Esther Hobart (McQuigg) Morris (1814 - 1902)

Esther Hobart McQuigg was born on August 8, 1814, in Spencer, Tioga, New York, United States. She is the daughter of Daniel McQuigg and Charlotte Hobart.

In 1841, she married Artemus Slack, an engineer for the railroad. In May 1843 just short of her 31st birthday, her husband died. Angry with the New York laws prohibiting women from owning property, Esther moved to Illinois, where her late husband had acquired property.

In 1846 Esther married John Morris in Ottawa, Illinois. They subsequently settled in Peru, Illinois where she gave birth to a son John in 1849 and twins Robert and Edward in 1851.

In 1868 Esther's husband John and her son Archibald "Archy" joined the throngs moving to South Pass City in Dakota Territory soon to become Wyoming Territory. They purchased mines and worked at various jobs making a place for Esther and the twins.

In 1869, Esther and her two 18-year-old twin sons, ventured west to rejoin the rest of their family. They first traveled by train to a waystation on the newly completed Transcontinental Railroad at Bryan, 15 miles from present-day Green River. From there, Esther and her boys continued north by stagecoach.

Esther Morris had hardly settled in her new home in South Pass City when District Court Judge John W. Kingman appointed her as justice of the peace in 1870. It took some "prodding" but Morris subsequently completed an application for the post and submitted a required $500 bond. The Sweetwater County Board of Commissioners in a vote of two to one approved her application on February 14, 1870.

Subsequently, the county clerk telegraphed a press release announcing the historic event of the first woman justice of the peace. The Wyoming Territory's enfranchisement of women to vote in 1869 made Morris' unprecedented appointment possible.

Morris' momentous appointment followed the resignation of Justice R. S. Barr, who quit in protest of the territorial legislature's passage of the women's suffrage amendment in December 1869.

Morris began her tenure as justice in South Pass City in 1870 by arresting Stillman, who refused to hand over his court docket. Ultimately, Morris dismissed her own case with a ruling that she as an interested party did not have the authority to arrest Stillman.

Morris looked to her sons for support in the courtroom. She appointed Archibald as district clerk and Robert as a part-time deputy clerk with the tasks of keeping court records and drawing up arrest warrants. Her husband John's support was not so forthcoming. John actively opposed his wife's appointment and reportedly made such a scene in her court that Esther had him jailed.

Esther Hobart Morris died in Cheyenne on April 2, 1902, at age 87. She was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming, United States.

Since 1960, a statue of her sculpted by Avard Fairbanks has been one of Wyoming's two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol. Another statue stands at the Wyoming State Capitol.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8R9-LMG : 20 December 2020), Esther Morris in household of John Morris, LaSalle, Illinois, United States

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX42-RDF : 18 February 2021), Sarah Morris, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC67-GHR : 29 May 2021), Ester Morris in entry for John Morris, 1870.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXKN-W6C : 19 February 2021), Esther Morris in household of Robin C Morris, Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district ED 228, sheet 212A

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3VR-1ZQ : accessed 10 October 2021), Esther Morris in household of R C Morris, Cheyenne city Ward 2, Laramie, Wyoming, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 37, sheet 8A, family 143

See also:

• Wikipedia: Esther Hobart Morris
• Wikidata: Item Q499505, en:Wikipedia