Mary Ellen Lawson Dabbs (April 25, 1853 – August 19, 1908) was a Texas physician, women's rights activist and writer. Dabbs was an advocate of women's suffrage and of the temperance movement. She was an officer in the Texas Equal Rights Association (TERA). Dabbs also believed that African American women deserved the right to vote in the same manner as white women. Biography Dabbs was born in Rusk County in Texas the only girl of 8 siblings. She grew up on a cotton plantation and was allowed to participate in activities normally reserved for men at the time. Her primary education was in Rusk County and when she was fourteen, she attended school in Gilmer. Dabbs taught for a short time. Then she attended the Furlow Masonic College in Georgia where she was a valedictorian. She taught for five years at Melrose Academy in Nacogdoches County. Dabbs met her husband in Galveston and she helped him in his business ventures, raised his children from a previous marriage and bore him five more children. Her marriage to Joseph Wilkes Dabbs, who was 20 years older than she, was described as "tempestuous" by historian Ruth Karbach. When his sons were of age, her husband deeded over his property to them and she decided she needed her own income. In March 1885, most of the family moved to St. Louis. She became very interested in medicine in 1886 as she became friends with the family physician. She decided to end her "unsatisfactory marriage" and pursue medicine. Her choice to not have sexual intercourse (the only acceptable form of birth control at the time) had enraged her husband who began to physically abuse her. The last time he assaulted her, Dabbs reported that it was "life threatening" and moved to Sulphur Springs where she filed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty. The couple fought over finances and custody of Ellen Dabbs' girls, which she finally was awarded full custody. Dabbs attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Keokuk for two years starting in 1888. Later, she took midwifery in St. Louis. She completed her medical degree after she returned to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1890. For some time, she attempted to practice medicine in Dallas, but was unsuccessful. Her divorce was not finalized, and when the final hearing was set up, Joseph Dabbs and his sons bribed the Sulphur