Advertisement

Sarah Sophia <I>Chase</I> Decker

Advertisement

Sarah Sophia Chase Decker

Birth
McIndoe Falls, Caledonia County, Vermont, USA
Death
7 Jul 1912 (aged 55)
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, USA
Burial
Denver, City and County of Denver, Colorado, USA GPS-Latitude: 39.7080639, Longitude: -104.8998725
Memorial ID
View Source
Sarah Sophia Chase Platt-Decker (1856 – July 7, 1912) was an American suffragist. Mostly active in Denver, Colorado, she also served as the national president of the Federation of Associated Women's Clubs from 1904 to 1908.

Platt-Decker was born Sarah Sophia Chase in McIndoe Falls, Vermont, in 1856. Her father was a strong prohibitionist and her mother was a descendant of the Adams political family. Her first husband died after two years of marriage; the loss of her own possessions when her husband's estate was given to other members of his family inspired her to become an activist for women's rights.

She married James H. Platt, Jr., a widower, physician, former U.S. Congressman and director of the Mineola Children's Home. They moved to Denver, Colorado in 1887. The couple were active in Denver politics. After James Platt's death in 1894, Platt-Decker became the first woman appointed to the Colorado Board of Pardons and served on the Board of Charities and Corrections from 1898 onwards.

Platt-Decker married a third time in 1888, to Westbrook S. Decker, a Denver judge who died in 1902. Before his death, she helped to found the Denver Women's Club, served as its first president, and established the Denver Home for Dependent Children. In 1904, she was elected the national president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs; in her four years as president, she gave hundreds of speeches persuading members to take up the cause of women's suffrage.

Platt-Decker died in San Francisco in 1912 while attending the General Federation of Women's Clubs convention. An obituary in a Denver newspaper described her as "Colorado's foremost woman citizen and the real leader of the suffrage movement in the United States". Another wrote that she deserved "a great share of the credit that Colorado became the first state in the Union to realize the political rights of women". Platt-Decker was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1990. The Decker Branch Library of Denver Public Libraries is named after her.
Sarah Sophia Chase Platt-Decker (1856 – July 7, 1912) was an American suffragist. Mostly active in Denver, Colorado, she also served as the national president of the Federation of Associated Women's Clubs from 1904 to 1908.

Platt-Decker was born Sarah Sophia Chase in McIndoe Falls, Vermont, in 1856. Her father was a strong prohibitionist and her mother was a descendant of the Adams political family. Her first husband died after two years of marriage; the loss of her own possessions when her husband's estate was given to other members of his family inspired her to become an activist for women's rights.

She married James H. Platt, Jr., a widower, physician, former U.S. Congressman and director of the Mineola Children's Home. They moved to Denver, Colorado in 1887. The couple were active in Denver politics. After James Platt's death in 1894, Platt-Decker became the first woman appointed to the Colorado Board of Pardons and served on the Board of Charities and Corrections from 1898 onwards.

Platt-Decker married a third time in 1888, to Westbrook S. Decker, a Denver judge who died in 1902. Before his death, she helped to found the Denver Women's Club, served as its first president, and established the Denver Home for Dependent Children. In 1904, she was elected the national president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs; in her four years as president, she gave hundreds of speeches persuading members to take up the cause of women's suffrage.

Platt-Decker died in San Francisco in 1912 while attending the General Federation of Women's Clubs convention. An obituary in a Denver newspaper described her as "Colorado's foremost woman citizen and the real leader of the suffrage movement in the United States". Another wrote that she deserved "a great share of the credit that Colorado became the first state in the Union to realize the political rights of women". Platt-Decker was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1990. The Decker Branch Library of Denver Public Libraries is named after her.


Sponsored by Ancestry

Advertisement

See more Decker or Chase memorials in:

Flower Delivery Sponsor and Remove Ads

Advertisement

  • Created by: M Price
  • Added: Oct 3, 2011
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77534318/sarah_sophia-decker: accessed ), memorial page for Sarah Sophia Chase Decker (1 Oct 1856–7 Jul 1912), Find a Grave Memorial ID 77534318, citing Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, City and County of Denver, Colorado, USA; Maintained by M Price (contributor 47128326).