Marilla Ricker biography

Marilla Ricker By: Chloe Hawkes Have you ever wondered how some of the first women lawyers started out? Well here is how one named Marilla Ricker did. Marilla was born on March 18 1840 in Durham New Hampshire. Her parents were Johnathan and Sarah Young, her dad was a lawyer and a big inspiration for her. She went to college in New London New Hampshire to study law in 1889. With her dads support and a great education she went on with a good life. Now that you’ve heard about her earlier life hear she is when she is growing up. She married John Ricker in 1863, John was 33 years older than her. Unfortunately just a short time after she married him he died in 1866. She became a lawyer in 1890. She lived to be 80 years old that was a lot in that time! She died on November, 12, 1920. As you can see her life was quite ordinary but she sure did make a difference as a lawyer. Marilla, when she found a thing she was good at she was spectacular at it she was a great lawyer. She used to be a teacher in Lee and Dover at 16. As I stated earlier she became a lawyer in 1890 by passing the bar exam. She was the second female lawyer in the USA. She also helped out her old town in the court room for free. It took hard work and perseverance but she made it as a lawyer. All of that was not enough for her she needed to do more. So she made it so that all women could take the bar exam. She made it big and she went on the supreme court of the US in 1891. In her time women weren’t allowed to vote but she attempted to vote in 1870 and 1873, she worked hard from 1913 to 1920 for women voting with Susan B Anthony and they got it in 1920. Now you know why I said before that she made a difference as a lawyer because boy was she good. She was absolutely a strong independent women. She took the bar exam with 18 men and got a higher score than every single one of them! Before that she went to Germany for 4 years to study freethinking. She would often pin her hair back to look more like a man. One of her most famous quotes was “Nothing grows slower than the truth and nothing grows faster than superstition.” She really was an accomplished lady. She was also a very kind lady she did charity and helped the poor. She was known as the prisoner’s friend because of the amount of time she spent with them. She also often worked with the poor for free, so she was a philanthropist a person who helped with charity, and if a person needed help but were poor she wouldn’t charge them at all. After my research I can see that she was a kind hearted, determined, free thinking, out of the ordinary lawyer that was female.