i
H I STO RY
OP
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
EDITED BT
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON,
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, AND
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE.
ILLUSTRATED WITH STEEL ENGRAVINGS.
THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
1876-1885.
'WOMEN ARE CITIZENS OF THE VNITED STATES, ENTITLED TO ALL THE RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AMD
IMMUNITIES GUARANTEED TO CITIZENS BY THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION."
SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
ROCHESTER, N. Y. : CHARLES MANN.
LONDON : 25 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
PARIS : G. FISCHBACHER, 33 RVE DE SEINE.
1887.
Charles Mann, Printer,
Rochester, >••
PREFACE.
\
THE labors of those who have edited these volumes are
not only finished as far as this work extends, but if three-
score years and ten be the usual limit of human life, all
our earthly endeavors must end in the near future. After
faithfully collecting material for several years, and making the
best selections our judgment has dictated, we are painfully
conscious of many imperfections the critical reader will
perceive. But since stereotype plates will not reflect our
growing sense of perfection, the lavish praise of friends as
to the merits of these pages will have its antidote in the
defects we ourselves discover. We may however without
egotism express the belief that this volume will prove
specially interesting in having a large number of contributors
from England, France, Canada and the United States, giving
personal experiences and the progress of legislation in their
respective localities.
Into younger hands we must soon resign our work; but
as long as health and vigor remain, we hope to publish a
pamphlet report at the close of each congressional term,
containing whatever may be accomplished by State and
National legislation, which can be readily bound in volumes
similar to these, thus keeping a full record of the prolonged
battle until the final victory shall be achieved. To what
extent these publications may be multiplied depends on
when the day of woman's emancipation shall dawn.
For the completion of this work we are indebted to
Eliza Jackson Eddy, the worthy daughter of that noble
iv Preface.
philanthropist, Francis Jackson. He and Charles F. Hovey
are the only men who have ever left a generous bequest
to the woman suffrage movement. To Mrs. Eddy, who
bequeathed to our cause two-thirds of her large fortune,
belong all honor and praise as the first woman who has
given alike her sympathy and her wealth to this momentous
and far-reaching reform. This heralds a turn in the tide of
benevolence, when, instead of building churches and monu-
ments to great men, and endowing colleges for boys, women
will make the education and enfranchisement of their own
sex the chief object of their lives.
The three volumes now completed we leave as a precious
heritage to coming generations ; precious, because they so
clearly illustrate — in her ability to reason, her deeds of
heroism and her sublime self-sacrifice — that woman pre-
eminently possesses the three essential elements of sovereignty
as defined by Blackstone : ''wisdom, goodness and power."
This has been to us a work of love, written without
recompense and given without price to a large circle of
friends. A thousand copies have thus far been distributed
among our coadjutors in the old world and the new. An-
other thousand have found an honored place in the leading
libraries, colleges and universities of Europe and America,
from which we have received numerous testimonies of their
Value as a standard work of reference for those who are
investigating this question. Extracts from these pages are
being translated into every living language, and, like so
many missionaries, are bearing the glad gospel of woman's
emancipation to all civilized nations.
Since the inauguration of this reform, propositions to ex-
tend the right of suffrage to women have been submitted
to the popular vote in Kansas, Michigan, Colorado, Ne-
braska and Oregon, and lost by large majorities in all ;
while, by a simple act of legislature, Wyoming, Utah
and Washington territories have enfranchised their women
without going through the slow process of a constitutional
Preface. v
amendment. In New York, the State that has led this
movement, and in which there has been a more continued
agitation than in any other, we are now pressing on the
legislature the consideration that it has the same power to
extend the right of suffrage to women that it has so often
exercised in enfranchising different classes of men.
Eminent publicists have long conceded this power to State
legislatures as well as to congress, declaring that women as
citizens of the United States have the right to vote, and
that a simple enabling act is all that is needed. The con-
stitutionality of such an act was never questioned until the
legislative power was invoked for the enfranchisement of
women. We who have studied our republican institutions
and understand the limits of the executive, judicial and
legislative branches of the government, are aware that the
legislature, directly representing the people, is the primary
source of power, above all courts and constitutions. Re-
search into the early history of this country shows that in
line with English precedent, women did vote in the old
colonial days and in the original thirteen States of the
Union. Hence we are fully awake to the fact that our
struggle is not for the attainment of a new right, but for
the restitution of one our fore-mothers possessed and ex-
ercised.
All thoughtful readers must close these volumes with a
deeper sense of the superior dignity, self-reliance and inde-
pendence that belong by nature to woman, enabling her to
rise above such multifarious persecutions as she has en-
countered, and with persistent self-assertion to maintain her
rights. In the history of the race there has been no
struggle for liberty like this. Whenever the interest of the
ruling classes has induced them to confer new rights on
a subject class, it has been done with no effort on the
part of the latter. Neither the American slave nor the
English laborer demanded the right of suffrage. It was
given in both cases to strengthen the liberal party. The
vi Preface.
philanthropy of the few may have entered into those re-
forms, but political expediency carried both measures.
Women, on the contrary, have fought their own battles ;
and in their rebellion against existing conditions have in-
augurated the most fundamental revolution the world has
ever witnessed. The magnitude and multiplicity of the
changes involved make the obstacles in the way of success
seem almost insurmountable.
The narrow self-interest of all classes is opposed to the
sovereignty of woman. The rulers in the State are not
willing to share their power with a class equal if not
superior to themselves, over which they could never hope
for absolute control, and whose methods of government
might in many respects differ from their own. The an-
nointed leaders in the Church are equally hostile to free-
dom for a sex supposed for wise purposes to have been
subordinated by divine decree. The capitalist in the world
of work holds the key to the trades and professions, and
undermines the power of labor unions in their struggles
for shorter hours and fairer wages, by substituting the cheap
labor of a disfranchised class, that cannot organize its forces,
thus making wife and sister rivals of husband and brother
in the industries, to the detriment of both classes. Of the
autocrat in the home, John Stuart Mill has well said :
"No ordinary man is willing to find at his own fireside an
equal in the person he calls wife." Thus society is based
on this fourfold bondage of woman, making liberty and
equality for her antagonistic to every organized institution-
Where, then, can we rest the lever with which to lift one-
half of humanity from these depths of degradation but on
"that columbiad of our political life — the ballot — which
makes every citizen who holds it a full-armed monitor"?
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
VOL. III.
PHCEBE W. COUZINS Frontispiece.
MARILLA M. RICHER page 112
FRANCES E. WILLARD 129
JANE H. SPOFFORD 192
HARRIET H. ROBINSON 273
PHEBE A. HANAFORD 337
ARMENIA S. WHITE 369
LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE 417
RACHEL G. FOSTER 465
CORNELIA C. HUSSEY 481
MAY WRIGHT SEWALL 545
ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT 592
SARAH BURGER STEARNS 656
MARIETTA M. BONES 672
CLARA BEWICK COLBY 689
HELEN M. COUGAR 704
LAURA DEFORCE GORDON 753
ABIGAIL SCOTT DUNIWAY 769
CAROLINE E. MERRICK 801
MARY B. CLAY 817
MENTIA TAYLOR 833
PRISCILLA BRIGHT MCLAREN. 864
GEORGE SAND 896
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CENTENNIAL YEAR — 1876.
The Dawn of the New Century — Washington Convention — Congressional Hear-
ing— Woman's Protest — May Anniversary — Centennial Parlors in Philadelphia
— Letters and Delegates to Presidential Conventions — 50,000 Documents sent
out — The Centennial Autograph Book — The Fourth of July — Independence
Square — Susan B. Anthony reads the Declaration of Rights — Convention in
Dr. Furness' Church, Lucretia Mott, Presiding — The Hutchinson Family,
John and Asa — The Twenty-eighth Anniversary, July 19, Edward M. Davis,
Presiding — Letters, Ernestine L. Rose, Clarina I. H. Nichols — The Ballot-
Box — Retrospect— The Woman's Pavilion I
CHAPTER XXVIII.
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS, HEARINGS AND REPORTS.
1877-1878-1879.
Renewed Appeal for a Sixteenth Amendment — Mrs. Gage Petitions for a Re-
moval of Political Disabilities — Ninth Washington Convention, 1877 — Jane
Grey Swisshelm — Letters, Robert Purvis, Wendell Phillips, Francis E. Abbott
— 10,000 Petitions Referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections by
Special Request of the Chairman, Hon. O P. Morton, of Indiana — May An-
niversary in New York — Tenth Washington Convention, 1878 — Frances E.\
Willard and 30,000 Temperance Women Petition Congress — 40,000 Petition)
for a Sixteenth Amendment — Hearing before the Committee on Privileges and
Elections — Madam Dahlgren's Protest — Mrs. Hooker's Hearing on Washing-
ton's Birthday — Mary Clemmer's Letter to Senator Wadleigh — His Adverse
Report — Thirtieth Anniversary, Unitarian Church, Rochester, N. Y., July 19,
1878 — The Last Convention Attended by Lucretia Mott — Letters, William
Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips — Church Resolution Criticised by Rev. Dr.
Strong — International Women's Congress in Paris — Washington Convention,
1879 — Favorable Minority Report by Senator Hoar — U. S. Supreme Court
Opened to Women — May Anniversary at St. Louis — Address of Welcome by
Phoebe Couzins — Women in Council Alone — Letter from Josephine Butler, of
England — Mrs. Stanton's Letter to The National Citizen and Ballot-Box . 57
CHAPTER XXIX.
CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS AND CONVENTIONS.
I88o-l88l.
Why we Hold Conventions in Washington — Lincoln Hall Demonstration — Sixty-
six Thousand Appeals — Petitions Presented in Congress — Hon. T. W. Ferry of
x. Contents.
Michigan in the Senate — Hon. Geo. B. Loiing of Massachusetts in the House
— Hon. J. J. Davis of North Carolina Objected — Twelfth Washington Con-
vention— Hearings before the Judiciary Committee of both Houses, 1880 —
May Anniversary at Indianapolis — Series of Western Conventions — Presidential
Nominating Conventions — Delegates and Addresses to each — Mass-Meeting
at Chicago — Washington Convention, 1881 — Memorial Service to Lucretia
Mott — Mrs. Stanton's Eulogy — Discussion in the Senate on a Standing Com-
mittee— Senator McDonald of Indiana Champions the Measure — May Anni-
versary in Boston — Conventions in the chief cities of New England . . . 150
CHAPTER XXX.
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES AND CONVENTIONS.
1882-1883.
Prolonged Discussions in the Senate on a Special Committee to Look After the
Rights of Women, Messrs. Bayard, Morgan and Vest in Opposition — Mr.
Hoar Champions the Measure in the Senate, Mr. Reed in the House — Wash-
ington Convention — Representative Orth and Senator Saunders on the Woman
Suffrage Platform — Hearings Before Select Committees of Senate and House
— Reception Given by Mrs. Spofford at the Riggs House — Philadelphia Con-
vention— Mrs. Hannah Whitehall Smith's Dinner — Congratulations from the
Central Committee of Great Britain — Majority and Minority Reports in the
Senate — E. G. Lapham, J. Z. George — Nebraska Campaign — Conventions
in Omaha — Joint Resolution Introduced by Hon. John D. White of Ken-
tucky, Referred to the Select Committee — Washington Convention, January
24, 25, 26, 1883 — Majority Report in the House. .... . 198
CHAPTER XXXI.
MASSACHUSETTS.
The Woman's Hour — Lydia Maria Child Petitions Congress — First New England
Convention — The New England, American and Massachusetts Associations —
Woman's Journal — Bishop Gilbert Haven — The Centennial Tea-Party —
County Societies — Concord Convention — Thirtieth Anniversary of the Wor-
cester Convention — School Suffrage Association — Legislative Hearing — First
Petitions — The Remonstrants Appear — Women in Politics — Campaign of 1872
— Great Meeting in Tremont Temple — Women at the Polls — Provisions of
Former State Constitutions — Petitions, 1853 — School-Committee Suffrage,
1879 — Women Threatened with Arrest — Changes in the Laws — Woman Now
Owns her own Clothing — Harvard Annex — Woman in the Professions — Sam-
uel E. Sewall and William I. Bowditch — Supreme-Court Decisions — Sarah E.
Wall — Francis Jackson — Julia Ward Howe — Mary E. Stevens — Lucia M.
Peabody — Lelia Josephine Robinson — Eliza (Jackson) Eddy's Will . . . 265
CHAPTER XXXII.
CONNECTICUT.
Prudence Crandall — Eloquent Reformers — Petitions for Suffrage — The Com-
mittee's Report — Frances Ellen Burr — Isabella Beecher Hooker's Reminis-
cences— Anna Dickinson in the Republican Campaign — State Society Formed
October 28, 29, 1869 — Enthusiastic Convention in Hartford — Governor Mar-
shall Jewell — He recommends More Liberal Laws for Women — Society
Formed in New Haven, 1871 — Governor Hubbard's Inaugural, 1877 — Samuel
Contents. xL
Bowles of the Springfield Republican — Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Chaplain,
1870— John Hooker, Esq., Champions the Suffrage Movement — The Smith
Sisters — Mary Hall — Chief-Justice Park — Frances Ellen Burr — Hartford Equal
Rights Club 316
CHAPTER XXXIII.
RHODE ISLAND.
Senator Anthony in North American Review — Convention in Providence— State
Association organized, Paulina Wright Davis, President — Report of Elizabeth
B. Chase — Women on School Boards — Women's Board of Visitors to the Penal
and Correctional Institutions — Dr. Win. F. Channing — Miss Ida Lewis —
Letter of Frederick A. Hinckley — Last Words of Senator Anthony . . . 339
CHAPTER XXXIV.
MAINE.
•
Women on School Committees — Elvira C. Thorndyke — First Suffrage Society
organized, 1868, Rockland — Portland Meeting, 1870 — John Neal — Judge
Goddard — Colby University Open to Girls, August 12, 1871 — Mrs. Clara
Hapgood Nash Admitted to the Bar, October 26, 1872 — Tax- Payers Protest
— Ann F. Greeley, 1872 — March, 1872, Bill for Woman Suffrage Lost in the
House, Passed in the Senate by Seven Votes — Miss Frank Charles, Register
of Deeds — Judge Reddington — Mr. Randall's Motion — Moral Eminence of
Maine — Convention in Granite Hall, Augusta, January, 1873, Hon. Joshua
Nye, President — Delia A. Curtis — Opinions of the Supreme Court in Regard
to Women Holding Offices — Governor Dingley's Message, 1875 — Convention,
Representatives Hall, Portland, Judge Kingsbury, President, Feb. 12, '76 —
The two Snow Families — Hon. T. B. Reed 351
CHAPTER XXXV.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Nathaniel P. Rogers — Parker Pillsbury — Galen Foster — The Ilutchinson Family
— First Organized Action, 1868 — Concord Convention — William Lloyd Gar-
rison's Letter — Rev. S. L. Blake Opposed — Rev. Mr. Sanborn in Favor —
Concord Monitor — Armenia S. White — A Bill to Protect the Rights of Mar-
ried Men — Minority and Majority Reports — Women too Ignorant to Vote —
Republican State Convention — Women on School Committees, 1870 — Vot-
ing at School District Meetings, 1878 — Mrs. White's Address — Mrs. Ricker on
Prison Reform — Judicial Decision in Regard to Married Women, 1882 — Let-
ter from Senator Blair 367
CHAPTER XXXVI.
VERMONT.
Clarina Howard Nichols— Council of Censors — Amending the Constitution— St.
Andrew's Letter — Mr. Reed's Report — Convention Called — H. B. Blackwell
on the Vermont Watchman — Mary A. Livermore in the IVoman s Journal —
Sarah A. Gibbs' Reply to Rev. Mr. Holmes— School Suffrage, 1880 . . . 383
xii. Contents.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
NEW YORK — 1860-1885.
Saratoga Convention, July 13, 14, 1869 — State Society Formed, Martha C.
Wright, President — The devolution Established, 1068 — Educational Move-
ment— New York City Society, 1870, Charlotte B. \Vilbour, President — Presi-
dential Campaign, 1872 — Hearings at Albany, 1873 — Constitutional Commis-
sion— An Effort to Open Columbia College, President Barnard in Favor —
Centennial Celebration, 1876 — School Officers — Senator Emerson of Monroe,
1877 — Governor Robinson's Veto — School Suffrage, 1880— Governor Cornell
Recommended it in his Message — Stewart's Home for Working Women
— Women as Police — An Act to Prohibit Disfranchisement — Attorney-
General Russell's Adverse Opinion — The Power of the Legislature to Extend
Suffrage — Great Demonstration in Chickering Hall, March 7, 1884 — Hearing
at Albany, 1885 — Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Howell, Gov.
Hoyt of Wyoming 395
CHAPTER XX*XVIII.
PENNSYLVANIA.
Carrie Burnham— The Canon and Civil Law the Source of Woman's Degradation
— Women Sold with Cattle in 1768 — Women Arrested in Pittsburg — Mrs. Mc-
Manus — Opposition to Women in Colleges and Hospitals; John W. Forney
Vindicates their Rights — Ann Preston — Women in Dentistry — James Truman's
Letter — Swarthmore College — Suffrage Association Formed in 1866, in Phila-
delphia— John K. Wildman's Letter — Judge William S. Pierce — The Citizens'
Suffrage Association, 333 Walnut Street, Edward M. Davis, President — Pe-
titions to the Legislature — Constitutional Convention, 1873 — Bishop Simpson,
Mary Grew, Sarah C. Hallowell, Matilda Hindman, Mrs. Stanton, Address
the Convention — Messrs. Broomall and Campbell Debate with the Opposition
— Amendment Making Women Eligible to School Offices — Two Women Elected
to Philadelphia School Board, 1874 — The Wages of Married Women Protected
— J. Edgar Thomson's Will — Literary Women as Editors — The Rev. Knox
Little — Anne E. McDowell — Women as Physicians in Insane Asylums — The
Fourteenth Amendment Resolution, iSSi — Ex-Gov. Hoyt's Lecture on Wy-
oming
CHAPTER XXXIX.
NEW JERSEY.
Women Voted in the Early Days — Deprived of the Right by Legislative Enact-
ment in 1807 — Women Demand the Restoration of Their Rights in 1868 — At
the Polls in Vineland and Roseville Park — Lucy Stone Agitates the Question
— State Suffrage Society Organized in 1867 — Conventions — A Memorial to the
Legislature — Mary F. Davis — Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford — Political Science
Club — Mrs. Cornelia C. Hussey — Orange Club, 1870 — Mrs. Devereux Blake
gives the Oration, July 4, 1884 — Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's Letter — The
Laws of New Jersey in Regard to Property and Divorce — Constitutional Com-
mission, 1873 — Trial of Rev. Isaac M. See — Women Preaching in his Pulpit
— The Case Appealed — Mis. Jones, Jailoress — Legislative Hearings . . 476
Contents. xiii.
CHAPTER XL.
OHIO.
The First Soldiers' Aid Society — Mrs. Mendenhall — Cincinnati Equal Rights As-
sociation, 1868 — Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital — Hon. J. M.
Ashley — State Society, 1869 — Murat Halstead's Letter — Dayton Convention,
1870 — Women Protest Against Enfranchisement — Sarah Knowles Bolton —
Statistics on Coeducation by Thomas Wentworth Higginson — Woman's Crusade,
1874 — Miriam M. Cole — Ladies' Health Association — Professor Curtis — Hos-
pital for Women and Children, 1879 — Letter from J. D. Buck, M. D. —
March, 1881, Degrees Conferred on Wromen — Toledo Association, 1869 —
Sarah Langdon Williams — The Sunday Journal — The Ballot-Box — Constitu-
tional Convention — Judge Waite — Amendment Making Women Eligible to
Office — Mr. Voris, Chairman Special Committee on Woman Suffrage — State
Convention, 1873 — Rev. Robert McCune — Centennial Celebration — Women
Decline to Take Part — Correspondence — Newbury Association — Women
Voting, 1871 — Sophia Ober Allen — Annual Meeting, Painesville, 1885 — State
Society, Mrs. Frances M. Casement, President — Adelbert College . . . 491
CHAPTER XLL
MICHIGAN.
Women's Literary Clubs and Libraries — Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone — Classes of Girls
in Europe — Ernestine L. Rose — Legislative Action, 1849-1885 — State Woman
Suffrage Society, 1870— Annual Conventions — Northwestern Association —
Wendell Phillips' Letter — Nannette Gardner votes — Catharine A. F. Stebbins
Refused — Legislative Action — Amendments Submitted — An Active Canvas of
the State by Women — Election Day — The Amendment Lost, 40,000 Men
Voted in Favor — University at Ann Arbor Opened to Girls, 1869 — Kalamazoo
Institute — J. A. B. Stone— Miss Madeline Stockwell and Miss Sarah Burger
Applied for Admission to the University in 1857 — Episcopal Church Bill —
Local Societies — Quincy — Lansing — St. Johns — Manistee — Grand Rapids—
Sojourner Truth — Laura C. Haviland — Sybil Lawrence 513
CHAPTER XLII.
INDIANA.
The First WToman Suffrage Convention After the War, 1869 — Amanda M. Way
— Annual Meetings, 1870-85, in the Larger Cities — Indianapolis Equal Suf-
frage Society, 1878 — A Course of Lectures — In May, iSSo, National Conven-
tion in Indianapolis — Zerelda G. Wallace — Social Entertainment — Governor
Albert G. Porter — Susan B. Anthony's Birthday — Schuyler Colfax — Legislative
Hearings — Temperance Wromen of Indiana — Helen M. Cougar — General As-
sembly— Delegates to Political Conventions — Women Address Political Meet-
ings— Important Changes in the Laws for Women, from iSooto 1884 — Col-
leges Open to \Vomen — Demia Butler — Professors — Lawyers — Doctors — Min-
isters— Miss Catharine Merrill — Miss Elizabeth Eaglestield — Rev. Prudence
Le Clerc — Dr. Mary F. Thomas — Prominent Men and Women — George W.
Julian — The Journals — Gertrude Garrison 533
xiv. Contents.
CHAPTER XLIII.
ILLINOIS.
Chicago a Great Commercial Centre — First Woman Suffrage Agitation, 1855 — A.
J. Grover — Society at Earlville — Prudence Crandall — Sanitary Movement —
Woman in Journalism — MyraBradwell — Excitement in Elmwood Church, 1868
— Mrs. Huldah Joy — Pulpit Utterances — Convention, 1869, Library Hall,
Chicago— Anna Dickinson, Robert Laird Collier Debate — Manhood Suffrage
Denounced by Mrs. Stan ton and Miss Anthony — Judge Charles B. Waite on
the Constitutional Convention — Hearing before the Legislature — Western Suf-
frage Convention, Mrs. Livermore, President — Annual Meeting at Blooming-
ton — Women Eligible to School Offices — Evanston College — Miss Alta Hulett
Medical Association — Dr. Sarah H ackett Stevenson— " Woman's Kingdom"
in the Inter-Ocean — Mrs. Harbert — Centennial Celebration at Evanston —
Temperance Petition, 180,000— Frances E. Willard — Social Science Associa-
tion— Art Union — Jane Graham Jones at International Congress in Paris —
Moline Association 559
CHAPTER XLIV.
MISSOURI.
Missouri the first State to Open Colleges of Law and Medicine to Woman — Lib-
eral Legislation — Harriet Hosmer — Wayman Crow — Dr. Joseph N. McDowell
— Works of Art — Women in the War — Adeline Couzins — Virginia L. Minor —
Petitions — Woman Suffrage Association, May 8, 1867 — First Woman Suffrage
Convention, Oct. 6, 1869 — Able Resolutions by Francis Minor — Action Asked
for in the Methodist Church — Constitutional Convention — Mrs. Hazard's Re-
port— National Suffrage Association, 1879 — Virginia L. Minor Before the
Committee on Constitutional Amendments — Mrs. Minor Tries to Vote — Her
Case in the Supreme Court — Mrs. Annie R. Irvine — "Oregon Woman's
Union " — Miss Phoebe Couzins Graduates From the Law School, 1871 —
Reception by Members of the Bar — Speeches — Dr. Walker — Judge Krum —
Hon. Albert Todd — Ex-Governor E O. Stanard — Ex-Senator Henderson —
Judge Reber— George M. Stewart — Mrs. Minor — Miss Couzins . . . 594
CHAPTER XLV.
IOWA.
Beautiful Scenery — Liberal in Politics and Reforms — Legislation for Women —
No Right yet to Joint Earnings — Early Agitation — Frances Dana Gage, 1854
— Mrs. Amelia Bloomer Lectures in Council Bluffs, 1856— Mrs. Martha H.
Brinkerhoff — Mrs. Annie Savery, 1868— County Associations Formed in 1869
— State Society Organized at Mt. Pleasant, 1870, Henry O'Connor, President
— Mrs. Cutler Answers Judge Palmer — First Annual Meeting, Des Moines
— Letter from Bishop Simpson — The State Register Complimentary — Mass-
Meeting at the Capitol — Mrs. Savery and Mrs. Harbert — Legislative Action —
Methodist and Universalist Churches Indorse Woman Suffrage — Republican
Plank, 1874 — Governor Carpenter's Message, 1876 — Annual Meeting, 1882,
Many Clergymen Present — Five Hundred Editors Interviewed — Miss Hind-
man and Mrs. Campbell — Mrs. Callanan Interviews Governor Sherman, 1884
— Lawyers — Governor Kirkwood Appoints Women to Office — County Super-
intendents— Elizabeths. Cook — Journalism — Literature— Medicine — Ministry
— Inventions — President of a National Bank — The Heroic Kate Shelly — Tem-
perance— Improvement in the Laws 6 12
Contents. xv.
CHAPTER XLVI.
WISCONSIN.
Progressive Legislation — The Rights of Married Women — The Constitution
Shows Four Classes Having the Right to Vote — Woman Suffrage Agitation —
C. L. Sholes' Minority Report, 1856 — Judge David Noggle and J. T. Mills'
Minority Report, 1859 — State Association Formed, 1869 — Milwaukee Conven-
tion— Dr. Laura Ross — Hearing Before the Legislature — Convention in Janes-
ville, 1870 — State University — Elizabeth R. Wentworth — Suffrage Amend-
ment, iSSo, '81, '82 — Rer. Olympia Brown, Racine, 1877 — Madam Anneke
— Judge Ryan — Three Days' Convention at Racine, 1883 — Eveleen L. Ma-
son— Dr. Sarah Munro — Rev. Dr. Corwin — Lavinia Godell, Lawyer — Angie
King — Kate Kane . 638
CHAPTER XLVII.
MINNESOTA.
Girls in State University — Sarah Burger Stearns — Harriet E. Bishop, the First
Teacher in St. Paul — Mary J. Colburn Won the Prize — Mrs. Jane Grey Swiss-
helm, St. Cloud — Fourth of July Oration, 1866 — First Legislative Hearing,
1867 — Governor Austin's Veto — First Society at Rochester — Kasson — Almira
W. Anthony— Mary P. Wheeler— Harriet M. White— The W. C. T. U.—
Harriet A. Hobart — Literary and Art Clubs — School Suffrage, 1876 — Char-
lotte O. Van Cleve and Mrs. C. S. Winchell Elected to School Board— Mrs.
Governor Pillsbury — Temperance Vote, 1877 — Property Rights of Married
Women — Women as Officers, Teachers, Editors, Ministers, Doctors, Lawyers. 649
CHAPTER XLVIII.
DAKOTA.
Influences of Climate and Scenery — Legislative Action, 1872 — Mrs. Marietta
Bones — In February, 1879, School Suffrage Granted Women — Constitutional
Convention, 1883 — Matilda Joslyn Gage Addressed a Letter to the Conven-
tion and an Appeal to the Women of the State — Mrs. Bones Addressed the
Convention in Person — The Effort to get the Word " Male " out of the Con-
stitution Failed — Legislature of 1885 — Major Pickler Presents the Bill — Car-
ried Through Both Houses — Governor Pierce's Veto — Major Pickler's Letter. 662
CHAPTER XLIX.
NEBRASKA.
Clara Bewick Colby — Nebraska Came into the Possession of the United States,
1803 — The Home of the Dakotas — Organized as a Territory, 1854 — Territorial
Legislature — Mrs. Amelia Bloomer Addresses the House — Gen. Wm. Lari-
mer, 1856 — A Bill to Confer Suffrage on Women — Passed the House — Lost
in the Senate — Constitution Harmonized with the Fourteenth Amendment —
Admitted as a State March I, 1867 — Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony Lecture in
the State, 1867 — Mrs. Tracy Cutler, 1870 — Mrs. Esther L. Warner's Letter —
Constitutional Convention, 1871 — Woman Suffrage Amendment Submitted —
Lost by 12,676 against, 3.502 for — Prolonged Discussion — Constitutional Con-
vention, 1875 — Grasshoppers Devastate the Country — Inter-Ocean, Mrs. Har-
bert — Omaha Republican, 1876 — Woman's Column Edited by Mrs. Harriet S.
xvi. Contents.
Brooks — "Woman's Kingdom" — State Society Formed, January 19, 1881,
Mrs. Brooks President — Mrs. Dinsmoor, Mrs. Colby, Mrs. Brooks, before the
Legislature — Amendment again Submitted — Active Canvass of the State, 1882
— First Convention of the State Association — Charles F. Manderson — Unreli-
able Politicians — An Unfair Count of Votes for Woman Suffrage — Amendment
Defeated — Conventions in Omaha — Notable Women in the State — Conven-
tions— Woman's Tribune Established in 1883 670
CHAPTER L.
KANSAS.
Effect of the Popular Vote on Woman Suffrage — Anna C. Wait — Hannah Wilson
— Miss Kate Stephens, Professor of Greek in State University — Lincoln
Centre Society, 1879 — The Press — The Lincoln Beacon — Election, 1880 — •
Sarah A. Brown, Democratic Candidate — Fourth of July Celebration — Women
Voting on the School Question — State Society, 1884 — Helen M. Cougar —
Clara Bewick Colby — Bertha H. Ellsworth — Radical Reform Association —
Mrs. A. G. Lord — Prudence Crandall — Clarina Howard Nichols — Laws —
Women in the Professions — Schools — Political Parties — Petitions to the Legis-
lature— Col. F. G. Adams' Letter 696
CHAPTER LI.
COLORADO.
Great American Desert — Organized as a Territory, February 28, 1 860 — Gov.
McCook's Message Recommending Woman Suffrage, 1870— Adverse Legisla-
tion— Hon. Amos Steck — Admitted to the Union, 1876— Constitutional Con-
vention— Efforts to Strike Out the \Vord '"Male" — Convention to Discuss
Woman Suffrage — School Suffrage Accorded — State Association Formed,
Alida C. Avery, President — Proposition for Full Suffrage Submitted to the
Popular Vote — A Vigorous Campaign — Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Patterson of
Denver — Opposition by the Clergy — Their Arguments Ably Answered — D. M.
Richards — The Amendment Lost — The Rocky Mountain News . . . .712
CHAPTER LIT.
WYOMING.
The Dawn of the New Day, December, 1869 — The Goal Reached in England
and America — Territory Organized, May, 1869 — Legislative Action — Bill for
Woman Suffrage — William H. Bright — Gov. Campbell Signs the Bill — Ap-
points Esther Morris, Justice of the Peace, March, 1870 — Women on the Jury,
Chief-Justice Howe, Presiding — J. Wr. Kingman, Associate-Justice, Addresses
the Jury — Women Promptly Take Their Places — Sunday Laws Enforced —
Comments of the Press — Judge Howe's Letter — Laramie Sentinel — J. H.
Hayford — Women Voting, 1870— Grandma Swain the First to Cast her Ballot
— Effort to Repeal the Law, 1871 — Gov. Campbell's Veto — Mr. Corlett —
Rapid Growth of Public Opinion in Favor of Woman Suffrage .... 726
CHAPTER LIII.
CALIFORNIA.
Liberal Provisions in the Constitution — Elizabeth T. Schenck — Eliza W. Farnham
— Mrs. Mills' Seminary, now a State Institution — Jeannie Carr, State Super-
Contents. xvii.
intendent of Schools — First Awakening — The Revolution — Anna Dickinson —
Mrs. Gordon Addresses the Legislature, 1 868 — Mrs. Pitts Stevens Edits The
Pioneer — First Suffrage Society on the Pacific Coast, 1869 — State Convention,
January 26, 1870, Mrs. Wallis, President — State Association Formed, Mrs.
Haskell of Pctaluma, President — Mrs. Gordon Nominated for Senator — In
1871, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony Visit California — Hon. A. A. Sargent
Speaks in Favor of Suffrage for Women — Ellen Clark Sargent Active in the
Movement — Legislation Making Women Eligible to Hold School Offices, 1873
— July 10, 1873, State Society Incorporated, Sarah Wallis, President — Mrs.
Clara Foltz — A Bill Giving Women the Right to Practice Law— The Bill
Passed and Signed by the Governor — Contest Over Admitting Women into
the Law Department of the University — Supreme Court Decision Favorable —
Hon. A. A. Sargent on the Constitution and Laws — Journalists and Printers
Silk Culture — Legislative Appropriation — Mrs. Knox Goodrich Celebrates
July 4, 1876 — Imposing Demonstration — Ladies in the Procession . . . 749
CHAPTER LIV.
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
The Long Marches Westward — Abigail Scott Duniway — Mary Olney Brown —
The First Steps in Oregon — Col. C. A. Reed — Judge G. W. Lawson — 1870 —
The New Northwest, 1871 — Campaign, Mrs. Duniway and Miss Anthony —
They Address the Legislature in Washington Territory — Hon. Elwood Evans
— Suffrage Societies Organized at Olympia and Portland — Before the Oregon
Legislature — Donation Land Act — Hon. Samuel Corwin's Suffrage Bill — Mar-
ried Woman's Sole Traders' Bill — Temperance Alliance — Women Rejected —
Major Williams Fights Their Battles and Triumphs — Mrs. H. A. Loughary —
Progressive Legislation, 1874 — Mob-Law in Jacksonville, 1879 — Dr. Mary A.
Thompson — Constitutional Convention, 1878 — Woman Suffrage Bill, 1880—
Hon. W. C. Fulton — Women Enfranchised in Washington Territory, Nov.
15, 1883 — Great Rejoicing, Bonfires, Ratification Meetings — Constitutional
Amendment Submitted in Oregon and Lost, June, 1884 — Suffrage by Legis-
lative Enactment Lost — Fourth of July Celebrated at Vancouvers — Benjamin
and Mary Olney Brown — Washington Territory — Legislation in 1867-68 Fav-
orable to Women — Mrs. Brown Attempts to Vote and is Refused — Charlotte
Olney French — Women Vote at Grand Mound and Black River Precincts,
1870 — Retrogressive Legislation, 1871 — Abby II. Stuart in Land-Office —
Hon. William II. White — Idaho and Montana 767
CHAPTER LV.
LOUISIANA — TEXAS — ARKANSAS — MISSISSIPPI.
St. Anna's Asylum, Managed by Women — Constitutional Convention, 1879 —
Women Petition — Clara Merrick Guthrie — Petition Referred to Committee on
Suffrage — A Hearing Granted — Mrs. Keating — Mrs. Saxon — Mrs. Merrick —
Col. John M. Sandige — Efforts of the Women all in Vain — Action in 1885 —
Gov. McEnery — The Daily Picayune — Women as Members of the School
Board — Physiology in the Schools — Miss Eliza Rudolph — Mrs. E. J. Nicholson
— Judge Merrick's Digest of Laws — Texas — Arkansas — Mississippi — Sarah A.
Dorsey
xviii. Contents.
CHAPTER LV. (CONTINUED).
J.IMKKT ()!•• * ol.rMllIA- M AKVLAND— -DELAWARE— KENTUCKY— TENNKS-
SKK— VIRGINIA —WEST YII«;iNI.\— NORTH CAROLINA— SOUTH
CAROLINA — FLORIDA — ALABAMA — GEORGIA.
Secretary Chase — Women in tlie ('•overnmcnt Departments — Myrtilla Miner —
Mrs. O'Connor's Tribute — District of Columbia Suffrage Bill — The Universal
Franchise Association, 1867 — 15111 for a Prohibitory Law Presented by Hon.
S. C. Pomeroy, 1869 — A Bill for Equal Wages for the Women in the Depart-
ments, Introduced by Hon. S. M. Arnejl, 1870 — In 1871 Congress Passed the
Organic Act for the District Confining the Right of Suffrage to Males — In
1875 it Withdrew all Legislative Power from the People — Women in Law,
Medicine, Journalism and the Charities — Dental College Opened to Women —
Mary A. Stewart — The Clay Sisters — The School of Pharmacy — Elizabeth
Aveiy Meriwether — Judge Underwood — Mary Bayard Clarke — Dr. Susan
Dimock — Governor Chamberlain — Coffee-Growing — Priscilla Holmes Drake —
Alexander II. Stephens 808
CHAPTER LV. (CONCLUDED).
CANADA.
Miss Phelps of St. Catharines — The Revolt of the Thirteen Colonies — First Par-
liament— Property Rights of Married Women — School Suffrage Thirty Years
— Municipal Suffrage, 1882, 1884 — Women Voting in Toronto, 1886 — Mrs.
Curzon — Dr. Emily II. Stone — Woman's Literary Club of Toronto— Nova
Scotia — New Brunswick — Miss Harriet Stewart 831
CHAPTER LVI.
GREAT BRITAIN.
Women Send Members to Parliament — Sidney Smith, Sir Robert Peel, Richard
Cobden — The Ladies of Oldham — Jeremy Bentham — Anne Knight — Northern
Reform Society, 1858 — Mrs. Matilda Biggs — Unmarried Women and Widows
Petition Parliament — Associations Formed in London, Manchester, Edin-
burgh, 1867 — John Stuart Mill in Parliament — Seventy-three Votes for his Bill
— John Bright's Vote — Women Register and Vote — Lord-Chief-Justice of
England Declares their Constitutional Right — The Courts Give Adverse De-
cisions— Jacob Bright Secures the Municipal Franchise — First Public Meeting
— Division on Jacob Bright's Bill to Remove Political Disabilities — Mr. Glad-
stone's Speech — Work of 1871-72 — Fourth Vote on the Suffrage Bill — Jacob
Bright Fails of Reelection — Efforts of Mr. Forsyth — Memorial of the National
Society — Some Account of the Workers — Vote of the New Parliament, 1875 —
Organized Opposition — Diminished Adverse Vote of 1878 — Mr. Courtney's
Resolution — Letters — Great Demonstrations at Manchester — London — Bristol
— Nottingham — Birmingham — Sheffield — Glasgow — Victory in the Isle of Man
— Passage of the Municipal Franchise Bill for Scotland — Mr. Mason's Resolu-
tion— Reduction of Adverse Majority to iG — Liberal Conference at Leeds —
Mr. Woodall's Amendment to Reform Bill of 1884 — Meeting at Edinburgh —
Other Meetings — Estimated Number of Women Householders — Circulars to
Members of Parliament — Debate on the Amendment — Resolutions of the
Society — Further Debate — Defeat of the Amendment — Meeting at St. James
Hall— Conclusion 833
Contents. xix.
CHAPTER LVII.
CONTINENTAL EUROPE.
The Woman Question in the Back-ground — In France the Agitation Dates from
the Upheaval of 1789 — International Women's Rights Convention in Paris,
1878 — Mile. Ilubertine Auclert Leads the Demand for Suffrage — Agitation
Began in Italy with the Kingdom — Concepcion Arenal in Spain — Coeducation
in Portugal — Germany: Leipsic and Berlin — Austria in Advance of Germany
Caroline Svetla of Bohemia — Austria Unsurpassed in Contradictions — Marriage
Emancipates from Tutelage in Hungary — Dr. Henrietta Jacobs of Holland —
Dr. Isala Van Dicst of Belgium — In Switzerland the Catholic Cantons Lag
Behind — Marie Gcegg, the Leader— Sweden Stands First — Universities Open
to Women in Norway — Associations in Denmark — Liberality of Russia toward
Women — Poland— The Orient — Turkey — Jewish Wives — The Greek Woman
in Turkey — The Greek Woman in Greece — An Unique Episode — Woman's
Rights in the American Sense not Known 895
CHAPTER LVIII.
REMINISCENCES.
BY E. C. S 922
Appendix 955
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CENTENNIAL YEAR— 1876.
The Dawn of the New Century — Washington Convention — Congressional Hearing —
Woman's Protest — May Anniversary — Centennial Parlors in Philadelphia — Letters
and Delegates to Presidential Conventions — 50,000 Documents sent out — The Cen-
tennial Autograph Book — The Fourth of July — Independence Square — Susan B.
Anthony reads the Declaration of Rights — Convention in Dr. Furness' Church,
Lucretia Mott, Presiding — The Hutchinson Family, John and Asa — The Twenty-
eighth Anniversary, July 19, Edward M. Davis, Presiding — Letters, Ernestine
L. Rose, Clarina I. H. Nichols— The Ballot-Box— Retrospect— The Woman's
Pavilion.
DURING the sessions of 1871-72 congress enacted laws pro-
viding for the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of
American independence, to be held July 4, 1876, in Philadelphia,
the historic city from whence was issued the famous declaration
of 1776.
The first act provided for the appointment by the president of a
"Centennial Commission," consisting of two members from each
State and territory in the Union ; the second incorporated the
Centennial Board of Finance and provided for the issue of stock
to the amount of $10,000,000, in 1,000,000 shares of $10 each. It
was at first proposed to distribute the stock among the peopft of
the different States and territories according to the ratio of their
population, but subscriptions were afterward received without re-
gard to States. The stockholders organized a board of directors,
April i, 1873. The design of the exhibition was to make it a
comprehensive display of the industrial, intellectual and moral
progress of the nation during the first century of its existence ;
but by the earnest invitation of our government foreign nations
so generally participated that it was truly, as its name implied,
an " International and World's Exposition."
The centennial year opened amid the wildest rejoicing. In
honor of the nation's birthday extensive preparations were made
for the great event. Crowds of people eager to participate in
the celebration, everywhere flocked from the adjacent country to
2 ///>Avr of Wonitui Suffrage.
the nearest village or city, filling the streets and adding to the
general gala look, all through the day and evening of December
31, 1875. From early gas-light upon every side the blow-
ing of horns, throwing of torpedos, explosion of fire-crackers,
gave premonition of more enthusiastic exultation. As the clock
struck twelve every house suddenly blossomed with red, white
and blue; public*and private buildings burst into a blaze of light
that rivaled the noon-day sun, while screaming whistles, booming
cannon, pealing bells, joyous music and brilliant fire-works made
the midnight which ushered in the centennial 1876, a never-to-
be-forgotten hour.
Portraits of the presidents from Washington and Lincoln
laurel-crowned, to Grant, sword in hand, met the eye on every
side. Stars in flames of fire lighted the foreign flags of welcome
to other nations. Every window, door and roof-top was filled
with gay and joyous people. Carriages laden with men, women
and children in holiday attire enthusiastically waving the na-
tional flag and singing its songs of freedom. Battalions of
soldiers marched through the streets; Roman candles, whizzing
rockets, and gaily-colored balloons shot upward, filling the sky
with trails of fire and adding to the brilliancy of the scene, while all
minor sounds were drowned in the martial music. Thus did the
old world and the new commemorate the birth of a nation
founded on the principle of self-government.
The prolonged preparations for the centennial celebration
naturally roused the women of the nation to new thought as to
their status as citizens of a republic, as well as to their rightful
sharAin the progress of the centuiy. The oft-repeated declara-
tions of the fathers had a deeper significance for those who
realized the degradation of disfranchisement, and they queried
with each other as to what part, with becoming self-respect, they
could take in the coming festivities.* Woman's achievements
in art, science and industry would necessarily be recognized in
•Some suggested that the women in their various towns and cities, draped in black, should march
in solemn procession, bells slowly tolling, bearing banners with the inscriptions : " Taxation without
representation is tyranny.'.' " Xo just government can be formed without the consent of the governed,"
" They who have no voice in the laws and rulers are in a condition of slavery."
Others sug^oted that instead of women wearing crape during the centennial glorification, the men
should sit down in sackcloth and ashes, in humiliation of spirit, as those who repented in olden times
were wont to do. The best centennial celebration, said they, for the men of the United States, the
one to cover them with glory, would be to extend to the women of the nation all the rights, privileges
and immunities that they themselves enjoy.
Others proposed that women should monopolize the day, have their own celebrations, read their
own declarations and protests demanding justice, liberty and equality. The latter suggestion was
extensively adopted, and the Fourth of July, 1876, was remarkable for the Urge number of women
»ho were " the orators of the day " in their respective localities.
Washington Convention, 1876. 3
the Exposition ; but with the dawn of a new era, after a hundred
years of education in a republic, she asked more than a simple
recognition of the products of her hand and brain ; with her
growing intelligence, virtue and patriotism, she demanded the
higher ideal of womanhood that should welcome her as an equal
factor in government, with all the rights and honors of citizenship
fully accorded. During the entire century, women who under-
stood the genius of free institutions had ever and anon made
their indignant protests in both public and private before
State legislatures, congressional committees and statesmen at
their own firesides ; and now, after discussing the right of self-
government so exhaustively in the late anti-slavery conflict, it
seemed to them that the time had come to make some applica-
tion of these principles to the women of the nation. Hence it
was with a deeper sense of injustice than ever before that the
National Suffrage Association issued the call for the annual
Washington Convention of 1876:
CALL FOR THE EIGHTH ANNUAL WASHINGTON CONVENTION. — The
National Woman Suffrage Association will hold its Eighth Annual
Convention in Tallmadge Hall, Washington, D. C., January 27, 28, 1876.
In this one-hundredth year of the Republic, the women of the United States
will once more assemble under the shadow of the national capitol to press
their claims to self-government.
That property has its rights, was acknowledged in England long before
the revolutionary war, and this recognized right made " no taxation
without representation " the most effective battle-cry of that period. But
the question of property representation fades from view beside the greater
question of the right of each individual, millionaire or pauper, to personal
representation. In the progress of the war our fathers grew in wisdom,
and the Declaration of Independence was the first national assertion of
the right of individual representation. That "governments derive their
just powers from the consent of the governed," thenceforward became
the tvatchword of the world. Our flag, which beckons the emigrant
from every foreign shore, means to him self-government.
But while in theory our government recognizes the rights of all people,
in practice it is far behind the Declaration of Independence and the na-
tional constitution. On what just ground is discrimination made between
men and women ? Why should women, more than men, be governed
without their own consent? Why should women, more than men, be de-
nied trial by a jury of their peers? On what authority are women taxed
while unrepresented ? By what right do men declare themselves invested
with power to legislate for women? For the discussion of these vital
questions friends are invited to take part in the convention.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, President, Fayetteville, N. Y.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Ch'n Ex. Com., Rochester, N. Y.
4 History of \\'owau Suffrage.
At the opening session of this convention the president, Matilda
Joslyn Gage, said :
I would remind you, fellow-citizens, that this is our first convention in
the dawn of the new century. In 1776 we inaugurated our experiment of
self-government. Unbelief in man's capacity to govern himself was freely
expressed by every European monarchy except France. When John
Adams was Minister to England, the newspapers of that country were filled
with prophecies that the new-born republic would soon gladly return to
British allegiance. But these hundred years have taught them the worth
of liberty ; the Declaration of Independence has become the alphabet of
nations; Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the isles of the sea, will
unite this year to do our nation honor. Our flag is everywhere on sea
and land. It has searched the North Pole, explored every desert, upheld
religious liberty of every faith and protected political refugees from every
nation, but it has not yet secured equal rights to women.
This year is to be one of general discussion upon the science of govern-
ment; its origin, its powers, its history. If our present declaration can-
not be so interpreted as to cover the rights of women, we must issue one
that will. I have received letters from many of the Western States and
from this District, urging us to prepare a woman's declaration, and to
celebrate the coming Fourth of July with our own chosen orators and in
our own way. I notice a general awakening among women at this time.
But a day or two since the women of this District demanded suffrage for
themselves in a petition of 25,000 names. The men are quiet under their
enfranchisement, making no attempt for their rights — fit slaves of a
powerful ring.
The following protest was presented by Mrs. Gage, adopted by
the convention, printed and extensively circulated :
To the Political Sovereigns of the United States in Independence Hall
assembled :
We, the undersigned women of the United States, asserting our faith in
the principles of the Declaration of Independence and in the constitution
of the United States, proclaiming it as the best form of government in fte
world, declare ourselves a part of the people of the nation unjustly
deprived of the guaranteed and reserved rights belonging to citizens of
the United States ; because we have never given our consent to this gov-
ernment ; because we have never delegated our rights to others ; because
this government is false to its underlying principles ; because it has refused
to one-half its citizens the only means of self-government — the ballot;
because it has been deaf to our appeals, our petitions and our prayers;
Therefore, in presence of the assembled nations of all the world, we pro-
test against this government of the United States as an oligarchy of sex,
and not a true republic ; and we protest against calling this a centennial
celebration of the independence of the people of the United States.
Annual Report of 1876. 5
Letters* were read and a series of resolutions were discussed
and adopted :
Resolved, That the demand for woman suffrage is but the next step in the great
movement which began with Magna Charta, and which has ever since tended toward
vesting government in the whole body of the people.
Resolved, That we demand of the forty-fourth congress, in order that it may ade-
quately celebrate the centennial year, the admission to the polls of the women of all
the territories, and a submission to the legislatures of the several States of an amend-
ment securing to women the elective franchise.
Resolved, That the enfranchisement of women means wiser and truer wedlock,
purer and happier homes, healthier and better children, and strikes, as nothing else
does, at the very roots of pauperism and crime.
Resolved, That if Colorado would come into the Union in a befitting manner for
the celebration of the centennial of the Declaration of Independence, she should give
the ballot to brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and thus present to the nation
a truly free State.
Resolved, That the right of suffrage being vested in the women of Utah by their
constitutional and lawful enfranchisement, and by six years of use, we denounce the
proposition about to be again presented to congress for the disfranchisement of the
women in that territory, as an outrage on the freedom of thousands of legal voters
and a gross innovation of vested rights ; we demand the abolition of the system
of numbering the ballots, in order that the women may be thoroughly free to vote
as they choose, without supervision or dictation*, and that the chair appoint a com-
mittee of three persons, with power to add to their number, to memorialize congress,
and otherwise to watch over the rights of the women of Utah in this regard during the
next twelve months.
BELVA A. LOCKWOOD presented the annual report : The question
of woman suffrage is to be submitted to the people of Iowa
during the present centennial year, if this legislature ratines the
action of the previous one. Colorado has not embodied the word " male "
in her constitution, and a vigorous effort is being made to introduce
woman suffrage there. In Minnesota women are allowed to vote on
school questions and to hold office by a recent constitutional amendment.
