Martha White (Jeraud)
Martha White (Jeraud)
1854-1918
Martha was born to Charles White and Martha LaRue White in 1854. (1) Both of her parents died before she 9. (2) Charles & Martha are both buried here at Slate Hill, just 7 markers north of Martha’s marker. It appears she had a sister, Mary Ella, who is buried beside their parents as well.
As a little girl, she lived in the white house built by her great-great grandfather and revolutionary war veteran, Joshua Anderson. It still stands just down the street from here @ 2301 Yardley Morrisville Rd. If you look south and across the road from here, you will see the low white wall surrounding the house. At some point after her father died in 1863 she moved in with her older brother Lendrum and his family, as shown in the 1870 census. (3)
Martha’s career caused quite a stir in 1899. To begin, we must first call out how beloved she appears to have been. An article from Sept 1890 she is referred to as “one of Ewing’s most popular teachers.” (4) However, things got rocky in Sept of 1899 when a new school was announced. The children of Cadalwalder, a neighborhood within Trenton, were going to attend their own, new, school inside the “Cadwalader Mansion.” A vote was announced to appropriate the funds needed to rent and furnish the new school, in addition to the teacher’s salary. The writer of the article was quite convinced of the smooth sailing of this vote stating, “There is practically no question that the appropriation will be made…” (5) The teacher determined to lead this new school was Mrs. Alfred Jerald (Martha). They had even pre-determined who would replace her vacancy at the Trenton public school, and who would replace that teacher’s vacancy. The vote was scheduled for April 22, 1899 from 4-5p. Interestingly, as this was 21 years before women had the right to vote (cough), they were allowed to vote in this matter as, “under the law they are entitled to such privilege at school elections when the matter to be decided is one of appropriating money.” (5)
Unfortunately, for the Ewing Township school authorities, the matter was not quick and simple as expected. The next news we get is in July 1899, where it appears 2 failed votes have occurred since April, and that the school board decided to give up the plan and return the students and teachers back to their original placements within the Trenton Public School system. However, at that time, a group of determined citizens decided to oppose Mrs. Alfred Jerald because she was married, arguing that the role should be open for single women. (Mind you, Martha had now been teaching as a married woman for 23 years!) The outcry was so great that the school board caved and pressed upon Martha to withdraw her name from the conversation, which she did. (6) But that wasn’t the end!
The very next day, the papers report that another outcry, from the opposing side of this argument, had unified to support Mrs. Jerald. “The women in Ewing Township declare they will organize themselves into a club, and at the next school election select an entire new set of Township Trustees.” (7) They were not messing around!
Whether or not they were successful in their school board flip, is unclear. But Martha got the final say in Sept 1901, when she started a private school in her own home in Ewing! (8)
Alfred died in 1909 and after that Martha moved to Yardley to live close to her sister. She died 1918 from heart disease. (1)