Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Blanche Elida Dunham Hubbard, 1875-1947
By Phoebe Schwartz, student, and Melanie Gustafson, professor, University of Vermont
Member, Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association
Blanche Elida Dunham was born on September 23, 1875 in Rochester, Vermont to William Duane Dunham, a farmer, and Hester Anne Paige Dunham. She had one sister, Etta C. Dunham. In 1899, Blanche began teaching in local schools and in 1903 she received her teaching certificate. Hubbard was a member of the Epworth League, a Methodist young adult association, and the North Hollow Reading Club. In 1912, Blanche became the third wife of Clayton Charles Hubbard, a widower with two sons, Harold (born 1896) and Stanley (born 1909). Their farm, Wake Robin, had a flour and grist mill. After Clayton Hubbard died in 1915, Blanche Hubbard carried on farming.
Hubbard's activism with the Vermont Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) led her to the Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association (VWSA). She attended the VWSA's seventeenth annual meeting in 1901 when it met in her hometown of Rochester, where she read an original poem. The local newspaper stated that the poem managed to "embody the most cogent reasons for women's suffrage."
Dunham died on September 23, 1947. She was buried in the North Hollow Cemetery in her hometown.
Sources:
Vermont Equal Suffrage Association Papers, 1883-1927, MSC 144-146, Leahy Library, Vermont History Center, Barre, Vermont.
Minutes of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association held at Rochester, Vermont, June 25 and 26, 1901 (Jericho, Vt: Roscoe Printing House, 1901).
"Graduating Exercises of the Rochester High School." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), June 20, 1895. Accessed October 14, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1895-06-20/ed-1/seq-6/.
"Lillieville." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), February 18, 1904. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1904-02-18/ed-1/seq-8/.
"News of Woodstock." Spirit of the Age (Woodstock, VT), December 5, 1903. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84023296/1903-12-05/ed-1/seq-3/.
"Rochester News." The Barre Daily Times (Barre, VT), June 24, 1912. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn91066782/1912-06-24/ed-1/seq-6/.
"West Randolph." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), April 26, 1894. Accessed October 14, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1894-04-26/ed-1/seq-8/.
"Woman's Suffrage Association." Herald and News (Randolph, VT), July 4, 1901, Volume XXVII ed. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1901-07-04/ed-1/seq-1/.
Brooks, Walter M. "Bethel Home News." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), April 16, 1891. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1891-04-16/ed-1/seq-4/.
Glogover, Debra. "Blanche Eleda ‘Dunham' Hubbard." Find a Grave. July 30, 2013. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=114619217.
Harvey, C.C. "Rochester News." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), August 17, 1899, Volume XXV ed. Accessed October 14, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1899-08-17/ed-1/seq-1/.
Harvey, E.M., ed. "Rochester News." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), May 10, 1900, Volume XXVI ed. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1900-05-10/ed-1/seq-1/.
Harvey, E.M. "Rochester News." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), May 9, 1901, Volume XXVII ed. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1901-05-09/ed-1/seq-1/.
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, and Ida Husted Harper. History of Woman Suffrage. Vol. VI. NY: Arno Press/New York Times, 1969.
U.S. Government. "Blanche E Hubbard in the 1930 United States Federal Census."
Ancestry.com. 2002. Accessed October 23, 2016. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?did=17&pidlist=1607-125867_7602-62193729_6742-24482477_6061-53358584_7884-195868338_6224-16987981_4661-1051565_3599-2602078&o_iid=39552&o_lid=39552&o_sch=WebProperty&gss=angs&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=16987981&db=1930usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=6.
U.S. Government. "Mrs. Blanche Hubbard in the 1920 United States Federal Census."
Ancestry.com. Accessed October 23, 2016. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?did=17&pidlist=1607-125867_7602-62193729_6742-24482477_6061-53358584_7884-195868338_6224-16987981_4661-1051565_3599-2602078&o_iid=39552&o_lid=39552&o_sch=WebProperty&gss=angs&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=53358584&db=1920usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=4.
State of Vermont. "Vermont Births and Christenings, 1765-1908." Family Search. December 12, 2014. Accessed October 14, 2016. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8LJ-SBT.
State of Vermont. "Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008." Ancestry.com. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://search.ancestrylibrary.com//cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=VermontDeaths&h=125867&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bMb29&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&rhSource=1606.
State of Vermont. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1974." Family Search. December 6, 2014. Accessed October 13, 2016. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNRH-L68.
State of Vermont. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-2008." Family Search. December 6, 2014. Accessed October 14, 2016. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFY2-BVY.
White, Georgia. "Randolph." Herald and News (West Randolph, VT), August 13, 1903. Accessed October 13, 2016. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86082061/1903-08-13/ed-1/seq-7/.