In Michigan, in 1874, the vote for woman suffrage was 40,000, about
1,000 more votes than were polled for the new constitution. The Con-
necticut legislature, during the past year appointed a committee to
consider and report the expediency of making women eligible to the
position of electors for president and vice-president. The committee
made a unanimous report in its favor, and secured for its passage 82 votes,
while 101 votes were cast against it. In Massachusetts, Governor Rice,
in his inaugural address, recommended to the legislature to secure to
women the right to vote for presidential electors. An address to the legis-
lature of New York by Mesdames Gage, Blake and Lozier upon this ques-
tion, was favorably received and extensively quoted by the press. At an
agricultural fair in Illinois the Hon. James R. Doolittle advocated house-
hold suffrage. In the Senate of the thirteenth legislature of the State of
Texas, Senator Dohoney, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, made a
report strongly advocating woman suffrage; and in 1875, when a mem-
•Letters were read from the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia ; William J. Fowler, of
Rochester, N. Y.; Isabella Beecher Hooker, of Connecticut, and Susan B. Anthony.
6 History of Woman Suffrage.
her of the Constitutional Convention, he advocated the same doctrine,
and was ably assisted by Hon. W. Ci. I.. Weaver. The governor of that
State, in his message, recommended that women school teachers should
receive equal pay for equal work. The word " malt- " dors not occur in the
new constitution. In the territories of Wyoming and Utah, woman
suffrage still continues after five years' experiment, and we have not
learned that households have been broken up or that babies have ceased
to be rocked.
Women physicians, women journalists and women editors have come
to be a feature of our institutions. Laura De Force Gordon, a member of
our association, is editing a popular daily — the Leader — in Sacramento,
( ";il. Women are now admitted to the bar in Kansas, Illinois. Wisconsin,
Iowa, Missouri, Utah, Wyoming and the District of Columbia. They are
eligible and are serving as school superintendents in Kansas, Nebraska,
Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Illinois allows them to be notaries public.
As postmasters they have proved competent, and one woman, Miss Ada
Sweet, is pension agent at Chicago. Julia K. Sutherland has been ap-
pointed commissioner of deeds for the State of California. In England
women vote on the same terms as men on municipal, parochial and educa-
tional matters. In Holland, Austria and Sweden, women vote on a
property qualification. The Peruvian Minister of Justice has declared
that Peru places women on the same footing as men. Thus all over the
world is the idea of human rights taking root and cropping out in a
healthful rather than a spasmodic outgrowth.
The grand-daughter of Paley, true to her ancestral blood, has excelled
all the young men in Cambridge in moral science. Julia J. Thomas,
of Cornell University, daughter of Dr. Mary F. Thomas, of Indiana, in the
recent inter-collegiate contest, took the first prize of $300, over eight male
competitors, in Greek. The recent decision in the United States Supreme
Court, of Minor vs. Happersett, will have as much force in suppressing
the individuality and self-assertion of women as had the opinion of Judge
Taney, in the Dred-Scott case, in suppressing the emancipation of
slavery. The day has come when precedents are made rather than blindly
followed. The refusal of the Superior Court of Philadelphia to allow
Carrie S. Burnham to practice law, because there was no precedent, was a
weak evasion of common law and common sense. One hundred years ago
there was no precedent for a man practicing law in the State of Pennsyl-
vania, and yet we have not learned that there was any difficulty in estab-
lishing a precedent. I do not now remember any precedent for the
Declaration of Independence of the United Colonies, and yet during a
century it has not been overturned. The rebellion of the South had no
precedent, and yet, if I remember, there was an issue joined, and the
United States found that she had jurisdiction of the case.
The admission of women to Cornell University ; their reception on equal
footing in Syracuse University, receiving in both equal honorary degrees ;
the establishment of Wellesley College, with full professorships and
capable women to fill them ; the agitation of the question in Washington
of the establishment of a university for women, all show a mental awaken-
Washington, Convention, 1876. 7
ing in the popular mind not hitherto known. A new era is opening in the
history of the world. The seed sown twenty-five years ago by Mrs. Stan-
ton and other brave women is bearing fruit.
SARA ANDREWS SPENCER said it was interesting to pair off the objec-
tions and let them answer each other like paradoxes. Women will be
influenced by their husbands and will vote for bad men to please them.
Women have too much influence now, and if we give them any more
latitude they will make men all vote their way. ( hving to the composition
and structure of the female brain, women are incapable of understanding
political affairs. If women are allowed to vote they will crowd all the men
out of office, and men will be obliged to stay at home and take care of the
children. That is, owing to the composition and structure of the female
brain, women are so exactly adapted to political affairs that men wouldn't
stand any chance if women were allowed to enter into competition with
them. Women don't want it. Women shouldn't have it, for they don't
know how to use it. Grace Greenwood (who was one of the seventy-two
women who tried to vote) said men were like the stingy boy at school with
a cake. "Now," said he, "all you that don't ask for it don't want it, and
all you that do ask for it sha'n't have it."
Rev. OLVMPIA BROWN, pastor of the Universalist church in Bridgeport,
Conn., gave her views on the rights of women under the constitution,
and believed that they were entitled to the ballot as an inalienable right.
In this country, under existing rulings of the courts as to the meaning of
the constitution, no one appeared likely to enjoy the ballot for all time
except the colored men, unless the clause, "previous condition of servi-
tude," as a congressman expressed it, referred to widows. That being
true, the constitution paid a premium only on colored men, and widows.
If the constitution did not guarantee suffrage, and congress did not be-
stow it, then the republic was of no account and its boast devoid of
significance and meaning. Its life had been in vain — dead to the interests
for which it was created. She wanted congress to pass a sixteenth amend-
ment, declaring all its citizens enfranchised, or a declaratory act setting
forth that the constitution already guaranteed to them that right.
Hon. FREDERICK DOUGLASS said he was not quite in accord with all the
sentiments that had been uttered during the. afternoon, yet he was willing
that the largest latitude should be taken by the advocates of the cause.
He was not afraid that at some distant period the blacks of the South
would rise and disfranchise the whites. While he was not willing to be
addressed as the ignorant, besotted creature that the negro is sometimes
called, he was willing to. be a part of the bridge over which women should
march to the full enjoyment of their rights.
Miss PHCEBE COUZINS of St. Louis reviewed in an able manner the
decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Virginia L. Minor.
Mrs. DEVEREUX BLAKE spoke on the rights and duties of citizen-
ship. She cited a number of authorities, including a recent decision
of the Supreme Court, to prove that women are citizens, although de-
prived of the privileges of citizenship. Taking up the three duties of
citizenship — paying taxes, serving on jury, and military service — she said
8 History of Woman Suffrage.
woman had done her share of the first for a hundred years; that the
women of the country now contributed, directly and indirectly, one-third
of its revenues, and that the House of Representatives had just robbed
them of $500,000 to pay for a centennial celebration in which they had no
part. As for serving on jury, they did not claim that as a privilege, as it
was usually regarded as a most disagreeable duty; but they did claim the
right of women, when arraigned in court, to be tried by a jury of their
peers, which was not accorded when the jury was composed wholly of
men. Lastly, as to serving their country in time of war, it was a fact that
women had actually enlisted and fought in our late war, until their sex
was discovered, when they were summarily dismissed without being paid
for their services.
Hon. Aaron A. Sargent, of California, in the United States
Senate, and Hon. Samuel S. Cox, of New York, in the House of
Representatives, presented the memorial asking the enfranchise-
ment of the women of the District of Columbia, as follows:
IN THE SENATE, Tuesday, January 25, 1876.
Mr. SARGENT: 1 present a memorial asking for the establishment of a
government in the District of Columbia which shall secure to its women
the right to vote. This petition is signed by many eminent ladies of the
country: Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage, President of the National Woman
Suffrage Association, and the following officers of that society : Lucretia
Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Henrietta Payne West-
brook, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Mathilde F. Wendt, Ellen Clark Sargent;
also by Mary F. Foster, President of the District of Columbia Woman's
Franchise Association ; Susan A. Edson, M. D.; Mrs. E. D. E. N. South-
worth, the distinguished authoress; Mrs. Dr. Caroline B. Winslow; Belva
A. Lockwood, a practicing lawyer in this District ; Sara Andrews Spencer,
and Mrs. A. E. Wood.
These intelligent ladies set forth their petition in language and with
facts and arguments which I think should meet the ear of the Senate,
and I ask that it be read by the secretary in order that their desires may
be known.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : Is there objection ? The chair hears none,
and the secretary will report the petition. The secretary read :
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress
assembled :
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United SMtes has affirmed the decision of the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in the cases of Spencer vs. The Board of
Registration, and Webster vs. The Judges of Election, and has decided that "by the
operation of the first section of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, women have been advanced to full citizenship and clothed with the
capacity to become voters ; and further, that this first section of the fourteenth amend-
ment does not execute itself, but requires the supervision of legislative power in the
exercise of legislative discretion to give it effect"; and whereas the congress of the
United States is the legislative body having exclusive jurisdiction over the District of
Columbia, and in enfranchising the colored men and refusing to enfranchise women,
white or colored, made an unjust discrimination against sex, and did not give the in-
Centennial Memorial to Congress, 9
telligence and moral power of the citizens of said District a fair opportunity for
expression at the polls ; and whereas woman suffrage is not an experiment, but has
had a fair trial in Wyoming, where women hold office, where they vote, where they
have the most orderly society of any of the territories, where the experiment is ap-
proved by the executive officers of the United States, by their courts, by their press
and by the people generally, and where it has " rescued that territory from a state of
comparative lawlessness " and rendered it "one of the most orderly in the Union";
and whereas upon the woman suffrage amendment to Senate bill number 44 of the
second session of the forty-third congress, votes were recorded in favor of woman
suffrage by the two senators from Indiana, the two from Florida, the two from
Michigan, the two from Rhode Island, one from Kansas, one from Louisiana, one
from Massachusetts, one from Minnesota, one from Nebraska, one from Nevada, one
from Oregon, one from South Carolina, one from Texas, and one from Wis-
consin ; and whereas a fair trial of equal suffrage for men and women in the Dis-
trict of Columbia, under the immediate supervision of congress, would demonstrate
to the people of the whole country that justice to women is policy for men ; and
whereas the women of the United States are governed without their own consent, are
denied trial by a jury of their peers, are taxed without representation, and are subject
to manifold wrongs resulting from unjust and arbitrary exercise of power over an un-
represented class ; and whereas in this centennial year of the republic the spirit of
1776 is breathing its influence upon the people, melting away prejudices and animosi-
ties and infusing into our national councils a finer sense of justice and a clearer
perception of individual rights ; therefore,
We pray your honorable body to establish a government for the District of Columbia
which shall secure to its women the right to vote.
Mr. SARGENT : Even if this document were not accompanied by the
signatures of eminent ladies known throughout the land for their virtues,
intelligence and high character, the considerations which it presents would
he worthy of the attention of the senate. I have no doubt that the great
movement of which this is a part will prevail. It is working its progress
day by day throughout the country. It is making itself felt both in social
and political life. The petitioners here well say that there has been a
successful experiment of the exercise of female suffrage in one of our ter-
ritories ; that a territory has been redeemed from lawlessness ; that the
judges, the press, the people generally of Wyoming approve the results
of this great experiment. I know of no better place than the capital of a
nation where a more decisive trial can be made, if such is needed, to
establish the expediency of woman suffrage. As to its justice, who shall
deny it? I ask, for the purpose of due consideration, that this petition
be referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, so that in pre-
paring any scheme for the government of the District which is likely to
come before this congress, due weight may be given to the considerations
presented.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The petition will be referred to the Com-
mittee on the District of Columbia.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Friday, March 31, 1876.
Mr. Cox : Mr. Speaker, I am requested to present a memorial, asking
for a form of government in the District of Columbia which shall secure
to its women the right to vote ; and I ask the grace and favor to have this
memorial printed in the Record.
io History of Woman Suffrage.
Mr. BANKS: Mr. Speaker, 1 beg the privilege of saying a few words in
f;ivnr of the request made by the gentleman from New York who presents
this memorial. It is a hundred years this day since Mrs. Abigail Adams,
of Massachusetts, wrote to her husband, John Adams, then a member of
the continental convention, entreating him to give to women the power
to protect their own rights and predicting a general revolution if justice
was denied them. Mrs. Adams was one of the noblest women of that
period, distinguished by heroism and patriotism never surpassed in any
age. She was wife of the second and mother of the sixth president of the
United States, and her beneficent influence was felt in political as well as
in social circles. It was perhaps the first demand for the recognition of
the rights of her sex made in this country, and is one of the centennial
incidents that should be remembered. It came from a good quarter. This
memorial represents half a million of American women. They ask for the
organization of a government in the District of Columbia that will recog-
nize their political rights. I voted some years ago to give women the
right to vote in this District, and recalling the course of its government I
think it would have done no harm if they had enjoyed political rights.
Mr. KASSON : I suggest that the memorial be printed without the
names.
Mr. Cox : There are no names appended except those of the officers of
the National Woman Suffrage Association ; and I hope they will be
printed with the memorial.
Mr. HENDEE: I trust the gentleman will allow this petition to be re-
ferred to the committee of which I am a member : the Committee for the
District of Columbia. There being no objection, the memorial was read
and referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia, and ordered
to be printed in the Record.
At the close of the convention a hearing was granted to the
ladies before the committees of the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives on the District of Columbia.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, of New York, said: Mr. Chairman and
Gentlemen of the Committee : On behalf of the National Association, which
has its officers in every State and territory of the Union, and which
numbers many thousands of members, and on behalf of the Woman's
Franchise Association of the District of Columbia, we appear before you,
asking that the right of suffrage be secured' equally to the men and
women of this District. Art. I, sec. 8, clauses 17, 18 of the Constitution of
the United States reads:
Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever
nvcr Mich district as may become the seat of government of the United States, * *
* * * to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
execution the foregoing powers.
Congress is therefore constitutionally the special guardian of the rights
of the people of the District of Columbia. It possesses peculiar rights,
peculiar duties, peculiar powers in regard to this District. At the present
time the men and women are alike disfranchised. Our memorial asks
that in forming a new government they may be alike enfranchised. It is
Mrs. Gage before the Committee. 1 1
often sarid as an argument against granting suffrage to women that they
do not wish to vote ; do not ask for the ballot. This association, number-
ing thousands in the United States, through its representatives, now asks
you, in this memorial, for suffrage in this District. Petitions from every
State in the Union have been sent to your honorable body. One of these,
signed by thirty-five thousand women, was sent to congress in one large
roll ; but what is the value of a petition signed by even a million of an
unrepresented class?
The city papers of the national capital, once bitterly opposed to all
effort in this direction, now fully recognize the dignity of the demand,
and have ceased to oppose it. One of these said, editorially, to-day, that
the vast audiences assembling at our conventions, the large majority
being women, and evidently in sympathy with the movement, were proof
of the great interest women take in this subject, though many are too
timid to openly make the demand. The woman's temperance movement
began two years ago as a crusade of prayer and song, and the women en-
gaged therein have now resolved themselves into a national organization,
whose second convention, held in October last, numbering delegates from
twenty-two States, almost unanimously passed a resolution demanding the
ballot to aid them in their temperance work. We who make our constant
demand for suffrage, knew that these women were in process of education,
and would soon be forced to ask for the key to all reform.
The ballot says yes or no to all questions. Without it women are pro-
hibited from practically expressing their opinions. The very fact that the
women of this District make this demand of you more urgently than men
proves that they desire it more and see its uses better. The men of this
District who quietly remain disfranchised have the spirit of slaves, and if
asking for the ballot is any proof of fitness for its use, then the women
who do ask for it here prove themselves in this respect superior to men,
more alive to the interests of this District, and better fitted to administer
the government. Women who are not interested in questions of reform
would soon become so if they possessed the ballot. They are now in the
condition we were when we heard of the famine in Persia two years ago.
Our sympathies were aroused for a brief while, but Persia was far away, we
could render it no certain aid, and the sufferings of the people soon passed
from our minds.
Our approaching centennial celebration is to commemorate the Decla-
ration of Independence, which was based on individual rights. For ages
it was a question where the governing power rightfully belonged;
patriarch, priest, and monarch each claimed it by divine right. Our
country declared it vested in the individual. Not only was this clearly
stated in the Declaration of Independence, but the same ground was
maintained in the secret proceedings upon framing the constitution. The
old confederation was abandoned because it did not secure the indepen-
dence and safety of the people. It has recently been asked in congres-
sional debates, " What is the grand idea of the centennial ? " The answer
was, "It is the illustration in spirit and truth of the principles of the
Declaration of Independence and of the constitution."
12 History of Woman Suffrage.
These principles are :
First — The natural rights of each individual.
Second— The exact equality of these rights.
Third— That rights not delegated are retained by the individual.
Fourth — That no person shall exercise the rights of others without
rirlr^tted authority.
Fifth — That non-use of rights does not destroy them.
Rights did not come new-born into the world with the revolution. Our
fathers were men of middle age before they understood their own rights,
hut when they did they compelled the recognition of the world, and now
the nations of the earth are this year invited to join you in the celebra-
tion of these principles of free government.
We have special reasons for asking you to secure suffrage to the women
of the District of Columbia. Woman Suffrage has been tried in Wyo-
ming, and ample testimony of its beneficial results has been furnished, but
it is a far distant territory, and those not especially interested will not
examine the evidence. It has been tried in Utah, but with great opposi-
tion on account of the peculiar religious belief and customs of the people.
But the District of Columbia is directly under the eye of congress. It is
the capital of the nation, and three-fifths of the property of the District
belongs to the United States. The people of the whole country would
therefore be interested in observing the practical workings of this system
on national soil. With 7,316 more women than men in this District, we
call your special attention to the inconsistency and injustice of granting
suffrage to a minority and withholding it from a majority, as you have
done in the past. If the District is your special ward, then women, being
in the majority here, have peculiar claims upon you for a consideration
of their rights. The freedom of this country is only half won. The wo-
men of to-day have less freedom than our fathers of the revolution, for
they were permitted local self-government, while women have no share
in local, State, or general government.
Our memorial calls your attention to the Pembina debate in 1874. when
senators from eighteen States recognized the right of self-government as
inhering in women. One senator said : " I believe women never will
enjoy equality with men in taking care of themselves until they have the
right to vote." Another. " that the question was being considered by a
large portion of the people of the United States." When the discussion
was concluded and the vote taken, twentj'-two senators recorded their
votes for woman suffrage in that distant territory. During the debate
several senators publicly declared their intention of voting for woman
suffrage in the District of Columbia whenever the opportunity was pre-
sented. These senators recognize the fact that the ballot is not only a
right, but that it is opportunity for woman ; that it is the one means of
helping her to help herself. In asking you to secure the ballot to the
women of the District we do not ask you to create a right. That is be-
yond your power. We ask you to protect them in the exercise of a right.
Mrs. SARA ANDREWS SPENCER, Secretary of the District of Columbia
Woman's Franchise Association, said : For no legal or political right I
Mrs. Spencer before tke Committee. 13
have ever claimed in the District of Columbia do I ask a stronger, clearer
charter than the Declaration of Independence, and the constitution of the
United States as it stood1 before the fourteenth amendment had entered the
minds of men. A judicial decision, rendered by nine men, upon the rights
of ten millions of women of this republic, need not, does not, change the
convictions of one woman in regard to her own heaven-endowed rights,
duties, and responsibilities.
We have resorted to all the measures dictated by those who rule over
us for securing the freedom to exercise rights which are sacredly our own,
rights which are ours by Divine inheritance, and which men can neither
confer nor take away. We are not only daughters of our Father in heaven,
and joint heirs with you there ; but we are daughters of this republic, and
joint heirs with you here. Every act of legislation which has been placed
as a bar in our way as citizens has been an act of injustice, and every ex-
pedient to which we have resorted for securing recognition of citizenship
has been with protest against the existence of these acts of unauthorized
power.
When any man expresses doubt to me as to- the use that I or any other
woman might make of the ballot if we had it, my answer is, What is that
to you ? If you have for years defrauded me of my rightful inheritance,
and then, as a stroke of policy, or from late conviction, concluded to re-
store to me my own domain, must I ask you whether I may make of it a
garden of flowers, or a field of wheat, or a pasture for kine? If I choose
I may counsel with you. If experience has given you wisdom, even of this
world, in managing your property and mine, I should be wise to learn from
you. But injustice is not wont to yield wisdom ; grapes do not grow of
thorns, nor figs of thistles.
Born of the unjust and cruel subjection of woman to man, we have in
these United States a harvest of 116,000 paupers, 36,000 criminals, and such
a mighty host of blind, deaf and dumb, idiotic, insane, feeble-minded, and
children with tendencies to crime, as almost to lead one to hope for the
extinction of the human race rather than for its perpetuation after its own
kind. The wisdom of man licenses the dram-shop, and then rears station-
houses, jails, and gibbets to provide for the victims. In this District we
have 135 teachers of public schools and 238 police officers, and the last
report shows that public safety demands a police force of 900. We have
31,671 children of school age; 31,671 reasons why I want to vote. We
have here 7,000 more children of school age than there are seats in all the
public schools, and from the swarm of poor, ignorant, and vagrant child-
ren, the lists of criminals and paupers are constantly supplied. To pro-
vide for these evils there is an annual expenditure of $350,000, not includ-
ing expenses of courts, while for education the annual expenditure is
$280,000.
Will you say that the wives and the mothers, the house and homekeepers
of this small territory, have no interest in all these things ? If dram-shops
are licensed and brothels protected, are not our sons, our brothers, tempted
and ruined, our daughters lured from their homes, and lost to earth and
heaven ? Long and patiently women have borne wrongs too deep to be
14 History of Woman Suffrage.
put into words ; wrongs for which men have provided no redress and have
found no remedy. When five years ago, with our social atmosphere
poisoned with vices which as women we had no power to remove, men in
authority began a series of attempts to fasten upon us by law the huge
typical vice of all the ages — the social evil — in a form so degrading to all
womanhood that no man, though he were the prince of profligates, would
submit to its regulations for a day ; then we cried out so that the world
heard us. We know the plague is only stayed for a brief while. The hy-
dra-headed monster every now and then lifts a new front, and must be
smitten again. Four times in four successive years a little company of
women of the District have appeared before committees and compelled
the discussion and defeat of bills designed to fasten these measures upon
the community under the guise of security for public health and morality.
The last annual report of the board of health speaks tenderly of the need
of protecting vicious men by these regulations, and says :
The legalization of houses of ill-fame for so humane a purpose, startling as it may
be to the moral sense, has many powerful advocates among the thoughtful, wise, and
philanthropic of communities.
The report quotes approvingly Dr. Gross, of Philadelphia, who says in
behalf of laws to license the social evil :
The prejudices which surround the subject must be swept away, and men must
march to the front and discharge their duty, however much they may be reproached
and abused by the ignorant and foolish.
Aside from the higher ground of our inherent right to self-government,
we declare here and now that the women of this District are not safe with-
out the ballot. Our firesides, our liberties are in constant peril, while men
who have no concern for our welfare may legislate against our dearest
interests. If we would inaugurate any measure of protection for our own
sex, we are bound hand and foot by man. The law is his, the treasury is
his, the power is his, and he need not even hear our cry, except at his
good will and pleasure.
If man had legislated justly and wisely for the interests of this District,
if its financial condition was sound, its social and moral atmosphere pure,
and all was well, there would be some show of reason in your refusing to
hazard a new experiment, even though we could demonstrate it to be
founded upon eternal justice. But the history of the successive forms of
government in the District of Columbia is a history of failures. So will
it continue to be until you adopt a plan founded upon truly republican
principles. When, a few years ago, you put the ballot into the hands of
the swarming masses of freedmen who had gathered here with the igno-
rance and vices of slaves, and refused to enfranchise women, white or
colored, you gave this District no fair trial of a republican form of govern-
ment. You did not even protect the interests of the colored race. You
admitted that the colored man was not really free until he held the ballot
in his hand, and therefore you enfranchised him and left the woman twice
his slave. I know colored women in Washington far the superiors, intel-
lectually and morally, of the masses of men, who declare that they now en-
dure wrongs and abuses unknown in slavery.
Senators Frclinghuysen and Howe. 15
There is not an interest in this District that is not as vital to me as to
any man in Washington — that is not more vital to me than it can be to
any member of this honorable body. As a citizen, seeking the welfare of
this community, as a wife and mother desiring the safety of my children,
which of you can claim a deeper interest than I in questions of markets,
taxes, finance, banks, railroads, highways, the public debt and interest
thereon, boards of health, sanitary and police regulations, station-houses
(wherein I find many a wreck of womanhood, ruined in her youth and
beauty), schools, asylums, and charities ? Why deny me a voice in any or
all of these ? Do you doubt that I would use the ballot in the interests of
order, retrenchment, and reform ? Do you deny a right of mine, which
you will admit I know how to prize, because there are women who do not
appreciate its value, do not demand it, possibly might not (any better than
men) know how to use it ? What a mockery of justice ! What a flagrant
violation of individual rights ! I would cry out against it if no other
woman in the land felt the wrong. But among the 10,000,000 of mothers
of 14,000,000 of children in this country, vast numbers of thoughtful, phil-
anthropic, and pure women have come to see this truth, and desire to ex-
press their mother love and home love at the ballot-box !
Frederick Douglass once said : " Whole nations have been bathed in
blood to establish the simplest possible propositions. For instance, that
a man's head is his head ; his body is his body ; his feet are his feet, and if he
chooses to run away with them it is nobody's business " ; and all honor to
him, he added, " Now, these propositions have been established for the
colored man. Why does not man establish them for woman, his wife, his
mother?"
Determined to surround the colored man with every possible guarantee
of protection in the possesion of his freedom, congress stopped the wheels
of legislation, and made the whole country wait, while day after day and
night after night his friends fought inch by inch the ground for the civil
rights bill. During that debate Senator Frelinghuysen said :
When I took the oath as senator, I took the oath to support the Constitution of the
United States, which declares equality for all : and in advocating this bill I am doing
my sworn duty in endeavoring to secure equal rights for every citixen of the United
Slates.
But where slept his "sworn duty" when he recorded his vote in the
Senate against woman suffrage ? With marvelous inconsistency, as a
reason for opposing woman suffrage, during the Pembina debate, May 27,
1874, Senator Merrimon said of the relation of women to the Constitution
of the United States:
They have sustained it under all circumstances with their love, their hands, and
their hearts ; with their smiles and their tears they have educated their children to live
fur it, and to die for it.
Therefore the honorable gentleman denies them the right to vote.
Upon the civil rights bill, Senator Howe said :
I do not know but what the passage of this bill will break up the common school-,.
I admit that I have some fear on that point. Kvery step of this terrible march has
been met with a threat ; but let justice be done although the commoo schools and the
heavens do full.
1 6 History of Woman Suffrage.
In reply to the point made by Mr. Stockton that the people of the United
States would not accept this bill, Mr. Howe said :
I would not turn back if I knew that of the forty million people of the United States
not one million would sustain it. If this generation does not accept it there is a gen-
eration to come that will accept it. What does this provide ? Not that the black
man should be helped on his way ; not at all ; but only that, as he staggers along, he
shall not be retarded, shall not be tripped up and made to fall.
Brave and tender words these for our black brother ; but see how prone
men are to invert truth, justice, and mercy in dealing with women. During
the Pembina debate, Senator Merrimon said :
I know there are a few women in the country who complain ; but those who com-
plain, compared with those who do not complain, are as one to a million.
As a literal fact, the women who have complained, have petitioned, sued,
reasoned, plead, have knocked at the doors of your legislatures and courts,
are as one to fifty in this country, as we who watch the record know; and
even that is a small proportion of those who would, but dare not ; who are
bound hand and foot, and will be bound until you make them free. But
if no others feel the wrong but those who have dared to complain ; if the
poor, the ignorant, the betrayed, the ruined do not understand the ques-
tion, and the well-fed and comfortable " have all the rights they want," do
you give that for answer to our just demand ? What do we ask ? Not
that poor woman " shall be helped on her way " — not at all ; but only that,
" as she staggers along, she shall not be retarded, shall not be tripped up,
shall not be made to fall."
And here on this national soil, lor the women of this District of Colum-
bia— your peculiar wards — I ask you to try the experiment of exact, even-
handed justice ; to give us a voice in the laws under which we must live,
by which we are tried, judged and condemned. I ask it for myself, that I
may the better help other women. I ask it for other women, that they
may the better help themselves. As you hope for justice and mercy in
your hour of need, may you hear and answer.
Rev. Olympia Brown, of Connecticut ; Belva A. Lockwood, of
Washington ; and Phoebe Couzins, of St. Louis, also addressed the
committees : enforcing their arguments with wit, humor, pathos
and eloquence.
On her way home from Washington, Mrs. Gage stopped in Phil-
adelphia to secure rooms for the National Association during the
centennial summer, and decided upon Carpenter Hall, in case it
could be obtained. This hall belongs to the Carpenter Company
of Philadelphia, perhaps the oldest existing association of that
city, it having maintained an uninterrupted organization from the
year 1724, about forty years after the establishment of the colo-
nial government by William Penn, and was much in use during the
early days of the revolution. The doors of the State House,
Application for Carpenter HalL 1 7
where the continental congress intended to meet, were found
closed against it ; but the Carpenter Company, numbering many
eminent patriots, offered its hall for their use; and here met the
first continental congress, Septembers, 1774. John Adams, de-
scribing its opening ceremonies, said :
Here was a scene worthy of the painter's art. Washington was kneeling
there, and Randolph, Rutledge, Lee and Jay ; and by their side there stood,
bowed in reverence, the Puritan patriots of New England, who at that
moment had reason to believe that an armed soldiery was wasting their
humble households. It was believed that Boston had been bombarded
and destroyed.* They prayed fervently for America, for the congress, for
the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston.
Who can realize the emotions with which in that hour of danger they
turned imploringly to heaven for Divine interposition. It was enough to
melt a heart of stone. I saw the tears gush into the eyes of old, gray, pa-
cific Quakers of Philadelphia.
The action of this congress, which sat but seven weeks, was
momentous in the history of the world. " From the moment of
their first debate," said De Tocqueville, " Europe was moved."
The convention which in 1781 framed the constitution of the
United States, also met in Carpenter Hall in secret session for
four months before agreeing upon its provisions. This hall
seemed the most appropriate place for establishing the centen-.
nial rooms of the National Woman Suffrage Association, but the
effort to obtain it proved unavailing f as will be seen by the follow-
ing- correspondence :
To the President and Officers of the Carpenter Company of Philadelphia :
The National Woman Suffrage Association will hold its headquarters in Philadel-
phia the centennial season of 1876, and desires to secure your historic hall for that
purpose. We know your habit aud custom of denying its use to all societies, yet we
make our request because our objects are in accord with the principles which ema-
nated from within its walls a hundred years ago, and we shall use it in carrying out
those principles of liberty and equality upon which our government is based.
We design to advertise our headquarters to the world, and old Carpenter Hall, if
used by us, would become more widely celebrated as the birth-place of liberty. Our
work in it would cause it to be more than ever held in reverence by future ages, and
pilgrimages by men and women would be made to it as to another Mecca shrine.
We propose to place a person in charge, with pamphlets, speeches, tracts, etc., and
to hold public meetings for the enunciation of our principles and the furtherance of
. our demands. Hoping you will grant this request,
I am respectfully yours, MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
President of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
* News of the cannonade of Boston had been received the day previous.
t Though thus discourteously refused to an association to secure equality of rights for women, it
was subsequently rented to " The liueriuitiunul Peace Association."
2
1 8 History of W'onictn Suffrage.
Two months afterward, the following reply was received :
HAM., CARPENTER COURT, 322 Chestnut St., )
PHILADELPHIA, April 24, 1876. )
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, President of the }\\<man Suffrage Association :
Your communication asking permission to occupy Carpenter Hall for your conven-
tion was duly received, and presented to the company at a stated meeting held the
i6th instant, when on motion it was unanimously resolved to postpone the subject in-
definitely.
[Extract of minutes]. GEORGE WATSON, Secretary.
It was a matter of no moment to those men that women were
soon to assemble in Philadelphia, whose love of liberty was as
deep, whose patriotism was as pure as that of the fathers who
met within its walls in 1774, and whose deliberations had given
that hall its historic interest.
In the midst of these preparations the usual May anniversary
was held :
CALL FOR THE MAY ANNIVERSARY, 1876. — The National Woman Suffrage Asso-
ciation will hold its Ninth Annual Convention in Masonic Hall, New York, corner of
Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street, May 10, n, 1876.
This convention occuring in the centennial year of the republic, will be a most im-
portant one. The underlying principles of government will this year be discussed as
never before ; both foreigners and citizens will query as to how closely this country
has lived up to its own principles. The long-debated question as to the source of the
governing power was answered a century ago by the famous Declaration of Indepen-
dence which shook to the foundation all recognized power and proclaimed the right of
the individual as above all forms of government ; but while thus declaring itself, it
has held the women of the nation accountable to laws they have had no share in
making, and taught as their«one duty, that doctrine of tyrants, unquestioning obedi-
ence. Liberty to-day is, therefore, but the heritage of one-half the people, and the
centennial will be but the celebration of the independence of one-half the nation. The
men alone of this country live in a republic, the women enter the second hundred
years of national life as political slaves.
That no structure is stronger than its weakest point is a law of mechanics that will
apply equally to government. In so far as this government has denied justice to
woman, it is weak, and preparing for its own downfall. All the insurrections, rebel-
lions, and martyrdoms of history have grown out of the desire for liberty, and in
woman's heart this desire is as strong as in man's. At every vital time in the nation's
life, men and women have worked together ; everywhere has woman stood by the side
of father, brother, husband, son, in defense of liberty ; without her aid the republic
could never have been established ; and yet woinen are still suffering under all the
oppressions complained of in 1776 ; which can only be remedied by securing impartial
suffrage to all citirens without distinction of sex.
All persons who believe republican principles should be carried out in spirit and in
truth, are invited to be present at the May convention.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, President.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Chairman Executive Committee.
This May anniversary, commencing on the same day with the
opening of the centennial exhibition, was marked with more than
usual earnestness. As popular thought naturally turned with
increasing interest at such an hour to the underlying principles
May Anniversary in New York, 1876. [9
of government, woman's demand for political equality received a
new impulse. The famous Smith sisters, of Glastonbury, Con-
necticut, attended this convention, and were most cordially
welcomed. The officers* for the centennial year were chosen
and a campaignf and congressional;}: committee appointed to take
charge of affairs at Philadelphia and Washington. The resolu-
tions show the general drift of the discussions :§
WHEREAS, The right of self-government inheres in the individual before govern-
ments are founded, constitutions framed, or courts created ; and
WHEREAS, Governments exist to protect the people in the enjoyment of their
natural rights, and when any government becomes destructive of this end, it is the
right of the people to resist and abolish it ; and
WHEREAS, The women of the United States, for one hundred years, have been
denied the exercise of their natural right of self-government and self-protection;
therefore,
Resolved, That it is the natural right and most sacred duty of the women of these
United States to rebel against the injustice, usurpation and tyranny of our present
government.
WHEREAS, The men of 1776 rebelled against a government which did not claim to
be of the people, but, on the contrary, upheld the "divine right of kings"; and
WHEREAS, The women of this nation to-day, under a government which claims to
be based upon individual rights, to be " of the people, by the people, and for the
people," in an infinitely greater degree are suffering all the wrongs which led to the
war of the revolution ; and
*President— Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenafly, New Jersey.
I' ice-Presidents — Lucretia Mott, Pa.; Ernestine L. Rose, England ; Paulina Wright Davis, R. I.;
Clarina I. H. Nichols, Cal.; Amelia Bloomer, Iowa; Mathilde Franceska Anneke, Wis.; Virginia L.
Minor, Mo.; Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Mich.; Julia and Abby Smith, Conn.; Abby P. Ela, N. H.;
Mrs. W. H. H. Murray, Mass.; Ann T. Greely, Me.; Eliza D. Stewart, Ohio ; Mary Hamilton Wil-
liams, Ind.; Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, 111.; Sarah Burger Stearns, Minn.; Ada W. Lucas, Neb.-
Helen E. Starrett, Kan.; Ann L. Quinby, Ky ; Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, Tenn.; Mrs. L. C. Locke,
Texas; Emily P. Collins, La.; Mary J. Spaulding, Ga.; Mrs. P. Holmes Drake, Ala.; Flora M,
Wright, Fla.; Frances Annie Pillsbury, S. C.; Cynthia Anthony, N. C.; Carrie F, Putnam, Va.; Anna
Ella Carroll, Md.; Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon ; Hannah H. Clapp, Nevada ; Dr. Alida C. Avery,
Col.; Mary Olney Brown, Wash. Ter.; Esther A. Morris, Wyoming Ter.; Annie Godbe, Utah.
Advisory Committee — Sarah Pugh, Pa.; Isabella Beecher Hooker, Conn.; Charlotte B. Wilbour,
N. V.; Mary J. Channing, R. I.; Elizabeth B. Schenck, Cal.; Judith Ellen Foster, Jowa; Lavinia
Goodell, Wis.; Annie R. Irvine, Mo.; Marian Bliss, Mich.; Mary B. Moses, N. H.; Sarah A. Vibbart,
Mass.; Lucy A. Snowe, Me.; Marilla M. Ricker, N. H.; Mary Madden, Ohio; Emma Molloy, Ind.;
Cynthia A. Leonard, III.; Mrs. Dr. Stewart, Minn.; Julia Brown Bemis, Neb.; Mrs. N. H. Cramer,
Tenn.; Mrs. W. V. Tunstall. Tex.; Mrs. A. Millspaugh, La.; Hannah M. Rogers, Fla.; Sally Holly,
Va. ; Sallie W. Hardcastle, Md.; Mary P. Sautelle, Oregon ; Mary F. Shields, Col.; Amelia (lidding-,.
Wash. Ter.; Amalia B. Post, Wyoming Ter.
Corresponding Secretaries — Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N. Y. ; Laura Curtis Bullard, New
York ; Jane Graham Jones, Chicago, 111.
Recording Secretary — Lillie Devereux Blake, New York.
Treasure* — Ellen Clark Sargent, Washington, D. C.
Executii't Comiiiitt,-f— Matilda Joslyu Gage, Fayetteville, N. Y.; Clemence S. Lozier, M. D.,
Eli/abeth B. Phelps, Mathilde F. Wendt, Phebe H. Jones, New York; Rev. Olympia Brown, Con-
necticut ; Sarah R. L. Williams, Ohio ; M.Adeline Thomson, Pennsylvania; Henrietta Payne West-
brook, Pennsylvania; Nancy R. Allen, Iowa.
-t/^6 Campaign Com mittee— Susan B. Anthony, N. Y.; Matilda Joslyn Gage, N. Y.; Phoebe W.
Couzins, Mo.; Rev. Olympia Brown, Conn.; Jane Graham Jones, 111.; Abigail Scott J'uniway,
Oregon ; Laura De Force Gordon, Cal.; Annie C. Savery, Iowa.
^Resident Congressional Committee — Sara Andrews Spencer, Ellen Clark Sargent, Ruth Carr
Denison, Belva A. Lockwood, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southw->rlh.
$Among those who took part in the discussions were Dr Clemence Lozier, Susan B. Anthony,
Helen M. Sim-urn, Sarah Goodyear, Helen M. Cook, Abby and Julia Smith, Sara Andrews Spencer,
Miss Charlotte Ray, Lillie Devereux Blake and Matilda Joslyn Gage.
2O History of Woman Suffrage.
WHEREAS, The oppression is all the more keenly felt because our masters, instead
of dwelling in a foreign land, are our husbands, our fathers, our brothers and our
sons ; therefore,
Resolved, That the women of this nation, in 1876, have greater cause for discontent,
rebellion and revolution, than the men of 1776.
Resolved, That with Abigail Adams, in 1776, we believe that "the passion for
liberty cannot be strong in the breasts of those who are accustomed to deprive their
fellow-creatures of liberty"; that, as Abigail Adams predicted, " We are determined
to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by laws in which we have no
voice or representation."
WHEREAS, We believe in the principles of the Declaration of Independence and of
the Constitution of the United States, and believe a true republic is the best form of
government in the world ; and
WHEREAS, This government is false to its underlying principles in denying to
women the only means of self-government, the ballot ; and
WHEREAS, One-half of the citizens of this nation, after a century of boasted liberty,
are still political slaves ; therefore,
Resolved, That we protest against calling the present centennial celebration a cele-
bration of the independence of the people of the United States.
Resolved, That we meet in our respective towns and districts on the Fourth of July,
1876, and declare ourselves no longer bound to obey laws in whose making we have
had no voice, and, in presence of the assembled nations of the world gathered on this
soil to celebrate our nation's centennial, demand justice for the women of this land.
WHEREAS, The men of this nation have established for men of all nations, races
and color, on this soil, at the cost of countless lives, the proposition (in the language
of Frederick Douglass) " that a man's head is his head, his body is his body, his feet
are his feet "; therefore,
Resolved, That justice, equity and chivalry demand that man at once establish for
his wife and mother the corresponding proposition, that a woman's head is her head,
her body is her body, her feet are her feet, and that all ownership and mastery over
her person, property, conscience, and liberty of speech and action, are in violation of
the supreme law of the land.
Resolved, That we rejoice in the resistance of Julia and Abby Smith, Abby Kelly
Foster, Sarah E. Wall and many more resolute women in various parts of the country,
to taxation without representation.
Resolved, That the thanks of the National Woman Suffrage Association are hereby
tendered to Hon. A. A. Sargent, of California, for his earnest words in behalf of
woman suffrage on the floor of the United States Senate, Jan. 25, 1876 ; and to Hon.
N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts, for his appeal in behalf of the centennial woman
suffrage memorial in the United States House of Representatives, March 31, 1876.
Resolved, That the repeated attempts to license the social evil are a practical con-
fession of the weakness, profligacy and general unfitness of men to legislate for women,
and should be regarded with alarm as a proof that their firesides and liberties are in
constant peril while men alone make and execute the laws of this country.
WHEREAS, There are 7,000 more women than men in the District of Columbia, and
no form of government for said District has allowed women any voice in making the
laws under which they live ; therefore,
Resolved, That in this centennial year the congress of the United States having ex-
clusive jurisdiction over that territory should establish a truly republican form of
government by granting equal suffrage to the men and women of the District of
Columbia.
Immediately at the close of the May convention Mrs. Gage
again went to Philadelphia to complete the arrangements in
regard to the centennial headquarters. Large and convenient
Centennial Headquarters. 21
rooms were soon found upon Arch street, terms agreed upon and
a lease drawn, when it transpired that a husband's consent and
signature must be obtained, although the property was owned
by a woman, as by the laws of Pennsylvania a married woman's
property is under her husband's control. Although arrangements
for this room had been made with the real owner, the terms being
perfectly satisfactory to her, the husband refused his ratification,
tearing up the lease, with abuse of the women who claimed con-
trol of their own property, and a general defiance of all women
who dared work for the enfranchisement of their sex. Thus
again were women refused rooms in Philadelphia in which to
enter their protest against the tyranny of this republic, and for
the same reason — they were slaves. Had the patriots of the
revolutionary period asked rooms of King George, in which to
foster their treason to his government, the refusal could have
been no more positive than in these cases.
The quarters finally obtained were very desirable ; fine large
parlors on the first floor, on Chestnut street, at the fashionable
west end, directly opposite the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion. The other members of the committee being married ladies,
Miss Anthony, as a feme sole, was alone held capable of making
a contract, and was therefore obliged to assume the pecuniary
responsibility of the rooms. Thus it is ever the married women
who are more especially classed with lunatics, idiots and crimi-
nals, and held incapable of managing their own business. It has
always been part of the code of slavery, that the slave had no
right to property ; all his earnings and gifts belonging by law,
to the master. Married women come under this same civil code.
The following letter was extensively circulated and published in
all the leading journals :
NATIONAL WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARLORS, )
1,431 Chestnut Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. (
The National Woman Suffrage Association has established its cen-
tennial headquarters in Philadelphia, at 1,431 Chestnut street. The par-
lors, in charge of the officers of the association, are devoted to the special
work of the year, pertaining to the centennial celebration and the political
party conventions; also to calls, receptions, conversazioni, etc. On the
table a centennial autograph book receives the names of visitors. Friends
at a distance, both men and women, who cannot call, are invited to send
their names, with date and residence, accompanied by a short expressive
sentiment and a contribution toward expenses. In the rooms are books,
papers, reports and decisions, speeches, tracts, and photographs of dis-
tinguished women; also mottoes and pictures expressive of woman's
22 History of Woman Suffrage.
condition. In addition to the parlor gatherings, meetings and conventions
will be held during the season in various halls and churches throughout
the city.
On July Fourth, while the men of this nation and the world are rejoic-
ing that "All men are free and equal " in the United States, a declaration
of rights for women will be issued from these headquarters, and a protest
against calling this centennial a celebration of the independence of the
people, while one-half are still political slaves.
Let the women of the whole land, on that day, in meetings, in, parlors,
in kitchens, wherever they may be, unite with us in this declaration and
protest. And, immediately thereafter, send full reports, in manuscript or
print, of their resolutions, speeches and action, for record in our centen-
nial book, that the world may see that the women of 1876 know and feel
their political degradation no less than did the men of 1776.
The first woman's rights convention the world ever knew, called by
Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, met at Seneca Falls, N. Y.,
July 19, 20, 1848. In commemoration of the twenty-eighth anniversary of
that event, the National Woman Suffrage Association will hold in —
hall, Philadelphia, July 19, 20, of the present year, a grand mass conven-
tion, in which eminent reformers from the new and old world will take
part. Friends are especially invited to be present on this historic occa-
sion.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Chairman Executive Committee.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Corresponding Secretary.
From these headquarters numberless documents were issued
during the month of June. As the presidential nominating con-
ventions were soon to meet, letters were addressed to both the
Republican and Democratic parties, urging them to recognize
the political rights of women in their platforms. Thousands of
copies of these letters were scattered throughout the nation :
71? the President and Members of the National Republican Convention, Cin-
cinnati, O., June 14, 1876.
GENTLEMEN : The National Woman Suffrage Association asks you to
place in your platform the following plank :
Resolved, That the right to the use of the ballot inheres in every citizen of the
United States ; and we pledge ourselves to secure the exercise of this right to all citi-
zens, irrespective of sex.
In asking the insertion of this plank, we propose no change of funda-
mental principles. Our question is as old as the nation. Our government
was framed on the political basis of the consent of the governed. And
from July 4, 1776, until the present year, 1876, the nation has constantly
advanced toward a fuller practice of our fundamental theory, that the gov-
erned are the source of all power. Your nominating convention, occur-
ring in this centennial year of the republic, presents a good opportunity
for the complete recognition of these first principles. Our government
has not yet answered the end for which it was framed, while one-half the
people of the United States are deprived of the right of self-government.
National Republican Convention, 1876. 23
Before the Revolution, Great Britain claimed the right to legislate for the
colonies in all cases whatsoever; the men of this nation now as unjustly
claim the right to legislate for women in all cases whatsoever.
The call for your nominating convention invites the cooperation of
" all voters who desire to inaugurate and enforce the rights of every citi-
zen, including the full and free exercise of the right of suffrage." Women
are citizens; declared to be by the highest legislative and judicial author-
ities ; but they are citizens deprived of " the full and free exercise of the
right of suffrage." Your platform of 1872 declared "the Republican party
mindful of its obligations to the loyal women of the nation for their noble
devotion to the cause of freedom." Devotion to freedom is no new thing
for the women of this nation. From the earliest history of our country,
woman has shown herself as patriotic as man in every great emergency in
the nation's life. From the Revolution to the present hour, woman has
stood by the side of father, husband, son and brother in defense of liberty.
The heroic and self-sacrificing deeds of the women of this republic, both
in peace and war, must not be forgotten. Together men and women have
made this country what it is. And to-day, in this one-hundredth year of
our existence, the women — as members of the nation — as citizens of the
United States — ask national recognition of their right of suffrage.
The Declaration of Independence struck a blow at every existent form
of government, by declaring the individual the source of all power. Upon
this one newly proclaimed truth our nation arose. But if States may
deny suffrage to any class of citizens, or confer it at will upon any class —
as according to the Minor-Happersett decision of the Supreme Court —
a decision rendered under the auspices of the Republican party against
suffrage as a constituent element of United States citizenship — we then
possess no true national life. If States can deny suffrage to citizens
of the United States, then States possess more power than the United
States, and are more truly national in the character of their governments.
National supremacy does not chiefly mean power "to levy war, conclude
peace; contract alliances, establish commerce"; it means national protec-
tion and security in the exercise of the right of self-government, which
comes alone, by and through the use of the ballot.
Even granting the premise of the Supreme-Court decision that " the
Constitution of the United States does not confer suffrage on any one ";
our national life does not date from that instrument. The constitution is
not the original declaration of rights. It was not framed until eleven years
after our existence as a nation, nor fully ratified until nearly fourteen years
after the commencement of our national life. This centennial celebration
of our nation's birth does not date from the constitution, but from the
Declaration of Independence. The declared purpose of the civil war was
the settlement of the question of supremacy between the States and the
United States. The documents sent out by the Republican party in this
present campaign, warn the people that the Democrats intend another
battle for State sovereignty, to be fought this year at the ballot-box.
The National Woman Suffrage Association calls your attention to the
fact that the Republican party has itself reopened this battle, and now
24 History of M'onian Suffrage.
holds the anomalous position of having settled the question of State
sovereignty in the case of black men. and again opened it, through the
Minor-Happi-rsett decision, not only in the case of women citizens, hut
also in the case of men citizens, for all other causes save those specified
in the fifteenth amendment. Your party has yet one opportunity to re-
trieve its position. The political power of this country has always shown
itself superior to the judicial power — the latter ever shaping and hasing
its decisions on the policy of the dominant party. A pledge, therefore,
by your convention to secure national protection in the enjoyment of per-
• ••[tiality of rights, civil and political, to all citizens, will so define the
policy of the Republican party as to open the way to a full and final ad-
justment of this question on the basis of United States supremacy.
Aside from the higher motive of justice, we suggest your adoption of
this principle of equal rights to women, as a means of securing your own
future existence. The party of reform in this country is the party that
lives. The party that ceases to represent the vital principles of truth and
justice dies. It you would save the life of the Republican party you should
now take broad national ground on this question of suffrage.
By this act you will do most to promote the general welfare, secure the
blessings of liberty to yourselves and your posterity, and establish on this
continent a genuine republic that shall know no class, caste, race, or sex
— where all the people are citizens, and all citizens are equal before the
law.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Chairman Executive Committee.
