The Sunday Oregonian., October 13, 1907, Magazine Section, Page 6, Image 40

6
THE SUNT) AT OREGONIAN. PORTX.AJTD. OCTOBER 13, 1907.
Wsmim. s Xaiwyis at lie Highest f
W ' ' Twenty-Eight Have Been - TmW
Iff- - ., S0Wff'$'- Admitted to. Practice In Supreme ( K :lWffff
W'j'fr. fflfe J ' Court.of the United tates . . f- V"'l
' -.) .
M.. Z-a'JZ ,.CVV "g--r' "ySSSSS n Wash: DO a &SZ 5sOv '"llV rfrTw.HRicir .
CahrOtllia 3 nr . Sjftir a-" "XT I fsult In the State Supreme Court, while I I I X. s. 3 VVqan. wry
11 .1 WatoIi2L&5 Chicago A
VT & 1 -"" 1 I UWWVl. - . . s . nil uwmn court, inese young women, woo I IKMbT i ' lin 9 II IV
E t lVUTL'' -'fc n I were then In their thirties, were opposed i jfTWr 777mn li
Vm3r s V by three leading members of the bar, two mt , Si WMlrJa
W f ? - sVlJ being former Supreme Court Justices, and fS l pmHj&$ W(yfl V
VlVVfSJ W 'a' again won a decisive victory, being ad- t&J CI 11 is"' 2r
XSSij - I'll mitted to practice in the State SuprerrJi! M L f CCyXCr
w ,M Court in December. 1S79. . VI ffe Wvffl
-f2. Mrs. Gordon was very instrumental In y " jfr" r v
II "X X$ I securing legislation more favorable to M Jr
l , irf women. Including a law, one of whose IX g
Hi . jl ijr provisions was that no person should be fM
'VV' dented admission to any of the collegiate k , f "t, V "
W x . V ,fFr departments of the State University on W A .a v
Sl3-- - account of sex. Still another was that ''S
S&c-toss?- . ( no person should be disqualified by sex 8w6rJj f
?-5s:rv . fZr' Al to enter any lawful- business or pro- -vOVfil
u SiyK.!.T.'gig -i Mrs. Gordon followed up the work by If iImHF""'J I
V Shiim i I I securing legislation giving women pro- f 7"" " Tr
Ttl-vFdrtnte O'LiTin 1 bate and property rights, and to appoint E tVrS. E.S.MUSSey fc
, j -j. t i If women as notaries. She was one of three VI TA7;tUf nJ-ii. (I
U Chadr-on, Neb. 1 women who introduced silk culture in ) WasKintOrV f
California.
BT WILLIAM H. EVANS.
IT is 28 years since Belva Lockwood
made her famous flght for the admis
sion of women to practice before the
Supreme Court of the United States, and,
strangely enough, just 28 women have
been admitted to practice, the last being
Miss Ida M. Moycrs, of Washington, D. j
c who was presented to the high oar
last April.
When it is realized that more than 15.000
men have been privileged to appear be
fore that august body, the small number
of women who have realiied their ambi
tion Is brought into sharp contrast, and
these 28 women, three o. whom have
llnce died, represent the brains of the
women lawyers in the Unlteu States, of
R'hom there are less than a thousand
practicing law today.
- The 2S women admitted to practice be
fore the Supreme Court of the United
States, with their residence and date of
idnilssion, follow:
Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood, Washington,
0. C, March 3, 1879.
Mrs. Laura De Force Gordon, Califor
nia, February 2, lfcS5.
Mrs. Ada M. Bittenbender, Lincoln,
Neb., October 15, 1S.SS.
Mrs. Carrie Burnham Kllgore, Phila
delphia, Pa., January 8, INK).
Mrs. Clara Shortrtdge Foltx, San Die
go. Cel.. March 4. 1890.
Mrs. Letta Kobinson Sawtelle, Boston,
Mass., April 8, 1890.
Miss Kmma H. Gillett, Washington, I.
C, April 8. 1S90.
Mrs. Kate Kane Rossi. Chicago, May 18,
Mrs. Marilla M. Ricker, Washington,
D. C, May 11, 1S9L
Mrs. Myra Bradwcll, Chicago, March
18. 1892.
Mrs. Fannie O'Unn, Chadron, Neb., Oc
tober 17. 1(J3.
