Ruth Virginia BRAZZIL

1889 - 1976  (86 years)

• Name	Ruth Virginia BRAZZIL  [1]
  Born	12 Sep 1889	Tyler, Smith, Texas, USA   [2, 3]
  Gender	Female
  Education	1912
  	University of Texas
  	Law
  Census	1920	Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA
  ED 52, pg 9B
  Ward 9 Cecil Wasmuth Head F 28 Texas Ruth Brazzil Lodger F 28 Texas Peter Laros Lodger M 22 Greece George Poulos Lodger M 29 Greece
  Occupation	1920	Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA
  	Assistant General Manager at American National Insurance Co
  Occupation	1925
  	Special Associate Justice, Texas Supreme Court
  Census	1930	, Bandera, Texas, USA
  ED 1, pg 5A
  Precinct 1 Ruth V Roome Head F 34 Texas Emma L Lee Aunt F 77 Alabama Bess Campbell Lodger F 22 Texas Mary L Campbell Lodger F 18 Texas
  Census	1940	, Bandera, Texas, USA
  ED 10-1, pg 9B
  Precinct 1 Ruth Boone Head F 44 Texas Mary Wachter Roomer F 65 Texas Ruth is a post mistress and made $1400 in 1939. This is indexed under Boone.
  Residence	1966	Kerrville, Kerr, Texas, USA
  Occupation	1976	, Kerr, Texas, USA
  	lawyer and postmistress
  Died	22 May 1976	Kerrville, Kerr, Texas, USA   [2, 3, 4]
  	Cause: Pulmonary embolism
  Buried	24 May 1976	Kerrville, Kerr, Texas, USA
  	Address: Garden of Memories Perpetual Care Cemetery Kerr County Kerr County, Texas
  Person ID	I8252	An Armstrong & A Heffernan
  Last Modified	21 Mar 2015

  
  

