Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Mary Manzanita Bowers Bray (Mrs. W.H.), 1875-1966
By Mona Reno, Nevada Women's History Project
President of the Sparks Equal Franchise Society, 1913-1914; Corresponding Secretary of the Nevada Equal Franchise Society, 1914; Nevada representative at the national convention of the League of Women Voters, 1923
Mary Manzanita Bowers was born on March 2, 1875, to John B. and Caroline Chase Bowers in Somerset, Massachusetts. By 1900, she was married to William Henry Bray, a mining engineer. Mary Bray was employed as a public school teacher in Reno, Nevada, and she continued to teach after their move to Sparks. The Brays had one son, William B. Bray.
Mary Bray led the Sparks branch of the Nevada Equal Franchise Society. She also served as the corresponding secretary to the state society. In April 1913, state president Anne Martin wrote to all the branches, encouraging civics lessons to prepare women to knowledgably use the vote once granted. Mary Bray took up the issue, calling a special Sparks meeting in her home, and the branch embraced the message. In August 1914, Sara Bard Field highlighted the work of the Sparks branch, discussing how the group facilitated public meetings, invited prominent speakers, organized study classes, and encouraged suffrage essays. Field noted how the group had expanded its membership and included "ministers, lawyers, and business men" on its board. Mary Bray participated in efforts in Washoe County, and she extended her knowledge by assisting in the formation of the Wadsworth branch of the Nevada Equal Franchise Society in April 1914.
In November 1914, women gained equal franchise in Nevada. In response, the Washoe County Equal Franchise Society organized the Woman Citizens' Club with a charter membership of 80. Mary Bray joined the group, which followed and endorsed legislation and continued to inform and train women about the workings of government. In 1919, Bray served as president of the club. In 1920, the Woman Citizens' Club became the Nevada League of Women Voters. Bray represented Nevada at the convention for the National League of Women Voters in 1923. By 1924, she was the Pacific Coast director for the national body.
Mary Bray had lived in San Francisco at various points in her life, given her family connections there. She had moved to San Francisco by 1935; her husband seemed to remain in Nevada, working as a miner. On October 24, 1939, William Henry Bowers died in Reno, Nevada, after a heart attack, leaving Mary Bray a widow. Mary Manzanita Bowers Bray died in San Francisco on November 7, 1966, at the age of 91. She is buried in the Saint Helena Cemetery in Napa County, California, beside her mother Caroline Chase Bowers.
CAPTION: Mary Bray (Mrs. W.H.), Sparks, Nevada, ca. 1914.
CREDIT: Sara Bard Field, "Clash in Nevada: A History of Woman's Fight for Enfranchisement, the Nevada Suffrage Fight," Out West: A Magazine of the Old Pacific and the New, August 1914, p. 56. HathiTrust.
Sources:
"Convention is Ended Today." Reno Gazette-Journal (Reno, NV). February 25, 1914, p. 8. Newspapers.com.
Find a Grave. Mary Manzanita Bowers Bray. Accessed March 21, 2019. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47731007/mary-manzanita-bray.
Harper, Ida Husted, ed. "Nevada." Chapter XXVII in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 6: 1900-1920. New York: National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1922, 394-409. [LINK]
"Interesting Meeting Held." Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, NV). April 21, 1913, p. 7. Newspapers.com.
Field, Sara Bard. "Clash in Nevada: A History of Woman's Fight for Enfranchisement, the Nevada Suffrage Fight." Out West: A Magazine of the Old Pacific and the New. August 1914, pp. 51-66. HathiTrust.
"Legislative Bills Endorsed by Women." Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV). February 13, 1919, p. 8. Newspapers.com.
Obituary. Bray, Mary M. Bowers. San Francisco Examiner. November 8, 1966, p. 53. Newspapers.com.
Obituary. William Henry Bray. Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV). October 26, 1939, p. 2. Newspapers.com.
"Schools at Sparks Will Open on Tuesday." Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, NV). August 30, 1918, p. 2. Newspapers.com.
United States Census 1920, s.v. "Mary Bray, Washoe County, NV." HeritageQuest.
United States Census 1930 s.v. "William H. Bray, Winnemuca, NV." HeritageQuest.
United States Census 1940, s.v. "Mary Bray, San Francisco, CA." HeritageQuest.
"Women Eager to Fix Own Views at Polls, Avers National Chief." Santa Ana Register (Santa Ana, CA). February 20, 1924, p. 10. Newspapers.com.