Mrs. Kate H. Pier Mcintosh. Milwau
kee, Wis., January 31, 1894.
Mrs. Kllen Spencer Mussey, Washing
ton. D. C May 25. 1S96.
Miss Alice A. Minick. Lincoln, Neb.,
January 18, 1S97.
Mrs. Caroline 11. Pier Roemer, Mil
waukee. Wis., January 18. 1S97.
Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Washington, D.
C. December 20, 1897.
Mrs. Catherine Wangh McCulloch, Chi
cago, February 21. 1898.
Miss Clara L. Power, Boston, April 3,
1899.
Mrs. Kate Pier, Milwaukee. Wis., Feb
ruary 1, 1900.
Mrs. Victoria Conkllng-Whitney. St.
Louis, April 9. 1900.
Miss Florence King, Chicago, April 20,
1903.
Miss Susan C. O'Neill
Conn., April 25, 1904.
Mrs, .Sarah Herring Sorin, Tuscon,
Ariiona. April 16, 1906.
Miss Mary L. Trescott, Wilkes-Barre.
Pa.. April 16, 1M.
Mrs. Ella Knowles-Haskell, Butte,
Mont.. April 23. 1906.
Miss Mary Philbrook, Newark, Jf. J..
Nhvemner 8. 1906.
Miss Ida H. Movers. District of Colum
bia. April 18. 1907.
Here are some rather Interesting points
about these 28 women: Mrs. McCulloch
is the only woman Justice of the Peace:
Mrs. Gordon was the first to make a pub
lic speech for woman suffrage; and the
first to own and edit a dally newspaper:
Mrs. Kicker is the only woman who ever
saf on the bench with the Lord Chief
Justice of Kngland; Miss King is the only
woman patent attorney; Mrs. Mussey Is
the only woman dean of a law collegt;
Mrs. Lockwood Is the first woman to se
cure equal property rights for women:
Mrs. H. H. Pier Simonds Is the only
Waterbury,
woman timber estimator and expert
woodsman: Mrs. Gordon was the first to
Introduce silk culture Into California and,
with Mrs. Kllgore and Mrs. Foltz. was
denied admission to law schools because
of her sex.
The right of women to practice law In
the United States was bitterly contested
by their men opponents for years, but
women like Belva Lockwood, Laura De
Force Gordon, Carrie Burnham Kilgore,
Clara Shortriflge Foltz and Marilla M.
Ricker waged the battle to a successful
conclusion.
First Woman Practitioner.
The first woman to practice law In this
country was Margaret Brent. Lord Bal
timore, then Governor of Maryland, asked
the legislature that she be appointed ex
ecutor of her relatives' estate. One of
the learned members said that it was
better that the estate be lost than a
woman appear to make an argument be
fore them. Margaret Brent, however,
won her case.
And yet a few years after the Civil
War, when Mrs. Carrie B. Kilgore ap
plied for admission to the law department
of the University of Pennsylvania, she
was told by the then dean, that "when
niggers and women are admitted to the
law school." he would resign. Mrs. Kll
gore herself related this incident to the
writer.
It is largely through the efforts of these
28 women that married women through
out the country have the guardianship of
their children equally with the father, and
enjoy the right to money earned by them,
and women in general have been admitted
to law colleges, upon school boards, and
to suffrage In many states, through the
hard, persistent work of these 2S repre
sentative lawyers.
Mrs. Lockwood.
Belva Lockwood. the first woman to be
admitted to practice before the United
States Supreme Court, Is the dean of
American women lawyers, and. aside
from the fact that on two occasions, she
was nominated by the Equal Rights party
for the Presidency of the United States,
is a remarkably able and brilliant woman.
Mrs. Lockwood is in her 77th year, but
her mind is as alert as ever. In fact,
she Is now engaged on the greatest work
of her life, in completing what is proba
bly the most important law case ever
won by a woman, the securing of a $5,000,
000 Judgment against the United States
States Government for 6000 Cherokee In
dians. She was graduated In the National Uni
versity Law School, Washington, D. C.
In May. 1873, after having been refused
matriculation In Columbia College, now
George Washington University, on ac
count of her sex. She was admitted to
the bar of the Supreme Court of the
District of Columbia, September 23, 1S73,
and at once entered into the active prac
tice of her profession.
