Mary Leonard

Mary Leonard (c. 1845–October 24, 1912) was an American attorney and accused murderer in the state of Oregon. A native of France, she was acquitted for the murder of her husband that many believed she had committed. After her trial, she studied law and became the first female lawyer admitted to the bar in the Washington Territory and in the state of Oregon.

Early years Marie Gysin was born around 1845 in Alsace, France. Her parents, Johannes Gysin and Elisabeth Grieder, were Swiss immigrants to France and worked in a silk mill. Marie was their second oldest child. Several years later the family returned to Switzerland and the canton of Basel. In 1873, her younger sister Rosa immigrated to America and moved to Portland in 1874.

On March 18 the Oregon Supreme Court refused to admit her to Oregon's bar, though the court previously admitted lawyers who had passed the bars of other states.