SUSAN R ANTHONY, Corresponding Secretary.
Centennial Headquarters, 1,431 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, June 10, 1876.
To the President and Members of the National Democratic Convention as-
sembled at St. Louis, June 27, 1876 :
GF.N TI.K.MKN : In reading the call for your convention, the National
Woman Suffrage Association was gratified to find that your invitation
was not limited to voters, but cordially extended to all citizens of the
United States. We accordingly send delegates from our association, ask-
ing for them a voice in your proceedings, and also a plank in your plat-
form declaring the political rights of women.
Women are the only class of citizens still wholly unrepresented in the
government, and yet we possess every qualification requisite for voters
in the several States. Women possess property and education ; we take
out naturalization papers and passports; we preempt lands, pay taxes,
and suffer for our own violation of the laws. Wre are neither idiots, luna-
tics, nor criminals ; and, according to your State constitutions, lack but
one qualification for voters, namely, sex, which is an insurmountable
qualification, and therefore equivalent to a bill of attainder against one-
half the people; a power no State nor congress can legally exercise,
being forbidden in article i, sections 9, 10, of our constitution. Our
rulers may have the right to regulate the suffrage, but they can not
abolish it altogether for any class of citizens, as has been done in the
case of the women of this republic, without a direct violation of the
fundamental law of the land.
National Democratic Convention, 1876. 25
As you hold the constitution of the fathers to be a sacred legacy to us
and our children forever, we ask you to so interpret that Magna. Clnirta
of human rights as to secure justice and equality to all United States
citizens irrespective of sex. We desire to call your attention to the viola-
tion of the essential principle of self-government in the disfranchisement
of the women of the several States, and we appeal to you, not only be-
cause as a minority you are in a position to consider principles, but be-
cause you were the party first to extend suffrage by removing the prop-
erty qualification from all white men, and thus making the political status
of the richest and poorest citizen the same. That act of justice to the
laboring masses insured your power, with but few interruptions, until the
war.
When the District of Columbia suffrage bill was under discussion in
1866, it was a Democratic senator (Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania) who pro-
posed an amendment to strike out the word " male," and thus extend the
right of suffrage to the women, as well as the black men of the District.
That amendment gave us a splendid discussion on woman suffrage that
lasted three days in the.Senate of the United States. It was a Demo-
cratic legislature that secured the right of suffrage to the women of
Wyoming, and we now ask you in national convention to pledge the
Democratic party to extend this act of justice to the women throughout
the nation, and thus call to your side a new political force that will restore
and perpetuate your power for years to come.
The Republican party gave us a plank in their platform in 1872, pledg-
ing themselves to a "respectful consideration " of our demands. But by
their constitutional interpretations, legislative enactments, and judicial
decisions, so far from redeeming their pledge, they have buried our peti-
tions and appeals under laws in direct opposition to their high-sounding
promises and professions. And now (1876) they give us another plank in
their platform, approving the "substantial advance made toward the
establishment of equal rights for women "; cunningly reminding us that
the privileges and immunities we now enjoy are all due to Republican
legislation — although, under a Republican dynasty, inspectors of election
have been arrested and imprisoned for taking the votes of women ;
temperance women arrested and imprisoned for praying in the streets;
houses, lands, bonds, and stock of women seized and sold for their refusal
to pay unjust taxation — and, more than all, we have this singular spectacle :
a Republican woman, who had spoken for the Republican party through-
out the last presidential campaign, arrested by Republican officers for
voting the Republican ticket, denied the right of trial by jury by a Re-
publican judge, convicted and sentenced to a fine of one hundred dollars
and costs of prosecution ; and all this for asserting at the polls the most
sacred of all the rights of American citizenship — the right of suffrage —
specifically secured by recent Republican amendments to the federal con-
stitution.
Again, the Supreme Court of the United States, by its recent decision
in the Minor-Happersett case, has stultified its own interpretation of
constitutional law. A negro, by virtue of his United States citizenship, is
26 History of Woman Suffrage.
declared under recent amendments a voter in every State in the Union ;
hut when a woman, hy virtue of her United States citizenship, applies to
the Supreme Court for protection in the exercise of this same right, she
is remanded to the State by the unanimous decision of the nine judges
on the bench, that " the Constitution of the United States does not confer
the right of suffrage upon any one."
All concessions of privileges or redress of grievances are but mockery for
any class that has no voice in the laws and lawmakers. Hence we de-
mand the ballot — that scepter of power — in our own hands, as the only
sure protection for our rights of person and property under all conditions.
If the few may grant or withhold rights at their own pleasure, the many
cannot be said to enjoy the blessings of self-government. Jefferson said,
"The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. The hand
of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." While the first and
highest motive we would urge on you is the recognition in all your action
of the great principles of justice and equality that underlie our form of
government, it is not unworthy to remind you that the party that takes
this onward step will reap its just reward.
Had you heeded our appeals made to you in Tammany Hall, New York,
in 1868, and again in Baltimore, in 1872, your party might now have been
in power, as you would have had, what neither party can boast to-day, a
live issue on which to rouse the enthusiasm of the people. Reform is
the watchword of the hour; but how can we hope for honor and honesty
in either party in minor matters, so long as both consent to rob one-half
the people — their own mothers, sisters, wives and daughters — of their most
sacred rights? As a party you defended the right of self-government in
Louisiana ably and eloquently during the last session of congress. Are
the rights of women in all the Southern States, whose slaves are now
their rulers, less sacred than those of the men of Louisiana? "The whole
art of government," says Jefferson, "consists in being honest."
It needs but little observation to see that the tide of progress, in all
countries, is setting toward the emancipation and enfranchisement of
women ; and this step in civilization is to be taken in our day and genera-
tion. Whether the Democratic party will take the initiative in this re-
form, and reap the glory of crowning fifteen million women with the
rights of American citizenship, and thereby vindicate our theory of self-
government, is the momentous question we ask you to decide in this
eventful hour, as we round out the first century of our national life.
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, President.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Chairman Executive Committee.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Corresponding Secretary.
Centennial Headquarters, 1,431 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, June 20, 1876.
In addition to these letters delegates were sent to both the
Republican and Democratic conventions. Sara Andrews Spencer
and Elizabeth Boynton Harbert were present at the Republican
convention at Cincinnati ; both addressed the committee on
platform and resolutions, and Mrs. Spencer, on motion of Hon.
A New Declaration of Independence. 27
George F. Hoar, was permitted to address the convention. Mrs.
Virginia L. Minor and Miss Phoebe W. Couzins were the dele-
gates to the Democratic convention at St. Louis, and the latter
addressed that vast assembly.*
For a long time there had been a growing demand for a
woman's declaration to be issued on July Fourth, 1876. " Let
us then protest against the falsehood of the nation "; "If the old
Declaration does not include women, let us have one that will ";
" Let our rulers be arraigned "; *' A declaration of independence
for women must be issued on the Fourth of July, 1876," were
demands that came from all parts of the country. The officers
of the association had long had such action in view, having, at
the Washington convention, early in 1875, announced their in-
tention of working in Philadelphia during the centennial season,
and were strengthened in their determination by the hearty in-
dorsement they received. At the May convention in New York,
Matilda Joslyn Gage, in her opening speech, announced that a
declaration of independence for women would be issued on the
Fourth of July, 1876. In response to this general feeling, the
officers of the National Association prepared a declaration of
rights of the women of the United States, and articles of im-
peachment against the government.
Application was made by the secretary, Miss Anthony, to
General Hawley, president of the centennial commission, for
seats for fifty officers of the association. General Hawley replied
that " only officials were invited " — that even his own wife had
no place — that merely representatives and officers of the govern-
ment had seats assigned them. " Then " said she, " as women
have no share in the government, they are to have no seats on
the platform," to which General Hawley assented ; adding, how-
ever, that Mrs. Gillespie, of the woman's centennial commission,
had fifty seats placed at her disposal, thus showing it to be in his
power to grant places to women whenever he so chose to do.
Miss Anthony said : " I ask seats for the officers of the National
Woman Suffrage Association ; we represent one-half the people,
and why should we be denied all part in this centennial celebra-
tion?" Miss Anthony, however, secured a reporter's ticket by
virtue of representing her brother's paper, The Leavemvorth
* Letters were written to these conventions from different States. Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon, New
Orleans, \..\.\ Klizabeth A. Meriwether, Memphis, Tcnn.; Mrs. Margaret V. Longley, Cincinnati,
i )., all making eloquent appeals for some consideration of the political rights of women.
28 7/y.vAvr of U'n>ii(7!i Suffrage.
Times, and, ultimately, cards of invitation were sent to four
others,* representing the 20,000,000 disfranchised citizens of the
nation.
Mrs. Stanton, as president of the association, wrote General
Hauler, asking the opportunity to present the woman's protest
and bill of rights at the close of the reading of the Declaration of
Independence. Just its simple presentation and nothing more.
She wrote :
We do not ask to read our declaration, only to present it to the presi-
dent of the United States, that it may become an historical part of the
proceedings.
Mrs. Spencer, bearer of this letter, in presenting it to General
I lawley, said :
The women of the United States make a slight request on the occasion
of the centennial celebration of the birth of the nation ; we only ask that
we may silently present our declaration of rights.
General HAWI.KY replied: It seems a very slight request, but our pro-
gramme is published, our speakers engaged, our arrangements for the day
decided upon, and we can not make even so slight a change as that you
ask.
Mrs. SPK.XCKR replied : We are aware that your programme is published,
your speakers engaged, your entire arrangements decided upon, without
consulting with the women of the United States; for that very reason we
desire to enter our protest. We are aware that this government has been
conducted for one hundred years without consulting the women of the
United States ; for this reason \ve desire to enter our protest.
General HAWI.KY replied : Undoubtedly we have not lived up to our own
original Declaration of Independence in many respects. I express no
opinion upon your question. It is a proper subject of discussion at the
Cincinnati convention, at the St. Louis convention, in the Senate of the
United States, in the State legislatures, in the courts, wherever you can
obtain a hearing. But to-morrow we propose to celebrate what we have
done the last hundred years; not what we have failed to do. We have
much to do in the future. I understand the full significance of your very
slight request. If granted, it would be the event of the day — the topic of
discussion to the exclusion of all others. I am sorry to refuse so slight a
demand; we cannot grant it.
General Haw ley also addressed a letter to Mrs. Stanton:
DKAK M \n\\i: I regret to say it is impossible for us to make any
change in our programme, or make any addition to it at this late hour.
Yours very respectfully,
Jos. R. HAWI.KY, President I'. N. C. C.
As General Grant was not to attend the celebration, the acting
vice-president, Thomas \Y. Ferry, representing the government,
* Mrs. Mott, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Gage, and Mrs. Spencer.
Gen. Haw ley says " No " to Mrs. Stan ton. 29
was to officiate in his place, and he, too, was addressed by note,
and courteously requested to make time for the reception of
this declaration. As Mr. Ferry was a well-known sympathizer
with the demands of woman for political rights, it was pre-
sumable that he would render his aid. Yet he was forgetful that
in his position that day he represented, not the exposition, but
the government of a hundred years, and he too refused ; thus this
simple request of woman for a half moment's recognition on the
nation's centennial birthday was denied by all in authority.*
While the women of the nation were thus absolutely forbidden
the right of public protest, lavish preparations were made for the
reception and entertainment of foreign potentates and the myr-
midons of monarchial institutions. Dom Pedro, emperor of
Brazil, a representative of that form of government against which
the United States is a perpetual defiance and protest, was wel-
comed with fulsome adulation, and given a seat of honor near
the officers of the day; Prince Oscar of Sweden, a stripling of
sixteen, on whose shoulder rests the promise of a future king-
ship, was seated near. Count Rochambeau of France, the
Japanese commissioners, high officials from Russia and Prussia,
from Austria, Spain, England, Turkey, representing the bar-
barism and semi-civilization of the day, found no difficulty in
securing recognition and places of honor upon that platform,
where representative womanhood was denied.
Though refused by their own countrymen a place and part in
the centennial celebration, the women who had taken this
presentation in hand were not to be conquered. They had re-
spectfully asked for recognition ; now that it had been denied,
they determined to seize upon the moment when the reading of
the Declaration of Independence closed, to proclaim to the world
the tyranny and injustice of the nation toward one-half its
people. Five officers of the National Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion, with that heroic spirit which has ever animated lovers of
liberty in resistance to tyranny, determiried, whatever the result,
to present the woman's declaration of rights at the chosen hour.
They would not, they dared not sacrifice the golden opportunity
* On the receipt of these letters a prolonged council was held by the officers of the association at their
headquarters, as to what action they should take on the Fourth of July. Mrs. Mott and Mrs. Stanton
decided for themselves that after these rebuffs they would not even sit on the platform, but at the
appointed time go to the church they had engaged for a meeting, and open their convention. Others
more brave and determined insisted that women had an equal right to the glory of the day and the
freedom of the platform, and decided to take the risk of a public insult in order to present the
woman's declaration and thus make it an historic document. — [E. C. S.
3<D History of 11 'ouian Suffrage.
to which they had so long looked forward ; their work was not
for themselves alone, nor for the present generation, but for all
women of all time. The hopes of posterity were in their hands
and they determined to place on record for the daughters of
1976, the fact that their mothers of 1876 had asserted their
equality of rights, and impeached the government of that day
for its injustice toward woman. Thus, in taking a grander step
toward freedom than ever before, they would leave one bright
remembrance for the women of the next centennial.
That historic Fourth of July dawned at last, one of the most
oppressive days of that terribly heated season. Susan K.
Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Sara Andrews Spencer, Lillie
Devereux Blake and Phoebe W. Couzins made their way through
the crowds under the broiling sun to Independence Square,
carrying the Woman's Declaration of Rights. This declaration
had been handsomely engrossed by one of their number, and
signed by the oldest and most prominent advocates of woman's
enfranchisement. Their tickets of admission proved open
sesame through the military and all other barriers, and a few
moments before the opening of the ceremonies, these women
found themselves within the precincts from which most of their
sex were excluded.
The declaration of 1776 was read by Richard Henry Lee, of
Virginia, about whose family clusters so much of historic fame.
The close of his reading was deemed the appropriate moment for
the presentation of the woman's declaration. Not quite sure
how their approach might be met — not quite certain if at this
final moment they would be permitted to reach the presiding
officer — those ladies arose and made their way down the aisle.
The bustle of preparation for the Brazilian hymn covered their
advance. The foreign guests, the military and civil officers who
filled the space directly in front of the speaker's stand, cour-
teously made way, while Miss Anthony in fitting words presented
the declaration. Mr. Ferry's face paled, as bowing low, with no
word, he received the declaration, which thus became part of the
day's proceedings ; the ladies turned, scattering printed copies, as
they deliberately walked down the platform. On every side eager
hands were stretched ; men stood on seats and asked for them,
while General Hawley, thus defied and beaten in his audacious
denial to women the right to present their declaration, shouted,
" Order, order!"
Declaration of Rights for Woman. 31
Passing out, these ladies made their way to a platform erected
for the musicians in front of Independence Hall. Here on this
old historic ground, under the shadow of Washington's statue,
back of them the old bell that proclaimed " liberty to all the land,
and all the inhabitants thereof," they took their places, and to a
listening, applauding crowd, Miss Anthony read* the Declaration
of Rights for Women by the National Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion, July 4, 1876:
While the nation is buoyant with patriotism, and all hearts are attuned
to praise, it is with sorrow we come to strike the one discordant note, on
this one-hundredth anniversary of our country's birth. When subjects of
kings, emperors, and czars, from the old world join in our national jubilee,
shall the women of the republic refuse to lay their hands with benedic-
tions on the nation's head ? Surveying America's exposition, surpassing
in magnificence those of London, Paris, and Vienna, shall we not rejoice
at the success of the youngest rival among the nations of the earth ? May
not our hearts, in unison with all, swell with pride at our great achieve-
ments as a people ; our free speech, free press, free schools, free church,
and the rapid progress we have made in material wealth, trade, commerce
and the inventive arts ? And we do rejoice in the success, thus far, of our
experiment of self-government. Our faith is firm and unwavering in the
broad principles of human rights proclaimed in 1776, not only as abstract
truths, but as the corner stones of a republic. Yet we cannot forget, even
in this glad hour, that while all men of every race, and clime, and condi-
tion, have been invested with the full rights of citizenship under our hos-
pitable flag, all women still suffer the degradation of disfranchisement.
The history of our country the past hundred years has been a series of,
assumptions and usurpations of power over woman, in direct opposition
to the principles of just government, acknowledged by the United States
us its foundation, which are :
First — The natural rights of each individual.
Second — The equality of these rights.
Third — That rights not delegated are retained by the individual.
Fourth — That no person can exercise the rights of others without dele-
gated authority.
Fifth — That the non-use of rights does not destroy them.
And for the violation of these fundamental principles of our govern-
ment, we arraign our rulers on this Fourth day of July, 1876, — and these
are our articles of impeachment :
Bills of attainder have been passed by the introduction of the word " male" into
all the State constitutions, denying to women the right of suffrage, and thereby mak-
* During the reading of the declaration to an immense concourse of people, Mrs. Gage stood be-
side Miss Anthony, and held an umbrella over her head, to shelter her friend from the intense heat of
the noonday sun ; and thus in the same hour, on opposite sides of old Independence Hall, did the
men and women express their opinions on the great principles proclaimed on the natal day of the re-
public. The declaration was handsomely framed and now hangs in the vice-president's room in the
capitol at Washington.
32 History of Woman Suffrage.
ing sex a crime — an exercise of power clearly forbidden in article I, sections 9, 10,
of the United States constitution.
The -writ of habeas coipus, the only protection against lettres de cachet and all forms
of unjust imprisonment, which the constitution declares " shall not be suspended, ex-
cept when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety demands it," is held in-
operative in every State of the Union, in case of a married woman against her hus-
band— the marital rights of the husband being in all ca-.es primary, and the rights of
the wife secondary.
The rijiit of trial by a jury of ones peers was so jealously guarded that States
refused to ratify the original constitution until it was guaranteed by the sixth
amendment. Ami yet the women of this nation have never been allowed a jury of
their peers — being tried in all cases by men, native and foreign, educated and igno-
rant, virtuous and vicious. Young girls have been arraigned in our courts for the
crime of infanticide ; tried, convicted, hanged — victims, perchance, of judge, jurors,
advocates — while no woman's voice could be heard in their defense. And not only
are women denied a jury of their peers, but in some cases, jury trial altogether. Dur-
ing the war, a woman was tried and hanged by military law, in defiance of the fifth
amendment, which specifically declares : '* No person shall be held to answer for a
capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand
jury, except in cases .... of persons in actual service in time of war." During
the Li. -a presidential campaign, a woman, arrested for voting, was denied the protec-
tion of a jury, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a fine and costs of prosecution, by
the absolute power of a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Taxation without representation, the immediate cause of the rebellion of the colo-
nies against Great Hritain, is one of the grievous wrongs the women of this country
have .suffered during the century. Deploring war, with all the demoralization that
follows in its train, we have been taxed to support standing armies, with their waste
of life and wealth. Believing in temperance, we have been taxed to support the vice,
crime and pauperism of the liquor traffic. While we suffer its wrongs and abuses in-
finitely more than man, we have no power to protect our sons against this giant evil.
During the temperance crusade, mothers were arrested, fined, imprisoned, for even
praying and singing in the streets, while men blockade the sidewalks with impunity,
even on Sunday, with their military parades and political processions. Believing in
honesty, we are taxed to support a dangerous army of civilians, buying and selling the
offices of government and sacrificing the best interests of the people. And, moreover,
we are taxed to support the very legislators and judges who make laws, and render decis-
ions adverse to woman. And for refusing to pay such unjust taxation, the houses,
lands, bonds, and stock of women have been seized and sold within the present year,
thus proving Lord Coke's assertion, that " The very act of taxing a man's property
without his consent is, in effect, disfranchising him of every civil right."
Unequal codes for men and women. Held by law a perpetual minor, deemed in-
capable of self-protection, even in the industries of the world, woman is denied equal-
ity of rights. The fact of sex, not the quantity or quality of work, in most cases, de-
cides the pay and position ; and because of this injustice thousands of fatherless girls
are compelled to choose between a life of shame and starvation. Laws catering to
man's vices have created two codes of morals in which penalties are graded according
to the political status of the offender. Under such laws, women are fined and im-
prisoned if found alone in the streets, or in public places of resort, at certain hours.
Under the pretense of regulating public morals, police officers seizing the occupants
of disreputable houses, march the women in platoons to prison, while the men, part-
ners in their guilt, go free. While making a show of virtue in forbidding the impor-
tation of Chinese women on the Pacific coast for immoral purposes, our rulers, in many
States, and even under the shadow of the national capitol, are now proposing to legal-
ize the sale of American womanhood for the same vile purposes.
Special legislation for woman ha* placed us in a most anomalous position. Women
invested with the rights of citi/ens in one section — voters, jurors, office-holders — cross-
Our Articles of Impeachment. 33
ing an imaginary line, are subjects in the next. In some States, a married woman
may hold property and transact business in her own name ; in others, her earnings be-
long to her husband. In some States, a woman may testify against her husband, sue
and be sued in the courts ; in others, she has no redress in case of damage to person,
property, or character. In case of divorce on account of adultery in the husband, the
innocent wife is held to possess no right to children or property, unless by special de-
cree of the court. But in no State of the Union has the wife the right to her own
person, or to any part of the joint earnings of the co-partnership during the life of her
husband. In some States women may enter the law schools and practice in the courts ;
in others they are forbidden. In some universities girls enjoy equal educational ad-
vantages with boys, while many of the proudest institutions in the land deny them
admittance, though the sons of China, Japan and Africa are welcomed there. But the
privileges already granted in the several States are by no means secure. The right of
suffrage once exercised by women in certain States and territories has been denied by
subsequent legislation. A bill is now pending in congress to disfranchise the women
of Utah, thus interfering to deprive United States citizens of the same rights which
the Supreme Court has declared the national government powerless to protect any-
where. Laws passed after years of untiring effort, guaranteeing married women cer-
tain rights of property, and mothers the custody of their children, have been repealed
in States where we supposed all was safe. Thus have our most sacred rights been
made the football of legislative caprice, proving that a power which grants as a privi-
lege what by nature is a right, may withhold the same as a penalty when deeming it
necessary for its own perpetuation.
Representation of "woman has had no place in the nation's thought. Since the in-
corporation of the thirteen original States, twenty-four have been admitted to the
Union, not one of which has recognized woman's right of self-government. On this
birthday of our national liberties, July Fourth, 1876, Colorado, like all her elder sisters,
comes into the Union with the invidious word " male " in her constitution.
Universal manhood suffrage, by establishing an aristocracy of sex, imposes upon
the women of this nation a more absolute and cruel depotism than monarchy ; in that,
woman finds a political master in her father, husband, brother, son. The aristocracies
of the old world are based upon birth, wealth, refinement, education, nobility, brave
deeds of chivalry ; in this nation, on sex alone ; exalting brute force above moral
power, vice above virtue, ignorance above education, and the son above the mother
who bore him.
The judiciary above the nation has proved itself out the echo of the party in power,
by upholding and enforcing laws that are opposed to the spirit and letter of the con-
stitution. When the slave power was dominant, the Supreme Court decided that a
black man was not a citizen, because he had not the right to vote ; and when the
constitution was so amended as to make all persons citizens, the same high tribunal
decided that a woman, though a citizen, had not the right to vote. Such vacillating
interpretations of constitutional law unsettle our faith ih judicial authority, and under-
mine the liberties of the whole people.
These articles of impeachment against our rulers we now submit to the
impartial judgment of the people. To all these wrongs and oppressions
woman has not submitted in silence and resignation. From the beginning
of the century, when Abigail Adams, the wife of one president and mother
of another, said, " We will not hold ourselves bound to obey laws in which
we have no voice or representation," until mnv, woman's discontent has
been steadily increasing, culminating nearly thirty years ago in a simul-
taneous movement among the women of the nation, demanding the right
of suffrage. In making our just demands, a higher motive than the pride
of sex inspires us ; we feel that national safety and stability depend on
3
34 History of Woman Suffrage.
the complete recognition of the broad principles of our government.
Woman's degraded, helpless position is the weak point in our institutions
to-day; a disturbing force everywhere, severing family ties, filling our
asylums with the deaf, the dumb, the blind ; our prisons with criminals,
our cities with drunkenness and prostitution ; our homes with disease and
death. It was the boast of the founders of the republic, that the rights
for which they contended were the rights of human nature. If these
rights are ignored in the case of one-half the people, the nation is surely
preparing for its downfall. Governments try themselves. The recogni-
tion of a governing and a governed class is incompatible with the first
principles of freedom. Woman has not been a heedless spectator of the
events of this century, nor a dull listener to the grand arguments for the
equal rights of humanity. From the earliest history of our country
woman has shown equal devotion with man to the cause of freedom, and
has stood firmly by his side in its defense. Together, they have made this
country what it is. Woman's wealth, thought and labor have cemented
the stones of every monument man has reared to liberty.
And now, at the close of a hundred years, as the hour-hand of the great
clock that marks the centuries points to 1876, we declare our faith in the
principles of self-government; our full equality with man in natural
rights; that woman was made first for her own happiness, with the
absolute right to herself — to all the opportunities and advantages life
affords for her complete development ; and we deny that dogma of the
centuries, incorporated in the codes of all nations — that woman was made
for man — her best interests, in all cases, to be sacrificed lo his will. We
ask of our rulers, at this hour, no special favors, no special privileges, no
special legislation. We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the
civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be
guaranteed to us and our daughters forever.*
The declaration was warmly applauded at many points, and
after scattering another large number of printed copies, the
delegation hastened to the convention of the National Associa-
tion. A meeting had been appointed for twelve, in the old
historic First Unitarian church, where Rev. Wm. H. Furness
preached for fifty years, but whose pulpit was then filled by
Joseph May, a son of Rev. Samuel J. May. To this place the
ladies made their way to find the church crowded with an
expectant audience, which greeted them with thanks for what
they had just done ; the first act of this historic day taking place
on the old centennial platform in Independence Square, the last
* This document was signed by Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Paulina Wright Davis.
Ernestine L. Rose, Clarina I. H. Nichols, Mary Ann McClintock, Mathilde Franceske Anneke.
Sarah Pugh, Amy Post, Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage,
Clemence S. Lozier, Olympia Brown, Mathilde F. Wendt, Adleline Thomson, Ellen Clark Sargent,
Virginia L. Minor, Catherine V. Waite, Elizabeth B. Schenck, Phoebe \V. Couzins, Elizabeth Boynton
Harbert, Laura De Force Gordon, Sara Andrews Spencer. Lillie Devereux Blake, Jane Graham
Jones, Abigail Scott Duniway, Belva A. Lockwood, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Sarah L. Williams,
Abby P. Ela.
Meeting in Dr. Fumes s* Church. 35
in a church so long devoted to equality and justice. The
venerable Lucretia Mott, then in her eighty-fourth year, pre^
sided. Elizabeth Cady Stanton read the Declaration of Rights.
Its reception by the listening audience proclaimed its need and
its justice. The reading was followed by speeches upon the
various points of the declaration.
Belva A. Lockwood took up the judiciary, showing the way
that body lends itself to party politics. Matilda Joslyn Gage spoke
upon the writ of habeas corpus, showing what a mockery to married
women was that constitutional guarantee. Lucretia Mott re-
viewed the progress of the reform from the first convention.
Sara Andrews Spencer illustrated the evils arising from two
codes of morality. Mrs. Devereux Blake spoke upon trial by
jury; Susan B. Anthony upon taxation without representation,
illustrating her remarks by incidents of unjust taxation of women
during the present year. Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke upon
the aristocracy of sex, and the evils arising from manhood suf-
frage. Judge Esther Morris, of Wyoming, said a few words
in regard to suffrage in that territory. Mrs. Margaret Parker,
president of the woman suffrage club of Dundee, Scotland,
and of the newly-formed Christian Woman's International Tem-
perance Union, said she had seen nothing like this in Great Britain
— it was worth the journey across the Atlantic. Mr. J. H.
Raper, of Manchester, England, characterized it as the historic
meeting of the day, and said the patriot of a hundred years hence
would seek for every incident connected with it, and the next
centennial would be adorned by the portraits of the women who
sat upon that platform.
The Hutchinsons, themselves of historic fame, were present.
They were in their happiest vein, interspersing the speeches with
appropriate and felicitous songs. Lucretia Mott did not confine
herself to a single speech, but, in Quaker style, whenever the
spirit moved made many happy points. When she first arose to
speak, a call came from the audience for her to ascend the pulpit
in order that she might be seen. As she complied with this re-
quest, ascending the long winding staircase into the old-fashioned
octagon pulpit, she said, " I am somewhat like Zaccheus of old
who climbed the sycamore tree his Lord to see ; I climb this
pulpit, not because I am of lofty mind, but because I am short
of stature that you may see me." As her sweet and placid
countenance appeared above the pulpit, the Hutchinsons, by
36 History of Woman Suffrage.
happy inspiration, burst into " Nearer, my God, to Thee." The
effect was marvelous ; the audience at once arose, and spontane-
ously joined in the hymn.
Phoebe W. Couzins, with great pathos, referred to woman's
work in the war, and the parade of the Grand Army of the Re-
public the preceding evening ; she said :
In such an hour as this, with my soul stirred to its deepest depths, I
feel unequal to the task of uttering words befitting the occasion, and to
follow the dear saint who has just spoken ; how can I ? I am but a beginner,
and to-day I feel that to sit at the feet of these dear women who have
borne the heat and burden of this contest, and to learn of them is the
attitude I should assume. It is not the time for argument or rhetoric. It
is the time for introspection and prayer. We have come from Inde-
pendence Square, where the nation is celebrating its centennial birthday of
a masculine freedom. You have just heard from Mrs. Stanton the read-
ing of Woman's Declaration of Rights ; that document has already
been presented in engrossed form, tied with the symbolic red, white and
blue, to the presiding officer of the day, Senator Thomas W. Ferry, on
their platform in yonder square; and the John Hampden of our cause,
the immortal Susan B. Anthony, rendered it historic, by reading it
from the steps of Independence Hall, to an immense audience there
gathered, that could not gain access to the square or platform. [Great
applause.] I cannot express to you in fitting language the thoughts and
feelings which stirred me as I sat on the platform, awaiting the presenta-
tion of that document.
We were about to commit an overt act. Gen. Hawley, president of the
centennial commission and manager of the programme, had peremptorily
forbidden its presentation. Yet in the face of this — in the face of the as-
sembled nation and representatives from the crowned heads of Europe, a
handful of women actuated by the same high principles as our fathers, stir-
red by the same desire for freedom, moved by the same impulse for liberty,
were to again proclaim the right of self-government; were again to im-
peach the spirit of King George manifested in our rulers, and declare that
taxation without representation is tyranny, that the divine right of one-
half of the people to rule the other half is also despotism. As I followed
the reading of Richard Henry Lee, and marked the wild enthusiasm of its
reception, and remembered that at its close, a document, as noble, as di-
vine, as grand, as historic as that, was to be presented in silence ; an act.
as heroic, as worthy, as sublime, was to be performed in the face of the
contemptuous amazement of the assembled world, I trembled with sup-
pressed emotion. When Susan Anthony arose, with a look of intense
pain, yet heroic determination in her face, I silently committed her to the
Great Father who see'th not in part, to strengthen and comfort her heroic
heart, and then she was lost to view in the sudden uprising caused by the
burst of applause instituted by General Hawley in behalf of the Brazilian
emperor. And thus at the close of the reading of a document which re-
pudiated kings and declared the right of even- person to life, to liberty
Miss Cousins' Eloquent Appeal. 37
and the pursuit of individual happiness, the American people, applauding
a crowned monarch, received in silence the immortal document and pro-
test of its discrowned queens !
Shall I recount the emotion that swayed me, as I thought of all that
woman had done to build up this country ; to sustain its unity, to perpet-
uate its principles ; of its self-denying and heroic Pilgrim and revolution-
ary mothers ; of the work of woman in the anti-slavery cause ; the agony
and death of her travail in its second birth for freedom; sustaining the
nation by prayers, by self-sacrificing contributions, by patriotic endeavors,
by encouraging words ; and, reviewing the programme, and all the atten-
dant pageants, remembered that in these grand centennial celebrations,
when the nation rounded out its first century, not a tribute, not a recogni-
tion in any shape, form or manner was paid to woman ; that upon the
platform, as honored guests, sat those who had been false in the hour of
our country's peril ; that upon this historic soil, stood the now freeman,
once a slave, whose liberty and life were given him at the hands of woman ;
that the inhabitants of the far off isles of the sea, India, Asia, Africa, Eu-
rope, were gladly welcomed as free citizens, while woman, a suppliant beg-
gar, pleaded of one man, invested with autocratic power, for the simple
boon of presenting a protest in silence, against her degradation, and was
dented !
I stood yesterday on the corner of Broad and Chestnut streets, watch-
ing the march of the Grand Army of the Republic. As the torn and tat-
tered battle flags came by, all the terrors of that war tragedy suddenly
rushed over me, and I sat down and wept. Looking again, I saw the car of
wounded soldiers ; as in thought I was suddenly transported to the banks
of the Mississippi I felt the air full of the horrors of the battle of Shiloh,
and saw two young girls waiting the landing of a steamer that had
been dispatched to succor the wounded on that terrible field. They
were watching for "mother" — who for the first time had left her home
charge, and hushing her own heart's pleadings, heard only her coun-
try's call, and gone down to that field of carnage to tenderly care for the
soldier. As they boarded the steamer, what a sight met their eyes ! Maimed,
bleeding, dying soldiers by the hundreds, were on cots on deck, on
boxes filled with amputated limbs, and the dead were awaiting the last
sad rites. Like ministering angels walked two women, their mother and
the now sainted Margaret Breckenridge of Kentucky, amid these rows of
sufferers, with strong nerve and steady arm, comforting the soldier boy,
so far from friends and home ; binding up the ghastly wound, bathing the
feverish brow, smoothing the dying pillow, and with tender mother's
prayer and tear, closing the eyes of the dead. The first revelation of war;
how it burned our youthful brain ! How it moved us to divine compas-
sion, how it stirred us to even give up our mother to the work for years,
as we heard the piteous pleading, " Don't leave us, mother " — " Oh, mother,
we can never forget." But alas they did forget ! This scene repeated again,
and again, during that long conflict, with hundreds of women offering a
like service in camp and floating hospital, leaving sweet homes, without
money, price or thought of emolument, going to these battle-fields and
38 History of Woman Suffrage.
tenderly nursing the army of the republic to life again ; while back of
them were tens of thousands .other women of the great sanitary army,
who, in self-sacrifice at home, were sending lint, bandages, clothing,
delicacies of food and raiment of all kinds, by car-load and ship-load,
to comfort and ameliorate the sufferings of the grand army of the repub-
lic, and yet as I watched its march in this centennial year, its gala day —
not a tribute marked its gratitude to her who had proved its savior and
friend, in the hour of peril.
Again, came the colored man in rank and file — and in thought I saw the
fifteenth-amendment jubilee, which proclaimed his emancipation. As ban-
ner after banner passed me, with the name of Garrison, of Phillips, of
Douglass, I looked in vain for the name of Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose
one book, " Uncle Tom's Cabin " — did more to arouse the whole world to
the horrors of slavery, than did the words or works of any ten men. I
searched for a tribute to Lucretia Mott and other women of that conflict,
but none appeared. And so to-day, standing here with heart and brain
convulsed with all these memories and scenes, can you wonder that we
are stirred to profoundest depths, as we review the base ingratitude of this
nation to its women ? It has taxed its women, and asked the women, in
whose veins flows the blood of their Pilgrim and Revolutionary mothers, to
assist by money, individual effort and presence, to make it a year of jubi-
lee for the proclamation of a ransomed male nationality. Zenobia, in
gilded chains it may be, but chains nevertheless, marches through the
streets of Philadelphia to-day, an appendage of the chariot wheels which
proclaim the coming of her king, her lord, her master, whether he be white
or black, native or foreign-born, virtuous or vile, lettered or unlettered.
As the state-house bell, with its inscription, " Proclaim liberty — through-
out the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof," pealed forth its jubilant re-
iteration,— the daughters of Jefferson, of Hancock, of Adams, and Patrick
Henry, who have been politically outlawed and ostracized by their own
countrymen, here had no liberty proclaimed for them ; they are not inhab-
itants, only sojourners in the land of their fathers, and as the slaves in
meek subjection to the will of the master placed the crown of sovereignty
on the alien from Europe, Asia, Africa, she is asked to sing in dulcet strains :
"The king is dead — long live the king !"
And thus to-day we round out the first century of a professed repub-
lic,— with woman figuratively representing freedom — and yet all free,
save woman.
For five long hours of that hot mid-summer's day, that crowded
audience listened earnestly to woman's demand for equality of
rights before the law. When the convention at last adjourned,
the Hutchinsons singing, "A Hundred Years Hence,"* it was
* One hundred years hence, what a change will be made,
In politics, morals, religion and trade,
In statesmen who wrangle or ride on the fence,
These things will be altered a hundred years hence.
Our laws then will be uncompulsory rules,
Our prisons converted to national schools.
A Hundred Years Hence. 39
slowly and reluctantly that the great audience left the house.
Judged by its immediate influence, it was a wonderful meeting.
No elaborate preparations had been made, for not until late on
Friday evening had it been decided upon, hoping still, as we did,
for a recognition in the general celebration on Independence
Square. Speakers were not prepared, hardly a moment of thought
had been given as to what should be said, but words fitting for
the hour came to lips rendered eloquent by the pressure of in-
tense emotion.
Day after day visitors to the woman suffrage parlors referred
to this meeting in glowing terms. Ladies from distant States,
in Philadelphia to visit the exposition, said that meeting was
worth the whole expense of the journey. Young women with
all the attractions of the day and the exposition enticing them,
yet said, " The best of all I have seen in Philadelphia was that
meeting." Women to whom a dollar was of great value, said,
" As much as I need money, I would not have missed that meeting
for a hundred dollars "; while in the midst of conversation visitors
would burst forth, " Was there ever such a meeting as that in
Dr. Furness' church?" and thus was Woman's Declaration of
Rights joyously received.
The day was also celebrated by women in convocations of their
own all. over the country.*
The pleasure of sinning 'tis all a pretense,
And the people will find it so, a hundred years kence.
Lying, cheating and fraud will be laid on the shelf,
Men will neither get drunk, nor be bound up in self,
But all live together, good neighbors and friends.
Just as Christian folks ought to, a hundred years /tenet,
Then woman, man's partner, man's equal shall stand.
While beauty and harmony govern the land,
To think for oneself will be no offense,
The world will be thinking a hundred years hence.
Oppression and war will be heard of no more,
Nor the blood of a slave leave his print on our shore,
Conventions will then be a useless expense,
For we'll all go free-sujfrage a hundred years kence.
Instead of speech-making to satisfy wrong,
All will join the glad chorus to sing Freedom's song ;
And if the Millenium is not a pretense.
We'll all be good brothers a hundred years hence.
This song was written in 1852, at Cleveland. Ohio, by Frances-Dana Gage, expressly for John W.
Hutchinson. Several of the friends were staying with Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, on their way to
the Akron convention, where it was first sung.
*Protests and declarations were read by Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, in F.van*ton, 111.; Sarah
1,. knox, California ; Mrs. Rosa L. Segur, Toledo, Ohio ; Mrs. Mary Olney Brown, Olympia. Wash-
ington territory ; Mrs. Henrietta Paine Westbrook, New York city. In Maquokcta. Iowa, Mrs. Nancy
K. Allen read the declaration at the regular county celebration. Madam Anneke, Wis,; Elizabeth
Avery Meriwether, Tenn.; Lucinda B. Chandler, N. J.; Jane K. Telker, Iowa; S. P. Abeel, D. C.;
Mrs. J, A. Johns. Oregon; Elizabeth Lisle Saxon, La.; Mr>. EUio Stewart, K.in.; and many other*
impossible lo name, sent in protests and declarations.
40 History of Woman Suffrage.
An interesting feature of the centennial parlors was an im-
mense autograph book, in which the names of friends to the
movement were registered by the thousands, some penned on
that historic day and sent from the old world and the new, and
others written on the spot during these eventful months. From
the tidings of all these enthusiastic assemblies and immense
number of letters* received in Philadelphia, unitedly demanding
an extension of their rights, it was evident that the thinking
women of the nation were hopefully waiting in the dawn of the
new century for greater liberties to themselves.
From " Aunt Lottie's Centennial Letters to her Nieces and
Nephews," we give the one describing this occasion :
MY DEARS : I suppose I had best tell you in this letter about the Fourth
of July celebration at the centennial city — at least that portion of it that
I know about, and which I would not have missed for the exhibition itself,
and which I would not have you miss for all the rest of my letters. I can-
not expect you to be as much interested in it as was I, but it is time you
were becoming interested in the subject ; and, if you live a half century
from this time (in less than that, I hope,) you will see that what lam
about to relate was, as General Hawley admitted it would be, "the event
of the occasion."
At the commencement of the exhibition, Miss Susan B. Anthony and
Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage came to Philadelphia and procured the parlors
of 1,431 Chestnut street for the accommodation of the National Woman
Suffrage Association. These rooms were open to the friends of the asso-
ciation, and public receptions were held and well attended every Tuesday
and Friday evening. During these months these two ladies — assisted the
latter part of the time by Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton — were engaged in
preparing a history of the suffrage movement and a declaration of rights
to be presented at the great centennial celebration of the Fourth of July,
1876. This document is in form like the first declaration of a hundred
years ago, handsomely engrossed by Mrs. Sara Andrews Spencer, of Wash-
ington— a lady delegate to the Cincinnati Republican convention, June 12.
The celebration was held in Independence Square, just back of the old
state-house where the first declaration was signed. There was a great
crowd of people collected ; a poem was read by Bayard Taylor and a speech
delivered by William M. Evarts. But I knew it was useless to go there
expecting to hear any portion of either; so I waited until twelve o'clock
and then rode down in the cars to Dr. Furness' church, corner of Broad
and Locust streets, where these ladies were to hold their meeting. The
church was full, and the exercises were opened by Mrs. Mott — the vener-
able and venerated president— a Quaker lady of slight form, attired in a
plain, light-silk gown, white muslin neckerchief and cap, after that ex-
quisitely neat and quaint fashion. Then the Hutchinsons sang a hymn,
* See Appendix.
Aunt Lottie s Letter to her. Nieces. 41
in which all were requested to join. Afterward Mrs. Stanton came to the
front of the pulpit, the house was hushed to a reverential stillness, and I
never yet heard anything so solemn and impressive as her reading of the
Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States.
A printed copy had been given me the day before, when between the
sessions of the New England American Association in the Academy of
Music, where were Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Rev. Antoinette Brown
Blackwell, Elizabeth K. Churchill and other pleasant-faced, sweet-voiced
ladies, I had called at the rooms on Chestnut street and folded declarations
for half an hour with Mrs. Stanton, which they were distributing by post
and in every way all over the land. When I read it at home that night
1 realized its importance, but as the next day (the Fourth) was excessively
warm, I very nearly gave up going, and then 1 should have missed the
impressiveness of her reading. When she first commenced, her voice
seemed choked with emotion. She must have realized what she was
doing, as we all knew it was the grandest thing that had been done in a
hundred years. Thrill after thrill went through my veins, and the whole
scene formed a picture that will yet be the subject of artists' pencils and
poets' pens. I should have been contented to have had the meeting
closed then with that best song of the Hutchinsons upon the progress
of reform, where the young gentleman was so much applauded
for his solo, "WThen Women Shall be Free." Still we were all in-
terested in Mrs. Spencer's account of her interview with General Hawley,
and his refusal to permit the silent handing-in of the declaration, which,
after her persistence, assuring him " it would not take three minutes," he
was obliged to confess was because he was "very well aware it would be
the event of the occasion." " Immediately," said Mrs. Spencer, "you can-
not imagine what an inspiration we all had to do it ; for," added the slight,
fair-haired, fluent lady, in a humorous manner that called forth laughter
and applause, " I never yet was forbidden by a man to do a thing, but that
I resolved to do it."
We were also pleased to hear from that earnest woman, Susan R.
Anthony, inspired by the immutable abstract truths of justice and equity.
Reports say that she has the air of a Catholic devotee. She said that in
defiance of " the powers that be " she took a place on that platform
in Independence square, and at the proper time delivered the en-
grossed copy of the declaration to the lion. T. W. Ferry, who received
it with a courteous bow; and. afterward on the steps of Independ-
ence Hall she read it to an assembled multitude. She had done her
centennial day's work for all time; and small wonder that mind and
body craved rest after such tension. She is yet under a hundred dollars
fine for voting at Rochester, and although from her lectures the last six
years she has paid $10,000 indebtedness on 77te Revolution, she said she
never would have paid that fine had she been imprisoned till now.
Mrs. Lucretia Mott, whom the younger Hutchinson * assisted into the
pulpit — a beautiful sight to see cultured youth supporting refined old
age— stated that she went up there, " not because she was higher-minded
* Henry Hutchin.son, the son of John.
42 ffisfory of Woman Suffrage.
than the rest, but so that her enfeebled voice might be better heard." The
dear old soul is so much stronger than her body, that it would seem that
she must have greatly overtasked herself; though an inspired soul has
wonderful recuperative forces at command for the temple it inhabits. A
goodly number of gentlemen were present at this meeting and that of the
day before — three or four of them making short speeches. A Mr. Raper
of England, strongly interested in the temperance and woman suffrage
cause, told us that in his country "all women tax-payers voted for guar-
dians of the poor, upon all educational matters, and also upon all municipal
affairs. In that respect she was in advance of this professed republic. In
England there is an hereditary aristocracy, here, an aristocracy of sex "; or,
as the spirited Lillie Devereux Blake who was present once amusingly
termed it, of "the bifurcated garment." And now perhaps some ma-
terially-minded person will ask, "What are you going to do about it?
You can't fight ! " forgetting that we are now fighting the greatest of all
battles, and that the weapons of woman's warfare, like her nature at its
best development, are moral and spiritual. LEWISE OLIVER.
Philadelphia, July 13, 1876.
The press of the country commented extensively upon the
action of the women :
At noon to-day, in the First Unitarian church, corner Tenth and South, the
National Woman Suffrage Association will present the Woman's Declaration of Rights.
The association will hold a convention at the same time and place, at which Lucretia
Mott is announced to preside, and several ladies to make speeches. Most of the
ladies are known as women of ability and earnest apostles of the creed they have
espoused for the political enfranchisement of women. Their declaration of right>,
we do not doubt, will be strongly enforced. These ladies, or some of them, have
been assigned places upon the platform at the grand celebration ceremonies to take
place in Independence Square to-day ; and they have requested leave to present their
declaration of rights in form on that occasion. They do not ask to have it read,
we believe, but simply that the statement of their case shall go on file with the general
archives of the day, so that the women of 1976 may see that their predecessors of 1876
did not let the centennial year of independence pass without protest. — [Philadelphia
Ledger, July 4.
There was yet another incident of the Fourth, in Independence Square. Im-
mediately after the Declaration of Independence had been read by Richard Henry
Lee, and while the strains of the "Greeting from Brazil " were rising upon the air,
two ladies pushed their way vigorously through the crowd and appeared upon the
speaker's platform. They were Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage.
Hustling generals aside, elbowing governors, and almost upsetting Dom Pedro in
their charge, they reached Vice-President Ferry, and handed him a scroll about three
feet long, tied with ribbons of various colors. He was seen to bow and look be-
wildered ; but they had retreated in the same vigorous manner before the explanation
was whispered about. It appears that they demanded a change of programme for the
sake of reading their address ; but "if so, this was probably a mere form intended for
future effect. More than six months ago some of the advocates of female suffrage
began in this city their crusade against celebrating the centennial anniversary of a na-
tion wherein women are not permitted to vote. The demand of Miss Anthony and
Mrs. Gage to be allowed to take part in a commemoration which many of their asso-
ciates discouraged and denounced, would have been a cool proceeding had it been
made in advance. Made, as it was, through a very discourteous interruption, it pre-
Comments of the Press, 1876. 43
figures new forms of violence and disregard of order which may accompany the par-
ticipation of women in active partisan politics. — [New York Tribune.
The letter of a correspondent, printed in another column, describing the presenta-
tion of a woman's bill of rights, in Independence Square on the Fourth of July,
will interest all readers, whether or not they think with the coriespondent, that
this little affair was the most important of the day's proceedings. We have not a
doubt that the persons who were concerned in the affair enjoyed it heartily. Those
of them who made speeches naturally regarded their eloquence as a thing to stir the
nation. All persons who make speeches do. The day was a warm one, and imagina-
tion, like the fire-cracker, was on ffire. In the heat of the occasion, of course, the
women who want to vote and who desire the protection of the writ of habeas corpus
against the tyranny of actual or possible husbands, felt that they were making great
folios of history ; but the sagacity of the press agents and reporters was not at fault.
The gatherers of news know very well what they are about ; and when they decided
to omit this part of the proceedings from their reports, they simply obeyed that in-
stinct upon which their livelihood depends — the instinct, namely, to write only of
matters in which the public is interested.
The good women who wrote and published this declaration, fancying that they
were throwing a boombshell into the gathered crowds of American (male) citizens,
are very much in earnest, doubtless, and are entitled — we have platform authority fur
saying it — to " respectful consideration "; but their movement scarcely rises, as yet
at least, to the dignity of a great historical event. There is a prevailing indifference
to their cause which is against it. The public is not aroused to a fever heat of in-
dignation over the wrongs which women are everywhere suffering at the hands of
the tyrants called husbands. The popular mind is not yet awake to the fact that men
usually imprison their wives in back parlors and maltreat them shamefully. The
witnesses, wives to wit, refuse to bear testimony to this effect, and the public placidly
accepts appearance for reality and believes that the gentlewomen who ride about in
their carriages or haunt the shops of our cities in gay apparel are reasonably well con-
tented with their lot in life. In a word, it is not hostility so much as calm indifference
with which the advocates of woman suffrage have to contend, and unluckily for them
the indifference is very largely feminine. — [New York Evening Post.
