Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920

Biography of Margaret Haywood Van Fleet, 1880-1974

By Rachel Gebhardt, Student-Researcher, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

Clubwoman, Educator, Suffragist

Margaret Haywood was born on June 27, 1880 in Jefferson, Indiana to Thomas and Elizabeth Haywood. She had three siblings: an older brother, Thomas; and two younger siblings, Lula and Henry.

Margaret Haywood attended Purdue University for four years, graduating with a B.S. in 1902 with her senior thesis on "The Absorption of Salts in Silica." While at Purdue, she was involved in multiple clubs and organizations, including the Philathean Society (a women's literary, musical, theatrical, and debate organization), the Young Women's Christian Association, and the Wood Carvers League (a social group). The school yearbook, the Debris, described her as one of the "meekest" and "most handsome" girls in her graduating class.

Haywood married Frank J. Van Fleet in 1908. They had no known children and lived in Lafayette, Indiana for approximately three years before moving to North Dakota. After moving to North Dakota, Margaret Van Fleet became involved in women's clubs and the woman suffrage movement as well as teaching mathematics to aspiring teachers.

Margaret Van Fleet's career as a suffragist most likely began in 1911, when she was a Larimore, North Dakota art club delegate to the district meeting of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC). In 1914, the GFWC officially adopted a resolution in favor of woman suffrage. Van Fleet joined North Dakota's Votes for Women League that same year. She also served as secretary for the North Dakota Anti-Tuberculosis Association in 1914.

By 1914, Van Fleet was a district organizer for suffrage and appeared frequently in newspapers for her suffrage work. She wrote a "Votes for Women" column for the Ward County Independent and introduced National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) field secretary Jane Thompson at a Larimore rally. She also held a public meeting in Arvilla, where she gave an informal talk on suffrage, illustrated with lantern slides. She also spoke to the Riverside Literary Club on suffrage, convincing the club to endorse and contribute to the cause.

Van Fleet's suffrage activity coincided with a high point of suffrage organizing in North Dakota. Suffragists had proposed multiple suffrage bills since the early 1900s. In 1913, a bill granting woman suffrage passed both houses of North Dakota legislature. However, the bill failed to gain enough votes for adoption in the fall 1914 elections. North Dakota women were not granted full suffrage until the adoption of the federal suffrage amendment in 1920.

After 1914, documentation of Van Fleet's suffrage activity is sparse, although in 1916, she served as president of the Larimore Federated League, an affiliate of the pro-suffrage General Federation of Women's Clubs.

In addition to her work as a clubwoman and suffragist, Van Fleet was an educator. She taught mathematics at the Minot Normal School from 1918 until 1921, which is most likely when she and her husband moved back to Indiana. In 1930, the U.S. census listed the couple as living in Lafayette, Indiana, where Van Fleet worked as a high school teacher.

Frank J. Van Fleet passed away on January 25, 1948 in Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana, and the widowed Margaret Van Fleet claimed social security on February 2, 1948. After this, there is no mention of a Margaret Van Fleet in Indiana or any surrounding states until her apparent death on January 1, 1974.

Sources:

1899 Debris. Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University, https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/debris/id/11237/rec/12.

1900 Debris. Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University, https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/debris/id/10924/rec/13

1901 Debris. Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University, https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/debris/id/10581/rec/14

1902 Debris. Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University, https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/debris/id/11468/rec/15

Biennial Convention ... Official Report. General Federation of Women's Clubs, 1914. page 621, Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biennial_Convention_Official_Report/C082AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

"City in Brief," Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, (Fargo, N.D.), Sept. 29, 1914. p. 5, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn 85042224/1914-09-29/ed-1/seq-5/

"Club Notes," Grand Forks Daily Herald and the Evening Times (Grand Forks, N.D.), Sept. 12, 1914. p. 5. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89074405/1914-09-12/ed-1/seq-5/

"Minot Normal Opened Tuesday," The Ward County Independent (Minot, Ward County, N.D.), Oct. 03, 1918. p. 6. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076421/1918-10-03/ed-1/seq-6/

