Biographical Database of Militant Woman Suffragists, 1913-1920
Biography of Anna "Annie" Frances Carraher English, 1873-1957
By Amanda Ritter-Maggio, Associate Professor of English, Texarkana College, Texarkana, TX
Anna "Annie" Frances Carraher was born in 1873 to James and Johanna (Powers) Carraher in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father was an Irish immigrant who worked as a produce dealer, and her mother was born in Vermont. Her siblings included Bernard, Theresa, Maisie, James, George, Mary, John, Leo, Albert, and Nellie.
In the 1890s, Anna worked as a stenographer at the English Supply and Engine Company in Kansas City. On June 10, 1901, Annie married Thomas Finney English, who with his two brothers founded English Supply and Engine (Later called English Tool and Supply) in 1869. The couple resided on Campbell Street in Kansas City and had no children.
Anna was active in women's clubs in Kansas City, particularly the Kansas City University Extension Center, which organized public adult education courses, lectures, and musical performances. She was that organization's treasurer for several years between 1913 and 1929. She was also active in the Kansas City Woman's City Club; in July of 1919, she helped host a Woman's City Club luncheon in honor of Alice Paul when she visited the city. In September 1921, Anna helped organize a Susan B. Anthony benefit bridge tournament.
Most notably, Anna served as Missouri state representative on the National Woman's Party National Committee of State Chairmen in 1918 and 1919.
Anna and Thomas moved to San Diego, California in 1937 and to St. Louis, Missouri in 1942. Thomas English died in St. Louis in 1943. Anna continued living there until her death in 1957. Her obituary notes her active membership in the Kansas City Woman's City Club. She is buried with her husband in the Garden of Oaks plot in Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Missouri.
Sources:
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/107998015/anna-english : accessed 26 July 2021), memorial page for Anna Carraher English (28 Jun 1873-14 Jan 1957), Find a Grave Memorial ID 107998015, citing Mount Washington Cemetery, Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, USA ; Maintained by Tom DeNardo (contributor 767) .
"Gossip of Society." The Kansas City Star 22 July 1919. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/654398063/?terms=%22mrs.%20t%20f%20english%22&match=1
---. 28 February 1921. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/654557224/?terms=Mrs.%20T%20F%20English&match=1
"In the Social World" [Marriage announcement for Annie Carraher and Thomas English]. The Kansas City Times 13 June 1901. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/649977556/?terms=%22mrs.%20Thomas%20English%22&match=1
"Missouri Births and Christenings, 1827-1935", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2FM-MJP : 17 January 2020), Anna Frances Canahar, 1873.
"Mrs. Anna English Rites." The Kansas City Star 17 January 1957. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/658708751/?article=5b983af6-f57b-47f6-909d-6bc1b9c2421f&focus=0.05306527,0.83036095,0.17248057,0.96214557&xid=3355&_ga=2.252267343.77461225.1627183177-277744048.1622824811
The Suffragist vol. VI, no 34, 14 September 1918. Ed. Alice Paul. https://archive.org/details/suffragist06cong_34/mode/2up
---. vol VII, no. 53, 25 January 1919. Ed. Alice Paul. https://docplayer.net/212889215-National-woman-a-f-artg.html
"Thomas F. English." The Kansas City Times 26 June 1943. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/655469748/?terms=%22Thomas%20English%22&match=1