie Burnham registered to vote. She tried to vote in October, but her ballot was refused. (Source: Maurer, “Carrie Burnham Kilgore.” )

South Carolina

On October 1870 ;in Description of Events: Five black women voted. The managers of the election were arrested. (Source: WJ, 29 Apr. 1871. )
On 1871 ;in Charleston Description of Events: Two black women voted at late election, and were fined $10 and costs. (Source: Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 1871. )

TN

On December 1871 ;in Memphis (local election) Description of Events: Several women, including Elizabeth A. Meriwether, registered. (Source: WJ, 9 Dec. 1871. )

VA

On November 1871 ;in Richmond Description of Events: When Anna W. Bodeker’s ballot was refused, she deposited a message about her rights in the ballot box. (Source: History, 3:824; WJ, 2 Dec. 1871. )

Washington

On Fall 1869 ;in White River Description of Events: Mary Olney Brown and her daughter tried to vote. (Source: History, 3:780–84. )
On 1870 ;in Grand Mound Description of Events: Many women voted, including Charlotte Olney French and Mrs. Sargent. The women of the adjacent Black River precinct voted on the same day. (Source: History, 3:784. )
On 1870 ;in Olympia Description of Events: Mary Olney Brown, Mrs. Patterson, and Mrs. Wiley tried to vote. (Source: History, 3:785. )

Resources

Notes and References

Information about Woman Suffrage History in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Woman Suffrage History

About Voting

Voting Rights, Voter Participation, Election Redistricting, Electoral College (including Electoral College Selection, Counting the Votes, Electoral College Origins, Electoral College First Years, Electoral College History and the 12th Amendment, Disputed Elections of 1824 and 1876, Electoral College and the Influence of Political Parties, Winner-Take-All System, Debate Over the Electoral College and Electoral College Reform), Electorate Age and Electorate Constitutional Provisions.

Woman Suffrage History