  Father	William Nicklaus BRAZZIL,   b. 9 May 1850, Marshall, Harrison, Texas, USA ,   d. 14 Mar 1933, Victoria, Victoria, Texas, USA  (Age 82 years)
  Mother	Winnie E SCHELLMAN,   b. 29 Oct 1850, Cusseta, Chambers, Alabama, USA ,   d. 18 Apr 1933, Victoria, Victoria, Texas, USA  (Age 82 years)
  Married	24 May 1887	Paris, Lamar, Texas, USA   [5]
  Photos		Roome, Ruth Virginia Brazzil daughter of William Nicklaus and Winnie Schellman Brazzil 1925 Texas' All-Women Supreme Court; three women, Nellie Gray Robertson, Hortense Sparks Ward and Ruth Virginia Brazzil comprise a special Texas Supreme Court for five months; first all-woman high court in the U.S.
  Family ID	F925	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  1925 Texas' All-Women Supreme Court; three women, Nellie Gray Robertson, Hortense Sparks Ward and Ruth Virginia Brazzil comprise a special Texas Supreme Court for five months; first all-woman high court in the U.S. Ruth Virginia Brazzil (1889-1976) Ruth Virginia Brazzil Special Associate Justice, Texas Supreme Court, 1925 Ruth Virginia Brazzil was born September 12, 1889 in Tyler, Texas, and attended Wharton public schools. After working her way through The University of Texas as a special student in law, she passed the bar exam in 1912. She did not concentrate solely on a law career, however, and her various occupations included realtor, manager of an abstract company in Wharton, and assistant general manager of American National Life Insurance Company in Galveston. In 1924 Johnson v. Darr, a case involving the fraternal organization Woodmen of the World (WOW), was appealed to the Texas Supreme Court. The case involved a lien on two parcels of land in El Paso County belonging to WOW. At the time, WOW was a powerful group in Texas to which nearly all of the state's elected officials and lawyers belonged. Members of the organization received insurance benefits with premiums based on claims paid. As a result, judges and attorneys who belonged to WOW were required to recuse themselves from cases involving it. In March 1924, chief justice C.M. Cureton and associate justices Thomas B. Greenwood and William Pierson recused themselves from hearing the case on the basis of their membership in WOW. Gov. Pat Neff spent the next ten months in an unsuccessful search for male judges or attorneys not associated with WOW to sit on a special court to hear the case. Finally, on January 1, 1925, one week before the case was to be heard, Gov. Neff solved the problem by appointing three women to the special court. He appointed Hortense Sparks Ward special chief justice, and Hattie Leah Henenberg and Ruth Virginia Brazzil were appointed special associate justices. This special court served for five months, met twice, and heard only the case of Johnson v. Darr. The male justices continued hearing other cases during this time. Brazzil was married in 1927 to a rice farmer from Wharton County before divorcing him two weeks later. She is sometimes referred to by her ex-husband's last name, Roome. Following her brief marriage, Brazzil moved to Bandera, where she served as postmistress. She also lived in Center Point and Kerrville, where she sold real estate. Unlike her colleagues on the court, Hortense Sparks Ward and Hattie Leah Henenberg, Brazzil was said to have been an opponent of women's suffrage and political participation. Ruth Brazzil spent the final decade of her life confined to a wheelchair, and died May 22, 1976 in Kerrville. She is buried in Kerrville's Garden of Memories Perpetual Care Cemetery. Notable opinions Johnson v. Darr, 114 Texas reports 516 (1925), concurring opinion (majority opinion written by Hortense Sparks Ward). Justices of Texas http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/justices/spct/brazzil.html ROOME, RUTH V. BRAZZIL (1889-1976). Ruth Brazzil Roome, a member of the All-Woman Supreme Court, the eldest child of William N. and Winnie Shelman Brazzil, was born in Tyler, Texas, on September 12, 1889. She obtained at least part of her early education in Wharton, Texas, and attended the University of Texas as a special student in law. In 1912 she was admitted to the Texas bar. While in Austin she worked for a legislator. She had a particular interest in real estate, and sometime in her twenties reportedly managed a Wharton abstract company. She became assistant treasurer and assistant general manager of the American National Life Insurance Company in Galveston. In appointing a qualified third justice for the All-Woman Supreme Court just before it convened in January 1925, Governor Pat Neff located and recommended Ruth Brazzil for the court. She had the required seven years of legal experience, unlike the women originally nominated for her position, and familiarity with property law. During the 1920s she left Galveston to join farmer Roy Roome of Wharton County, Texas, whom she married in December 1927. Although she obtained a divorce within two weeks of their wedding, she continued using her married name. She moved to the Hill Country sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s and apparently gave up practicing law. She continued dealing in real estate while living in Bandera and Center Point. For a time she served as postmistress in Bandera and collaborated on several writing projects with friends. Later, she was engaged in genealogical research and travel. Ruth Brazzil Roome retired to Kerrville from 1966 and lived there until her death, on May 22, 1976. Her remains were buried there at the Garden of Memories Perpetual Care Cemetery. Handbook of Texas http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/froey.html (Research):Frontier Times Magazine Vol 17 # 7 April 1940 Woman, 102, Recalls Long Journey San Antonio Express Sad account describes the experiences of Mrs. Clarintha Draper, long-time resident of Pontotoc, Mason county, whose flight from Arkansas during the civil war holds a similarity to that of "Gone With the Wind's" Scarlett O'Hara from Atlanta. Her story recounts when she and her husband, George Washington Draper, left their home in Texas and went to Arkansas. Soon the Civil War broke out, and Draper was caught stranded penniless in Arkansas with his family. Meanwhile the Union forces had burned Mrs. Draper's home and all of her possessions. This is the story of that event and of her life. Mentions: Walden, Ark * Dawson Draper, of McCulloch county * William Eilers of Austin * W. Lee O'Daniel * Mrs. Hortense Ward, Miss Ruth Virginia Brazzil (now Mrs. Ruth Roome, postmaster at Bandera), and Miss Hattie L. Henenberg * Ruthersville, in Fayette county *

  
  

• Sources

  [S84] 1900 Bell, TX, ED 27, pg 12B. Ruth C Brazzil [S528] SSDI, (FamilySearch.org), 453-44-4128. [S275] Death Certificate, Roome, Ruth #38568. [S558] Texas Death Index, 1964-1998, (FamilySearch.org). [S84] 1900 Bell, TX, ED 27, pg 12B. m. 13 yrs