Fentress Historical Society celebrating Jamestown’s Bicentennial through a presentation of Kate Bradford Stockton, Jamestown native and the first woman to run for Governor.
Stockton’s great niece Kathy Stockton Williams said her great aunt was unusual in her love of education. Williams said local folk found it odd that Kate Bradford Stockton was more interested in politics than cooking and taking care of babies.
“Well Kate was just a woman before her time,” Williams said. “Aunt Kate would rather set on the front porch and talk to men. She did a lot of writing. She wrote poetry. She was a school teacher. Had four daughters that all had a college degree by the 1920s.”
Peggy Sawyer will play the role of Stockton at the Baptist Church of Jamestown on Tuesday, July 18 at 1 pm.
Williams said Stockton was for women getting an education and the right to vote. She said all of Stockton’s daughters pursued professional careers after getting college degrees.
Williams said her aunt did not conform to the wifely signatures customary in her lifetime.
“She wouldn’t sign her name Mrs. Joe Kelly Stockton, she was always Kate Bradford Stockton,” Williams said.
Williams said there were some strictures that even Stockton could not ignore.
“If she was going to go and politick, if the beans were ready to be picked and canned she couldn’t go,” Williams said. “But when she got her beans canned she would go to Crossville and catch a train and go either to Memphis or Knoxville or somewhere and ask for votes.”
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