Contents: Item Talk | Transcription | Original Document | Timeline

Among the new, California State legislatures’ early acts, they implemented a rule that married women had to receive judicial approval for starting their own businesses. These “Sole Trader Agreements” involved the relevant women applying for judicial approval to become entrepreneurs.

Item Talk

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Transcription

Hello, my name is Deborah Lee with California State Parks and today I’m going to talk about a sole trader document.

Introducing the Document

So I found these documents at the California State Archives in Sacramento. So this one is for an individual named Eliza Jane Cook. And so when I first found the document, it was in a trifold similar to this. And so on the outside of the document, there’s like I said, there’s three parts.

This is the first part. The outside will have that this is sole trader document and it’ll have the individual’s name, Eliza Jane Cook. And then it also has the date that she filed this document, which was in 1862. So that was the first part.

Annoucement and Notary

The second part is called a proof of publication. And this has two parts on one document. So this was actually glued onto this larger piece. So this first one is a newspaper article. And so Eliza Jane Cook had to make a declaration that she wanted to become a sole trader.

So it just states that this is the state of California, that she’s living in Sonoma County, that her name is Eliza Jane Cook. It also includes her husband’s name is JG Cook. And it says that she is intending to submit an application in the district court of the seventh judicial district in Sonoma County, in October of 1862 and the purpose of it is to become a sole trader which would allow her to operate a business in her own name despite the fact that she is married.

And then the document goes on to say that her business will be farming, stock raising, teeming and dairying. And so again, this was the newspaper article that she had to submit into the newspaper.

And on this side is from the County Clerk Recorder’s Office. And so this first individual, his last name is Thompson, and he works for the Sonoma County Democrat. And so basically what this document is saying that, yes, Eliza Jane Cook did submit her proof of intent into the newspaper for four successive weeks. And she did this, she began September of 1862 to do that. And then this is the County Clerk Recorder’s name.I believe it’s Abraham. And so he’s just verifying that he’s seen this. and that this form was submitted. So that’s the second document.

Court Document with Oath

And the third and final document is the district court document. So Eliza Jane Cooke had to go to the court. And so it basically is just saying that the judge has reviewed her publication of notice that everything’s in order. He’s talked to her and found out that she does have a valid reason to become a sole trader. And then again, just states right here that she’s gonna…enter into the business of farming and stock raising, teaming and dairying. And then at the end of the document is the oath that Eliza Jane Cook had to make. And it’s just saying that she does solemnly swear that this application is made in good faith, that she’s doing this so she can support herself and her children, and that she’s not submitting this in order to quote, fraud, delay or hinder any creditor or a creditor of her husband. ah and that she’s only been giving $500 from her husband, either directly or indirectly. And then at the end of the document, you just have the judge’s name signing off on it. And so that is a sole trader document. So I find these sole trader documents interesting because it really gives a snapshot of a woman’s section in society at the time. So this is in the 19th century. And so if you’re a single woman, you can open a business, no problem. But if you’re a married woman, you actually had to uh go to court and get permission from a judge to actually open a business in your own name. So it really shows a woman’s role in society during the 19th-century in California.

Original Document

Timeline