Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Eugenie Marx (Metcalfe), 1890-1970
By Suzan Christensen, Fairhope, Alabama
Eugenie Marx was born in Mobile, Alabama on October 25, 1890 to Lee H. Marx and Mattie T. Marx and had one sister, Melania. Mr. Marx owned a wholesale grocery company called The Marx Grocery Company located at 805 Government Street, Mobile, AL. Eugenie attended Barton Academy in Mobile and was a member of the Nautilus Literary Society in 1908 and Alpha Beta Lambda Sigma Society in 1909. She became a kindergarten teacher after graduation.
The Mobile chapter of the Alabama Equal Suffrage Association was the last chapter formed in January 1914. Eugenie was the first president. She welcomed Pattie Ruffner Jacobs, president of the Alabama Equal Suffrage Association to their January meeting, Thursday evening, January 22, 1914 at the Cawthorn Hotel. The meeting was very successful for the newly formed chapter as they added 49 members that evening. She continued as president during the rest of 1914.
In 1919, Eugenie applied for a passport to go France with the Jewish Welfare Board. She departed April 30, 1919 and worked in the canteen in Beaune, Cote d'Or, France until August 1919. While there, she met a solder in the 127th Machine Gun Battalion, Sixth Nebraska, Melvern D. Metcalfe. They renewed acquaintances during Eugenie's visit to Omaha in 1920. She returned to Omaha in June 1921 and Melvern persuaded her to marry him. On June 4, 1921, the Justice of the Peace married them. The couple moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where Melvern taught at the Sioux Falls High School and Eugenie was a housewife. They had one daughter, Eugenie Metcalfe, who became a WAVE in the US Navy during World War II.
Eugenie Marx Metcalfe died December 21, 1970 and is buried at the Hills of Rest Memorial Park, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Sources:
www.ancestry.com Mobile city directory, 1910-1920
www.ancestry.com School lists and yearbooks
www.ancestry.com Border crossings and Passports
www.ancestry.com Passenger Lists
www.ancestry.com U.S. Jewish Welfare Board, War Correspondence, 1917-1954
The Mobile Item, January 18, 1914, Sunday edition "AESA Announces Meeting"
The Mobile Item, January 22, 1914, Friday afternoon edition "Mrs. Jacobs' Talk Draws 49 to the Suffrage Fold
The State Journal, Lincoln Nebraska, June 5, 1921, Sunday edition "A War Time Romance"