"Normal School News Notes," The Ward County Independent (Minot, Ward County, N.D.), May 21, 1914. p. 5. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076421/1914-05-21/ed-1/seq-5/

"Normal School Notes," The Ward County Independent (Minot, Ward County, N.D.), July 07, 1921. p. 10. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076421/1921-07-07/ed-1/seq-10/

North Dakota Bankers' Association, Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1913, page 293, Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=vY0pAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210&dq=national+bank+of+larimore+nd+van+fleet&source=bl&ots=o9tF0NbLGW&sig=ACfU3U1rOlY5n0gygMPH6fOO61NtS2CFrQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwixrrj07JjnAhXYpJ4KHUH1AOYQ6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=national%20bank%20of%20larimore%20nd%20van%20fleet&f=false

Public Documents of the State of North Dakota, Being the Annual and Biennial Reports of Various Public Officers and Institutions to the Governor and Legislative Assembly, for the Fiscal Period Ending. (1914), p. 593, Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Public_Documents_of_the_State_of_North_D/mGg2AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22margaret+van+fleet%22+AND+north+dakota&pg=PA593&printsec=frontcover

"Purdue's Largest Class," The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis [Ind.]), May 26, 1902. p. 2, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn 82015679/1902-05-26/ed-1/seq-2/

The Register of Women's Clubs, Vol. XVIII, 1916, Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=cXwfAQAAIAAJ&lpg= PA165&ots=PKbc93-XUg&dq=north%20dakota%20mrs.%20f%20van%20fleet&pg=PA165#v=onepage&q=north%20dakota%20mrs.%20f%20van%20fleet&f=false

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, and Anthony, Susan Brownell, History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920, New York City, NY: Fowler & Wells, 1922, p. 406, Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=l84TAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA406&lpg=PA406&dq=jane+thompson+suffragist&source=bl&ots=xmMNvJQx2O&sig=ACfU3U3jCPCa9DsRR6L6KzudC9E7IcbDtA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiVwMPwgLnoAhWIFTQIHXuzASoQ6AEwD3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=jane%20thompson%20suffragist&f=false

"Successful Rally at Larimore," Grand Forks Daily Herald and the Evening Times (Grand Forks, N.D.), July 18, 1914. p. 5, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89074404/1914-07-18/ed-1/seq-5/

"Suffrage Committee Has Meeting," Grand Forks Daily Herald and the Evening Times (Grand Forks, N.D.), Aug. 25, 1914. p. 3, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89074404/1914-08-25/ed-1/seq-3/

"Suffrage News," The Wahpeton Times (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]), Oct. 01, 1914. p. 6. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024779/1914-10-01/ed-1/seq-6/

United States: North Dakota Legislative Assembly, Laws Passed at the Session of the Legislative Assembly of North Dakota (1923), p. 63, Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Laws_Passed_at_the_Session_of_the_Legisl/s7aGR7WuIZ8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=minot+normal+school+north+dakota&pg=PA68&printsec=frontcover

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0114; FHL microfilm: 1240406, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&indiv=try&h=23019761

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0114; FHL microfilm: 1240406, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&indiv=try&h=23019760

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0114; FHL microfilm: 1240406, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&indiv=try&h=23019762

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0114; FHL microfilm: 1240406, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&indiv=try&h=23019764

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0114; FHL microfilm: 1240406, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&indiv=try&h=23019765

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Jefferson, Newton, Indiana; Roll: 301; Page: 291B; Enumeration District: 134, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880 usfedcen&indiv=try&h=19435464

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0114; FHL microfilm: 1240406, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgibin/sse.dll?_phsrc=Ziv232&_phstart=success Source&usePUBJs=true&qh=rcs%2BPaV/vgN7efdFP5D5Hg%3D%3D&gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=margaret&gsfn_x=0&gsln=haywood&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&lmsypn=17&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=5&msbdy=1880&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=0&uidh=du4&pcat=CEN_CENTURY1900&h=23019763&dbid=7602&indiv=1&queryId=184283da285a2580a4259179bb9db392&ml_rpos=2

