If the constitution of a state prevents a woman from being a member of a school committee, it must be by force of some ex press provision thereof or else by necessary implication arising from the nature of the office itself ; 115 Mass. 602 ; and where an office is created and regulated by statute and the constitution confers upon the general court authority to name and settle all civil officers within the commonwealth, the elec tion and constitution of whom are not other wise provided for in the constitution, a wo man may fill a local office of an administra tive character ; id.; but see Atchison v. Lu cas, 83 Ky. 464, where it was held that when a woman is excluded from the right to vote for any particular office, she is also excluded from the right to hold the office voted for. In California they may pursue any lawful business or profession ; Cons. of Cal. art. 20, § 18. In Illinois, a woman may be a master in chancery ; Schuchardt v. People, 99 Ill. 501, 39 Am. Rep. 34 ; and in Iowa, a county re corder ; Laws of 1880, c. 40. In Colorado, a deputy clerk ; Jeffries v. Harrington, 11 Colo. 191, 17 Pac. 505 ; a policeman ; In re Dug gan, 19 Co. Ct. (Pa.) 657; a county clerk ; State v. Hostetter, 137 Mo. 636, 39 S. W. 270, 38 L. R. A. 208, 59 Am. St. Rep. 515.
It has been held that a woman may not be a justice of the peace; Opinion of Justices, 62 Me. 596; or a jailer ; Atchison v. Lucas, 83 Ky. 457; or a superintendent of a medi cal hospital for the insane ; State v. Wil son, 29 Ohio St. 347; or a member of a board of workhouse directors; State v. Rust, 4 Ohio Cir. Ct. R. 329 (contra, In re Opinion of Justices, 136 Mass. 578); or coun ty superintendent of schools ; State v. Stev ens, 29 Or. 464, 44 Pac. 898 ; (contra, Russell v. Gupta, 13 Wash. 360, 43 Pac. 340; Wright v. Noell, 16 Kan. 601); or school director ; State v. McSpaden, 137 Mo. 628, 39 S. W. 81; or a notary public ; State v. Adams, 58 Ohio St. 612, 51 N. E. 135, 11 L. R. A. 727, 65 Am. St. Rep. 792 ; Opinion of Justices, 150 Mass. 586, 23 N. E. 850, 6 L. R. A. 842. In England a woman may be elected to the office of sex ton ; 7 Mod. 263 ; but a woman is not en titled to vote at elections for members of par liament ; 38 L. J. C. P. 25.
See MARRIED WOMAN; NATURALIZATION, Anne, Countess of Penbroke, Dorset and Montgomery, held the office of hereditary sheriff, and exercised it in person. At the assizes at Appleby she sat with the judges on the bench ; Co. Litt. 326 a; but it is said to be very improbable that she habitually discharg ed the duties of the office in person, as she could not have done so without violating the well-settled law ; 4 Craik's Romance of the Peerage 162.
In 1673, Lady Broughton held the office of the keeper of the gatehouse prison ; Rex v. Braughton, 3 Keb. 32. On the authority of the Broughton Case, it was held in 3 Salk. 2, that the keeper of the workhouse at Chelmsford, being a woman, was not disquali fied on account of her. sex. The court said "she may be capable of executing the office either by herself or deputy as the Lady Broughton did." And in 2 Ld. Raym. 1014, it was held that the appointment of a woman as governor of a workhouse was good, and she could act by deputy. A woman held the office of custodian of a castle ; Lady Russell's Case, Cro. Jac. 17 ; 5 Comyns' Dig. 189 ; of
Forrester ; 4 Co. Inst. 311, 5 Comyns' Dig. 189 ; of overseer of the poor ; 2 T. R. 395 ; of sexton of the parish, 2 Str. 1114 ; 7 Mod. 263, where it was also held that, as she was the owner of the property, she was a quali fied voter for the purpose of electing such officer.
The office of Great Chamberlain of Eng land was hereditary and upon the death of the incumbent leaving two sisters, the office was held to belong to both ; they could exer cise it by deputy, subject to the king's ap proval of the deputy ; 2 Bro. P. C. (2d Ed. 146). So the office of marshal of the court will descend to a woman and she may exer cise it by deputy : Collis, Sewers, 253, citing B. R. 5 Car. I. The hereditary office of Con stable of England descended to two daugh ters of the Duke of Buckingham. It was held that they might exercise it by deputy, and that after the marriage of the elder, her husband should exercise its function alone, if the king did not refuse such serv ices ; 3 Dyer 285 b.
Robert Collis, in his fourth lecture on the statute 23 Henry VIII. ch. 5, delivered at Gray's •Inn, in August, 1622, said that "al though it is uncouth in our law to have wo men justices and commissioners, and to sit in places of judicature, yet by the authorities en suing you shall find this a point worth insist ing upon, both in human and in divine learn ing." He then quotes from the first chapter of Genesis and proceeds : "This was the first commission that ever was granted ; and it passed under the divine immediate seal of the Almighty, and extended over the whole world. And by virtue of the word 'domino mini,' in the plural number, God coupled the woman in commission with the man." He further shows that, while woman was created a commissioner over fishes and over birds and beasts, such commission extended over neither man nor woman; but after citing various cas es of divine authority to sustain that doc trine, he called attention to many instances of ancient and modern history, and conclud ed that, a woman might be commissioner of sewers in London ; Countess of Warwick's Case, Collis, Sewers 250 (Callis's Reading on Sewers is a "good authority" ; Marvin, Leg. Bibliogr., citing 2 Dunnf. & E. 365 ; 5 B. & Ad. 282).
Queen Eleanor held the office of Lady Keeper of the Great Seal and performed the duties, both judicial and ministerial, for more than a year.
It is, said that the simplest statement of the common law situation is that, while women did not generally hold office and the question of their competency was not well settled, they did in fact hold various offices, some of which were of great importance. Some were hereditary, and the duties there of were often performed by deputy. But in every instance in which a woman's right to hold office was questioned prior to the pres ent generation she was held to be competent, although the court often took occasion to say ' that women were not competent to hold all offices ; 38 L. R. A. 208, note.
In 1647, Margaret Brent claimed the right to sit in the Assembly of Maryland as execu tor of Lord Baltimore. Abigail Adams (wife of John Adams) and two others claimed the right of direct representation for women tax payers..
In New Jersey, under the first constitution, women could vote from 1776 to 1807.