Esther Morris Esther Hobart McQuigg was born August 6, 1814 in the state of New York. Orphaned at the age of eleven, she earned her living doing housework for a neighbor. At an early age she started a millinery shop (Urbanek 5). Esther had been an antislavery worker, and, as a dressmaker, a successful businesswomen, and women’s rights advocate in her early twenties. Esther Morris helped build America through culture by redefining women’s rights. In 1841, at the age of 28, Esther married Artemus Slack, a civil engineer. Shortly after Morris’ 30th birthday, Artemus died, leaving Esther with an infant son. For the first 55 years of her life she lived quietly in New York State and then moved to Peru, Illinois in 1842 (Maclean 1). In 1843 she married a merchant, John Morris. A few years after their marriage, Esther was blessed with twin sons. In the spring of 1868 John Morris moved to South Pass City, Wyoming Territory with Esther’s first son Archibald also known as Archy Slack. They traveled there to open a saloon to serve the booming gold mining town. Morris and Slack gained interest in mining …show more content…
She then moved to Albany, New York, and then into Springfield, Illinois. In the 1880’s, she moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming to live with her son Robert. Esther Morris retired from being justice of the peace in November 1870.When she retired she said, “Circumstances have transpired to make my position of Justice of the Peace a test of women’s ability to hold public office and I feel that my work has been satisfactory, although I have often regretted that I was not better qualified to fill the position. Like all pioneers, I have labored more in faith and hope” (America 201). There are no other signs that Esther Morris ever sought to have a public office again. As the first woman judge, Morris continued to be a symbol of the long battle of women’s rights in