A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Stella Moore Kahl (1867-1954) [Vermillion, Clay County] spoke on suffrage to the Faculty Women’s Club at the university before the 1914 election, was recorded as “favors woman suffrage” in the 1914 edition of Woman’s Who’s Who in America, was one of the speakers doing county campaign touring in the days before the 1916 election, and was secretary of the Clay County suffrage league in 1918 [The Dakota Republican (Vermillion SD), November 5, 1914, November 2, 1916; Vermillion Plain Talk (SD), April 11, 1918; John William Leonard, ed., Woman’s Who’s Who of America (New York: American Commonwealth Co., 1914), 444; The Woman Citizen 2 (May 25, 1918), 510]. Stella Abigail Moore was born in Illinois and came to South Dakota with her family to farm. In 1886, she married Charles N. Kahl, who passed away in 1896. She lived on a 9.5-acre property at 717 E. Main in Vermillion (the southwest corner of E Main and S Plum Sts; the house is not extant). In 1906 and 1908, Stella Kahl was elected superintendent of schools for Clay County, and was at some point a member of the city’s board of education. In 1911-1914, she was state regent for the Daughters of the American Revolution. She later lived in Eldora IA for a time and, c.1951, went to live with her daughter Vera Caldwell in Jacksonville IL [Press and Daily Dakotaian (Yankton SD), March 11, 1886; The Citizen-Republican (Scotland SD), November 15, 1906, March 3, 1910; Turner County Herald (Hurley SD), January 17, 1907; Black Hills Union and Western Stock Review (Rapid City SD), November 27, 1908; Evening Star (Washington DC), April 21, 1911; Lead Daily Call (SD), November 1, 1909; Leonard, Woman’s Who’s Who, 444; South Dakota Educator 31(3) (November 1917), 31; Jacksonville Daily Journal (IL), March 5, 1954; “Stella Abigail Moore Kahl,” Findagrave.com].
Adeline Z. Karcher (1861-?) [Pierre, Hughes County] was president of the Pierre Political Equality Club when it re-organized in January 1914 for that year’s suffrage amendment campaign [Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), January 15, 1914; Schuler, Pierre since 1910, 219]. Adeline Ziegler was born in Illinois to German immigrants and married Henry Karcher. They came to Pierre in the 1880s. Her husband had a stock-raising operation and served terms as alderman and mayor for the city. In 1899, she was the founding president of the Pierre Woman’s Club and remained involved with the club into the 1920s. After her husband suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1907, she entered with him in the insurance business and managed the construction of a large home in Pierre in 1909-1910. That home on Prospect Ave. was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. She was also the founding treasurer of a local cemetery improvement association. After her husband’s death in 1926, she was listed in the 1930 census with the occupation ‘real estate.’ Her daughter Marguerite Karcher Sahr was also active in the 1914 suffrage campaign [Freeport Journal-Standard (IL), May 29, 1886; Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), February 28, 1895, July 18, 1895, December 17, 1903, September 2, 1909, November 24, 1910, June 1, 1916; Weekly Pioneer-Times (Deadwood, SD), October 1, 1925; Lead Daily Call (SD), May 26, 1928; The Daily Plainsman (Huron, SD), May 29, 1949; Karcher-Sahr House, 222 E Prospect, National Register of Historic Places nomination, 1977; 1870-1930 censuses, via Ancestry.com; “Adeline Karcher,” Findagrave.com].
Dr. William M. Kaull (c1834-1917) [Frankfort, Spink County] was president of the suffrage association of Frankfort formed in early 1890, and presided at and spoke at the Spink County convention in March 1890 when the county suffrage association was formed [“Page 28 : Organizations in Spink County,” Redfield Journal (SD), March 28, 1890 in “Page 28 : Equal Suffrage Convention,” and Frankfort Advocate (SD), March 17, 1890 in “Page 28 : County Convention,” Emma Smith DeVoe: 1880-1890 (Scrapbook D), WSL Manuscripts, MS 171, Box 10]. Kaull was born in Illinois, earned a medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City in 1855, married Nancy McClelland in 1856, served as a surgeon in the Civil War from 1861-1866, and homesteaded in Spink Co. Dakota Territory in 1883. He was active with the Dakota Medical Association in 1887-1888 and superintendent of the territorial/state board of health in 1890-1891. In 1893, he returned east and practiced in Princeton IL, where he also served a period as county coroner. The Kaulls moved to California in about 1912 [The Daily Plainsman (Huron, SD), June 17, 1887; Press and Daily Dakotaian (Yankton SD), June 16, 1888; Sturgis Advertiser (SD), March 6, 1890; Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), January 22, 1891; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, vol. 3 (1890), 319; Bureau County Tribune (Princeton IL), May 23, 1902, February 16, 1917; Journal of the American Medical Association 68(12) (March 24, 1917), 925; BLM-GLO records, 1885 census, and 1890 Veterans Schedule, via Ancestry.com].
