Duniway, Abigail Scott, 1834-1915

Writer, pioneer, editor, and champion of women's suffrage, Abigail Scott Duniway was born in Groveland, Illinois, in 1834. One of her brothers, Harvey Scott, would become the editor of the Oregonian . The Scott family traveled overland to Oregon in 1852, a trip on which Abigail's mother and youngest brother died. The family came first to Oregon City, then settled in Lafayette. Abigail taught school at Eola, and in 1853 she married Benjamin C. Duniway, with whom she had four children. After her husband was incapacitated in an 1862 accident, Duniway supported her family through teaching and a millinery business in Albany, Oregon. After moving to Portland in 1871 she published and edited The new northwest and became Oregon's leading advocate of women's suffrage. She moved to Idaho in 1887 and helped to achieve women's voting rights there in 1896. After returning to Oregon she was instrumental in the passage of Oregon's own women's suffrage bill in 1912. Her writings include the autobiography Path Breaking (1914) and the novel Captain Gray's Company .

Writer, pioneer, editor, and champion of women's suffrage, Abigail Scott Duniway was born in Groveland, Illinois, in 1834. One of her brothers, Harvey Scott, would become the editor of the Oregonian. The Scott family traveled overland to Oregon in 1852, a trip on which Abigail's mother and youngest brother died. The family came first to Oregon City, then settled in Lafayette. Abigail taught school at Eola, and in 1853 she married Benjamin C. Duniway, with whom she had four children. After her husband was incapacitated in an 1862 accident, Duniway supported her family through teaching and a millinary business in Albany, Oregon. After moving to Portland in 1871 she published and edited The New Northwest and became Oregon's leading advocate of women's suffrage. She moved to Idaho in 1887, and helped to achieve women's voting rights there in 1896. After returning to Oregon she was instrumental in the passage of the state's own women's suffrage bill in 1912. Her writings include the autobiography "Path breaking" (1914) and the novel "Captain Gray's Company."

Abigail Jane Scott was born in Tazewella Co., Ill. on October 22, 1834. She was the third of Ann Roelofson's and John Tucker Scott's twelve children. Abigail received only about 12 months of formal education. As the Scotts crossed the plains to Oregon, Abigail, then 17, kept the family journal. Abigail's journal was the basis of her 1859 novel, Captain Gray's Company, which was the first commercially printed novel in Oregon. In Oregon, Abigail became a teacher in Cincinnati (now Eola). She married Benjamin Charles Duniway August 2, 1853. In 1862 the family's support fell to her when Ben was injured in a horse accident. The Duniways later moved to Albany, where Abigail taught school and ran a millinery shop. Abigail's thoughts and writings began to turn to suffrage. In 1871 the family moved to Portland and she launched her weekly newspaper, The New Northwest. That year she lectured throughout the Northwest with Susan B. Anthony. The Duniways had six children: Clara, Willis, Hubert, Wilkie, Clyde, and Ralph. Ben Duniway died in 1896. Abigail fought for suffrage through health and money problems, local opposition, continuous referendum losses, battles with Eastern suffragists, and skirmishes with her younger brother, Harvey Scott, who was editor of the Oregonian. In 1912, Oregon became the 7th state to pass a suffrage amendment. Governor Oswald West asked Abigail to write the Proclamation for his signature and she was the first woman to register to vote in Multnomah County. During this period she also authored numerous novels. Duniway died October 11, 1915.

Oregon advocate for women's suffrage.

Abigail Jane Scott was born in Tazewell County, Illinois, on October 22, 1834. She was the third of twelve children of Ann Roelofson and John Tucker Scott. Abigail, whose family nickname was "Jenny," received only about 12 months of formal education. The Scotts crossed the plains to Oregon when Abigail was 17-years-old, and she kept the family journal of their journey. Her mother and youngest brother, Willie, died en route to Oregon. Abigail's journal served as the basis of her 1859 novel Captain Gray's Company, the first commercially printed novel in Oregon.

Duniway (then Scott) became a teacher in the small town of Cincinnati (now Eola), Oregon, while her family ran an inn in Lafayette. There, she met Benjamin Charles Duniway and married him August 2, 1853. The newlyweds moved to Ben's Clackamas County farm. After a few years, the Duniways moved to Yamhill County where Abigail started to write her first novel as well as anonymous letters to local newspapers. The Duniways lost their farm because Ben cosigned loans for a friend who defaulted following a catastrophic flood. The Duniways then moved to Lafayette, where Abigail taught school and ran a millinery shop while Ben created a washing machine and bred horses.

Duniway's thoughts and writings began to turn to suffrage in the 1860s. In 1871, she moved her family to Portland and, in May of that year, launched her weekly newspaper, The New North West . She also began to lecture throughout the Northwest along with nationally-renown suffragist Susan B. Anthony. Duniway sold her newspaper in 1886.

The Duniways had six children: Clara, Willis, Hubert, Wilkie, Clyde and Ralph. Clara died at a young age in 1886. Willis went on to be State Printer; Hubert became a lumber exporter; Wilkie was a printer for various Portland papers; Clyde became a professor and president of three universities, and Ralph was a prominent Portland attorney. Ben Duniway died in 1896.

Abigail Duniway was an indefatigable supporter of women's suffrage. She encountered personal set-backs such as poor health, money problems, and opposition from her brother Harvey Scott, who edited a local paper, The Portland Oregonian . She persisted despite political opposition in the form of local resistance, the consistent failure of women's suffrage referendums on state ballots, and divisions with Eastern suffrage organizations. This persistence paid off in 1912 when Oregon became the seventh state in the Union to pass a women's suffrage amendment. Governor Oswald West asked Duniway to write the proclamation for his signature. Duniway had the honor of being the first woman to register to vote in Multnomah County. During this period she also authored numerous novels. Abigail Jane Scott Duniway died on October 11, 1915.

Source: Moynihan, Ruth Barnes. Rebel for Rights: Abigail Scott Duniway (Yale University Press, 1983). Coll 232B, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon.