Minnie
Tamar Johnson & Virgil Hooker Grinstead Collection,
1878—[not before 1923]
Manuscript collection no. 365
Papers of Minnie Tamar Johnson Grinstead, educator,
temperance lecturer, first woman member of the Kansas Legislature;
of Crawford County, Larned, Liberal, Kan. Included are 2 items
of her husband, Virgil Hooker Grinstead, attorney, judge; of Elk
City, Dighton, Kan.; Glasgow, Ky.
Documents primarily reflecting
her work as lecturer for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
(W.C.T.U.)
in Kansas and surrounding
states. Included are names of acquaintances, some presumably met
in her temperance work, in autograph albums, 1889-1901; memoranda,
contacts, facts & information useful in W.C.T.U. activities
in her account, and note book, 1902-1917; and entries of family,
W.C.T.U., & community events in her Diary (1912-1913). Also
included is an autobiographical essay (incomplete) describing campaigning
for and serving in the Kansas House of Representatives as the first
woman in the Legislature. In addition, the collection contains
a journal by her husband, Virgil Hooker Grinstead, of his move
from Elk City, Kan., to Glasgow, Ky., June-July 1878, and his certificate
of appointment, Mar. 22, 1889, to a Kansas District court judgeship.
Descriptive Identification
This section provides basic information about the collection and
a brief overview of its contents.
Repository: Kansas Historical Society (Topeka)
Creator: Grinstead, Minnie J. (Minnie Johnson), 1869-1925.
Collection title: Minnie Tamar Johnson & Virgil
Hooker Grinstead collection
Collection dates: 1878-[not before 1923]
Collection identification: Ms. collection no. 365 (MC 365)
Collection size: 0.4 ft. (1 box)
Shelf location: Consult the "Detailed
Description of the Collection," below, for
location & folder numbers of individual series.
Abstract
Papers of Minnie Tamar Johnson Grinstead, educator, temperance
lecturer, first woman member of the Kansas Legislature; of Crawford
County, Larned, Liberal, Kan. Included are 2 items of her husband,
Virgil Hooker Grinstead, attorney, judge; of Elk City, Dighton,
Kan.; Glasgow, Ky.
Documents primarily reflecting her work as lecturer for the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) in Kansas and surrounding
states. Included are names of acquaintances, some presumably met
in her temperance work, in autograph albums, 1889-1901; memoranda,
contacts, facts & information useful in W.C.T.U. activities
in her account, and note book, 1902-1917; and entries of family,
W.C.T.U., & community events in her Diary (1912-1913). Also
included is an autobiographical essay (incomplete) describing campaigning
for and serving in the Kansas House of Representatives as the first
woman in the Legislature. In addition, the collection contains
a journal by her husband, Virgil Hooker Grinstead, of his move
from Elk City, Kan., to Glasgow, Ky., June-July 1878, and his certificate
of appointment, Mar. 22, 1889, to a Kansas District court judgeship.
Collection Level Access Terms
The terms listed below may include names, places, subjects, occupations,
titles, and other words describing this collection. These terms
are used in the ATLAS catalog used by the Kansas Historical Society and affiliated libraries in Topeka, http://lib.wuacc.edu,
as well as libraries and archives subscribing to OCLC, a national
library/archives database. Searches on these words should produce
a description of this collection as well as other books and collections
that may be of interest.
Corporate names
Kansas. District Court (Thirty-third Judicial District)
Kansas.
Legislature. House
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Kansas.
Genre/Physical characteristics
American diaries
Autograph albums-West (U.S.)
Diaries.
Essays.
Journals (Accounts)
Geographical names
Kansas.
Kansas-Elections-1918.
United States, Central (local term)
Occupations
Educators.
Judges.
Lawyers.
Legislators.
Lecturers.
Prohibitionists.
Personal names (other correspondents)
Grinstead, V. H. (Virgil Hooker), 1848-1924.
Subjects
Temperance-West (U.S.)
Women legislators-Kansas.
Administrative Information
This section provides more detailed information about this collection
that may be helpful to those wishing to use it, including its history,
restrictions, copyright information, other formats, and a suggested
citation form.
Acquisition information
The Account, and Note Book, 1902-1917 (Subgroup I, series B); "My
Experiences in the Kansas Legislature" [not before 1923] (Subgroup
I, series E); and Virgil Grinstead's Log of a Journey, June 27-July
29, 1878 (Subgroup II, series A), were donated in 1948 to the Kansas Historical Society by the Woman's Kansas Day Club which had
been given the items by V. H. and Minnie Grinstead's daughter,
Darlene (Grinstead) Conover, later Darlene (Grinstead) Conover
Vance. The remainder of the collection was given directly by Mrs.