There is something awful in the thought that should the woman suffragists be con-
tinually refused a voice in the affairs of the nation they might at last in a fit of despe-
ration, do what our fathers did, and frame a declaration of independence, No, 2. Just
think of an army of crinolines willing to take arms against the tyrant man, and sacri-
fice their lives, if need be, to carry out their principles ! It is easier to ridicule the
woman suffrage movement than to answer the arguments advanced by some of the leading
advocates of that question. It is only the innate mildness of the position of women in
general that has prevented a revolution on this same subject long ago. One hundred
thousand such fire-eaters as Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the land,
could raise a rumpus which would cause the late unpleasantness to pale into insignifi-
cance. Armed and equipped, what a sight would be presented by an army of strong-
minded women ! There would be no considering the question of whether the cavalry
should ride side-saddle, or a la clothes-pin. Such detail would be of too small importance
to receive the slightest attention ; the more vital questions would be, " How can we
slaughter the most men ?" " How can we soonest convince the demons that we have
rights which must be respected?" The fact is, that if these down-trodden women
would take a firm stand in any thing like respectable numbers, and assert their claims
to suffrage at the point of the bayonet, they would be allowed everything they asked
for. There is not a man in the land who would dare to take up arms against a woman.
Such a dernier resort on the part of the women would be truly laughable, but the mat-
ter would cease to be a joke, if General Susan B. Anthony, in command of a bloomer
regiment, should march into the halls of congress, armed cap-a-pie, and demand the
passage of a law in behalf of woman suffrage, or the alternative of the general clean-
44 History of Woman Suffrage.
ing out of (he whole body. There is no immediate prospect of such an event, but
"hell hath no furies like a woman scorned." Long and loud have been the appeals of
the fair sex for recognition at the ballot-box. With that faithful zeal so truly charac-
teristic of her sex, she has each time, for many years in the history of this country,
presented herself before the curious gaze of our national conventions, asking, with no
little stress of argument, for a woman's plank in the platforms. If she has been heard
at all in the framed resolutions of the parties, the feeling prevailing in the conventions
has been rather to pacify and put her off, than to grant her request through motives of
political policy. If perseverance is to be awarded, the agitators of the woman ques-
tion will yet carry off the prize they seek. Death alone can silence such women as
Susan B. Anthony and Cady Stanton, and their teachings will live after them and
unite others of their sex into strong bands of sisterhood in a common cause. It is safe
to say, if events march on in the same direction they have since the calling of the first
National Woman's Convention, another centennial will see woman in the halls of
legislation throughout the land, and so far as we are concerned we have no objection,
so long as she behaves herself. — [St. Louis Dispatch, July 13.
It is a curious anomaly that the movement for national woman suffrage in our coun-
try is most obstructed by women, and that even where Jhemen have doubts, their natu-
ral admiration for the gentler sex almost converts them into champions. Certain it is
that the Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United .States that the National
Woman Suffrage Association presented to the vice-president, Mr. Ferry, while he was
surrounded by foreign princes and potentates and by the governors of most of the
States of the union, faced at the same time by a countless mass of American and for-
eign visitors — certain it is, we repeat, that when this altogether unique paper was pre-
sented by Miss Susan B. Anthony and her sisters, it became a record in the minds and
memory of all who witnessed the strange proceeding. And it is a very well written
statement, and no doubt one hundred years hence it will be read with an interest not
less ecstatic than the enthusiasm of its present pioneers ; for, in the interval, these ad-
vanced women may have won for their withholding sisters the entire list of male pre-
rogatives. What adds to the force of the present woman suffrage party is the dignity,
intelligence and purity of its participants. The venerable Lucretia Mott ; the honest,
straightforward Susan B. Anthony ; the cultivated Ellen Clark Sargent (wife of the Cali-
fornia senator); the beloved Elizabeth Cady Stanton. and indeed all the names at-
tached to the declaration command our respect. Whatever we may think of the points
of the declaration itself, with all our sincere admiration of these gentlewomen, in-
creased by the knowledge even-where that they are ardent republicans, we fear that
their weakness, to employ a paradox, consists in their strength, or, in other words,
that it is difficult to induce even the most benevolent and sympathetic observer to be-
lieve that they are really as much persecuted and oppressed as they claim to be. When
the colored man demanded his rights they were given to him because these rights in
republican constitutions were regarded as inherent, and also because he had reciprocal
duties to discharge, and heavy burdens to carry, and when the Southern confederate
demanded restitution of his rights, he rested his claim upon the double ba>is that he
had earned forgiveness by his bravery, and that political disfranchisement did not be-
long to a republican example. Fortunately or unfortunately, it is very different with
the ladies ; and so when they come forward insisting upon rights heretofore accorded
to men alone, they must encounter all the differences created by the delicacy of their
own sisters and the reverence and love of the men, and the hard fact that these two
influences have made it heretofore impossible for women to descend to the arena of
politics. Having said this much, we present a few of the cardinal points of the
woman's declaration of rights laid before the august memorial centennial celebration
last Tuesday, July 4, 1876. — [Philadelphia Press, July 15.
On July 19, the Citizens' Suffrage Association, of Philadelphia,
joined with the National Association in commemorating the first
Twenty-eighth Anniversary Celebration. 45
woman's rights convention called by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth
Cady Stanton.at Seneca Falls, N. Y., July 19, 1848 — thus celebra-
ting the twenty-eighth anniversary of that historic event. The
meeting was presided over by Edward M. Davis, president of the
association, son-in-law of Lucretia Mott, and one of the most
untiring workers in the cause. The venerable Lucretia Mott
addressed the meeting, and Miss Anthony read letters from sev-
eral of the earliest and most valued pioneers of the movement :
TENAFLY, New Jersey, July 19, 1876.
LUCRETIA MOTT — Esteemed Friend : It is twenty-eight years ago to-day
since the first woman's rights convention ever held assembled in the Wes-
leyan chapel at Seneca Falls, N. Y. Could we have foreseen, when we
called that convention, the ridicule, persecution, and misrepresentation
that the demand for woman's political, religious and social equality would
involve ; the long, weary years of waiting and hoping without success ; I
fear we should not have had the courage and conscience to begin such a
protracted struggle, nor the faith and hope to continue the work. Fortu-
nately for all reforms, the leaders, not seeing the obstacles which block
the way, start with the hope of a speedy success. Our demands at the first
seemed so rational that I thought the mere statement of woman's wrongs
would bring immediate redress. I thought an appeal to the reason and
conscience of men against the unjust and unequal laws for women that
disgraced our statute books, must settle the question. But I soon found,
while no attempt was made to answer our arguments, that an opposition,
bitter, malignant, and persevering, rooted in custom and prejudice, grew
stronger with every new demand made, with every new privilege granted.
How well I remember that July day when the leading ladies and gentle-
men of the busy town crowded into the little church ; lawyers loaded with
books, to expound to us the laws; ladies with their essays, and we who
had called the convention, with our declaration of rights, speeches, and
resolutions. With what dignity James Mott, your sainted husband, tall
and stately, in Quaker costume, presided over our novel proceedings.
And your noble sister, Martha C. Wright, was there. Her wit and wisdom
contributed much to the interest of our proceedings, and her counsel in a
large measure to what success we claimed for our first convention. While
so many of those early friends fell off through indifference, fear of ridicule
and growing conservatism, she remained through these long years of trial
steadfast to the close of a brave, true life. She has been present at nearly
every convention, with her encouraging words and generous contributions,
and being well versed in Cushing's Manual, has been one of our chief pre-
siding officers. And my heart is filled with gratitude, even at this late day,
as I recall the earnestness and eloquence with which Frederick Douglass
advocated our cause, though at that time he had no rights himself that any
white man was bound to respect. I marvel now, that in our inexperience
the interest was so well sustained through two entire days, and that when
the meeting adjourned everybody signed the declaration and went home
feeling that a new era had dawned for woman. What had been done and
46 History of Woman Suffrage.
said seemed so preeminently wise and proper that none of us thought of
being ridiculed, ostracised, or suspected of evil. But what was our sur-
prise and chagrin to find ourselves, in a few days, the target for the press
of the nation ; the New York Tribune being our only strong arm of de-
fense.
Looking over these twenty-eight years, I feel that what we have
achieved, as yet, bears no proportion to what we have suffered in the
daily humiliation of spirit from the cruel distinctions based on sex.
Though our State laws have been essentially changed, and positions in
the schools, professions, and world of work secured to woman, unthought
of thirty years ago, yet the undercurrent of popular thought, as seen in
our social habits, theological dogmas, and political theories, still reflects
the same customs, creeds, and codes that degrade women in the effete
civilizations of the old world. Educated in the best schools to logical
reasoning, trained to liberal thought in politics, religion and social ethics
under republican institutions, American women cannot brook the dis-
criminations in regard to sex that were patiently accepted by the ignorant
in barbarous ages as divine law. And yet subjects of emperors in the old
world, with their narrow ideas of individual rights, their contempt of all
womankind, come here to teach the mothers of this republic their true
work and sphere. Such men as Carl Schurz, breathing for the first time
the free air of our free land, object to what we consider the higher educa-
tion of women, fitting them for the trades and professions, for the sciences
and arts, and self-complacently point Lucretia Mott, Maria Mitchell,
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan B. Anthony, to their appropriate sphere,
as housekeepers with a string of keys, like Madam Bismark, dangling
around their waists.
The Rev. J. G. Holland, the Tupper of our American literature, thanks
his Creator that woman has no specialty. She was called into being for
man's happiness and interest — his helpmeet — to wait and watch his
movements, to second his endeavors, to fight the hard battle of life
behind him whose brain may be dizzy with excess, whose limbs may
be paralyzed, or if sound in body, may be without aim or ambition,
without plans or projects, destitute of executive ability or good judg-
ment in the business affairs of life. And such sentimentalists, after
demoralizing women with their twaddle, discourage our demand for
the right of suffrage by pointing us to the fact that the majority of
women are indifferent to this movement in their behalf. SuppoSfe they
are; have not the masses of all oppressed classes been apathetic and in-
different until partial success crowned the enthusiasm of the few? Carl
Schurz would not have been exiled from his native land could he have
roused the majority of his countrymen to the same love of liberty which
burned in his own soul. Were his dreams of freedom less real because
the stolid masses were not awake to their significance? Shall a soul
that accepts martyrdom for a principle be told he is sacrificing himself to
a shadow because the multitude can neither see nor appreciate the idea?
I do not feel like rejoicing over any privileges already granted to my
sex, until all our rights are conceded and secured and the principle of
Letter of Catharine A. F. Stebbins. 47
equality recognized and proclaimed, for every step that brings us to a
more equal plane with man but makes us more keenly feel the loss of
those rights we are still denied — more susceptible to the insults of his
assumptions and usurpations of power. As I sum up the indignities
toward women, as illustrated by recent judicial decisions — denied the
right to vote, denied the right to practice in the Supreme Court, denied
jury trial — I feel the degradation of sex more bitterly than I did on that
July 19, 1848, and never more than in listening to your speech in
Philadelphia on the Fourth of July, our nation's centennial birthday, re-
membering that neither years nor wisdom, brave words nor noble deeds,
could secure political honor or call forth national homage for women.
Let it be remembered by our daughters in future generations that
Lucretia Mott, in the eighty-fourth year of her age, asked permission, as
the representative woman of this great movement for the enfranchise-
ment of her sex, to present at the centennial celebration of our national
liberties, Woman's Declaration of Rights, and was refused ! This was the
" respectful consideration " vouchsafed American women at the close of
the first century of our national life.
May we now safely prophesy justice, liberty, equality for our daughters
ere another centennial birthday shall dawn upon us !
Sincerely yours, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
DETROIT, July 17, 1876.
To Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Ann McClintock and
daughters, Amy Post, and all associated with them and myself in the
first Woman's Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, N. V., July
19, 1848, as well as to our later and present associates, Greeting :
Not able to be with you in your celebration of the nineteenth, I will yet
give evidence that I prize your remembrance of our first assemblage and
of our earliest work. That is, and will ever be. as the present is a
memorable year; and may this be memorable too for the same reason, a
brave step in advance for human freedom. I would that it could be a
conclusive step in legislation for the political freedom of the women of
the nation. For it is only in harmony with reason and experience to pre-
dict that the men as well as the women of the near future will rejoice if
this centennial year is thus marked and glorified by so grand a deed.
We may well congratulate each other and have satisfaction in knowing
that we have changed the public sentiment and the laws of many States
by our advocacy and labors. We also know that while helping the
growth of our own souls, we have set many women thinking and reading
on this vital question, who in turn have discussed it in private and public,
and thus inspired others. So that at this present time few who
have examined can deny our claim. But we are grateful to remember
many women who needed no arguments, whose clear insight and reason
pronounced in the outset that a woman's soul was as well worth saving
as a man's; that her independence and free choice are as necessary and
as valuable to the public virtue and welfare; who saw and still see in
both, equal children of a Father who loves and protects all.
48 History of Woman Suffrage.
Men do not need to be convinced of the righteousness of entire free-
dom for us; they have long been convinced of its justice; they confess
that it is only expediency which makes them withhold that which they
profess is precious to them. We await only an awakened conscience and
an enlarged statesmanship.
I bid you and the women of the republic God-speed, and close in the
language of one who went before us, Mary Wollstonecraft, who did so
much in a thoughtless age to bring both men and women back to virtue
and religion. She says: "Contending for the rights of woman, my main
argument is built on this simple principle, that if she be not prepared by
education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of
knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all or it will be in-
efficacious with respect to its influence in general practice. And how can
unman be expected to cooperate unless she know why she ought to be
virtuous ; unless freedom strengthen her reason till she comprehends
her duty and sees in what manner it is connected with her real good? If
children are to be educated to understand the true principle of patriotism,
their mother must be a patriot; and the love of mankind from which an
orderly train of virtues spring, can only be produced by considering the
moral and civil interests of mankind ; but the education and situation of
woman at present shuts her out from such investigations."
With the greatest possible interest in your celebration and delibera-
tions, and assuring you that I shall be with you in thought and spirit, I
am most earnestly and cordially yours,
CATHARINE A. F. STEBBINS.
ROCHESTER, N. Y., June 27, 1876.
MY DEAR SUSAN ANTHONY : I thank thee most deeply for the assurance
of a welcome to your deliberative councils in our country's centennial year,
to reannounce our oft-repeated protest against bondage to tyrant law.
Most holy cause ! Woman's equality, why so long denied ? . . . . I was
ready at the first tap of the drum that sounded from that hub of our
country, Seneca Falls, in 1848, calling for an assembly of men and women
to set forth and remonstrate against the legal usurpation of our rights. . . .
1 cannot think of anything that would give me as much pleasure as to be
able to meet with you at this time. I am exceedingly glad that you
appreciate the blessings of frequent visits and wise counsel from our be-
loved and venerated pioneer, Lucretia Mott. I hope her health and
strength will enable her to see and enjoy the triumphant victory of this
work, and I wish you all the blessings of happiness that belong to all
good workers, and my love to them all as if named. AMY POST.
POMO, Mendocino Co., California, June 26, 1876.
July 4, 1776, our revolutionary fathers — in convention assembled — de-
clared their independence of the mother country; solemnly asserted
the divine right of self-government and its relation to constituted au-
thority. With liberty their shibboleth, the colonies triumphed in their
long and fierce struggle with the mother country, and established an in-
dependent government. They adopted a " bill of rights " embodying their
ideal of a free government.
Mrs. C. I. H. Nichols Centennial Protest. 49
With singular inconsistency almost their first act, while it secured to
one-half the people of the body politic the right to tax and govern them-
selves, subjected the other half to the very oppression which had cul-
minated in the rebellion of the colonies, "taxation without representa-
tion," and the inflictions of an authority to which they had not given their
consent. The constitutional provision which enfranchised the male popu-
lation of the new State and secured to it self-governing rights, disfran-
chised its women, and eventuated in a tyrannical use of power, which,
exercised by husbands, fathers, and brothers, is infinitely more intolerable
than the despotic acts of a foreign ruler.
As if left ignobly to illustrate the truths of their noble declarations, no
sooner did the enfranchised class enter upon the exercise of their usurped
powers than they proceeded to alienate from the mothers of humanity
rights declared to be inseparable from humanity itself! Had they thrust
the British yoke from the necks of their wives and daughters as in-
dignantly as they thrust it from their own, the legal subjection of the
women of to-day would not stand out as it now does — the reproach
of our republican government. As if sons did not follow the condition of
the mothers — as if daughters had no claim to the birthright of the
fathers — they established for disfranchised woman a " dead line," by re-
taining the English common law of marriage, which, unlike that of less
liberal European governments, converts the marriage altar into an execu-
tioner's block and recognizes woman as a wife only when so denuded of
personal rights that in legal phrase she is said to be — "dead in law " !
More considerate in the matter of forms than the highwayman who
kills that he may rob the unresisting dead, our gallant fathers executed
women who must need cross the line of human happiness — legally ; and
administered their estate ; and decreed the disposition of their defunct
personalities in legislative halls; only omitting to provide for the matri-
monial crypt the fitting epitaph : " Here lies the relict of American free-
dom— taxed to pauperism, loved to death ! "
With all the modification of the last quarter of a century, our English
law of marriage still invests the husband with a sovereignty almost de-
spotic over his wife. It secures to him her personal service and savings,
and the control and custody of her person as against herself. Having thus
reduced the wife to a dead pauper owing service to her husband, our
shrewd forefathers, to secure the bond, confiscated her natural obliga-
tions as a child and a mother. Whether married or single, only inability
excuses a son from the legal support of indigent and. infirm parents.
The married daughter, in the discharge of her wifely duties, may tenderly
care and toil for her husband's infirm parents, or his children and grand-
children by a prior marriage, while her own parents, or children by a
prior marriage — legally divested of any claim on her or the husband who
absorbs her personal services and earnings — are sent to the poor-house,
or pine in bitter privation ; except with consent of her husband, she can
give neither her personal care nor the avails of her industry, for their
benefit. So, to be a wife, woman ceases, in law, to be anything else —
yields up the ghost of a legal existence ! That she escapes the extreme
4
50 History of Woman Suffrage.
penalty of her legal bonds in any case is due to the fact that the majority
of men, married or single, are notably better than their laws.
Our fathers taught the quality and initiated the form of free govern-
ment. But it was left to their posterity to learn from the discipline of
experience, that truths, old as the eternities, are forever revealing new
phases to render possible more perfect interpretations ; and to accumulate
unanswerable reasons for their extended application. That the sorest
trials and most appreciable failures of the government our fathers be-
queathed to us, have been the direct and inevitable results of their
departures from the principles they enunciated, is so patent to all
Christendom, that free government itself has won from our mistakes
material to revolutionize the world — lessons that compel depotisms to
change their base and constitutional monarchies to make broader the
phylacteries of popular rights.
Is it not meet then, that on this one-hundredth anniversary of American
independence the daughters of revolutionary sires should appeal to the
sons to fulfill what the fathers promised but failed to perform — should
appeal to them as the constituted executors of the father's will, to give
full practical effect to the self-evident truths, that "taxation without
representation is tyranny " — that "governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed "? With an evident common interest
in all the affairs of which government properly or improperly takes
cognizance, we claim enfranchisement on the broad ground of human
right, having proved the justice of our claim by the injustice which has
resulted to us and ours through our disfranchisement.
We ask enfranchisement in the abiding faith that with our cooperative
efforts free government would attain to higher averages of intelligence
and virtue; with an innate conviction, that the sequestration of rights in
the homes of the republic makes them baneful nurseries of the monopo-
lies, rings, and fraudulent practices that are threatening the national
integrity ; and that so long as the fathers sequester the rights of the
mothers and train their sons to exercise, and the daughters to submit
to the exactions of usurped powers, our government offices will be dens
of thieves and the national honor trail in the dust ; and honest men come
out from the fiery ordeals of faithful service, denuded of the confidence
and respect justly their due. Give us liberty. We are mothers, wives,
and daughters of freemen. C. I. H. NICHOLS.
LONDON, Eng., July 4, 1876.
MY DEAR SUSAN : I sincerely thank you for your kind letter. Many
times I have thought of writing to you, but I knew your time was too
much taken up with the good cause to have any to spare for private
correspondence. Occasionally I am pleased to see a good account of you
and your doings in the Boston Investigator. Oh, how I wish I could be
with you on this more than ordinarily interesting and important occasion;
or that I could at least send my sentiments and views on human rights,
which I have advocated for over forty years, to the convention.
This being the centenary day of the proclamation of American in-
dependence, I must write a few lines, if but to let the friends know that
Letter of Ernestine L. Rose, 1876. 5 1
though absent in body I am with you in the cause for which, in common
with you, I have labored so long, and I hope not labored in vain.
The glorious day upon which human equality was first proclaimed
ought to be commemorated, not only every hundred years, or every year,
but it ought to be constantly held before the public mind until its grand
principles are carried into practice. The declaration that "All men
[which means all human beings irrespective of sex] have an equal right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," is enough for woman as for
man. We need no other; but we must reassert in 1876 what 1776 so
gloriously proclaimed, and call upon the law-makers and the law-breakers
to carry that declaration to its logical consistency by giving woman the
right of representation in the government which she helps to maintain ;
a voice in the laws by which she is governed, and all the rights and
privileges society can bestow, the same as to man, or disprove its
validity. We need no other declaration. All we ask is to have the laws
based on the same foundation upon which that declaration rests, viz.:
upon equal justice, and not upon sex. Whenever the rights of man are
claimed, moral consistency points to the equal rights of woman.
I hope these few lines will fill a little space in the convention at Phila-
delphia, where my voice has so often been raised in behalf of the principles
of humanity. I am glad to see my name among the vice-presidents of
the National Association. Keep a warm place for me with the American
people. I hope some day to be there yet. Give my love to Mrs. Mott
and Sarah Pugh. With kind regards from Mr. Rose,
Yours affectionately, ERNESTINE L. ROSE.
A new paper, The Ballot-Box, was started in the centennial
year at Toledo, Ohio, owned and published by Mrs. Sarah
Langdon Williams. The following editorial on the natal day of
the republic is from her pen :
THE RETROSPECT. — Since our last issue the great centennial anniversary
of American independence has come and gone ; it has been greeted with re-
joicing throughout the land ; its events have passed into history. The day in
which the great principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence
were announced by the revolutionary fathers to the world has been cele-
brated through all this vast heritage, with pomp and popular glorification,
and the nation's finest orators have signalized the event in " thoughts that
breathe and words that burn." Everywhere has the country been arrayed
in its holiday attire — the gay insignia which, old as the century, puts on
fresh youth and brilliancy each time its colors are unfurled. The successes
which the country has achieved have been portrayed with glowing elo-
quence, the people's sovereignty has been the theme of congratulation
and the glorious principles of freedom and equal rights have been enthu-
siastically proclaimed. In the magnificent oration of Mr. Evarts de-
livered in Independence Square, the spot made sacred by the signing of
the Declaration of Independence which announced that "Governments
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," these words
occur :
52 History of Woman Suffrage.
The chief concern in this regard, to us and the rest of the world is, whether the
proud trust, the profound radicalism, the wide benevolence which spoke in the
declaration and were infused into the constitution at the first, have been in good-faith
adhered to by the people, and whether now the living principles supply the living
forces which sustain and direct government and society. He who doubts needs but
to look around to find all things full of the original spirit and testifying to its wisdom
and strength.
Yet that very day in that very city was a large assemblage of women
convened to protest against the gross wrongs of their sex — the repre-
sentatives of twenty millions of citizens of the United States, composing
one-half of the population being governed without their consent by the
other half, who, by virtue of their superior strength, held the reins of
power and tyrannically denied them all representation. At that very
meeting at which that polished falsehood was uttered had the women,
but shortly before, been denied the privilege of silently presenting their
declaration of rights. More forcibly is this mortifying disregard of the claims
of women thrust in their faces from the fact that, amid all this magnificent
triumph with which the growth of the century was commemorated, amid
the protestations of platforms all over the country of the grand success
of the principle of equal rights for all, the possibility of the future accord-
ing equal rights to women as well as to men was, with the exception of
one or two praiseworthy instances, as far as reports have reached us,
utterly ignored. The women have no country — their rights are disre-
garded, their appeals ignored, their protests scorned, they are treated as
children who do not comprehend their own wants, and as slaves whose
crowning duty is obedience.
Whether, on this great day of national triumph and national aspiration,
the possibilities of a better future for women were forgotten ; whether,
from carelessness, willfulness, or wickedness, their grand services and
weary struggles in the past and hopes and aspirations for the future
were left entirely out of the account, certain it is that our orators were
too much absorbed in the good done by men and for men, to once recur to
the valuable aid, self-denying patriotism and lofty virtues of the nation's
unrepresented women. There were a few exceptions : Col. Wm. M.
Ferry, of Ottawa county, Michigan, in his historical address delivered in
that county, July Fourth, took pains to make favorable mention of the
daughter of one of the pioneers, as follows :
Louisa Constant, or " Lisette," as she was called, became her father's clerk when
twelve years old, and was as well known for wonderful faculties for business as she
was for her personal attractions. In 1828, when Lisette was seventeen years old, her
father died. She closed up his business with the British Company, engaged with the
American Fur Company, at Mackinaw, receiving from them a large supply of
merchandise, and for six years conducted the most successful trading establishment
in the northwest.
Think of it, ye who disparage the ability of woman ! This little tribute
we record with gratification. Colonel Ferry remembered woman. Henry
Ward Beecher, in his oration, delivered at Peekskill, is reported to have
said:
And now there is but one step more — there is but one step more. We permit the
lame, the halt and the blind to go to the ballot-box ; we permit the foreigner and the
Retrospect of " The Ballot-Box" 53
black man, the slave and the freeman, to partake of the suffrage ; there is but one
thing left out, and that is the mother that taught us, and the wife that is thought
worthy to walk side by side with us. It is woman that is put lower than the slave,
lower than the ignorant foreigner. She is put among the paupers whom the law
won't allow to vote ; among the insane whom the law won't allow to vote. But the
days are numbered in which this can take place, and she too will vote.
But these words are followed by others somewhat problematical, at
least in the respect rendered to women :
As in a hundred years suffrage has extended its bounds till it now includes the
whole population, in another hundred years everything will vote, unless it be the
power of the loom, and the locomotive, and the watch, and I sometimes think, look-
ing at these machines and their performances, that they too ought to vote.
But Mr. Evarts approached the close of his oration with these words —
and may they not be prophetic — may not the orator have spoken with a
deeper meaning than he knew?
With these proud possessions of the past, with powers matured, with principles set-
tled, with habits formed, the nation passes as it were from preparatory growth to re-
sponsible development of character and the steady performance of duty. What
labors await it, what trials shall attend it, what triumphs for human nature, what
glory for itself, are prepared for this people in the coming century, we may not
assume to foretell.
Whether the wise (?) legislators see it or not — whether the under-
current that is beating to the shore speaks with an utterance that is com-
prehensible to their heavy apprehensions or not, the coming century has
in preparation for the country a truer humanity, a better justice of which
the protest and declaration of the fathers pouring its vital current down
through the departed century, and surging on into the future, is, to the
seeing eye, the sure forerunner, the seed-time, of which the approaching
harvest will bring a better fruition for women — and they who scoff now
will be compelled to rejoice hereafter. But as Mr. Evarts remarked in his
allusions to future centennials :
By the mere circumstance of this periodicity our generation will be in the minds, in
the hearts, on the lips of our countrymen at the next centennial commemoration in
comparison with their own character and condition and with the great founders of the
nation. What shall they say of us ? How shall they estimate the part we bear in
the unbroken line of the nation's progress? And so on, in the long reach of time,
forever and forever, our place in the secular roll of the ages must always bring us into
observation and criticism.
Shall it then be recorded of us that the demand and the protest of the
women were not made in vain ? Shall it be told to future generations that
the cry for justice, the effort to sunder the shackles with which woman
has been oppressed from the dim ages ot the past, was heeded? Or, shall
it be told of us, in the beginning of this second centennial, that justice
has been ignored, that only liberty to men entered at this stage of
progress, into the American idea of self-government? Freedom to men
and women alike is but a question of time — is America now equal to the
great occasion ? Has her development expanded to that degree where
her legislators can say in very truth, as of the colored man, "Let the
oppressed go free " ?
54 History of Woman Suffrage.
The woman's pavilion upon the centennial grounds was an af-
ter-thought, as theologians claim woman herself to have been.*
The women of the country after having contributed nearly $100,-
ooo to the centennial stock, found there had been no provision
made for the separate exhibition of their work. The centennial
board, Mrs. Gillespie, president, then decided to raise funds for the
erection of a separate building to be known as the Woman's Pa-
vilion. It covered an acre of ground and was erected at an ex-
pense of $30,000, a small sum in comparison with the money
which had been raised by women and expended on the other
buildings, not to speak of State and national appropriations
which the taxes levied on them had largely helped to swell.
The pavilion was no true exhibit of woman's work. First, few
women are as yet owners of business which their industry largely
makes remunerative. Cotton factories in which thousands of
women work, are owned by men. The shoe business, in some
branches of which women are doing more than half, is under the
ownership of men. Rich embroideries from India, rugs of down}'
softness from Turkey, the muslin of Dacca, anciently known as
" The Woven Wind," the pottery and majolica ware of P.
Pipsen's widow, the cartridges and envelopes of Uncle Sam.
Waltham watches whose finest mechanical work is done by
women, and ten thousand other industries found no place in
the pavilion. Said United States Commissioner Meeker, t of
Colorado, " Woman's work comprises three-fourths of the exposi-
tion ; it is scattered through every building; take it away and
there would be no exposition."
But this pavilion rendered one good service to woman in show-
ing her capabilities as an engineer. The boiler which furnished the
force for running its work was under the management of a young
Canadian girl, Miss Alison, who from a child loved machinery,
spending much time in the large saw and grist mills of her father,
run by engines of two- and three-hundred horse-power, which she
sometimes managed for amusement. When her name was pro-
posed for running the pavilion machinery it brought much oppo-
sition. It was said the committee would some day find the pa-
vilion blown to atoms ; that the woman engineer would spend
her time reading novels, instead of watching the steam gauge ;
* A German legend says, God first made a mouse, but seeing he had made a mistake he made the
cat as an afterthought, therefore if woman is God's afterthought, man must be a mistake.
t Afterwards killed by the Indians in Colorado.
The Woman s Pavilion. 55
that the idea was impracticable and should not be thought of. But
Miss Alison soon proved her own capabilities and the falseness of
these prophecies by taking her place in the engine-room and
managing its workings with the ease that a child spins a top. Six
power looms on which women wove carpets, webbing, silks,
etc., were run by this engine. At a later period the printing of
The New Century for Women, a paper published by the centen-
nial commission in the woman's building, was also done by its
means. Miss Alison declared the work to be more cleanly, more
pleasant, and infinitely less fatiguing than cooking over a kitchen
stove. " Since I have been compelled to earn my own liveli-
hood," she said, " I have never been engaged in work I liked so
well. Teaching school is much harder, and one is not paid as
well." She expressed confidence in her ability to manage the
engine of an ocean steamer, and said there were thousands of
small engines in use in various parts of the country, and no rea-
son existed why women should not be employed to manage them
— following the profession of engineer as a regular business — an
engine requiring far less attention than is given by a nurse-maid
or mother to a child.
But to have made the woman's pavilion grandly historic, upon
its walls should have been hung the yearly protest of Harriet K.
Hunt against taxation without representation ; the legal papers
served upon the Smith sisters when their Alderny cows were seized
and sold for their refusal to pay taxes while unrepresented ; the
papers held by the city of Worcester for the forced sale of the
house and lands of Abby Kelly Foster, the veteran abolitionist,
because she refused to pay taxes, giving the same reason our an-
cestors gave when they resisted taxation ; a model of Bunker
Hill monument, its foundation laid by Lafayette in 1825, but
which remained unfinished nearly twenty years until the fa-
mous French danseuse Fanny Ellsler, gave the proceeds of an ex-
hibition for that purpose. With these should have been exhi-
bited framed copies of all the laws bearing unjustly upon woman —
those which rob her of her name, her earnings, her property, her
children, her person ; also, the legal papers in the case of Susan
B. Anthony, who was tried and fined for seeking to give consent
to the laws which governed her ; and the decision of Mr. Justice
Miller (Chief-Justice Chase dissenting) in the case of Myra Brad-
well, denying national protection for woman's civil rights ; and
the later decision of Chief-Justice Waite of the Supreme Court
56 Historv of ]]rowciii Suffrage.
against Virginia L. Minor, denying to women national protection
for their political rights, decisions in favor of state-rights which
imperil the liberties not only of all women, but of every white
man in the nation.
Woman's most fitting contributions to the centennial exposi-
tion would have been these protests, laws and decisions which show
her political slavery. But all this was left for fooms outside of
the centennial grounds, upon Chestnut street, where the National
Woman Suffrage Association hoisted its flag, made its protests,
and wrote the Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United
States.
To many thoughtful people it seemed captious and unreasonable
for women to complain of injustice in this free land, amidst such
universal rejoicings. When the majority of women are seemingly
happy, it is natural to suppose that the discontent of the minority
is the result of their unfortunate individual idiosyncrasies, and
not of adverse influences in their established conditions.
But the history of the world shows that the vast majority in
every generation passively accept the conditions into which they
are born, while those who demand larger liberties are ever a small,
ostracised minority whose claims are ridiculed and ignored. From
our stand-point wre honor the Chinese women who claim the right
to their feet and powers of locomotion, the Hindoo widows who
refuse to ascend the funeral pyre of their husbands, the Turkish
women who throw off their masks and veils and leave the harem,
the Mormon women who abjure their faith and demand mono-
gamic relations; why not equally honor the intelligent minority
of American women who protest against the artificial dis-
abilities by which their freedom is limited and their develop-
ment arrested ? That only a few under any circumstances pro-
test against the injustice of long established laws and customs
does not disprove the fact of the oppressions, while the satisfac-
tion of the many, if real, only proves their apathy and deeper
degradation. That a majority of the women of the United States
accept without protest the disabilities that grow out of their
disfranchisement, is simply an evidence of their ignorance and
cowardice, while the minority who demand a higher political
status clearly prove their superior intelligence and wisdom.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS, HEARINGS AND REPORTS.
1877-1878-1879.
Renewed Appeal for a Sixteenth Amendment — Mrs. Gage Petitions for Removal of
Political Disabilities — Ninth Washington Convention, 1877 — Jane Grey Swisshelm
— Letters, Robert Purvis, Wendell Phillips, Francis E. Abbott — 10,000 Petitions
Referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections by Special Request of the
Chairman, Hon. O. P. Morton, of Indiana — May Anniversary in New York — Tenth
Washington Convention, 1878 — Frances E. Willard and 30,000 Temperance
Women Petition Congress — 40,000 Petition for a Sixteenth Amendment — Hearing
before the Committee on Privileges and Elections — Madam Dahlgren's Protest —
Mrs. Hooker's Hearing on Washington's Birthday — Mary Clemmer's Letter to
Senator Wadleigh — His Adverse Report — Favorable Minority Report by Senator
Hoar — Thirtieth Anniversary, Unitarian Church, Rochester, N. Y., July 19,
1878 — The Last Convention Attended by Lucretia Mott — Letters, William Lloyd
Garrison, Wendell Phillips — Church Resolution Criticised by Rev. Dr. Strong —
International Women's Congress in Paris — Washington Convention, 1879 — U. S.
Supreme Court Opened to Women — May Anniversary at St. Louis — Address of Wel-
come by Phoebe Couzins — Women in Council Alone — Letter from Josephine But-
ler, of England — Mrs. Stanton's Letter to The National Citizen and Ballot-Box.
WITH the close of the centennial year the new departure under
the fourteenth amendment ended. Though defeated at the polls,
in the courts, in the national celebration, in securing a plank in
the platforms of the Republican and Democratic parties, and in
our own conventions — so far as the few were able to rouse the
many to simultaneous action — nevertheless a wide-spread agita-
tion had been secured by the presentation of this phase of the
question.
Although the unanswerable arguments of statesmen and law-
yers in the halls of congress and the Supreme Court of the United
States, had alike proved unavailing in establishing the civil and
political rights of women on a national basis, their efforts had not
been in vain. The trials had brought the question before a new
order of minds, and secured able constitutional arguments which
were reviewed in many law journals. The equally able congres-
sional debates, reported verbatim, read by a large constituency
in every State of the Union, did an educational work on the
^8 History of Woman Suffrage.
question of woman's enfranchisement that cannot be overesti-
mated.
But when the final decision of the Supreme Court in the case
of Virginia L. Minor made all agitation in that direction hopeless,
the National Association returned to its former policy, demand-
ing a sixteenth amendment. The women generally came to the
conclusion that if in truth there was no protection for them in
the original constitution nor the late amendments, the time had
come for some clearly-defined recognition of their citizenship by
a sixteenth amendment.
The following appeal and petition were extensively circulated :
To the Women of the United States:
Having celebrated our centennial birthday with a national jubilee, let us
now dedicate the dawn of the second century to securing justice to women.
For this purpose we ask you to circulate a petition to congress, just issued
by the National Association, asking an amendment to the United States
Constitution, that shall prohibit the several States from disfranchising
citizens on account of sex. We have already sent this petition through-
out the country for the signatures of those men and women who believe
in the citizen's right to vote.
To see how large a petition each State rolls up, and to do the work as
expeditiously as possible, it is necessary that some person in each county
should take the matter in charge, urging upon all, thoroughness and haste.
* * * The petitions should be returned before January 16, 17, 1877,
when we shall hold our Eighth Annual Convention at the capital, and
ask a hearing before congress.
Having petitioned our law-makers, State and national, for years, many
from weariness have vowed to appeal no more ; for our petitions, say they,
by the tens of thousands, are piled up in the national archives, unheeded
and ignored. Yet it is possible to roll up such a mammoth petition, borne
into congress on the shoulders of stalwart men, that we can no longer be
neglected or forgotten. Statesmen and politicians alike are conquered
by majorities. We urge the women of this country to make now the same
united effort for their own rights that they did for the slaves at the South
when the thirteenth amendment was pending. Then a petition of over
300,000 was rolled up by the leaders of the suffrage movement, and pre-
sented in the Senate by the Hon. Charles Sumner. But the statesmen
who welcomed woman's untiring efforts to secure the black man's freedom,
frowned down the same demands when made for herself. Is not liberty as
sweet to her as to him ? Are not the political disabilities of sex as grievous
as those of color? Is not a civil-rights bill that shall open to woman the
college doors, the trades and professions — that shall secure her personal
and property rights, as necessary for her protection as for that of the
colored man ? And yet the highest judicial authorities have decided that
the spirit and letter of our national constitution are not broad enough to
protect woman in her political rights ; and for the redress of her wrongs
Sixteenth Amendment Again. 59
they remand her to the State. If our Magna Charta of human rights can
be thus narrowed by judicial interpretations in favor of class legislation,
then must we demand an amendment that, in clear, unmistakable language,
shall declare the equality of all citizens before the law.
Women are citizens, first of the United States, and second of the State
wherein they reside; hence, if robbed by State authorities of any right
founded in nature or secured by law, they have the same right to national
protection against the State, as against the infringements of any foreign
power. If the United States government can punish a woman for voting
in one State, why has it not the same power to protect her in the exercise
of that right in every State? The constitution declares it the duty of
congress to guarantee to every State a republican form of government, to
every citizen, equality of rights. This is not done in States where women,
thoroughly qualified, are denied admission into colleges which their prop-
erty is taxed to build and endow ; where they are denied the right to
practice law and are thus debarred from one of the most lucrative profes-
sions ; where they are denied a voice in the government, and thus, while
suffering all the ills that grow out of the giant evils of intemperance, pros-
titution, war, heavy taxation and political corruption, stand powerless to
effect any reform. Prayers, tears, psalm-singing and expostulation are
light in the balance compared with that power at the ballot-box that coins
opinions into law. If women who are laboring for peace, temperance,
social purity and the rights of labor, would take the speediest way to
accomplish what they propose, let them demand the ballot in their own
hands, that they may have a direct power in the government. Thus only
can they improve the conditions of the outside world and purify the home.
As political equality is the door to civil, religious and social liberty, here
must our work begin.
Constituting, as we do, one-halt the people, bearing the burdens of one-
half the national debt, equally responsible with man for the education,
religion and morals of the rising generation, let us with united voice send
forth a protest against the present political status of woman, that shall
echo and reecho through'the land. In view of the numbers and character
of those making the demand, this should be the largest petition ever yet
rolled up in the old world or the new; a petition that shall settle forever
the popular objection that "women do not want to vote."
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, President.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Chairman Executive Committee.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Corresponding Secretary.
'[\-najly, N. J., November 10, 1876.
To the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled :
The undersigned citizens of the United States, residents of the State of ,
earnestly pray your honorable bodies to adopt measures for so amending the constitu-
tion as to prohibit the several States from disfranchising United States citizens on ac-
count of sex.
In addition to the general petition asking for a sixteenth
amendment, Matilda Joslyn Gage, this year (1877) sent an individ-
ual petition, similar in form to those offered by disfranchised
60 History of Woman Suffrage.
male citizens, asking to be relieved from her political disabilities.
This petition was presented by Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, of
the House of Representatives, member from the thirty-third New
York congressional district. It read as follows :
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress
assembled :
Matilda Joslyn Gage, a native born citizen of the United States, and of the State of
New York, wherein she resides, most earnestly petitions your honorable body for the
removal of her political disabilities and that she may be declared invested with full
power to exercise her right of self government at the ballot-box, all State constitutions
or statute laws to the contrary notwithstanding.
The above petition was presented January 24; and the follow-
ing bill introduced February 5 :
AN ACT to relieve the political disabilities of Matilda Joslyn Gage:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in congress assembled, that all political disabilities heretofore existing in re-
ference to Matilda Joslyn Gage, of Fayetteville, Onondaga county, State of New York,
be removed and she be declared a citizen of the United States, clothed with all the
political rights and powers of citizenship, namely : the right to vote and to hold office
to the same extent and in the same degree that male citizens enjoy these rights. This
act to take effect immediately.
The following year a large number of similar petitions were sent
from different parts of the country, the National Association dis-
tributing printed forms to its members in the various States. The
power of congress to thus enfranchise women upon their individ-
ual petitions is as undoubted as the power to grant individual
amnesty, to remove the political disabilities of men disfran-
chised for crime against United States laws, or to clothe foreign-
ers, honorably discharged from the army, with the ballot.
The first convention * after the all-engrossing events of the cen-
tennial celebration assembled in Lincoln Hall, Washington, Jan-
uary 1 6, with a good array of speakers, Mrs. Stanton presiding.
After an inspiring song by the Hutchinsons and reports from the
* The annual convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association will be held in Lincoln Hall,
Washington, D. C., January 16, 17, 1877.
As by repeated judicial decisions, woman's right to vote under the fourteenth amendment has been
denied, we must now unitedly demand a sixteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, that
shall secure this right to the women of the nation. In certain States and territories where women had
already voted, they have been denied the right by legislative action. Hence it must be clear to every
thinking mind that this fundamental right of citizenship must not be left to the ignorant majorities in
the several States; for unless it is secured everywhere, it is safe nowhere.
We urge all suffrage associations and friends of woman's enfranchisement throughout the country to
send delegates to this convention, freighted with mammoth petitions for a sixteenth amendment. Let
all other proposed amendments be held in abeyance to the sacred rights of the women of this nation.
The most reverent recognition of God in the constitution would be justice and equality for woman.
On behalf of the National Woman Suffrage Association,
ELIZABETH CAUY STANTON, President.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Chairman Ex. Committee.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Corresponding Secretary.
Tenajly^ N. /., November 10, 1876.
Jane Grey Swiss helm, 1877. 61
various States, Sara Andrews Spencer, chairman of the congress-
ional committee, gave some encouraging facts in regard to the
large number of petitions being presented to congress daily, and
read many interesting letters from those who had been active
in their circulation. Over 10,000 were presented during this last
session of the forty-fourth congress. At the special request of
the chairman, Senator Morton of Indiana, they were referred to
the Committee on Privileges and Elections ; heretofore they had
always been placed in the hands of the Judiciary Committee in
both Senate and House. A list of committees* was reported by
Mrs. Gage which was adopted. Mrs. Swisshelm of Pennsylvania,
was introduced. She said :
In 1846 she inherited an estate from her parents, and then she
learned the injustice of the husband holding the wife's property. In 1848,
however, she got a law passed giving equal rights to both men and women,
and everybody decried her for the injury she had done to all homes by
thus throwing the apple of discord into families. So in Pennsylvania
women now hold property absolutely, and can sell without the consent of
the husband. But actually no woman is free. As in the days of slavery the
master owned the services, not the body of his slaves, so it is with the
wife. The husband owns the services and all that can be earned by his
wife. It is quite possible, as things now stand, to legislate a woman out
of her home, and yet she cooks, and bakes, and works, and saves, but it
all belongs to the man, and if she dies the second wife gets it all, for she
always manages him. The extravagance of dress is due alone to-day to
the fact that from what woman saves in her own expenses and those of her
house she gets no benefit at all, nor do her children, for it goes to the
second wife, who, perhaps, turns the children out of doors.
The resolutions called out a prolonged discussion, especially
the one on compulsory education, and that finally passed with a
few dissenting voices :
WHEREAS one-half of the citizens of the republic being disfranchised are everywhere
subjects of legislative caprice, and may be anywhere robbed of their most sacred
rights ; therefore,
Resolved, That it is the duty of the Congress of the United States to submit a prop-
osition for a sixteenth amendment to the national constitution prohibiting the several
States from disfranchising citizens on account of sex.
WHEREAS a monarchial government lives only through the ignorance of the masses,
and a republican government can live only through the intelligence of the people;
therefore,
Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to submit to the State legislatures proposi-
tions to so amend the Constitution of the United States as to make education compul-
sory, and to make intelligence a qualification for citizenship and suffrage in the United
* Committees : Finance — Sara A. Spencer, Ellen Clark Sargent, Lillie Devereux Blake. Resolu-
tions— Matilda Joslyn Gage, Susan B. Anthony. Belva A. Lockwood, Edward M. Davis, C. B. Purvis,
M. D., Jane G. Swisshelm. Business — John Hutchinson. Mary F. Foster, Rosina M. Parnell, Mary
A. S. Carey, Ellen H. Sheldon, S. J. Messer, Susan A. Edson, M. D.
62 History of Woman Suffrage.
States ; said amendments to take effect January i, 1880, when all citizens of legal age,
without distinction of sex, who can read and write the English language, may be ad-
mitted to citizenship.
WHEREAS a century of experience has proven that the safety and stability of free
institutions and the protection of all United States citizens in the exercise of their in-
alienable rights and the proper expression of the will of the whole people, are not
guaranteed by the present form of the Constitution of the United States ; therefore,
Resolved, That it is the duty of the several States to call a national convention to
revise the Constitution of the United States, which, notwithstanding its fifteen
amendments, does not establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, promote the gen-
eral welfare, nor secure the blessings of liberty to us and to our posterity.
Resolved, That the thanks of the women of this nation are due to the Rev.
Isaac M. See, of the Presbytery of Newark, for his noble stand in behalf of woman's
right to preach.
Resolved, That the action of the Presbytery of Newark in condemning the Rev. I.
M. See for his liberal course is an indication of the tyranny of the clergy over the con-
sciences of women, and a determination to fetter the spirit of freedom.
Among the many letters to the convention we give the follow-
ing:
BOSTON, i6th January, 1877.
DEAR FRIEND : These lines will not reach you in time to be of use. I am sorry.
But absence and cares must apologize for me. I think you are on the right track — the
best method to agitate the question ; and I am with you. I mean always to help
everywhere and every one. WENDELL PHILLIPS.
Miss ANTHONY.
MANCHESTER, Eng., Januarys, 1877.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY : It is with great pleasure that I write a word of sym-
pathy and encouragement, on the occasion of your Ninth Annual Convention of the
National Woman Suffrage Association.
Beyond wishing you a successful gathering, I will say nothing about the movement
in the United States. Women of either country can do nothing directly in promoting
the movement in the other ; and if they attempt to do so, there is danger that they
may hinder and embarrass those who are bearing the burden and heat of the day. The
only way in which mutual help can be given is through the women of each nation work-
ing to gain ground in their own country. Then, every step so gained, every actual ad-
vance of the boundaries of civil and political rights for women is a gain, not only to the
country which has secured it, but to the cause of human freedom all over the world.
This year marks the decennial of the movement in the United Kingdom. In the
current number of our journal, there is a sketch of the political history of the move-
ment here, which I commend to the attention of your convention, and which I need
not repeat. The record will be seen to be one of great and rapid advance in the polit-
ical rights of women, but there has been an equally marked change in other directions ;
women's interests in education, and women's questions generally, are treated now with
much more respectful consideration than they were ten years ago. We are gratified
in believing that much of this consideration is due to the attention roused by our ener-
getic and persistent demand for the suffrage, and in believing that infinitely greater
benefits of the same kind will accrue when women shall be in possession of the fran-
chise. Beyond the material gains in legislation, we find a general improvement in
the tone of feeling and thought toward women — an approach, indeed, to the senti-
ment recently expressed by Victor Hugo, that as man was the problem of the
eighteenth century, woman is the problem of the nineteenth century. May our efforts
to solve this problem lead to a happy issue. Yours truly,
LYDIA E. BECKER.
Letters to Washington Convention, 1877. 63
BOSTON, Mass., January 10, 1877.
DEAR MRS. STANTON : It is with some little pain, I confess, that I accept your
veiy courteous invitation to write a letter for your Washington convention on the igth
instant ; for what I must say, if I say anything at all, is what I know will be very unac-
ceptable— I fear very displeasing — to the majority of those to whom you will read it.
If you conclude that my letter will obstruct, and not facilitate the advancement of the
cause you have so faithfully labored for these many years, you have my most cheerful
consent to deliver it over to that general asylum of profitless productions — the waste-
basket.
Running this risk, however, I have this brief message to send to those who now meet
on behalf of woman's full recognition as politically the equal of man, namely : that
every woman suffragist who upholds Christianity, tears down with one hand what she
seeks to build up with the other — that the Bible sanctions the slavery principle itself,
and applies it to woman as the divinely ordained subordinate of man — and that by
making herself the great support and mainstay of instituted Christianity, woman rivets
the chain of superstition on her own soul and on man's soul alike, and justifies him in
obeying this religion by keeping her in subjection to himself. If Christianity and the
Bible are true, woman is man's servant, and ought to be. The Bible gave to negro-
slavery its most terrible power — that of summoning the consciences of the Christians
to its defense ; and the Bible gives to woman-slavery the same terrible power. So
plain is this to me that I take it as a mere matter of course, when all the eloquence of
the woman-suffrage platform fails to arouse the Christian women of this country to a
proper assertion of their rights. What else could one expect? Women will remain
contented subjects and subordinates just so long as they remain devoted believers in
Christianity ; and no amount of argument, or appeal, or agitation can change this fact.
If you cannot educate women as a whole out of Christianity, you cannot educate them
as a whole into the demand for equal rights.
