Since Park County broke off from Big Horn County and organized in 1911, there have been just seven people elected to oversee the office responsible for keeping records for felony criminal cases, civil cases over $50,000, domestic disputes, juvenile court, probate and adoption decrees.
And with the exception of the first clerk of district court, for the last 104 years, that person has been a woman, making the position one of the longest-running gender-specific elected office successions in the state.
Park County’s Clerk Succession
Park County’s first clerk of district court, George S. Russell, served for 11 years, with his daughter, Orilla Downing, as his deputy.
In 1922, Russell died and Downing finished his term. Voters chose her in the next election, which began the tradition of women leading that office for the next century.
Downing held the position for an extraordinary 45 years, retiring in 1967.
Audrey Todd served for the next eight years, from January 1967 until January 1975, followed by Lorraine Chrysler, who served until 1992.
Joyce Boyer was herself a fixture in the office, serving as clerk of court for Wyoming’s 5th Judicial District for 22 years, followed by Patra Lindenthal (from 2014 to 2022) and the current clerk, Deb Carroll.
Boyer told Cowboy State Daily that she was a legal secretary for a Cody attorney’s office when she was encouraged to put her hat in the ring when Chrysler resigned mid-term.
“The law dictates that whatever political party the former elected official is, their party gets to appoint three people, and then the commissioners choose from those three people,” said Boyer.
Conversely, the current clerk, Deb Carroll, was hired as a support staff member back in 2004 and worked in every role in the office prior to her election in 2022.
“I started in criminal juvenile docketing, and then I was promoted to child support and promoted to the second deputy position,” said Carroll. “And then when Patra became the clerk, I was promoted to first deputy. So I've just moved up through all the chairs since I've been here.”
Why Women Court Clerks?
In Wyoming, there is just one county — Lincoln — in which the clerk of district court is a man. Kenneth Roberts was elected in November of 2022, and he succeeded a woman in that role. Carroll said that she believes that women are elected to that office much more often than men because the skills required for the role are often skills that women excel at.
“It's a caretaking role, and it's keeping the records,” she said. “In our juvenile cases, we deal with a lot of the parents, and in our child support cases, we have the custodial parents coming in and talking to us, and we have the non-custodial parents coming in. I think we just try to keep the peace.”
Carroll said whether it’s the organizational aspects of the role or the necessity for peacekeeping, the job of a clerk of district court does seem to require skills that women historically embody.
“I think a man would be just as apt to be able to do this, but maybe it is more of a female attribute,” she said.
In the 2022 election, a man did run for the clerk of district court office, but Carroll defeated Logan Christie by nearly 1,000 votes. Carroll pointed out that there are very few men that even apply for jobs in the clerk’s office.
“When I was hiring, when I became clerk, I really thought a male in the office could change its dynamics and help, and none applied,” she said. “I sometimes think maybe we're more apt for customer service than a man, but I don't know if I really believe that. Because I think if a man was in this position, he's going to try to help, too.”
Boyer posed the idea that fewer men are exposed to the duties of the office, with the exception of attorneys.
“We work so much with (attorneys) and their staff, but their salary is considerably different,” she said. “So I wouldn't think they would be interested, unless maybe they were a brand-new attorney. It would be great experience for them.”
Boyer said a new attorney once told her that one of his law professors gave him a piece of advice, that when he started practicing, the clerk of district court would become his best friend.
“That put a smile on my face,” she said.
Women’s Suffrage in Wyoming
In an office that pre-dates women’s suffrage movements in many other states, the clerk of district court in Park County is just one example of how Wyoming’s women are fundamental in keeping its government running smoothly.
The longest-running gender-specific statewide elected office succession in Wyoming occurred in the office of the Secretary of State, which was held by three women for 32 consecutive years: Thyra Thomson from 1963 to 1987; Kathy Karpan from 1987 to 1995; and Diana Ohman, who served from 1995-1999.
Wyoming also boasts the first woman governor in any U.S. state, Nellie Tayloe Ross. Ross, whose husband, Governor William B. Ross, died in office, won the seat following a special election in 1924.
But Ross wasn’t the first woman in Wyoming elected to a statewide office. In 1894, Estelle Reel was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, making her the first woman in Wyoming elected by voters to a position at the state level.
Women held power in the early years of the Cowboy State in other roles, as well. In 1920, the town of Jackson elected the first all-woman town government in the country. Popularly known as the "Petticoat Rulers,” Mayor Grace Miller and the four councilwomen - Rose Crabtree, Mae Deloney, Faustina Haight, and Genevieve Van Vleck - were elected by the voters, promising (and following through with) significant improvements to roads, electric power, tax collection, and beautification projects.
And, in a first in the nation, Esther Hobart Morris was the first woman to serve as a Justice of the Peace. Morris was appointed to the role in South Pass City in February of 1870, just months after Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to grant women the right to vote.
The Story of Park County’s First Female Clerk of District Court
Amy Hoffman was made aware of the unbroken chain of female clerks while visiting with Boyer, who is also a board member for the Cody Heritage Museum. Hoffman, assistant curator at the Heritage Museum, started researching Orilla Downing and her successors.
“I used Ancestry.com and census records, mostly,” said Hoffman. “Luckily, I was able to find a whole bunch about Orilla and then I used the Park County archives, and I found some pictures of her.”
Although born in Colorado in 1884, Orilla’s family moved to Cody in 1900. In 1907, she married ranch hand Gaylord Downing, and the couple toured with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, with Orilla singing as part of the performance. The couple returned to Cody in 1909, where they raised their three children together until the marriage dissolved in 1917.
Orilla, now a single parent, worked to support her children, with help from her parents. When her father died in 1922, Downing, who had assisted her father in his role as Park County’s first clerk of District Court, finished out his term, and then succeeded him as clerk.
Women Helping Women
In preparation for her retirement, Boyer paved the way for the woman who would end up being voted in as her successor, Patra Lindenthal.
“When I decided I was going to retire, I started taking Patra to all my meetings,” she said. “She was going to run, and I was hoping she'd get it. I wanted her to feel comfortable with the clerks, I wanted her to take an active role.”
And current clerk, Deb Carroll, said that Lindenthal did the same for her.
“Patra was wonderful, teaching me,” she said. “My largest worry was like, ‘Oh my God, you know so much, and I'm always asking you questions.’ And she was like, ‘But when you're in this chair, they're going to ask you the questions, and you're just going to be able to answer them.’ And I guess, that’s pretty much how it's worked out.”
Keeping the “Good Things” In Mind
Boyer said that although the office deals with difficult, dramatic (and often traumatic) situations, she and her staff kept at the top of their minds the reasons why they persevere.
“You are serving the public, and that's the most important thing you can do,” she said. “You have to be available to them when they need help, and especially when it's a court case - people are very stressed when they're involved in a court case.”
Throughout her tenure, Boyer kept a file that she called “Good Things,” which grew quite large in her 22 years in the office.
“That thing was huge,” she said. “We got flowers from people. We got thank you cards. The most important thing to me was that we were willing to go above and beyond in serving the public.”
Boyer recounted a number of situations in which their office took extra steps to help residents in crisis - whether it was pushing through a last-minute passport request for a college student or being part of a small task force that created an entirely new child support services system for the state.
“I loved being Park County Clerk of District Court,” said Boyer. “It was challenging, always interesting, and I hope I served the county well.”
“I think customer service is one of our biggest responsibilities here,” said Carroll. “I mean, keeping the court record, we are the record keepers. But we want to be able to help the people, and we just really, really focus on customer service, and being here for our public.”
Wendy Corr can be reached at wendy@cowboystatedaily.com.