Werdna Kellar (1872-1945) [Lead, Lawrence County] was president of the Lead equal franchise league in 1914-1916 [Woman’s West of the River Suffrage Number, Rapid City Daily Journal (SD), October 26, 1914, page 1, 5, and 8; Lead Daily Call (SD), April 17, 1916]. Born in Memphis TN, Kellar came to South Dakota with her parents and siblings in about 1892. They lived in Hot Springs, where she taught music and was active with the Shakespeare Club and the Black Hills Federation of Women’s Clubs. In about 1909, she moved to Lead where her brother Chambers was a prominent attorney for the Homestake Mining Co. She had done extensive traveling in Europe, and taken a library course at Columbia University in New York City. In 1914, she took a position as assistant librarian of the new Homestake library in Lead. In about 1915, she also took over management of the Smead Hotel, buying it in 1920, and running it until 1923 (it was demolished soon after). In 1935-1944, she was the head librarian of the Homestake/Hearst library. She was also a member of the Christian Science church and involved with the D.A.R. [Hot Springs Weekly Star (SD), October 4, 1901, October 21, 1904, October 26, 1906, June 7, 1907, October 15, 1909, June 16, 1910, June 5, 1914, August 10, 1917; Sioux City Journal (IA), October 12, 1920; Lead Daily Call (SD), October 27, 1923, July 1, 1935; Deadwood Pioneer-Times (SD), August 11, 1929; Black Hills Weekly (Deadwood, SD), October 20, 1944, January 19, 1945; “Werdna Kellar,” Findagrave.com; 1900-1940 census via Ancestry.com].
Smead Hotel, Lead, Lawrence County, photo postcard by Bloom Brothers, SD State Archives, #2008-03-03-019.
Cecelia M. Kelley (1872-1934) [Mitchell, Davison County] was involved with the local franchise league in 1916 and continued her involvement at the formation of the Davison County League of Women Voters, serving as second vice-president and a delegate to the first L.W.V. state convention in 1919 in Mitchell. In 1920, she was elected president of the Mitchell L.W.V. and served on the arrangements committee for the jubilee celebration that September for the ratification of the 19th Amendment [Mitchell Capital (SD), May 18, 1916; The Woman Citizen 4 (August 23, 1919), 290; Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD), September 17, 1919, May 3, 1920; The Citizen-Republican (Scotland SD), August 26, 1920]. In 1924, she was elected to the state House and served a term as representative. She and three other women who’d been elected that year were featured speakers at the state L.W.V. convention that year [Mitchell Evening Republican (SD), September 27, 1924; Weekly Pioneer-Times (Deadwood, SD), November 19, 1924; Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD), November 16, 1928; “Celia M. Kelley,” SD Legislative Research Council]. She was one of the leaders at the 1925 and 1927 L.W.V. conventions [Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD), October 24, 1925, October 29, 1927]. In 1926-1927, she served as vice-chair of the SD L.W.V. [Daily Deadwood Pioneer-Times (SD), November 21, 1926; Mitchell Evening Republican (SD), May 17, 1927].
Cecelia M. Fernan was born in Wisconsin to Irish immigrant parents. She married Patrick Henry Kelley. They lived at 204 Third Ave. E. in Mitchell [Mitchell Capital (SD), November 7, 1902, June 11, 1914]. She was involved with the Lady Maccabees, the W.C.T.U., the Better Babies movement, and the S.D. American Legion Auxiliary [For instance: Mitchell Capital (SD), December 11, 1903, December 16, 1909, July 23, 1914, March 9, 1916; Mitchell Evening Republican (SD), June 19, 1923]. Her husband worked in real estate, and in 1910, she worked as a stenographer [1910-1930 censuses, via Ancestry.com]. He also served in the state House, from 1929 to 1932 [“Patrick Henry Kelley,” SD Legislative Research Council]. In 1931-1933, she served as state regent for the Catholic Daughters of America [For instance: Lead Daily Call (SD), June 4, 1931; Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD), May 14, 1933]. Also: “Cecelia M. Fernan Kelley,” Findagrave.com.
