Helen Louise Nichols Young (1862–1951), also referred to as "Nellie Young," was the first female admitted to practice law in the state of Idaho.

Early life

She was born in 1862 in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

to Sarah A. Nichols. Her family traveled to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

before finally settling in

Osburn, Idaho Osburn is a city in Shoshone County, Idaho, United States. Located in the Silver Valley mining region of northern Idaho, its population was 1,555 at the 2010 census. History The city was named for Bill Osborne, who established a trading post h ...

. In 1870, Young's mother Sarah A. Nichols remarried to Daniel E. Waldron. He was an attorney, and may have inspired Young to enter the legal field. According to the 1880 census, the Waldron family lived in San Francisco, California where Waldron practiced law in an office on Bush Street. A short time later, the Waldron family moved again to north Idaho, where the economy was booming from the mining industry. In the small town of Osburn, Waldron began practicing law. It is believed that Hellen Young began studying law in her stepfather’s office as early as 1885. Young met Orville R. Young, a miner living in Osburn, and married him on June 29, 1887 in Blaine, Idaho. She began teaching in the public schools of

Shoshone County, Idaho Shoshone County is a county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,169. The largest city is Kellogg. The county was established in 1864, named for the Native American Shoshone tribe. Shoshone County is comm ...

shortly thereafter, in 1888. In 1892, a ruling against her husband, the bank try to collect on its judgment by selling Young’s separate property-two lode mining claims known as the “Coeur d’Alene Nellie” and the “Emma” situated in Evolution mining district in Shoshone County. Young hired

Weldon Brinton Heyburn Weldon Brinton Heyburn (May 23, 1852October 17, 1912) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1903 to 1912. Early life Born in southeastern Pennsylvania near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, H ...

to represent her in the title action challenging the sale.

Admittance to Idaho State Bar

On October 26, 1895, Young was admitted to the

Idaho State Bar The Idaho State Bar (ISB) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is a self-governing state agency of the State of Idaho. History Portions of the Idaho Code pertaining to the practice of law in Idaho date ...

on October 26, 1895. At the time of her application, Idaho statutes limited the admission of attorneys in the state to "white males". Despite this restriction, the

Idaho Supreme Court The Idaho Supreme Court is the state supreme court of Idaho and is composed of the chief justice and four associate justices. The decisions of the Idaho Supreme Court are binding on all other Idaho state courts. The only court that may reverse ...

granted her application—perhaps due to Young's application being sponsored by her stepfather, Weldon Brinton Heyburn (who represented her in a mining case), and W. W. Woods. The latter two individuals were delegates of the Idaho State Constitutional Convention in 1889. When Young was admitted, women had not yet been granted the right to vote in the state. Even after being allowed to practice law, Young still continued to work as an educator before she embarked on a political career. She ran against Charles Vance in 1900 for Superintendent of Public Instruction for Shoshone County and won the election by margin of 9 votes. She died in 1951 while residing in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

References

Idaho lawyers 1862 births 1951 deaths 19th-century American women lawyers 19th-century American lawyers People from Shoshone County, Idaho {{US-law-bio-stub

Early life

Admittance to Idaho State Bar

See also

References