Female U.S. Deputy Marshals of the Old West

By Kristy McCaffrey

The first female U.S. deputy marshal was Phoebe Couzins (born in 1842). Phoebe learned public service at a young age from her parents. After the Civil War, Phoebe and her mother joined the St. Louis Woman Suffrage Association, an organization promoting the rights of women to vote and hold political office. This led to Phoebe pursuing a law degree from the Washington University Law School in St. Louis. Upon graduating in 1871, Phoebe became the first female law graduate of the school. After passing the bar exam, she devoted herself to the women’s suffrage movement. She traveled the country giving speeches about women’s rights.

Phoebe Couzins

In 1884, Phoebe’s father was appointed U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Missouri, and he made her one of his deputies. When her father died in 1887, she was appointed as interim U.S. marshal by President Cleveland, making her the first woman to serve in that position, but it only lasted two months before she was replaced. Phoebe passed away in 1913 and was buried with her U.S. marshal badge.

F.M. Miller was appointed a U.S. deputy marshal out of the federal court at Paris, Texas, in 1891. At that time, she was the only female deputy to work in Indian Territory, part of what was known as the Twin Territories which also included Oklahoma Territory.

Ada Curnutt moved to Oklahoma Territory with her sister and brother-in-law shortly after the area opened to settlers. The young woman found work as the Clerk of the District Court in Norman, OK, and then as a deputy marshal under U.S. Marshal William Grimes. Her most famous arrest occurred in March 1893 when she brought in two fugitives wanted for forgery. She was twenty-four years old.

Two additional women served as deputy marshals in Oklahoma Territory between 1897 and 1902. S.M. Burche and Mamie Fossett worked mostly in the office, but they also served writs and warrants, as well as making arrests. They were described in the press as an adventurous class of female, young, well-educated, fearless, and independent.

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A side character in THE SWAN, Dolores Walker (Anna's cousin), is an undercover U.S. Deputy Marshal.

I've also slightly changed the blurb now that the manuscript is in editing. I've included it below.

 

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Twin Territories
November 1899 

Dr. Anna Ryan has been spurned by the Dallas medical community for the simple reason of being a woman. Wanting more than a rural practice alongside her mother, also a doctor, Anna accepts an invitation from a mentor to join a private hospital for disabled children in Oklahoma City. But when she falls in with a band of women attempting to protect the rights of Chickasaw orphans, she’ll need more than her medical training to survive.

Malcolm Hardy has skirted the line between lawlessness and justice since escaping the mean streak of his father and his no-good half-siblings a decade ago. In Oklahoma Territory he created enough distance from his family name to find a quiet purpose to his days. But then Anna Ryan walks back into his life, and his hard-won peace is in jeopardy.

The last time Malcolm saw Anna, she had been a determined girl he couldn’t help but admire. Now she was a compelling woman searching for answers that could lead straight to him. But one thing was clear—Anna’s life path was on a trajectory for the remarkable while Malcolm’s was not. Surrendering to temptation would only end in heartbreak.

Anna is the eldest daughter of Logan and Claire from THE DOVE.

The Wings of the West Series Reading Order
Book One: The Wren
Book Two: The Dove
Book Three: The Sparrow
Book Four: The Blackbird
Book Five: The Bluebird
Book Six: The Songbird (Novella)
Book Seven: Echo of the Plains (Short Story)
Book Eight: The Starling
Book Nine: The Canary
Book Ten: The Nighthawk
Book Eleven: The Swan (Coming Soon) 

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