Frances McGaughey
Frances McGaughey's signature, 1869 (SCSU Archives)
Frances McGaughey, 1880-1889 (SCSU Archives)
Edgar and Fannie Martin headstone, Oak Mound Cemetery, Healdsburg, California (Find A Grave)
Edgar and Fannie Martin headstone, Fannie side, Oak Mound Cemetery, Healdsburg, California (Find A Grave)
Frances “Fannie” Grier McGaughey was born about 1848 to Hugh Ferguson and Jane (Walker) McGaughey in Pennsylvania. She was the fourth of their nine children. By 1850, the family had moved to McDonough County, Illinois, where they ran a family farm. They remained in Illinois for at least 10 years, but moved on to Winona, Minnesota, by the time she entered the Third State Normal School in September 1869. In the school’s first commencement ceremony on June 30, 1871, she delivered a culminating essay titled “Every Man Has His Price,” in which she asserted that many people cheapen themselves for personal ends instead of striving for the “highest price” of absolute perfection.
After graduation, Fannie taught in Minnesota before moving to Sonoma County, California, where she married a farmer named Edgar Martin on May 31, 1877. Their daughter, Edna Belle, was born two years later. The family operated a farm near Mendocino. Fannie continued to teach at a time when it was fairly rare for married women to continue pursuing their own careers, especially after having children. Around 1882, they moved to Santa Rosa to be closer to her sister, Dr. Anabel B. (McGaughey) Stuart. Shortly after moving, Edgar contracted a severe cold, tuberculosis, and heart disease and passed away on August 7, 1882. Fannie never remarried and raised Edna on her own, perhaps with Anabel’s support. She continued to pursue her own career and was an established attorney in Santa Rosa by 1908. She passed away on November 14, 1923 and was buried next to Edgar in Oak Mound Cemetery in Healdsburg, California.
Sources
1850 U.S. census, McDonough County, Illinois, population schedule, n.l., p. 282B, dwelling 737, family 737; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 116, accessed July 25, 2019 on Ancestry.com.
1860 U.S. census, McDonough County, Illinois, population schedule, Industry, p. 807, dwelling 3180, family 3101; NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 201, accessed July 25, 2019 on Ancestry.com.
1880 U.S. census, Sonoma County, California, population schedule, Mendocino, enumeration district 129, p. 210C, dwelling 235, family 236; NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 84, accessed July 25, 2019 on Ancestry.com.
California Department of Health Services, Fannie G. Martin death record, 1923, California Death Index, 1905-1939, accessed July 25, 2019 on Ancestry.com.
Edgar Martin and Fannie G. Mc Gaughey marriage record, 1877, California, County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1830-1980, California Department of Public Health, accessed July 25, 2019 on Ancestry.com.
Memorial page for Fannie Grier McCaughey Martin (unknown–14 Nov 1923), Find A Grave Memorial no. 10391222, citing Oak Mound Cemetery, Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California, USA; maintained by Connie (contributor 47390019); accessed July 25, 2019.
Memorial page for Edgar Martin (10 Feb 1843–7 Aug 1882), Find A Grave Memorial no. 10391212, citing Oak Mound Cemetery, Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California, USA; maintained by Kyle Eddinger (contributor 47438797); accessed July 25, 2019.
“Normal School Examination: Exercises of the Graduating Class,” The St. Cloud Journal, July 6, 1871, http://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/hub (accessed July 23, 2019).
“Opening of the Normal School,” The St. Cloud Journal, September 23, 1869, http://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/hub (accessed July 16, 2019).
State Normal School at St. Cloud, “Alumni Directory of the State Normal School, 1908,” p. 1, series 6, box 10, folder 1, Records of the St. Cloud State Alumni Association, 1874-2006, St. Cloud State University Archives and Special Collections.
State Normal School at St. Cloud, “Catalogue and Circular of the State Normal School at St. Cloud, Minnesota,” 1884-1885, p. 5, series 1, box 1, folder 1, St. Cloud State University Undergraduate Catalogs, 1869-2012+, St. Cloud State University Archives and Special Collections.
State Normal School at St. Cloud, “Record Book” 1869-1885, box 1, folder 1, Admission and Records Records, 1869-1939, St. Cloud State University Archives and Special Collections.
St. Cloud State University Archives and Special Collections, transcript index, https://www.stcloudstate.edu/library/archives/histories/transcript-index.aspx (accessed July 16, 2019).
Third State Normal School, undergraduate commencement program, 1871, series 1, box 1, folder 1, Records of St. Cloud State University Commencement, 1871-2018+, St. Cloud State University Archives and Special Collections.