This exhibit examines the lives Emily Keeler and Halcyon Gilbert Bailey, as well as their daughter Dr. Annie Keeler. It touches on 1800s marriage and divorce, property rights of women, women's suffrage, childrearing, and early women doctors in Danbury, Connecticut.

A quick summary is that Emily Keeler (of Ridgefield, CT) and Halcyon Gilbert Bailey (of Southeast, NY) married in 1854. He was a clothing salesman. They lived in NYC, then moved to Ridgefield during the civil war. Halcyon purchased several properties.

Halcyon spent their money freely. There were several legal actions to try and protect Emily's share of the family wealth. Emily tries to divorce him, there’s a deal where some of the family land goes into a trust for her benefit with the caveat that if she tries to divorce or sue him again, he gets the land back. A while later, they get into a lawsuit over who gets to rent out the land. She eventually divorces him in 1872 and he gets the land back.

Emily and Halcyon’s daughter is Dr. Annie Keeler, the third woman doctor in Danbury. She gave sermons, predicted the end-times, was pro women’s suffrage, and had strong opinions on the proper way to raise children. She died in 1927 after a car hit her in a crosswalk a block from her Danbury home/office.