From collection Candidates
In 1894, a year after women gained voting rights in Colorado, Peavey was elected as state superintendent of public instruction, the first woman to win statewide office. Esteele Reel ( Wyoming) and Emma F. Bates ( North Dakota) won election to the same position in 1894, two years after Laura J. Eisenhuth was elected to this office in North Dakota. Peavey, widowed in the Civil War, supported herself and her child as a teacher, bookstore operator, and writer for two newspapers. She was a leader in the Women's Republican League of Denver and vice-president of the State Central Committee. She was also a charter member of the Colorado Woman's Relief Corp. Her brother, Major William H. Upham, ran successfully in 1894 as the Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin, serving one term.