Two years later she applied for admis
sion to the United States Court of Claims,
having an important case pending there,
and, after repeated postponements, was
refused: first, because she was a woman,
and, secondly, because she was a mar
ried woman. One year later she was
proposed for admission to the United
States Supreme Court, and was refused
as follows: "This application Is denied
until there shall be a more extended pub
lic opinion" In its favor, or some special
legislation."
The following year the Hon. Ben. F.
Butter, at her request, introduced a bill
in the House of Representatl -es for the
admission of women to United States
Supreme Court. That bill was lost in the
House. In 1877, the Hon. Wm. Lawrence,
of Ohio, introduced a bill for her relief,
which was lost in committee.
At the second session of this Congress,
Mrs. Lockwood prepared a bill, which
now stands on the statute books of the
United States, asking that "any woman
of good moral character, and otherwise
duly Qualified, should on presentation be
admitted to the Bar of the United States
Supreme Court." This bill passed the
House by an overwhelming majority at
the same session, and the following year
was introduced into the Senate by Sen
ator Sargent, of California, and passed
that body by more than a two-thirds
majority, February 15, 1879. The bill was
promptly signed by President Hayes and,
a few days later, March 3, 1879, Mrs.
Lockwood was admitted to the Bar of
the United States Supreme Court, and
March 10. 1879, to the Bar of the United
States Court of Claims.
She has been in active practice since
that time, with the exception that from
1SS5 to 1896, she was largely on the plat
form in the various states of the Union,
on account of her nomination for the
Presidency.. -v
A California Notable.
Mrs. Laura DeForce Gordon, who was
the second woman to be admitted to U.
S. Supreme Court practice, died in April,
in California, at 67. She was possibly the
most able representative of the woman
suffragists of the West. The wife of a
physician, she aided him while he was
surgeon on General Banks' Staff during
the Civil Var.
She delivered the first speech made
publicly for woman suffrage, In San
Francisco; February 19, 1868. - She was
also the first woman In the United States
to edit and publish a daily paper, owning
the Stockton (Cal.) Daily Leader, later
changed to the 1 ally Democrat. This she
conducted for. four years.
She became Interested in law and
studied it under one of the most brilliant
lawyers on the Coast.
Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Clara Shortridge
Foltz. of San Diego. Cal.. the fifth
woman to be admitted to U. S. Supreme
Court practice, drew up a bill permitting
women to practice law in California, and
after a hard fight it was passed. Both
women . applied for admission to the
Hastings College of Law, then a depart
ment of the State University, but were
denied entrance. Mrs. Gordon brought
Sirs. Kllgore's Struggles.
Like Mrs. Lockwood and Mrs. Gordon,
Mrs. Caroline B. Kilgore, of Philadelphia,
who was the first woman In Pennsylvania
to be admitted to practice, found it ex
tremely difficult to overcome the almost
universal opposition to the admission of
Pennsylvania women to the bar. Born in
Craftsburg, Vt., both parents died when
she was a girl. At 13, her guardian de
cided that two years' education was
enough for a girl. At 15 she became a
teacher. Three years later she taught
Greek and higher mathematics In. the
public schools at Madison. Wis., and later
she became the preceptress of the Evans
ville Seminary, and still later was gradu
ated from the University of Wisconsin.
Mrs. Kllgore found It almost impossible
In the early '60s for a woman to learn
anything about the human body, unless
she attende'd a medical college, the public
school regarding with horror the thought
of teaching physiology to girls.
In 1S64 she was graduated from the New
York Hygleo Therapeutic Medical Col
lege, and was In the first class of women
admitted to clinics at Bejlevue Hospital.
For a few years she was a professor In
the medical college.
In 1865 she began to read law." and six
years later applied for admission to the
law school of the University of Pennsyl
vania. She was told by the dean that
he would resign before he would let "niggers"-and
women matriculate.
It was not until ten years later' that
Mrs. Kilgore was able to enter the law
schools. Then her troubles began, for no
Philadelphia court would admit her to
practice. Finally, in 1S83, through the
efforts of Damon G. Kilgore. her husband,
a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, she was
admitted to practice In the Orphans'
Court. In 1S86 she was admitted to prac
tice before the Pennsylvania State Su
preme Court.
Mrs. Kilgore says that women lawyers
have never been known to use "runners"
and none of them has taken advantage of
her sex to gain newspaper notoriety.
"Portia of the Pacific."