The reason of this is short : Christianity teaches the rights of God, not the rights of
man or woman. You may search the Bible from Genesis to Revelations, and not
find one clear, strong, bold affirmation of human rights as such ; yet it is on hu-
man rights as such— on the equality of all individuals, man or woman, with respect to
natural rights — that the demand for woman suffrage must ultimately rest. I know I
stand nearly alone in this, but I believe from my soul that the woman movement is
fundamentally anti-Christian, and can find no deep justification but in the ideas, the
spirit, and the faith of free religion. Until women come to see this too, and to give
their united influence to this latter faith, political power in their hands would destroy
even that measure of liberty which free-thinkers of both sexes have painfully estab-
lished by the sacrifices of many generations. Yet I should vote for woman suffrage
all the same, because it is woman's right. Yours very cordially,
FRANCIS E. ABBOT.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 16, 1877.
MY DEAR FRIENDS : I thank you for your generous recognition of me as an humble
co-worker in the cause of equal rights, and regret deeply my inability to be present at
this anniversary of your association. I tender to you, however, my hearty congratula-
tions on the marked progress of our cause. Wherever I have been, and with whomso-
ever I have talked, making equal rights invariably the subject, I find no opposing feel-
ing to the simple and just demands we make for our cause. The chief difficulty in the
way is the indifference of the people ; they need an awakening. Some Stephen S.
Foster or Anna Dickinson should come forward, and with their thunder and lightning,
arouse the people from their deadly apathy. I am glad to know that you are to have
with you our valued friend, E. M. Davis, of Philadelphia. We are indebted to him
more than all besides for whatever of life is found in the movement in Pennsylvania.
He has spared neither time, money, nor personal efforts. Hoping you will have
abundant success, I am, dear friends, with you and the cause for which you have so
nobly labored, a humble and sincere worker. ROBERT PURVIS.
64 History of W'oDinn Suffrage.
OAKLAND, Cal., January 9, 1877-.
To the National Suffrage Convention, Washington, D. C. :
Our incorporated State society has deputed Mrs. Ellen Clark Sargent, the wife
of Hon. A. A. Sargent, our fearless champion in the United States Senate, to repre-
sent the women of California in your National Convention, and with one so faithful
and earnest, we know our cause will be well represented ; but there are many among
us who would gladly have journeyed to Washington to participate in your councils.
Many and radical changes have taken place in the past year favorable to our sex, not
the least of which was the nomination and election of several women to the office of
county superintendent of common schools, by both the Democratic and Republican
parties, in which, however, the Democrats led. Important changes in the civil code
favorable to the control of property by married women, have been made by the legis-
latures during the last four years, through the untiring efforts of Mrs. Sarah Wallis, Mrs.
Knox and Mrs. Watson, of Santa Clara county. In our schools and colleges, in every
avenue of industry, and in the general liberalization of public opinion there has been
marked improvement. Yours very truly,
LAURA DE FORCE GORDON,
Pres. California W. S. S. (Incorporated).
Mrs. Stanton's letter to The Ballot-Box briefly sums up the pro-
ceedings of the convention :
TEXAFLY, N. J., January 24, 1877.
DEAR EDITOR: If the little Ballot-Box is not already stuffed to repletion
with reports from Washington, I crave a little space to tell your readers
that the convention was in all points successful. Lincoln Hall, which
seats about fifteen hundred people, was crowded every session. The
speaking was good, order reigned, no heart-burnings behind the scenes,
and the press vouchsafed " respectful consideration."
The resolutions you will find more interesting and suggestive than that
kind of literature usually is, and I ask especial attention to the one for a
national convention to revise the constitution, which, with all its amend-
ments, is like a kite with a tail of infinite length still to be lengthened.
It is evident a century of experience has so liberalized the minds of the
American people, that they have outgrown the constitution adapted to
the men of 1776. It is a monarchial document with republican ideas
engrafted in it, full of compromises between antagonistic principles. An
American statesman remarked that "The civil war was fought to expound
the constitution on the question" of slavery." Expensive expounding!
Instead of further amending and expounding, the real work at the dawn
of our second century is to make a new one. Again, I ask the attention
of our women to the educational resolution. After much thought it seems
to me we should have education compulsory in every State of the Union,
and make it the basis of suffrage, a national law, requiring that those who
vote after 1880 must be able to read and write the English language. This
would prevent ignorant foreigners voting in six months after landing on
our shores, and stimulate our native population to higher intelligence. It
would dignify and purify the ballot-box and add safety and stability to our
free institutions. Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm, who had just returned from
Europe, attended the convention, and spoke on this subject.
Belva. A. Lockwood, who had recently been denied admission to the
Supreme Court of the LTnited States, although a lawyer in good practice
Mrs. Stantoris Letter to "The Ballot-Box" 65
for three years in the Supreme Court of the District, made a very scathing
speech, reviewing the decision of the Court. It may seem to your dis-
franchised readers quite presumptuous for one of their number to make
those nine wise men on the bench, constituting the highest judicial au-
thority in the United States, subjects for ridicule before an audience of
the sovereign people ; but, when they learn the decision in Mrs. Lock-
wood's case, they will be reassured as to woman's capacity to cope with
their wisdom. '"To arrive at the same conclusion with these judges, it is
not necessary," said Mrs. Lockwood, "to understand constitutional law,
nor the history of English jurisprudence, nor the inductive or deductive
modes of reasoning, as no such profound learning or processes of thought
were involved in that decision, which was simply this : 'There is no prece-
dent for admitting a woman to practice in the Supreme Court of the
United States, hence Mrs. Lockwood's application cannot be considered.'"
On this point Mrs. Lockwood showed that it was the glory of each
generation to make its own precedents. As there was none for Eve in the
garden of Eden, she argued there need be none for her daughters on en-
tering the college, the church, or the courts. Blackstone — of whose
. works she inferred the judges were ignorant — gives several precedents
for women in the English courts. As Mrs. Lockwood — tall, well-
proportioned, with dark hair and eyes, regular features, in velvet dress
and train, with becoming indignation at such injustice — marched up
and down the platform and rounded out her glowing periods, she might
have fairly represented the Italian Portia at the bar of Venice. No more
effective speech was ever made on our platform.
Matilda Joslyn Gage, whose speeches are always replete with historical
research, reviewed the action of the Republican party toward woman from
the introduction of the word " male " into the fourteenth amendment of the
constitution down to the celebration of our national birthday in Philadel-
phia, when the declaration of the mothers was received in contemptuous
silence, while Dom Pedro and other foreign dignitaries looked calmly on.
Mrs. Gage makes as dark a chapter for the Republicans as Mrs. Lockwood
for the judiciary, or Mrs. Blake for the church. Mrs. B. had been an atten-
tive listener during the trial of the Rev. Isaac See before the presbytery of
Newark, N. J., hence she felt moved to give the convention a chapter of
ecclesiastical history, showing the struggles through which the church
was passing with the irrepressible woman in the pulpit. Mrs. Blake's
biblical interpretations and expositions proved conclusively that Scott's
and Clark's commentaries would at no distant day be superceded by stan-
dard works from woman's standpoint. It is not to be supposed that
women ever can have fair play as long as men only write and interpret
the Scriptures and make and expound the laws. Why would it not be a
good idea for women to leave these conservative gentlemen alone in the
churches? How sombre they would look with the flowers, feathers,
bright ribbons and shawls all gone — black coats only kneeling and stand-
ing— and with the deep-toned organ swelling up, the solemn bass voice
heard only in awful solitude; not one soprano note to rise above the low,
dull wail to fill the arched roof with triumphant melody ! One such ex-
5
66 History of Woman Suffrage.
perimcnt from Maine to California would bring these bigoted presbyteries
to their senses.
Miss Phoebe Couzins, too, was at the convention, and gave her new
lecture, "A Woman without a Country," in which she shows all that
woman has done — from fitting out ships for Columbus, to sharing the toils
of the great exposition — without a place of honor in the republic for the
living, or a statue to the memory of the dead. Hon. A. G. Riddle and
Francis Miller spoke ably and eloquently as usual ; the former on the six-
teenth amendment and the presidential aspect, modestly suggesting that
if twenty million women had voted, they might have been able to find out
for whom the majority had cast their ballots. Mr. Miller recommended
State action, advising us to concentrate our forces in Colorado as a shorter
way to success than constitutional amendments.
His speech aroused Susan B. Anthony to the boiling point ; for, if there
is anything that exasperates her, it is to be remanded, as she says, to John
Morrissey's constituency for her rights. She contends that if the United
States authority could punish her for voting in the State of New York,
it has the same power to protect her there in the exercise of that
right. Moreover, she said, we have two wings to our movement. The
American Association is trying the popular-vote method. The National
Association is trying the constitutional method, which has emancipated
and enfranchised the African and secured to that race all their civil rights.
To-day by this method they are in the courts, the colleges, and the halls
of legislation in every State in the Union, while we have puttered with
State rights for thirty years without a foothold anywhere, except in the
territories, and it is now proposed to rob the women of their rights in
those localities. As the two methods do not conflict, and what is done in
the several States tells on the nation, and what is done by congress reacts
again on the States, it must be a good thing to keep up both kinds of
agitation.
In the middle of November the National Association sent out thousands
of petitions and appeals for the sixteenth amendment, which were pub-
lished and commented on extensively by the press in every State in the
Union. Early in January they began to pour into Washington at the rate
of a thousand a day, coming from twenty-six different States. It does not
require much wisdom to see that when these petitions were placed in the
hands of the respresentatives of their States, a great educational work
was accomplished at Washington, and public sentiment there has its
legitimate effect throughout the country, as well as that already ac-
complished in the rural districts by the slower process of circulating and
signing the petitions. The present uncertain position of men and parties,
has made politicians more ready to listen to the demands of their constit-
uents, and never has woman suffrage been treated with more courtesy in
Washington.
To Sara Andrews Spencer we are indebted, for the great labor of re-
ceiving, assorting, counting, rolling-up and planning the presentation of
the petitions. It was by a well considered coup d'etat that, with her brave
coadjutors, she appeared on the floor of the House at the moment of ad-
Comments of the Press, /c?//. 67
journment, and there, without circumlocution, gave each member a peti-
tion from his own State. Even Miss Anthony, always calm in the hour of
danger, on finding herself suddenly whisked into those sacred enclosures,
amid a crowd of stalwart men, spittoons, and scrap-baskets, when brought
•vis-a-vis with our champion, Mr. Hoar, hastily apologized for the intru-
sion, to which the honorable gentleman promptly replied, " I hope, Madam,
yet to see you on this floor, in your own right, and in business hours
loo." Then and there the work of the next day was agreed on, the mem-
bers gladly accepting the petitions. As you have already seen, Mr. Hoar
made the motion for the special order, which was carried and the petitions
presented. Your readers will be glad to know, that Mr. Hoar has just
been chosen, by Massachusetts, as her next senator — that gives us another
champion in the Senate. As there are many petitions still in circulation,
urge your readers to keep sending them until the close of the session, as
Ave want to know how many women are in earnest on this question. It
is constantly said, " Women do not want to vote." Ten thousand told
our representatives at Washington in a single day that they did ! What
answer ? Yours sincerely, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
The press commented as follows :
SIXTEENTH AMENDMENT. — The woman suffragists, who had a benefit in the House
of Representatives, on Friday, when their petitions were presented, transferred their
affections to the Senate on Saturday to witness the presentation of a large number of
petitions in that body. It is impossible to tell whether the results desired by the
women will follow this concerted action, but it is certain that they have their forces
better organized this year than they ever had before, and they have gone to work on
a more systematic plan. — [National Republican,
SIXTEENTH AMENDMENT IN THE SENATE — THE TEN THOUSAND PETITIONERS
TIOYALLY TREATED. — That women will, by voting, lose nothing of man's courteous,
chivalric attention and respect is admirably proven by the manner in which both
houses of congress, in the midst of the most anxious and perplexing presidential con-
flict in our history, received their appeals from twenty-three States for a sixteenth
amendment protecting the rights of women.
In both houses, by unanimous consent, the petitions were presented and read in
open session. The speaker of the House gallantly prepared the way yesterday, and
the most prominent senators to-day improved the occasion by impressing upon the
Senate the importance of the question. Mr. Sargent reminded the senators that there
Avere forty thousand more votes for woman suffrage in Michigan than for the new
State constitution, and Mr. Davves said, upon presenting the petition from Massachu-
setts, that the question was attracting the attention of both political parties in that
State, and he commended it to the early and earnest consideration of the Senate. Mr.
Cockrell of Missouri, merrily declared that his petitioners were the most beautiful
and accomplished daughters of the State, which of course he felt compelled to do when
Miss Couzins' bright eyes were watching the proceedings from the gallery. Mr. Cam-
eron of Pennsylvania, suggested that it would have been better to put them all to-
gether and not consume the time of the Senate with so many presentations.
The officers of the National Woman Suffrage Association held a caucus after the
adjouannent of the Senate, and decided to thank Mr. Cameron for his suggestion, and
while they had no anxiety lest senators should consume too much time attending to
the interests of women whom they claim to represent, and might reasonably anticipate
that ten millions of disfranchised citizens would trouble them considerably with peti-
tions while this injustice continued, yet they would promptly adopt the senator's coun-
sel and roll up such a mammoth petition as the Senate had not yet seen from the thou-
68 History of Woman Suffrage.
sands of women who had no opportunity to sign these. Accordingly they immediately
prepared the announcement for the friends of woman suffrage to send on their names
to the chairman of the congressional committee. They naturally feel greatly encour-
aged by the evident interest of both parties in the proposed sixteenth amendment, and
will work with renewed strength to secure the cobperation of the women of the coun-
try.— [ Washington Star.
The time has evidently arrived when demands for a recognition of the personal,
civil and political rights of one-half — unquestionably the better half — of the people
cannot be laughed down or sneered down, and recent indications are that they cannot
much longer be voted down. It was quite clear on Friday and Saturday, when peti-
tions from the best citizens of twenty-three States were presented in House and Sen-
ate, that the leaders of the two political parties vied with each other in doing honor
to the grave subject proposed for their consideration. The speaker of the House set
a commendable example of courtesy to women by proposing that the petitions be de-
livered in open House, to which there was no objection. The early advocates of equal
rights for women — Hoar, Kelley, Banks, Kasson, Lawrence, and Lapham — were, if
possible, surpassed in courtesy by those who are not committed, but are beginning to
see that a finer element in the body politic would clear the vision, purify the atmos-
phere and help to settle many vexed questions on the basis of exact and equal justice.
In the Senate the unprecedented courtesy was extended to women of half an hour's
time on the floor for the presentation of petitions, exactly alike in form, from twenty-
one States, and while this kind of business this session has usually been transacted with
an attendance of from seven to ten senators, it was observed that only two out of twenty-
three senators who had sixteenth amendment petitions to present were out of their
seats. Senator Sargent said the presence of women at the polls would purify elec-
tions and give us a better class of public officials, and the State would thus be greatly
benefited. The subject was receiving serious consideration in this country and in
England. Senator Dawes, in presenting the petition from Massachusetts, said the sub-
ject was commanding the attention of both political parties in his own State.
The officers of the National Association, who had been able to give only a few days'
time to securing the cooperation of the women of the several States in their present
effort, held a caucus after the adjournment of the Senate, and decided to immediately
issue a new appeal for a mammoth petition, which would even more decidedly impress
the two houses with the importance of protecting the rights of women by a constitu-
tional amendment. Considering the many long days and weeks consumed in both
houses in discussing the political rights of the colored male citizens, there is an ob-
vious propriety in giving full and fair consideration to the protection of the rights of
wives, mothers and daughters. — [T/if National Rfpublican, January 22, 1877.
The National Association held its anniversary in Masonic Tem-
ple, New York, May 24, 1877. Isabella Beecher Hooker, vice-
president for Connecticut, called the meeting to order and invited
Rev. Olympia Brown to lead in prayer. Mrs. Gage made the an-
nual report of the executive committee. Dr. Clemence S. Lozier
of New York was elected president for the coming year. Pledges
were made to roll up petitions with renewed energy ; and resolu-
tions were duly discussed * and adopted :
WHEREAS, Such minor matters as declaring peace and war, the coining of money,
the imposition of tariff, and the control of the postal service, are forbidde^ the re-
spective States ; and whereas, upon the framing of the constitution, it was wisely held
* The speaker* at this May anniversary were Mrs. Devereux Blake, Rev. Olympia Brown, Clara
Neyman, Helen Cooke, Helen M. Slocum, Mrs. Hooker, Mrs. Gage and Acting-Governor Lee of
Wyoming territory.
Resolutions of Jlfay, 1877. 69
that these property rights would be unsafe under the control of thirteen varying delib-
erative bodies ; and whereas, by a curious anomaly, power over suffrage, the basis and
corner-stone of the nation, is held to be under control of the respective States ; and
WHEREAS, the experience of a century has shown that the personal right of self-
government inhering in each individual, is wholly insecure under the control of thirty-
eight varying deliberative bodies ; and
WHEREAS, the right of self-government by the use of the ballot inheres in the citi-
zen of the United States ; therefore,
Resolved, That it is the immediate and most important duty of the government to se-
cure this right on a national basis to all citizens, independent of sex.
Resolved, That the right of suffrage underlies all other rights, and that in working
to secure it women are doing the best temperance, moral reform, educational, and re-
ligious work of the age.
Resolved, That we solemnly protest against the recent memorial to congress, from
Utah, asking the disfranchisement of the women of that territory, and that we ask of
congress that this request, made in violation of the spirit of our institutions, be not
granted.
Resolved, That the thanks of the National Woman Suffrage Association are hereby
tendered to the late speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Samuel J. Ran-
dall, Pa.; and to Representatives Banks, Mass.; Blair, N. H.; Bland, Mo.; Brown,
Kan.; Cox, N. Y. ; Eames, R. I.; Fenn, Col.; Hale, Me.; Hamilton, N. J.; Hen-
dee, Vt.; Hoar, Mass.; Holman, Ind. ; Jones, N. H.; Kasson, Iowa; Kelley, Pa.
Knott, Ky. ; Lane, Oregon; Lapham, N. Y. ; Lawrence, O.; Luttrel, Cal.; Lynde,
Wis. ; McCrary, Iowa; Morgan, Mo. ; O'Neill, Pa.; Springer, 111.; Strait, Minn.;
Waldron, Mich.; Warren, Conn.; Wm. B. Williams, Mich.; and Senators Allison,
Iowa; Bogy, Mo.; Burnside, R. I. (for Conn, and R. I.); Cameron, Pa.; Came-
ron, Wis.; Chaffee, Col.; Christiancy, Mich.; Cockrell, Mo.; Conkling, N. Y. ;
Cragin, N. H.; Dawes, Mass.; Dorsey, Ark. (a petition from Me.); Edmunds, Vt. ;
Frelinghuysen, N. J.; Hamlin, Me.; Kernan, N. Y. ; McCreery, Ky. ; Mitchell,
Oregon; Morrill, Vt.; Morton, Ind.; Oglesby, 111. ; Sargent, Cal.; Sherman, Ohio;
Spencer, Ala. (a petition from the District); Thurman, Ohio (a petition from Kansas);
\Vadleigh, N. H.; Wallace, Pa.; Windom, Minn.; Wright, Iowa, for represent-
ing the women of the United States in the presentation of the sixteenth amendment
petitions from ten thousand citizens, in open House and Senate, at the last session of
congress.
Resolved, That while we recognize with gratitude the opening of many new avenues
of labor and usefulness to women, and the amelioration of their condition before the
law in many States, we still declare there can be no fair play for women in the world of
business until they stand on the same plane of citizenship with their masculine com-
petitors.
Resolved, That in entering the professions and other departments of business here-
tofore occupied largely by men, the women of to-day should desire to accept the same
conditions and tests of excellence with their brothers, and should demand the same
standard for men and women in business, art, education, and morals.
Resolved, That the thanks of this association are hereby tendered to the lion. Geo.
F. Hoar of Massachusetts, for rising in his place in the Cincinnati presidential con-
vention, and asking in behalf of the disfranchised women of the United States that
the convention grant a hearing to Mrs. Spencer, of Washington, the accredited dele-
gate of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
Great unanimity was reached in these sentiments and the
enthusiasm manifested gave promise of earnest labor and more
hopeful results. It was felt that there was reason to thank God
and take courage.
70 History of Woman Suffrage.
The day before the opening of the Tenth Washington Conven-
tion a caucus was held in the ladies' reception-room * in the Senate
wing of the capitol. A roll-call of the delegates developed the
fact that every State in the Union would be represented by
women now here and en route, or by letter. Mrs. Spencer said she
had made a request in the proper quarter, that the delegates
should be allowed to go on the floor when the Senate was
actually in session, and present their case to the senators. She
had been met with the statement that such a proceeding was
without precedent. Mrs. Hooker suggested that inasmuch as
there was a precedent for such a course in the House, the dele-
gates should meet the following Thursday to canvass for votes in
the House of Representatives. Another delegate recalled the
fact that Mrs. General Sherman and Mrs. Admiral Dahlgren had
been admitted upon the floor of the Senate while it was in ses-
sion, to canvass for votes against woman suffrage.
This agitation resulted in a resolution introduced by Hon. A.
A. Sargent, January 10:
WHEREAS, Thousands of women of the United States have petitioned congress for
an amendment to the constitution allowing women the right of suffrage ; and whereas,
many of the representative women of the country favoring such amendment are present
in the city and have requested to be heard before the Senate in advocacy of said
amendment,
Resolved, That at a session of the. Senate, to be held on , said representative
women, or such of them as may be designated for that purpose, may be heard before
the Senate; but for one hour only.
Mr. EDMUNDS demanded the regular order.
Mr. SARGENT advocated the resolution, and urged immediate action, as
delay would detain the women in the city at considerable expense to them.
He thought the question not so intricate that senators require time for
consideration whether or not the women should be heard.
Mr. EDMUNDS said there was a rule of long standing that forbids any
person appearing before the Senate. There was much to be said in favor
of the petitions, but it was against the logic of the resolution that the
petitioners required more than was accorded any others. He, therefore,
insisted on his demand for the regular order.
Mr. SARGENT gave notice that he would call up his resolution to-
morrow, and reminded the senators that no rule was so sacred that it
could not be set aside by unanimous consent.
On the next day there was a lively discussion, Senators Ed-
munds, Thurman and Conkling insisting there was no precedent ;
Mr. Sargent, assisted by Senators Burnside, Anthony and Dawes,
* This reception-room, a great convenience to the ladies visiting the capitol, has since been re-
moved ; and a small, dark, inaccessible room on the basement floor set aside for their use.
Denied in both Senate and Hoiise. 71
reminding them of several occasions when the Senate had ex-
tended similar courtesies. The resolution was voted down — 31
to 13.*
Hon. Wm. D. Kelly, of Pennsylvania, performed like service in
the House :
Mr. KELLY asked leave to offer a resolution, reciting that petitions
were about to be presented to the House of Representatives from citizens
of thirty-five States of the Union, asking for the adoption of an amend-
ment to the constitution to prohibit the disfranchisement of any citizen
of any State ; and that there be a session of the House on Saturday,
January 12, at which time the advocates of the constitutional amendment
may be heard at the bar. These petitions ask the House to originate
a movement which it cannot consumate, but which it can only sub-
mit to the States for their action. The resolution only asks that the
House will hear a limited number of the advocates of this amendment,
who are now in the city, and on a day when there is not likely to be a
session for business. They only ask the privilege of stating the grounds
of their belief why the constitution should be amended in the direction
they indicate. Many of these ladies who petition are tax-payers, and they
believe their rights have been infringed upon.
Mr. CRITTENDEN of Missouri, objected, and the resolution was not
entertained.
This refusal to women pleading for their own freedom was
the more noticeable, as not only had Mesdames Sherman and
Dahlgren been heard upon the floor of the Senate in opposition,
but the floor of the House was shortly after granted to Charles
Stewart Parnell, M. P., that he might plead the cause of oppressed
Ireland. The Washington Union of January 11, 1878, largely
sustained by federal patronage, commented as follows :
To allow the advocates of woman suffrage to plead their cause on the
floor of the Senate, as proposed yesterday by Mr. Sargent, would be a de-
cided innovation upon the established usages of parliamentary bodies.
If the privilege were granted in this case it would next be claimed by the
friends and the enemies of the silver bill, by the supporters and opponents
of resumption, by hard money men and soft money men, by protectionists
and free-traders, by labor-reformers, prohibitionists and the Lord knows
whom besides. In fact, the admission of the ladies to speak on the floor
of the Senate would be the beginning of lively times in that body.
The convention was held in Lincoln Hall, January, 8, 9, 1878.
The house was filled to overflowing at the first session. A large
* Yeas — Anthony, Bruce, Burnside, Cameron of Wis., Dawes, Ferry, Hoar, Matthews, Mitchell,
Rollins, Sargent, Saunders, Teller — 13.
,V<M'.r — Bailey, Bayard, Beck, Booth, Butler, Christiancy, Cockrell, Coke, Conkling, Davis of
W. Va., Eaton, Edmunds, Eustis, Grover, Hamlin, Harris, Hereford, Hill. Howe, Kernan, Kirkwood,
Lamar, McDonald, McMillan, McPherson, Morgan, Plumb, Randolph, Saulsbury, Thurman, Wad*
leigh — 31.
>j2 History of Woman Suffrage.
number of representative women occupied the platform.* In
opening the meeting the president, Dr. Clemence Lozier, gave a
resume of the progress of the cause. Mrs. Stanton made an
argument on " National Protection for National Citizens."f Mrs.
Lockwood presented the following resolutions, which called out
an amusing debate on the "man idea" — that he can best repre-
sent the home, the church, the State, the industries, etc., etc.:
Resolved, That the president of this convention appoint a committee to select three
intelligent women who shall be paid commissioners to the Paris exposition ; and also
six other women who shall be volunteer commissioners to said exposition to represent
the industries of American women.
Resolved, That to further this object the committee be instructed to confer with the
President, the Secretary of State, and Commissioner McCormick.
A committee was appointed:}: and at once repaired to the
white-house, where they were pleasantly received by President
Hayes. After learning the object of their visit, the president
named the different classes of industries for which no commis-
sioners had been appointed, asked the ladies to nominate their
candidates, and assured them he would favor a representation
by women.
Miss JULIA SMITH of Glastonbury, Conn., the veteran defender of the
maxim of our fathers, "no taxation without representation," narrated the
experience of herself and her sister Abby with the tax-gatherers. They
attended the town-meeting and protested against unjust taxation, but
finally their cows went into the treasury to satisfy the tax-collector.
ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, spoke on
the temperance work being done in Chicago, in connection with the ad-
vocacy of the sixteenth amendment.
LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE reviewed the work in New York in getting
the bill through the legislature to appoint women on school boards,
which was finally vetoed by Governor Robinson.
Dr. MARY THOMPSON of Oregon, and Mrs. CROMWELL of Arkansas,
gave interesting reports from their States, relating many laughable en-
counters with the opposition.
ROBERT PURVIS of Philadelphia, read a letter from the suffragists of
Pennsylvania, in which congratulations were extended to the convention.
MARY A. S. CAREY, a worthy representative of the District of Colum-
bia, the first colored woman that ever edited a newspaper in the United
States, and who had been a worker in the cause for twenty years, ex-
* Grace Greenwood, Clara Barton, Abby Hutchinson Patton, Mrs. Juan Lewis, Mrs. Morgan of
Mississippi, Dr. Mary A. Thompson of Oregon, Manila M. Ricker, Julia E. Smith, Rev. Olympia
Brown, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Lockwood, Mrs. Spencer, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Stanton, Dr. Lozier and others.
t This argument was subsequently given before the Committee on Privileges and Elections and will
be found on page 80.
$ The members of the committee were Belva A. Lockwood, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mary A. Thomp-
son, M. D., Marilla M. Ricker, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert.
Tenth Washington Convention, 1878, 73
pressed her views on the question, and said the colored women would
support whatever party would allow them their rights, be it Republican
or Democratic.
Rev. OLYMPIA BROWN believed that a proper interpretation of the
fourteenth and fifteenth amendments did confer suffrage on women. But
men don't so understand it, and as a consequence when Mahomet would
not come to the mountain the mountain must go to Mahomet. She said
the day was coming, and rapidly, too, when women would be given suf-
frage. There were very few now who did not acknowledge the justice
of it.
ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER gave her idea on "A Reconstructed
Police," showing how she would rule a police force if in her control.
Commencing with the location of the office, she proceeded with her list of
feminine and masculine officers, the chief being herself. She would have
a superintendent as aid, with coordinate powers, and, besides the police
force proper, which she would form of men and women in equal propor-
tions; she would have matrons in charge of all station-houses. Her
treatment of vagrants would be to wash, feed, and clothe them, make
them stitch, wash and iron, take their history down for future refer-
ence, and finally turn them out as skilled laborers. The care of vagrant
children would form an item in her system.
Mrs. LAWRENCE of Massachusetts, said the country is in danger,
and like other republics, unless taken care of, will perish by its own vices.
She said twelve hundred thousand men and women of this country
now stand with nothing to do, because their legislators of wealth were
working not for the many, but the few, drunkenness and vice being
superinduced by such a state of things. She insisted that women were
to blame for much of the evil of the world — for bringing into life children
who grow up in vice from their inborn tendencies.
Dr. CAROLINE B. WINSLOW of Washington, referred to the speech of
Mrs. Lawrence, saying she hoped God would bless her for having the
courage to speak as she did. There is no greater reform than for man and
woman to be true to the marital relations.
BELVA A. LOCKWOOD said the only way for women to get their rights
is to take them. If necessary let there be a domestic insurrection.
Let young women refuse to marry, and married women refuse to sew on
buttons, cook, and rock the cradle until their liege-lords acknowledge the
rights they are entitled to. There were more ways than one to conquer
a man ; and women, like the strikers in the railroad riots, should carry
their demands all along the line. She dwelt at length upon the refusal of
the courts in allowing Lavinia Dundore to become a constable, and asked
why she should not be appointed.
The Rev. OLYMPIA BROWN said that if they wanted wisdom and pros-
perity in the nation, health and happiness in the home, they must give
woman the power to purify hei surroundings ; the right to make the out-
side world fit for her children to live in. Who are more interested than
mothers in the sanitary condition of our schools and streets, and in the
moral atmosphere of our towns and cities?
74 History of Woman Suffrage.
Marshal FREDERICK DOUGLASS said his reluctance to come forward
was not due to any lack of interest in the subject under discussion. For
thirty years he had believed in human rights to all men and women.
Nothing that has ever been proposed involved such vital interests as the
subject which now invites attention. When the negro was freed the
question was asked if he was capable of voting intelligently. It was an-
swered in this way : that if a sober negro knows as much as a drunken
white man he is capable of exercising the elective franchise.
LAVINIA C. DUNDORE, introdued as the lady who had made application
for an appointment as a constable and been refused, made a pithy address,
in which she alluded to her recent disappointment.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE spoke of the influence of the church on
woman's liberties, and then referred to a large number of law books —
ancient and modern, ecclesiastical and lay — in which the liberties of
woman were more or less abridged ; the equality of sexes which obtained
in Rome before the Christian era, and the gradual discriminatian in favor
of men which crept in with the growth of the church.
Mrs. DEVEREUX BLAKE said there is no aspect of this question that
strikes us so forcibly as the total ignoring of women by public men.
However polite they may be in private life, when they come to public
affairs they seem to forget that women exist. The men who framed the
last amendment to the constitution seemed to have wholly forgotten
that women existed or had rights Huxley said in reply to an in-
quiry is to woman suffrage, " Of course I'm in favor of it. Does it be-
come us to lay additional burdens on those who are already over-
weighted ? " It is always the little men who oppose us ; the big-hearted
men help us along. All in this audience are of the broad-shouldered
type, and I hope all will go out prepared to advocate our principles. In
reply to the objection that women do not need the right to vote because
men represent them so well, she asked if any man in the audience ever
asked his wife how he should vote, and told him to stand up if there was
such a one. [Here a young man in the back part of the hall stood up
amidst loud applause.]
The various resolutions were discussed at great length and
adopted, though much difference of opinion was expressed on
the last, which demands that intelligence shall be made the basis
of suffrage :
Resolved^ That the National Constitution should be so amended as to secure to
United States citizens at home the same protection for their individual rights against
State tyranny, as is now guaranteed everywhere against foreign aggressions.
Resolved, That the civil and political rights of the educated tax-paying women of
this nation should take precedence of all propositions and debates in the present
congress as to the future status of the Chinese and Indians under the flag of the United
States.
\VHEREAS, The essential elements of justice are already recognized in the constitu-
tion ; and, whereas, our fathers proposed to establish a purely secular government in
which all forms of religion should be equally protected, therefore,
Resolved, That it is preeminently unjust to tax the property of widows and spinsters
to its full value, while the clergy are made a privileged class by exempting from taxa-
Senator Sargent's Joint Resolution. 75
tion $1,500 of their property in some States, while in all States parsonages and other
church property, amounting to millions of dollars, are exempted, which, if fairly
taxed, would greatly lighten the national debt, and thereby the burdens of the labor-
ing masses.
Resolved, That thus to exempt one class of citizens, one kind of property, from
taxation, at the expense of all others, is a great national evil, in a moral as well as a
financial point of view. It is an assumption that the church is a more important in-
stitution than the family ; that the influence of the clergy is of more vital consequence
in the progress of civilization than that of the women of this republic ; from which we
emphatically dissent.
Resolved, That universal education is the true basis of universal suffrage ; hence the
several States should so amend their constitutions as to make education compulsory,
and, as a stimulus to the rising generation, declare that after 1885 all who exercise the
right of suffrage must be able to read and write the English language. For, while the
national government should secure the equal right of suffrage to all citizens, the State
should regulate its exercise by proper attainable qualifications.
On January 10, 1878, our champion in the Senate, Hon. A. A.
Sargent, of California, by unanimous consent, presented the fol-
lowing joint resolution, which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Privileges and Elections:
JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United Slates. —
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in congress assembled, two-thirds of each House concurring therein, That the fol-
lowing article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment
to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of the
said legislatures, shall be valid as part of the said constitution, namely :
ARTICLE 16, SEC. I. — The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
SEC. 2. — Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legis-
lation.
The Committee on Privileges and Elections granted hearings
to the National Association on January n, 12, when the dele-
gates,* representing the several States, made their respective
arguments and appeals. Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., president of
the association, first addressed the committee and read the fol-
lowing extract from a recent letter from Victor Hugo :
Our ill-balanced society seems as if it would take from woman all that nature had
endowed her with. In our codes there is something to recast. It is what I call the
woman-law. Man has had his law ; he has made it for himself. Woman has only
the law of man. She by this law is civilly a minor and morally a slave. Her educa-
tion is embued with this twofold character of inferiority. Hence many sufferings to
her which man must justly share. There must be reform here, and it will be to the
benefit of civilization, truth, and light.
* At this hearing the speakers were Clemence S. Lo/ier, M. D., New York ; Julia E. Smith, Con-
necticut : Elizabeth Cady Stanton, New Jersey ; Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Illinois ; Matilda Joslyn
Gage, New York ; Priscilla Rand Lawrence, Massachusetts ; Rev, Olympia Brown, Connecticut ; Mary
A. Thompson, M. D., Oregon ; Mary Powers Filley, New Hampshire; Lillie Devereux Blake, New
York ; Sara Andrews Spencer, District of Columbia ; Isabella Beecher Hooker, Connecticut ; Mary A,
Stewart. Delaware.
76 History of Woman Suffrage.
In concluding, Dr. Lozier said : I have now the honor to introduce Miss
Julia E. Smith, of Glastonbury, Conn., who will speak to you concerning
the resistance of her sister and herself to the payment of taxes in her na-
tive town, on the ground that they are unrepresented in all town meetings,
and therefore have no voice in the expenditure of the taxes which they
are compelled to pay.
Miss SMITH said : Gentlemen of the Committee — This is the first time in my1
life that I have trod these halls, and what has brought me here ? I say,
oppression — oppression of women by men. Under the law they have
taken from us $2,000 worth of meadow-land, and sold it for taxes of less
than $50, and we were obliged to redeem it, for we could not lose the most
valuable part of our farm. They have come into our house and said,
" You must pay so much ; we must execute the laws "; and we are not al-
lowed to have a voice in the matter, or to modify laws that are odious.
I have come to Washington, as men cannot address you for us. We
have no power at all ; we are totally defenseless. [Miss Smith then read
two short letters written by her sister Abby to the Springfield Republican^
These tell our brief story, and may I not ask, gentlemen, that they shall
so plead with you that you will report to the Senate unanimously in favor
of the sixteenth amendment, which we ask in order that the women of
these United States who shall come after us may be saved the desecration
of their homes which we have suffered, and our country may be relieved
from the disgrace of refusing representation to that half of its people
that men call the better half, because it includes their wives and daugh-
ters and mothers?
ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT, vice-president for Illinois : Gentlemen of
the Committee — We recognize your duty as men intrusted with the control
and guidance of the government to carefully weigh every phase of this
momentous question. Has the time arrived when it will be safe and ex-
pedient to make a practical application of tnese great principles of our
government to one-half of the governed, one-half of the citizens of the
United States ? The favorite argument of the opposition has been that
women are represented by men, hence have no cause for complaint. Any
careful student of the progress of liberty must admit that the only possi-
ble method for securing justice to the represented is for their representa-
tives to be made entirely responsible to their constituents, and promptly
removable by them. We are only secure in delegating power when we
can dictate its use, limit the same, or revoke it. How many of your hon-
orable committee would vote to make the presidency an office for life,
said office to descend to the heirs in a male line forever, with no reserved
power of impeachment? Yet you would be more fairly represented than
are American women, since they have never elected their representatives.
So far as women are concerned you are self-constituted rulers. We can-
not hope for complete representation while we are powerless to recall,
impeach, or punish our representatives. We meet with a case in point in
the history of Virginia. Bancroft gives us the following quotation from
the official records :
Committee on Privileges and Elections. 77
The freedom of elections was further impaired by " frequent false returns," made
by the sheriffs. Against these the people had no sufficient redress, for the sheriffs
were responsible neither to them nor to officers of their appointment. And how
could a more pregnant cause of discontent exist in a country where the elective fran-
chise was cherished as the dearest civil privilege? — If land is to be taxed, none but
landholders should elect the legislature. — The other freemen, who are the more in
number, may refuse to be bound by those laws in which they have no representation,
and we are so well acquainted with the temper of the people that we have reason to
believe they had rather pay their taxes than lose that privilege.
Would those statesmen have dared to tax those landholders and yet
deny them the privilege of choosing their representatives? And if, for-
sooth, they had, would not each one of you have declared such act uncon-
stitutional and unjust ? We are the daughters of those liberty-loving
patriots. Their blood flows in our veins, and in view of the recognized
physiological fact that special characteristics are transmitted from fathers
to daughters, do you wonder that we tax-paying, American-born citizens
of these United States are here to protest in the name of liberty and jus-
tice ? We recognize, however, that you are not responsible for the present
political condition of women, and that the question confronting you, as
statesmen called to administer justice under existing conditions, is, " What
are the capacities of this great class for self-government?" You have
cautiously summoned us to adduce proof that the ballot in the hands of
women would prove a help, not a hindrance; would bring wings, not
weights.
First, then, we ask you in the significant name of history to read the
record of woman as a ruler from the time when Deborah judged Israel,
and the land had rest and peace forty years, even down to this present
when Victoria Regina, the Empress Queen, rules her vast kingdom so
ably that we sometimes hear American men talk about a return " to the
good old ways of limited monarchy," with woman for a ruler. John Stuart
Mill, after studious research, testifies as follows :
When to queens and emperors we add regents and viceroys of provinces, the list of
women who have been eminent rulers of mankind swells to a great length. The fact
is so undeniable that some one long ago tried to retort the argument by saying that
queens are better than kings, because under kings women govern, but under queens,
men. Especially is her wonderful talent for governing evinced in Asia. If a Hindoo
principality is strongly, vigilantly, and economically governed ; if order is preserved
without oppression ; if cultivation is extending, and the people prosperous, in three
cases out of four that principality is under a woman's rule. This fact, to me an en-
tirely unexpected one, I have collected from a long official knowledge of Hindoo gov-
ernments. There are many such instances ; for though by Hindoo institutions a
woman cannot reign, she is the legal regent of a kingdom during the minority of the
heir — and minorities are frequent, the lives of the male rulers being so often prema-
turely terminated through thc'ir inactivity and excesses. When we consider that these
princesses have never been seen in public, have never conversed with any man not of
their own family, except from behind a curtain ; that they do not read, and if they did,
there is no book in their languages which can give them the smallest instruction on
political affairs, the example they afford of the natural capacity of women for govern-
ment is very striking.
In view of these facts, does it not appear that if there is any one distinct-
ively feminine characteristic, it is the mother-instinct for government?
78 History of Woman Suffrage.
But now with clearer vision we reread the record of the past. True, we
find no Raphael or Beethoven, no Phidias or Michael Angelo among
women. No woman has painted the greatest picture, carved the finest
statue, composed the noblest oratorio or opera. Not many women's names
appear after Joan of Arc's in the long list of warriors; but, as a ruler,
woman stands to-day the peer of man.
While man has rendered such royal service in the realm of art, woman
has not been idle. Infinite wisdom has intrusted to her the living, breath-
ing marble or canvas, and with smiles and tears, prayers and songs has
she patiently wrought developing the latent possibilities of the divine
Christ-child, the infant Washington, the baby Lincoln. Ah ! since God
and men have intrusted to woman the weightiest responsibility known to
earth, the development and education of the human soul, need you fear to
intrust her with citizenship? Is the ballot more precious than the soul of
your child ? If it is safe in the home, in the school-room, the Sunday-
school, to place in woman's hands the education of your children, is it not
safe to allow that mother to express her choice in regard to which one of
these sons, her boys whom she has taught and nursed, shall make laws for
her guidance ?
Just here, in imagination, is heard the question, " How much help could
we expect from women on financial questions ? We accept the masculine
idea of woman's mathematical deficiencies. We have had slight oppor-
tunity for discovering the best proportions of a silver dollar, owing to the
fact that the family specimens have been zealously guarded by the male
members ; and yet, we may have some latent possibilities in that direc-
tion, since already the "brethren" in our debt-burdened churches wail
out from the depths of masculine indebtedness and interest-tables, " Out
sisters, we pray you come over and help us ! " And, in view of the fact of
the present condition of finances, in view of the fact of the enormous taxes
you impose upon us, can you look us calmly in the face and assert that mat-
ters might, would, should, or could have been worse, even though Julia
Ward Howe, Mary A. Livermore, or Elizabeth Cady Stanton, had voted on
the silver bill ?
A moment since I referred to the great responsibilities of motherhood,
and doubtless your mental comment was, " Yes, that is woman's peculiar
sphere ; there she should be content to remain." It is our sphere — beauti-
ful, glorious, almost infinite in its possibilities. We accept the work ; we
only ask for opportunity to perform it. The sphere has enlarged, that is
all. There has been a new revelation. That historic "first gun" pro-
claimed a wonderful message to the daughters of America ; for, when the
smoke of the cannonading had lifted, the entire horizon of woman was
broadened, illuminated, glorified. On that April morn, when a nation of
citizens suddenly sprang into an army of warriors, with a patriotism as in-
tense, a consecration as true, American women quietly assumed their va-
cated places and became citizens. New boundaries were defined. A Mary
Somerville or Maria Mitchell seized the telescope and alone with God and
the stars, cast a new horoscope for woman. And the new truth, electrify-
ing, glorifying American womanhood to-day, is the discovery that the
I
Mrs. Harbert at Hearing, 1878. 79
State is but the larger family, the nation the old homestead, and that in
this national home there is a room and a corner and a duty for " mother."
A duty recognized by such a statesman as John Adams, who wrote to his
wife in regard to her mother :
Your mother had a clear and penetrating understanding and a profound judgment,
as well as an honest, a friendly and charitable heart. There is one thing, however,
which you will forgive me if I hint to you. Let me ask you rather if you are not of
my opinion. Were not her talents and virtues too much confined to private, social
and domestic life? My opinion of the duties of religion and morality comprehends a
very extensive connection with society at large and the great interests of the public.
Does not natural morality and, much more, Christian benevolence make it our indis-
pensable duty to endeavor to serve our fellow-creatures to the utmost of our power in
promoting and supporting those great political systems and general regulations upon
which the happiness of multitudes depends? The benevolence, charity, capacity and
industry which exerted in private life would make a family, a parish or a town happy,
employed upon a larger scale and in support of the great principles of virtue and free-
dom of political regulations, might secure whole nations and generations from misery,
want and contempt.
Intense domestic life is selfish. The home evidently needs fathers as
much as mothers. Tender, wise fatherhood is beautiful as motherhood,
but there are orphaned children to be cared for. These duties to the
State and nation as mothers, true to the highest needs of our children, we
dare not ignore ; and the nation cannot much longer afford to have us
ignore them.
As statesmen, walking on the shore piled high with the " drift-wood of
kings," the wrecks of nations and governments, you have discovered the
one word emblazoned as an epitaph on each and every one, " Luxury,
luxury, luxury!" You have hitherto placed a premium upon woman's
idleness, helplessness, dependence. The children of most of our fashion-
able women are being educated by foreign nurses. How can you expect
them to develop into patriotic American statesmen? For the sake of
country I plead — for the sake of a responsible, exalted womanhood ; for
the sake of a purer womanhood ; for home and truth, and native land. As
a daughter, with holiest, tenderest, most grateful memories clinging to the
almost sacred name of father; as a wife, receiving constant encourage-
ment, support, and cooperation from one who has revealed to her the gen-
uine nobility of true manhood; as a mother, whose heart still thrills at
the first greeting from her little son ; and as a sister, watching with
intense interest the entrance of a brother into the great world of work, I
could not be half so loyal to woman's cause were it not a synonym for
the equal rights of humanity — a diviner justice for all !
With one practical question I rest my case. The world objected to
woman's entrance into literature, the pulpit, the lyceum, the college,
the school. What has she wrought? Our wisest thinkers and his-
torians assert that literature has been purified. Poets and judges at
international collegiate contests award to woman's thought the highest
prize. Miss Lucia Peabody received upon the occasion of her second
election to the Boston school board the highest vote ever polled for
any candidate. Since woman has proved faithfui over a few things, need
you fear to summon her to your side to assist you :n executing the will of
8o History of Woman Suffrage.
the nation ? And now, yielding to none in intense love of womanhood ;
standing here beneath the very dome of the national capitol overshad-
owed by the old flag ; with the blood of the revolutionary patriots cours-
ing through my veins ; as a native-born, tax-paying American citizen, I
ask equality before the law.
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON said: Gentlemen of the Committee: In ap-
pearing before you to ask for a sixteenth amendment to the United States
Constitution, permit me to say that with the Hon. Charles Sumner, we
believe that our constitution, fairly interpreted, already secures to the
humblest individual all the rights, privileges and immunities of American
citizens. But as statesmen differ in their interpretations of constitutional
law as widely as they differ in their organizations, the rights of every class
of citizens must be clearly denned in concise, unmistakable language. All
the great principles of liberty declared by the fathers gave no protection
to the black man of the republic for a century, and when, with higher
light and knowledge his emancipation and enfranchisement were pro-
claimed, it was said that the great truths set forth in the prolonged de-
bates of thirty years on the individual rights of the black man, culminat-
ing in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the constitution, had
no significance for woman. Hence we ask that this anomalous class of
beings, not recognized by the supreme powers as either " persons " or
"citizens " may be defined and their rights declared in the constitution.
In the adjustment of the question of suffrage now before the people of
this country for settlement, it is of the highest importance that the
organic law of the land should be so framed and construed as to work
injustice to none, but secure as far as possible perfect political equality
among all classes of citizens. In determining your right and power to
legislate on this question, consider what has been done already.
As the national constitution declares that "all persons born or natur-
alized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside," it is
evident : First — That the immunities and privileges of American citizen-
ship, however defined, are national in character, and paramount to all
State authority. Second — That while the constitution leaves the qualifica-
tion of electors to the several States, it nowhere gives them the right to
deprive any citizen of the elective franchise ; the State may regulate but
not abolish the right of suffrage for any class. Third— As the Constitu-
tion of the United States expressly declares that no State shall make or
enforce any law that shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
of the United States, those provisions of the several State constitutions
that exclude citizens from the franchise on account of sex, alike violate the
spirit and letter of the Federal constitution. Fourth — As the question of
naturalization is expressly withheld from the States, and as the States
would clearly have no right to deprive of the franchise naturalized citi-
zens, among whom women are expressly included, still more clearly have
they no right to deprive native-born women-citizens of the right.
Let me give you a few extracts from the national constitution upon
which these propositions are based :
A Bill of Attainder. 81
Preamble : We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution.
This is declared to be a government " of the people." All power, it is
said, centers in the people. Our State constitutions also open with the
words, " We, the people." Does any one pretend to say that men alone
constitute races and peoples? When we say parents, do we not mean
mothers as well as fathers? When we say children, do we not mean girls
as well as boys ? When we say people, do we not mean women as well as
men? When the race shall spring, Minerva-like, from the brains of their
fathers, it will .be time enough thus to ignore the fact that one-half the
human family are women. Individual rights, individual conscience and
judgment are our great American ideas, the fundamental principles of
our political and religious faith. Men may as well attempt to do our repent-
ing, confessing, and believing, as our voting — as well represent us at the
throne of grace as at the ballot-box.
ARTICLE i, SEC. 9. — No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law shall be passed ; no
title of nobility shall be granted by the Uuited States.
SEC. 10. — No State shall pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law im-
pairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
Notwithstanding these provisions of the constitution, bills of attainder
have been passed by the introduction of the word " male " into all the
State constitutions denying to woman the right of suffrage, and thereby
making sex a crime. A citizen disfranchised in a republic is a citizen at-
tainted. When we place in the hands of one class of citizens the right to
make, interpret and execute the law for another class wholly unrepre-
sented in the government, we have made an order of nobility.
ARTICLE 4, SEC. 2. — The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several States.
The elective franchise is one of the privileges secured by this section
approved in Dunham vs, Lamphere (3 Gray Mass. Rep., 276), and Bennett
vs. Boggs (Baldwin's Rep., p. 72, Circuit Court U. S.).
ARTICLE 4, SEC. 4. — The United States shall gurantee to every State in the Union
a republican form of government.
How can that form of government be called republican in which one-
half the people are forever deprived of all participation in its affairs?
ARTICLE 6. — This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, .... shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges
in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any
State to the contrary notwithstanding.
