Sarah Killgore Wertman, née Killgore (1 March 1843,

Jefferson, Indiana Jefferson is an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Clinton County, Indiana. The town is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawy ...

- 21 May 1935,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

) was an American lawyer. She was the first woman to both graduate from law school and be admitted to the bar of any state in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, after graduating from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...

and being admitted to the

State Bar of Michigan The State Bar of Michigan is the governing body for lawyers in the State of Michigan. Membership is mandatory for attorneys who practice law in Michigan. The organization's mission is to aid in promoting improvements in the administration of ju ...

in 1871.Leary, Margaret A
"Michigan's First Woman Lawyer: Sarah Killgore Wertman."
''Law Quad. Notes'' 48, no. 3 (2006): 8-11.

Life

Killgore Wertman was born in Jefferson,

Clinton County, Indiana Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 33,224. The county seat is Frankfort. History Clinton County officially came into existence on March 1, 1830, and was named in honor of DeWitt C ...

on March 1, 1843 to David and Elizabeth Killgore. Killgore's father was a prominent local attorney and encouraged his daughter's study of the law. Her religious upbringing led Killgore to attend seminary school, graduating from Ladoga Seminary in Ladoga, Indiana in 1862. She then worked for a number of years as a school teacher. She began studying law at Chicago University (now the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

) in 1869, and went on to study law at the

, becoming the first female law student in the School's history. Killgore Wertman graduated from the University with an LL.B. in March 1871. Later that year she was admitted to the Michigan State Bar.''Michigan Bar Journal'', Volume 63, No. 6 (June 1984). Reprinte
here
However, she became very ill and had to move home home to Indiana. On June 16, 1875 she married Jackson S. Wertman, an

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

attorney, and the pair moved to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

and opened a joint practice there. Under Indiana law, however, women were not eligible for admission to the bar, and so she handled the practice's real estate matters as well as office tasks, while her husband made court appearances. In November 1878, the couple moved to

Ashland, Ohio Ashland is a city in and the county seat of Ashland County, Ohio, United States, 66 miles southwest of Cleveland and 82 miles northeast of Columbus. The population was 20,362 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan S ...

and Killgore Wertman temporarily retired from law practice in order to raise the couple's children, Shields K., Helen M., and Clay (who died in infancy). When her children were older, she decided to sit for the Ohio Bar examination. She passed in September 1893. Once admitted to the Ohio Bar, Killgore Wertman returned to her husband's law practice, specializing in real estate law and abstracting. Killgore Wertman and her husband later followed their children to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state, settling in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, where she continued to reside with her son until her death on May 21, 1935. She was involved in

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

alumni groups and was a lifelong member of the Equity Club, an organization of women lawyers based at the University of Michigan who exchanged letters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wertman, Sarah Killgore 1843 births 1935 deaths American lawyers Legal history of Michigan University of Michigan Law School alumni People from Ashland, Ohio Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century 19th-century American women lawyers 19th-century American lawyers

Life

See also

References