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First woman admitted to bar grew up in Clay County
Local woman part of the Suffrage movement, and history.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Eaglesfield was born June 29, 1853, in Clay County, Indiana. She grew up in “Eaglesfield Place,” located at 4870 East U.S. Highway 40. The family home, located in Van Buren Township, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1998.
Bessie attended high school in Terre Haute and later received a degree in literature and law.
Actively defying the public prejudice at the time to professional women, Eaglesfield was the first woman admitted to the Indiana State Bar in 1875, three years before earning her law degree while attending the University of Michigan.
Bessie was the first practicing female attorney in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She focused on providing legal assistance to minors and widows, with specialties litigating property disputes, divorce, and violence.
Eaglesfield also used her legal skills to become a successful businesswoman and real estate mogul in Benton Harbor.
Bessie also became a maritime lawyer on the Great Lakes.
In addition to her legal practice in both state and federal courts, and being a businesswoman, in 1909, she began captaining her own steamship named the “Golden Girl.”
The Golden Girl could carry up to 10,000 cases of fruit from Benton Harbor to various ports around the Great Lakes. At 62 years old, she also commanded “Mary Margaret” and the schooner “Alice.”
Eaglesfield’s legal expertise came in handy as a captain on the Great Lakes. During a 1911 dispute at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when the police challenged her right to sell produce from the harbor, Bessie won the legal battle.
Eaglesfield’s maritime career continued until her retirement in 1930, leaving behind a lucrative fleet of five fruit boats for her son Phillip R. Eaglesfield to operate.
The Clay County Historical Society recently announced a plaque would soon be installed at Eaglesfield Place in memory of “Bessie.”
OTHER LOCAL WOMEN OF NOTE IN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT
Brazil, Clay County, had several contributing members of the Woman’s Franchise League of Indiana, 1915–1917, (from groups believed to be in the Terre Haute and Greencastle are at the time) that could be found by the Times staff, including:
• Mrs. W. R. Rawley - Eagles (Brazil) - 1915–1916
• Mrs. Clem Zeller - Brazil - 1915–1916
• Mrs. J. B. Mershon - Brazil, Clay County - 1917
Others were born and lived in the area for a while until they ultimately moved away, but their efforts in the Suffrage Movement continued.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Eaglesfield was one of those spirited women who defied the time they lived in and became pioneers for women’s rights.