Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Sarah Abby Bray Thurston, 1848-1918
By Ann Marie Linnabery, assistant director, History Center of Niagara
Sarah A. Thurston, who became a leader in the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, was born as Sarah Abby Bray in West Gloucester, MA on October 5, 1848. Her parents, Samuel Bray and Sally Thurston Bray, were both descended from early New England families. Sarah graduated from the Salem (MA) Normal College in 1866 and taught at the West Gloucester High School for three years. In 1871, she married her first cousin, John Winthrop Thurston, and they moved to Topeka, Kansas that same year. The Thurstons had no children.
After moving to Kansas, both John and Sarah worked for the Bank of Topeka, he as an officer and she as a clerk. Due to her position at the bank, Sarah Thurston was appointed a Notary Public for Shawnee County in 1883. It was also during this decade, and into the 1890s, that she became active in many cultural and charitable organizations, including theater and literature groups, and was a founding member and trustee of the Kansas Waifs' Aid Society in 1892. Thurston was also treasurer, and later corresponding secretary, for the state-wide Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Her involvement in the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association (KESA) began in 1892 and she quickly assumed a leadership role in that organization, holding the office of treasurer for many years. In September, 1893, Sarah Thurston was one of several women who addressed an all-state convention to kick-off a year-long campaign to pass the Equal Suffrage amendment in the Kansas general election in November of 1894. Other speakers at the two-day meeting included national suffrage leaders Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt. Thurston's financial background as a bank clerk, as well as her recognized organizational skills, made her an indispensable part of KESA. One newspaper stated that although Sarah A. Thurston was the assistant chairman, she "in fact and with truth, is the executive force of the Suffrage Amendment campaign committee."
However, not everyone thought so highly of Thurston, and in 1894 a rift developed between the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), led by Anna Shaw, and KESA, and Sarah Thurston got caught in the middle. NAWSA had raised money in the eastern states to assist the western states with their suffrage campaigns. Shaw believed that Laura M. Johns, president of KESA, as well as a leader of the Kansas Woman's Republican Association, was "manipulating" the Kansas suffrage committee "in the interest of the Republican party." Sarah Thurston, as the recognized leader of the campaign committee, and a vocal member of the Kansas Woman's Republican Association, became a target as well. Shaw demanded that Johns step down or the money earmarked for KESA would be withheld. There is no record that Shaw requested Thurston to also step down. The standoff finally ended and both women retained their positions in KESA for the time being.
A controversial (and confrontational) episode in which Sarah Thurston found herself an unexpected participant, was what became known at the Lewelling War, or the Legislative War of Kansas. In February, 1893, Thurston, and several other women, had gone to the Kansas statehouse in Topeka to lobby the legislators on the suffrage amendment. While they were there, a violent dispute arose between the Populist and Republican members of the legislature, each claiming victory in the election of 1892, and both trying to unseat the other's members. With one party entrenched in the Statehouse and the other laying siege from the outside, Thurston and the other women were trapped inside and spent a fearful and uncomfortable night. At some point, they got caught between two warring factions, and of their party, Mrs. Van Prather, was injured when she got too close to a brawl between several combatants. The circumstances of the three-day "war" were complicated, but it finally ended with some damage to the Statehouse but no deaths and only minor injuries.
The Equal Suffrage Amendment was on the ballot in the state election of 1894 but failed to pass. The amendment was not proposed in 1896, but Mrs. Thurston did not rule out another try in 1898, stating, "We can't force equal suffrage on the state...We must wait for our opportunity. Equal suffrage will come, but it will take time. Some political party may give us suffrage as an expediency." The amendment was not on the ballot in 1898 and not much is reported about Sarah Thurston in the newspapers for many years. She did continue her leadership positions with KESA, WCTU and the Woman's Republican Association of Kansas of which she was elected president in 1895, replacing Laura Johns.
In 1901, Sarah Thurston went into partnership with Earl W. Van Kirk to open an abstract company in Topeka. When Van Kirk died unexpectedly in 1904, Thurston continued the business on her own until 1912. It was in that year that the momentum picked up again for a referendum on equal suffrage. In September, the Thurstons hosted a "strong precinct meeting for men" at their home in Topeka. It was estimated that about 100 men were in attendance. Later that fall, the woman of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, including Sarah Thurston, took to the roads of the state in an automobile campaign to win over voters. The Osage (Kansas) Free Press reported, "They have been holding meetings on the street, talking from their auto and street corners, and have good crowds, and interested listeners." The amendment appeared on the Kansas state ballot in November 1912 and passed by a margin of over 16,000 votes, making Kansas the eighth state to grant women the right to vote in local, state and national elections.
Following the passage of the woman suffrage amendment, Sarah Thurston turned her attention to reshaping KESA into a new organization. As chairman of the reorganization committee, Thurston was asked to solicit the opinions of fellow members as to the direction the association should take now that suffrage had been gained. It was suggested that the association should be renamed the "Good Government League" and the focus should be on ensuring that any man elected to office "live up to his promises and [the] duties of his office" that he had pledged to do before he was elected. Despite the name change proposal, KESA continued to work towards passage of the 19th amendment giving all women in the United States the right to vote in federal elections. With the ratification of that amendment in 1920, KESA became part of the national League of Women Voters organization.
