Indiana Sopris Cushman (July 12, 1839 – September 25, 1925) was an American educator, credited as the first woman to teach school in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Early life

Indiana Sopris was born in

Brookville, Indiana Brookville is a town in Brookville Township, Franklin County, Indiana, United States. The town is the county seat of and the largest community entirely within Franklin County. The population was 2,596 at the 2010 census. History Brookville was ...

, the daughter of Richard Sopris, a canal builder and steamboat captain, and Elizabeth Lloyd Allen Sopris. The Sopris family moved to Colorado in early 1860; her father Richard Sopris became mayor of Denver in 1878. "We found some very pleasant people," Indiana Sopris Cushman later wrote about the Denver she met in 1860. "Not very many families, mostly men, very few young ladies. My sister and I and half a dozen other young ladies were all there were in Denver. Of course we were all belles then."

Career

In May 1860, Indiana Sopris opened a school, becoming the first white woman to teach school in the city; she is credited as the first woman teacher in all of Colorado. She also taught and served as assistant superintendent in the first Sunday School in the city, working with her sister and with

Clara Brown Clara Brown (January 1, 1800 – October 23, 1885) was a former enslaved woman from Virginia and Kentucky who became a community leader and philanthropist. She helped formerly enslaved people become settled during Colorado's Gold Rush. She ...

. She was one of the twelve charter members of the city's first Congregational Church, with her mother and sister. She lived in

Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood (Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as the county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had its ...

from 1878 to 1903, one of the first white women to reside there."Pioneer Woman of Deadwood Has Passed"
''Weekly Pioneer-Times'' (October 1, 1925): 2. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

She served on the History of Child-Saving Work Committee of the

National Conference of Charities and Correction National Conference of Charities and Correction (NCCC) was an American organization focused on social welfare. It was established in 1874 as the Conference of Boards of Public Charities. During the period of 1875 through 1879, it held the name Confe ...

in 1893. She was an honorary president of the Society of Colorado Pioneers, and wrote historical articles about Denver in later life.

Personal life

Indiana Sopris married Samuel Cushman, a mining engineer and editor originally from Massachusetts, in 1866. They had three children, Charlotte, Irene, and George. Both Cushmans were active in the Congregational church in Deadwood, and in school affairs in the town. She was widowed in 1899, when Samuel died. Indiana Sopris Cushman died in Denver in 1925, aged 86 years. She was survived by her daughter Charlotte and by three of her brothers. Her grandson, Charlotte's son Roger Cushman Clark (1899-1995), was a model for the "

Buster Brown Buster Brown is a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault that was adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904. The characters of Buster Brown, Mary Jane, and his dog Tige became well known to the American publ ...

" character, drawn by

Richard F. Outcault Richard Felton Outcault (; January 14, 1863 – September 25, 1928) was an American cartoonist. He was the creator of the series ''The Yellow Kid'' and ''Buster Brown'' and is considered a key pioneer of the modern comic strip. Life and career ...

. Sopris, Colorado, a ghost town now under water at

Trinidad Lake State Park Trinidad Lake State Park is a state park west of Trinidad, Colorado, United States. The park protects Trinidad Lake, a dammed reservoir. There are hiking trails, and camping and boating opportunities. The park features historical attractions su ...

, was named for her brother Elbridge B. Sopris, an officer in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and afterwards a mine owner in the area.Kenneth Jessen, ''Ghost Towns: Eastern Colorado'' (J. V. Publications 2009).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cushman, Indiana Sopris American educators People from Colorado Territory 1839 births 1925 deaths