PERU — The home of an iconic Peru resident and champion for women’s suffrage was put on the map Saturday, with the dedication of a historical marker remembering the life of Marie Stuart Edwards.
The marker sits in front of a yellow house at 123 W. Main St., where Edwards lived from 1917 to 1926. During this time, she served as the president of the state Woman’s Franchise League, and later as the first vice-president of the national League of Women Voters, which still exists today. During her tenure at both organizations, the headquarters were moved to Peru.
Edwards was a hugely influential suffragist on the state and national stage and would regularly hold tea parties and meetings in the home, inviting like-minded women to discuss their activities and how to further their agenda.
Through her life, Edwards’ work varied widely. She advocated for women’s right to vote across the country, as well as passing legislation to protect women and children, lobbying for public sanitation, working for disarmament, and advocating for prison rehabilitation and education reform, according to the marker.
But despite her prominence, Regine Brindle, who did the research for the marker, said at one point she had no idea who Marie Stuart Edwards was.
“When I first heard her name, I just thought she was just another lady, and her story was blown out of proportion. She was just a small-town lady,” Brindle said.
That impression faded quickly. As Brindle began looking into the life of Edwards, combing through letters, news articles, and photos at the Miami County Museum to assemble Edwards’ story, her admiration for the woman grew. She began realizing that Edwards had an energy that pulled the national movement toward Peru. A 1921 article in the Philadelphia Public Ledger awed at her ability to influence Washington from the small town of Peru.
“She made the world come to her. She uses the telegraph, the telephone, the posts, and is in touch with her organizations in Texas and California just as simply as if she were in Washington,” the article said.
During her research, Brindle learned that Edwards and her family lived in a house on West Main Street in Peru, across the street from where most believed they had lived. She approached the current owners, Jason and Denise Gornto, and told them about the connection she had made.
“When [Brindle] first said that Marie Stuart Edwards lived here, we said, ‘No she didn’t.’ If you look at the ownership record, or the abstract, her name’s not listed there, or her husband’s,” Jason Gornto said.
However, Brindle had discovered the house was owned by Edwards’ cousin in-law, Elbert Shirk. Most assumed Edwards and her husband lived in the mansion near Hood Street when they returned to Peru, but Brindle found documents that placed the family at 123 W. Main Street, now owned by the Gorntos.
“We’ve always loved the idea of a historical home, but we didn’t know how much history was actually involved in it when we bought it,” Denise Gornto said. “We always want equality and to push women’s rights – our daughter just registered to vote – and those types of things now hold a little bit more meaning.”
The marker has just under the maximum of 370 characters inscribed on each side. Nicole Poletika, who represented the Indiana Historical Bureau at the dedication, said the work of Edwards goes far beyond what the marker could contain.
“I have done lots of women’s history markers, and she has been one of the hardest to sum up in terms of her significance. It seems like she had an iron in every fire…” Poletika said during the dedication.
Although Edwards’ work was wide-reaching, Brindle said her passion was always for voting and civic involvement. To her, voting was the means necessary for other social changes – the domino effect that gave women a voice for change.
“Her whole life was devoted to giving a voice to a lot of people and, you know, her work with the suffrage movement was to give a voice to women so that they could better their society in general,” Brindle said.
Brindle is one of those voices, thanks to Edwards. After immigrating from Belgium in 1979, just nine years after Edwards died, Brindle said there was one main reason she became a naturalized citizen.
“[Voting] is very pertinent, because that is the only reason why I became a naturalized citizen – so that I would be able to vote. I know a few other people who are naturalized Americans, and it’s very important to them as well. It’s important to make sure that other people don’t run your life,” Brindle said.
Despite all that is known about Edwards, there is still more to be discovered. According to Brindle, there are boxes of documents at the Library of Congress which have never been digitized.
The group of volunteer researchers, who call themselves “Miami County Indiana Worth Remembering,” plans to install more markers in the county and continue recognizing the work of women and other historical figures in the community.
Their next marker is planned for the headquarters of the Indiana Women’s Franchise League at Price Law Offices, which is already recognized but does not have a marker. For Brindle and others who continue searching through the forgotten stories of Miami County, the prospect of finding a new piece of history in those documents is thrilling.
“It is the funnest thing,” Brindle said. “There is nothing like feeling like you had that last piece of the puzzle; that you can put that last piece of the puzzle into the big picture.”
Through piecing together the “big picture” of Edwards’ life, Brindle has come to know Edwards in a unique way. Though the two are separated by the fog of history, Brindle has a relationship with the woman unlike any other.
“Marie is my hero,” Brindle said. “I just wish I could have met her.”
