Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Marguerite Morris Rice Stewart, 1872-1941
By Allie Remick, student, Michigan State University
Marguerite Morris Rice was born on October 22, 1869 to John Virtue Rice and Sarah Lowe Rice in Wilmington, Delaware. John Rice was a lawyer and a member of the Pennsylvania and Delaware bars. On December 27, 1899 Marguerite Rice married George Swayne Stewart. Stewart's woodworking and manufacturing business was the largest business in Norwalk, Ohio. He was active in the causes of Prohibition and women's suffrage. The couple had five children: Elizabeth Bradford, Margaret Morris, Anne Ide, Patricia Hill, and George Swayne Jr. Raising her children led Marguerite Stewart to take an interest in early childhood education. She became president of a Child Study Club, started a kindergarten in Norwalk that became incorporated into the local public schools, and eventually became president of the Child Conservation League.
Stewart's suffrage work included serving as vice president of the Huron County Equal Franchise League. A lifetime member of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association, she served as Huron County Chairman of the Women's Committee. While on this committee, Stewart organized a suffrage unit in every township of Huron county. In 1912 she was elected an Ohio delegate to the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention in Philadelphia.
After women attained the vote in 1920 Stewart became active in the newly formed League of Women Voters. She served as director of the 13th District of Ohio's chapter, a position she kept until 1924, and was president of the Norwalk chapter in 1928 and 1929. From 1920 to 1930 she attended National League of Women Voters conventions in St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Buffalo, Richmond, and Louisville.
Marguerite Morris Rice Stewart died on March 1, 1941 in Toledo, Ohio and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk.
Sources:
Duff, William A. (William Alexander). History of North Central Ohio Embracing Richland, Ashland, Wayne, Medina, Lorain, Huron and Knox Counties. Topeka: Historical Publishing Company, 1931.
"Neighboring Deaths and Funerals," The Sandusky Register (OH), 04 March 1941, p. 2.
"Marguerite Rice Stewart," Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States 1920 - Population. "Marguerite Morris Rice," www.ancestry.com.
"Stewart, George Swayne," Encyclopedia Dubuque, http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=STEWART,_George_Swayne