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Senate Journal of the State of West Virginia, Extraordinary Session, 1920.


Select Communications Sent to the Senate on the Woman Suffrage Amendment

Clarksburg, W. Va., Feb. 28, 1920.

Hon. Wallace B. Gribble,
State Senate,
Charleston

We, the undersigned, assert that we express the sentiment of the majority of the women of Clarksburg when we say that we are opposed to the ratification by the legislature of this state of the Women’s Suffrage Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Certain names appended hereto also appear to the petition presented by the advocates of Woman Suffrage in the Senate and the House today, but these names were signed under a misapprehension of the nature of the petition and we desire to withdraw such names from the petition. We commend the stand taken by you in carrying out the expressed wish of the people of West Virginia as demonstrated by the 96,000 majority against Woman Suffrage and in attempting to protect the true mission of women in the country.

Mrs. John Koblegard,
Mrs. H. C. Cooper,
Miss Hattie Hoffheimer,
Mrs. S. C. Allen,
Mrs. J. J. Evans,
Mrs. Paul S. Horner,
Mrs. E. S. Wallace,
Mrs. R. L. Roberts,
Mrs. Carl Horner,
Mrs. W. P. Goff,
Mrs. Chas. A. Horner,
Mrs. James F. Allen,
Mrs. Wm. A. Vance,
Mrs. Henry Haymond,
Mrs. L. L. Loar,
Mrs. Ella White,
Mrs. Mary B. Templeman,
Mrs. H. W. Thrasher,
Mrs. L. C. Allen,
Mrs. C. O. Findlay,
Miss Lilly Koblegard,
Mrs. Horner Davis,
Mrs. M. L. Shelby,
Mrs. J. N. Hess,
Mrs. A. W. Rapp,
Mrs. Boyd Horner,
Mrs. D. R. Potter,
Mrs. Robert Cook,
Mrs. Harry Wade,
Mrs. A. B. Boggess,
Mrs. Jno. W. Stewart,
Mrs. M. A. Cuppett,
Mrs. Maude Lewis,
Mrs. Lee Haymond.


Charleston, W. Va.,
March 1, 1920.

Hon. C. A. Sinsel,
President of the Senate.

Sir:
In presenting this petition from one thousand seven hundred and nine women of Clarksburg, praying for the ratification of the Federal Suffrage Amendment, we respectfully desire to call the attention of the Senate to the fact that a telegram signed by thirty-four women of Clarksburg, declaring that they were opposed to such ratification, dated February 28, 1920, addressed to Hon. Wallace B. Gribble, and presented by him to the Senate, stated that certain names signed to said telegram, were also appended to this petition but had been placed there under a misapprehension as to its purport.

We hereby declare that the names signed to the telegram have been compared, in the presence of the Clerk of the House of Delegates, with those signed to this petition, and only four of the names on the two documents are identical. The names of the four women who have changed their minds have been stricken from this petition, which is herewith presented, signed by one thousand seven hundred and nine instead of one thousand seven hundred and thirteen women of Harrison county.

We will let the Senate judge whether the thirty-four persons who signed the said telegram or the one thousand seven hundred and nine women who signed said petition are better able to express the sentiment of the majority of the women of that district as to whether they wish the Federal Amendment ratified or not by the Legislature.

Respectfully submitted,

West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association
By Julia W. Ruhl, President.


Clarksburg, W. Va.,

March 1, 1920.

Hon. Wallace B. Gribble,
State Senate,
Charleston

We, the undersigned, assert that we express the sentiment of the majority of the women of Clarksburg when we say that we are opposed to the ratification, by the legislature of this state, of the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Certain names appended hereto also appear to the petition presented by the advocates of Woman Suffrage in the Senate and the House today, but these names were signed under a misapprehension of the nature of the petition and we desire to withdraw such names from the petition. We commend the stand taken by you in carrying out the expressed wish of the people of West Virginia as demonstrated by the 97,000 majority against Woman Suffrage, and in attempting to protect the true mission of women in the country.

Mrs. C. W. Leggett,
Mrs. E. D. Newlon,
Mrs. Clyde Crist,
Miss Edith Newlon,
Mrs. B. Davis,
Mrs. B. O. Booth,
Mrs. W. C. KcKeehan,
Mrs. John Newlon,
Mrs. Blair Willison,
Mrs. Wm. McGowan,
Miss Jennie Wilson.


Morgantown, W. Va.,
February 26, 1920.

Hon. Edgar B. Stewart,
State Senate,
Charleston, W. Va.

We are sure we can count on your vote to assist in placing West Virginia on the honor list of thirty-six states for the ratification of the federal amendment in regard to equal suffrage, and thereby grant to the women of West Virginia recognition of citizenship.

Morgantown District Equal Suffrage Association.


West Virginia Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Charleston, W. Va.,
February 25, 1920.

Hon. S. L. Cobun,
Member State Senate.

Dear Sir:
The West Virginia Federation of Women’s Clubs, consisting of sixty-six clubs with a membership of between three and four thousand, at its annual meeting in Clarksburg last October, passed a resolution urging the West Virginia Legislature to ratify the Federal Suffrage Amendment “at the earliest possible moment.”

Sixteen and a half million women in the United States have already been granted the vote, and the women of this state are looking to you to bestow upon them the same privilege.

Women of all classes are asking for the vote—the women in industry, the teachers, the housewives, the professional women, the rich, the poor, and most of all the mothers are asking that you ratify the suffrage amendment.

Do it now that West Virginia may bravely take her stand with the thirty-six required states.

Yours respectfully,

Committee on Legislation:

Mrs. H. D. Rummel, Chairman, Charleston,
Mrs. John L. Ruhl, Clarksburg
Mrs. James B. Moran, Grafton,
Mrs. John A. Purinton, Morgantown,
Mrs. James Ralston, Weston,
Mrs. T. I. Brett, Fairmont,
Mrs. Charles Morrison, Wheeling,
Mrs. James E. Wilkinson, Parkersburg,
Mrs. W. E. Baker, Elkins,
Mrs. G. T. Fogel, St. Albans,
Mrs. Charles F. Hicks, Welch,
Miss Elizabeth Anderson, Beckley,
Mrs. J. J. Warwick, Charleston,
Mrs. C. E. Rudesill, Charleston,
Mrs. J. W. Dawson, Charleston,
Mrs. J. E. Cannaday, Charleston,
Mrs. J. A. deGruyter, Charleston,
Mrs. Louise G. Jeffries, Charleston,
Mrs. A. M. Finney, Charleston.


Fairmont, W. Va.,
February 26, 1920.

Hon. Edgar B. Stewart,
State Senate,
Charleston, W. Va.

My Dear Senator Stewart:
The womanhood of West Virginia has a right to ask your support of the Anthony Amendment as a matter of simple justice, but in this new day righteousness and justice have joined hands in demanding political equality for women. We are counting on your support.

Mrs. N. R. C. Morrow.


"Fighting the Long Fight" Chapter 6