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Larimore Ward 1, Grand Forks, North Dakota; Roll: T624_1142; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0106; FHL microfilm: 1375155, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=Ziv237&_phstart=s uccessSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=GB%2Bo8Rrz0PrqdU8LA7mMAg%3D%3D&gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=margaret&gsfn_x=0&gsln=van%20fleet&gsln_x=0&msbdy=1880&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=5&msbpn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msbpn=17&msypn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msypn=17&mssng=frank%20&mssns=van%20fleet&MSAV=1&uidh=du4&pcat=35&h=170188839&dbid=7884&indiv=1&queryId=39e803f2fca2e1ef1bf8afdf33d108f9&ml_rpos=1

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Minot Ward 8, Ward, North Dakota; Roll: T625_1343; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 236, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=Ziv238&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=GB%2Bo8Rrz0PrqdU8LA7mMAg%3D%3D&gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=margaret&gsfn_x=0&gsln=van%20fleet&gsln_x=0&msbdy=1880&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=5&msbpn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msbpn=17&msypn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msypn=17&mssng=frank%20&mssns=van%20fleet&MSAV=1&uidh=du4&successSource=Search&_phtarg=Ziv237&pcat=35&h=76286279&dbid=6061&indiv=1&queryId=39e803f2fca2e1ef1bf8afdf33d108f9&ml_rpos=3

U.S. Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0009; FHL microfilm: 2340365, Ancestry, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=Ziv239&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=GB%2Bo8Rrz0PrqdU8LA7mMAg%3D%3D&gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=margaret&gsfn_x=0&gsln=van%20fleet&gsln_x=0&msbdy=1880&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=5&msbpn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msbpn=17&msypn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msypn=17&mssng=frank%20&mssns=van%20fleet&MSAV=1&uidh=du4&successSource=Search&_phtarg=Ziv237,Ziv238&pcat=35&h=115446038&dbid=6224&indiv=1&queryId=39e803f2fca2e1ef1bf8afdf33d108f9&ml_rpos=2

U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=Ziv149 &_ph srart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=1GvAr7ZpJHOMMjtZnAFl9A%3 D%3D&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=elizabeth&gsfn_x=0&gsln=haywood&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msypn=17&msypn_x=PC&msypn__ftp_x=1&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=5&msbdy=1843&mssng=thomas&mssns=haywood&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=1&uidh=du4&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=90058156&dbid=60525&indiv=1&queryId=97beebad9a6ceeaa6da9593b09317c00&ml_rpos=1

U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012,https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=Ziv62&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=c6AH8%2BjJa46IQ/heY0sFFg%3D%3D&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=margaret%20&gsfn_x=0&gsln=haywood&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Indiana,%20USA&msypn=17&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=5&msbdy=1880&mssng=frank&mssns=van%20fleet&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=1&uidh=du4&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=989189960&dbid=1265&indiv=1&queryId=7c02883c535df27f9fde0ba56d9be558&ml_rpos=3

The Woman Suffrage Yearbook. National Woman Suffrage Publishing Company, 1917, p. 38, Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Woman_Suffrage_Year_Book_1917/YH4EAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

"Women's Clubs," The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican (Fargo, N.D.), May 06, 1911. p. 12, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica .loc.gov/lccn/sn85042224/1911-05-06/ed-1/seq-12/

"Work of Women's Clubs Throughout the State," The Evening Times (Grand Forks, N.D.), Jan. 24, 1912. p. 6, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042373/1912-01-24/ed-1/seq-6/

"Work of Women's Clubs Throughout the State." The Evening Times (Grand Forks N.D.), April 30, 1912, p. 6, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=15895609&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM1MTQ0ODMyNSwiaWF0IjoxNTgyMTI3MjYwLCJleHAiOjE1ODIyMTM2NjB9.ONXu9Zb0WJVylLWWEZLF1gQo3Y6gISwvcrp61hasUxk

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