The first time I heard the name Martha Taaffe was in the mid-1990s when I became acquainted with her great-granddaughter, Sandy Schuske. Sandy had joined Main Street Carthage, having moved here from Kansas City and establishing a CPA practice on Garrison, and I asked her what brought her to Carthage. She replied she’d always been a frequent visitor to Carthage as her great grandmother lived here until she died. I asked her name and for some reason it stuck with me. When Michelle Hansford asked if I’d like some more famous people to write about, especially influential women and Martha Taaffe’s name was on the list I started to work on who this woman was.

I started with a packet of information from Michelle that included obituaries and items of interest that have appeared in our paper over the years. I called Sandy, we had lunch and discussed this woman that Sandy remembers very well.

Martha was born to Mr. and Mrs. T.C. Coffin in March 1869 in St. Louis. The Coffin family moved along with Mrs. Coffin’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Degge to Sarcoxie, then on to Carthage in 1882. Martha was in the graduating class of Carthage in May 1887 and on June 1, 1887 married Richard Taafe. He was employed by Adams Express and upon leaving them the Taaffes moved to Ellsworth, Kansas for 3 years where Mr. Taaffe worked as a Frisco agent. The Taaffes had 2 sons, William Franklin and George Richard, both of whom predeceased Martha Taaffe.
The Taaffes lost their first son when he was only 8 years old. I did not find a mention in the old copies of the Press about what happened to him but I did notice several children died of measles within a few days of his April 28, 1897 death.

Martha Taaffe seemed to be more of a behind the scenes person who got things done. In 1908 she became a member of the Missouri Federation of Women’s Clubs, which was the forerunner of GFWC. This is a very active service club in our area contributing heavily to the library, Central Park and many other causes.

Martha also joined the Cosmos Club and Michelle Hansford said "with no documentation, it seems to have been a typical ladies group of the period who probably had leanings toward teaching women government, civics, public service and probably eventually suffrage." Whatever pushed her towards public service and the suffrage movement, she became very involved in political movements and the Federation of Women’s Clubs. The first 10 years of minutes of the meetings of this organization were stored, and I believe along with a written history of the 46 years of its existence in the State Historical Society. Martha Taaffe authored the history and made sure it was stored with the Historical Society to insure posterity. She was so involved with the Federation that she held every office at the state level except that of President and it wasn’t because she had not been asked.

In 1913 she was one of 4 delegates from here to attend the American Peace congress in St. Louis where she met the guest speaker, Andrew Carnegie. By the next year, 1914, she was on the board of the Missouri Suffrage League and organized and headed the local chapter. In 1914 she also was recording secretary for the Carthage Rest Room Association and we have her to thank for the courthouse bathrooms. Next week I’ll tell you more about Martha Taaffe.