ARTICLE 14, SEC. I. — All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and sub-
ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States No State shall
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens
of the United States.
In the discussion of the enfranchisement of woman, suffrage is now
claimed by one class of thinkers as a privilege based upon citizenship and
secured by the Constitution of the United States, as by lexicographers as
6
82 History of Woman Suffrage.
well as by the constitution itself, the definition of citizen includes
women as well as men. No State can rightfully deprive a woman-citizen
of the United States of any fundamental right which is hers in common
with all other citizens. The States have the right to regulate, but not to
prohibit the elective franchise to citizens of the United States. Thus
the States may determine the qualifications of electors. They may re-
quire the elector to be of a certain age — to have had a fixed residence — to
be of sane mind and unconvicted of crime, — because these are qualifica-
tions or conditions that all citizens, sooner or later, may attain. But to go
beyond this, and say to one-half the citizens of the State, notwithstanding
you possess all of these qualifications, you shall never vote, is of the very
essence of despotism. It is a bill of attainder of the most odious character.
A further investigation of the subject will show that the constitutions of
all the States, with the exception of Virginia and Massachusetts, read sub-
stantially alike. " White male citizens " shall be entitled to vote, and this
is supposed to exclude all other citizens. There is no direct exclusion
except in the two States above named. Now the error lies in supposing
that an enabling clause is necessary at all. The right of the people of a
State to participate in a government of their own creation requires no
enabling clause, neither can it be taken from them by implication. To
hold otherwise would be to interpolate in the constitution a prohibition
that does not exist.
In framing a constitution, the people are assembled in their sovereign
capacity, and being possessed of all rights and powers, what is not sur-
rendered is retained. Nothing short of a direct prohibition can work a
deprivation of rights that are fundamental. In the language of John Jay
to the people of New York, urging the adoption of the constitution of the
United States : " Silence and blank paper neither give nor take away any-
thing." And Alexander Hamilton says (Federalist, No. 83) :
Every man of discernment must at once perceive the wide difference between
silence and abolition. The mode and manner in which the people shall take part in
the government of their creation may be prescribed by the constitution, but the right
itself is antecedent to all constitutions. It is inalienable, and can neither be bought
nor sold nor given away.
But even if it should be held that this view is untenable, and that
women are disfranchised by the several State constitutions, directly or by
implication, then I say that such prohibitions are clearly in conflict with
the Constitution of the United States and yield thereto.
Another class of thinkers, equally interested in woman's enfranchise-
ment, maintain that there is, as yet, no power in the United States Con-
stitution to protect the rights of all United States citizens, in all latitudes
and longitudes, and in all conditions whatever. When the constitution
was adopted, the fathers thought they had secured national unity. This
was the opinion of Southern as well as Northern statesmen. It was sup-
posed that the question of State rights was then forever settled. Hon.
Charles Sumner, speaking on this point in the United States Senate,
March 7, 1866, said the object of the constitution was to ordain, under the
authority of the people, a national government possessing unity and
We, the People. 83
power. The confederation had been merely an agreement " between the
States," styled, '-a league of firm friendship." Found to be feeble and
inoperative through the pretension of State rights, it gave way to the
constitution which, instead of a "league," created a "union," in the name
of the people of the United States. Beginning with these inspiring and
enacting words, " We, the people," it was popular and national. Here was
no concession to State rights, but a recognitio/i of the power of the peo-
ple, from whom the constitution proceeded. The States are acknowl-
edged ; but they are all treated as component parts of the Union in which
they are absorbed under the constitution, which is the supreme law.
There is but one sovereignty, and that is the sovereignty of the United
States. On this very account the adoption of the constitution was op-
posed by Patrick Henry and George Mason. The first exclaimed, "That
this is a consolidated government is demonstrably clear; the question
turns on that poor little thing, 'We, the people,' instead of the States."
The second exclaimed, "Whether the constitution is good or bad, it is a
national government, and no longer a confederation." But against this
powerful opposition the constitution was adopted in the name of the peo-
ple of the United States. Throughout the discussions, State rights was
treated with little favor. Madison said: "The States are only political
societies, and never possessed the right of sovereignty." Gerry said :
"The States have only corporate rights." Wilson, the philanthropic
member from Pennsylvania, afterward a learned Judge of the Supreme
Court of the United States and author of the " Lectures on Law," said :
" Will a regard to State rights justify the sacrifice of the rights of men ?
If we proceed on any other foundation than the last, our building will
neither be solid nor lasting."
Those of us who understand the dignity, power and protection of the
ballot, have steadily petioned congress for the last ten years to secure to
the women of the republic the exercise of their right to the elective
franchise. We began by asking a sixteenth amendment to the national
constitution. March 15, 1869, the Hon. George W. Julian submitted a
joint resolution to congress, to enfranchise the women of the republic, by
proposing a sixteenth amendment :
ARTICLE 16. — The right of suffrage in the United States shall be based on citizen-
ship, and shall be regulated by Congress, and all citizens of the United States, whether
native or naturalized, shall enjoy this right equally, without any distinction or dis-
crimination whatever founded on sex.
While the discussion was pending for the emancipation and enfran-
chisement of the slaves of the South, and popular thought led back to
the consideration of the fundamental principles of our government, it
was clearly seen that all the arguments for the civil and political rights
of the African race applied to women also. Seeing this, some Republicans
stood ready to carry these principles to their logical results. Democrats,
too, saw the drift of the argument, and though not in favor of extending
suffrage to either black mer*, or women, yet, to embarrass Republican
legislation, it was said, they proposed amendments for woman suffrage to
all bills brought forward for enfranchising the negroes.
84 History of Woman Suffrage.
And thus, during the passage of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments, and the District suffrage bill, the question of woman suf-
frage was often and ably discussed in the Senate and House, and received
both Republican and Democratic votes in its favor. Many able lawyers and
judges gave it as their opinion that women as well as Africans were en-
franchised by the fourteenth and fifteenth Amendments. Accordingly, we
abandoned, for the time being, our demand for a sixteenth amendment,
and pleaded our right of suffrage, as already secured by the fourteenth
amendment — the argument lying in a nut-shell, For if, as therein as-
serted, all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of
the United States; and if a citizen, according to the best authorities, is
one possessed of all the rights and privileges of citizenship, namely, the
right to make laws and choose lawmakers, women, being persons, must
be citizens, and therefore entitled to the rights of citizenship, the chief of
which is the right to vote.
Accordingly, women tested their right, registered and voted — the in-
spectors of election accepting the argument, for which inspectors and
women alike were arrested, tried and punished ; the courts deciding that
although by the fourteenth amendment they were citizens, still, citizen-
ship did not carry with it the right to vote. But granting the premise of
the Supreme Court decision, "that the constitution does not confer suf-
frage on any one," then it inhered with the citizen before the constitution
was framed. Our national life does not date from that instrument. The
constitution is not the original declaration of rights. It was not framed
until eleven years after our existence as a nation, nor fully ratified until
nearly fourteen years after the inauguration of our national independence.
But however the letter and spirit of the constitution may be interpreted
by the people, the judiciary of the nation has uniformly proved itself the
echo of the party in power. When the slave power was dominant the
Supreme Court decided that a black man was not a citizen, because he had
not the right to vote ; and when the constitution was so amended as to
make all persons citizens, the same high tribunal decided that a woman,
though a citizen, had not the right to vote. An African, by virtue of his
United States citizenship, is declared, under recent amendments, a voter
in every State of the Union ; but when a woman, by virtue of her United
States citizenship, applies to the Supreme Court for protection in the ex-
ercise of this same right, she is remanded to' the State, by the unanimous
decision of the nine judges on the bench, that "the Constitution of the
United States does not confer the right of suffrage upon any one." Such
vacillating interpretations of constitutional law must unsettle our faith in
judicial authority, and undermine the liberties of the whole people. See-
ing by these decisions of the courts that the theory of our government,
the Declaration of Independence, and recent constitutional amendments,
have no significance for woman, that all the grand principles of equality
are glittering generalities for her, we must fall back once more to our
former demand of a sixteenth amendment to the federal constitution, that,
in clear, unmistakable language, shall declare the status of woman in this
republic.
National Protection. 85
The Declaration ot Independence struck a blow at every existent form
of government by making the individual the source of all power. This is
the sun, and the one central truth around which all genuine republics
must keep their course or perish. National supremacy means something
more than power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish
commerce. It means national protection and security in the exercise of
the right of self-government, which comes alone by and through the use
of the ballot. Women are the only class of citizens still wholly unrepre-
sented in the government, and yet we possess every requisite qualifica-
tion for voters in the United States. Women possess property and edu-
cation ; we take out naturalization-papers and passports and register
ships. We preempt lands, pay taxes (women sometimes work out the
road-tax with their own hands) and suffer for our own violation of laws.
We are neither idiots, lunatics, nor criminals, and according to our State
constitution lack but one qualification for voters, namely, sex, which is an
insurmountable qualification, and therefore equivalent to a bill of attain-
der against one-half the people, a power neither the States nor the United
States can legally exercise, being forbidden in article i, sections 9, 10, of the
constitution. Our rulers have the right to regulate the suffrage, but they
cannot abolish it for any class of citizens, as has been done in the case of
the women of this republic, without a direct violation of the fundamental
law of the land. All concessions of privileges or redress of grievances are
mockery for any class that have no voice in the laws, and law-makers ;
hence we demand the ballot, that scepter of power in our own hands, as
the only sure protection for our rights of person and property under all
conditions. If the few may grant and withhold rights at their pleasure,
the many cannot be said to enjoy the blessings of self-government.
William H. Seward said in his great speech on " Freedom and Union,"
in the United States Senate, February 29, 1860:
Mankind have a natural right, a natural instinct, and a natural capacity for self-
government ; and when, as here, they are sufficiently ripened by culture, they will and
must have self-government, and no other.
Jefferson said :
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time ; the hand of freedom
may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.
Few people comprehend the length and breadth of the principle we are
advocating to-day, and how closely it is allied to everything vital in our
system of government. Our personal grievances, such as being robbed
of property and children by unjust husbands ; denied admission into the
colleges, the trades and professions ; compelled to wcxrk at starving
prices, by no means round out this whole question. In asking for a
sixteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, and the pmtci -
tion of congress against the injustice of State law, we are fighting the
same battle as Jefferson and Hamilton fought in 1776, as Calhoun and
Clay in 1828, as Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis in 1860, namely,
the limit of State rights and federal power. The enfranchisement of
woman involves the same vital principle of our government that is divid-
ing and distracting the two great political parties at this hour.
86 ffistory of ]Vo)iiau Suffrage.
There is nothing a foreigner coming hen: finds it so difficult to under-
stand as the wheel within a wheel in our national and State governments,
and the possibility of carrying them on without friction ; and this is the
difficulty and danger we are fast finding out. The recent amendments are
steps in the right direction toward national unity, securing equal rights to
all citizens, in every latitude and longitude. But our congressional de-
bates, judicial decisions, and the utterances of campaign orators, continu-
ally tailing back to the old ground, are bundles of contradictions on this
vital question. Inasmuch as we are, first, citizens of the United States,
and second, of the State wherein we reside, the primal rights of all citizens
should be regulated by the national government, and complete equality in
civil and political rights everywhere secured. When women are denied
the right to enter institutions of learning, and practice in the professions,
unjust discriminations made against sex even more degrading and humil-
iating than were ever made against color, surely woman, too, should be
protected by a civil-rights bill and a sixteenth amendment that should
make her political status equal with all other citizens of the republic.
The right of suffrage, like the currency of the post-office department,
demands national regulation. We can all remember the losses sustained
by citizens in traveling from one State to another under the old system of
State banks. We can imagine the confusion if each State regulated its
post-offices, and the transit of the mails across its borders. The benefits we
find in uniformity and unity in these great interests would pervade all
others where equal conditions were secured. Some citizens are asking
for a national bankrupt law, that a person released from his debts in one
State may be free in every other. Some are for a religious freedom amend-
ment that shall forever separate church and State ; forbidding a religious
test as a condition of suffrage or a qualification for office ; forbidding the
reading of the Bible in the schools and the exempting of church property
and sectarian institutions of learning or charity from taxation. Some are
demanding a national marriage law, that a man legally married in one State
may not be a bigamist in another. Some are asking a national prohibi-
tory law, that a reformed drunkard who is shielded from temptation in
one State may not be environed with dangers in another. And thus many
individual interests point to a growing feeling among the people in favor
of homogeneous legislation. As several of the States are beginning to
legislate on the woman suffrage question, it is of vital moment that there
should be some national action.
As the laws now are, a woman who can vote, hold office, be tried by a
jury of her own peers — yea, and sit on the bench as justice of the peace
in the territory of Wyoming, may be reduced to a political pariah in the
State of New York. A woman who can vote and hold office on the school
board, and act as county superintendent in Kansas and Minnesota, is de-
nied these rights in passing into Pennsylvania. A woman who can be a
member of the school board in Maine, Wisconsin, Iowa, and California,
loses all these privileges in New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
When representatives from the territories are sent to congress by the
A Fourfold Compromise. 87
votes of women, it is time to have some national recognition of this
class of citizens.
This demand of national protection for national citizens is fated to grow
stronger every day. The government of the United States, as the consti-
tution is now interpreted, is powerless to give a just equivalent for the su-
preme allegiance it claims. One sound democratic principle fully recog-
nized and carried to its logical results in our government, declaring all
citizens equal before the law, would soon chase away the metaphysical
mists and fogs that cloud our political views in so many directions. When
congress is asked to put the name of God in the constitution, and thereby
pledge the nation to some theological faith in which some United States
citizens may not believe and thus subject a certain class to political ostra-
cism and social persecution, it is asked not to protect but to oppress the
citizens of the several States in their most sacred rights — to think, reason,
and decide all questions of religion and conscience for themselves, without
fear or favor from the government. Popular sentiment and church per-
secution is all that an advanced thinker in science and religion should be
called on to combat. The State should rather throw its shield of protec-
tion around those uttering liberal, progressive ideas ; for the nation has
the same interest in every new thought as it has in the invention of new
machinery to lighten labor, in the discovery of wells of oil, or mines of
coal, copper, iron, silver or gold. As in the laboratory of nature new
forms of beauty are forever revealing themselves, so in the world of
thought a higher outlook gives a clearer vision of the heights man in
freedom shall yet attain. The day is past for persecuting the philosophers
of the physical sciences. But what a holocaust of martyrs bigotry is still
making of those bearing the richest treasures of thought, in religion and
social ethics, in their efforts to roll off the mountains of superstition that
have so long darkened the human mind !
The numerous demands by the people for national protection in many
rights not specified in the constitution, prove that the people have out-
grown the compact that satisfied the fathers, and the more it is expounded
and understood the more clearly its monarchical features can be traced to
its English origin. And it is not at all surprising that, with no chart or
compass for a republic, our fathers, with all their educational prejudices in
favor of the mother country, with her literature and systems of jurispru-
dence, should have also adopted her ideas of government, and in drawing
up their national compact engrafted the new republic on the old constitu-
tional monarchy, a union whose incompatibility has involved their sons
in continued discussion as to the true meaning of the instrument. A re-
cent writer says :
The Constitution of the United States is the result of a fourfold compromise: First
— Of unity with individual interests ; of national sovereignty with the so-called sov-
ereignty of Stales; Second — Of the republic with monarchy; Third — Of freedom with
slavery; J-'ourtli — Of democracy with aristocracy.
It is founded, therefore, on the fourfold combination of principles per-
fectly incompatible and eternally excluding each other; founded for the
purpose of equally preserving these principles in spite of their incompati-
88 History of Woman Suffrage.
bility, and of carrying out their practical results — in other words, for the
purpose of making an impossible thing possible. And a century of dis-
cussion has not yet made the constitution understood. It has no settled
interpretation. Being a series of compromises, it can be expounded in
favor of many directly opposite principles,
A distinguished American statesman remarked that the war of the rebel-
lion was waged " to expound the constitution." It is a pertinent question
now, shall all other contradictory principles be retained in the constitu-
tion until they, too, are expounded by civil war? On what theory is it
less dangerous to defraud twenty million women of their inalienable rights
than four million negroes ? Is not the same principle involved in both
cases? We ask congress to pass a sixteenth amendment, not only for
woman's protection, but for the safety of the nation. Our people are filled
with unrest to-day because there is no fair understanding of the basis of
individual rights, nor the legitimate power of the national government.
The Republican party took the ground during the war that congress had
the right to establish a national currency in every State ; that it had the
right to emancipate and enfranchise the slaves ; to change their political
status in one-half the States of the union ; to pass a civil rights bill, secur-
ing to the freedman a place in the schools, colleges, trades, professions,
hotels, and all public conveyances for travel. And they maintained
their right to do all these as the best measures for peace, though compel-
led by war.
And now, when congress is asked to extend the same protection to the
women of the nation, we are told they have not the power, and we are
remanded to the States. They say the emancipation of the slave was a
war measure, a military necessity ; that his enfranchisement was a politi-
cal necessity. We might with propriety ask if the present condition of
the nation, with its political outlook, its election frauds daily reported, the
corrupt action of men in official position, governors, judges, and boards of
canvassers, has not brought us to a moral necessity where some new ele-
ment is needed in government. But, alas ! when women appeal to con-
gress for the protection of their natural rights of person and property,
they send us for redress to the courts, and the courts remand us to the
States. You did not trust the Southern freedman to the arbitrary will of
courts and States ! Why send your mothers, wives and daughters to the
unwashed, unlettered, unthinking masses that carry popular elections?
We are told by one class of philosophers that the growing tendency to
increase national power and authority is leading to a dangerous centrali-
xation ; that the safety of the republic rests in local self-government.
Says the editor of the Boston Index :
What i-. local self-government ? Briefly, that without any interference from without,
every citizen should manage his own personal affairs in his own way, according to his
o\vn pleasure; lliat every town should manage its own town affairs in the same manner
and under the same restriction; every county its own county affairs, every State its own
State affairs. But the independent exercise of this autonomy, by personal and corpo-
r:iic individuals, has one fundamental condition, viz.: the maintenance of all these in-
dividualites intact, each in its own sphere of action, with its rights uninfringed and its
freedom uncurtailed in that sphere, yet each also preserving its just relation to all the
What is Centralization 9 89
rest in an all comprehensive social organization. Every citizen would thus stand, as
it were, in the center of several concentric and enlarging circles of relationship to his
kind; he would have duties and rights in each relation, not only as an individual but
also as a member of town, county, State and national organization. His local self-
government will be at his highest possible point of realization, when in each of these
relations his individual duties are discharged and his rights maintained.
On the other hand, what is centralization ?
It is such a disorganization of this well-balanced, harmonious and natural system as
shall result in the absorption of all substantial power by a central authority, to the de-
struction of the autonomy of the various individualities above mentioned; such as was
produced, for instance, when the municipia of the Roman empire lost their corporate
independence and melted into the vast imperial despotism which prepared the way for
the collapse of society under the blows of Northern barbarism. Such a centralization
must inevitably be produced by decay of that stubborn stickling for rights, out of
which local self-government has always grown. That is, if individual rights in the
citizen, the town, the county, the State, shall not be vindicated as beyond all price,
and defended with the utmost jealousy, at whatever cost, the spirit of liberty must
have already died out, and the dreary process of centralization be already far ad-
vanced. It will thus be evident that the preservation of individual rights
is the only possible preventative of centralization, and that free society has
no interest to be compared for an instant in importance with that of preserving
these individual rights. No nation is free in which this is not the paramount concern.
Woe to America when her sons and her daughters begin to sneer at rights ! Just so
long as the citizens are protected individually in their rights, the towns and counties
and States cannot be stripped; but if the former lose all love for their own liberties as
equal units of society, the latter will become the empty shells of creatures long per-
ished. The nation as such, therefore, if it would be itself free and non-centralized,
must find its own supreme interest in the protection of its individual citizens in the
fullest possible enjoyment of their equal rights and liberties.
As this question of woman's enfranchisement is one of national safety,
we ask you to remember that we are citizens of the United States, and, as
such, claim the protection of the national flag in the exercise of our
national rights, in every latitude and longitude, on sea, land, at home as
well as abroad; against the tyranny of States, as well as against foreign
aggressions. Local authorities may regulate the exercise of these rights ;
they may settle all minor questions of property, but the inalienable per-
sonal rights of citizenship should be declared by the constitution, inter-
preted by the Supreme Court, protected by congress and enforced by the
arm of the executive. It is nonsense to talk of State rights until the
graver question of personal liberties is first understood and adjusted.
President Hayes, in reply to an address of welcome at Charlottesville, Va.,
September 25, 1877, said :
Equality under the laws for all citizens is the corner-stone of the structure of the
restored harmony from which the ancient friendship is to rise. In this pathway I am
going, tbe pathway where your illustrious men led — your Jefferson, your Madison,
your Monroe, your Washington.
If, in this statement, President Hayes is thoroughly sincere, then he will
not hesitate to approve emphatically the principle of national protection
lor national citizens. He will see that the protection of all the national
citizens in all their rights, civil, political, and religious — not by the mus-
kets of United States troops, but by the peaceable authority of United
90 History of Woman Suffrage.
States courts — is not a principle that applies to a single section of the
country, but to all sections alike ; he will see that the incorporation of
such a principle in the constitution cannot be regarded as a measure of
force imposed upon the vanquished, since it would be law alike to the
vanquished and the victor. In short, he will see that there is no other
sufficient guarantee of that equality of all citizens, which he well declares
to be the "corner-stone of the structure of restored harmony." The Bos-
ton Journal of July 19, said :
There are cases where it seems as if the constitution should empower the federal
government to step in and protect the citizen in the State, when the local authorities
are in league with the assassins; but, as it now reads, no such provision exists.
That the constitution does not make such provision is not the fault of
the president ; it must be attributed to the leading Republicans who had it
in their power once to change the constitution so as to give the most am-
ple powers to the general government. When Attorney-General Devens
was charged last May with negligence in not prosecuting the parties ac-
cused of the Mountain Meadow massacre, his defense was, that this hor-
rible crime was not against the United States, but against the territory of
Utah. Yet, it was a great company of industrious, honest, unoffending
United States citizens who were foully and brutally murdered in cold
blood. When Chief-Justice Waite gave his charge to the jury in the El-
lentown conspiracy cases, at Charleston, S. C., June i, 1877, he said :
That a number of citizens of the United States have been killed, there can be no
question; but that is not enough to enable the government of the United States to in-
terfere for their protection. Under the constitution that duty belongs to the State
alone. But when an unlawful combination is made to interfere with any of the rights
of natural citizenship secured to citizens of the United States by the national constitu-
tion, then an offense is committed against the laws of the United States, and it is not
only the right but the absolute duty of the national government to interfere and afford
the citizens that protection which ever)' good government is bound to give.
General Hawley, in an address before a college last spring, said :
Why, it is asked, does our government permit outrages in a State which it would
exert all its authority to redress, even at the risk of war, if they were perpetrated un-
der a foreign government ? Are the rights of American citizens more sacred on the
soil of Great Britain or France than on the soil of one of our own States ? Not at all.
But the government of the Uuited States is clothed with power to act with imperial
sovereignty in the one case, while in the other its authority is limited to the degree of
utter impotency, in certain circumstances. The State sovereignty excludes the Fede-
ral over most matters of dealing between man and man, and if the State laws are
properly enforced there is not likely to be any ground of complaint, but if they are
not, the federal government, if not specially called on according to the terms of the
constitution, is helpless. Citizen A. B., grievously wronged, beaten, robbed, lynched
within a hair's breadth of death, may apply in vain to any and all prosecuting officers
of the State. The forms of law that might give him redress are all there ; the prose-
cuting officers, judges, and sheriffs, that might act, are there ; but, under an oppress-
ive and tyranical public sentiment, they refuse to move. In such an exigency the
government of the United States can do no more than the government of any neigh-
boring State ; that is, unless the State concerned calls for aid, or unless the offense
rises to the dignity of insurrection or rebellion. The reason is, that the framers of
our govennental system left to the several States the sole guardianship of the per-
sonal and relative private rights of the people.
/ Greatly Fear this Policy. 91
Such is the imperfect development of our own nationality in this re-
spect that we have really no right as yet to call ourselves a nation in the
true sense of the word, nor shall we have while this state of things con-
tinues. Thousands have begun to feel this keenly, of which a few illus-
trations may suffice. A communication to the New York Tribune, June
9, signed " Merchant," said :
Before getting into a quarrel and perhaps war with Mexico about the treatment of
our flag and citizens, would it not be as well, think you, for the government to try
and make the flag a protection to the citizens on our own soil ?
That is what it has never been since the foundation of our government
in a large portion of our common country. The kind of government the
people of this country expect and intend to have — State rights or no
State rights, no matter how much blood and treasure it may cost — is a
government to protect the humblest citizen in the exercise of all his
rights.
When the rebellion of the South against the government began, one
of the most noted secessionists of Baltimore asked one of the -regular
army officers what the government expected to gain by making war on
the South. " Well," the officer replied, laying his hand on the cannon by
which he was standing, "we intend to use these until it is as safe for a
Northern man to express his political opinions in the South, as it is for a
Southern man to express his in the North." Senator Blaine, at a banquet
in Trenton, N. J., July 2, declared that a "government which did not offer
protection to every citizen in every State had no right to demand allegi-
ance." Ex-Senator Wade, of Ohio, in a letter to the Washington National
Republican of July 16, said of the president's policy :
I greatly fear this policy, under cover of what is called local self-government, is but
an ignominious surrender of the principles of nationality for which our armies
fought and for which thousands upon thousands of our brave men died, and without
which the war was a failure and our boasted government a myth.
Behind the slavery of the colored race was the principle of State rights.
Their emancipation and enfranchisement were important, not only as a
vindication of our great republican idea of individual rights, but as tin-
first blow in favor of national unity — of a consistent, homogeneous gov-
ernment. As all our difficulties, State and national, are finally referred to
the constitution, it is of vital importance that that instrument should not
be susceptible of a different interpretation from every possible standpoint.
It is folly to spend another century in expounding the equivocal language
of the constitution. If under that instrument, supposed to be the Magna
Charta of American liberties, all United States citizens do not stand equal
before the law, it should without further delay be so amended as in plain.
unmistakable language to declare what are the rights, privileges, and im-
munities that belong to citizens of a republic.
There is no reason why the people of to-day should be governed by the
laws and constitutions of men long since dead and buried. Surely those
who understand the vital issues of this hour are better able to legislate for
the living present than those who governed a hundred years ago. If the
nineteenth century is to be governed by the opinions of the eighteenth,
92 History of Woman Suffrage.
and the twentieth by the nineteenth, the world will always be governed
by dead men
The cry of centralization could have little significance if the constitu-
tion were so amended as to protect all United States citizens in their in-
alienable rights. That national supremacy that holds individual freedom
and equality more sacred than State rights and secures representation to
all classes of people, is a very different form of centralization from that in
which all the forces of society are centered in a single arm. But the recog-
nition of the principle of national supremacy, as declared in the fourteenth
and fifteenth amendments, has been practically nullified and the results of
the war surrendered, by remanding woman to the States for the protec-
tion of her civil and political rights. The Supreme Court decisions and
the congressional reports on this point are in direct conflict with the idea
of national unity, and the principle of States rights involved in this dis-
cussion must in time remand all United States citizens alike to State au-
thority for the protection of those rights declared to inhere in the people
at the foundation of the government.
You may listen to our demands, gentlemen, with dull ears, and smile in-
credulously at the idea of danger to our institutions from continued viola-
tion of the civil and political rights of women, but the question of what
citizens shall enjoy the rights of suffrage involves our national existence;
for, if the constitutional rights of the humblest citizen may be invaded
with impunity, laws interpreted on the side of injustice, judicial decisions
based not on reason, sound argument, nor the spirit and letter of our
declarations and theories of government, but on the customs of society
and what dead men are supposed to have thought, not what they said —
what will the rights of the ruling powers even be in the future with a peo-
ple educated into such modes of thought and action ? The treatment of
every individual in a community — in our courts, prisons, asylums, of every
class of petitioners before congress — strengthens or undermines the foun-
dations of that temple of liberty whose corner-stones were laid one
century ago with bleeding hands and anxious hearts, with the hardships,
privations, and sacrifices of a seven years' war. He who is able from the
conflicts of the present to forecast the future events, cannot but con-
template with anxiety the fate of this republic, unless our constitution be
at once subjected to a thorough emendation, making it more compre-
hensively democratic.
A review of the history of our nation during the century will show the
American people that all the obstacles that have impeded their political,
moral and material progress from the dominion of slavery down to the
present epidemic of political corruptions, are directly and indirectly trace-
able to the federal constitution as their source and support. Hence the
necessity of prompt and appropriate amendments. Nothing that is in-
correct in principle can ever be productive of beneficial results, and no
custom or authority is able to alter or overrule this inviolate law of de-
velopment. The catch-phrases of politicians, such as "organic develop-
ment," "the logic of events," and "things will regulate themselves," have
deceived the thoughtless long enough. There is just one road to safety,
No Title so Proud as American Citizen. 93
and that is to understand the law governing the situation and to bring the
nation in line with it. Grave political problems are solved in two ways —
by a wise forethought, and reformation ; or by general dissatisfaction, re-
sistance, and revolution.
In closing, let me remind you, gentlemen, that woman has not been a
heedless spectator of all the great events of the century, nor a dull
listener to the grand debates on human freedom and equality. She has
learned the lesson of self-sacrifice, self-discipline, and self-government in
the same school with the heroes of American liberty.*
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, of New York, corresponding secretary of the
association, said : Mr, Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee — You
have heard the general argument for woman from Mrs. Stanton, but there
are women here from all parts of the Union, and each one feels that she
must say a word to show how united we stand. It is because we have re-
spect for law that we come before you to-day. We recognize the fact
that in good law lies the security of all our rights, but as woman has been
denied the constructive rights of the declaration and constitution, she is
obliged to ask for a direct recognition in the adoption of a sixteenth
amendment.
The first principle of liberty is division of power. In the country of the
czar or the sultan there is no liberty of thought or action. In limited
monarchies power is somewhat divided, and we find larger liberty and a
broader civilization. Coming to the United States we find a still greater
division of power, a still more extended liberty — civil, religious, political.
No nation in the world is as respected as our own ; no title so proud as
that of American citizen ; it carries with it abroad a protection as large
as did that of Rome two thousand years ago. But as proud as is this
name of American citizen, it brings with it only shame and humiliation
to one-half of the nation. Woman has no part nor lot in the matter. The
pride of citizenship is not for her, for woman is still a political slave.
While the form of our government seems to include the whole people,
one-half of them are denied a right to participate in its benefits, are de-
nied the right of self-government. Woman equally with man has natural
rights ; woman equally with man is a responsible being.
It is said women are not fit for freedom. Well, then, secure us freedom
and make us fit for it. Macaulay said many politicians of his time were in
the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that no people
were fit to be free till thc^ were in a condition to use their freedom ;
* In the whole course of our struggle for equal rights I never felt more exasperated than on this
occasion, standing before a committee of men many years my juniors, all comfortably seated in arm-
chairs, I pleading for rights they all enjoyed though in no respect my superiors, denied me on the shal-
low grounds of sex. But this humiliation I had often felt before. The peculiarly aggravating feature
of the present occasion was the studied inattention and contempt of the chairman, Senator Wadleigh of
New Hampshire. Having prepared my argument with care, I naturally desired the attention of every
member of the committee, all of which, with the exception of Senator Wadleigh, I seemingly had. He
however took special pains to show that he did not intend to listen. He alternately looked over some
manuscripts and newspapers before him, then jumped up to open or close a door or window. He
stretched, yawned, gazed at the ceiling, cut his nails, sharpened his pencil, changing his occupation and
position every two minutes, effectually preventing the establishment of the faintest magnetic current be-
tween the speakers and the committee. It was with difficulty I restrained the impulse more than once
to hurl my manuscript at his head. — [£. C. S.
94 History of Woman Suffrage.
"but," said Macaulay, "this maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story,
who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim. If
men [or women] are to wait for liberty till they become good and wise in
slavery, they may indeed wait forever."
There has been much talk about precedent. Many women in this
country vote upon school questions, and in England at all municipal elec-
tions. I wish to call your attention a little further back, to the time that
the Saxons first established free government in England. Women, as
well as men, took part in the Witenagemote, the great national council of
our Saxon ancestors in England. When Whightred, king of Kent, in the
seventh century, assembled the national legislature at Baghamstead to
enact a new code of laws, the queen, abbesses, and many ladies of quality
signed the decrees. Also, at Beaconsfield, the abbesses took part in the
council. In the reign of Henry IIL four women took seats in parlia-
ment, and in the reign of Edward I. ten ladies were called to parliament
and helped to govern Great Britain. Also, in 1252, Henry left his Queen
Elinor as keeper of the great seal, or lord chancellor, while he went
abroad. She sat in the Aula Regia, the highest court of the kingdom,
holding the highest judicial power in great Britain. Not only among our
forefathers in Britain do we find that women took part in government,
but, going back to the Roman Empire, we find the Emperor Heliogabalus
introducing his mother into the senate, and giving her a seat near the
consuls. He also established a senate of women, which met on the Collis
Quirinalis. When Aurelian was emperor he favored the representation
of women, and determined to revive this senate, which in lapse of time
had fallen to decay. Plutarch mentions that women sat and deliberated
in councils, and on questions of peace and war. Hence we have prece-
dents extending very far back into history.
It is sometimes said that women do not desire freedom. But I tell you
the desire for freedom lives in every heart. It may be hidden as the water
of the never-freezing, rapid-flowing river Neva is hidden. In the winter
the ice from Lake Lagoda floats down till it is met by the ice setting up
from the sea, when they unite and .form a compact mass over it. Men
stand upon it, sledges run over it, splendid palaces are built upon it ; but
beneath all the Neva still rapidly flows, itself unfrozen. The presence of
these women before you shows their desire for freedom. They have come
from the North, from the South, from the East, from the WTest, and from
the far Pacific slope, demanding freedom for themselves and for all women.
Our demands are often met by the most intolerable tyranny. The
Albany Law Journal, one of the most influential legal journals of the
great State of New York, had the assurance a few years ago to tell Miss
Anthony and myself if we were not suited with " our laws " we could
leave the country. What laws did they mean ? Men's laws. If we were
not suited with these men's laws, made by them to protect themselves,
we could leave the country. We were advised to expatriate ourselves, to
banish ourselves. But. we shall not do it, It is our country, and we
shall stay here and change the laws. We shall secure their amendment,
so that under them there shall be exact and permanent political equality
"/<?" Deposited his Vote. 95
between men and women. Change is not only a law of life ; it is an
essential proof of the existence of life. This country has attained its
greatness by ever enlarging the bounds of freedom.
1^ our hearts we feel that there is a word sweeter than mother, home,
or heaven. That word is LIBERTY. We ask it of you now. We say to
you, secure to us this liberty — the same liberty you have yourselves. In
doing this you will not render yourselves poor, but will make us rich in-
deed.
Mrs. STEWART of Delaware, in illustrating the folly of adverse argu-
ments based on woman's ignorance of political affairs, gave an amusing
account of her colored man servant the first time he vot^d. He had been
full of bright anticipations of the coming election day, aad when it dawned
at last, he asked if he could be spared from his work an hour or so, to
vote. "Certainly, Jo," said she, "by all means; go to the polls and do
your duty as a citizen." Elated with his new-found dignity, Jo ran down
the road, and with a light heart and shining face deposited his vote. On
his return Mrs. Stewart questioned him as to his success at the polls.
"Well," said he, " first one man nabbed me and gave me the tickets he
said I ought to vote, and then another man did the same.' I said yes to
both and put the tickets in my pocket. I had no use for those Republican
or Democratic bits of paper." " Well, Jo," said Mrs. Stewart, what did
you do ? " " Why I took that piece of paper that I paid $2.50 for and put
it in the box. I knew that was worth something." "Alas! Jo," said his
mistress, "you voted your tax receipt, so your first vote has counted
nothing." Do you think, gentlemen, said Mrs. Stewart, that such women
as attend our conventions, and speak from' our platform, could make so
ludicrous a blunder? I think not.
The Rev. OLVMPIA BROWN, a delegate from Connecticut, addressed the
committee as follows : Gentlemen of the Committee — I would not intrude
upon your time and exhaust your patience by any further hearing upon
this subject if it were not that men are continually saying to us that we
do not want the ballot ; that it is only a handful of women that have ever
asked for it ; and I think by our coming up from these different States,
from Delaware, from Oregon, from Missouri, from Connecticut, from
New Hampshire, and giving our testimony, we shall convince you that it
is not a few merely, but that it is a general demand from the women in
all the different States of the Union ; and if we come here with stammer-
ing tongues, causing you to laugh by the very absurdity of the manner in
which we advocate our opinions, it will only convince you that it is not a
few "gifted " women, but the rank and file of the women of our country
unaccustomed to such proceedings as these, who come here to tell you
that we all desire the right of suffrage. Nor shall our mistakes and in-
ability to advocate our cause in an effective manner be an argument
against us, because it is not the province of voters to conduct meetings in
Washington. It is rather their province to stay at home and quietly read
the proceeding of members of congress, and if they find these proceed-
ings correct, to vote to return them another year. So that our very mis-
takes shall argue for us and not against us.
96 History of Woman Suffrage.
In the ages past the right of citizenship meant the right to enjoy or
possess or attain all those civil and political rights that are enjoyed by any
other citizen. But here we have a class who can bear the burdens and
punishments of citizens, but cannot enjoy their privileges and rigtits.
But even the meanest may petition, and so we come with our thousands
of petitions, asking you to protect us against the unjust discriminations
imposed by State laws. Nor do we find that there is any conflict between
the duties of the national government and the functions of the State.
The United States government has to do with general interests, but every-
thing that is special, has to do with sectional interests, belongs to the
State. Said Charles Sumner :
The State exercisef its proper functions when it makes local laws, promotes local
charities, and by its local knowledge brings the guardianship of government to the
homes of its citizens ; but the State transcends its proper functions when in any man-
ner it interferes with those equal rights recorded in the Declaration of Independence.
The State is local, the United States is universal. And, says Charles
Sumner, " What can be more universal than the rights of man ? " I
would add, " What can be more universal than the rights of woman ? " ex-
tending further than the rights of man, because woman is the heaven-ap-
pointed guardian of the home ; because woman by her influence and in
her office as an educator makes the character of man ; because women are
to be found wherever men are to be found, as their mothers bringing
them into the world, watching them, teaching them, guiding them into
manhood. Wherever there is a home, wherever there is a human inter-
est, there is to be felt the interest of women, and so this cause is the most
universal of any cause uader the sun ; and, therefore, it has a claim upon
the general government. Therefore we come petitioning that you will
protect us in our rights, by aiding us in the passage of the sixteenth
amendment, which will make the constitution plain in our favor, or by
such actions as will enable us to cast our ballots at the polls without be-
ing interfered with by State authorities. And we hope you will do this at
no distant day. 1 hope you will not send my sister, the honorable lady
froTi Delaware, to the boy, Jo, to ask him to define her position in the re-
public. I hope you will not bid any of these women at home to ask
ignorant men whether they may be allowed to discharge their obligations
as citizens in the matter of suffrage. I hope you will not put your wives
and mothers in the power of men who have never given a half hour's con-
sideration to the subject of government, and who are wholly unfit to
exercise their judgment as to whether women should have the right of
suffrage.
I will not insult. your common sense by bringing up the old arguments
as to whether we have the right to vote. I believe every man of you
knows we have that right — that our right to vote is based upon the same
authority as yours. I believe every man understands that, according to
the declaration and the constitution, women should be allowed to exercise
the right of suffrage, and therefore it is not necessary for me to do more
than bear my testimony from the State of Connecticut, and tell you that
the women from the rank and file, the law-abiding women, desire the
Senator Hoar s Resolution. 07
ballot ; not only that they desire it, but they mean to have it. And to
accomplish this result I need not remind you that they will work year in
and year out, that they will besiege members of congress everywhere, and
that they will come here year after year asking you to protect them in
their rights and to see that justice is done in the republic. Therefore, for
your own peace, we hope you will not keep us waiting a long time. The
fact that some States have made, temporarily, some good laws, does not
weaken our demand upon you for the protection which the ballot
gives to every citizen. Our interests are still uncared for, and we do not
wish to be thus sent from pillar to post to get our rights. We wish to
take our stand as citizens of the United States, as we have been declared
to be by the Supreme Court, and we wish to be protected in the rights of
citizenship. We hope the day is at hand when our prayers will be heard
by you. Let us have at an early day in the Congressional Record, a report
of the proceedings of this committee, and the action of the Senate in
favor of woman's right to vote.
Brief remarks were also made by Mrs. Lawrence of Massa-
chusetts, Mary A. Thompson, M. D., of Oregon, Mary Powers
Filley of New Hampshire, Mrs. Blake of New York, Mrs.
Hooker of Connecticut, and Sara Andrews Spencer of Wash-
ington.
At the close of these two day's hearings before the Committee
on Privileges and Elections,* Senator Hoar of Massachusetts,
offered, and the committee adopted the following complimentary
resolution :
Resolved, That the arguments upon the very important questions dis-
cussed before the committee have been presented with propriety, dig-
nity and ability, and that the committee will consider the same on
Tuesday next, at 10 A. M.
The Washington Evening Star of January 11, 1876, said :
The woman suffrage question will be a great political issue some day.
A movement in the direction of alleged rights by a body of American citi-
zens cannot be forever checked, even though its progress may for many
years be very gradual. Now that the advocates of suffrage for woman
have become convinced that the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments are not sufficiently explicit to make woman's right to vote
unquestioned, and that a sixteenth amendment is necessary to effect
the practical exercise of the right, the millennial period that they look for
is to all intents and purposes indefinitely postponed, for constitutional
amendments are not passed in a day. But there are so many sound argu-
ments to be advanced in favor of woman suffrage that it cannot fail in
time to be weighed as a matter of policy, after it shall have been over-
* The first hearing was held in the committee room, but that not being large enough to accommo-
date the crowds that wished to hear the arguments, the use of the Senate reception room was granted for
the second, which although very much larger, was packed, with the corridors leading to it, long be-
fore the committee took their places.
98 History of Woman Suffrage.
whelmingly conceded as a matter of right. And it is noticeable that the
arguments of the opponents are coming more and more to be based on
expediency, and hardly attempt to answer the claim that as American
citizens women are entitled to the right. If the whole body of American
women desired the practical exercise of this right, it is hard to see what
valid opposition to their claims could be made. All this however does
not amend the constitution. Woman suffrage must become a matter of
policy for a political party before it can be realized. Congress does not
pass revolutionary measures on abstract considerations of right. This
question is of a nature to become a living political issue after it has been
sufficiently ridiculed.
On Saturday evening, January 12, a reception was given to the
delegates to the convention by Hon. Alexander H. Stephens of
Georgia, at the National Hotel. The suite of rooms so long oc-
cupied by this liberal representative of the South, was thus
opened to unwonted guests — women asking for the same rights
gained at the point of the sword by his former slaves ! Seated
in his wheel-chair, from which he had so often been carried by a
faithful attendant to his place in the House of Representatives,
he cordially welcomed the ladies as they gathered about him,
assuring them of his interest in this question and promising his aid.
For the first time Miss Julia Smith of anti-tax fame, of Glas-
tonbury, Connecticut, was present at a Washington convention.
She was the recipient of much social attention. A reception
was tendered her by Mrs. Spofford of the Riggs House, giving
people an opportunity to meet this heroic woman of eighty-three,
who, with her younger sister Abby, had year after year suffered
the sale of their fine Jersey cows and beautiful meadow lands,
rather than pay taxes while unrepresented. Many women, notable
in art, science and literature, and men high in political station
were present on this occasion. All crowded about Miss Smith,
as, supported by Mrs. Hooker, in response to a call for a speech,
particularly in regard to the Gladstonbury cows, as famous as
herself, she said :
There are but two of our cows left at present, Taxey and Votey. It
is something a little peculiar that Taxey is very obtrusive ; why, I can
scarcely step out of doors without being confronted by her, while
Votey is quiet and shy, but she is growing more docile and domesticated
every day, and it is my opinion that in a very short time, wherever you
find Taxey there Votey will be also.
At the close of Miss Smith's remarks, Abby Hutchinson Patton
sang " Auld Lang Syne " in a very effective manner ; one or two
readings followed, a few modern ballads were sung, and thus
Anti-Woman Suffrage. 99
closed the first of the many delightful receptions given by Mr.
and Mrs. Spofford to the officers and members of the National
Association.
Mrs. Hooker spent several weeks at the Riggs House, holding
frequent woman suffrage conversazioni in 'its elegant parlors;
also speaking upon the question at receptions given in her honor
by the wives of members of congress, or residents of Washington.*
During the week of the convention, public attention was called
to a scarcely known Anti-Woman Suffrage Society, formed in
1871, of which Mrs. General Sherman, Mrs. Admiral Dahlgren
and Mrs. Almira Lincoln Phelpswere officers, by the publication
of an undelivered letter from Mrs. Phelps to Mrs. Hooker:
To the Editor of the Post :
The following was written nearly seven years since, but was never sent
to Mrs. Hooker. The letter chanced to appear among old papers, and as
there is a meeting of women suffragists, with Mrs. Hooker present, and,
moreover, as they have mentioned the names of Mrs. Dahlgren and Mrs.
General Sherman, opposers, 1 am willing to bear my share of the opposi-
tion, as I acted as corresponding secretary to the Anti-Suffrage Society,
which was formed under the auspices of these ladies.
Mrs. DAHLGREN.
* Mr. and Mrs. Holt, of 1,339 L street, entertained their friends and a numerous company of dis-
tinguished guests on Friday evening, in honor of Mrs. Beecher Hooker. She delivered one of her
ablest speeches on the woman suffrage question. She was listened to with breathless silence by
eminent men and women, who confessed, at the termination of her speech, that they were
''almost persuaded" to join her ranks — the highest tribute to her eloquent defense of her position-
Mrs. Hooker's intellect is not her only charm. Her beautiful face and attractive manners all help to
make converts. Mrs. Julia N. Holmes, the poet, one of the most admired ladies present, and Mrs.
Southworth, the novelist, wore black velvet and diamonds. Mrs. Hodson Burnett, that '' Lass o'
Lowrie," in colored and rose silk with princess scarf, looked charmingly. Mrs. Senator Sargent,
Mrs. Charles Nordhoff and her friends, the elegant Miss Thurman, of Cincinnati, and Miss Joseph, a
brilliant brunette with scarlet roses and jet ornaments, of Washington, were much observed. Mrs. Dr.
Wallace, of the New York Herald, wore cuir colored gros-grain with guipure lace trimmings, flowers
and diamonds. Miss Coyle was richly attired. Mrs. Ingersoll, wife of the exceptional orator, was the
center of observation with Mrs. Hooker; she wore black velvet, roses, and diamonds — has a noble
presence and Grecian face. General Forney, of Alabama, Hon. John F. Wait, M. C., Captain Dutton
and Colonel Mallory, of U. S. Army, Judge Tabor (Fourth Auditor), Dr. Cowes, Col. Ingersol, Mrs-
Hoffman, of New York, a prominent lady of the Woman's Congress, lately assembled in this city, wore
a distinguished toilette. Mrs. Spofford, of the Riggs House, was among the most noticeable ladies
present, elegant and delightful in style and manner. Dr. Josephs and Col. G. W. Rice, of Boston,
were of the most conspicious gentlemen present, who retired much edified with the entertainment of
the evening. H. LOUISE GATES.
Society was divided Saturday evening between the literary club which met at Willard's under the
auspices of Mrs. Morrell, and the reception given at the residence of Senator Rollins, on Capitol Hill, to
Mri. 1'eecher Hooker, who spoke on the question of woman suffrage. It was said of Theodore Parker,
if all his hearers stood on the same lofty plane that he did, his theology would be all right for them,
and so in this matter of woman's rights. If all the advocates were as cultivated, refined, and convinc-
ing as Mrs. Hooker, one might almost be tempted to surrender. She certainly possesses that rare
magnetic influence which seems to say, " Lend me your ears and 1 shall take your heart." Among her
listeners we noticed Mrs. Joseph Ames, Grace Greenwood, Senator and Mrs. Rollins, Senator and Mrs.
Wadleigh, Miss Rollins, Mrs. Solomon Bundy, Mrs. J. M. Holmes, Mrs. Brainerd, Mr. and Mrs. I), in-
little. Dr. Patton and son, Prof. Thomas Taylor, Miss Robena Taylor, Mrs. Spofford, of the Riggs
House, Prof. G. B. Stebbins, Mrs. Captain Platt,, and Mr. and Mrs. Holt.— [Washington fast.
IOO History of Woman Suffrage.
EUTAW PLACE, BALTIMORE, January, 30, 1871.
To Mrs. Beecher Hooker:
DEAR MADAM — Hoping you will receive kindly what I am about to write, I will
proceed without apologies. I have confidence in your nobleness of soul, and that you
know enough of me to believe in my devotion to the best interests of woman. I can
scarcely realize that you are giving your name and influence to a cause, which, with
some good but, as I think, misguided women, numbers among its advocates others with
loose morals. * * * We are, my dear madam, as I suppose, related through our
common ancester Thomas Hooker. * * * Your husband, I believe, stands in the
same relation to that good and noble man. Perhaps he may think with you on this
woman suffrage question, but it does seem to me that a wife honoring her husband
would not wish to join in such a crusade as is now going on to put woman on an equality
with the rabble at the "hustings." If we could with propriety petition the Almighty to
change the condition of the sexes and let men take a turn in bearing childien and in
suffering the physical ailments peculiar to women, which render them unfit for certain
positions and business, why, in this case, if we really wish to be men, and thought God
would change the established order, we might make our petition ; but why ask con-
gress to make us men ? Circumstances drew me from the quiet of domestic life while
I was yet ycung ; but success in labors which involved publicity, and which may
have been of advantage to society, was never considered as an equivalent to my own
heart for the loss of such retirement. In the name of my sainted sister, Emma
Willard, and of my friend Lydia Sigourney, and I think I might say in the name
of the women of the past generation, who have been prominent as writers and ed-
ucators (the exception may be made of Mary Wollstonecraft, Frances Wright, and
a few licentious French writers) in our own country and in Europe, let me urge the
high-souled and honorable of our sex to turn their energies into that channel which
will enable them to act for the true interests of their sex. Yours respectfully,
ALMIRA LINCOLN PHELPS.
To which Mrs. Hooker, through The Post, replied :
WASHINGTON, January 15, 1878.