Mrs. Clara Shortridge Foltz, the "Portia
of the Pacific" was born In Lisbon. Ind.
and early moved to California. She was
the first woman lawyer admitted on the
Pacific Coast, and the first woman trus
tee of the California State Normal School.
For years she taught school, and later
entered newspaper work. She and Mrs.
Gordon made a determined fight to enter
the Hastings College of Law, and It was
through their efforts that women were
admitted to law practice In California.
In 1SS0 she was appointed clerk of the
Judiciary Committee of the Assembly.
She early became Identified with the
Republican party, and stumped the state
for years. She was one of the Califor
nia delegates to the National Bar Associa
tion meeting at the World's Fair. Chicago,
and organized the Portia Law Club, at
that time the only women's law club in
the world. She makes a specialty of
corporation law. For years she was edi
tor and proprietor of the Daily Bee. of
San Diego, Cal.
Philanthropic, Witty Woman.
Not the least Interesting of these women
is Mrs. Marilla M. Ricker, a woman of so
unique a personality that Elbert Hubbard
last year devoted an entire issue of The
Philistine to her.
She is one of those rare lawyers, the
most of whose work has been without
money and without price. Few care to
belong to a firm of that kind. Admitted
to the bar in Washington In May, 1882. she
has made a specialty of criminal cases.
She Is a singularly striking looking wom
an, tall, mannish, commanding, with iron
gray hair. Withal, she la motherly, gen
tle, sympathetic, kind.
Of her Hubbard says: "She had no pre
decessors; she has no duplicates, and the
only one who looks like her is Marilla
Ricker. A ready tongue, a catching
laugh, a nimble wit. a clear insight, one
who can listen as well as talk", she is one
of the most remarkable women lawyers In
this country."
It is related of her that after the lawyer
opposing her had made a two hours'
speech, she addressed the court In these
terse words: "Your honor, and gentle
men of the Jury, I follow the example of
the learned counsel on the other side and
submit the case without argument."
The Jury laughed, while the court, sup
pressing a smile, arose and ordered a
nolle pros in her favor.
She sits at meat with publicans and
sinners, and gamblers and thieves, big
and little call her Marilla, and bootblacks
follow her and cry: "Let me carry your
satchel, Marilla It won't cost you noth
ing." Years ago Mrs. Ricker went to England
with a letter of introduction from Chief
Justice Chase to the Chief Justice of
England. She was the first woman who
ever sat with an English Chief Justice on
the bench.
She was appointed a United States Com
missioner by General Grant, and gave
decisions which for terseness, crystalline
quality and rare good sense are still
quoted.
A woman of wealth, Mrs. Ricker's life
has been devoted to the defense , of poor
women. Most of her clients have been
women, and much of her business has
been to collect debts due working women
by men who have sought to defraud them.
She has argued for equal rights for half
a century. She was an abollshlonlst with
John Brown and Wendell Phillips, and
stood side by side with Frederick Doug
lass when to do so was to Invite insult
and ignominy. She has raised her voice
in behalf of children In mills, mines and
factories. She has been a personal friend
of every President since Lincoln, and
every man of prominence in Washington
in the last half century has been her
friend.
Once when Roacoe Conkllng success
fully defended a thief and the judge dis
charged the prisoner, the latter fell on
Conkllng's neck and wept tears of grati
tude. A moment later Conkllng missed a
OOOO-dlamond scarf pin.
Mrs. Ricker, who had witnessed the
scene, laughed and sald:r"Roscoe that is
all a part of the game we are playing.
Everything we do we do for ourselves.
The Ego Is the All. He has your dla
mond you have your Ego. and It Is quite
as dazzling as the diamond! Let the car
bon go."
Conkllng tried to smile and said: "Of
course you laugh; It was not your dia
mond." And Mrs. Ricker. In mock distress, re
turned: "It was the turquoise that Leah
gave me."
That she has been a veritable Puritan
In her life, even her enemies admit. Her
name has never been between the Hps of
scandal. Everywhere she has friends
and no Intimates. Neither her head nor
heart has ever been in chancery. She
knows as a lawyer every form of vice,
crime and misdemeanor, and yet knowing
all sin and vice, the wrong has never
smirched her soul. Gentle, moderate In
Judgment, sympathetic, she knows the
best and worst, and yet she knows neither
God nor devil.
