Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Mary Hedges Blauvelt (Mrs. F.W.) Veghte, 1867-1936
By Julia Telonidis, Independent Historian
Auditor, New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association
Mary Hedges Blauvelt Veghte was born in New York State, on August 30, 1867, to George Mancius Smedes Blauvelt (1832-1911), a preacher, and Jane Eliza Hedges Blauvelt (1845-1916), a homemaker. Mary had two younger sisters, Anna Gertrude and Elizabeth, and two older half-brothers from her father's first marriage. The Blauvelt's resided in Orangetown, New York. Mary's sister, Elizabeth, graduated from John Hopkins Medical School. She became a doctor and performed missionary work in China where she contracted tuberculosis. She died in Saranac Lake, New York at the age of 39.
On April 22, 1896, Mary married Ferdinand Wilson Veghte (1863-1929) in Six Mile Run, New Jersey. Ferdinand worked as a merchant before becoming President of the Bachman Veghte lumber company of Roselle, New Jersey. Mary and Ferdinand had one child together, Elizabeth Blauvelt Veghte, born January 22, 1897. The Veghtes resided in Roselle, New Jersey.
Mary was elected an auditor of the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association in 1917. She presented a report with co-auditor, Mrs. Arthur Hunt, at the Association's 27th annual convention in Trenton, New Jersey, November 16-17, 1917. Mary also supported the Association's effort to establish a Club House at Camp Dix, New Jersey, for returning World War I soldiers.
Mary died in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on May 19, 1936, and is buried at Tappan Cemetery in Rockland County, New York.
Sources:
New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association Records, 1911-1938 (bulk 1911-1919) (MC 1435) Box 1, Folders 8, 13, 16, Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Harper, Ida Husted, The History of Woman Suffrage Vol. 6, (Salem, New Hampshire: Ayer Company, Publishers, Inc., 1922), pg. 427. [LINK]
“Deaths.” New York Times, May 20, 1936. pg. 21.
“Jersey Suffs Send Telegram of Thanks to President Wilson,” The Daily Home News (New Brunswick, N.J), November 19, 1917, pg. 4.
Ancestry.com
- United States Federal Census 1880, Family of origin general information, Ancestry.com
- New York, State Census, 1875, Family of origin location information, Ancestry.com
- United States Census 1900, Place of residence, children information, Ancestry.com
- Census of the State of New Jersey, 1915, Place of residence, children information, Ancestry.com
- U.S. City Directories, Ferdinand's profession information, 1822-1995 Ancestry.com
- Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 18 October 2018), memorial page for Dr. Elizabeth Hedges Blauvelt (14 Jun 1873–1 Sep 1912), Find A Grave Memorial no. 40467527, citing Tappan Cemetery, Tappan, Rockland County, New York, USA ; Maintained by Shirley Stanton (contributor 46546723).
- Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 11 September 2018), memorial page for Mary Hedges Blauvelt Veghte (30 Aug 1867–19 May 1936), Find A Grave Memorial no. 40467593, citing Tappan Cemetery, Tappan, Rockland County, New York, USA ; Maintained by Shirley Stanton (contributor 46546723).