Elizabeth G. Kimmel (c.1853-__) [Onida, Sully County] was active with the Onida Equal Suffrage Club in 1891-1893, hosting meetings and assisting in the organization of a basket social to raise funds for the Colorado campaign in 1893 [Sully County Watchman (Onida SD), April 25, 1891, May 2, 1891; June 13, 1891, August 4, 1893, August 11, 1893, August 25, 1893, September 29, 1893]. Elizabeth “Lizzie” P. Graham married Horatio E. Kimmel in Ohio in 1881. They homesteaded in Sully County in about 1889. Kimmel was also active with the local Sunday School association, women’s missionary society, temperance alliance and W.C.T.U., Women’s Relief Corps, the Old Settlers’ Association. She also taught Latin and French to local young people. The Kimmels moved to Pomona CA before 1908 [For instance: Sully County Watchman (Onida SD), April 20, 1889, July 13, 1889, September 7, 1889, January 11, 1890, August 30, 1890, September 6, 1890, April 4, 1891, October 17, 1891, August 6, 1892, January 5, 1894, May 25, 1894; Mrs. E. L. Thompson , Ed., 75 Years of Sully County History, 1883-1958, pgs. 67-92; 1880-1930 census and OH Marriage Records, via Ancestry.com].
Della Robinson King (c1868-1933) [Scotland, Bon Homme County] superintendent of literature, editor of suffrage publication the South Dakota Messenger and author of Thoughts of a Thoughtful Woman 1898.
Era Keeling Kirby (1888-1967) [Springfield, Bon Homme County] supported the local suffrage campaign in 1910, was president of the Bon Homme Universal Franchise League in 1914, and was county chair in 1918 [Kirby to Breeden, September 13, 1910, RD06790, correspondence 1910-09 to 1910-10, Breeden papers USD; The Citizen-Republican (Scotland SD), July 23, 1914; Pyle to county chairs, January 28, 1918, RD07614, correspondence 1918-01, Pyle papers USD]. Era R. Keeling was born in South Dakota to physician Charles M. Keeling. She married attorney William McLeod Kirby in about 1909 [1920-1940 censuses, via Ancestry.com; The Shelbyville Republican (IN), Decmeber 27, 1948, transcript on shelbycountyindiana.org; Orlando Sentinel (FL), December 31, 1952; Trinity College Alumni Magazine (March 1964), 18; “Mrs Era R Keeling Kirby,” Findagrave.com].
Malena P. Kivley (1860-1937) [Sisseton, Roberts County] sought fellow suffrage supporters in 1914 and was a part of the constitution and by-laws committee for the organization of the Roberts County Suffrage Association in September 1916 [Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), September 11, 1914, September 1, 1916]. Malena P. Kaldahl had been born in Norway and immigrated to the U.S. as a child in the 1860s and married Gilbert O. Kivley in about 1881 [1870-1930 census, via Ancestry.com]. In the 1880s, she was county superintendent of schools for Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota [Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Minnesota, vol. 22 (St. Paul: Pioneer Press Co., 1884, 195, 288; (1885), 367, 460; (1888), 328]. They came to Sisseton, where Gilbert edited the Standard newspaper, selling it in 1893. He was occupied also as a farmer and for a number of years as rural mail carrier [The Herald-Advance (Milbank SD), January 12, 1894; Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), June 8, 1906, December 8, 1916, December 24, 1920]. In 1896, Malena ran for county school superintendent for the Populist party, and in 1920-1921 taught rural school [The Herald-Advance (Milbank SD), September 25, 1896; Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), November 12, 1920, May 6, 1921]. In 1915, she participated in the Eighth District W.C.T.U. convention in Waubay [Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), April 16, 1915, April 23, 1915]. Also: “Malena P Kivley,” Findagrave.com.
