Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Maude Churchman Wheeler, 1869-1941
By Mary Dodgion and Margarite Fernández Olmos, Western Sonoma County Historical Society, Sebastopol, CA.
Born in Green Valley, California in 1869, Maude (Hattie) Churchman was the daughter of Harriett Brain and Henry Churchman. She married Charles Lawson Wheeler in 1887.
Maude was an active member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). On April 14, 1905, at the twentieth County Convention of the WCTU which met in Cloverdale, Maude gave a report on the outstanding work done in the suffrage department and read an article, The Other Side. She recommended a pamphlet in circulation by the Equality Club as a great factor in educating women on this question. At this meeting a resolution was made: "That we make an earnest effort to educate the women of the county on the woman suffrage question, realizing that we are handicapped in our work by not having equal suffrage."
The September 7, 1911 WCTU convention was held in Petaluma at the Christian Church. The program included Mrs. Wheeler who read The Bible for Suffrage and at the September 12, 1912, 28th annual WCTU convention of Sonoma County which was held at the Congregational Church in Sebastopol, Maude Wheeler read the paper California Women's Dream Come True.
October 9, 1915 Wheeler was elected recording secretary of the WCTU, and on August 27, 1916, Maude read The California Voice for the WCTU. In 1923, she was listed as the recording secretary of WCTU.
Maude (Churchman) Wheeler is buried at the Green Valley Cemetery, Graton, California
Sources:
San Francisco Call, September 19, 1896, TICKET NAMED AT SEBASTOPOL
Petaluma Courier, April 14, 1905, WCTU CONVENTION
Petaluma Courier, September 7, 1911, WCTU CONVENTION SET
Petaluma Courier, October 3, 1912, WHITE RIBBON WOMEN IN COUNTY CONVENTION
Petaluma Courier, September 10, 1915, ADD WCTU CONVENTION