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Authors: M. Louisa Locke
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she said, “Nate, what does it mean exactly that the grand jury indicted Mrs. Sullivan for second degree murder?”
“Murder in the first degree means that the killing was premeditated, and the sentence is either death by hanging or life imprisonment,” Nate replied. “This is what Laura Fair was charged with because she brought a gun with her to the ferry when she shot Crittenden. The prosecution in her trial argued this showed premeditation. However, since the murder weapon that killed Joshua Rashers was a tool found in the press room, it would be much harder to prove premediation against whoever killed Rashers. Although I suspect that Dart, the district attorney, didn’t want to push for a first degree murder charge because it is much harder to get a jury to convict a woman if it means she might hang. There hasn’t been a single woman executed in California––and of course Fair’s initial murder conviction was over-turned.”
“Laura Fair,” Laura exclaimed. “I remember that case. I must have been eleven or twelve. For weeks the San Jose papers included full transcripts of the trial. She had my first name, you see, which somehow made it all the more interesting. I thought it deeply romantic and tragic that Fair loved someone so much she would kill him rather than lose him.”
Laura didn’t mention that she also started having nightmares once Laura Fair was found guilty and was supposed to hang.
“I can’t believe Mother let you read about that case.”
“Oh, Mother forbade me, but that made me all the more curious. I discovered that Billy snuck the papers from the woodbox every night and stashed them away under his mattress to read. So during the day when he was out working on the ranch, I was reading them in bits and pieces when I was doing my chores. I devoured every word, particularly when the papers included a whole transcript of a speech made by Susan B. Anthony. I think she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were visiting San Francisco during the trial, and they gave a lecture. First time I’d read anything about the reasons why women should have the right to vote—or serve on a jury. Anthony said something about how it was really men like Crittenden who were to blame for forcing women like Fair into prostitution in order to support themselves.”
“Laura, really, I...”
“Nate, you aren’t going to shush me. I think I am old enough to say the word ‘prostitute’ out loud! And she was right. Think about those poor women in the refuge that Annie is helping. They certainly aren’t prostitutes because of some moral failing.”
“Don’t harangue your poor brother. He gets that enough from me,” said Annie. “But Nate, she’s right. I now remember that California suffragists were using the trial to get their point across about the double standard. They pointed out that Crittenden was the one committing adultery, but Laura Fair was the one who was being accused of wrecking his family. Didn’t local suffrage supporters pack the courtroom?”
“Yep. I asked my Uncle Frank, and he said the judge got very upset, threatened to fine some of the women for contempt of court for their outbursts. I gather Mrs. Emily Pitts Stevens was rather the ring-leader. She was the editor of The Pioneer back then, really the first women’s rights paper in town, and Uncle Frank said she gave back as good as she got in her editorials. But then some reporters began to write that she was a ‘free lover’ herself and started the rumor that she pulled a derringer on a state senator at an anti-suffrage rally.”
“Heavens,” Annie exclaimed. “I can see why Mrs. Pitts Stevens would be worried that if she or Mrs. Gordon got involved in this case the newspapers would jump on the trial and dredge up all that old stuff.”
“Yes,” Nate replied. “Uncle Frank said things got really nasty, and a faction in Pitts Stevens’ own suffrage organization turned on her. Laura, I need to remind you that is important that
“Murder in the first degree means that the killing was premeditated, and the sentence is either death by hanging or life imprisonment,” Nate replied. “This is what Laura Fair was charged with because she brought a gun with her to the ferry when she shot Crittenden. The prosecution in her trial argued this showed premeditation. However, since the murder weapon that killed Joshua Rashers was a tool found in the press room, it would be much harder to prove premediation against whoever killed Rashers. Although I suspect that Dart, the district attorney, didn’t want to push for a first degree murder charge because it is much harder to get a jury to convict a woman if it means she might hang. There hasn’t been a single woman executed in California––and of course Fair’s initial murder conviction was over-turned.”
“Laura Fair,” Laura exclaimed. “I remember that case. I must have been eleven or twelve. For weeks the San Jose papers included full transcripts of the trial. She had my first name, you see, which somehow made it all the more interesting. I thought it deeply romantic and tragic that Fair loved someone so much she would kill him rather than lose him.”
Laura didn’t mention that she also started having nightmares once Laura Fair was found guilty and was supposed to hang.
“I can’t believe Mother let you read about that case.”
“Oh, Mother forbade me, but that made me all the more curious. I discovered that Billy snuck the papers from the woodbox every night and stashed them away under his mattress to read. So during the day when he was out working on the ranch, I was reading them in bits and pieces when I was doing my chores. I devoured every word, particularly when the papers included a whole transcript of a speech made by Susan B. Anthony. I think she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were visiting San Francisco during the trial, and they gave a lecture. First time I’d read anything about the reasons why women should have the right to vote—or serve on a jury. Anthony said something about how it was really men like Crittenden who were to blame for forcing women like Fair into prostitution in order to support themselves.”
“Laura, really, I...”
“Nate, you aren’t going to shush me. I think I am old enough to say the word ‘prostitute’ out loud! And she was right. Think about those poor women in the refuge that Annie is helping. They certainly aren’t prostitutes because of some moral failing.”
“Don’t harangue your poor brother. He gets that enough from me,” said Annie. “But Nate, she’s right. I now remember that California suffragists were using the trial to get their point across about the double standard. They pointed out that Crittenden was the one committing adultery, but Laura Fair was the one who was being accused of wrecking his family. Didn’t local suffrage supporters pack the courtroom?”
“Yep. I asked my Uncle Frank, and he said the judge got very upset, threatened to fine some of the women for contempt of court for their outbursts. I gather Mrs. Emily Pitts Stevens was rather the ring-leader. She was the editor of The Pioneer back then, really the first women’s rights paper in town, and Uncle Frank said she gave back as good as she got in her editorials. But then some reporters began to write that she was a ‘free lover’ herself and started the rumor that she pulled a derringer on a state senator at an anti-suffrage rally.”
“Heavens,” Annie exclaimed. “I can see why Mrs. Pitts Stevens would be worried that if she or Mrs. Gordon got involved in this case the newspapers would jump on the trial and dredge up all that old stuff.”
“Yes,” Nate replied. “Uncle Frank said things got really nasty, and a faction in Pitts Stevens’ own suffrage organization turned on her. Laura, I need to remind you that is important that
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