{"id":11656,"date":"2015-10-13T12:01:38","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T16:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=11656"},"modified":"2024-03-27T13:40:18","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T17:40:18","slug":"victoria-claflin-woodhull-the-1st-woman-to-run-for-u-s-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/victoria-claflin-woodhull-the-1st-woman-to-run-for-u-s-president.html","title":{"rendered":"Victoria Claflin Woodhull \u2013 the 1st Woman to Run for U.S. President"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak tells the story of Victoria Claflin Woodhull \u2013 who in a long, full life replete with many controversies, earned the distinction of being the first woman to run for U.S. president. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.
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Who, you may be wondering, was this lady? And could you be related to her? If so, she may well be one of the \u201cblack sheep\u201d in your family history!<\/p>\n

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Photo: Victoria Woodhull, c. 1860s. Source: Harvard Art Museum\/Fogg Museum, Historical Photographs and Special Visual Collections Department, Fine Arts Library; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Victoria Claflin Woodhull was a woman full of gumption and a household name in her own time. As a spiritualist, suffragette, newspaper publisher, the first woman to ever run a stock brokerage \u2013 and the first woman to run for U.S. president \u2013 she became a very famous and controversial person. Read on to find out why.<\/p>\n

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Brief Family & Marriage History<\/strong><\/p>\n

Victoria Claflin was born 23 September 1838 in Homer, Ohio, to Reuben Buckman \u201cBuck\u201d Claflin and Roxanna \u201cAnnie\u201d Hummel. She was one of ten children and the family struggled financially. Buck was a school teacher who later kept a store, and his wife reportedly did not have much education. Victoria\u2019s father often got into trouble, including the counterfeiting of money.<\/p>\n

He even marketed his children as clairvoyants. From the age of 10, Victoria reported receiving psychic messages from the Greek statesman Demosthenes (384\u2013322 B.C.). The family traveled from town to town until, at the age of 14, Victoria married her first husband, Canning H. Woodhull, a native of New York.<\/p>\n

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Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 23 September 1938, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By 1855, they were living with his parents, Byron and Louisa Woodhull. The New York State Census reports a son Byron, and at the time Canning\u2019s occupation was sailor. (See \u201cNew York, State Census, 1855,\u201d database with images from FamilySearch at https:\/\/familysearch.org\/ark:\/61903\/1:1:K6Q9-J8C<\/a>: accessed 3 September 2015.)<\/p>\n

They later had a daughter named Zulu Maud Woodhull.<\/p>\n

The marriage ended in divorce and Canning\u2019s death certificate, displayed on his Findagrave memorial at http:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/cgi-bin\/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42444970<\/a>, reports he succumbed to intemperance in 1872.<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s second marriage was to James Harvey Blood on 14 July 1866. (See \u201cOhio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,\u201d database with images, FamilySearch https:\/\/familysearch.org\/ark:\/61903\/1:1:XZBW-4DX<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

He was a veteran of the Civil War who often went by an alias. Several reports indicate that at times, her first husband lived with them. Victoria\u2019s second marriage also ended in a divorce.<\/p>\n

A Fortune for a Fortune<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a psychic, Victoria met with millionaire railroad magnate and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt. She told him his fortune which purportedly resulted in a large financial gain for Vanderbilt of $13 million in the gold market \u2013 and in exchange, Victoria was reportedly the benefactor of generous financing. She and sister Tennessee \u201cTennie\u201d Claflin used this money to found the first female-owned bank and brokerage in the United States: Woodhull, Claflin & Company. In 1870, it was located at 44 Broad Street in New York and stayed in business until around 1876. The sisters also founded the first female-owned newspaper, called Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly<\/em><\/a>, which began publication in 1870 in New York.<\/p>\n

Newspaper advertisements announced that Woodhull, Claflin & Company bought and sold gold and government bonds, supplied advances, took collections of deposits in all parts of the Union, and paid interest on daily balances. They even provided mail and telegraphic services.<\/p>\n

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Commercial Advertiser (New York, New York), 24 February 1870, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Legal Entanglements<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1871, Victoria and Tennessee\u2019s mother filed a petition to have Victoria\u2019s husband arrested, alleging that Mr. Blood (who sometimes used the alias Dr. J. H. Harvey) encouraged Victoria to seek the attention of various married gentlemen for the purpose of blackmail.<\/p>\n

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Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 6 May 1871, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several other legal squabbles ensued, the most notable with the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. One of their first entanglements was when the sisters sued, claiming that they were portrayed in the novel My Wife and I<\/em>, by his daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Later he retaliated with a lawsuit of his own.<\/p>\n

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Houston Daily Union (Houston, Texas), 28 June 1871, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1872, the sisters were deterred from sailing to Europe when they were charged by Mr. L. C. Challis with sending defamatory letters through the mail.<\/p>\n

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Washington Reporter (Washington, Pennsylvania), 6 November 1872, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Female Presidential Candidate Hopeful<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of these lawsuits were instituted by political enemies because earlier that year, Victoria announced she was running for U.S. president on the Reform ticket. Her running mate was noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass.<\/p>\n

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Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 4 April 1870, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They were among good company \u2013 U.S. presidential candidates that year included Ulysses S. Grant, Horace Greeley and even Susan B. Anthony, who ran for vice president on the Independent ticket. Several authors report that Victoria\u2019s name never appeared on an official ballot, as she was not yet 35.<\/p>\n

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Stoughton Sentinel (Stoughton, Massachusetts), 13 July 1872, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Victoria lost her bid for the U.S. presidency, but went on to live a long, full life. She died at the age of 88 on 9 June 1927.<\/p>\n

Are You Related?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I began this article with the question: Are you related to Victoria Claflin Woodhull? After reading these reports, perhaps you\u2019re hoping you\u2019re not \u2013 but as all genealogists know, if you root around your family tree, you\u2019ll undoubtedly uncover some dirt.<\/p>\n

Related Articles & Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n