John and Sarah Thurston lived in Topeka for 46 years. During that time they built two homes there but it appears neither of them is still standing. In 1917, the Thurstons moved back to West Gloucester, MA. Sarah's sister, Olive Bray, who had lived with the couple since they moved to Topeka in 1871, was having health problems and wanted to return to her hometown. A year later, on December 18, 1918, Sarah A. Thurston died of pneumonia at the age of 70. She is buried in Beechbrook Cemetery in Gloucester along with her sister Olive, who died in 1920, and her husband John, who passed away in 1925.
Sources:
Articles
Barr, Elizabeth N. "The Populist Uprising." A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Volume 2, edited by William Elsey Connelley. Lewis, Chicago, 1918, pp. 1181-1188.
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7630/images/7630-Volume2-0527?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&rc=878%2C287%2C1068%2C329%3B1311%2C1238%2C1423%2C1277%3B1442%2C1240%2C1619%2C1278%3B1225%2C2396%2C1365%2C2434&queryId=29860b50951d49f74e0b49e2b4d1a5e7&pId=1248
Accessed on Ancestry.com May 25, 2021
Newspapers
"Called a Traitor." Topeka State Journal. Topeka, Kansas. August 14, 1894. P. 5
https://www.newspapers.com/image/323381062/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Equal Suffrage Workers." Osage Free Press. Osage, Kansas. November 1, 2021. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/367350223/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Full Ten Thousand." Topeka State Journal. Topeka, Kansas. August 31, 1894. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/323390222/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"A Good Government League." The Wichita Beacon. Wichita, Kansas. April 23, 1913. P. 12
https://www.newspapers.com/image/76855374/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Items About Women." Grand Rapids Herald. Grand Rapids, Michigan. February 26, 1893. P. 7
Grand Rapids MI Herald 1893 02-26_0296.pdf
Accessed on fultonhistory.com May 26, 2021
"Kansas State News." Wilsonton Journal. Wilsonton, Kansas. August 1, 1896. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/489201200/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Make a Good Record." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. April 12, 1915. P. 8Brooklyn NY Daily Eagle 1915 Grayscale - 3218.pdfAccessed on fultonhistory.com May 26, 2021
"Mother Pensions Now Kansas Law." Wilmington Evening Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. P. 3Wilmington DL Evening Journal 1915 04_0647.pdfAccessed on fultonhistory.com May 26, 2021
"National Women's Suffrage Convention." Kansas Telegraph. Atchison, Kansas. January 1, 1897. P. 6
https://www.newspapers.com/image/527219913/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Pneumonia Victim." Topeka State Journal. Topeka, Kansas. December 21, 1918. P. 8
https://www.newspapers.com/image/324364387/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Some of the Leaders in the Kansas Equal Suffrage Convention Which Opens in This City Tuesday to Continue Two Day." Wichita Beacon. Wichita, Kansas. May 6, 1912. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/76863521/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Suffrage Hopes Deferred." Pittsburg Daily Headlight. Pittsburg, Kansas. August 21, 1896. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/94780249/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"The Suffragists." Topeka Daily Press. Topeka, Kansas. August 25, 1893. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/366119992/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Suspicious of Mrs. Johns." The McPherson Daily Republic. McPherson, Kansas. August 15, 1894. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/86493775/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Temperance Booths." Grand Rapid Herald. Grand Rapids, Michigan. September 2, 1892. P. 4Grand Rapids MI Herald 1892 09-02_0168.pdfAccessed on fultonhistory.com May 26, 2021
"Will Recognize State Suffrage Association." The Wichita Beacon. Wichita, Kansas. January 15, 1913. P. 8
https://www.newspapers.com/image/76862640/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021.
"Women Elect Officers." Fall River Daily Herald. Fall River, Massachusetts. July 8, 1895. P. 6
https://www.newspapers.com/image/642821874/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Women Elect Officers." The Utica Journal. Utica, New York. June 9, 1915. P 11Utica NY Sunday Journal 1894-1896 - 0412.pdfAccessed on fultonhistory.com May 26, 2021
"Women Not Interested." Topeka Mail. Topeka, Kansas. April 5, 1895 P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/366070805/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Women's Department." The Colby Tribune. Colby, Kansas. October 10, 1912. P. 1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/416373453/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
"Women's Work in Kansas (What they are Doing Unaided for Equal Suffrage)." The Kansas Democrat. Hiawatha, Kansas. November 1, 1894. P. 3
https://www.newspapers.com/image/385918737/?terms=Bertha%20Spencer&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
No headline. Topeka State Journal. Topeka, Kansas, September 27, 1894. P. 2
https://www.newspapers.com/image/366203585/?terms=Sarah%20A.%20Thurston&match=1
Accessed May 27, 2021
Other sources
"Sarah A. Bray," Ancestry.com
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/171946916/person/182233292098/facts?_phsrc=sHg826&_phstart=successSource
Accessed May 25, 2021
"Sarah A. Thurston," Ancestry.com
https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Sarah+A._Thurston&event=_topeka-shawnee-kansas-usa_72919&birth=1848_gloucester-essex-massachusetts-usa_4373&death=1918_gloucester-essex-massachusetts-usa_4373&defaultFacets=PRIMARY_YEAR.PRIMARY_NPLACE&father=_Bray&marriage=1871_gloucester-essex-massachusetts-usa_4373&mother=_Bray&residence=1910_Topeka-Kansas-USA&spouse=John+W._Thurston
Accessed May 25, 2021
"Sarah A. Thurston," Find a Grave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189756281/sarah-a-thurston
Accessed on May 25, 2021
Suffragists, Topeka, Kansas, 1912. Kansas Historical Society. Topeka, Kansas.
https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/222
Accessed May 25, 2021