Here are a few of her characteristic
utterances:
"It matters not what you call me. Miss
or Mrs., I have been a widow so long that
I hardly remember when I was not a
widow. I used to tell my mother when
I was a child that I ought to have been
born a widow and an orphan."
"Men consider marriage a side dish. The
average woman thinks it the whole menu.
I always considered it a mere incident.
Most women think too much
riage.
of mar-
New CJork's Might Court
Average Record Is About One Case Per Minute.
At "Jefferson Market," the colloquially
abbreviated name for the New York Po
lice Court which is the "Bow Street" of
America, and the temple in which she has
nodded bllnklngly for upward of a gen
eration. Justice now. sits, kept awake by
the multifarious night life of the city.
From nine each evening till three In the
morning she tends her scales, for New
York has there established for her the
first regular night court in the world,
as the megaphone man will tell you when
the "rubber-neck wagon" stops before
the door. And If you wander in, wonder
ing why there should be a night court
and, wherein It differs from Its daytime
prototype, you will find that the night
has cast a glamour of its own over the
familiar courtroom and the scenes en
acted there.
Superficially you discover nothing dis
tinctive in the appearance and conduct of
the court, save that the usual bustle and
noise and clamor of the day session are
lacking. The evening quiet of the city
has crept into the room, broken at inter-
vals, with unusual effectiveness,' oy a
passing trolley car or the rush of an ele
vated train, or, in the succeeding hush,
by the clanging gongs of the patrol-wagons
unloading their prisoners from the
various police precincts of Manhattan.
Likewise the outer darkness, accentuated
by the brilliant lights of the courtroom,
furnishes that subtle mystery which it
always lends to crime, and adds the dig
nity and seriousness which it casts over
even a petty tribunal.
At first you may lay the difference to
the novelty of the Institution. The court
held its first session on August 1, and its
uniqueness still attracts visitors more or
less picturesque, so that it is no ordinary
police court audience that drifts in and
out and finally dwindles away before
dawn from the benches outside the rail
ing. Curious citizens of varying intelli
gence; serious-faced foreigners straining
their ears to understand this new Amer
ican amplification of justice, men and
women from some pleasuring automobile
craning to see something unusual all
mingle with the ordinary friends of the
accused, and keep the courtroom full well
up to the recess at midnight, when the
Judge and his staff refresh themselves
with luncheon.
' Human wrecks, mostly old women, va
grants from the parks and elsewhere, tot
ter up to the bridge and are committed
to the almshouse: "drunk and disorder
lies," with or without the marks of con
flict on their faces, offer time-worn ex
cuses and are fined, discharged or put
on good behavior to report to James
Lourls, the probation officer; wife-beaters
are sent to the Island; push-cart men
are arraigned and pay the price of theli
release till it seems that the phantasma
goria of misfortune will never cease pass
ing. The Tecord of 60 cases In 65 minutes
achieved by Magistrate Whitman, the
father of the court, at Its first session,
during which he sat. Is the customary
speed, i Owing to the somewhat aldictlv9
activity of the police, who for several
reasons did not approve of the new order
of things, more than 300 arrests were
crowded 4nto that first session, but. aa
they-. were all properly arraigned and dis
posed of, the attempt to swamp the new
court was thwarted once for all. Since
ti.en the average Is 125 cases nightly.
Harpers.
I Wonder Why.
Mazie V. Caruthera In Llppineott.
I wonder why. when mother's tucked
Me in and I'm alone.
My room should seem so different?
Now. if I hadn't known
That great black Something by my bed
Was Just a chair. I'd most
Been half afraid It wa a slant
Or Mr. Bluebeard's chost!
E by
and
white,
Mv curtain
Hangs lonsr and limD
So like a lady Goon 1 feel
A little scairt at night.
I try to be couras-eoua. but
When you're alone in bed
You think o all the awful things
In fairy tales you've read.
And. first you know, queer shadows steal
From out the corners, so
Right where I hung my clothes I'm sure
There's something moves, and oh,
I feel a crawly, creepy chill
'Way from my head to feet.
And little girls feel comftabler
To hide beneath the sheet!
Every Little Helsw.
William Heyllger in TJpplncott's.
"Where are you going, my pretty maid V
"I'm going for kerosene oil," she said.
"Will you huv Standard, my pretty maid?"
"1 must help pay off the fine," she said.