Vance in 1978.
Restrictions on access: None
Copyright/Publication rights
The Kansas Historical Society does not own literary property
rights to these records. The subject of copyright was not addressed
when these papers were donated to the society, consequently we
presume that the heirs of Virgil Hooker and Minnie Tamar Johnson
Grinstead or their assigns own the copyright to these papers.
Notice: This material may be protected by copyright
law (title 17, U.S. Code). The user is cautioned that the publication of
the contents of this microfilm may be construed as constituting
a violation of literary property rights. These rights derive
from the principle of common law, affirmed in the copyright law
of 1976 as amended, that the writer of an unpublished letter
or other manuscript has the sole right to publish the contents
thereof unless he or she affirmatively parts with that right;
the right descends to his or her legal heirs regardless of the
ownership of the physical manuscript itself. It is the responsibility
of a user or his or her publisher to secure the permission of
the owner of literary property rights in unpublished writing.
Preferred citation: Minnie Tamar Johnson & Virgil
Hooker Grinstead Collection, 1878-[not before 1923], ms. collection
no.
365, Library and Archives Division, Kansas Historical Society.
Accruals: No additions to this collection are anticipated.
Biographical Information
This section contains biographies of individuals that are the
subjects of the collection.
Minnie Tamar Johnson Grinstead
Minnie Tamar Johnson was born 30 September 1869, in Crawford County,
Kansas, to Jonas M. and Martha Emerich Johnson. She started school
at Walnut, Kansas, at age five and graduated from high school at
the age of fourteen.
She wanted to teach, but because the law required that teachers
be sixteen years of age, she helped her father on the farm and
hired out as a farmhand to neighbors until she met the age requirement.
She started teaching at age sixteen or seventeen, and in time earned
a life teaching certificate from Kansas State Normal School of
Emporia, now Emporia State University. She taught for eleven or
twelve years, most if not all of them at Pittsburg, Kansas. For
several years at the end of her teaching career she was also the
principal of the East building in Pittsburg.
Minnie was baptized by her father, a Baptist pastor, and she joined
that denomination. In November 1899 she was licensed by the Pittsburg
Baptist church to preach. In later life she was pastor of the Bethel
church northwest of Liberal, Kansas.
She ran as a Republican for Crawford County superintendent of
public instruction in the 1896 election but lost in the Populist
landslide of that year. She quit teaching the same year to become
a lecturer for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.).
The organization appointed her State evangelist in 1900; in addition,
she went as a delegate to the W.C.T.U. national convention that
year.
Minnie Johnson married Virgil Hooker Grinstead, an attorney and
former Lane County judge and county attorney in Lane and Pawnee
counties, on 31 October 1901 in Larned, Kansas. They had four children,
but only two survived to adulthood. Grace Darlene, later Darlene
Conover and Darlene Vance, was born 26 June 1906, and Milton Wayde
was born 10 October 1907. In the fall of 1906 the family moved
to Liberal.
A good orator, Minnie campaigned for prohibition in Missouri in
1910. She also crusaded for women suffrage and chaired the Seventh
Congressional District Committee in the successful 1912 effort
to amend the Kansas constitution to allow full voting rights for
women. As a result, she was mentioned as a Republican nominee for
the United States Senate in 1914.
She was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1918,
the first woman to serve in the Legislature. She was re-elected
in 1920 and again in 1922. While a legislator, she served on the
Judiciary Committee, in 1921 the first woman in any State ever
to have done so. She introduced a bill to award damages directly
to women who sustained injury rather than having payments go to
their husbands, but it did not pass. In 1923 she introduced legislation,
ultimately unsuccessful, outlawing the sale of cigarettes in Kansas.
Her legislative victories included a bill to require "auto-gates," or
cattle guards, instead of wire gates where fences cross highways;
a bill appropriating $500,000 to build housing for freshman women
at five State colleges; a Free Library Bill allowing small towns
to levy funds for libraries; and the Coverture Bill giving certain
labor and legal rights to housewives.
In 1920 she was selected as an alternate delegate to the Republican
National Convention. At the 1924 convention in Cleveland, she seconded
the nomination of Calvin Coolidge for president.
She served on the first State School Code Commission in 1921 and
1922 which examined statutes related to education and recommended
changes to the Legislature.
