Home of Daisy M. Stephenson Peadro
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Daisy Stephenson Peadro was a West Virginia suffragist and leader in the West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association. After women won the right to vote, Peadro was very active in West Virginia Republican politics as well as Parkersburg business. Daisy and her husband John Thomas lived here at 1058 Market Street during the period where she was most active in the suffrage movement and politics. In the late 1930s the couple moved to 941 Juliana Street.
Images
Daisy M. Stephenson Peadro, c. 1935
WVESA Ratification Committee (Henrietta Romine, Cora Ebert, Julia Ruhl, Nancy Mann, Daisy Peadro, and Lenna Lowe Yost) with petitions for ratification. Huntington Advertiser, September 26, 1920
.jpg)
Daisy Peadro with the Capitol Building Commission. Governor Conley is fourth from right and architect Cass Gilbert is sixth from right. Taken January 1932.
The Fairmont West Virginian, November 1, 1915
Spirit of Jefferson, May 23, 1916
The Clarksburg Daily Telegram, August 3, 1916
The Martinsburg Evening Journal, August 21, 1916
The Wheeling Intelligencer, December 22, 1916
The Fairmont West Virginian, October 17, 1922
1921 Parkersburg City Directory
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia, Feb 1916
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Daisy M. Stephenson was born in Parkersburg to Andrew Clark and Ruth Ann Dorsey Stephenson on March 9, 1881. As a child she attended Miss Kinney Private School and Parkersburg public schools and later attended business school. Stephenson married John Thomas Peadro on November 10, 1908. Peadro was an insurance agent in Parkersburg and after their marriage Daisy worked with him at their company, Peadro Insurance Agency.
Daisy Stephenson Peadro was a leader in the West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association and served as recording secretary in 1915 and 1917. In 1920 she was on the WVESA Ratification Committee to advocate for the West Virginia state legislature to ratify the 19th Amendment.
After women won the right to vote, Daisy Stephenson Peadro continued to be very active in West Virginia Republican politics. In 1922 she was secretary of the West Virginia GOP Convention in Huntington and secretary of the State Republican Committee. The following year she was the Women’s Chairman of the State Republican Committee. In 1924 she was both state chairman of the Women’s Republican Clubs and secretary of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. In addition, Daisy Peadro was appointed to the West Virginia Capitol Building Commission in 1926 and was the only woman on the Commission while the capitol was under construction.
After John Thomas Peadro died in 1943, Daisy Peadro continued to run the Peadro Insurance Agency. She was a charter member of the Parkersburg Business and Professional Women’s Club and Parkersburg Woman’s Club.
Daisy Stephenson Peadro died on March 11, 1959.
Sources
Parkersburg City Directory, 1912-1938. Accessed through Ancestry.com, June 27, 2022.
Sawka, Lindsay, and Susan B. Gingery. “Biography of Daisy Stephenson Peadro, 1881-1959.” Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1011147353.
“Women in the West Virginia Woman Suffrage Movement.” Fighting the Long Fight: West Virginia Women and the Right to Vote. A West Virginia Archives and History Online Exhibit. Accessed June 27, 2022. http://archive.wvculture.org/history/exhibitsonline/suffrage/suffragewomen.html.
1920, 1930, 1940, 1950 U.S. Census. Accessed through Ancestry.com, June 27, 2022.
"Daisy M. Stephenson Peadro, West Virginians of 1934-1935." Fighting the Long Fight: West Virginia Women and the Right to Vote. A West Virginia Archives and History Online Exhibit. Accessed June 27, 2022. http://archive.wvculture.org/history/exhibitsonline/suffrage/suffrage74.html.
"WVESA Ratification Committee (Henrietta Romine, Cora Ebert, Julia Ruhl, Nancy Mann, Daisy Peadro, and Lenna Lowe Yost) with petitions for ratification. Huntington Advertiser, September 26, 1920." Fighting the Long Fight: West Virginia Women and the Right to Vote. A West Virginia Archives and History Online Exhibit. Accessed June 29, 2022. http://archive.wvculture.org/history/exhibitsonline/suffrage/suffrage71.html.
"Capitol Building Commission Members." West Virginia Legislature. Accessed June 27, 2022. http://www.wvlegislature.gov/educational/capitol_history/commission.cfm.
The West Virginian. [volume], November 01, 1915, Page PAGE 4, Image 4. Chronicling America. Accessed June 29, 2022. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86072054/1915-11-01/ed-1/seq-4/.
Spirit of Jefferson. [volume], May 23, 1916, Image 6. Chronicling America. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026788/1916-05-23/ed-1/seq-6/.
The daily telegram. [volume], August 03, 1916, Image 1. Chronicling America. Accessed June 29, 2022. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85059715/1916-08-03/ed-1/seq-1/.
Martinsburg W Va evening journal. [volume], August 21, 1916, Page FOUR, Image 4. Chronicling America. Accessed June 29, 2022. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85059586/1916-08-21/ed-1/seq-4/.
The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume], December 22, 1916, Page FIVE, Image 5. Chronicling America. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092536/1916-12-22/ed-1/seq-5/.
The West Virginian. [volume], October 17, 1922, Image 1. Chronicling America. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86072054/1922-10-17/ed-1/seq-1/.
Parkersburg, West Virginia, City Directory, 1921. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Accessed June 29, 2022.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. Sanborn Map Company, Feb, 1916. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn09438_006/. Accessed June 29, 2022.