Mississippi was
the first state
to give married women rights
to their own property.
And it's all because of
a Chickasaw woman
named Elizabeth "Betsy" Love.
Born in the 1780's in what
is now north Mississippi 
but was then the
Chickasaw Nation,
Betsy married a man
named James Allen.
She came to the marriage
with property of her own,
and he came to the
marriage with debt.
When creditors demanded
that Betsy's property
be used to settle
James' debts,
she argued that under
Chickasaw law,
her property
was her own,
and James' creditors
could have no part of it.
The Fisher versus Allen case
went all the way
to the United States
Supreme Court,
which ruled
in Betsy's favor.
This landmark ruling influenced
the Mississippi Legislature
to pass a new law
in February of 1839
recognizing married
women's property rights.
Other states,
as well as England,
soon did the same.
This has been Mississippi:
A Thread Through Time.
