How influential socialites and philanthropists helped shape Capitol Avenue history.

In a time when women neither had the right to vote nor legal personhood after they married, many of the first women of Capitol Avenue owned and managed their own properties, leading the way for influential women.

Capitol Women of the Victorian Era

Agnes Heinrichs was one of these resilient women. She was among the German-speaking immigrants who arrived in Jefferson City around the 1830s. In 1857, she purchased a property located on the southwest corner of Jefferson and East Main Streets. This piece of property included the Heinrich Furniture Manufacturing business and her home; both were destroyed in a fire in 1876.

Another resilient woman was Sarah Bolton. Left a widow in 1862, she managed her family’s mansion on the southeast corner of Main and Jackson Streets and the farm along Main Street (Capitol Avenue today).

“Her many years of widowhood taught her the value of self-reliance; and in the battle of life, none have acquitted themselves better than she,” the Jefferson City Inquirer wrote, which was the local newspaper at the time.

Mary (McMillen) Gordon Hendy was also windowed, but she retained control of her estate at 429 E. Main St. In her second marriage, to Reverend John Hendy, a prenuptial agreement insured the house stayed hers if he died before her. She kept servants and boarders and bought other neighboring properties. Her obituary highlighted her “splendid hospitality and many philanthropies.”

Sisters Catherine Fackler and Elizabeth Dunscomb both owned a duplex at 413-415 E. Main St.; they lived on one side and rented the other. Elizabeth was forced to make her own way because her husband was sent to the St. Louis Insane Asylum, and their son died at the Fulton State Hospital. When Catherine and Elizabeth died the same year, Elizabeth’s daughters, Annie and Mary, continued to live there and rent the other side.

In addition to being independent and resourceful, the early women of Capitol Avenue were benevolent, providing charity through their churches and organizations.

Myrene Houchin may be the epitome of the local Gilded Age woman. She grew up at 611 Capitol Ave. Myrene participated in horse shows and was a founder of both the local Girls Scouts and the Cole County Historical Society. The Houchin home was the site of many luxurious parties, with food, music, and amusements.

Pauline (Dallmeyer) Elsner King reared her children at 320 Capitol Ave. after divorcing architect Adolph Elsner, who designed the wings that were added to the second state Capitol building. Pauline was instrumental in raising the construction funds for the original St. Mary’s Hospital and establishing the first public library.

Florence (Ewing) Towles, widow of Thomas Towles, who was the chief clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, lived at 612 E. Capitol Ave. She was the first regent of the local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter and the first president of the local chapters of the U.S. Daughters of 1812 and the American War Mothers. She also was a charter member of the local American Legion Auxiliary unit.

Capitol Women of the 20th Century

In the early 20th century, Mary Wood was ahead of her time, owning and operating multiple beauty colleges and becoming the president of the American Cosmeticians Association and the All-American Beauty College Schools. Orphaned in Illinois, Mary took up beauty culture at age 15 and eventually opened her own shop in Springfield, Illinois. There, customers included Mrs. Helen Yates, wife of Governor Richard Yates Jr.; Mrs. Bina Deneen, wife of Governor Charles Deneen; and Mrs. Florence Lowden, wife of Governor Frank Lowden. She eventually married a newspaperman and opened her first beauty school in St. Louis, Missouri. Among her clients in St. Louis were actresses Alla Nazimova and Doris Rankin Barrymore. Mary later opened the Mariwood Beauty Culture School in Jefferson City in the 1930s and assisted in the adoption of a law licensing beauty practitioners. The school occupied Ivy Terrace on 500 E. Capitol Ave. from 1948-1966.

By 1996, Barbara Buescher and her sister, Betty Buescher, became well-known businesswomen as they jointly ran the family’s mortuary business after their father died.

The women of Capitol Avenue left a lasting legacy through their generosity and resilience. By using their influence, they helped shape their community with compassion and purpose — an impact still felt today.