May Arkwright Hutton
The Formative Years
July 21, 1860 in Washingtonville, Ohio Mary (May) Arkwright made her arrival into the world. From the day she was born she was faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. Born to a relationship that was not within the bounds of a marriage she was illegitimate in an age when such events were cause for shame and embarrassment. Her father was already married with three boys and a daughter; he had stepped out of the bounds of his marriage and had an affair with May’s mother.
As she grew she did form a relationship with her half-brothers and half-sister. She was a welcome visitor in their homes when she was older, they wrote letters to one another, and they would come for visits when she had moved away and married. Her mother (of which there is little information) abandoned young Mary. Some claim that she died rather than left, while others recount the attempts by May to locate her mother when she was an adult and the eventual success of the endeavor. May wrote that she sent checks regularly to support her mother in her old age. At ten years old May was removed from school and sent to live with her blind paternal grandfather who she would care for throughout her childhood.
May had little formal education but as she cared for her grandfather and escorted him throughout town she was exposed to new ideas that would form the basis of her later convictions. She accompanied him to the general store where there was talk of local issues; she sat in the corner and listened to the opinionated banter. Her grandfather attended lectures and speeches including one given by a young lawyer William McKinley.
The would-be-president was invited to the Arkwright home after the speech and was served donuts and cider by May as she listened to the political discussion between the two men. This early indoctrination was not lost on her, she would later reflect on that day and the concept of women’s suffrage that was discussed in great detail.
Her grandfather encouraged her to be successful and reach for what she dreamed. She became an accomplished cook, a skill that was the factor in her successes later in life, but May had bigger dreams. She wanted stability and she dreamed of helping those less fortunate.
At twenty two she entered into a brief marriage with Gilbert Munn. Her husband was a coal miner and they took in boarders to make additional money. May saved as much as she could but just shy of a year into their marriage Gilbert left with the money. He drowned in the process of fleeing. This was a turning point in May’s life, she was free to come and go as she pleased and she turned her attentions to the West and the fantastic stories of wealth possible in the gold and silver mines.
Sources:
Arksey, Laura. “Hutton, May Arkwright (1860-1915).” History Link: The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, http://historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7547 (accessed March 8, 2009).
Horner, Patricia Voeller. “May Arkwright Hutton: Suffragist and politician.” in Women in Pacific Northwest History: An Anthology, ed. Karen J. Blair, 25-42. Seattle: University of Wasington Press, 1990.
Leinberger, Lisa. “Gravesite monument memorializes Huttons.” Spokesman Review, April 17, 2008.
Montgomery, James. Liberated Woman. Fairfield: Ye Galleon Press, 1985.
Schwantes, Carlos Arnaldo. The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
Washington State Historical Society: Digital Collection. “May Arkwright Hutton Collection”. http://digitum.washingtonhistory.org/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/hutton (accessed March 8, 2009).
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