Raymond New Hampshire Businesswoman, Teacher, First Woman Legislative Committee Chairman: Emma Louise (Tucker) Bartlett (1859-1933)

Mrs. Emma L. Bartlett (1859-1933) one of the early women legislators of NH and the first chairperson.

Emma Louise (Tucker) Bartlett, according to NH legislative historian Leon Anderson‘s 1971 booklet, New Hampshire Women Legislators, was “of Raymond, 63-year-old operator of an insurance business and mother of four [and a Democrat]” was one of the three women in the 1923 New Hampshire Legislature.

He adds that she was a “one-time teacher and Deerfield native, [who] became the first woman committee chairman. She headed the House Public Health Committee along with membership on the Forestry Committee.”

Mrs. Emma Bartlett was elected in what I call the “second wave” of women legislators of the General Court of New Hampshire in 1923. In the “first wave,” Dr. Mary L.R. Farnum, and Miss Jessie Doe had been elected the first women lawmakers in the State of New Hampshire. In 1923 Emma Bartlett, along with Mrs. Gertrude (Moran) Caldwell and Mrs. Effie Earll Yantis were elected.

December 31, 1922 Boston Herald headline on the three women elected to the NH legislature

In a 1922 issue of the Granite State Monthly, Lillian M. Ainsworth writes about the three women (above) recently elected, and the quotations taken from this help us understand Emma Bartlett. “There are only two things I am radical about, capital punishment and war. War weakens the moral fibre and we get an aftermath of crime. Capital punishment is legalized crime.”

In a December 1922 article in the Boston Herald, John E. Pember held a lengthy interview with Mrs. Emma Bartlett at her home. She acknowledged that she had much to learn in the legislature, this being her first time there. She also admitted that at first while she was “bringing up the babies I was rather opposed to the idea” [of woman suffrage]. “I believed then as now that the average woman’s greatest sphere of influence is in the home. Every woman is not fitted for active participation in political life. Nearly every woman of ordinary education is able, I think, to acquaint herself with the issue of the day and to express her judgement upon those issues at the polls. Women will never have the same political ambition as man…she is not the rival of man in politics, but an ally hoping to aid in the solution of problems which have baffled men for centuries.” Emma’s beliefs were not uncommon among women of her time, though there were as many who believed entirely differently, supporting women’s suffrage, and seeing women as equal players on the field of politics.

Coe Academy, Northwood NH, one of the schools Emma Louse Tucker attended.

She had been born Emma Louise Tucker, daughter of Charles Clinton and Hannah (Lake) Tucker in 1859 in the quaint town of Deerfield, New Hampshire. She attended Coe’s Academy at Northwood, New Hampshire, and in 1878 graduated from Plymouth Normal School. She then taught in the public schools of New Hampshire for about ten years. At the time that she ran for office, her four children, two sons and two daughers, were all grown up and married. She was an insurance agent for the Commonwealth Casualty Insurance Company. In addition she was an active member of the local Congregational Church and of the Woman’s Civil Club, and has many other activities.

In 1922 a Boston Herald article stated that Mrs. Barlett was a member of the Rebekahs and Grange. It was also stated that she was chairwoman “of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation for Raymond and under her efforts the quota for the town has more than doubled.”  Another Raymond woman remarked, “She is always doing something nice for someone.”

—–GENEALOGY OF EMMA L. (TUCKER) BARTLETT——

John Tucker (1600-1677) & Rose Struman (1625-1712) England & Hingham MA.
Morris Tucker (1642-1711) & Elizabeth Gill (1646-1663)
Joseph Tucker (1672-1743) & Phebe Page (1674-1736)

James Tucker, son of Joseph & Phebe (Page) Tucker, b. 25 Apr 1697 in Salisbury,Essex Co. MA; d. 7 July 1769 Salisbury MA. He m. 15 June 1721 in Salisbury MA to Hannah True, dau of William & Eleanor (Stevens) True. She was b. 28 Aug 1698 Salisbury MA, d. 18 July 1773 Salisbury MA.
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Children of James & Hannah (True) Tucker:
1. Henry Tucker, b. 1722
2. Elizabeth Tucker, b. 1724
3. Jabez Tucker, b. 1727
4. Martha Tucker, b. 1729
5. James Tucker, b. 1731
6. Eleanor Tucker, b. 1734
7. Ebenezer Tucker, b. 1737
8. +Henry Tucker II, b. 10 May 1742

