Ward, Hortense Sparks

Extract

Ward, Hortense Sparks (20 July 1872–05 December 1944), attorney and women's rights activist, attorney and women’s rights activist, was born in Matagorda County, Texas, the daughter of Frederick Sparks, a German immigrant and rancher, and Louisa Marie La Bauve. In 1883 the family moved to Edna, Texas, where her father owned and operated a saloon and served as deputy sheriff. Hortense attended grammar school in Edna and graduated from Nazareth Academy in Victoria, Texas, in 1890. She moved back to Edna after graduating and for a brief period taught school there. In 1891 she married Albert Malsch, a tinsmith; they had three daughters. In 1903 the family moved to Houston, where Hortense worked as a stenographer and notary. The couple divorced in 1906....