Women Across Texas History
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Copyright © 2016 by Texas State Historical Association All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions,” at the address below. Texas State Historical Association 3001 Lake Austin Blvd. Suite 3.116 Austin, TX 78703 www.tshaonline.org IMAGE USE DISCLAIMER All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 related to Copyright and “Fair Use” for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Dear Texas and Women’s History Enthusiast, Texas Women’s History has had a long and distinguished legacy with both the Texas women who have made history and the Texas historians who have written women’s history. The importance of women’s contributions to the state has been and continues to be a significant part of its cultural narrative. In this eBook, we selected articles from the Handbook of Texas Online to provide an overview of the racial and ethnic diversity, different socio-economic designations, and varying regional identities that makes Texas history so rich and dynamic. These entries are enriched with illustrations provided by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin, Library of Congress, numerous archives and museums across the state, and the public domain. Women Across Texas History Volume 1: Nineteenth Century and Before offers selected biographical sketches from the Handbook of Texas Online and articles from the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, which highlight the type of incredible content that the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is so proud to offer. I would be remiss if I did not specially acknowledge the dedicated TSHA staff and our amazing contributors and members—this Association continues to prosper because of you. Importantly, my graduate research assistant, Elaina Friar Moyer, was essential to the success of this eBook. She is a phenomenal researcher and editorial assistant. Additionally, I received significant support from my university, Texas A&M University-Commerce, without which this eBook and connected endeavors would not be possible. Many thanks to everyone involved. Cheers! Jessica Brannon-Wranosky Project Director Associate Professor of History Texas A&M University-Commerce i Dear Texas History Lover, Texas has a special place in history and in the minds of people throughout the world. Texas also has the distinction of being the only state in the United States that was an independent country for almost ten years—free and separate—recognized as a sovereign government by the United States, France, and England. For more than a century, the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) has played a leadership role in Texas history research and education and has helped to identify, collect, preserve, and tell the stories of Texas. It has now entered into a new collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin to carry on and expand its work. In the coming years these two organizations, with their partners and members, will create a collaborative whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The collaboration will provide passion, talent, and long- term support for the dissemination of scholarly research, educational programs for the K-12 community, and opportunities for public discourse about the complex issues and personalities of our heritage. The TSHA’s core programs include the Texas Almanac, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Handbook of Texas Online, TSHA Press, and education programs that reach out to students and teachers at all levels throughout the state. The central challenge before the TSHA is to seize the unprecedented opportunities of the digital age in order to reshape how history will be accessed, understood, preserved, disseminated, and taught in the twenty-first century. In the coming years, we will capitalize on these momentous opportunities to expand the scope and depth of our work in ways never before possible. In the midst of this rapid change, the TSHA will continue to provide a future for our heritage and to ensure that the lessons of our history continue to serve as a resource for the people of Texas. I encourage you to join us today as a member of the TSHA, and in doing so, you will be part of a unique group of people dedicated to standing as vanguards of our proud Texas heritage and will help us continue to develop innovative programs that bring history to life. With Texas Pride, Brian A. Bolinger Randolph “Mike” Campbell CEO Chief Historian Texas State Historical Association Texas State Historical Association ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. María de Jesús de Agreda ……………………………………………..