Henry Tucker, son of James & Hannah (True) Tucker, b. 10 May 1742 in Salisbury, Essex MA, d. Gilmanton NH. He m. 20 Oct 1768 in Hawke NH to Marcy/May Robinson of Brentwood NH. She was b. abt 1742. He settled at Deerfield NH in 1760 and had 8 children. He received land from his father in Nottingham NH in 1767.
SEE Meredith NH annals and genealogies, by M. N. Hanaford, page 559; Genealogies: Tucker
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Children of Henry & May/Marcy (Robinson) Tucker:
1. John Tucker, b. 12 April 1769 Deerfield NH; m. Betsey Rowell of Hopkinton NH. Two of their sons, Warren and Alvah Tucker came to Meredith Bridge with their uncle Daniel and started a cotton factory.
2. +James Tucker, b. 12 December 1770
3. Mary Tucker, b. 1772, d. 1772
4. Hannah Tucker, b 16 Nov 1774 Deerfield NH
5. Henry Tucker, b. 12 February 1776 1776
6. Daniel Tucker, b. 28 May 1778 Deerfield NH; settled at Meredith Bridge (Laconia) had 3 children; was elected president of the Winnipesaukee Bank. He built a house on Beacon Street called the “Mansion House,” and had a factory to make farm implements on Mill Street, near his home.
7. Sarah “Sally” Tucker, b. 28 September 1781 Deerfield NH
8. Martha Tucker b 4 January 1785 Deerfield NH
9. True Tucker b 7 January 1788 Deerfield NH

James Tucker, son of Henry & Marcy (Robinson) Tucker, b. 12 Dec 1770 in Deerfield NH, d. abt 1826; m. 21 Oct 1800 in Deerfield NH to Anne “Nancy Fruse” Freeze/Frieze, dau of Andrew & Shuah (Thurston) Freeze. She b. 7 Aug 1776 Deerfield NH, d. 27 Aug 1850 Deerfield NH
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Children of James & Anne (Freeze) Tucker:
1. +Charles Tucker, b. abt 1801 Deerfield NH
2. Harriet W. Tucker, b. 1803
3. Eliza Tucker, b. abt 1805
4. Dudley Freeze Tucker, b. abt 1806 Deerfield NH, d. 15 March 1888 in Northwood NH; carpenter
5. Mary A. Tucker, b. abt 1812-1815 Deerfield NH; d. 23 Oct 1893 in Newton MA; m. Dewitt C. Butler.
6. ?Andrew G. Tucker, b abt 1813 NH
7. Gordon F. Tucker, b. abt 1819, d. 17 June 1882 in Lowell MA; married, trader
8. John True Tucker, b. abt 1822, d. 25 March 1893 in Deerfield NH, single

Charles Tucker, son of James & Anne (Freeze) Tucker, b abt 1801 Deerfield NH, d 13 Dec 1850 in Deerfield NH; m. 1 March 1827 in NH to Fany/Fannie G. Langley. She b. abt 1805 Chichester NH, and d. 27 May 1869 in New Boston NH. She m2d) 14 March 1857 in New Boston NH to Sandy Smith. He was b abt 1802 and d. 4 June 1869 in New Boston NH.
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1850 US Census > NH > Rockingham > Deerfield
Charles Tucker M 49 NH
Fanny G. Tucker F 45 NH
Charles C. Tucker M 19 NH
Myra T Tucker F 7 NH
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Children of Charles & Fannie G. (Langley) Tucker:
1. +Charles C. Tucker, b. 26 May 1831 in Deerfield NH
2. Myra T. Tucker, b. abt 1843 Deerfield NH; m. 20 Oct 1867 in New Boston NH to George H. Chandler, son of Heber & Hannah F. (?) Chandler. He was b. in Nashua NH, a mechanic.

Sketch of Deerfield Parade from History of Nottingham, Deerfield and Northwood, by Elliott C. Cogswell, 1878, Internet Archive

Charles Clinton Tucker, son of Charles C. & Fanny/Fannie G. (Langley) Tucker, b.26 May 1831 in Deerfield NH, d 16 Jan 1909 ; m. Hannah Ann Lake, daughter of John & Ruth (Rowell) Lake. She b. 21 April 1834 in Chichester/Loudon NH, d 13 Dec 1918 in Deerfield, Rockingham Co. NH. Farmer. They are buried in Morrison Cemetery in Deerfield NH
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Children of Charles C. & Hannah A. (Lake) Tucker:
1. Charles C. Tucker, b. 1 December 1856 Deerfield NH; d. 19 Feb 1929 Deerfield NH, previous residence Alabama. He m1) –; He m2d) 2 Jan 1907 in Boston MA to Ernestine A. Garland Lambert, dau of David & Margaret (Lyons) Lambert. She was b abt 1857, previously divorced.
2. +R. Emma Louise Tucker, b. 15 January 1859 in Deerfield, Rockingham Co. NH
3. Harriet A. “Hattie” Tucker, b. abt 1864 NH; m. 21 Sep 1898 in Deerfield NH to Thomas H. Rollins, son of George L. & Lydia M. (Westcott) Rollins. He was b. Deerfield NH, a policeman in Haverhill MA.
4. Anna Myra Tucker, b. 23 May 1873 in Deerfield NH
5. Grace Emma Tucker, b. 1875 Deerfield NH; m. 4 Sep 1893 in Bristol NH to Charles Flanders, son of Ephraim G. & Hannah E. (Tuck) Flanders. He was b. in 1869 Brentwood NH. He was a millright and she was a school teacher.

