Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1872-02-03
womcns Rights in Wyoming Territory

On election day the polls formed the
centre attraction for the curious ana
idle. No disturbances occurred during
the entire day. \ few shrewd poilu-
clans attempted to toist the wrong tick
ct on some OF the ladies IS they passed
between the long lines of men TO depoS-
it their virgin ballots, but they failed IN
this game worked so successfully upon
drunken men. The ladies heads were
clear, and they were not 10 be c@joied
or cheated The roughs, even. were
respectful Whenever lady dismount-
ed from her cariags the crowd gave
way, forming wall on either side. OF
men eagerly peering, each over his
neighbor's shoulder, to see who was
voting. Sensible men were seen stand
ING around the polls all day, with no
other apparent purpose than towatrh
! the novel scene. The ladies passed the
trying ordeal, however, and vindicated
their equality among and before the
"lords OF creation Many voted either
for the LoyeIty's sake or at the solicitl
/ ton OF their husbands OF friends, who
. were interested in the result.
Later, at the city election, few ladies
voted except in one ward, as an offset,
when the contest was close between
Temperance and whiskey candidate Tor
which latter the fast women of the
town turned our. The whi'&ey man
was defeated by the ladies votes. From
this time until the impancling of the
Jurors for the spring term OF Court, the
ladies of Cheyenne were allowed the re-
trement of private life. The names OF
those aspiring to sit on a jury ot thelr
comtrymen were placed in the box and
drawn The court convened on Mon
dav morning, and the tlutter caused by
the sprinkiing of ladies' in the court
room was apparent on the outside.
Men were curlouSly standing at the
doors and windows of the court room
to ge; a glimpse of thejurors in gowns.
Mrs a., Mrs. T., Mrs. H., Mrs. L., Mrs.
W., and Mrs c.. were seated inside the
bar; these only of the married ladies' IN
town being at that time eligible to OF
flee As the clerk called the roll the
ladies' answered to their names and
blushed The docket was called, and 4
murder case selected for trial. After n
day spent in selecting, manTvrlng, chal-
Ienging, and passing jurors for cause, a
jury was finally completed, with three
OF these ladies in the list. Counsel
were too galleut to challenge the ladies
from a Jury, and their gallantry has
since become court etiquette in Nyom-
ing.
Three days were occupied in taking
testimony, and the evidence was nearly
in when Mrs. A., was taken i'll, aud pro
nounced by hel family physician too un-
well to sit longer on the jury. Nature
would assert itself, and Mrs. II. had 10
be excused and another juror drawn IN
her stead. The testimony was all reta-
ken for the benefit of the new juror and
when completed full week had been
occupied in hearing this one case at an
expense to the county Of over $1,000
AS to the prisoner, serious fears were en-
tertained that he would die on thcjury's
!
is still an open question whether these
Jurors are not liable TO indictment for
lnhcting upon fellow being "cruel
and uuusual punishment, contrary TO
the statue in such cases made and pro-
yided.' However, the prisoner surVlv-
ed a verdict Of guilty in the first dc
gree. 1t was then tor the first time
discovered that one Of these Jurors was
not citizen of the United states. In
their modesty the counsel for the prose
cution did not presume to ask an Im-
pertinent question. The only course
new was for the Court TO order
now trial But the prisoner yountaIi-
ly offered to plead guilty TO murder in
the second degree, and accept sen
tcnce OF Imprisonment for life. rather
than endure another tIial This was
accepted by the Court, and Noycs went
TO prison for life, rather than be tried
second time by female jury. As to
the husbands and children Of these am
bilious jurors, their case was truly heart
rcnding. During the entire week they
could neither speak nor communicate
with their loved aud lost At morning
the dCorwals OF the courtroom were
! crowded with disconsolate husbands
and children waiting to catch glimpse
/ oftheirwives and mothers as the Sheriff
( brought the jury into court. At night
! they would llnger to gaze at the re-
tiring forms that once gladdened their
! homes and their hearts, ~ they were
marched off by the Sheriff to the public
hotel, to cat and spend the night to
! gcther. One husband became uncon-
! trollablc, and asked the Judge 20 permit
| his wife to 90 home and see her chill
dyen and spend the night once more
But the Judge was inexorabie, and the
, poor husband returned alone 20 his des-
I olated freside to indi;e withering re-
view of the banefnl results Of Womens
Rights, which appeared in an evening
paper on the following day. His argu-
mcnt was based upon the domestic
impracticability Of the system, and upon
the divine announcement that 1t is not
good for man 10 be alone.
During the entire week the ladie. and
gentlemen Of the jury ate, drank and
slept under the guard Of the Sheriff; the
ladies all in one room aud the gentle
men in another communicating. The
day on which the Court dismissed the
jury was one of rejoicing OH the part Of
the afflicted. But home had lost its