Ella Uphay Mowry
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Ella Uphay (Herod) Mowry (July 1865 – August 2, 1923), also known as Mrs. W.D. Mowry, was an American educator,
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
, and
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
activist. A member of the Republican Party, she became the first female gubernatorial candidate in
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
in 1922. According to ''The Alliance Review and Leader'' of Alliance, Ohio, upon becoming "the first person to register her intentions for the August primaries" in April 1922, she stated that, "Someone had to be the pioneer. I firmly believe that some day a woman will sit in the governor’s chair in Kansas."


Formative years

Born as Ella Uphay Herod in
Columbus, Indiana Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The relatively small city has provided a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art, commissio ...
in July 1865, Ella Uphay Mowry was a daughter of William Erastus Herod (1821–1906) and Mary Jane (Collier) Herod (1823–1872) and the sister of Logan P. Herod (1843–1873) and Louisa (Herod) Carr (1849–1918). After relocating to Kansas with her family when she was a young child, she was educated at the Osage Indian missionary school in St. Paul, Kansas. In 1894, she married Wilmot D. Mowry (1854–1929), who was described in his 1929 obituary in ''The Atchison Daily Globe'' as a “pioneer druggist” of
Atchison, Kansas Atchison is a city and county seat of Atchison County, Kansas, United States, along the Missouri River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,885. The city is named in honor of US Senator David Rice Atchison from Missouri an ...
. Their son, Carl Wilmot Mowry (1884–1894), fell ill with "brain fever" at the age of ten in August 1894 and died from
typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
in early September at Osage Mission.


Teaching, suffrage efforts, and political career

Following the completion of her education, she became a teacher in the local school in St. Paul and then in Parsons, Kansas. She then became president of the first Wyandotte Republican Club in
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
"some years before national suffrage was enacted," was "affiliated with other
women’s suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...
and literary organizations," and was appointed as president of the History Club of Kansas City, according to ''The Alliance Review and Leader''. Chair of the legislative committee of the Kansas City, Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs in 1922, she also was "the first woman to become a candidate for the nomination for governor in Kansas" that year. Running as "Mrs. W. D. Mowry," she had "one woman opponent in the primary election." According to ''The Alliance Review and Leader'' of Alliance, Ohio, she was "the first person to register her intentions for the August primaries" in Kansas in April 1922, and said at that time, "Someone had to be the pioneer. I firmly believe that some day a woman will sit in the governor’s chair in Kansas." Stating that she was not "over-optimistic" about her "prospects for victory in the primary election," she added, "I at least will blaze the way for some more successful sister, later." She also observed that:
"It will take a course of education to persuade women to accept the fact that a woman is perfectly as capable as a man to fill the office of governor…. Too long have they confined their thought to things strictly domestic. I do not advocate that they should desert their household cares. But they should expand mentally and realize the wonderful opportunity to participate in public affairs. Womankind will not have come into her own until she takes a more active part in civic and political matters and has convinced herself as well as the men that women are competent to handle any public office as well as the men can handle it."
At the end of May 1907, she and her husband participated in the 29th Annual Convention of the Kansas Pharmaceutical Association in Wichita. During an executive meeting of the association's Ladies’ Auxiliary, she was elected as first vice president of the auxiliary's board of directors.


Illness, death, and interment

Traveling to
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
with her husband in late June 1923, "in hope that hewould recover her health", she died in Denver on August 2, 1923."Mrs. W. D. Mowry Dies," ''The Emporia Gazette'', August 2, 1923, p. 5.


See also

*
List of suffragists and suffragettes This list of suffragists and suffragettes includes noted individuals active in the worldwide women's suffrage movement who have campaigned or strongly advocated for women's suffrage, the organisations which they formed or joined, and the public ...
* Timeline of voting rights in the United States *
Women's suffrage in the United States In the 1700's to early 1800's New Jersey did allow Women the right to vote before the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 19th Amendment, but in 1807 the state restricted the right to vote to "...tax-paying, ...


References


External links


Mrs. W.D. Mowry
(photo from Bain News Service, circa 1920–1925). Washington, DC: George Grantham Bain Collection: call number LC-B2-5796-13, U.S. Library of Congress, retrieved online July 8, 2021.
Mrs. W.D. Mowry
(photo from Bain News Service, circa 1920–1925). Washington, DC: George Grantham Bain Collection: call number LC-B2-5798-1, U.S. Library of Congress, retrieved online July 8, 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mowry, Ella Uphay 1865 births 1923 deaths People from Columbus, Indiana Clubwomen American feminists American suffragists American women's rights activists 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators Burials in Kansas 20th-century American politicians