Mrs. DAHLGREN — Dear Madam : Permit me to thank you for the op-
portunity to exonerate myself and the women of the suffrage move-
ment all over the United States from the charge of favoring immorality
in any form. I did not know before that Mrs. Phelps, whom I have al-
ways held in highest esteem as an educator and as one of the most ad-
vanced thinkers of her day, had so misconceived the drift of our move-
ment ; and you will pardon me, dear madam, for saying that it is hardly
possible that Mrs. Sherman and yourself, in your opposition to it, can
have been influenced by any apprehension that the women suffragists of
the United States would, if entrusted with legislative power, proceed to
use it for the desecration of their own sex, and the pollution of the souls
of their husbands, brothers and sons. But having been publicly accused
through your instrumentality of sympathy with the licentious practices
of men, I shall take the liberty to send you a dozen copies of a little book
entitled, " Womanhood ; its Sanctities and Fidelities," which I published
in 1874 for the specific purpose of bringing to the notice of American
women the wonderful work being done across the water in the suppres-
sion of " State Patronage of Vice." * * * It is with a deep sense
of gratitude to God that I am able to say that, according to my knowledge
and belief, every woman in our movement, whether officer or private, is
in sympathy with the spirit of this little book. I know of no inharmony
Opposition of Mrs. Dahlgren. 101
here, however we may differ upon minor points of expediency as to the
best methods of working for the political advancement of woman. And
further, it is the deep conviction of us all that the chief stumbling-block
in the way of our obtaining the use of the ballot, is the apprehension
among men of low degree that they will surely be limited in their base
and brutal and sensual indulgencies when women are armed with equal
political power.
As to my husband, to whose ancestry Mrs. Phelps so kindly alludes,
permit me to say that he is not only descended from Thomas Hooker, the
beloved first pastor of the old Centre Church in Hartford, and founder of
the State of Connecticut, but further back his lineage takes root in one of
England's most honored names, Richard Hooker, surnamed "The Judi-
cious "; and I have been accustomed to say that, however it may be as to
learning and position, the characteristic of judiciousness has not departed
from the American stock. I will only add that Mr. Hooker is treasurer-
of our State suffrage association, and has spoken on the platform with me
as president, whenever his professional duties would permit, and that he
is th« author of a tract on " The Bible and Woman Suffrage." Our society
has printed several thousand copies of this tract, and the London National
Women's Suffrage Society has reprinted it with words of high commenda-
tion for distribution in Great Britain. f * * * And now, dear madam,
thanking you once more for this most unexpected and most grateful
opportunity for correcting misapprehensions that others may have enter-
tained as well as Mrs. Phelps in regard to the design and tendencies of
our movement, may I not ask that you will kindly read and consider the
papers I shall take the liberty to send you, and hand them to your co-
workers at your convenience ?
That we all, as women who love our country and our kind, may be led
to honor each other in our personal relations, while we work each in her
respective way for that higher order of manhood and womanhood that
alone can exalt our nation to the ideal of the fathers and mothers of the
early republic, and preserve us an honored place among the peoples of
the earth, is the prayer of Yours sincerely,
ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER.
Evidently left without even the name of Mrs. Sherman or the
Anti-Suffrage Society to sustain her, Mrs. Dahlgren memorialized
the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections against the
submission of the sixteenth amendment:
To the Honorable Committee on Privileges and Elections :
GENTLEMEN — Allow me, in courtesy, as a petitioner, to present one or
two considerations regarding a sixteenth amendment, by which it is pro-
posed to confer the right of suffrage upon the women of the United
States. I ask this favor also in the interests of the masses of silent
women, whose silence does not give consent, but who, in most modest
earnestness, deprecate having the political life forced upon them.
This grave question is not one of simple expediency or the reverse; it
might properly be held, were this the case, as a legitimate subject for agi-
IO2 History of Woman Suffrage.
tation. Our reasons of dissent to this dangerous inroad upon all prece-
dent, lie deeper and strike higher. They are based upon that which in all
Christian nations must be recognized as the higher law, the funda-
mental law upon which Christian society in its very construction must
rest; and that law, as defined by the Almighty, is immutable. Through it
the women of this Christian land, as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters,
have distinct duties to perform of the most complex order, yet of the very
highest and most sacred nature.
If in addition to all these responsibilities, others, appertaining to the
domain assigned to men, are allotted to us, we shall be made the victims
of an oppression not intended by a kind and wise Providence, and from
which the refining influences of Christian civilization have emancipated
us. We have but to look at the condition of our Indian sister, upon
whose bended back the heavy pack is laid by her lord and master ; who
treads in subjection the beaten pathway of equal rights, and compare her
situation with our own, to thank the God of Christian nations who has
placed us above that plane, where right is might, and might is tyranny.
We cannot without prayer and protest see our cherished privileges en-
dangered, and have granted us only in exchange the so-called equal rights.
We need more, and we claim, through our physical weakness and your
coiirtesy as Christian gentlemen, that protection which we need for the
proper discharge of those sacred and inalienable functions and rights con-
ferred upon us by God. To these the vote, which is not a natural right
(otherwise why not confer it upon idiots, lunatics, and adult boys) would
be adverse.
When women ask for a distinct political life, a separate vote, they for-
get or they willfully ignore the higher law, whose logic may be thus con-
densed : Marriage is a sacred unity. The family, through it, is the foun-
dation of the State. Each family is represented by its head, just as the
State ultimately finds' the same unity, through a series of representations.
Out of this come peace, concord, proper representation, and adjustment
— union.
The new doctrine, which is illusive, may be thus defined : Marriage is a
mere compact, and means diversity. Each family, therefore, must have a
separate individual representation, out of which arises diversity or division,
and discord is the corner-stone of the State.
Gentlemen, we cannot displace the corner-stone without destruction to
the edifice itself ! The subject is so vast, has so many side issues, that a
volume might as readily be laid before your honorable committee as
these few words hastily written with an aching woman's heart. Personally,
if any woman in this vast land has a grievance by not having a vote, I
may claim that grievance to be mine. With father, brother, husband, son,
taken away by death, I stand utterly alone, with minor children to edu-
cate and considerable property, interests to guard. But I would deem it
unpatriotic to ask for a general law which must prove disastrous to my
country, in order to meet that exceptional position in which, by the ador-
able will of God, I am placed. I prefer, indeed, to trust to that moral in-
fluence over men which intelligence never fails to exercise, and which is
Before the Judiciary Committee. 103
really more potent in the management of business affairs than the direct
vote. In this I am doubtless as old-fashioned as were our grandmothers,
who assisted to mold this vast republic. They knew that the greatest
good for the greatest number was the only safe legislative law, and that
to it all exceptional cases must submit.
Gentlemen, in conclusion, a sophism in legislation is not a mere ab-
straction ; it must speedily bear fruit in material results of the most dis-
astrous nature, and I implore your honorable committee, in behalf of our
common country, not to open a Pandora's box byway of experiment from
whence so much evil must issue, and which once opened may never again
be closed. Very respectfully,
MADELEINE VINTON DAHLGREN.
Mrs. Dahlgren was ably reviewed by Virginia L. Minor of
St. Louis, and the Toledo Woman Suffrage Association. Mrs.
Minor said :
In assuming to speak for the "silent masses" of women, Mrs. Dahlgren
declares that silence does not give consent ; very inconsequently forget-
ting, that if it does not on one side of the question, it may not on the
other, and that she may no more represent them than do we.
The Toledo society, through its president Mrs. Rose L. Segur,
said :
We agree with you that this grave question is not one of expediency.
It is simply one of right and justice, and therefore a most legitimate sub-
ject for agitation. As a moral force woman must have a voice in the
government, or partial and unjust legislation is the result from which
arise the evils consequent upon a government based upon the enslave-
ment of half its citizens.
To this Mrs. Dahlgren replied briefly, charging the ladies with
incapacity to comprehend her.
The week following the convention a hearing was granted by
the House Judiciary Committee to Dr. Mary Walker of Wash-
ington, Mary A. Tillotson of New Jersey and Mrs. N. Cromwell
of Arkansas, urging a report in favor of woman's enfranchisement.
On January 28, the House sub-committee on territories granted
a hearing to Dr. Mary Walker and Sara Andrews Spencer, in op-
position to the bill proposing the disfranchisement of the women
of Utah as a means of suppressing polygamy.
On January 30 the House Judiciary Committee granted Mrs.
Hooker a hearing. Of the eleven members of the committee
nearly all were present.* The room and all the corridors leading
to it were crowded with men and women eager to hear Mrs.
* The members of the committee present were Hon. Proctor Knott (the chairman), General Benjamin
F. Butler, Messrs. Lyncle, Fryc, Conger, Lapham, Culberson, McMahon. Among the ladies were Me*
d.iincs Knott, Conger, Lyndc, Frye.
IO4 History of Woman Suffrage.
Hooker's speech. At the close of the two hours occupied in its
delivery, Chairman Knott thanked her in the name of the com-
mittee for her able argument.
Immediately after this hearing Mr. Frye of Maine, in present-
ing in the House of Representatives the petitions of 30,000
persons asking the right of women to vote upon the question of
temperance, referred in a very complimentary manner to Mrs.
Hooker's argument, to which he had just listened. Upon this
prayer a hearing was granted to the president and ex-president
of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Frances E. Willard
and Annie E. Wittenmyer.
Hon. George F. Hoar of Massachusetts, February 4, presented
in the Senate the 120 petitions with their 6,261 signatures, which,
by special request of its officers, had been returned to the head-
quarters of the American Association, in Boston. In her appeal
to the friends to circulate the petitions, both State and national,
Lucy Stone, chairman of its executive committee, said :
The American Suffrage Association has always recommended petitions
to congress for a sixteenth amendment. But it recognizes the far greater
importance of petitioning the State legislatures. First — Because suffrage
is a subject referred by the constitution to the voters of each State.
Secottd — Because we cannot expect a congress composed solely of repre-
sentatives of States which deny suffrage to women, to submit an amend-
ment which their own States have not yet approved. Just so it would
have been impossible to secure the submission of negro suffrage by a
congress composed solely of representatives from States which restricted
suffrage to white men. While therefore we advise our friends to circulate
both petitions together for signature, we urge them to give special promi-
nence to those which apply to their own State legislatures, and to see that
these are presented and urged by competent speakers next winter.
By request of a large number of the senators,* the Committee
on Privileges and Elections granted a special hearing to Mrs.
Hooker on Washington's birthday — February 22, 1878. It being
understood that the wives of the senators were bringing all the
forces of fashionable society to bear in aid of Mrs. Dahlgren's
protest against the pending sixteenth amendment, the officers of
the National Association issued cards of invitation asking their
presence at this hearing. We copy from the Washington Post :
* Mrs. Hooker has won, just as we predicted she would. Senators Howe, Ferry, Coke, Randolph,
Jones, Elaine, Beck, Booth, Allison, Wallace, Eaton. Johnston, Burnside, Saulsbury, Mcrrimon, and
Presiding-officer Wheeler, together with nineteen other senators, have formally invited her to address
the Committee on Privileges and Elections on February 22, an invitation which she has enthusiasti-
cally accepted. Nobody but congressmen will be admitted to hear the distinguished advocate of
woman suffrage. — [Washington Post,
Mrs. Hooker Before the Senate Committee. 105
The conflicting rumors as to who would be admitted to hear Mrs.
Hooker's argument before the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elec-
tions, led to the assembling of large numbers of women in various places
about the capitol yesterday morning. At 1 1 o'clock the doors were
opened and the committee-room at once filled.* Mrs. Hooker, with the
fervor and eloquence of her family, reviewed all the popular arguments
against woman suffrage. She said she once believed that twenty years
was little time enough for a foreigner to live in this country before he
could cast a ballot. She understands the spirit of our institutions better
now. If disf ranchisement meant annihilation, there might be safety in dis-
franchising the poor, the ignorant, the vicious. But it does not. It means
danger to everything we hold dear.
The corner-stone of this republic is God's own doctrine of liberty and
responsibility. Liberty is the steam, responsibility the brakes, and elec-
tion-day, the safety-valve. The foreigner comes to this country expect-
ing to find it a paradise. He finds, indeed, a ladder reaching to the skies,
but resting upon the earth, and he is at the bottom round. But on one
day in the year he is as good as the richest man in the land. He can
make the banker stand in the line behind him until he votes, and if he
has wrongs he learns how to right them. If he has mistaken ideas of
liberty, he is instructed what freedom means.
Wire-pulling politicians may well fear to have women enfranchised.
There are too many of them, and they have had too much experience in
looking after the details of their households to be easily duped by the
tricks of politicians. You can't keep women away from primary meet-
ings as you do intelligent men. Women know that every corner
in the house must be inspected if the house is to be clean, Fathers
and brothers want women to vote so that they can have a decent place
for a primary meeting, a decent place to vote in and a decent man to
vote for.
The Indian question would have been peacefully and righteously settled
long ago without any standing army, if Lucretia Mott could have led in
the councils of the nation, and the millions spent in fighting the Indians
might have been used in kindergartens for the poor, to some last-
ing benefit. Down with the army, down with appropriation bills to
repair the consequences of wrong-doing, when women vote. Millions
more of women would ask for this if it were not for the cruelty and abuse
men have heaped upon the advocates of woman suffrage. Men have
made it a terrible martyrdom for women even to ask for their rights, and
then say to us, " convert the women." No, no, men have put up the bars.
They must take them down. Mrs. Hooker reviewed the Chinese ques-
* Among those present were Mrs. Senator Beck, Mrs. Stanley Matthews, Mrs. Sargent, Mrs. Spofford,
Mrs. Holmes, Mrs. Snead, Mrs. Baldwin, Miss Blodgett of New York ; Mrs. Baldwin, Mrs. Spencer, Mrs.
Juan Lewis of Philadelphia; Mrs. Morgan of Mississippi, Mrs. Brooks, Mrs Olcott, Mrs. Bartlett, Miss
Sweet, Mrs. Myers, Mrs. Gibson, Miss Jenners, Mrs. Levison, Mrs. Hereford, Mrs. Folsom, Mrs.
Mitchell, Mrs. l.yndc, Mrs. Kldridge, Miss Snowe, Mrs. Curtis, Mrs. Hutchinson Patton,Mrs. Boucher
and many others. Of the committee and Senate' there were Senators Wadleigh, Cameron of Wis-
consin ; Merrimon. Mitchell, Hoar, Vice-president Wheeler, Senators Jones, Bruce, Beck and others.
Several representatives and their wives also were there, and seemed deeply interested. — [Washington
Post.
IO6 History of Woman Suffrage.
tion, the labor question, the subjects of compulsory education, reformation,
police regulations, the social evil, and many other topics upon which men
vainly attempt to legislate without the loving wisdom of mothers, sisters
and daughters. The senators most interested in the argument were ob-
served to be those previously most unfriendly to woman suffrage.
It was during this winter that Marilla M. Ricker of New
Hampshire, then studying criminal law in Washington and al-
ready having quite an extensive practice, applied to the commis-
sioners of the District of Columbia for an appointment as notary
public. The question of the eligibility of woman to the office
was referred to the district-attorney, Hon. Albert G. Riddle,
formerly a member of congress from Ohio, and at that time one
of the most prominent criminal and civil lawyers before the bar.
Mr. Riddle's reply was an able and exhaustive argument, clearly
showing there was no law to prevent women from holding the
office. But notwithstanding this opinion from their own attor-
ney, the commissioners rejected Mrs. Ricker's application.*
Bills to prohibit the Supreme Court from denying the admis-
sion of lawyers on the ground of sex had been introduced at each
session of congress during the past four years. The House bill
No. i, 077, entitled "A bill to relieve certain disabilities of women,"
was this year championed by Hon. John M. Glover of Missouri,
and passed by a vote of 169 ayes to 87 nays. In the Senate,
Hon. George F. Edmunds of Vermont, chairman of the Judiciary
Committee reported adversely. While the question was pend-
ing, Mrs. Lockwood addressed a brief to the Senate, ably refut-
ing the assertion of the Court that it was contrary to English
precedent :
To the Honorable, the Senate of the United States :
The provisions of this bill are so stringent, that to the ordinary mind it
would seem that the conditions are hard enough for the applicant to
have well earned the honor of the preferment, without making sex a dis-
ability. The fourteenth amendment to the constitution declares that :
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities
of citizens of the United States. Nor shall any State deprive any person of life,
liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its juris-
diction the equal protection of the laws.
* Mrs. Riclcer makes a specialty of looking after the occupants of the jail — so freely is her purse
opened to the poor and unfortunate that she is known as the prisoners' friend. Many an alleged
criminal owes the dawning of a new life, and the determination to make it a worthy one, to the efforts
of this noble woman. And Mrs. Ricker's special object in seeking this office was that prisoners
might make depositions before her and thus be saved the expense of employing notaries from the city.
Mrs. Lockwood's Brief. 107
To deny the right asked in this bill would be to deny to women citizens
the rights guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence to be self-evi-
dent and inalienable, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"; a denial
of one of the fundamental rights of a portion of the citizens of the com-
monwealth to acquire property in the most honorable profession of the
law, thereby perpetuating an invidious distinction between male and
female citizens equally amenable to the law, and having an equal interest
in all of the institutions created and perpetuated by this government.
The articles of confederation declare that :
The free inhabitants of each of these States — paupers and fugitives from justice
excepted — shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the
several States.
Article 4 of the constitution says :
Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and
judicial proceedings of every other State.
Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Wyoming, Utah,
and the District of Columbia admit women to the bar. What then?
Shall the second coordinate branch of the government, the judiciary, re-
fuse to grant what it will not permit the States to deny, the privileges and
immunities of citizens, and say to women-attorneys when they have fol-
lowed their cases through the State courts to that tribunal beyond which
there is no appeal, "You cannot come in here we are too holy," or in the
words of the learned chancellor declare that :
By the uniform practice of the court from its organization to the present time, and
by a fair construction of its rules, none but men are admitted to practice before it as at-
torneys and counselors. This is in accordance with immemorial usage in England, and
the law and practice in all the States until within a recent period, and the court does
not feel called upon to make a change until such a change is required by statute, or a
more extended practice in the highest courts of the States.
With all due respect for this opinion, we beg leave to quote the rule for
admission to the bar of that court as laid down in the rule book :
RULE No. 2. — Attorneys : It shall be requisite to the admission of attorneys or
counselors to practice in this court, that they shall have been such for three years past
in the Supreme Courts of the States to which they respectively belong, and that their
private and professional character shall appear to be fair.
There is nothing in this rule or in the oath which follows it, either ex-
press or implied, which confines the membership of the bar of the United
States Supreme Court to the male sex. Had any such term been in-
cluded therein it would virtually be nullified by the first paragraph of the
United States Revised Statutes, ratified by the forty-third congress. June
20, 1875, in which occur the following words :
In determining the meaning of the Revised Statutes, or of any act or resolution of
congress passed subsequent to February 25, 1871, words importing the singular num-
l>i-r may extend and be applied to several persons or things; words importing the
masculine gender may be applied to females, etc., etc.
Now, as to " immemorial usage in England." The executive branch of
that government has been vested in an honored and honorable woman for
the past forty years. Is it to be supposed if this distinguished lady
io8
History of Woman Suffrage.
or any one of her accomplished daughters should ask to be heard at
the bar of the Court of the Queen's Bench, the practice of which the
United States Supreme Court has set up as its model, that she would be
refused ?
Blackstone recounts that Ann, Countess of Pembroke, held the office
of sheriff of Westmoreland and exercised its duties in person. At the assi-
zes at Appleby she sat with the judges on the bench. (See Coke on Lit.,
p. 326.) The Scotch sheriff is properly a judge, and by the statute 20,
Geo., 1 1, c. 43, he must be a lawyer of three years standing.
Eleanor, Queen of Henry III. of England, in the year 1253, was appointed
lady-keeper of the great seal, or the supreme chancellor of England, and
sat in the Aula Rcgia, or King's Court. She in turn appointed Kilkenny,
arch-deacon of Coventry, as the sealer of writs and common-law instru-
ments, but the more important matters she executed in person.
Queen Elizabeth held the great seal at three several times during her re-
markable reign. After the death of Lord-keeper Bacon she presided for
two months in the Aula Regia.
It is claimed that " admission to the bar constitutes an office." Even'
woman postmaster, pension agent and notary public throughout the land
is a bonded officer of the government. The Western States have elected
women as school superintendents and appointed them as enrolling and
engrossing clerks in their several legislatures, and as State librarians. Of
what use are our seminaries and colleges for women if after they have
passed through the curriculum of the schools there is for them no prefer-
ment, and no emolument ; no application of the knowledge of the arts and
sciences acquired, and no recognition of the excellence attained?
But this country, now in the second year of the second century of her
history, is no longer in her leading strings, that she should look to Mother
England for a precedent to do justice to the daughters of the land. She
had to make a precedent when the first male lawyer was admitted to the
bar of the United States Supreme Court. Ah! this country is one that
has not hesitated when the necessity has arisen to make precedents and
write them in blood. There was no precedent for this free republican
government and the war of the rebellion ; no precedent for the emancipa-
tion of the slave ; no precedent for the labor strikes of last summer. The
more extended practice, and the more extended public opinion referred to
by the learned chancellor have already been accomplished. Ah! that very
opinion, telegraphed throughout the land by the associated press, brought
back the response of the people as on the wings of the wind asking you
for that special act now so nearly consummated, which shall open this
professional door to women.
BI.I.VA A. LOCK WOOD, Attorney and Solicitor.
Washington, D. C., March 7, 1878.
Mrs. Lockwood's bill, with Senator Edmond's adverse report,
was reached on the Senate calendar April 22, 1878, and provoked
a spirited discussion. Hon. A. A. Sargent, made a gallant fight
in favor of the bill, introducing the following amendment :
Mrs. Lockwood's Bill in the Senate. 109
No person shall be excluded from practicing as an attorney and counselor at law in
any court of the United States on account of sex.
Mr. SARGENT : Mr. President, the best evidence that members of the
legal profession have no jealousy against the admission of women to the
bar who have the proper learning, is shown by this document which I
hold in my hand, signed by one hundred and fifty-five lawyers of the Dis-
trict of Columbia, embracing the most eminent men in the ranks of that
profession. That there is no jealousy or consideration of impropriety on
the part of the various States is shown by the fact that the legislatures of
many of the States have recently admitted women to the bar ; and my
own State, California, has passed such a law within the last week or two ;
Illinois has done the same thing; so have Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri
and North Carolina ; and Wyoming, Utah and the District of Columbia
among the territories have also done it. There is no reason in principle
why women should not be admitted to this profession or the profession
of medicine, provided they have the learning to enable them to be useful
in those professions, and useful to themselves. Where is the propriety in
opening our colleges, our higher institutions of learning, or any institu-
tions of learning, to women, and then when they have acquired in the race
with men the cultivation for higher employment, to shut them out ?
There certainly is none. We should either restrict the laws allowing the
liberal education of women, or, we should allow them to exercise the talents
which are cultivated at the public expense in such departments of enter-
prise and knowledge as will be useful to society and will enable them to
gain a living. The tendency is in this direction. I believe the time has
passed to consider it a ridiculous thing for women to appear upon the
lecture platform or in the pulpit, for women to attend to the treatment of
diseases as physicians and nurses, to engage in any literary employment,
or appear at the bar. Some excellent women in the United -States are
now practicing at the bar, acceptably received before courts and juries;
and when they have conducted their cases to a successful issue or an un-
successful one in any court below, why should the United States courts to
which an appeal may be taken and where their adversaries of the male sex
may follow the case up, why should these courts be closed to these
women ? * * *
Mr. GARLAND: I should like to ask the senator from California if the
courts of the United States cannot admit them upon their own motion
anyhow ?
Mr. SARGENT : I think there is nothing in the law prohibiting it, but the
Supreme Court of the United States recently in passing upon the ques-
tion of the admission of a certain lady, said that until some legislation
took place they did not like to depart from the precedent set in England,
or until there was more general practice among the States. The learned
chief-justice, perhaps, did not sufficiently reflect when he stated that there
were no English precedents. The fact is that Elizabeth herself sat in the
Aula Regia and administered the law, and in both Scotland and England
women have fulfilled the function of judges. The instances are not
numerous but they are well established in history. I myself have had my
i 10 History of Woman Suffrage.
attention called to the fact that in the various States the women are now
admitted by special legislation to the bar. I do not think there is any-
thing in the law, properly considered, that would debar a woman from
coming into this profession. I think the Supreme Court should not have
required further legislation, but it seems to have done so, and that makes
the necessity for the amendment which I have now offered.
The chairman of the committee in reporting this -bill back from the
Judiciary Committee said that the bill as it passed the House of Repre-
sentatives gave privileges to women which men did not enjoy;
that is to say, the Supreme Court can by a change of rule require
further qualification of men, whereas in regard to women, if this pro-
vision were put into the statute, the Supreme Court could not rule
them out even though it may be* necessary in its judgment to get a
higher standard of qualifications than its present rules prescribe. Al-
though I observe that my time is up, I ask indulgence for a moment or
two longer. As this is a question of some interest and women cannot ap-
pear here to speak for themselves, I hope I may be allowed to speak for
them a moment. Now, there is something in the objection stated by the
chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary — that is to say, the bill would
take the rule of the Supreme Court and put it in the statute and apply it
to women, thereby conferring exceptional privileges ; but that is not my
intention at all, and therefore I have proposed that women shall not be
excluded from practicing law, if they are otherwise qualified, on account
of sex, and that is the provision which I want to send back to the Judiciary
Committee.
Mr. GARLAND : I wish to ask one question of the senator from Cali-
fornia. Suppose the court should exclude women, but not on account of
sex, then what is their remedy?
Mr. SARGENT : I do not see any pretense that the court could exclude
them on except on account of sex.
Mr. GARLAND : If I recollect the rule of the Supreme Court in regard
to the admission of practitioners (and I had to appear there twice to pre-
sent my claim before I could curry on my profession in that court), 1 do
not think any legislation is necessary to aid them by giving them any
more access to that court than they have at present under the rules of the
Supreme Court.
Mr. SARGENT: I believe if the laws now existing were properly con-
strued (of course I speak with all deference to the Supreme Court, but I
express the opinion) they would be admitted, but unfortunately the
court does not take that view of it, and it will wait for legislation.
I purpose that the legislation shall follow. If there is anything in prin-
ciple why this privilege should not be granted to women who are
otherwise qualified, then let the bill be defeated on that ground ; but I
say there is no difference in principle whatever, not the slightest. There
is no reason because a citizen of the United States is a woman that she
should be deprived of her rights as a citizen, and these are rights of a citi-
zen. She has the same right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
and employment, commensurate with her capacities, as a man has ; and,
Mary Clemmers Letter. \ \ \
as to the question of capacity, the history of the world shows from Queen
Elizabeth and Queen Isabella down to Madame Dudevant and Mrs. Stowe,
that capacity is not a question of sex.
Mr. McDONALD : I have simply to say, Mr. President, that a number of
States and territories have authorized the admission of women to the
legal profession, and they have become members of the bar of the highest
courts of judicature. It may very frequently occur, and has in some in-
stances I believe really occurred, that cases in which they have been thus
employed have been brought to the Supreme Court of the United States.
To have the door closed against them when the cause is brought here, not
by them, or when in the prosecution of the suits of their clients they find
it necessary to come here, seems to me entirely unjust. I therefore favor
the bill with the amendment. The proposed amendment is perhaps better
because it does away with any tendency to discrimination in regard to the
admissibility of women to practice in the Supreme Court.
The PRESIDING OFFICER: The senator from California moves that the
bill be recommitted to the Committee on Judiciary.
Mr. SARGENT : I have the promise of the chairman of the committee
that the bill will soon be reported back, and therefore I am willing that it
go to the committee, and I make the motion that it be recommitted. [The
motion was agreed to.]
Mr. SARGENT : I ask that the amendment which I propose be printed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER: The order to print will be made.
Mary Clemmer, the gifted correspondent of the New York
Independent, learning that Senator Wadleigh was about to re-
port adversely upon the sixteenth amendment, wrote the follow-
ing private letter, which, as a record of her own sentiments on
the question, she gave to Miss Anthony for publication in this
history :
Hon. BAINBRIDGE WADLEIGH — Dear Sir : The more I think of it the
more I regret that, as chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elec-
tions, you regard with less favor the enfranchisement of women than did
your distinguished predecessor, Senator Morton. At this moment, when
your committee is discussing that subject, I sigh for the large outlook,
the just mind, the unselfish decision of that great legislator. You were
his friend, you respected his intellect, you believed in his integrity, you
sit in his seat. You are to prepare the report that he would prepare were
he still upon the earth. May I ask you to bring to that labor as fair
a spirit, as unprejudiced an outlook, as just a decision as he would have
done? ,-
I ask this not as a partisan of woman's rights, but as a lover of the
human race. In this faint dawn of woman's day, I discern not woman's
development of freedom merely, but the promise of that higher, finer,
purer civilization which is to redeem the world, the lack of which makes
men tyrants and women slaves. You cannot be unconscious of the fact
that a new race of women is born into the world, who, while they lack no
womanly attribute, are the peers of any man in intellect and aspiration.
1 1 2 History of Woman Suffrage.
It will be impossible long to deny to such women that equality before the
law granted to the lowest creature that crawls, if he happens to be a
man ; denied to the highest creature that asks it, if she happens to be a
woman.
On what authority, save that of the gross regality of physical strength,
do you deny to a thoughtful, educated, tax-paying person the common
rights of citizenship because she is a woman ? I am a property-owner,
the head of a household. By what right do you assume to define and
curtail for me my prerogatives as a citizen, while as a tax-payer you make
not the slightest distinction between me and a man ? Leave to my own
perception what is proper for me as a lady, to my own discretion what is
wise for me as a wo-nan, to my own conscience what is my duty to my
race and to my God. Leave to unerring nature to protect the subtle
boundaries which define the distinctive life and action of the sexes, while
you as a legislator do everything in your power to secure to every creature
of God an equal chance to make the best and most of himself.
If American men could say as Huxley says, " I scorn to lay a single
obstacle in the way of those whom nature from the beginning has so
heavily burdened," the sexes would cease to war, men and women would
reign together, the equal companions, friends, helpers, and lovers that
nature intended they should be. But what is love, tenderness, protec-
tion, even, unless rooted in justice? Tyranny and servitude, that is all.
Brute supremacy, spiritual slavery. By what authority do you say that
the country is not prepared for a more enlightened franchise, for political
equality, if six women citizens, earnest, eloquent, long-suffering, come to
you and demand both ? No words can express my regret if to the minority
report I see appended only the honored name of George F. Hoar of Mas-
sachusetts. Your friend, MARY CLEMMER.
In response to all these arguments, appeals and petitions,
Senator Wadleigh, from the Committee on Privileges and Elec-
tions, presented the following adverse report, June 14, 1878:
The Committee on Privileges and Elections, to whom -was referred the Resolu-
tion (S. Res. 12) proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, and certain Petitions for and Remonstrances against the same,
make the following Report :
This proposed amendment forbids the United States, or any State to
deny or abridge the right to vote on account of sex. If adopted, it will
make several millions of female voters, totally inexperienced in political
affairs, quite generally dependent upon the other sex, all incapable of
performing military duty and without the power to enforce the laws which
their numerical strength may enable them to make, and comparatively
very few of whom wish to assume the irksome and responsible political
duties which this measure thrusts upon them. An experiment so novel,
a change so great, should only be made slowly and in response to a gen-
eral public demand, of the existence of which there is no evidence before
your committee.
114 History of Woman Suffrage.
bill in 1874, Senator Morton made an earnest speech in favor of
woman's enfranchisement. In his premature death our cause
lost one of its bravest champions.
Senator Wadleigh's report called forth severe criticism ; notably
from the New Northwest of Oregon, the Woman's Journal of
Boston, the Inter-Ocean of Chicago, the Evening Telegram and
the National Citizen of New York. We quote from the latter :
The report is not a statesman-like answer based upon fundamental
principles, but a mere politician's dodge — a species of dust-throwing quite
in vogue in Washington. " Several millions of voters totally inexperienced
in political affairs "! They would have about as much experience as the
fathers in 1776, as the negroes in 1870, as the Irish, English, Italians, Nor-
wegians, Danes, French, Germans, Portuguese, Scotch, Russians, Turks,
Mexicans, Hungarians, Swedes and Indians, who form a good part of the
voting population of this country. Did Mr. Wadleigh never hear of
Agnes C. Jencks — the woman who has stirred up politics to its deepest
depth ; who has shaken the seat of President Hayes; who has set in mo-
tion the whole machinery of government, and who, when brought to the
witness stand has for hours successfully baffled such wily politicians as
Ben Butler and McMahon ; — a woman who thwarts alike Republican and
Democrat, and at her own will puts the brakes on all this turmoil of her
own raising? Does Senator Wadleigh know nothing of that woman's
"experience in politics ' ?
" Quite dependent upon the other sex." It used to be said the negroes
were " quite dependent " upon their masters, that it would really be
an abuse of the poor things to set them free, but when free and control-
ing the results of their own labor, it was found the masters had been the
ones "quite dependent," and thousands of them who before the war
rolled in luxury, have since been in the depths of poverty — some of them
even dependent upon the bounty of their former slaves. When men
cease to rob women of their earnings they will find them generally, as
thousands now are, capable of self-care.*
" Military duty." When women hold the ballot there will not be quite
as much military duty to be done. They will then have a voice and a
vote in the matter, and the men will no longer be able to throw the
country into a war to gratify spite or ambition, tearing from woman's
arms her nearest and dearest. All men do not like "military duty."
"The key to that horrible enigma, German socialism, is antagonism to
* THE SELFISH RATS — A FABLE BY LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE. — Once some gray old rats built a ship
of Stale to save themselves from drowning. It carried them safely for awhile until they grew eager
for more passengers, and so took on board all manner of rats that had run away from all sorts of
places— Irish rats and German rats, and French rats, and even black rats and dirty sewer rats.
Now there were many lady mice who had followed the rats, and the rats therefore thought them
very nice, but in spite of that would not let them have any place on the ship, so that they were forced
to cling to a few planks and were every now and then overwhelmed by the waves. But when the mice
begged to be taken on board saying. ' Save us also, we beg you ' " The rats only replied, " We are too
crowded already ; we love you very much, and we know you are very uncomfortable, but it is not ex-
pedient to make room for you." So the rats sailed on safely and saw the poor little mice buffeted
about without doing the least thing to save them.
floral ': Woe to the weaker.
Comments of the "National Citizen" 115
the military system," and nations are shaken with fear because of it. But
when there is necessity for military duty, women will be found in line.
The person who planned the Tennessee campaign, in which the Northern
armies secured their first victories, was a woman, Anna Ella Carroll.
Gen. Grant acted upon her plan, and was successful. She was en-
dorsed by President Lincoln, Seward, Stanton, Wade, Scott, and all the
nation's leaders in its hour of peril, and yet congress has not granted her
the pension which for ten years her friends have demanded. Mr. Wad-
leigh holds his seat in the United States Senate to-day, because of the
" military duty " done by this woman.
"About 30,000 names," to petitions. There have been 70,000 sent
in during the present session of congress, for a sixteenth amendment,
besides hundreds of individual petitions from women asking for the re-
moval of their own political disabilities. Men in this country are occa-
sionally disfranchised for crime, and sometimes pray for the removal of
their political disabilities. Nine such disfranchised men had the right of
voting restored to them during the last session of congress. But not a
single one of the five hundred women who individually asked to have
their political disabilities removed, was even so much as noticed by an ad-
verse report, Mr. Wadleigh knows it would make no difference if 300,000
women petitioned. But whether women ask for the ballot or not has
nothing to do with the question. Self-government is the natural right
of every individual, and because woman possesses this natural right, she
should be secured in its exercise.
Mr. Wadleigh says, " nor can woman justly complain of any partiality in
the administration of justice." Let us examine : A few years ago a mar-
ried man in Washington, in official position, forced a confession from his
wife at the mouth of a pistol, and shot his rival dead. Upon trial he was
triumphantly acquitted and afterwards sent abroad as foreign minister.
A few months ago a married woman in Georgia, who had been taunted
by her rival with boasts of having gained her husband's love, found
this rival dancing with him. She drew a knife and killed the woman on
the spot. She was tried, convicted, and, although nursing one infant,
and again about to become a mother, was sentenced to be hanged by the
neck till she was 'dead, dead, dead.' There is Mr. Wadleigh's equal ad-
ministration of justice between man and woman ! There is " the sympathy
of judges and juries." There is the "extent which would warrant loud com-
plaint on the part of their adversaries of the sterner sex." And this woman
escaped the gallows not because of " the sympathy of the judge " or "jury,"
but because her own sex took the matter up, and from every part of the
country sent petitions by the hundreds to Governor Colquitt of Georgia,
asking her pardon. That pardon came in the shape of ten years' imprison-
ment ; — ten years in a cell for a woman, the mother of a nursing and an
unborn infant, while for General Sickles the mission to Madrid with
high honors and a fat salary.
Messrs. Wadleigh of New Hampshire, McMillan of Minnesota, Ingalls
of Kansas, Saulsbury of Delaware, Merrimon of North Carolina and Hill
of Georgia, all senators of the United States, are the committee that re-
116 History of Woman Suffrage.
port it " inexpedient" to secure equal rights to the women of the United
States. But we are not discouraged ; we are not disheartened ; all
the Wadleighs in the Senate, all the committees of both Houses,
the whole congress of the United States against us, would not
lessen our faith, nor our efforts. We know we are right ; we know
we shall be successful; we know the day is not far distant, when this
government and the world will acknowledge the exact and permanent
political equality of man and woman, and we know that until that hour
comes woman will be oppressed, degraded ; a slave, without a single right
that man feels himself bound to respect. Work then, women, for your
own freedom. Let the early morning see you busy, and dusky evening
find you planning how you may become FREE.
But the most severe judgment upon Mr Wadleigh's action
came from his own constituents, who, at the close of the forty-
fifth congress excused his further presence in the United States
Senate, sending in his stead the Hon Henry W. Blair, a valiant
champion of national protection for national citizens.*
In April, 1878, Mrs. Williams transferred the Ballot-Box to
Mrs. Gage, who removed it to Syracuse, New York, and changed
its name to the National Citizen. In her prospectus Mrs. Gage
said :
The National Citizen will advocate the principle that suffrage is the citi-
zen's right, and should be protected by national law, and that, while States
may regulate the suffrage, they should have no power to abolish it. Its
especial object will be to secure national protection to women in the ex-
ercise of their right to vote ; it will oppose class legislation of whatever
form. It will support no political party until one arises which is based
upon the exact equality of man and woman.
As the first step towards becoming well is to know you are ill, one
of the principal aims of the National Citizen will be to make those women
discontented who are now content ; to waken them to self-respect and a
desire to use the talents they possess ; to educate their consciences
aright ; to quicken their sense of duty ; to destroy morbid beliefs, and
fit them for their high responsibilities as citizens of a republic. The
National Citizen has no faith in that old theory that " a woman once lost
is lost forever," neither does it believe in the assertion that "a woman
who sins, sinks to depths of wickedness lo\ver than man can reach."
On the contrary it believes there is a future for the most abandoned, if
only the kindly hand of love and sympathy be extended to rescue them
from the degradation into which they have fallen. The National Citizen
will endeavor to keep its readers informed of the progress of women in
foreign countries, and will, as far as possible, revolutionize this country,
striving to make it live up to its own fundamental principles and become
in reality what it is but in name — a genuine republic.
* Senator Blair has just been elected (June, 1885) to a second term, thus insuring his services to our
cause in the Senate for another six years.
Thirtieth Anniversary. 117
Instead of holding its usual May anniversary in New York
city, the National Association decided to meet in Rochester to
celebrate the close of the third decade of organized agitation in
the United States, and issued the following call :
The National Association will hold a convention in Rochester, N. Y.,
July 19, 1878. This will be the thirtieth anniversary of the first woman's
rights convention, held July 19, 1848, in the Wesleyan church at Seneca
Falls, N. Y., and adjourned to meet, August 2, in Rochester. Some who
took part in that convention have passed away, but many others, including
both Mrs. Mott and Mrs. Stanton, are still living. This convention will
take the place of the usual May anniversary, and will be largely devoted
to reminiscences. Friends are cordially invited to be present.
CLEMENCE S. LOZIER, M. D., President.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Chairman Executive Committee.
The meeting was held in the Unitarian church on Fitzhugh
street, occupied by the same society that had opened its doors
in 1848 ; and Amy Post, one of the leading spirits of the first con-
vention, still living in Rochester and in her seventy-seventh year,
assisted in the arrangements. Rochester, known as " The Flower
City," contributed of its beauty to the adornment of the church.
It was crowded at the first session. Representatives from a large
number of States were present,* and there was a pleasant inter-
change of greetings between those whose homes were far apart,
but who were friends and co-workers in this great reform. The
reunion was more like the meeting of near and dear relatives
than of strangers whose only bond was work in a common cause.
Such are the compensations which help to sustain reformers while
they battle ignorance and prejudice in order to secure justice. In
the absence of the president, Dr. Clemence S. Lozier, Mrs. Stan-
ton took the chair and said :
We are here to celebrate the third decade of woman's struggle in this
country for liberty. Thirty years have passed since many of us now
* DELEGATES TO THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY. — Alabama, Priscilla Holmes Drake ; California,
Ellen Clark Sargent; District of Columbia, Frederick Douglass, Belva A. Lockwood, Sara Andrews
Spencer, Caroline K. Winslow, M. D.; Indiana, Margaret C. Conklin, Mary B. Naylor, May Wright
Thompson ; Massachusetts, Harriet H. Robinson, Harriette R. Shattuck ; Maryland, Lavinia C. Dun-
dore ; Michigan, Catherine A. F. Stcbbins, Frances Titus, Sojourner Truth; Missouri, Phoebe W.
Couzins ; New Hampshire, Parker Pillsbmy ; North Carolina, Elizabeth Oakes Smith ; New Jersey.
Kluabeth Cady Stanton, Sarah M. Hum ; New York, Albany county , Arethusa L. Forbes ; Dutches**
Helen M. Loder; Lewis, Mrs. E. M. Wilcox ; Madison, Helen Raymond Jarvis ; Monroe, Susan B.
Anthony, Amy Post, Sarah H. Willis, Mary H. Hallowell, Mary S. Anthony, l.e.vi.i C. Smith and
many others ; Orleans, Mrs. Plumb, Mrs. Clark ; Onondaga, Lucy N. Coleman, Dr. Amelia F. Ray-
mond, Matilda Joslyn Gage; Ontario^ Elizabeth C. Atwcll, Catherine H. Sands, Elizabeth Smith
Miller, Helen M. Pitts ; Queens, Mary A. Pell ; Wayne, Sarah K. Rathbone, Rebecca B. Thomas;
ll'yomittf, Charlotte A. Cleveland ; Gencstt, the Misses Morton ; A'ew York, Clemence S. Lozier, M.
D., Helen M. Slocum, Sara A. Barret, M. D., Hamilton Wilcox ; Ohio, Mrs. Ellen Sully Fray ; Penn-
sylvania, Lucretia Mott, Sarah Pugh, Adeline Thomson, Maria C. Arter, M. D., Mrs. Watson ; South
Carolina, Martha Schofield ; Wisconsin, Mrs. C. L. Morgan.
ii8 History of Woma,n Suffrage.
present met in this place to discuss the true position of woman as
a citizen of a republic. The reports of our first conventions show that
those who inaugurated this movement understood the significance of the
term "citizens." At the very start we claimed full equality with man.
Our meetings were hastily called and somewhat crudely conducted;
but we intuitively recognized the fact that we were defrauded of our
natural rights, conceded in the national constitution. And thus the
greatest movement of the century was inaugurated. I say greatest, be-
cause through the elevation of woman all humanity is lifted to a higher
plane. To contrast our position thirty years ago, under the old com-
mon law of England, with that we occupy under the advanced legisla-
tion of to-day, is enough to assure us that we have passed the boundary
line — from slavery to freedom. We already see the mile-stones of a new
civilization on every highway.
Look at the department of education, the doors of many colleges and
universities thrown wide open to women ; girls contending for, yea, and
winning prizes over their brothers. In the working world they are
rapidly filling places and climbing heights unknown to them before,
realizing, in fact, the dreams, the hopes, the prophesies of the inspired
women of by-gone centuries. In many departments of learning woman
stands the peer of man, and when by higher education and profitable labor
she becomes self-reliant and independent, then she must and wiJl be free.
The moment an individual or a class is strong enough to stand alone,
bondage is impossible. Jefferson Davis, in a recent speech, says : " A
Caesar could not subject a people fit to be free, nor could a Brutus save
them if they were fit for subjugation."
Looking back over the past thirty years, how long ago seems that July
morning when we gathered round the altar in the old Wesleyan church
in Seneca Falls ! It taxes and wearies the memory to think of all the con-
ventions we have held, the legislatures we have besieged, the petitions
and tracts we have circulated, the speeches, the calls, the resolutions we
have penned, the never-ending debates we have kept up in public and
private, and yet to each and all our theme is as fresh and absorbing as it
was the day we started. Calm, benignant, subdued as we look on this
platform, if any man should dare to rise in our presence and controvert a
single position we have taken, there is not a woman here that would not
in an instant, with flushed face and flashing eye, bristle all over with sharp,
pointed arguments that would soon annihilate the most skilled logician,
the most profound philosopher.
To those of you on this platform who for these thirty years have been
the steadfast representatives of woman's cause, my friends and co-laborers,
let me say our work has not been in vain. True, we have not yet secured
the suffrage, but we have aroused public thought to the many disabilities
of our sex, and our countrywomen to higher self-respect and worthier
ambition, and in this struggle for justice we have deepened and broadened
our own lives and extended the horizon of our vision. Ridiculed, perse-
cuted, ostracised, we have learned to place a just estimate on popular
opinion, and to feel a just confidence in ourselves. As the representatives
Mrs. Stantoris Address. 119
of principles which it was necessary to explain and defend, we have been
compelled to study constitutions and laws, and in thus seeking to redress
the wrongs and vindicate the rights of the many, we have secured a higher
development for ourselves. Nor is this all. The full fruition of these
years of seed-sowing shall yet be realized, though it may not be by those
who have led in the reform, for many of our number have already fallen
asleep. Another decade and not one of us may be here, but we have
smoothed the rough paths for those who come after us. The lives of
multitudes will be gladdened by the sacrifices we have made, and the
truths we have uttered can never die.
Standing near the gateway of the unknown land and looking back
through the vista of the past, memory recalls many duties in life's varied
relations we would had been better done. The past to all of us is filled
with regrets. We can recall, perchance, social ambitions disappointed,
fond hopes wrecked, ideals in wealth, power, position, unattained — much
that would be considered success in life unrealized. But Lthink we should
all agree that the time, the thought, the energy we have devoted to the
freedom of our countrywomen, that the past, in so far as our lives have
represented this great movement, brings us only unalloyed satisfaction.
The rights already obtained, the full promise of the rising generation of
women more than repay us for the hopes so long deferred, the rights yet
denied, the humiliation of spirit we still suffer.
And for those of you who have been mere spectators of the long, hard
battle we have fought, and are still fighting, I have a word. Whatever
your attitude has been, whether as cold, indifferent observers — whether
you have hurled at us the shafts of ridicule or of denunciation, we ask
you now to lay aside your old educational prejudices and give this ques-
tion your earnest consideration, substituting reason for ridicule, sympathy
for sneers. I urge the young women especially to prepare themselves to
take up the work so soon to fall from our hands. You have had oppor-
tunities for education such as we had not. You hold to-day the vantage-
ground we have won by argument. Show now your gratitude to us by
making the uttermost of yourselves, and by your earnest, exalted lives
secure to those who come after you a higher outlook, a broader culture,
a larger freedom than have yet been vouchsafed to woman in our own
happy land.
Congratulatory letters* and telegrams were received from all
portions of the United States and from the old world. Space
* Kroin Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone, Caroline H. Dall, Bo-ton ; Hon. A.
A. Sargent, Washington ; Clara Barton, Mathilde F. Wendt, Abby Hutchinson Patton, Aaron M.
Powell, Father Benson, Margaret Holley, Mary L. Booth, Sarah Hallock, Priscilla R. Lawrence, Lillie
Devcreux Blnke, New York ; Samuel May, Klixabeth Powell Bond, John W. Hutchinson, Lucinda B.
Chandler, Sarah K. Wall, Massachusetts; Caroline M. Spear, Robert Purvis, Edward M. Davis Phil-
adelphia; Isabella Beucher Hooker, Julia E. Smith, Lavinia Goodell, Connecticut ; Lucy A Snowe,
AnnT. Greeley, Maine ; Caroline F. Barr, Bessie liisbee Hunt, Mary A. Powers Filley,New Hampsnire ;
Catherine Cornell Knowles, Rhode Island ; Antoinette Brown Blackwell, New Jersey ; Annie Laura
Quinby, Joseph B. Quinby, Sarah R. L. Williams, Rosa L. Segur, Ohio; Sarah C. Owen, Michigan;
Laura Ross Wolcott, M. D., Mary King, Angie King, Wisconsin ; Frances E. Williard, Clara Lyons
Peters, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Illinois; Rachel Lockwood Child, Janet Strong, Nancy R. Allen,
Amelia Bloomer, Iowa ; Sarah Burger Stearns, Hattte M. White, Minnesota ; Mary F. Thomas. M. D.,
Emma Molloy, Indiana; Matilda Hindman, Sarah L. Miller, Pennsylvania; Anna K. Irvine, Virginia
1 20 History of ll'onnw Suffrage.
admits the publication of but a few, yet all breathed the same
hopeful spirit and confidence in future success. Abigail Bush,
who presided over the first Rochester convention, said :
No one knows what I passed through upon that occasion. I was
born and baptized in the old Scotch Presbyterian church. At that
time its sacred teachings were, " if a woman would know anything let her
ask her husband at home." I well remember the inci-
dents of that meeting and the thoughts awakened by it. *
Say to your convention my full heart is with them in all their delibera-
tions and counsels, and I trust great good to women will come of their
efforts.
Ernestine L. Rose, a native of Poland, and, next to Frances
Wright, the earliest advocate of woman's enfranchisement in
America, wrote from England :
How I should like to be with you at the anniversary — it reminds me of
the delightful convention we had at Rochester, long, long ago — and speak
of the wonderful change that has taken place in regard to woman. Com-
pare her present position in society with the one she occupied forty years
ago, when I undertook to emancipate her from not only barbarous laws,
but from what was even worse, a barbarous public opinion. No one
can appreciate the wonderful change in the social and moral condition of
woman, except by looking back and comparing the past with the present.
* * * Say to the friends, Go on, go on, halt not and rest not. Re-
member that " eternal vigilance is the price of liberty " and of right.