After Virgil Grinstead passed away 22 February 1924 Minnie declined
to run again for the House, preferring instead to compete for the
post of probate judge of Seward County. She was elected and served
until she died on 24 Dec 1925. At the time of her death she was
being considered by the Coolidge administration for the post of
United States civil-service commissioner.
Virgil Hooker Grinstead
Virgil Hooker Grinstead was born 9 July 1848 on a farm in Metcalfe
County, Kentucky, the son of Philip Wade and Angelina (Jones) Grinstead.
He became a teacher in Kentucky. In 1869 he earned the degree of
Master Mason in the Masonic Lodge. He married Laura Temple Shirley
on 24 November 1870. In the early 1870s he was admitted to the
Kentucky bar.
Soon thereafter he came to Elk City, Kansas, and practiced law
there.
In 1878 he returned to his native State to be a deputy collector
of internal revenue for the Second Collection District and because
he thought Kentucky's climate might improve his wife's health.
He once again came west to Kansas in 1885, again hoping that the
higher altitude and drier air of western Kansas would help Laura's
condition. He helped establish Lane County and Dighton. The same
year he was named the first probate judge of the county, and he
was re-elected in 1887. In 1889 he was appointed the first judge
of the 33rd Judicial District which included Greeley, Lane, Ness,
Rush, Scott, and Wichita counties; the following year he was elected
to the post. In all he served five years. Later he was Lane County
attorney.
He moved to Larned, Kansas, in 1898 and became Pawnee County attorney.
His wife Laura died 30 August 1899 in Lexington, Kentucky. They
had no children.
He married Minnie Tamar Johnson on 31 October 1901 in Larned.
They had four children, but only two survived to adulthood. Grace
Darlene, later Darlene Conover and Darlene Vance, was born 26 June
1906, and Milton Wayde was born 10 October 1907.
In the fall of 1906 the family moved to Liberal, Kansas. Two years
later he was elected Seward County attorney. After his service
in that position he was named an assistant attorney-general, and
he prosecuted liquor dealers.
He was a member and elder in the Christian church, now Disciples
of Christ.
Virgil Grinstead passed away 22 February 1924 in Liberal.
Organization of the Collection
These records are organized into two alphabetical subgroups, a
larger one reflecting the activities of Minnie J. Grinstead and
a smaller one containing the papers of her husband, V. H. Grinstead.
Scope and Content Notes
This collection provides a tantalizing but incomplete look at
the life of Minnie Johnson Grinstead and her husband, V. H. Grinstead.
Unfortunately the items that comprise this collection are only
a fragment of the documentary record that the couple must have
created in the course of their separate careers. Regrettably no
correspondence from either of them has survived, aside from the
one small series of letters concerning the potential admission
of a Mrs. Anderson to the William Small Memorial Home in Leavenworth,
Kansas (Subgroup I, series D).
The collection provides more information about Mrs. Grinstead's
activities as an official of the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance
Union (W.C.T.U.) than it does for her three terms as the first
woman member of the Kansas Legislature. The Autograph Albums, 1889-1901
(Subgroup I, series A), give names and sometimes addresses of her
students, friends, and presumably some of the people she met in
the course of her temperance work in Kansas and neighboring States.
More significant, however, is the Account, and Note Book, 1902-1917
(Subgroup I, series B), which contains memoranda, names of contacts,
facts that could be used in lectures, and other information she
found useful as she traveled through Kansas and surrounding States
on behalf of the W.C.T.U.
Mrs. Grinstead's "Diary," 1912-1920 (Subgroup I, series
C), with entries covering the period from September 1912 through
December 1913, provides an even more intimate look at her daily
life. In it, she recorded her daily activities as she attempted
to balance her professional and family lives. She wrote of her
travels on behalf of the W.C.T.U., her husband's and children's
activities, housework, her pregnancy and the delivery and burial
of her stillborn child, and events in the community. It is unknown
whether she kept other diaries.
The only document directly pertaining to her service in the Kansas
House of Representatives is the essay "My Experience in the
Kansas Legislature. Three Regular and Three Special Sessions" (Subgroup
I, series E), presumably written following the expiration of the
1923 special session. It is a detailed discussion of why she ran,
her election campaigns, her reception by other legislators, and
bills she shepherded to passage. Unfortunately only the first two
pages are extant.