R. Emma Louise Tucker [this story is about her see above photograph],  daughter of C.C. & Harrieta/Hannah (Lake) Tucker, b. January 1859 Deerfield, NH, d. 16 May 1933; m. 20 Nov 1882 in Raymond NH to John Thomas Bartlett, son of John & Harriett (Marston) Bartlett. He was b. 9 June 1851 in Manchester NH, and d. 18 May 1920 in Raymond, NH. She is buried in Old Pine Grove Cemetery, Raymond NH.
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[Biography of her husband] Source: History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens, by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill., 1915; Page 947-8: JUDGE JOHN T. BARTLETT, a prominent attorney of Raymond, who is also judge of the Candia Police Court, was born June 9, 1851, at Manchester, N. H., a son of John and Harriett (Marston) Bartlett. His ancestors on both sides were of old and distinguished New England families. On the maternal side, Brigadier General Samuel Marston belonged to the militia, as did also his son, Col. Thomas Marston. The early ancestors of our subject came from England and settled first at Hampton and later at Deerfield, N. H. John Bartlett, father of Judge Bartlett, was born in Deerfield in 1818 and died in 1865. His wife, born in Deerfield in 1816, survived him many years, passing away in March, 1886. Of their seven children, John T. was the fourth in order of birth. John T.  Bartlett acquired his early education in the schools of Manchester and Deerfield. When fifteen years of age he accompanied his father’s family to Nottingham, where they resided until John T. was about twenty years old. During the summers and in the vacations he worked on a farm, his first work of this kind being four and a half days, for which he received forty-five cents. He then applied himself to learn the shoemaker’s trade, earning nine dollars a week in the shoe factory at Derry. Having saved some money, in 1872 he entered Pinkerton Academy, where he was graduated in 1877, having paid his own way. He then taught school continuously until 1884 in Deerfield, Nottingham, Derry and Raymond, in the meanwhile reading law, the study of which he had commenced some time before, with G. C. and G. K. Bartlett of Derry. Admitted to the bar at Concord, N. H., in August 1885, on September 7th of that year he opened a law office in Raymond, where he has since built up a large and profitable practice. He was appointed judge of Candia Police Court in 1913. In 1888 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention held at Concord, N. H. Judge Bartlett was first married in April, 1869, when but eighteen years old, to Emma J. Durgin, of Nottingham. She died, leaving no children, and on November 30, 1882, he married for his second wife, Emma L. Tucker, of Deerfield, N. H. Her father, Charles C. Tucker, was a prominent citizen of Rockingham County, and a former superintendent of the farm at Brentwood. He is now deceased. Of Judge Bartlett’s second marriage four children were born, namely: Ada L., wife of Ralph H. Sanborn of Raymond, who has a little daughter, Priscilla Bartlett Sanborn; Bessie B., wife of Lorenzo D. Dickinson, of Vancouver, B. C., who has a son, Robert Bartlett Dickinson; John T., Jr., who married Margaret Abbott, and has a son, Forrest A; and Robert L., single, who is now a student in the junior class at Dartmouth College. The elder children were educated in the Raymond schools and at Pinkerton Academy, Deerfield, while John T. took a business course at the Bryant & Stratton College at Manchester, and is now a newspaper man and a magazine writer at Vancouver, B. C. Judge Bartlett belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the Rebekahs and the Encampment, in which he has held all the chairs. He is a Democrat in politics and is affiliated with the Congregational Church. A public-spirited citizen, standing high in his profession, he enjoys a wide popularity.
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1900 US Census > NH > Rockingham > Raymond
John T. Barlett Head M 49 NH NH NH Head M June 1851 lawyer
Emma L. Bartlett wife F 41 NH NH NH Jan 1859 4 ch 4 living
Ada L. Bartlett dau F 17 NH dau Nov 1883 single
Bessie Bartlett dau F 13 NH daughter July 1887 single
John T. Bartlett son M 8 NH son M Jan 1892 single
Robert L. Bartlett son M 6 NH son Feb 1894 single
Charles A. Shepard Lodger M 63 NH Jan 1837 married 34 yr NH NH NH restaurant Keeper
Ralph H. Sanborn M 22 NH Nov 1878 single NH NH NH Telegraph Operator RR
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Children of John T. & Emma L. (Tucker) Bartlett:
1. Ada Ethal Louise Bartlett, b 2 Nov 1883 Raymond NH; m. 28 June 1905 in Raymond NH to Ralph Henry Sanborn, son of Henry J. & Minnie A. (Richards) Sanborn
2. Bessie Bartlett, b. 17 July 1887 Raymond NH; m. 4 April 1911 in Raymond NH to Lorenzo D. Dickinson, son of Thomas G. & Jane (Martin) Dickinson
3. John T. Bartlett, Jr. b. 15 Jan 1892 Raymond NH; married Margaret Abbott.  Son, Forrest A. Bartlett. Res. Vancouver, BC, Canada.
4. Robert L. Bartlett, b. 11 Feb 1894 Raymond NH

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