Eugenia Farmer Marker Dedication
On Saturday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m., Trinity will be placing a plaque in the Trinity Church garden, commemorating a meeting of Eugenia Farmer and Susan B. Anthony at the church. All are invited. For more information, contact Karl Lietzenmayer.
From Dr. Paul Tenkotte:
Too many women in Northern Kentucky history have been either forgotten or, if remembered, unsung. One of these was Eugenia B. Farmer (1835-1924) [aged 89].
Born Eugenia Barrett, she grew up in Cincinnati, attended Oberlin College in Ohio. She married Henry C. Farmer (1830-1912) [aged 82] in 1858 and followed him throughout the nation in his railroad career.
They were Unionists during the Civil War, living for a time in St. Louis. There, in 1861, their son Edmond died. Grief-stricken, she consulted a doctor, who felt the best therapy for her would be helping others. She began at a Union hospital, where she met a father with four sons – all of whom had lost a leg in the war. From that point, service to others was her calling.
Her husband’s job took them to Washington, DC, where Eugenia met Susan B. Anthony. They became friends and attended 12 National Suffrage Conventions together.
Moving to Covington, she organized the Kenton County Equal Rights Association in 1888, following closely on the establishment of her friend Laura Clay’s Fayette County ERA in Lexington the same year. They all attended the National Convention in Cincinnati in 1888.
Emboldened by the Cincinnati Convention, Clay, Farmer and others, established the Kentucky ERA in November 1888 with Clay as president and Farmer, corresponding secretary. Their work led to some success with the new Kentucky Constitution of 1891, which included language to allow the General Assembly to pass laws for limited women suffrage in municipal and other local elections.
Now the focus shifted to getting the Kentucky General Assembly to pass laws to extend women’s rights. In 1894, with the help of Covington State Senator William Goebel, the General Assembly extended property rights to married women and permitted women to be candidates for, and vote in, school board elections in 2 nd class cities. Based on population, Covington, Newport and Lexington were second class cities.
In the fall of 1895 municipal elections, Covington, Newport and Lexington made history, allowing women – black and white – partial women suffrage long before Louisville (a first-class city). Women could only vote for school board candidates, but the move was an important step.
Meanwhile, Farmer and the Kenton County ERA continued to lobby for extension of women’s voting rights. In 1897, the Kentucky ERA held its first State Convention in Covington and again in 1901 and 1902. The Kenton County ERA brought nationally-known women leaders to Covington to speak, including Gail Laughlin (1868-1952).
Sadly, although the Kenton County ERA had steadfastly supported the vote for both black and white women, many men and women of the day were abhorred by the practice. Likewise, as many suffragettes were leaders in the Temperance Movement, still others began to view the women’s movement as unfocused. The suffrage movement began to splinter into factions.
Eugenia Farmer charged that “liquor interests” were responsible for the Kentucky General Assembly’s 1902 repeal of the right of women to vote in municipal school board elections in second-class cities. By that time, the Farmers were preparing to move to St. Paul, Minnesota, where she remained active in the suffrage movement. She died in 1924, having lived to see women gain the right to vote in national elections.