Biographies from "The Blue Book of Iowa Women"

A History of Contemporary Women. Edited and Compiled by Winona Evans Reeves. 1914

MRS. GEORGE H. FRANCE

Nannie Bourne France is the daughter of one of the first white settlers of Iowa Territory and as such is certainly a real daughter of Iowa. She was born in DeWitt, Clinton county, Iowa. She is the daughter of the Hon. James D. and Christiana Dennis Bourne who were married in 1844 and resided in Clinton county the remainder of their lives. Mr. Bourne was born in Prince Williams county, Va., in 1832. At the age of 21 he came to Gelena [sic], Ill., and was one of a company which built the first smelting works in this section of the U. S. In 1836 he moved to Clinton county, Iowa, and occupied a cabin built by the American Fur Co., on the banks of the Waubesipinicon river. He was the second white settler in the county and was post-master at Waubesipinicon, Dubuque county, which was then a part of the Wisconsin territory. He was appointed lieutenant of the militia by the governor of the Territory. He served as deputy sheriff continuously by election until Iowa was admitted as a state. He filled the office of U. S. Marshall, was a member of the second general assembly, and served both as treasurer and recorder of Clinton county, and as U. S. Commissioner. In 1863 he began the study of law, was admitted to the bar and became one of the best known members of the profession in Iowa. His death occurred in 1893. His wife having died Nov. 23, 1890.

On April 13, 1887, Nannie Bourne was married to George H. France, of Des Moines. The have one son, George Bourne France, who was born Nov. 23, 1889. He is a graduate of the North High School of Des Moines, and of the University of Wisconsin, and is in business in Des Moines. Mrs. France is an active club woman and identified with many of the prominent organizations of Des Moines. She is a P. E. O. and has served chapter Q, which is the largest chapter in the State, as treasurer and as president. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Roadside Settlement House. She has for a number of years been chairman of the Civies Committee of the Des Moines City Federation of Women's Clubs. She was the first woman of that city to take up the movement against the smoke nuisance. She spent the greater part of nine years in familiarizing herself and the public, through the press, of the waste and of the destruction to plant and animal life and to property by the smoke nuisance. Defeated many times in securing state law, giving cities power to deal with this problem constitutionally, Mrs. France did not give up, but perservered with determination, that for the sake of suffering humanity she would yet win. At last in 1910 the Anti Smoke law was passed, and in Sep. 6, 1911, a city ordnance was passed for the abatement of smoke. These laws are being enforced by a smoke inspector and by a smoke abatement commission of five persons of which Mrs. France is one, being the only woman on the commission.

She is an earnest advocate of equal suffrage and is an active member of two clubs, working for the full enfranchisement of women. Mrs. France has for a number of years been a member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Des Moines. She is a lover of nature and of travel and has seen the greater part of this country. While she is a woman of public spirit and interested in civic affairs, yet her home is her first consideration and receives a great deal of her personal supervision.

MRS. VICTOR GURNEE COE

Mrs. Ernestine Kent Coe was born in Roscoe, Ill., Sept. 6, 1862. She is of Puritan ancestry, the daughter of George H. S. Kent and Belinda Smith, who came from Pennsylvania to Illinois in 1844. Her great-grandfather had a thrilling experience in the early days of Pennsylvania, fighting the Indians to protect his home. Later he fought in the Revolutionary War for American Independence. Her grandmother, Charlotte Cray Smith, was one of the first pupils in Miss Emma Willard's school in Troy, N. Y. Mrs. Coe, after having graduated from the high school, took a course in music in the Kimball Conservatory in Chicago. In 1887 at Roscoe, Ill., she was married to Victor Gurnee Coe of Rock Rapids, Ia. In 1891 they moved to Iowa City, where Mr. Coe completed his law course. In 1893 they moved to Clinton where they now reside. They have three sons, Leonard Gurnee, Allan Kent, and Floyd Herman. She is an active member of the Harmonic Club, a musical organization and of the Woman's Club. During the time she was president of the Sunoida Club, through its influence, the Civic Association was organized and the public rest room established. She is a member of the Library Extension Com. I. F. W. C. She has traveled a good deal in this country and in 1910 traveled in Europe and witnessed the Passion Play. Notwithstanding an interest in the outside world she believes that

Home keeping hearts are the happiest
Home loving hearts are the best."

MRS. ALBERT MYRON PRICE

Georgia V. Snoddy was born on a farm in Clinton county, Iowa, Dec. 13, 1868. Her parents, Matthew Snoddy and Ellen Teskey, figured in the early struggles of the first settlers, of eastern Iowa. In 1886 she moved with her parents to Maquoketa, Iowa, where she was educated in the public schools, later taking a course in the Northern Illinois Normal College. For several years she was a successful primary teacher. She was married to Albert Myron Price, cashier of the First National Bank, De Witt, Iowa, on June 18, 1895. Besides looking after a commodious home, she takes an active part in all organizations, having for their object, public improvement, and moral and social progress. She is serving as president of Pierian Club for the second time; was first president of the Clinton County Federation of Women's Clubs, a charter member of Chapter B G, P. E. O., also of Golden Star chapter, O. E. S., and in 1909, served as deputy grand matron. She helped organize the Twentieth Century Dames, a local organization, and was its second president. She is now chairman of the second district of the Iowa State Federation of Women Clubs, and was a member of the educational committee during the previous year. She is a trustee for the Carnegie Public Library, is an active member of the First Congregational church, and interested in all branches of church work. She has traveled extensively in the United States, Alaska and Canada. Her capable and efficient service has brought many responsible positions, which she has filled with much credit to herself, as well as to the organizations which she represented.