Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Sarah DeMott Stevens, 1881-1941
By Nicole Bellmay, undergraduate student, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Chairman of Women's Branch, Middlesex County G.O.P., President and Member of New Brunswick Equal Suffrage League, President of the New Brunswick Political Study Club
Sarah DeMott Stevens was born on October 9, 1881 in Minnesota. She was the only daughter of Henry Vroom DeMott and Margaret C. DeMott. In 1885, the DeMott family moved to Newark, New Jersey and by the time Stevens was fourteen years old, they had moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey. As a girl in New Brunswick, Stevens attended Miss Anable's School for Young Ladies. In 1905, she married Charles W. Stevens, Jr., a Rutgers alumnus who was working for a greeting card company. While she lived in New Brunswick, Stevens was a member of the New Brunswick Country Club. Stevens and her husband had two daughters, Margaret C. Stevens and Sarah D. Stevens.
Stevens had an active social life, attending dances and presiding over the Anable Alumnae, a group of graduates of Miss Anable's School for Young Ladies. Stevens was also politically active in her adult life, especially regarding women's suffrage. The earliest record of Stevens's involvement with women's suffrage is in 1913, when she was elected Chairman of the Women's Branch, Middlesex County G.O.P and marched in New York City in favor of women's suffrage. She also became a member of a variety of women's suffrage groups in New Brunswick. In 1915, Stevens became the president of the New Brunswick Political Study Club and in 1918, she took over the New Brunswick Equal Suffrage League. Throughout her years as a suffragist, Stevens attended many political rallies, including one in Asbury Park in 1919. Although she was not always the leader of the organization, Stevens continued to be a member of the New Brunswick Equal Suffrage League through 1920. Following the victory in 1920, Stevens was listed as an active worker in the Republican Party in 1921. Stevens lived in New Brunswick for the rest of her life and died on February 8, 1941 at the age of fifty-nine.
Photo from the Daily Home News
Sources:
“At Camp in the Maine Woods,” Daily Home News, August 14, 1929, pg. 7
“Good Politics,” Daily Home News, April 7, 1920, pg. 4
“Local Suffragists Off to Trenton,” Daily Home News, January 26, 1920, pg. 7
“Mrs. Stevens Resigns as G.O.P. Chairman of Women's Branch,” Daily Home News, August 26, 1920, pg. 3
New Jersey Marriage Index, 1901-2016 --Ancestry.com
“Personals,” Daily Home News, May 3, 1921, pg. 11
“Suffragists Ask Senator Florence to Help Them Win,” Daily Home News, February 12, 1916, pg. 2
United States Federal Census 1900, New Brunswick, New Jersey --Ancestry.com
United States Federal Census 1940, New Brunswick, New Jersey --Ancestry.com
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 --Ancestry.com
U.S. Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current --Ancestry.com
“30,000 Women Marched Today in New York,” Daily Home News, May 3, 1913 pg. 3
“9,000,000 Self Supporting Women in this Country,” Daily News, February 6, 1913, pg. 2.