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Susan B. Anthony Voting Arrest & Trial (1872-1873) Historical Documents & Histories

Susan B. Anthony Voting Arrest & Trial (1872-1873) Historical Documents & Histories

744 pages of courts documents, newspaper articles and histories about and related to Susan B. Anthony's arrest and trial for voting. The vote was cast on November 5, 1872 in the first election district of the eighth Ward of the City of Rochester. Susan B. Anthony was one of fourteen women arrested and indicted in 1873 for "knowingly voting without having a lawful right to vote." Only Anthony's case was brought to trial in June 1873, where the judge dismissed the jury, found Anthony guilty and fined her $100.

Documents include:

United States v. Susan B. Anthony Court Documents

149 pages of criminal case files from January 1873 to July 1873. Files include U.S vs. Susan B. Anthony, indictment for Illegal Voting 01/24/1873. The indictment charges Susan B. Anthony with "wrongfully and unlawfully" voting for a candidate for Congress from the City of Rochester, New York (Indictment for voting in a Congressional election without having the right to vote in said election district and said Susan B. Anthony being there and then a person of the female sex).

Her trial revealed the complexity of federalism in the post-Civil War years. She was convicted in federal court under federal law for violating state law about who was eligible to vote. New York state law prohibited women from voting, and a recent federal law provided for the criminal prosecution of anyone who voted in congressional elections “without having a lawful right to vote.”

Includes testimony of Mr. Beverly W. Jones, an election official in Rochester, New York, who was confronted by Susan B. Anthony on November 1, 1872. He related his encounter with Anthony when she entered a barbershop that had been set up as an office of voter registration and demanded that her name be added to the list of voters.

“...I made the remark that I didn’t think we could register her name. She asked me upon what grounds. I told her that the constitution of the State of New York only gave the right of franchise to male citizens. She asked me if I was acquainted with the 14th amendment to the constitution of the U.S. I told her I was.”

“She wanted to know if under that she was a citizen and had a right to vote. At this time, Mr. Warner [the Supervisor of Elections] said, ‘young man, how are you going to get around that. I think you will have to register their names’—or something to that effect.”

Also includes: An order to the U.S. Marshal to deliver Susan B. Anthony to county jail; an order to seize property of a convicted Anthony; payment report for prosecution witnesses; order committing Susan B. Anthony to Albany County Jail; and transcripts including examination of witnesses by the defense and prosecution attorneys, and Susan B. Anthony's testimony in her own defense.


An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting, at the Presidential Election in November 1872

A 220-page book published by the Daily Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York.

In order to preserve a full record of the case and publicize her arguments, Anthony compiled this account, including the indictment, a transcript of the trial, her pretrial lectures, a speech by Matilda Joslyn Gage and an article by John Hooker on the right of trial by jury.

Full title: An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting, at the Presidential Election in November 1872, and on The Trial of Beverly W. Jones, Edwin T. Marsh and William B. Hall, the Inspectors of Election by whom her Vote was Received.

Missing from the "Account of the Proceedings" is the argument of U.S. Attorney Richard Crowley. He refused Anthony’s request for a copy. However, before the end of 1873, Crowley published his own pamphlet with his argument and the text of the judge’s ruling in the case.


The Trial of Susan B. Anthony by Ann D. Gordon (2005)

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony written by Ann D. Gordon, Editor, Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Rutgers University. Created for the Federal Trials and Great Debates in United States History project by the Federal Judicial Center.

This work covers all aspects of the trial in the case United States v. Susan B. Anthony. Examines the legal questions before the Courts, legal arguments made in court by each side, media and press coverage. Includes transcripts of historical documents related to the case.


American State Trials Excerpts

69 pages excerpted from the multiple volume collection "American State Trials: A Collection of the Important and Interesting Criminal Trials which have taken place in the United States, from the Beginning of our Government to the Present Day, with Notes and annotations." Covering the trial of Susan B. Anthony and the Trial of Beverly W. Jones, Edwin P. Marsh and William B. Hall for permitting women to vote, New York, 1873.


Newspaper Coverage

158 full sheet pages of newspapers from across the United States containing coverage of Susan B. Anthony dating from January 12, 1872 to December 17, 1873.







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