McCulloch Timeline

Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch
(1862 - 1945)
First Woman Justice of the Peace in Illinois Timeline

Year	Event	Comments
June 2, 1862	Born	Firstborn child and only daughter to Susan and Abraham Waugh of Ransomville, New York
circa 1867	Moved to New Milford, IL	Moved because of the farming opportunities in Illinois. Catharine was influenced by the fact that her father often handled his neighbor's legal claims, even though he had never been trained in law. She was known as "her father's little lawyer" even as a young girl.
circa 1878 -1882	Enrolled in Rockford Female Seminary, receiving diploma in 1882.
October 1884	Started working for Rockford law firm of Marshall & Taggart.
September 1885 - May 1886	Enrolled in the Union College of Law (Northwestern Univ.)	She rejected the informal process of "reading law" and chose instead to pursue a formal legal education.
Winter of 1885-1886	Writes letter to women students at Michigan Law School.	Although her letter was never answered, it apparently helped shape what later became the Equity Club.
November 6, 1886	Admitted to Illinois Bar.
1886 - ?	Attempted to get legal work in Chicago --unsuccessfully. Left Chicago and opened a practice in Rockford.
? - 1888	Attended Rockford College	(Presumably while starting her legal career as well?)
1888	Received bachelor's and mater's degrees from Rockford College for thesis on "women's Wages."	(Does this indicate an interest in employment law? Definitely shows the impact of her job search in Chicago).
1888	Travels to Washington D.C. to attend Mtng of the Int'l Council of Women	During this trip met several women lawyers (and fellow Equity Club Members) including Belva Lockwood.
May 2, 1888	Writes letter to Equity Club about her trip to the Int'l Council and the "hat issue."
1888	Serves on Equity Club's special committee on the relations of women attnys to the existing local, state, and national bar associations.
Fall of 1888	Prohibitionists nominated her for state's attorney (she lost).
April 26, 1889	Letter to the Equity Club about being a woman lawyer and giving free services to poor women.	(Evidence of her sense of humor!)
May 30, 1890	Marries Frank McCulloch	He had been a classmate of hers at law school. Their honeymoon was spent in South Dakota because Catharine had already agreed to present a lecture series to local suffrage groups before the wedding plans were made! She also supposedly refused to change her name and did not begin using "McCulloch" as her last name until much later.¹
c. 1890	The couple opens joint practice: McCulloch & McCulloch
November 8, 1890	Letter to Equity Club, describing married life and joint practice.
1891 - 1905	Four children	Hugh Waugh (1891); Hawthorn Waugh (1899); Catharine Waugh (1901); Frank Waugh (1905)
1890 (until 1912)	Accepted position of legislative superintendent of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association.	(held this position until 1912)
1893	Drew up a bill providing for woman suffrage in presidential and certain local elections not constitutionally limited to male voters.	this bill was regularly reintroduced in the IL legislature for the next 20 yrs: it finally passed in 1913! She would travel to Springfield each year to testify.
1894	Becomes a resident of Evanston, the suburb of Chicago where she was eventually elected to justice of the peace.
1894	Leads successful campaign to get first woman (Lucy Louisa Flowers) elected to the board of trustees of the U. of I.
December 22, 1897	Wiedeman v. Keller, 171 Ill. 93, 49 N.W. 210 (Supreme Court of Illinois)	Fran's firm and Catharine McCulloch represent Henry Kleer, a retain dealer in meats, in an action to recover on an alleged warranty in the sales of meats to Anna Wiedeman. The Supreme Court reversed the initial judgment for Keller (which had been affirmed by the appellate court) and remanded the case.
1898	Admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
1899	Publishes Mr. Lex, a fictional depiction of the legal disabilities of married women and mothers.
1901	Wins legislation granting women equal guardianship rights with husbands over children.	(she drafted the bill)(Her widely published book, Mr. Lex, is believed to have contributed to the legislature's passing this bill.)
1907	Elected first woman justice of the peace in Illinois. Served 1907-1909.	Elected in Evanston, the suburb where the McCullochs lived. Sometime during her campaign, the Chicago Legal News prints a circular that was sent out by Mrs. McCulloch's friends in support of her election.
March 30, 1907	Quoted in the Evanston Press on women lawyers.	"The first two steps necessary for the woman lawyer have been accomplished in Illinois--admission to law school and admission to the bar. The confidence of the employing public is coming, but how soon we can not say."
April 6, 1907	Chicago Legal News reports that she won the election by a "handsome majority"; prints her article giving a "brief history of women as justices of the peace."
1909	Reelected justice of the peace. Serves 1909-1913.
1905	Wins legislation raising the age of consent for women from 14 to 16 yrs. old.	(she drafted the bill)
1910	Starts "auto suffrage tour."	Motorized teams of women drive around the state, speaking about suffrage from open automobiles
1911	Publishes feminist play, Bridget's Daughters.	(the play was very popular among suffragists).
1904-1911	Serves as legal adviser (1904-c.1911) and as first VP (1910-1911) of the Nat'l American Woman Suffrage Assoct'n.
1912	Established the Mississippi Valley Conference of the Nat'l American Women Suffrage Association	(In hopes of reshaping the group's East Coast orientation)
1917	Master in chancery of the Cook County Superior Court. Serves until 1925
early 1920s	Serves as president of the IL Woman's Democratic Club.
1916-1920	Serves as President of the Women's Bar Assoct'n of IL.
1923	Joined the League of Women Voters	(after 19th Amend. passed). She serves as the chairman of the Committee on Uniform Laws Concerning Women until 1923.
1929	She and Frank jointly publish A Manual of the Law of Will Contests in Illinois.
1936	Rockford rewarded her service to the college by presenting her with an honorary LLD
late 1930s	Traveled with Frank around the world studying social legislation and legal systems.	Was impressed by women's role in the legal system of the Soviet Union.
May 30, 1940	50th Wedding Anniversary
1940	Both Catharine and Frank named "Senior Counselors" by the Illinois Bar Assoc. in honor of their many years of legal practice together.
April 20, 1945	Died of cancer at 82 years old.

1. Although one article states this as fact, in her letters to the Equity Club she signs her name "Catharine Waugh McCulloch" approximately 5 months after her wedding.