There are only two items relating to the distinguished career
of her husband, V. H. Grinstead: the Log of a Journey, June-July
1878 (Subgroup II, series A), describing his trip from Elk City,
Kansas, to Glasgow, Kentucky, so he could take the position of
deputy collector of internal revenue for the Second Collection
District of Kentucky, and his certificate of appointment to the
judgeship of the 33rd Judicial District, 12 March 1889 (Subgroup
II, series B).
The journal is an interesting description of the towns, roads,
campsites, and countryside in southeast Kansas, Missouri, southern
Illinois, and western Kentucky. He traveled roughly east from Elk
City to Nevada, Missouri; then northeast to Boonville, Missouri;
from there eastward to Saint Louis; then southeast to Bowling Green,
Kentucky; and east to his destination. Some of the entries, written
in pencil, are badly smudged and are hard to read. Some individual
pages may have been photographed several times at different exposures
to enhance readability.
The appointment certificate was signed by Kansas Governor Lyman
U. Humphrey and Secretary of State William Higgins. It appointed
Mr. Grinstead the first judge of the newly-created 33rd district,
which contained Greeley, Lane, Ness, Rush, Scott, and Wichita counties.
In the Woman's Kansas Day Club (WKDC) history collection, no.
659, Historians' Report, Seventh District, 1933-1934, is a document
describing how the WKDC sponsored a bronze tablet honoring Minnie
Grinstead in a Liberal, Kansas, park.
Mrs. Grinstead's Scrapbook is in the Library, call number K 040
G885. Biographical information about her in the Library includes
biographical sketches, resolutions and memorials of the Legislature,
articles describing early Kansas women legislators, and newspaper
clippings; the Library also has additional biographical information
about V. H. Grinstead. Researchers should consult appropriate catalogs
and indexes.
Because of the paucity of material in this collection, those interested
in a documentary history of Mr. or Mrs. Grinstead's life will have
to consult other primary or secondary sources. Thankfully, source
documentation on temperance in the Midwest and Kansas politics
and government exists in a number of other manuscript collections,
record groups in the State archives, and published sources. The "Additional
Information" section, below, lists other potential manuscript
sources.
Detailed Description of the Collection
To
request materials, give the box or folder number in (parentheses)
above the description.
Subgroup I (007-07-05-03)
Minnie J. Grinstead.
Papers, 1889-[not before 1923].
6 folders (0.2 ft.)
Primarily documents relating to her work as a lecturer and State
evangelist for the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.).
Included are Autograph Albums, 1889-1901, in which acquaintances
penned sentiments; an Account, and Note Book, 1902-1917, containing
considerable information about W.C .T.U. activities; a "Diary" (1912-1913),
1912-1920, describing how she balanced her personal and professional
lives; correspondence, Jan. 18-20, 1920, relating to placing a
woman in a home for the elderly; and the first 2 pages of an essay
describing her political campaigns and service as the first woman
State legislator in Kansas.
Organized into 5 series: A. [Autograph albums] 1889-1901.-- B.[Account,
and note book] 1902-1917.-C. Diary (1912-1913), 1912-1920.-D. [Correspondence
and pamphlet concerning the William Small Memorial Home, Kan.]
Jan. 18-20, 1920.-E. My experience in the Kansas Legislature ...
[not before 1923].
- Series A (007-07-05-03)
[Autograph albums.] 1889-1901.
3 v. in 2 folders
Albums into which Minnie Johnson's students and
acquaintances in all parts of Kansas and other States penned sentiments.
Presumably some of the authors were people she met on W.C.T.U.
speaking trips.
Arranged chronologically.
o folder 1 (007-07-05-03)
v. [1], 1889-1891
o folder 2 (007-07-05-03)
1893-1901, [2] v.
v. [2], 1893-1897
v. [3], 1899-1901
- Series B (folder 3) (007-07-05-03)
[Account, and note book]
1902-1917.
1 v. (unpaged)
Pocket book into which Minnie Johnson Grinstead
entered addresses, notes, expenses, and receipts. Most of the
entries pertain to
her W.C.T.U. activities in Kansas and surrounding States. The
notes
include sayings; a draft letter; statistics; information about
proposed legislation; names of W.C.T.U. members & officers
in various communities, contacts, and "converts"; reports & results
of her work; members' pledges made to the organization; itineraries;
subjects of sermons & lectures; recipes; and names of people
recommended to the Governor's Office.
- Series C (folder 4) (007-07-05-03)
Diary
: 1912-1913, 1912-1920.
