Nevada Suffrage Centennial

Nellie B. Shafter Hascall

By Mona Reno, Nevada Women’s History Project

Role in Women’s Suffrage: Vice-president of the Churchill County, NV Equal Franchise Society; President of the Churchill County Civic League

Nellie Shafter was born in Michigan in 1875. At the age of 22 she married Dr. Charles A. Hascall on March 13, 1897 in Esmeralda County, NV. In 1905, Nellie Hascall became a medical doctor, graduating on May 17, from the California Medical College in San Francisco, CA. That same year she was issued a certificate to practice medicine, surgery, etc., in the State of Nevada. She was the only woman listed of 26 new medical certificates issued in 1905.

Having come to Fallon following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, Drs. Charles and Nellie Hascall were very active in Fallon, NV for their lives. They are listed as Hascall & Hascall, Physicians in 1907-08. They were both progressive and encouraged agricultural and economic advancement in Nevada. 

In June of 1913, a suffrage meeting is held in Fallon, Churchill County, NV under the direction of Miss Anne H. Martin, head of the Nevada Equal Franchise Society. Mrs. H.C. Taylor is elected county president: Dr. Nellie Hascall, is elected vice president: Miss Sophie Baumann is elected secretary and Miss Sutton is elected treasurer.  A large attendance of men looked on with approval and the women were enthusiastic. Fourteen out of 16 counties in the state are now organized for campaign work, with, all but White Pine and Douglas Counties having organized suffrage committees. In the 1914 vote for equal suffrage Churchill County votes for suffrage by only 4%. The county suffrage committee was crucial to that successful vote.

As with other equal franchise organizations across Nevada, in 1915 the Churchill County group became a civic club which affiliated with the Nevada Women’s Civic League. Dr. Nellie B. Hascall was elected their president at that first reorganization. 

Dr. Charles Hascall died in 1928 and Dr. Nellie Hascall died two years later, on March 5, 1930, at the age of 70. She had usually spent the winters in San Francisco and they are both buried at the Cypress Lawn cemetery in Colma, CA.

Sources:

  • California, Occupational Licenses, Registers, and Directories, 1876-1969. Ancestry.com.
  • Census of the United States. 1910
  • Cypress Lawn, Coloma, CA. Website with find a grave feature.  Nellie B Hascall and Charles A. Hascall both listed.
  • Fallon, Churchill Col, NV – 1907-1908 Business Directory.  R.L. Polk & Co.’s Nevada State Gazetteer and Business Directory, First Edition, 1907-1908.
  • Nevada, Death Certificates, 1911-1965. Ancestry.com.
  • Nevada State Journal, “Churchill Has Suffrage Talk,” June 12, 1913, pg. 6.
  • Nevada State Journal, “Equal Suffrage News,” October 7, 1913, pg. 4.Out West, “The Clash in Nevada, A History of Woman’s Fight For Enfranchisement,” August 1914.
  • Reno Gazette-Journal, “Organization is Effected.” June 12, 1913, pg. 5.
  • Reno Evening Gazette, “Equal Suffrage News.” June 17, 1913, pg.3
  • Reno Gazette-Journal, “Civic Leagues Being Formed, State Organization of Women Growing; New Branches Being Started,” March 28, 1915, pg. 4.
  • Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Gage, Harriot Stanton Blatch, Ida H. Harper. The History of Women’s Suffrage. Complete 6 Volumes.  Volume 6, “Nevada.”
  • The Fallon Standard, “C.A. Hascall, Aged 77, Dies at Home.” July 18, 1928, pg. 1.
  • The Fallon Standard, “Dr. Hascall Dies Quite Suddenly.” March 12, 1930, pg. 5.
  • The Morning Appeal, “New Medicos,” November 1-, 1905, pg. 3.
  • Western States Marriage Record Index. Special Collections and Family History. Brigham Young University website.