Notable Women of Wayne County

List of Notable Women

Abolitionist

• Charity (Lawrence) Bell Stout: Conductor of the Underground Railroad in Wayne County, Ohio

Attorneys

• Schaffter, Marie S.: 1st woman member of the Wayne County Bar Association (1931); 1st woman sole practioner in Wooster and Wayne County (1931); first woman member of the Wosoter law firm, Weiser & Schaffter (1938); 1st woman candidate for Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney (1948); 1st woman Wayne County Law Library Association Trustee (1952)

• Scott, Agnes: 1st woman in Ohio permitted to practice law

Authors/Writers

• Claffin, Tenney C (Tennessee)
• Fuller, Francis: Wooster poet
• Fuller, Meta: Wooster poet
• Taylor, Eleanor: Wooster Daily Record columnist
• Woodhull, Victoria Claffin: 1st woman to start a weekly newspaper

Business Owners

• Amster, Helen: Owner of Amster's Shoe Store

• Bechtel, Beulah: Owner of Beulah Bechtel Dress Shop

• Bittinger, Jemima "Mime" (Ewing): Owner of Mrs. J. B. Bittinger Millinery Store in Creston, Ohio

• Durstine, Hazel: Operated Durstine’s Beauty Shop in Wooster (Public Square)

• Flory, Nellie : Housemother for the College of Wooster; owner of the Black and Gold Tea Room

College of Wooster

• Compton, Otelia: College of Wooster; “Mother of Scientists”

• Flory, Nellie: Housemother for the College of Wooster; owner of the Black and Gold Tea Room

• Guille, Fran: College of Wooster

Community

• Arick, Ola May: Traveled with the Red Cross during WWI; authority on Ohio history; initiated services to the disabled in the Wayne County, Ohio area (became part of the welfare dept); served as director of the Wayne County, Ohio Welfare Dept

• Bahl, Cecelia Catherine: Charter member of the Wayne County Historical Society

• Douglass, Narcissa: In charge of Woman’s Relief movement in Wayne County, OH 1860-1865; early member of Wooster Thursday’s club; chairperson of the Women’s movement during the Wayne County, Ohio Centennial Celebration in 1896

• Knight, Maude B.: President of the Women’s Association; member of College Circle and DAR; member of the English Tea Club

• Parmenter, Lovina: 1st single women in Northeast Ohio to become a foster parent to a homeless child (1968)

• Sheppard, Mary: Member of the Wayne County Historical Society

• Stitt, Harriett Woodworth: Vice President of the first Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Wooster, formed in 1874

Educators

• Ellsperman, Bertha: First librarian of the Wooster Public Library (now the Wayne County Public Library)

• Ellenwood, Virginia: 1st woman Assistant Librarian of the Wayne County Law Library Association (1940)

• Kean, Lura B.: Principal of Wooster High School; Kean Elementary name in her honor

• Layton, Nellie: Principal of Wooster High School

• McSweeney, Emeline Stibbs: Stricken with polio but taught at the College of Wooster for 40 years

• Muhse, Effa Funk: First woman granted the degree of doctor of philosophy from the University of Indiana

• Pope, Elizabeth Hippee: Superintendent of Grove Female Seminary (1800s)

• Seavers, Charlotte (Baughman): 1908 graduate of College of Wooster (at age 18); became principal of Doylestown High School around 1911 (age 21); 50 year volunteer with American Red Cross; wrote the Doylestown High School Alma Mater; authored and directed the production of Doylestown 125th Anniversary Celebration (1952)

Entertainment

• Peters, Kay Domhoff: Actress; appeared on “Little House on the Prairie” (Jan 1977), “Days of Our Lives”, many dinner theaters

• Roth, Laura Reed: Murdered by husband in 1887

Government

• Lou Henry Hoover: President Herbert Hoover’s wife; relative of the Henry Family who was one of the 1st settlers in Wooster, Ohio

• Irish, Annie B.: Professor, College of Wooster; served as translator and librarian for the State Department of Interior from 1877-1881

• Parker, Ethel: Historian, County Officer (Treasurer)

• Williams, Ruth: Wayne County Recorder; “Lady of the Month” (May 1958)

• Woodhull, Victoria Claffin: 1st female candidate for President of U.S. (1872); activist for women's rights and labor reforms

Historians

• Buss, Edna: Local Historian

• Parker, Ethel: Historian, County Officer (Treasurer)

• Slater, Kate: Creston, Ohio Historian

• Thompson, Lydia: Wooster, Ohio Historian, specializing in blacks of Wooster, Ohio

Military

• Buss, Mary Mildred: Lt. Col. Army Nurse

• Hendrix, Vera Lucille Lehman: Nurse in the U.S. Army Air Corps, WWII

• Neufer, Judith Ann: 1st female military aviatrix (January 1973)

• Sterling, Doris: enlisted 1942 in Walter Reed Hospital; 4 months Eglin Field, FL; rank of 1st lieutenant

• Tostlebe, Pearl: Graduate of the Army School of Nursing (1921)

Missionaries

• Phillips, Maude: Appointed to the Board of Foreign Missionaries; served as Evangelical Missionary from 1919-1959

Musicians

• Dodez, Paula: Musician (violinist); 1st woman concert master of a German chamber music orchestra in Mannheim, Germany; performed in the cathedral of St. Chapelle in Paris, France

• Fuller, Helene: Musician

News Media

• Camp, Christine: Member of the Presidential News Corp (1950s)

• Gaffee, Barbara Richardson: News reporter, producer and hostess

Nurses

• Abramson, Carolyn

• Buss, Mary Mildred: Lt. Col. Army Nurse

• Kelley, Edna: Nurse Supervisor, Wooster Community Hospital

• Tostlebe, Pearl: Graduate of the Army School of Nursing (1921)

Physicians

• Angell, Anne Fouch: Surgeon

• Burgess, Elizabeth Catherine: 1st woman veterinary of Wooster

• Crandall, Susie Gertrude: Physician (24 Jan 1916)

• Cutright, Dr. Eva Moya Goddin: Physician (18 Jul 1922)

• Fouch, Dr. Jeanne Ann: Physician

• Golden, Madge: Homeopathic physician

• Johnson, Kate McClure: Physician (16 Jul 1900)

• McKnight, Virginia Harley: Allopath physician (license NY 1896; license OH 1897)

• Myer, Sarah Annice Jeffery

• Silber, Martha E. Benson: Homeopathic physician (30 Jul 1896)

• Startzman, Viola: Medical field, clinic named for her

• Walters, Ethel Wilson Hobbs: Homeopathic physician (22 Apr 1899)

Pilots

• Stype, JoAnn: 1st Wooster lady pilot to fly in the International Angel Derby (Apr 1977); flight instructor

• Women’s Auxiliary: Wooster Community Hospital

• Yoder, Anna B. Blattenburg: Physician (9 Aug 1906)

Scientists

• Detmers, Frederica: researcher at Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Botany in Wooster (beginning in 1919)
• Frank, Norma Augusta: researcher at Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Animal Science, Division of Veterinary Science (1952-1972)
• Patton, Dr. Mary Brown: researcher at Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Home Economics (1926-1960); writer of scientific papers in the fields of calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen metabolism of young women; writer on the nutritive value of foods and growth and nutrition of school children

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Newspaper Articles

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  Madge Golden

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  Madge Golden graduate

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  Agnes Scott: