Emelia Christine Schaub

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Women%27s_Hall_of_Fame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bar_of_Michigan

Emelia Christine Schaub - Michigan's first woman elected prosecutor, the first woman in the United States to successfully defend a murder trial, and a protector of "the rights and tribal existence of native Americans in northwest Michigan."

Born in a log cabin in in Centerville Township, Leelanau County, Michigan in 1891, Emelia Schaub, Michigan’s first woman to be elected and to serve as county prosecutor.

A 6-ton granite boulder outside the county building in Leland bears her name.

Achieved great distinction as a lawyer and citizen. Was the first woman from Leelanau County to practice law in Michigan.

The daughter of Provemont pioneers Simon and Freida Schaub, she attended St. Mary School.

She became the first Leelanau County woman to practice law upon her graduation from Detroit College of Law in 1924. Later earning a masters of Law degree from the University of Detroit. In 1926, news accounts cited her as the first woman attorney in the nations history to successfully defend a murder case.

Miss Schaub was elected to the first of six terms as Leelanau county prosecutor in 1936 to the first of five 2-year terms, followed by a sixth term from 1952-54. While in that office she arranged for the return of Ottawa and Chippewa lands from the state to Leelanau County, creating a de facto reservation. For her efforts, she was made an honorary member of the tribe in 1942. Possession of this land base helped the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indians achieve federal recognition in 1980.

Long active in her profession and community, she served as secretary and treasurer of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan and helped found both the Leelanau Foundation and the Leelanau Historic Society.

Emelia Schaub was elected to the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 1990 and was named a champion of justice of the state bar of Michigan the following year.

At the time of her death in April 1995, Schaub, at 103, was the oldest living alumna of theUniversity of Detroit, having received her master’s degree from the school in 1930.