From collection Candidates
Esther Hobart Morris was the first woman Justice of the Peace in the United States. Morris, then living in South Pass City, Wyoming was appointed to fill the term of the local Justice who had resigned his post in protest over the passage of woman suffrage in the state. Morris was appointed in early 1870 and approved by the County Commissioners of Sweetwater County, Wyoming. She served until December of 1870. Morris ran for Constable of Sweetwater County in September of 1870, but received only one vote. In 1873 the Woman's Party of Wyoming nominated Morris for the Territorial State Legislature, but she declined to run. Historians continue to debate how big a role Morris played in the Wyoming suffrage movement.
