Susie Campbell was born in the shanty town of Todeloup (its spelling and pronunciation are not known precisely today) in 1880, daughter of John Columbus Campbell and Ellen Narcissa Campbell. The town sat on the southeast bank of the Kansas River and just to the west of the state line from the early 1870s until about the early 1900s.
Her husband, John A. Rock, was Canadian by birth, having entered the country as a small child. He married first in 1884 to Mary Ellen (Nellie) Welch and fathered two children with her. As Nellie's health deteriorated in 1893/94, they hired a neighborhood girl to help keep house and mind their children. Susie was that young girl.
Some time after the death of John's wife in 1894, he courted the young girl who had cared for his children earlier. John and Susie married on 5 November 1896, and Susie became step-mother to two children and eventually mother of eight.
Susie and John made their home in the Armourdale district of Kansas City, Kansas. They were temporarily chased from their home by the flood of 1903, but rebuilt their house and raised all their children there.
When their eldest son volunteered for naval service in 1918 during the First World War and was asked to list the vital information on his parents, it was discovered that the elder Mr. Rock had never been naturalized, and he was required to apply for citizenship; owing to a federal law passed in 1907 that declared that any American woman who married an alien was herself considered an alien (a law whose xenophobia was exceeded only by its misogyny), Susie Rock was declared an alien and stripped of her citizenship rights as well, including the right to vote that other women would soon enjoy in 1920.
John Rock died in 1925 before his citizenship application had gained final approval, and Susie was informed that with his death, her American citizenship was automatically restored. Nevertheless, she refused to vote for the rest of her life.
Susie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1963. She refused treatment when offered, deciding it was time to go. She died 18 September 1963.
Her husband, John A. Rock, was Canadian by birth, having entered the country as a small child. He married first in 1884 to Mary Ellen (Nellie) Welch and fathered two children with her. As Nellie's health deteriorated in 1893/94, they hired a neighborhood girl to help keep house and mind their children. Susie was that young girl.
Some time after the death of John's wife in 1894, he courted the young girl who had cared for his children earlier. John and Susie married on 5 November 1896, and Susie became step-mother to two children and eventually mother of eight.
Susie and John made their home in the Armourdale district of Kansas City, Kansas. They were temporarily chased from their home by the flood of 1903, but rebuilt their house and raised all their children there.
When their eldest son volunteered for naval service in 1918 during the First World War and was asked to list the vital information on his parents, it was discovered that the elder Mr. Rock had never been naturalized, and he was required to apply for citizenship; owing to a federal law passed in 1907 that declared that any American woman who married an alien was herself considered an alien (a law whose xenophobia was exceeded only by its misogyny), Susie Rock was declared an alien and stripped of her citizenship rights as well, including the right to vote that other women would soon enjoy in 1920.
John Rock died in 1925 before his citizenship application had gained final approval, and Susie was informed that with his death, her American citizenship was automatically restored. Nevertheless, she refused to vote for the rest of her life.
Susie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1963. She refused treatment when offered, deciding it was time to go. She died 18 September 1963.
Susie Campbell was born in the shanty town of Todeloup (its spelling and pronunciation are not known precisely today) in 1880, daughter of John Columbus Campbell and Ellen Narcissa Campbell. The town sat on the southeast bank of the Kansas River and just to the west of the state line from the early 1870s until about the early 1900s.
Her husband, John A. Rock, was Canadian by birth, having entered the country as a small child. He married first in 1884 to Mary Ellen (Nellie) Welch and fathered two children with her. As Nellie's health deteriorated in 1893/94, they hired a neighborhood girl to help keep house and mind their children. Susie was that young girl.
Some time after the death of John's wife in 1894, he courted the young girl who had cared for his children earlier. John and Susie married on 5 November 1896, and Susie became step-mother to two children and eventually mother of eight.
Susie and John made their home in the Armourdale district of Kansas City, Kansas. They were temporarily chased from their home by the flood of 1903, but rebuilt their house and raised all their children there.
When their eldest son volunteered for naval service in 1918 during the First World War and was asked to list the vital information on his parents, it was discovered that the elder Mr. Rock had never been naturalized, and he was required to apply for citizenship; owing to a federal law passed in 1907 that declared that any American woman who married an alien was herself considered an alien (a law whose xenophobia was exceeded only by its misogyny), Susie Rock was declared an alien and stripped of her citizenship rights as well, including the right to vote that other women would soon enjoy in 1920.
John Rock died in 1925 before his citizenship application had gained final approval, and Susie was informed that with his death, her American citizenship was automatically restored. Nevertheless, she refused to vote for the rest of her life.
Susie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1963. She refused treatment when offered, deciding it was time to go. She died 18 September 1963.
Her husband, John A. Rock, was Canadian by birth, having entered the country as a small child. He married first in 1884 to Mary Ellen (Nellie) Welch and fathered two children with her. As Nellie's health deteriorated in 1893/94, they hired a neighborhood girl to help keep house and mind their children. Susie was that young girl.
Some time after the death of John's wife in 1894, he courted the young girl who had cared for his children earlier. John and Susie married on 5 November 1896, and Susie became step-mother to two children and eventually mother of eight.
Susie and John made their home in the Armourdale district of Kansas City, Kansas. They were temporarily chased from their home by the flood of 1903, but rebuilt their house and raised all their children there.
When their eldest son volunteered for naval service in 1918 during the First World War and was asked to list the vital information on his parents, it was discovered that the elder Mr. Rock had never been naturalized, and he was required to apply for citizenship; owing to a federal law passed in 1907 that declared that any American woman who married an alien was herself considered an alien (a law whose xenophobia was exceeded only by its misogyny), Susie Rock was declared an alien and stripped of her citizenship rights as well, including the right to vote that other women would soon enjoy in 1920.
John Rock died in 1925 before his citizenship application had gained final approval, and Susie was informed that with his death, her American citizenship was automatically restored. Nevertheless, she refused to vote for the rest of her life.
Susie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1963. She refused treatment when offered, deciding it was time to go. She died 18 September 1963.
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