Women Vote in Bovina

On November 6, 1917, the efforts to extend the right to vote to all New York citizens was successful. Not only did it carry state-wide, but it won in Delaware County, 5546 for vs. 4443 against. The county ranked about in the middle of how the counties voted in New York. And Bovina voted in support – 97 for and 84 against.

The first opportunity for women to vote in Bovina came on September 3 in the primary. I’ve tried to figure out who the first woman to vote in Bovina was, but given there were three party primaries, we can’t be sure who that was. There was only one woman voting as a Democrat, Florence Henry. The Republican and Prohibition parties had considerably more people voting. Margaret Boggs was the first woman to vote in the Prohibition primary, being the sixth voter. Margaret Archibald was the first Republican female vote, being the fifteenth Republican voter.

In the general election on November 5, 1918, 98 of the 212 women registered in Bovina voted (out of 284 total voters), and we do know who the first woman to vote in Bovina was – Margaret T. Gladstone. Born Margaret Ana Thompson in Bovina, she was the daughter of James and Jennett Thompson. She married Robert R. Gladstone in 1868. They lived for a number of years in Andes but in 1915, sold their home there and took rooms in Jennie Miller’s home in the Bovina Center hamlet. This is where they were living when Margaret (and her husband) voted in the general election in 1918. They later bought a home in Bovina and both died there. Robert died in 1925, Margaret in 1928. Both are buried in Bovina.

The last woman to vote in Bovina in the first general election open to women in New York was Mina (pronounced 'minee') Wilson. In 1921, she became the first woman in Bovina to be elected to office. See the November 11, 2013 entry in this blog for more about Mina (https://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/11/bovinas-first-female-office-holder.html).

Here is the full list of the women in Bovina who voted in the September primary and November general election in 1918: 

Primary election

Democrat primary

#05 – Florence Henry

Prohibition primary

#06 – Margaret Boggs

#07 – Nell Cable Hunt

#08 – Hattie Smith

#12 – Lee Lucy Alta

#13 – Margaret Davidson

#14 – Vera Davidson Storie

#15 – Jane Dickson

#16 – Jeannette Thomson

#19 – Ida Ayers

#20 – Christina E. Miller

#21 – Ida E. Miller

#22 – Jule A. McPherson (?)

#23 – Maggie Storie

#24 – Laura Quinn

#25 – Mary R. Gordon

#26 – Alice Boggs

#28 – Anna Bell Calhoun

#29 – Mabel Fiero

#30 – Ida J. McCune

#31 – Elizabeth Strangeway

#32 – Mrs. Guy Rockefeller

#34 – Agnes Draffen

#37 – Nellie Johnson

#38 – Mina B. Wilson

#41 – Christina Ackerly

Republican Primary

#015 – Margaret E. Archibald

#020 – Viola J. Russell

#021 – Jane Strangeway

#028 – Elizabeth J. Blair

#029 – Mary B. Currie

#032 – Elizabeth Irvine

#033 – May E. Johnson

#034 – Mary Armstrong

#035 – Bulah Armstrong

#036 – Margaret E. Liddle

#037 – Ida Burgin

#038 – Nettie Doig

#042 – Jennie E. Archibald

#050 – Margaret J. Gladstone

#052 – Helena S. Hilson

#055 – Lucy Coulter

#059 – Lillie May Brown

#073 – Jane Hilson

#079 – Mabel King Doig

#083 – Nancy Belle Burns

#085 – Elizabeth Burns

#090 – Clarie(?) McPherson

#098 – Jannet Kinch

#101 – Edith Liddle

#102 – Oliver Stella

#103 – Marion Crosier

#107 – Margaret C. Banuat

#108 – Janet M. Biggar

#113 – Mary Scott

General Election

#019 – Margaret T. Gladstone

#035 – Alvah Shultis

#040 – Katie K. Muller

#052 – Margaret Banuat

#055 – Agnes Coulter

#056 – Lulu McFarland

#058 – Rose B. McPherson

#067 – Maggie Ormiston

#068 – Agnes Draffen

#070 – Margaret J. Gladstone

#074 – Christina Miller

#075 – Ruth Elliott

#077 – Etta Mab on

#080 – Hannah Coulter

#081 – Loruhannah Jocelyn

#087 – Jane Dickson

#096 – Pearl M. Eton

#101 – Anice Seacord

#103 – Jennie Ringholm

#110 – Mary B. Currie

#111 – Nelle Cable Hunt

#112 – Mabel Fiero

#113 – Elizabeth J. Russell

#114 – Viola J. Russell

#117 – Jennie B. Elliott

#120 – Hazel M. Hoy

#121 – Robena Hoy

#127 – Lillie M. Brown

#128 – Laura Quinn

#129 – Margaret Whitson

#131 – Eva McPherson

#134 – Irene F. Thomson

#135 – Jennie Storie

#141 – Beulah Decker

#142 – Shirley Miller

#143 – Leila Miller

#146 – Jane Strangeway

#149 – Nellie Tuttle

#150 – Mary Hafelle

#151 – Bessie Fuller

#152 – Lois Ormiston

#153 – Edith Barnhart

#154 – Christina Ackerly

#154 – Ruth Ormiston

#155 – Anna B. Calhoun

#173 – Vera Davidson

#176 – Maggie Davidson

#177 – Maggie Storie

#178 – Margaret E. Liddle

#179 – Jennie Biggar

#181 – Ida J. McCune

#182 – Mayme B. McNair

#183 – Janet Kinch

#184 – Nancy Campbell

#185 – Evelyn E. Campbell

#186 – Florence Henry

#189 – Alice Boggs

#192 – Mary K. Raitt

#194 – Margaret C. Boggs

#198 – Agnes Forrest

#199 – Lizzie Burns

#200 – Nancy B. Burns

#207 – Julia McPherson

#208 – Stella Oliver

#209 – Edith M. Liddle

#210 – Lizzie Burgin

#219 – Jennie C. Thomson

#220 – Jennie B. Crosier

#221 – Elizabeth J. Irvine

#222 – Jessie Bouton

#226 – Marion Crosier

#227 – Hattie Smith

#229 – Mary Thomson

#230 – Mary J. Robson

#231 – Minnie C. Thomson

#232 – Nelle Francher

#233 – Ida E. Miller

#234 – Ida T. Burgin

#243 – Augusta Lifgren

#246 – Anna S. Thomson

#248 – Helen S. Hilson

#249 – Henrietta Boyd

#255 – Nellie Johnson

#256 – Jean Hume

#261 – Lucy Lee

#262 – Laura M. Robson

#263 – Margaret E. Archibald

#264 – Isabell A. Hilson

#265 – Sarah Phyfe

#266 – Jennie Hoy

#268 – Mary Scott

#270 – Carrie M. McPherson

#271 – Mary R. Gordon

#272 – Ida Ayers

#273 – Delle Rockefeller

#274 – Helen B. Thomson

#275 – Elizabeth J. Blair

#280 – Mina B. Wilson