Stafford, Lillian Exum Clement, 1894-1925

Lillian Exum Clement Stafford (March 1886 – February 1925); Lillian Exum Clement, known as Exum, ran for state legislature in April 1920, before 19th ammendmant passed; became first female lawmaker in her own state and in the entire South; born near the North Fork of the Swannanoa River, March of 1886, the fourth child of George W. and Sarah Elizabeth Burnett Clement; One of her first jobs during the early 1900s was at the Buncombe County sheriff’s office, serving as an office deputy; As a woman, Exum was not allowed to attend law school, beginning around 1908 began reading law at night; studied first under J. J. Britt, then Robert C. Goldstein of Asheville; February 2, 1917, Exum hung a shingle bearing her name in the law building near the county courthouse. Continuing to show her penchant to “start a thing,” Exum became the first woman in North Carolina to establish a solo law practice, without affiliation with male lawyers in an established law firm; During World War I, she also served as chief clerk of the Buncombe County draft board; serve only one term in the House of Representatives; Exum married E. Eller Stafford in March 1921, after the close of the regular legislative session. In 1923 Exum gave birth to her beloved daughter, Nancy Lillian Stafford; founding member of the local chapter of the National Business and Professional Women’s Club and as a director of the State Hospital in Morganton, N.C.;

Lillian Exum Clement, 1894–1925; known as "Exum" or "Ex" was the sixth of seven children born to George Washington Clement and Sara Elizabeth Burnett, father worked as foreman to George Vanderbilt, Lillian was friends with wife Edith Vanderbilt; attended Asheville Business College; while working in sherriff's office, studied law with James Jefferson Britt and Robert G. Goldstein in her spare time; 1916, she earned one of the highest scores on the state bar exam among 70 students, became a criminal lawyer in 1917 and was the first female attorney in North Carolina without male partners, served as chief clerk of the Buncombe County draft board; 1921, married E. Eller Stafford, one daughter, Nancy, born 1923; Clement died of pneumonia in 1925; In 1920, nominated as a candidate by the Buncombe County Democrats, elected to the North Carolina legislature by an all-male electorate; introduced legislation to reduce the time required for a woman to show abandonment by her husband as grounds for divorce from 10 years to five years; served one term and was then appointed by the governor of North Carolina to be director of the State Hospital at Morgantown

Lillian Exum Clement Stafford Papers, PC.2084, are now processed and available for research; Lillian, known within her family and by most others as Exum; first female state representative in North Carolina and first female legislator in the American South; Certainly, GWC [Lillian's father] and his growing family became known to George Vanderbilt, as well as Edith and daughter, Cornelia; family lived at 34 Hollywood Street in Ashville NC starting in 1914; studied for law exam in 1916 and practicing law, becoming engaged to Elias Eller Stafford (1892–1933), running for, then being elected as North Carolina’s first female legislator

Lillian Exum Clement Stafford; 12 Mar 1892, Black Mountain, North Carolina; 21 Feb 1925, Asheville, North Carolina; first woman in North Carolina to establish a law practice of her own in 1917; 1920, Exum was elected to the North Carolina State Legislature; founded the Asheville Business & Professional Women's Club.