feminist rebecca felton supports lynching thousands of blacks
Post on 22-Jul-2016
219 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Support for PBSorg provided by Whats this
An account of the African
Americans who had to flee
Wilmington
In 1898 Wilmington North
Carolina located in eastern
Carolina where the Cape Fear River
enters into the Atlantic Ocean was
a prosperous port town Almost two-
thirds of its population was black
with a small but significant middle
class Black businessmen dominated
the restaurant and barbershop trade
and owned tailor shops and drug
stores Many black people held jobs
as firemen policemen and civil
servants A good feeling between
the races existed as long as white Democrats controlled the state
politically But when a coalition of predominately white Populists and
black Republicans defeated the Democrats in 1896 and won political
control of the state Democrats vowed revenge in 1898 For many
Democrats black
political power no matter how limited was
intolerable Daniel Schenck a party leader
warned It will be the meanest vilest
dirtiest campaign since 1876 The slogan of the
Democratic Party from the mountains to the sea
will be but one word Nigger The Democrats
launched their campaign by appealing
to the deepest fear of whites -- that white women were in danger from
black males The white newspaper in Wilmington published an inflammatory
speech given by Rebecca Felton a Georgia feminist a year earlier If
it requires lynching to protect womans dearest possession from
ravening drunken human beasts then I say lynch a thousand negroes a
week if it is necessary The article infuriated Alex Manly a
Wilmington African-American newspaper editor He replied by writing an
editorial sarcastically noting that many of these so-called lynchings
for rapes were cover-ups for the discovery of consensual interracial
sexual relations The Manly article fueled raging fires White radicals
vowed to win the election by any means possible Although black voters
turned out in large numbers Democrats stuffed the ballot boxes and
swept to victory throughout the state But in Wilmington the political
victory did not soften white fury Whites staged a coup dtat anddrove all black officeholders out of office A mob set Manlys newspaper
office on fire and a riot erupted Whites began to gun down blacks on
the streets Harry Hayden one of the
rioters stated that many of the mob
were respectable citizens The Men who
took down their shotguns and cleared the
Negroes out of office yesterday were not
a mob of plug uglies They were men of
property intelligence culture
clergyman lawyers bankers merchants
They are not a mob They are
revolutionists asserting a sacred
privilege and a right By the next day
the killing ended Officially twenty-
five blacks died But hundreds more may
have been killed their bodies dumped
into the river
-- Richard Wormser
Choose another event
See an excerpt of Alex
Manlys inflammatory
editorial in this
broadsheet called The
Negro and His White
Allies
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Populist Party
Atlanta Riot
copy 2002 Educational Broadcasting Corporation All rights reserved
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 1 2
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 1 4
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 2 4
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 3 4
- feminist Rebecca Felton supports lynching thousands of blacks
- File (2)
-
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 1 4
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 2 4
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 3 4
- feminist Rebecca Felton supports lynching thousands of blacks
- File (2)
-
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 2 4
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 3 4
- feminist Rebecca Felton supports lynching thousands of blacks
- File (2)
-
FOR EDUCATORS
View NGE content as it applies
to the Georgia Performance
Standards Learn more
Search Options A-Z Index
Rebecca LatimerFelton
Inauguration ofRebecca LatimerFelton
Rebecca Latimer Felton who died in 1930 at the age of ninety-four lived a life that was as full as it was
long A writer and tireless campaigner for Progressive Era reforms especially womens rights she was
the first woman to serve in the US Senate
Rebecca Ann Latimer was born on June 10 1835 the daughter of Charles Latimer a DeKalb County
merchant and planter and his wife Eleanor Swift Latimer When the young Latimer graduated at the
top of her class in 1852 from Madison Female College in Madison the commencement speaker was
William H Felton a recently widowed state legislator physician Methodist minister and planter in
Bartow County A year later the valedictorian and the speaker were married and Rebecca Felton
moved to her husbands farm just north of Cartersville Of the five children born to the couple only
one Howard Erwin survived childhood
In 1874 William Felton ran for the Seventh Congressional District seat from Georgia as an Independent
Democrat He had been a Whig before the Civil War (1861-65) as had the Latimers and neither he
nor Rebecca Felton who served as his campaign manager cared for the so-called Bourbon
Democrats who had taken control of the state in the early 1870s William Felton won that election and
then the next two serving three terms (1875-81) in the US Congress From 1884 to 1890 he served
another three terms in the state legislature
It is important to begin a discussion of Rebecca Feltons career by talking about her husband for two
reasons First she entered the public arena through her husbands political career She became more
than just a campaign manager She polished his speeches and wrote
dozens of newspaper articles both signed and unsigned on his behalf
She helped draft the bills that he introduced in the state legislature In
1885 the Feltons bought a Cartersville newspaper which she ran for a
year and a half to promote her husband She was undoubtedly his biggest
and most effective supporter William Feltons constituents sometimes
bragged that they were getting two representatives for the price of one
Not everyone liked the arrangement however A fellow legislator
speaking from the assembly floor called Felton the political she of
Georgia an unflattering characterization that greatly angered the
husband and wife team
Second until late in her life Felton herself saw her career as tied completely to her husbands In 1911
two years after his death she published My Memoirs of Georgia Politics a long and tedious volume
written according to the title page by Mrs William H Felton The book details her husbands political
battles denouncing those who worked against him
Perhaps more than she realized the years with her husband developed her political skills and
introduced her to the friends and enemies that would define much of the rest of her political life Chief
among these was her lifelong animosity toward John B Gordon the Confederate general turned
politician and businessman who had she felt worked against her husband for his own selfish gain In
her scrapbooks she kept letters clippings and other items detailing the Feltons battles with Gordon
and others annotating them with remarks such as consummate liar and lest I forget
Although Felton never rose completely above these personal animosities her career after her
husbands retirement in the 1890s (about the time she turned sixty) was marked more by her own
desires for reform Through speeches and her writings she helped to effect statewide prohibition and
to bring an end to the convict lease system a system of leasing cheap labor to private companies
which often maintained the convicts in substandard and even inhumane conditions Both were achieved
in 1908 She supported the state university against its opponentsmdashthe churchshyaffiliated colleges and
those who felt that the states limited funds should be directed toward improving public schools below
the college level She also spoke out to chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
others for vocational education opportunities for poor white girls in the state Not until the early
twentieth century did Felton embrace the reform with which she is most associated woman suffrage
She became the Souths best known and most effective champion of womens right to vote In 1915
writer Corra Harris a fellow Georgian published a novel about woman suffrage entitled The Co-
Citizens which features a protagonist based loosely on Felton
In 1899 Felton began writing for the semiweekly edition of the Atlanta Journal an edition started by
publisher Hoke Smith to appeal to the states rural readers The Country Home was a far-ranging
column that included everything from homemaking advice to Feltons opinions on almost anything One
historian described it as a cross between a modern-day Dear Abby and Hints from Heloise The
column which continued for more than two decades provided the most direct link rural Georgians had
with Felton
Felton was also known for her conservative racial views In an 1897 speech she said that the biggest
problem facing women on the farm was the danger of black rapists If it takes lynching to protect
womens dearest possession from drunken ravening beasts she said then I say lynch a thousand a
week She condemned anyone who dared to question the Souths racial policies when Andrew Sledd
a professor at Emory College did just that in an article published in 1902 in the Atlantic Monthly she
was instrumental in forcing his resignation from the school
Felton is perhaps best remembered today as the first woman in the US
Senate When Senator Thomas E Watson died on September 26 1922
Governor Thomas Hardwick appointed a replacement to serve until a
special election could be held Hardwick pointed out that his appointee
would not actually serve because Congress was not in session when
Watson died and the next session would not begin until after the special
election
Hardwick himself wanted to be a senator and he knew that the person he
appointed would have a real advantage (as incumbent) in the special
election So rather than give an edge to a potential opponent and to get
on the good side of Georgias newly enfranchised women voters (whom he had offended by opposing
the Nineteenth Amendment) Hardwick appointed the eighty-seven-year-old Felton on October 3
Hardwick lost the special election two weeks later to Walter F George When the session opened
George allowed Felton to present her credentials before he claimed his seat She was sworn in at noon
on November 21 The next morning she made a speech thanking the Senate for allowing her to be
sworn in and noting that the women who followed her would serve with ability integrity of purpose
and unstinted usefulness Senator-elect George was then sworn in Feltons term had lasted for just
twenty-four hours
Rebecca Felton was an interesting figure in some ways she was very progressive an exceptional
Georgian in other ways she was very much a person of her time and place She died on January 24
1930 and is buried in Cartersvilles Oak Hill Cemetery The Rose Lawn Musuem in Cartersville honors
the memory of Felton as well as that of Sam Jones the well-known nineteenth-century preacher from
Bartow County
In 1997 Felton was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835-1930)Original entry by David B Parker Kennesaw State University 05142003
Last edited by NGE Staff on 01152015
Environmental History of
Georgia Overview Updated
061215
Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
Updated 061215
Student Movements of the
1960s Updated 061215
Civil Rights Movement
Updated 061215
June in Georgia
HistoryA number ofsignificant historicalevents haveoccurred in
BarbecueBarbecue(barbeque BBQBarBQ) is a popularcooking method
Corra Harris (1869-1935)
Mary Latimer McLendon (1840-1921)
John B Gordon (1832-1904)
Art AcrossGeorgia
Fall in NorthGeorgia
Seven NaturalWonders ofGeorgia
Ten Major CivilWar Sites inGeorgia
Joel Hurt (1850-1926)
Henry Tift (1841-1922)
Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914)
James Blount (1837-1903)
Further Reading
A Louise Staman Loosening Corsets The Heroic Life of Georgias Feisty Mrs Felton First
Woman Senator of the United States (Macon Ga Tiger Iron Press 2006)
John E Talmadge Rebecca Latimer Felton Nine Stormy Decades (Athens University of Georgia
Press 1960)
Cite This Article More from the Web
Wrightsboroug
h
David Emanuel
(ca 1744-1808)
Grant Park James
Jackson (1757-
1806)
Arts amp Culture Government amp Politics
Business amp Economy History amp Archaeology
Counties Cities amp Neighborhoods Science amp Medicine
Education Sports amp Outdoor Recreation
Geography amp Environment People
The Chattooga River descends
rapidly from the Blue Ridge
geologic province and forms the
majority of Georgias northeast
bound
Read more
Louise Suggs was one of the
charter members of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) and her competitiveness
accuracy
Read more
The Reverend Howard Finster
emerged from the rural
Appalachian culture of northeast
Alabama and northwest Georgia
to become one of Americas most
important creative personalities in
the last quart
The first dairy cows arrived in
Georgia with James Edward
Oglethorpe the founder of the
colony in the early 1700s
Read more
Civil Rights
Movement
Lynching Albany Civil
Rights Institut
William B
Hartsfield
(1890-1971)
A program of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership
with the University of Georgia Press the University System of
GeorgiaGALILEO and the Office of the Governor
Copyright 2004-2015 by the Georgia Humanities Council and
the University of Georgia Press All rights reserved
Site developed by CSE
History amp ArchaeologyLate Nineteenth Century 1877-1900
Generated with wwwhtml-to-pdfnet Page 3 4
- feminist Rebecca Felton supports lynching thousands of blacks
- File (2)
-
top related