1 v. (unpaged)
Diary entries for the period September 1912-December
1913. Entries tell of her husband & children, daily life, guests,
W.C.T.U. activities, pregnancy & stillborn child, birthday,
and travels as well as church affairs, lectures & chautauquas,
deaths, and weather in the community. Also included are memoranda
for
the period 1912-1920 including a note about an upcoming Sunday
School
organizational meeting, personal information, telephone numbers,
accounts, lists, and a recipe.
- Series D (folder 5) (007-07-05-03)
[Correspondence and pamphlet
concerning the William Small Memorial Home (Kan.)]
Jan. 18-20, 1920.
2 items.
A letter to Minnie Grinstead from Mary Fitzwilliam Carney,
corresponding secretary of the William Small Memorial Home
for Aged Women, Leavenworth,
Kan., stating the terms of admission to the home and enclosing
rules & an application. In addition, there is a letter
from Mrs. Grinstead to J. N. Evans, Liberal, Kan., forwarding
the rules
and application for the potential use of a Mrs. Anderson.
Arranged
chronologically.
- Series E (folder 6) (007-07-05-03)
My experience in the Kansas Legislature
: three regular and three special sessions, [not before 1923.]
2 leaves
(incomplete)
The first 2 pages of an essay describing her campaigns
for and service in the Kansas House of Representatives. She discussed
how
she campaigned, lived in Topeka, worked with other legislators,
and chaired the Public Welfare Committee; she also tells
of
bills she introduced that passed. The remainder of the manuscript
is
missing.
Subgroup II
V. H. Grinstead.
Papers, 1878-1888.
2 items.
Original journal and an abridged transcript of his trip from
Elk City, Kan., to Glasgow, Ky., June-July 1878, and his appointment
certificate as judge of the District court, Mar. 12, 1889.
Organized into 2 series: A. Log of a journey, June-July 1878.--B.
Kansas. Governor, 1889-1893 (Humphrey). [Certificate of appointment]
Mar. 12, 1889.
- Series A (folder 7) (007-07-05-03)
Log
of a Journey, June-July 1878.
2 documents
Original pocket diary and
abridged transcript (typewritten) ([5] leaves) of his trip from
Elk City, Kan., to Glasgow, Ky.; the
transcript
is titled "Diary of V. H. Grinstead, 1878." The journal
tells of the condition of roads, names towns & campsites,
and describes his observations along the way. He traveled via
Sedalia,
Columbia, St. Charles, & St. Louis; Mo., and Madisonville & Bowling
Green, Ky. The original includes full entries, mileages of this
trip, and memoranda related to his law practice that does not
appear on the transcript.
Organized so that the original volume
precedes the transcript.
Grinstead's daughter, Darlene (Grinstead)
Conover, edited the diary and published it as "Goodby to Kansas, Log of My Father's
Wagon Trip to Kentucky in 1878" in The
Kansas Magazine,
1936, pp. 53-55, Kansas Historical Society Library call
number
K 050 K13 1936. This published edition is also an abridgement
of the original but differs from the transcript in the collection.
- Series B (oversize) (073-05-09-01)
Kansas. Governor (1889-1893
: Humphrey).
Certificate of appointment : DS, Lyman U. Humphrey,
Topeka, Kan., to V. H. Grinstead, Mar. 12, 1889.
1 p.
Certificate appointing V. H. Grinstead judge of the 33rd Judicial
District. Countersigned by William Higgins, secretary of State.
Additional Information
This section includes lists of sources used in the preparation
of this finding aid, collections on similar subjects that may be
of interest to researchers, items cataloged separately, and items
removed from the collection.
Related Materials
- Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.)/Mary Evelyn
Dobbs collection, no. 170
- Legislature history collection, no. 614
- "Temperance and Prohibition Papers," series III (selected
rolls), containing Annual Meeting Minutes, 1853-1892 and 1897-1905,
and Correspondence, 1858-1882, of the national W.C.T.U., microfilm
rolls MS 1362—MS 1368, available through interlibrary
loan
- Temperance history collection, no. 645
- "Woman Suffrage History, Collection No. 656, 1867-1911," microfilm
roll MF 1049, available through interlibrary
loan
- Woman's Christian Temperance Union history collection, no.
657
Researchers may also want to examine the printed records of
the Kansas Legislature and publications of the W.C.T.U. in
the historical society's Library and the records of the governor
and the Legislature, record groups 252 and 428 respectively, in the holdings of the
State archives,
part of the historical society.
|
