Local historian recounts violence, childbirth deaths and business agency among 19th-century Calaveras County women

Maureen Elliott, a local historian, told listeners on the Senior Moments radio program that women in 19th-century Calaveras County faced high risks of early death from childbirth, violence and suicide but also that many became prominent business owners and landholders.

Elliott said the county's historical records show “Women often died very young, often in childbirth,” and recounted specific cases she said illustrate the risks and limited resources available to women at the time.

The nut graf: Elliott framed the history as both violent and resilient: she described multiple episodes of sexual assault followed by suicide, men who murdered wives or partners, scarce or ineffective medical care, and at the same time a number of women who owned hotels, boarding houses and land claims and who helped shape towns such as Angels Camp, Murphy's and San Andreas.

Elliott described the case of Katie Cosgrove, a young woman who, according to Elliott's account, was raped, returned home and took poison; after an initial revival she was again poisoned and died. Elliott said the alleged perpetrator, identified in the interview as Lincoln Raspberry, was tried but that prosecution failed because…