Quite contrary
Subtitle: the litigious life of Mary Bennett Love
By: David J. Langum, Sr. ; foreword by Gordon Morris Bakken
Series: American liberty & justice; American liberty & justice
Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 212
ISBN-13: 9780896728745
Subjects: Public lands; Trials, litigation; Women farmers; Land grants; Women pioneers; Pioneers; History; Biography; Squatters
Description: "California's first liberated lady Mary Bennett Love had a physicality exceeded only by her personality. Six feet tall and over 300 pounds, Love was anything but shackled by the mores of her day. In the 1840s, she moved west from Arkansas via the Oregon Trail. A few years later, she separated from her husband and took her six minor children to Santa Clara, where she acquired a Mexican land grant by forging an adult son's signature. Though illiterate, she knew the law thoroughly and used it to her advantage. No sooner had the American military invaded California than Mary squatted on public lands and engaged in dozens of lawsuits to advance her interests. Her love life was no less tumultuous. Harry Love, her second husband and slayer of Mexican bandit Joaquin Murrieta, died at her bodyguard's hands. Quite Contrary is the first book to focus on Mary Bennett Love. Aside from making for an entertaining story, she is representative of the relationship people had with the law in pre-Gold Rush California. Furthermore, her economic success demonstrates the often self-imposed notions of true womanhood--which Mary ignored, paving the way for future female entrepreneurs"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-206) and index.
Table of contents: title: Bennett Family Background; title: Overland to Oregon in 1842; title: From Oregon to California; title: The Bennetts Live in Yerba Buena; title: Mary Bennett Separates from Vardamon and Moves to Santa Clara; title: Catherine Bennett Marries Isaac Graham; title: Mary Operates Her Grant and Becomes More Acquisitive, 1846-1852; title: Santa Cruz County Land Speculations; title: Catherine Leaves Isaac amid Massive Litigation; title: Mary Bennett Marries Harry Love; title: Land Claims Litigation and Other Lawsuits, 1851-1864; title: The Final Years; title: Epilogue and Conclusion.