Matilda E. Kline (c1850-1928) [Mitchell, Davison County] lived in Mitchell from about 1884 to 1890 and was active with the local and territorial/state W.C.T.U. With the W.C.T.U., she was involved with hosting speeches by Anna Howard Shaw, Mary Seymour Howell, and Helen Gougar during the 1890 suffrage campaign [Mitchell Capital (SD), March 21, 1890, April 11, 1890, May 23, 1890, June 20, 1890]. For the W.C.T.U., she was an officer for the county branch in 1888, delegate to the national convention in 1886 and 1889, and treasurer for the territorial (then state) Union in 1886-1890 [For instance: Mitchell Capital (SD), June 4, 1886, November 5, 1886, July 20, 1888, October 26, 1888, September 20, 1889, November 8, 1889]. She was also involved with the Baptist church and the library committee [Mitchell Capital (SD), November 4, 1887, June 21, 1889, October 11, 1889]. She and business partner Marie J. Hesse moved their business to Chicago in 1890 [Mitchell Capital (SD), June 20, 1890]. In Chicago, she continued to be in the leadership of the W.C.T.U. and the Women’s Baptist Missionary Society [Chicago Blue Book (1897), 87, (1910), 123; Indianapolis Journal (IN), April 29, 1904; Mitchell Daily Republican (SD), June 4, 1906; Blue Book of Missions for 1907 (1907), 162; 1910 census, via Ancestry.com]. Also: “Matilda E Kline,” Findagrave.com.
Lelah B. Knapp (c1879-___) [Sisseton, Roberts County] was the publicity chair for the Roberts County Suffrage Association in 1916 [Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), September 8, 1916]. In 1918, she (or her husband??) ran for Congress on the Socialist party ticket [That the party announced her nomination: Madison Daily Leader (SD), January 25, 1918; Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD), January 24, 1918; The Herald-Advance (Milbank SD), February 1, 1918. But later news items talk about John C. Knapp running, and then stopping his campaign for the war effort: Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), April 25, 1918; Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), August 30, 1918]. Lelah B. Williams married John C. Knapp in about 1900 [Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), July 19, 1907; 1925 census, via Ancestry.com]. In 1908, her husband ran for governor on the Socialist ticket [South Dakota Legislative Manual (1913), 426]. She was also involved with the Eastern Star, the Zenith Club, and the Presbyterian Aid Society [For instance: Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), June 22, 1906, January 1, 1909, February 19, 1909, April 5, 1912, February 27, 1914, November 20, 1914].
Charles Kreger (1862-1916) [Watertown, Codington County] was on the Codington County men’s suffrage league in 1916 [Saturday News (Watertown SD), October 26, 1916]. Kreger served two years as city alderman, was a bank director, and was involved in the leadership of a number of agricultural and civic improvement associations. He was born in 1862 in Wisconsin, came to Dakota Territory in 1881, and married Margaret Dolan in 1893 [For instance: Saturday News (Watertown SD), May 29, 1908, January 29, 1909, April 15, 1910, April 14, 1911, January 11, 1912, April 4, 1912, July 10, 1913, January 8, 1914, September 24, 1914, April 8, 1915, July 13, 1916, July 20, 1916, November 23, 1916; Wagner Post (SD), May 24, 1912]. Also: “Charles Kreger,” Findagrave.com.
Margaret D. Kreger (1865-1958) [Watertown, Codington County] served on the committee for constitution and by-laws at the formation of a Watertown universal franchise league in May 1914 [Saturday News (Watertown SD), May 14, 1914]. In the 1916 campaign, she served as president of the local suffrage association—speaking at meetings and presiding at the visits of Mary Baird Bryan and Emma Smith DeVoe [Saturday News (Watertown SD), August 10, 1916, September 14, 1916, October 12, 1916, October 26, 1916]. In early November 1916, she described herself in the newspaper as “not a militant suffragist” but inclined to smash up saloons [Saturday News (Watertown SD), November 2, 1916]. In the 1918 campaign, she served as county suffrage campaign chair [Pidgeon to Pyle, January 28, 1918, RD07611, and Pyle to county chairs, January 28, 1918, RD07614, correspondence 1918-01, and Pidgeon to Pyle, February 8, 1918, RD07721, correspondence 1918-02-01 to 1918-02-08, Pyle papers USD]. Margaret Dolan married Charles Kreger in 1893 and they operated large ranches in Codington and Grant Counties [Saturday News (Watertown SD), August 19, 1915, November 23, 1916]. She was also involved with the city federation of women’s clubs in 1914-1915. After her husband’s death in 1916, she continued management of the ranch, was elected president of the Northwestern Hereford Breeders’ Association in 1920, and was chair for women’s work for the South Dakota Farm Bureau Association in 1924 [Saturday News (Watertown SD), January 10, 1918; Madison Daily Leader (SD), September 3, 1920; American Hereford Journal 11 (August 15, 1920), 26, (September 1, 1920), 86; Black Hills Weekly (Deadwood, SD), January 2, 1924]. Also: “Margaret Dolan Kreger,” Findagrave.com.