…...... 1 by Donald E. Chipman 2. Angelina …………………………………………………..……….……………….. 3 by Lu Diane Hughes 3. Santa Adiva ……………………………….……………………………………….. 4 by Judith N. McArthur 4. Emily Austin Perry ………………………………………….………..………… 5 by Marie Beth Jones 5. Jane Cazneau …………………………………………………………….……….. 7 by Robert E. May 6. Sarah Bowman ……………………………………………..………………….... 11 by Regina Bennett McNeely 7. Emily D. West ………………………………………………….……………….... 15 by Margaret Swett Henson 8. Emily West de Zavala …………………………............………............... 19 by Margaret Swett Henson 9. Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson ………………………………………….…. 21 by Margaret Swett Henson 10. Mary Maverick ……………………………………………………………….... 25 by Paula Mitchell Marks iii TABLE OF CONTENTS 11. Margaret Houston ………………………………………………………….... 28 by William Seale 12. Tamar Morgan ………………………………………………………..……..... 32 by Sherilyn Brandenstein 13. Frances Cox Henderson ………………………………………………..…… 33 by Mary D. Farrell 14. Cynthia Ann Parker …………………………………………................... 36 by Margaret Schmidt Hacker 15. Petra Vela de Vidal Kenedy ………………………………………….…….. 39 by Cynthia E. Orozco 16. Zilpha Husk ……………………………………………………………….…….. 41 by Mary M. Standifer 17. Rachel Hamilton Hornsby ……………………………………………..….. 43 by Randolph B. Campbell 18. Josefa (Chipita) Rodríguez ………………………………………….…….. 44 by Marylyn Underwood 19. Salomé Ballí Young ………………………………………………………..…. 46 by Alicia A. Garza 20. Henrietta Chamberlain King ……………………………………………… 47 by Edgar P. Sneed iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 21. Mary Ann (Molly) Goodnight …………………………………………….. 50 by Joyce Gibson Roach 22. Elizabeth (Lizzie) E. Johnson Williams …………………………….… 53 by Roberta S. Duncan 23. Myra Maybelle (Belle) Starr …………………………………………….... 55 by Leon C. Metz 24. Angelina Dickinson ……………………………………………………….…. 58 by Katherine L. Massey 25. Jenny Bland Beauchamp ……………………………………………….….. 60 by Judith N. McArthur 26. Carry Nation ………………………………………………………………….... 62 by James C. Martin 27. Bettie Munn Gay ………………………………………………………….…… 65 by Melissa G. Wiedenfeld 28. Mary Elizabeth Lease …………………………………………………….…. 67 by Sherrie S. McLeRoy 29. Belle M. Burchill …………………………………………………………...... 70 by Amber R. Konzem 30. Ellen Lawson Dabbs …………………………………………………….….. 74 by Melissa G. Wiedenfeld v TABLE OF CONTENTS 31. Lucy E. Parsons ……………………………………………………………..… 76 by Carolyn Ashbaugh 32. Elisabet Ney ………………………………………………………………….... 78 by Emily F. Cutrer 33. Mariana Folsom ……………………………………………………………... 80 by Tony Black 34. Mary Eleanor Brackenridge ……………………………………………… 81 by A. Elizabeth Taylor 35. Betty Eve Ballinger ………………………………………………………..... 84 by Elizabeth Hayes Turner 36. Hally Ballinger Perry …………………………………………………….... 88 by Nancy Baker Jones 37. Teresa Urrea …………………………………………………………………… 90 by Frances Mayhugh Holden vi SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 38. “Spanish Laws for Texas Women: The Development of Marital Property Law to 1850” ………………………………………………………………. 92 by Jean Stuntz 39. “The Meaning of Participation: White Protestant Women in Antebellum Houston Churches” ………………………………………..………. 92 by Angela Boswell 40. “The Texas Building and the Women’s Fair Exhibit Association of Texas” …………………………………………………………………………………. 92 by Jeffrey A. Zemler vi María de Jesús de Agreda 1 By Donald E. Chipman María de Jesús de Agreda (the Lady in Blue) was born in the Spanish village of Agreda near the border of Aragon and Navarre in April of 1602, the eldest daughter of Francisco Coronel and Catalina of Arana. In her youth María, baptized María Coronel, demonstrated unusual piety and remarkable memory. At the age of sixteen, she convinced her father that he should convert the family castle into a convent for Franciscan nuns. She took religious vows on February 2, 1620, and the name María de Jesús. The new order soon expanded beyond the confines of the castle and moved to the convent of the Immaculate Conception in Agreda. The nuns' habit was colored Franciscan brown (pardo) with an outer cloak of coarse blue cloth. Throughout the 1620s María de Jesús would Painting, María de Jesús de Agreda, repeatedly lapse into deep trances. On these aged 20, hanging