Early Cape Girardeau businesswoman -- Susan Jacobs Block

Women had few legal rights in the early 1800s. Single women had rights to inherit and own property, but married women only had a dower right, the right to one-third of her husband's estate for her lifetime as a widow.

After Simon Z. Block died in 1825, his son, Moses, and friend, Benjamin M. Horrell, initially administered his estate. However, this changed in April 1827, when Simon's widow, Susan, became the administrator. Probate Court also appointed her the guardian of several of her minor children.

Susan Jacobs had been born in Canada (one census states Nova Scotia) in 1788 and was likely the "Sukey" (nickname for Susan) Jacobs who married Simon Z. Block in Richmond, Virginia, on March 30, 1803. If so, she was only 15 at the time of the marriage. The couple had 11 children over the next 22 years.

Susan made the first step toward becoming a businesswoman by purchasing a lot at the northwest corner of Meriwether and Spanish in 1829. Over the next decade, she sold one-third of the lot to each of three of her children -- son Zalma and daughters Rachael Smoot and Virginia McKnight -- probably for the construction of homes.

In 1833 she bought a two-arpen (1.7-acre) block of land "under the hill," between Spanish and Main, from George Collier, who had purchased it from Daniel F. Steinbeck's estate. Here she established her business, the first known commercial establishment in Cape Girardeau owned and operated by a woman. The business was a "tavern stand," and Susan received a license from the County Court on Sept. 15, 1834, to "retail wines and spirituous liquors." The tavern lay at the northwest corner of Themis and Main, the current site of the old Sturdivant Bank building (the former "Wiggery").

Original building housing the Sturdivant Bank on the northwest corner of Themis and Main Street (on the left), site of the 1830s tavern owned and operated by Susan Jacobs Block.Southeast Missourian archive

While operating the business, Susan met a Southeast Missouri merchant, Matteo Bogliolo of New Madrid. Despite the sound of his name, the family was French, and Matteo's father, Etienne Bogliolo, had immigrated from France via the island of Guadalupe. The couple married Oct. 7, 1837, but Susan wanted to ensure her independent financial and property interests remained hers.

The marriage contract between Block and her second husband stipulated that property owned at the time of the marriage was to remain with the owner, and that Bogliolo would pay Susan $4,000 in cash or property. Sadly, the marriage quickly failed. In the divorce proceedings, Bogliolo stated that Susan walked out.

Susan Block operated the tavern until about 1840. She had chronic difficulty paying the mortgage, although her son Zalma assisted. Eventually, Zalma owned the land before the sheriff sold it for debt in June 1840.

Susan likely lived with Zalma in 1840 and was with her daughter Rebecca Rodney in 1850, then Zalma in 1860, and her grandson J.R. Juden in 1870 in New Orleans. Some accounts mention she lived with Zalma and family at the St. Charles Hotel late in life, and often played piano for entertainment. She died Feb. 20, 1873, at age 82.