Jessie Doe

Jessie Doe (February 21, 1887 – September 24, 1943) was an American civic leader who was one of the first women to serve in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

Early life

Doe was born on February 21, 1887, at her family home in Rollinsford, New Hampshire. She was the youngest child of New Hampshire Supreme Court justice Charles Cogswell Doe and his wife Edith Haven Doe. She was educated at the Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine, and the Gilman School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1] After leaving school in 1907, she returned to Rollinsford to take care of her mother and the family's 75-acre farm. She was an officer in many social clubs, including the Red Cross Public Nursing Association of Rollinsford and South Berwick, the Berwick Woman's Club, and the Woman's Committee of National Defense.[2] She was a horseback rider and mountain climber who held memberships in the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Green Mountain Horse Association.[3]

New Hampshire House of Representatives

Months after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women suffrage, Doe ran as a write-in candidate for Rollinsford's seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.[3] Although typically a Democratic town, Rollinsford elected Doe, a Republican. She served on the Public Health and Forestry committees, supported legislation to censor motion pictures, implement a statewide income tax, create a state teacher's college in Manchester, and appoint woman factory inspectors, and opposed a bill that would relieve women from jury duty.[2][4] She did not run for reelection in 1922.[3]

In 1926, Doe was appointed to the board of trustees for the State Industrial School.[5] She resigned in 1930 at the request of Governor Charles W. Tobey, who demanded the resignations of all board members after allegations of excessive punishment, including the use of flogging and water cures, were made against the school.[6]

In 1930, Doe sought to return to the House of Representatives. The race ended in a tie between her and Democratic incumbent Gardner Grant. The majority-Republican House chose to seat Doe.[3] In the 1932 election, Doe was the Republican nominee in New Hampshire's 21st State Senate district while her brother, Haven Doe, was the Democratic nominee in the 20th.[7]

University of New Hampshire

On June 30, 1932, Doe was appointed to the University of New Hampshire board of trustees by Governor John Gilbert Winant.[8] She remained on the board until June 30, 1942.[9] She died suddenly on September 24, 1943, at the Margaret Pillsbury General Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire. At her request, no funeral was held and her body was donated to science.[10] In 1964, the University of New Hampshire named a dormitory after her.[3]

References

  1. ^ New Hampshire notables; brief biographical sketches of New Hampshire men and women, native or resident, prominent in public, professional, business, educational, fraternal or benevolent work. Concord, NH: Concord Press. 1932. p. 31. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Personal Sketches". Granite State Monthly. 53 (5): 213. May 1921. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e Lawry, Nelson (October 22, 2004). "Passing Fare: The Does don't live here anymore". Foster's Daily Democrat. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  4. ^ Belman, Felice; Pride, Mike, eds. (2001). The New Hampshire Century: Concord Monitor Profiles of One Hundred People who Shaped it. UPNE. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-58465-087-4. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  5. ^ Pillsbury, Hobart (1927). New Hampshire: Resources, Attractions, and Its People; a History, Volume 4. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 970. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  6. ^ "Jessie Doe of the N. H. Industrial School Resigns". The Lewiston Daily Sun. August 4, 1930. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  7. ^ "Rival Parties Name Brother and Sister". The Norwalk Hour. September 16, 1932. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  8. ^ "Names Jessie Doe University Trustee". The Telegraph. June 30, 1932. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  9. ^ Bulletin of the University of New Hampshire. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Daughter of Famous Chief Justice Dies". The Telegraph. September 27, 1943. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
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