Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameBuckman Claflin 
Spouses
Birth1804
Death1890, London, England
FatherJohannes Hummel (1763-1854)
MotherMargaret Moyer (1770-1827)
Marriage1825
ChildrenTennessee Celest
Victoria California (1838-1927)
Research notes for Roxanna (Spouse 1)
A certain AWT places Roxanne as the daughter of Johannes and Margaret. She is of interest since she is the mother of Victoria Woodhull, but I need to explore the data further to see if I can document this relationship.
My Comments notes for Roxanna (Spouse 1)
Our second cousin, Ann Mertz, brought Victoria Woodhull to my attention. She had found an article about her and it said that Victoria’s mother was Rosanna and that she was the illegitimate daughter of Captain John Jacob Hummel (brother of our ancestor Benjamin).
But then I found an Internet Family Tree that said that Rosanna was the daughter of Johannes Hummel and Margaret Moyer. That led me to research Johannes a little further and I found a death record for him and it listed Roxanna as a surviving daughter. Meiser also said that Victoria was the granddaughter of Johannes.
Whichever version of things relating to the identity of Rosanna’s father is true, it still means that Victoria was the second cousin of our ancestor Amelia Amanda.
But then I found an Internet Family Tree that said that Rosanna was the daughter of Johannes Hummel and Margaret Moyer. That led me to research Johannes a little further and I found a death record for him and it listed Roxanna as a surviving daughter. Meiser also said that Victoria was the granddaughter of Johannes.
Whichever version of things relating to the identity of Rosanna’s father is true, it still means that Victoria was the second cousin of our ancestor Amelia Amanda.
Children Names notes for Roxanna (Spouse 1)
Here is Victoria’s (edited) Wikipedia biography -- greatly shortened by me. “Woodhull was born Victoria California Claflin to a poor family in Homer, Licking County, Ohio. Her father was Reuben Buckman Claflin, a lawyer. Victoria was closely associated during most of her life with her sister Tennessee Celeste (a.k.a. ‘Tennie C’) Claflin, who was seven years younger than she. Victoria went from rags to riches twice, her first fortune being made on the road as a highly successful magnetic healer before she joined the spiritualist movement in the 1870s.
When she was just 15, Victoria became engaged to and soon married a 28-year old Canning (Channing, in some records) Woodhull. Dr. Woodhull was an Ohio medical doctor at a time when formal medical education and licensing was not required to practice medicine in that state. Victoria soon learned that her new husband was an alcoholic and a womanizer, and that her own work would often be required to support the family financially.
Woodhull’s support of free love probably originated with her first marriage. Even in loveless marriages, women in the 19th century were bound into unions with few options to escape. Any woman who divorced was stigmatized and often ostracized by society. Victoria believed women should have the choice to leave unbearable marriages, and she rallied against the hypocrisy of married men having mistresses and other sexual dalliances.
She made another fortune with Tennessee, as Wall Street brokers. Woodhull, Claflin opened in 1870 with the assistance of a wealthy benefactor, her admirer, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
She and Tennessee later established a paper, (with money made from her brokerage days), Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, which stayed in publication for the next six years, and became notorious for publishing controversial opinions on taboo topics (especially with regard to sex education and free love). The paper advocated, among other things, women's suffrage, short skirts, spiritualism, free love, vegetarianism, and licensed prostitution. It's commonly stated that the paper also advocated birth control
Woodhull's experience as a lobbyist and businesswoman taught her how to penetrate the all-male domain of national politics. She catapulted to the leadership circle of the suffrage movement with her first public appearance as a woman's rights advocate.
Woodhull was nominated for President of the United States by the newly formed Equal Rights Party on May 10, 1872. Former slave Frederick Douglass was nominated for Vice President.
While many historians and authors agree that Woodhull was the first woman to run for President of the United States, some people have questioned the legality of her run.
Woodhull attempted to secure nominations for the presidency again in 1884 and 1892. The newspapers in 1892 reported that she was nominated by the "National Woman Suffragists' Nominating Convention" presided over by Anna M. Parker, President of the convention. Her 1892 campaign was probably taken less seriously because newspapers quoted her as saying she was "destined" by "prophecy" to be elected President of the United States.
In October 1876, Woodhull divorced her second husband, Colonel Blood. Less than a year later, exhausted and possibly depressed, she left for England to start a new life. She made her first public appearance as a lecturer at St. James's Hall in London on December 4, 1877. Her lecture was called "The Human Body, the Temple of God," a lecture that was previously presented in the United States. Present at one of her lectures was banker John Biddulph Martin, the man who would become her third and last husband on October 31, 1883. From then on, she was known as Victoria Woodhull Martin. Under that name, she published a magazine called the Humanitarian from 1892 to 1901. As a widow, Woodhull gave up the publication of her magazine and retired to the country, establishing residence at Bredon's Norton. She died in 1927 at Norton Park in England.”
When she was just 15, Victoria became engaged to and soon married a 28-year old Canning (Channing, in some records) Woodhull. Dr. Woodhull was an Ohio medical doctor at a time when formal medical education and licensing was not required to practice medicine in that state. Victoria soon learned that her new husband was an alcoholic and a womanizer, and that her own work would often be required to support the family financially.
Woodhull’s support of free love probably originated with her first marriage. Even in loveless marriages, women in the 19th century were bound into unions with few options to escape. Any woman who divorced was stigmatized and often ostracized by society. Victoria believed women should have the choice to leave unbearable marriages, and she rallied against the hypocrisy of married men having mistresses and other sexual dalliances.
She made another fortune with Tennessee, as Wall Street brokers. Woodhull, Claflin opened in 1870 with the assistance of a wealthy benefactor, her admirer, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
She and Tennessee later established a paper, (with money made from her brokerage days), Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, which stayed in publication for the next six years, and became notorious for publishing controversial opinions on taboo topics (especially with regard to sex education and free love). The paper advocated, among other things, women's suffrage, short skirts, spiritualism, free love, vegetarianism, and licensed prostitution. It's commonly stated that the paper also advocated birth control
Woodhull's experience as a lobbyist and businesswoman taught her how to penetrate the all-male domain of national politics. She catapulted to the leadership circle of the suffrage movement with her first public appearance as a woman's rights advocate.
Woodhull was nominated for President of the United States by the newly formed Equal Rights Party on May 10, 1872. Former slave Frederick Douglass was nominated for Vice President.
While many historians and authors agree that Woodhull was the first woman to run for President of the United States, some people have questioned the legality of her run.
Woodhull attempted to secure nominations for the presidency again in 1884 and 1892. The newspapers in 1892 reported that she was nominated by the "National Woman Suffragists' Nominating Convention" presided over by Anna M. Parker, President of the convention. Her 1892 campaign was probably taken less seriously because newspapers quoted her as saying she was "destined" by "prophecy" to be elected President of the United States.
In October 1876, Woodhull divorced her second husband, Colonel Blood. Less than a year later, exhausted and possibly depressed, she left for England to start a new life. She made her first public appearance as a lecturer at St. James's Hall in London on December 4, 1877. Her lecture was called "The Human Body, the Temple of God," a lecture that was previously presented in the United States. Present at one of her lectures was banker John Biddulph Martin, the man who would become her third and last husband on October 31, 1883. From then on, she was known as Victoria Woodhull Martin. Under that name, she published a magazine called the Humanitarian from 1892 to 1901. As a widow, Woodhull gave up the publication of her magazine and retired to the country, establishing residence at Bredon's Norton. She died in 1927 at Norton Park in England.”