James H. Kyle (1854-1901) [Ipswich / Aberdeen] was listed among the “prominent friends of woman suffrage” by Alice Pickler in History of Woman Suffrage v.4, 559. In 1891, he chaired the state senate committee on suffrage. For statements he himself made on suffrage, he supported universal suffrage (with educational qualifications) in statements he made along with support for freedom of the free and free & compulsory education [Brookings Register (SD), January 16, 1891, February 20, 1891; Mitchell Capital (SD), January 16, 1891; Madison Daily Leader (SD), May 15, 1891; Guide to the Hagerty-Lloyd Historic District (1990), 11-12, Beulah Williams Library Archives and Special Collections, NSU]. James Henderson Kyle was born in Cedarville OH, graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in Classics in 1878 and from seminary in Pittsburg in 1883. He worked as a pastor in Congregational mission churches in Utah and Colorado before coming to Dakota Territory in 1886. He pastored a church at Ipswich until 1889 when he went to Aberdeen. A 4th of July speech he gave in Brown County catapulted him into political prominence–the district Independents nominated him for state Senate the very next day. In February 1891, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and was re-elected as a Populist (sort of) in 1897. The rollercoaster of third-party politics made his career a complicated one. He died mid-term in 1901 [For instance: Madison Daily Leader (SD), February 17, 1891, June 15, 1894; The Herald-Advance (Milbank SD), February 20, 1891, April 2, 1897; Dakota Farmers’ Leader (Canton SD), May 22, 1896, February 26, 1897; Black Hills Union (Rapid City SD), February 26, 1897; Robinson, History of South Dakota, vol. 1 (Sioux Falls: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1904), 612]. More: “Dakota Images: James H. Kyle,” South Dakota History 3(2); “‘Just Principles Never Die’: Brown County Populists 1890-1900,” South Dakota History 22(4); “James H. Kyle,” Wikipedia; Memorial addresses on the life and character of James H. Kyle… (Washington DC: GPO, 1902).
“The woman suffragists are after Senator Kyle, because he ignored them in his Aberdeen speech. ‘Hell hath no furies like a woman scorned.’”
Hand County Press (Miller SD), March 5, 1891.
T.W. Kyte (1852-1938) [Hurley, Turner County] participated in a debate event held by the Hurley equal suffrage association at the opera hall on the question of “the right of suffrage should be based on education rather than on sex” in the spring of 1890 [Turner County Herald (Hurley SD), April 24, 1890, May 22, 1890]. Thomas William Kyte was born in Nova Scotia and immigrated to Dakota Territory by 1878. He married Theresa Christina Ringley. He lived in Yankton for a few years, then in 1883 homesteaded land a bit to the north in Turner County. He worked as a builder with a team of carpenters who also built coffins, picture frames, and farm wagons. He also operated a hotel and built a commercial block with a large meeting hall (possibly the opera hall where the suffragists met in 1890). In Yankton, he was noted on the executive committee of a Catholic total abstinence society (presuming alcohol). In 1894, he was involved with the Farmers’ Alliance and ran for county sheriff on the Populist ticket. In 1895, the Kytes moved to Union County and later to Prairie Center and Fairview Township, Clay County [Daily Press and Dakotaian (Yankton SD), August 7, 1878; Turner County Herald (Hurley SD), September 13, 1883, January 24, 1884, March 6, 1884, April 17, 1884, April 2, 1885, July 30, 1885, April 15, 1886, August 12, 1886, January 27, 1887, March 3, 1892, January 11, 1894, July 5, 1894, September 13, 1894, May 9, 1895, March 26, 1914; Union County Courier (Elk Point SD), August 27, 1896 , September 3, 1896; Sioux City Journal (IA), August 13, 1976; “Thomas William Kyte,” Findagrave.com; 1800-1930 census and BLM-GLO records, via Ancestry.com].
More to come!
History in South Dakota 