In “The Right to Vote,” the importance of knowing contemporary law was discussed as it applied to an ancestor’s right to vote. Have you thought about when your ancestors became eligible to vote? For female ancestors that right may have come in stages as some states allowed voting in state or local elections before the 19th amendment to the US Constitution was enacted.
A good little exercise.
| Name | Year of Birth | Year they Could Vote | Comments–reason |
| Connie (Ufkes) Neill | 1942 | 1963 | reached age 21 |
| Cecil Neill | 1903 | 1924 | reached age 21 |
| Ida (Trautvetter) Neill | 1910 | 1931 | reached age 21 |
| John Ufkes | 1917 | 1938 | reached age 21 |
| Dorothy (Habben) Ufkes | 1924 | 1945 | reached age 21 |
| Charles Neill | 1875 | 1896 | reached age 21 |
| Fannie (Rampley) Neill | 1883 | 1920 | 19th amendment |
| George Trautvetter | 1869 | 1890 | reached age 21 |
| Ida (Sargent) Trautvetter | 1874 | 1920 | 19th amendment |
| Mimka Habben | 1881 | 1902 | reached age 21 |
| Tjode (Goldenstein) Habben | 1882 | 1920 | 19th amendment |
| Fred Ufkes | 1893 | 1914 | reached age 21 |
| Tena (Janssen) Ufkes | 1895 | 1920 | 19th amendment |
| Samuel Neill | 1830s-Ireland | (have to check) | naturalization |
| Anne (Murphy) Neill | 1830s | never | died in 1895 |
| John Michael Trautvetter | 1838–Germany | — | not certain if he was actually naturalized |
| Franciska (Bieger) Trautvetter | 1851 | never | died in 1888 |
| Ira Sargent | about 1843 | probably 1864 | reached age 21 |
| Ellen (Butler) Sargent | about 1857 | who knows | lost track of her after 1880–if she lived to vote I don’t know about it |
| John Ufkes | 1838-Ostfriesland, Germany | naturalization | |
| Noentje (Grass) Ufkes | never | died before women’s suffrage | |
| Jans Janssen | 1856-Ostfriesland, Germany | naturalization | |
| Reka (Sartorius) Janssen | 1865-Illinois | never | died before women’s suffrage |
| John Habben | 185-Ostfriesland, Germany | naturalization | |
| Anke (Fecht) Habben | 1860-Ostfriesland, Germany | 1920 | 19th amendment-naturalized when her father naturalized |
| Foche Goldenstein | 1857-Ostfriesland, Germany | 1879 | naturalization |
| Anna (Dirks) Goldenstein | 1861-Illinois | 1920 | 19th amendment |
| George Trautvetter | 1798-Germany | never | did not naturalize |
| James Rampley | 1803-Maryland | 1824 | reached age 21 |
| William Newman | 1818-Kentucky | 1839 | reached age 21 |
| Clark Sargent | Vermont | reached age 21 | |
| Trientje (Behrens) Sartorius |
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