FREE: Ester Hobart Morris FDC

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Esther Hobart Morris a New York native, distinguished herself as the first female Justice of the Peace in the United States. A mother of three boys, she began her tenure as justice in South Pass City, Wyoming, on February 14, 1870, and served a term of less than nine months. The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners appointed Morris as justice of the peace after the previous justice, R. S. Barr, resigned in protest of Wyoming Territory's passage of the women's suffrage amendment in December 1869. Popular stories and historical accounts, buttressed by state and federal public monuments, point to Morris as a leader in the passage of Wyoming's suffrage amendment. However, Morris' leadership role in the legislation is disputed. Morris' life after South Pass City included participating in local and national women's organizations. She received but ultimately rejected an 1873 nomination by the Woman's Party of Wyoming as a candidate to the Wyoming Territorial Legislature. Morris served as vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1876.