Election Day!

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress . But I repeat myself." –Mark Twain

Another election?  Didn't we just have one?  Count me in on being an election-weary voter, but at least I can vote, thanks to characters like these:

[Suffragists Mrs. Stanley McCormick and Mrs. Charles Parker, April 22, 1913.  From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Online Catalog]

I'm not related to the above ladies, but thanks to the the availability of California voting registers, I can see two of my direct female ancestors who were early voters.  Women won the right to vote in California in 1911.

This is my great grandmother Minnie (Nosler) Hartley (1883-1969) who first appeared on the voter's list in 1916.

[Minnie a few years earlier in 1907 with my grandfather]

[Mrs Minnie E. Hartley in the 1916 "Index to Great Register of San Diego County," precinct No. 60. Ancestry.com. California, Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

Original data: State of California, United States. Great Register of Voters. Sacramento, California: California State Library.]

This is my 2nd great grandmother Mary Jane (Tibbetts) Hartley (1852-1940), who also first appeared in the 1916 index.

[Mary Jane (Tibbetts) Hartley with my grandfather, about 1910]

[Mrs Mary J Hartley in the 1916 "Index to Great Register of San Diego County," precinct 94. Ancestry.com. California, Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

Original data: State of California, United States. Great Register of Voters. Sacramento, California: California State Library.]

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