Much has been achieved ; but the main, the vital thing, has yet to come.
The suffrage is the magic key to the statute — the insignia of citizenship
in a republic.
Caroline Ashurst Biggs, editor of the Englishwoman's Review,
London, wrote :
I have read with great interest in the National Citizen and the Woman's
Journal 'the announcement of the forthcoming convention in Rochester.
* * * I cannot refrain from sending you a cordial English congratula-
tion upon the great advance in the social and legal position of women in
America, which has been the result of your labor. The next few
years will see still greater progress. As soon as the suffrage is
granted to women, a concession which will not be many years in com-
ing either in England or America, every one of our questions will ad-
vance with double force, and meanwhile our efforts in that direction
are simultaneously helping forward other social, legal, educational and
L. Minor, Missouri : Elizabeth H. Duvall, Kentucky; Mrs. G. W. Church. Tennessee; Mrs. Augusta
Williams, Elsie Stuart, Kansas; Ada W. Lucas, Nebraska ; Emeline B. Wells. Annie Godbe, Utah ;
Mary F. Shields, Alida C. Avery, M. D., Colorado ; Harriet Loushary, Mrs. L. F. Proebstel, Mrs. Co-
burn, Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon ; Clarina I. H. Nichols, Elizabeth B. Schenck, Sarah J. WallU,
Abigail Bush, Laura de Force Gordon, California ; Mrs. A. H. H. Stuart, Washington Territory ; Helen
M. Martin, Arkansas ; Helen R. Holmes, District of Columbia ; Caroline V. Putnam, Virginia ; Eliza-
beth Avcry Meriwether, Tennessee; Elizabeth L. Saxon, Louisiana; Martha Goodwin Tunstall,
Texas ; Priscilla Holmes Drake, Buell D. M'Clung, Alabama, Ellen Sully Fray, Ontario; Theodore
Stanton, France ; Ernestine L. Rose, Caroline Ashurst Biggs, Lydia E. Becker, England.
Letters of Congratulation. 1 2 I
moral reforms. Our organization in England does not date back so far
as yours. There were only a few isolated thinkers when Mrs. John
Stuart Mill wrote her essay on the enfranchisement of women in 1851.
For twenty years, however, it has progressed with few drawbacks. In
some particulars the English laws in respect of women are in advance of
yours, but the connection between England and America is so close that
a gain to one is a gain to the other.
Lydia E. Becker, editor of the Women s Suffrage Journal, Man-
chester, England, wrote :
* * * I beg to offer to the venerable pioneers of the movement,
more especially to Lucretia Mott, a tribute of respectful admiration and
gratitude for the services they have rendered in the cause of enfranchise-
ment. * * * As regards the United kingdom, the movement in a prac-
tical form is but twelve years old, and in that period, although we
have not obtained the parliamentary franchise, we have seen it sup-
ported by at least one-third of the House of Commons, and our claim
admitted as one which must be dealt with in future measures of parlia-
mentary reform. We have obtained the municipal franchise and the school-
board franchise. Women have secured the right to enter the medical
profession and to take degrees in the University of London, besides con-
siderable amendment of the law regarding married women, though much
remains to be done.
Senator Sargent, since minister to Berlin, wrote :
I regret that the necessity to proceed at once to California will deprive
me of the pleasure of attending your convention of July 19, the anni-
versary of the spirited declaration of rights put forth thirty years ago by
some of the noblest and most enlightened women of America. Women's
rights have made vast strides since that day, in juster legislation, in
widened spheres of employment, and in the gradual but certain recognition
by large numbers of citizens of the justice and policy of extending the elec-
tive franchise to women. It is now very generally conceded that the time
is rapidly approaching when women will vote. The friends of the move-
ment have faith in the result; its enemies grudgingly admit it. Courage
and work will hasten the day. The worst difficulties have already been
overcome. The movement has passed the stage of ridicule, and even
that of abuse, and has entered that of intelligent discussion, its worst ad-
versaries treating it with respect. You are so familiar with all the argu-
ments in favor of this great reform that I will not attempt to state them ;
but I wish to say that as an observer of public events, it is my deliberate
judgment that your triumph is near at hand. There are vastly more men
and women in the United States now who believe that women should
li.ivt: the right to vote than there were in 1848 who believed the slave
should be freed. This is a government of opinions and the growing
opinion will be irresistible. Respectfully yours, A. A. SARGF.N i .
The following letters from the great leaders of the anti-slavery
movement were gratefully received. As Mr. Garrison soon after
J 22
/ f is lory of Woman Suffrage.
finished his eventful life, this proved to be his last message to
our association :
BOSTON, June 30, 1878.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY — Your urgent and welcome letter, inviting
me to the thirtieth anniversary of the woman's rights movement at
Rochester, came yesterday. Most earnestly do I wish I could be present
to help mark this epoch in our movement, and join in congratulating the
friends on the marvelous results of their labors. No reform has gathered
more devoted and self-sacrificing friends. No one has had lives more
generously given to its service ; and you who have borne such heavy
burdens may well rejoice in the large harvest ; for no reform has, I think,
had such rapid success. You who remember the indifference which
almost discouraged us in 1848, and who have so bravely faced ungenerous
opposition and insult since, must look back on the result with unmixed
astonishment and delight. Temperance, and finance — which is but another
name for the labor movement — and woman's rights, are three radical
questions which overtop all others in value and importance. Woman's
claim tor the ballot-box has had a much wider influence than merely to
protect woman. Universal suffrage is itself in danger. Scholars dread it:
social science and journalists attack it. The discussion of woman's claim
has done much to reveal this danger, and rally patriotic and thoughtful
men in defense. In many ways the agitation has educated the people.
Its success shows that the masses are sound and healthy; and if we gain,
in the coming fifteen years, half as much as we have in the last thirty,
woman will hold spear and shield in her own hands. If I might presume
to advise, 1 should say close up the ranks and write on our flag only
one claim — the ballot. Everything helps us, and if we are united, suc-
cess cannot long be delayed. Very cordially yours,
WENDELL PHILLIPS.
BOSTON, July 1 6, 1878.
MY DEAR FRIEND — The thirtieth anniversary of the first woman's
rights convention ever held with special reference to demanding the elec-
tive franchise irrespective of sex. well deserves to be commemorated in
the manner set forth in the call for the same, at Rochester, on the igth
instant. As a substitute for my personal attendance, I can only send a
brief but warm congratulatory epistle on the cheering progress which the
movement has made within the period named. For how widely different
are the circumstances under which that convention was held, and those
which attend the celebration of its third decade! Then, the assertion
of civil and political equality, alike for men and women, excited wide-
spread disgust and astonishment, as though it were a proposition to re-
peal the laws of nature, and literally to " turn the world upside down ";
and it was ridiculed and caricatured as little short of lunacy. Now, it is a
subject of increasing interest and grave consideration, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, and what at first appeared to be so foolish in pretension
is admitted by all reflecting and candid minds to be deserving of the most
respectful treatment. Then, its avowed friends, were indeed " few and far
Mr. Garrisons Letter. 121
\J
between," even among those disfranchised as the penalty of their woman-
hood. Now, they can be counted by tens of thousands, and their num-
ber is augmenting — foremost in intelligence, in weight of character,
in strength of understanding, in manly and womanly development, and in
all that goes to make up enlightened citizenship. Then, with rare excep-
tions, women were everywhere remanded to poverty and servile depen-
dence, being precluded from following those avocations and engaging in
those pursuits which make competency and independence not a difficult
achievement. Now, there is scarcely any situation or profession, in the
arrangements of society, to which they may not and do not aspire, and in
which many of them are not usefully engaged ; whether in new and varied
industrial employment, in the arts and sciences, in the highest range of
literature, in philosophic and mathematical investigations, in the profes-
sions of law, medicine, and divinity, in high scholarship, in educational
training and supervision, in rhetoric and oratory, in the lyceum, or in
discharging the official duties connected with the various departments of
the State and national governments.
Almost all barriers are down except that which prevents women
from going to the polls to help decide who shall be the law-makers and
what shall be the laws, so that the general welfare may be impartially con-
sulted, and the blessings of freedom and equal rights be enjoyed by all.
That barrier, too, must give way wherever erected, as sure as time outlasts
and baffles every device of wrong-doing, and truth is stronger than false-
hood, and the law of eternal justice is as reliable as the law of gravitation.
Yes ! the grand fundamental truths of the Declaration of independence
shall yet be reduced to practice in our land — that the human race are
created free and equal ; that government derives its just powers from the
consent of the governed, and that taxation without representation is
tyranny. And I confidently predict that this will be witnessed before the
expiration of another decade.
Yours, to abate nothing of heart or hope,
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
Mrs. Mott never seemed more hopeful for the triumph of our
principles than on this occasion. She expressed great satisfac-
tion in the number of young women who for the first time that
day graced our platform.* Though in her eighty-sixth year, her
enthusiasm in the cause for which she had so long labored seemed
still unabated, and her eye sparkled with humor as of yore while
giving some amusing reminiscences of encounters with opponents
in the early days. Always apt in biblical quotations she had
proved herself a worthy antagonist of the clergy on our platform.
She had slain many Abimelechs with short texts of Scripture,
* While May Wright Thompson was speaking she turned to Mrs. Stanton and said. "How
thankful I am for these bright young women now ready to fill our soon-to-be vacant places. I want to
shake hands with them all before I go, and give them a few words of encouragement. I do hope they
will not be spoiled with too much praise."
i 24 History of Woman Suffrage.
whose defeat was the more humiliating because received at the
hand of a woman. As she recounted in her happiest vein the
triumphs of her coadjutors she was received with the heartiest
manifestations of delight by her auditors. She took a lively in-
terest in the discussion of the resolutions that had been presented
by the chairman of the committee, Matilda Joslyn Gage :
Resolved, That a government of the people, by the people and for the people is yet
to be realized; for that which is formed, administered and controlled only by men, is
practically nothing more than an enlarged oligarchy, whose assumptions of natural su-
periority and of the right to rule are as baseless as those enforced by the aristocratic
powers of the old world.
Resolved, That in celebrating our third decade we have reason to congratulate our-
selves on the marked change in woman's position — in her enlarged opportunities for
education and labor, her greater freedom under improved social customs and civil
laws, and the promise of her speedy enfranchisement in the minor political rights she
has already secured.
Resolved, That the International Congress * called in Paris, July 20, to discuss the
rights of woman — the eminent Victor Hugo, its presiding officer — is one of the most
encouraging events of the century, in that statesmen and scholars from all parts of
the world, amid the excitement of the French Exposition, propose to give five days to
deliberations upon this question.
Resolved, That the majority report of the chairman of the Committee on Privileges
and Elections, Senator Wadleigh ot New Hampshire, against a sixteenth amendment
to secure the political rights of woman in its weakness, shows the strength of our re-
form.
Resolved, That the national effort to force citizenship on the Indians, the decision
of Judge Sawyer in the United States Circuit Court of California against the naturali-
zation of the Chinese, and the refusal of congress to secure the right of suffrage to
women, are class legislation, dangerous to the stability of our institutions.
WHEREAS. Woman's rights and duties in all matters of legislation are the same as
those of man,
Resolved, That the problems of labor, finance, suffrage, international rights, in-
ternal improvements, and other great questions, can never be satisfactorily adjusted
without the enlightened thought of womanr and her voice in the councils of the nation.
Resolved, That the question of capital and labor is one of special interest to us.
Man, standing to woman in the position of capitalist, has robbed her through the ages
of the results of her toil. No just settlement of this question can be attained until
the right of woman to the proceeds of her labor in the family and elsewhere is recog-
nized, and she is welcomed into every industry on the basis of equal pay for equal
work.
Resolved, That as the first duty of every individual is self-development, the lessons of
self-sacrifice and obedience taught woman by the Christian church have been fatal, not
only to her own vital interests, but through her, to those of the race.
Resolved, That the great principle of the Protestant Reformation, the right of in-
div'dual conscience and judgment heretofore exercised by man alone, should now be
claimed by woman; that, in the interpretation of Scripture, she should be guided by
her own reason, and not by the authority of the church.
Resolved, That it is through the perversion of the religious element in woman —
playing upon her hopes and fears of the future, holding this life with all its high duties
in abeyance to that which is to come — that she and the children she has trained have
been so completely subjugated by priestcraft and superstition.
* For account of this International Congress, see chapter on Continental Europe in this volume.
Farewell to Lucretia Mott. 125
This was the last convention ever attended by Lucretia Mott.
Her family had specially requested that she should not be
urged to go ; but on seeing the call, she quietly announced
her intention to be at the meeting, and, with the ever faithful
Sarah Pugh as her companion, she made the journey from Phila-
delphia in the intense heat of those July days. Mrs. Mott was
the guest of her husband's nephew, Dr. E. M. Moore, who, fear-
ing that his aunt would be utterly exhausted, called for her while
she was in the midst of her closing remarks. As she descended
the platform, she continued speaking while she slowly moved
down the aisle, shaking hands upon either side. The audience
simultaneously rose, and on behalf of all, Frederick Douglass
ejaculated, " Good-by, dear Lucretia!"
The last three resolutions called out a prolonged discussion *
not only in the convention but from the pulpit and press of the
State.
One amusing encounter in the course of the debate is worthy
of note. Perhaps it'was due to the intense heat that Mr. Douglass,
usually clear on questions of principle, was misled into opposing
the resolutions. He spoke with great feeling and religious senti-
ment of the beautiful Christian doctrine of self-sacrifice. When
he finished, Mrs. Lucy Coleman, always keen in pricking bubbles,
arose and said : " Well, Mr. Douglass, all you say may be true;
but allow me to ask you why you did not remain a slave in Mary-
land, and sacrifice yourself, like a Christian, to your master, instead
of running off to Canada to secure your liberty, like a man ? We
shall judge your faith, Frederick, by your deeds."
An immense audience assembled at Corinthian Hall in the
evening to listen to the closing speeches f of the convention.
Mrs. Robinson of Boston gave an exhaustive review of the
work in Massachusetts, and her daughter, Mrs. Shattuck, gave
many amusing experiences as her father's \ clerk in the legislature
of that State.
The resolutions provoked many attacks from the clergy through-
out the State, led by Rev. A. H. Strong, D. D., president of the
Baptist Theological Seminary in Rochester, Of his sermon the
National Citizen said :
* Mrs. Mott, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Coleman, Mr. Wilcox, Mrs. Slocum, Mrs. Dundore,
Mrs. Stcbbins, Mrs. Sands, Mrs. Amy Post, and Mrs. Klizabeth Oakes-Smith, who having resided in
North Carolina had not been on our platform for many years, were among the speakers.
t By Miss Couzins, Mr. Douglass, Mrs. Spencer.
$ Mr. Robinson, as " Warrington," was will known as one of the best writers on the Springfield
Rtpublican.
126 History of Woman Suffrage.
None too soon have we issued our resolutions, proclaiming woman's
right to self-development — to interpret Scripture for herself, to use her
own faculties. In speaking of what Christianity has done for woman,
Dr. Strong stultifies his own assertions by referring to Switzerland and
Germany " where you may see any day hundreds of women wheeling earth
for railroad embankments." Does he not remember that Switzerland and
Germany are Christian countries and that it is part of their civilization
that while women do this work, some man takes the pay and puts it in his
own pocket quite in heathen fashion ? The reverend doctor in the usual
style of opposition to woman — which is to quote something or other hav-
ing no bearing upon the question — refers to Cornelia's " jewels," forgetting
to say that Cornelia delivered public lectures upon philosophy in Rome,
and that Cicero paid the very highest tribute to her learning and genius.
Dr. Strong advocates the old theory that woman and man are not two
classes standing upon the same level, but that the two are one — that one
on the time-worn theory of common law, the husband ; and talks of
the "dignity and delicacy of woman" being due to the fact of her not
having been in public life, and that this "dignity and delicacy" would all
evaporate if once she were allowed to vote, which reminds one of the
story of Baron Munchausen's horn, into which a certain coach-driver
blew all manner of wicked tunes. The weather being very cold, these
tunes remained frozen in the horn. When hung by the fire, the horn be-
gan to thaw out, and these wicked tunes came pealing forth to the great
amazement of the by-standers. The reverend gentlemen seems to think
women are full of frozen wickedness, which if they enter public life will
be thawed out to the utter demolition of their " dignity and delicacy " and
the disgust of society. He deems it "too hazardous" to allow women to
vote. " Bad women would vote." Well, what of it ? Have they not
equal right with bad men, to self-government ? Bad is a relative term. It
strikes us that the very reverend Dr. Strong is a " bad " man — a man who
does not understand true Christianity — who is not just — who would
strike those who are down — who would keep woman in slavery — who
quotes the Bible as his authority : thus fettering woman's conscience,
binding her will, and playing upon her hopes and fears to keep her in sub-
jection.
From Augustine, down, theologians have tried to compel people to ac-
cept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of
the inquisition, the rack, the thumb-screw, the stake, the persecutions of
witchcraft, the whipping of naked women through the streets of Boston,
banishment, trials for heresy, the halter about Garrison's neck, Lovejoy's
death, the branding of Captain Walker, shouts of infidel and atheist, have
all been for this purpose.
We know the ignorance that exists upon these points. Few have yet
begun to comprehend the influence that ecclesiasticism has had upon law.
Wharton, a recognized authority upon criminal law, issued his seventh
edition before he ascertained the vast bearing canon law had had upon
the civil code, and we advise readers to consult the array of authorities,
English, Latin, German, to which he, in his preface, refers. We hope to
Editorial of "The Index." 127
arouse attention and compel investigation of this subject by lawyers and
theologians as well as by women themselves.
Francis £. Abbot, editor of TJie Index, the organ of the Free
Religious Association, spoke grandly in favor of the resolutions.
He said :
These resolutions we have read with astonishment, admiration and de-
light. We should not have believed it possible that the convention could
have been induced to adopt them. They will make forever memorable in
the history of the organized woman movement, this thirtieth anniversary
of its birth. They put the National Woman Suffrage Association in an
inconceivably higher and nobler position than that occupied by any
similar society. They go to the very root of the matter. They are a bold,
dignified, and magnificent utterance. We congratulate the convention on
a record so splendid in the eyes of all true liberals. From this day forth
the whole woman movement must obey the inspiration of a higher courage
and a grander spirit than have been known to its past. Opposition must
be encountered, tenfold more bitter than was ever yet experienced. But
truth is on the side of these brave women ; the ringing words they have
spoken at Rochester will thrill many a doubting heart and be echoed far
down the long avenue of the years.
During the same week of the Rochester convention, the Paris
International Congress opened it sessions, sending us a telegram
of greeting to which we responded with two hundred and fifty
francs as a tangible evidence of our best wishes. The two re-
markable features of that congress were the promise of so dis-
tinguished a man as Victor Hugo to preside over its delibera-
tions, though at last prevented by illness ; and the fact that the
Italian government sent Mile. Mozzoni as an official delegate to
the congress to study the civil position of woman in various
countries, in order that an ameliorating change of its code, in
respect to woman, could be wisely made.
The newspapers of the French capital in general treated the
congress with respect. The Rappel, Victor Hugo's organ, spoke
of it in a most complimentary manner. Theodore Stanton, in a
letter to the National Citizen, said :
In one important respect this congress differed entirely from an Ameri-
can convention of like character — it made no demand for suffrage.
The word was never mentioned except by the American delegates. In
contmental Europe the idea of demanding for woman a share in the gov-
ernment, is never considered. This is the more remarkable in France, as
this claim was made at the time of the revolution. But every imaginable
side of the question was discussed, except the side that comprehends all
the others. To an American, therefore, European woman's rights is
rather tame; it is like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. But
128 History of }]7oman Suffrage.
Europe is moving, and the next international congress will, undoubtedly,
give more attention to suffrage and less to hygiene.
The Eleventh Washington Convention was held January 9, 10,
1879. The resolutions give an idea of the status of the ques-
tion, and the -wide range of discussion covered by the speakers:*
Resolved, That the forty-fifth congress, in ignoring the individual petitions of more
than three hundred women of high social standing and culture, asking for the removal
of their political disabilities, while promptly enacting special legislation for the re-
moval of the political disabilities of every man who petitioned, furnishes an illustration
of the indifference of this congress to the rights of citizens deprived of political power.
WHEREAS, Senator Elaine says, it is the very essence of tyranny to count any citi-
zens in the basis of representation who are denied a voice in their laws and a choice in
their rulers; therefore,
Resolved, That counting women in the basis of representation, while denying them
the right of suffrage, is compelling them to swell the number of their tyrants and is
an unwarrantable usurpation of power over one-half the citizens of this republic.
WHEREAS, In President Hayes' last message, he makes a truly paternal review of
the interests of this republic, both great and small, from the army, the navy, and our
foreign relations, to the ten little Indians in Hampton, Va. , our timber on the western
mountains, and the switches of the Washington railroads; from the Paris Exposition,
the postal service, the abundant harvests, and the possible bull-dozing of some colored
men in various southern districts, to cruelty to live animals, and the crowded condition
of the mummies, dead ducks and fishes in the Smithsonian Institute — yet forgets to
mention twenty million women robbed of their social, civil and political rights; there-
fore,
Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed from this convention to wait upon
the president and remind him of the existence of one-half of the American people
whom he has accidentally overlooked, and of whom it would be wise for him to make
some mention in his future messages.
WHEREAS, All of the vital principles involved in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fif-
teenth constitutional amendments have been denied in their application to women by
courts, legislatures and political parties; therefore,
Resolved, That it is logical that these amendments should fail to protect even the
male African for whom said courts, legislatures and parties declare they were expressly
designed and enacted.
Resolved, That the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States in denying
Belva A. Lockwood admission to its bar, while she was entitled under the law and
under its rules to that right, violated their oath of office.
Resolved, That the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Edmonds chairman, in its report
on the bill to allow women to practice law in the courts of the United States in which
it declares that "further legislation is not necessary," evaded the plain question at
issue before it in a manner unworthy of judges learned in the honorable profession of
the law, and thereby sanctioned an injustice to the women of the whole country.
WHEREAS, The general government has refused to exercise federal power to protect
women in their right to vote in the various Slates and territories; therefore,
Resolved, That it should forbear to exercise federal power to disfranchise the women
of Utah, who have had a more just and liberal spirit shown them by Mormon men than
Gentile women in the States have yet perceived in their rulers.
* Ellen Clark Sargent, California ; Elizabeth Oakes Smith, North Carolina ; Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
New Jersey ; Mrs. Devereux Blake, Mrs. Joslyn Gage, Helen M. Slocum, Helen Cooke, Susan H. An-
thony, New York; Julia Brown Dunham, Iowa; Marilla M. Ricker, New Hampshire; Lavinia C.
Dundore, Maryland ; Robert Purvis, Julia and Rachel Foster, Pennsylvania ; Emeline B. Wells, Zina
Young Williams, Utah; Ellen H. Sheldon, Dr. Caroline Winslow, Sara Andrews Spencer, Belva A.
Lockwood, Frederick Douglass, Julia A. Wilbur, Dr. Cora M. Bland, Washington.
130 History of Woman Suffrage.
tion of the bill pending under different headings in both houses.
The president asked them to set forth the facts in writing, that
he might carefully weigh so important a matter. A memorial
was also presented to congress by these ladies, closing thus:
We further pray that in any future legislation concerning the marriage
relation in any territory under your jurisdiction you will consider the
rights and the consciences of the women to be affected by such legisla-
tion, and that you will consider the permanent care and welfare of children
as the sure foundation of the State.
And your petitioners will ever pray. . EMMELINE B. WELLS.
ZINA YOUNG WILLIAMS.
Mr. Cannon of Utah moved that the memorial be referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary with leave to report at any time.
It was so referred. The Judiciary Committee of the Senate
brought in a bill legitimatizing the offspring of plural marriages
to a certain date ; also authorizing the president to grant amnesty
for past offenses against the law of 1862.
The Congressional Record of January 24, under the head of
petitions and memorials, said :
The vice-president, Mr. Wheeler of New York, presented the petition of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Susan B. Anthony, offi-
cers of the National Association, praying for the passage of Senate joint
resolution No. 12, providing for an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, protecting the rights of women, and also that the House
Judiciary Committee be relieved from the further consideration of a simi-
lar resolution.
Mr. FERRY — If there be no objection I ask that the petition be read at
length.
The VICE-PRESIDENT — The Chair hears no objection, and it will be re-
ported by the secretary.
The petition was read and referred to the Committee on Privileges and
Elections, as follows :
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress
assembled:
\\ HEREAS, More than 40,000 men and women, citizens of thirty-five States and
five territories, have petitioned the forty-fifth congress asking for an amendment
to the federal constitution prohibiting the several States from disfranchising United
States citizens on account of sex; and
WHEREAS, A resolution providing for such constitutional amendment is upon the
calendar (Senate resolution No. 12, second session forty-fifth congress), and a similar
resolution is pending upon a tie vote in the Judiciary Committee of the House of
Representatives; and
WHEREAS, The women of the United States constitute one-half of the people of
this republic and have an inalienable right to an equal voice with men in the nation's
councils; and
WHEREAS, Women being denied the right to have their opinions counted at the
ballot-box, are compelled to hold all other rights subject to the favors and caprices
of men; and
Minority Report. 131
WHEREAS, In answer to the appeals of so large a number of honorable petitioners,
it is courteous that the forty-fifth congress should express its opinion upon this grave
question of human rights; therefore,
We pray your honorable body to take from the calendar and pass Senate reso-
lution No. 12, providing for an amendment to the constitution protecting the rights
of women; and
We further pray you to relieve the House Judiciary Committee from the further
consideration of the woman suffrage resolution brought to a tie vote in that committee,
February 5, 1878, that it may be submitted to the House of Representatives for im-
mediate action.
And your petitioners will ever pray.
ELIZABETH CADY ST ANTON, President.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Corresponding Secretary.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Chairman Executive Committee.
At the opening of the last session of the forty-fifth congress
most earnest appeals (copies of which were sent to every mem-
ber of congress) came from all directions for the presentation
of a minority report from the Committee on Privileges and Elec-
tions The response from our representatives was prompt and
most encouraging. The first favorable report our question had
ever received in the Senate of the United States was presented
by the Hon. George F. Hoar, February I, 1879:
The undersigned, a minority of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, to
whom were referred the resolution proposing an amendment to the consti-
tution prohibiting discrimination in the right of suffrage on account of
sex, and certain petitions in aid of the same, submit the following mi-
nority report :
The undersigned dissent from the report of the majority of the com-
mittee. The demand for the extension of the right of suffrage to women
is not new. It has been supported by many persons in this country, in
England and on the continent, famous in public life, in literature and in
philosophy. But no single argument of its advocates seems to us to
carry so great a persuasive force as the difficulty which its ablest oppo-
nents encounter in making a plausible statement of their objections. We
trust we do not fail in deference to our esteemed associates on the com-
mittee when we avow our opinion that their report is no exception to this
rule.
The people of the United States and of the several States have founded
their political institutions upon the principle that all men have an equal
right to a share in the government. The doctrine is expressed in various
forms. The Declaration of Independence asserts that " all men are
created equal " and that "governments derive their just powers from the
consent of the governed." The Virginia bill of rights, the work of Jeffer-
son and George Mason, affirms that " no man or set of men are entitled
to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the rest of the
community but in consideration of public services." The Massachusetts
bill of rights, the work of John Adams, besides reaffirming these axioms,
declares that "all the inhabitants of this commonwealth, having such
132 History of Woman Suffrage.
qualifications as they shall establish by their frame of government, have
an equal right to elect officers, and to be elected for public employment."
These principles, after full and profound discussion by a generation of
statesmen whose authority upon these subjects is greater than that of any
other that ever lived, have been accepted by substantially the whole
American people as the dictates alike of practical wisdom and of natural
justice. The experience of a hundred years has strengthened their hold
upon the popular conviction. Our fathers failed in three particulars to carry
these principles to their logical result. They required a property quali-
fication for the right to vote and to hold office. They kept the negro in
slavery. They excluded women from a share in the government. The
first two of these inconsistencies have been remedied. The property
test no longer exists. The fifteenth amendment provides that race, color,
or previous servitude shall no longer be a disqualification. There are
certain qualifications of age, of residence, and, in some instances of educa-
tion, demanded ; but these are such as all sane men may easily attain.
This report is not the place to discuss or vindicate the correctness of
this theory. In so far as the opponents of woman suffrage are driven to
deny it, for the purpose of an argument addressed to the American
people, they are driven to confess that they are in the wrong. This peo-
ple are committed to the doctrine of universal suffrage by their constitu-
tions, their history and their opinions. They must stand by it or fall by
it. The poorest, humblest, feeblest of sane men has the ballot in his
hand, and no other man can show a better title to it. Those things
wherein men are unequal — intelligence, ability, integrity, experience, title
to public confidence by reason of previous public service — have their
natural and legitimate influence under a government wherein each man's
vote is counted, to quite as great a degree as under any other form of
government that ever existed.
We believe that the principle of universal suffrage stands to-day
stronger than ever in the judgment of mankind. Some eminent and ac-
complished scholars, alarmed by the corruption and recklessness mani-
fested in our great cities, deceived by exaggerated representations
of the misgovernment of the Southern States by a race just emerging
from slavery, disgusted by the extent to which great numbers of our fel-
low-citizens have gone astray in the metaphysical subtleties of financial
discussion, have uttered their eloquent warnings of the danger of the fail-
ure of universal suffrage. Such utterances from such sources have been
frequent. They were never more abundant than in the early part ot the
present century. They are, when made in a serious and patriotic spirit, to
be received with the gratitude due to that greatest of public benefactors
• — he who points out to the people their dangers and their faults.
But popular suffrage is to be tried not by comparison with ideal stan-
dards of excellence, but by comparison with other forms of government.
We are willing to submit our century of it to this test. The crimes that
have stained our history have come chiefly from its denial, not from its
establishment. The misgovernment and corruption of our great cities
have been largely due to men whose birth and training have been under
Minority Report. 133
other systems. The abuses attributed by political hostility to negro
governments at the South — governments from which the intelligence and
education of the State held themselves sulkily aloof — do not equal those
which existed under the English or French aristocracy within the memory
of living men. There have been crimes, blunders, corruptions, follies in
the history of our republic. Aristides has been banished from public em-
ployment, while Cleon has been followed by admiring throngs. But few
of these things have been due to the extension of the suffrage. Strike out
of our history the crimes of slavery, strike out the crimes, unparalleled
for ferocity and brutality, committed by an oligarchy in its attempt to
overthrow universal suffrage, and we may safely challenge for our na-
tional and State governments comparison with monarchy or aristocracy
in their best and^purest periods.
Either the doctrines of the Declaration of Independence and the bills of
rights are true, or government must rest on no principle of right whatever,
but its powers may be lawfully taken by force and held by force by any
person or class who have strength to do it, and who persuade themselves
that their rule is for the public interest. Either these doctrines are true,
or you can give no reason for your own possession of the suffrage except
that you have got it. If this doctrine be sound, it follows that no class of
persons can rightfully be excluded from their equal share in the govern-
ment, unless they can be proved to lack some quality essential to the
proper exercise of political power.
A person who votes helps, first, to determine the measures of govern-
ment ; second, to elect persons to be intrusted with public administration.
He should therefore possess, first, an honest desire for the public welfare ;
second, sufficient intelligence to determine what measure or policy is
best ; third, the capacity to judge of the character of persons proposed
for office ; and, fourth, freedom from undue influence, so that the vote he
casts is his own, and not another's. That person or class casting his or
their own vote, with an honest desire for the public welfare, and with suf-
ficient intelligence to judge what measure is advisable and what person
may be trusted, fulfill every condition that the State can rightfully impose.
We are not now dealing with the considerations which should affect the
admission of citizens of other countries to acquire- the right to take part
in our government. All nations claim the right to impose restrictions on
the admission of foreigners trained in attachment to other countries or
forms of rule, and to indifference to their own, whatever they deem the
safety of the State requires. We take it for granted that no person will
deny that the women of America are inspired with a love of country equal
to that which animates their brothers and sons. A capacity to judge of
character, so sure and rapid as to be termed intuitive, is an especial attri-
bute of woman. One of the greatest orators of modern times has de-
clared :
I concede away nothing which I ought to assert for our sex when I say that the col-
lective womanhood of a people like our own seizes with matchless facility and cer-
tainty on the moral and personal peculiarities and character of marked and conspicu-
ous men, and that we may very wisely address ourselves to such a body to learn if a
134 History of Woman Suffrage.
competitor for the highest honors has revealed that truly noble nature that entitled him
to a place in the hearts of a nation.
We believe that in that determining of public policies by the collective
judgment of the State which constitutes self-government, the contribu-
tion of woman will be of great importance and value. To all questions
into the determination of which considerations of justice or injustice en-
ter, she will bring a more refined moral sense than that of man. The
most important public function of the State is the provision for the edu-
cation of youths. In those States in which the public school system has
reached its highest excellence, more than ninety per cent, of the teachers
are women. Certainly the vote of the women of the State should be
counted in determining the policy that shall regulate the school system
which they are called to administer.
It is seldom that particular measures of government are decided by di-
rect popular vote. They are more often discussed before the people after
they have taken effect, when the party responsible for them is called to
account. The great measures which go to make up the history of nations
are determined not by the voters, but by their rulers, whether those
rulers be hereditary or elected. The plans of great campaigns are con-
ceived by men of great military genius and executed by great generals.
Great systems of finance come from the brain of statesmen who have
made finance a special study. The mass of the voters decide to which
party they will intrust power. They do not determine particulars. But
they give to parties their general tone and direction, and hold them to
their accountability. We believe that woman will give to the political
parties of the country a moral temperament which will have a most bene-
ficent and ennobling effect on politics.
Woman, also, is specially fitted for the performance of that function of
legislative and executive government which, with the growth of civiliza-
tion, becomes yearly more and more important — the wise and practical
economic adjustment of the details of public expenditures. It may be
considered that it would not be for the public interest to clothe with the
suffrage any class of persons who are so dependent that they will, as a
general rule, be governed by others in its exercise. But we do not ad-
mit that this is true of women. We see no reason to believe that women
will not be as likely to retain their independence of political judgment, as
they now retain their independence of opinion in regard to the questions
which divide religious sects from one another. These questions deeply
excite the feelings of mankind, yet experience shows that the influence
of the wife is at least as great as that of the husband in determining the
religious opinion of the household. The natural influence exerted by
members of the same familv upon each other would doubtless operate to
bring about similarity of opinion on political questions as on others. So
far as this tends to increase the influence of the family in the State, as
compared with that of unmarried men, we deem it an advantage. Upon
all questions which touch public morals, public education, all which con-
cern the interest of the household, such a united exertion of political in-
fluence cannot be otherwise than beneficial.
Minority Report. 135
Our conclusion, then, is that the American people must extend the
right of suffrage to woman or abandon the idea that suffrage is a birth-
right. The claim that universal suffrage will work mischief in practice is
simply a claim that justice will work mischief in practice. Many honest
and excellent persons, while admitting the force of the arguments above
stated, fear that taking part in politics will destroy those feminine traits
which are the charm of woman, and are the chief comfort and delight of
the household. If we thought so we should agree with the majority of
the committee in withholding assent to the prayer of the petitioners. This
fear is the result of treating the abuses of the political function as essential
to its exercise. The study of political questions, the forming an estimate of
the character of public men or public measures, the casting a vote, which is
•the result of that study and estimate, certainly have in themselves nothing
to degrade the most delicate and refined nature. The violence, the fraud,
the crime, the chicanery, which, so far as they have attended masculine
struggles for political power, tend to prove, if they prove anything, the
unfitness of men for the suffrage, are not the result of the act of voting,
but are the expressions of course, criminal and evil natures, excited by
the desire for victory. The admission to the polls of delicate and tender
women would, without injury to them, tend to refine and elevate the
politics in which they took a part. When, in former times, women were
excluded from social banquets, such assemblies were scenes of ribaldry
and excess. The presence of women has substituted for them the festival
of the Christian home.
The majority of the committee state the following as their reasons for
the conclusion to which they come :
First — If the petitioners' prayer be granted it will make several millions of female
voters.
Second — These voters will be inexperienced in public affairs.
Third — They are quite generally dependent on the other sex.
Fotirth — They are incapable of military duty.
Fifth — They are without the power to enforce the laws which their numerical
strength may enable them to make.
Sixth — Very few of them wish to assume the irksome and responsible duties which
this measure thrusts upon them.
Seventh — Such a change should only be made slowly and in obedience to a general
public demand.
Eighth — There are but thirty thousand petitioners.
Ninth — It would be unjust to impose "the heavy burden of governing, which so
many men seek to evade, on the great mass of women who do not wish for it, to
gratify the few who do."
Tenth — Women now have the sympathy of judges and juries " to an extent which
would warrant loud complaint on the part of their adversaries of the sterner sex."
Eleventh — Such a change should be made, if at all, by the States. Three-fourths
of the States should not force it on the others. In any State in which "any con-
siderable part of the women wish for the right to vote, it will be granted without the in-
tervention of congress."
The first objection of the committee is to the large increase of the
number of the voting population. We believe on the other hand, that to
double the numbers of the constituent body, and to compose onc-lrilf
136 History of Woman Suffrage.
that body of women, would tend to elevate the standard of the represen-
tative both for ability and manly character. Macaulay in one of his
speeches on the Reform bill refers to the quality of the men who had for
half a century been members for the five most numerous constituencies
in England — Westminster, Southwark, Liverpool, Bristol and Norwich.
Among them were Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Romilly, Windham, Tierney,
Canning, Huskisson. Eight of the nine greatest men who had sat in
parliament for forty years sat for the five largest represented towns. To
increase trie numbers of constituencies diminishes the opportunity for cor-
ruption. Size is itself a conservative force in a republic. As a permanent
general rule the people will desire their own best interest. Disturbing
forces, evil and selfish passions, personal ambitions, are neccessarily re-
stricted in their operation. The larger the field of operation, the more
likely are such influences to neutralize each other.
The objection of inexperience in public affairs applies, of course, alike
to every voter when he first votes. If it be valid, it would have prevented
any extension of the suffrage, and would exclude from the franchise a
very large number of masculine voters of all ages.
That women are quite generally dependent on the other sex is true.
So it is true that men are quite generally dependent on the other sex. It
is impossible so to measure this dependence as to declare that man is
more dependent on woman or woman upon man. It is by no means true
that the dependence of either on the other affects the right to the suffrage.
Capacity for military duty has no connection with capacity for suffrage.
The former is wholly physical. It will scarcely be proposed to disfran-
chise men who are unfit to be soldiers by reason of age or bodily infirmity.
The suggestion that the country may be plunged into wars by a majority
of women who are secure from military dangers is not founded in experi-
ence. Men of the military profession, and men of the military age are
commonly quite as eager for war as non-combatants, and will hereafter be
quite as indifferent to its risks and hardships as their mothers and wives.
The argument that women are without the power to enforce the laws
which their numerical strength may enable them to make, proceeds from
the supposition that it is probable that all the women will range them-
selves upon one side in politics and all the men on the other. Such sup-
position flatly contradicts the other arguments drawn from the depend-
ence of women and from their alleged unwillingness to assume political
burdens. So men over fifty years of age are without the power to enforce
obedience to laws against which the remainder of the voters forcibly
rebel. It is not physical power alone, but power aided by the respect for
law of the people, on which laws depend for their enforcement.
The sixth, eighth and ninth reasons of the committee are the same
proposition differently stated. It is that a share in the government of
Ihe country is a burden, and one which, in the judgment of a majority of
Ihe women of the country, they ought not to be required to assume. If
any citizen deem the exercise of this franchise a burden and not a privi-
lege, such person is under no constraint to exercise it. But if it be a
birthright, then it is obvious that no other power than that of the indi-
Minority Report.
137
vidual concerned can rightfully restrain its exercise. The committee con-
cede that women ought to be clothed with the ballot in any State where
any considerable part of the women desire it. This is a pretty serious
confession. On the vital, fundamental question whether the institutions
of this country shall be so far changed that the number of persons in it
who take a part in the government shall be doubled, the judgment of
women is to be and ought to be decisive. If woman may fitly determine
this question, for what question of public policy is she unfit ? What ques-
tion of equal importance will ever be submitted to her decision ? What
has become of the argument that women are unfit to vote because they
are dependent on men, or because they are unfit for military duty, or be-
cause they are inexperienced, or because they are without power to en-
force obedience to their laws ?
The next argument is that by the present arrangement the administra-
tion of justice is so far perverted that one-half the citizens of the country
have an advantage from the sympathies of juries and judges which " would
warrant loud complaint" on the part of the other half. If this be true, it
is doubtless due to an instinctive feeling on the part of juries and judges
that existing laws and institutions are unjust to women, or to the fact that
juries composed wholly of men are led to do injustice by their suscepti-
bility to the attractions of women. But certainly it is a grave defect in
any system of government that it does not administer justice impartially,
and the existence of such a defect is a strong reason for preferring an
arrangement which would remove the feeling that women do not have
fair play, or for so composing juries that, drar/n from both sexes, they
would be impartial between the two.
The final objection of the committee is that " such a change should be
made, if at all, by the States. Three-fourths of the States should not
force it upon the others. Whenever any considerable part of the women
in any State wish for the right to vote, it will be granted without the in-
tervention of congress." Who can doubt that when two-thirds of con-
gress and three-fourths of the States have voted for the change, a con-
siderable number of women in the other States will be found to desire it,
so that, according to the committee's own belief, it can never be forced
by a majority on unwilling communities? The prevention of unjust dis-
crimination by States against large classes of people in respect to suffrage
is even admitted to be a matter of national concern and an important
function of the national constitution and laws. It is the duty of congress
to propose amendments to the constitution whenever two-thirds of both
houses deem them necessary. Certainly an amendment will be deemed
necessary, if it can be shown to be required by the principles on which
the constitution is based, and to remove an unjust disfranchisement from
one-half the citizens of the country. The constitutional evidence of gen-
eral public demand is to be found not in petitions, but in the assent of
three-fourths of the States through their legislatures or conventions.
The lessons of experience favor the conclusion that woman is fit for a
share in government. It may be true that in certain departments of in-
tellectual effort the greatest achievements of women have as yet never
138
History of Woman Suffrage.
equaled the greatest achievements of men. But it is equally tiue that in
those same departments women have exhibited an intellectual ability very
far beyond that of the average of men and very far beyond that of most
men who have shown very great political capacity. But let the comparison
be made in regard to the very thing with which we have to deal. Of men
who have swayed chief executive power, a very considerable proportion
have attained it by usurpation or by election, processes which imply ex-
traordinary capacity on their part as compared with other men. The
women who have held such power have come to it as sovereigns by in-
heritance, or as regents by the accident of bearing a particular relation to
the lawful sovereign when he was under some incapacity. Yet it is an
undisputed fact that the number of able and successful female sovereigns
bears a vastly greater proportion to the whole number of such sovereigns,
than does the number of able and successful male sovereigns to the whole
number of men who have reigned. An able, energetic, virtuous king or
emperor is the exception and not the rule in the history of modern
Europe. With hardly an exception the female sovereigns or regents have
been wise and popular. Mr. Mill, who makes this point, says :
We know how small a number of reigning queens history presents in comparison
with that of kings. Of this small number a far larger proportion have shown talents
for rule, though many of them have occupied the throne in difficult periods. '\Yhen
to queens and empresses we add regents and viceroys of provinces, the list of women
who have been eminent rulers of mankind swells to a great length
Especially is this true if we take into consideration Asia as well as Europe. If a
Hindoo principality is strongly, vigilantly and economically governed; if order is
preserved without oppressicn; if cultivation is extending and the people prosperous,
in three cases out of four that principality is under a woman's rule. This fact, to me
an entirely unexpected one, I have collected from a long official knowledge of Hindoo
governments.
Certainly history gives no warning that should deter the American
people from carrying out the principles upon which their government
rests to this most just and legitimate conclusion. Those persons who
think that free government has anywhere failed, can only claim that
this tends to prove, not the failure of universal suffrage, but the failure of
masculine suffrage. Like failure has attended the operation of ever}'
other great human institution, the family, the school, the church, when-
ever woman has not been permitted to contribute to it her full share.
As to the best example of the perfect family, the perfect school, the per-
fect church, the love, the purity, the truth of woman are essential, so they
are equally essential to the perfect example of the self-governing State.
GEO. F. HOAR,
JOHN II. MITCHELL,
ANGUS CAMERON.
Thousands of copies of this report were published and franked
to every part of the country. On February 7, just one week after
the presentation of the able minority report, the bill allowing
women to practice before the Supreme Court passed the Senate *
* At its final action, the bill was called up by Hon. J. E. McDonald of Indiana. After some discus-
sion it was passed without amendment — 40 to 20. Yeas — Allison, Anthony, Barnum, Beck, Elaine,
Mr. Hoars Speech. 139
and received the signature of President Hayes. Senators Mc-
Donald, Hoar and Sargent made the principal speeches. We
give Mr. Hoar's speech in full because of its terse and vigorous
presentation of the fact that congress is a body superior to the
Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Hoar said :
Mr. President — I understand the brief statement which was made, I
think, during this last session by the majority of the Judiciary Committee
in support of their opposition to this bill, did n$>t disclose that the majority
of that committee were opposed to permitting women to engage in the
practice of law or to be admitted to practice it in the Supreme Court of
the United States, but the point they made, was that the legislation of the
United States left to the Supreme Court the power of determining by rule
who should be admitted to practice before that tribunal, and that we
ought not by legislation to undertake to interfere with its rules. Now,
with the greatest respect for that tribunal, I conceive that the law-making
and not the law-expounding power in this government ought to determine
the question what class of citizens shall be clothed with the office of the
advocate. I believe that leaving to the Supreme Court by rule to deter-
mine the qualifications or disqualifications of attorneys and counselors in
that court is an exception to the nearly uniform policy of the States of
the Union. Would it be tolerated if the Supreme Court undertook by
rule to establish any other disqualification, any of those disqualifications
which have existed in regard to holding any other office in the country?
Suppose the court were of the opinion we had been too fast in relieving
persons who took part in the late rebellion from their disabilities, and
that it would not admit persons who had so taken part to practice be-
fore the Supreme Court; is there any doubt that congress would at once
interfere ? Suppose the Supreme Court were of opinion that the people
of the United States had erred in the amendment which had removed the
disqualification from colored persons and declined to admit such persons
to practice in that court ; is there any doubt that congress would interfere
and would deem ita fit occasion for the exercise of the law-making power?
Now, Mr. President, this bill is not a bill merely to admit women to the
privilege of engaging in a particular profession ; it is a bill to secure to
the citizen of the United States the right to select his counsel, and that is
all. At present a case is tried and decided in the State courts of any
State of this Union which may be removed to the Supreme Court of the
United States. In the courts of the State, women are permitted to prac-
tice as advocates, and a woman has been the advocate under whose direc-
tion and care and advocacy the case has been won in the court below.
Is it tolerable that the counsel who has attended the case from its com-
mencement to its successful termination in the highest court of the State
Booth, Burnside, Cameron (Pennsylvania), Cameron (Wisconsin), Dawes, Dorsey, Ferry, Garland,
Gordon, Hamlin, Hoar, Howe, Ingalls, Jones (Florida), Jones (Nevada), Kellogg, Kirkwood, Mc-
Creery, McDonald, McMillan, McPherson, Matthews, Mitchell, Oglesby, Ransom, Rollins, Sargent,
Teller, Voorhees, Waclleigh, Windom, Withers. A'ays— Baily, Chaffee, Coke, Davis (Illlnoi:.), 1 >.^ i-
(West Virginia), Eaton, Edmunds, Eustis, Grover, Harris, Hereford, Hill, Kern. in, Maxcy, Merrimon,
in, Randolph, Saulsbury, Wallace, White.
History of Woman Suffrage.
should not be permitted to attend upon and defend the rights of that
client when the case is transferred to the Supreme Court of the United
States ? Everybody knows, at least every lawyer of experience knows, the
impossibility of transferring with justice to the interests of a client, a
cause from one counsel to another. A suit is instituted under the advice
of a counsel on a certain theory, a certain remedy is selected, a certain
theory of the cause is the one on which it is staked. Now that must be
attended to and defended by the counsel under whose advice the suit has
taken its shape ; the pleadings have been shaped in the courts below.
Under the present system, a citizen of any State in the Union having
selected a counsel of good moral character who has practiced three years,
who possesses all-sufficient professional and personal qualifications, and
having had a cause brought to a successful result in the State court, is
denied by the present existing and unjust rule having counsel of his
choice argue the cause in the Supreme Court of the United States.
The greatest master of human manners, who read the human heart and
who understood better than any man who ever lived the varieties of
human character, when he desired to solve just what had puzzled the
lawyers and doctors, placed a woman upon the judgment seat ; and yet,
under the present existing law, if Portia herself were alive, she could not
defend the opinion she had given, before the Supreme Court of the
United States.
The press commented favorably upon this new point gained
for women. We give a few extracts :
The senators who voted to-day against the bill " to relieve certain legal disabilities
of women " are marked men and have reason to fear the result of their action. — [Tele-
graph to the New York Tribune, February 7.
The women get into the Supreme Court in spite of the determination of the justices.
They gained a decided advantage to-day in the passage by the Senate of a bill provid-
ing that any woman who shall have been a member of the highest court in any State
or territory, or of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, for three years, may
be admitted to the Supreme Court. The bill was called up by Senator McDonald, in
antagonism to Mr. Edmunds' amendment to the constitution which was the pending
order. Mr. Edmunds objected to the consideration of the bill and voted against it.
There was not much discussion, the main speeches being by Mr. Sargent and Mr.
Hoar. — [Special dispatch to the New York World, February 7.
A WOMAN'S RIGHTS VICTORY IN THE SENATE. — The Lockwood bill, giving
women authority to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, passed
the Senate yesterday by a vote of two to one, and now it only requires the approval of
Mr. Hayes to become a law. The powerful effect of persistent and industrious lobby-
ing is manifested in the success of this bill. When it was first introduced, it is doubt-
ful if one-fourth the members of congress would have voted for it. Some of the strong-
minded women, who were interested in the bill, stuck to it, held the fort from day to
day, and talked members and senators into believing it a just measure. Senator Mc-
Donald gave Mr. Edmunds a rebuff yesterday that he will not soon forget. The latter
attempted to administer a rebuke to the Indiana senator for calling up a bill during
the absence of the senator who had reported it. Mr. McDonald retorted that he knew
the objection of the senator from Vermont was made for the purpose of defeating the
bill and not, as pretended, to give an absent senator opportunity to speak upon it. —
[Washington Post, February 8.
Press Comments.
141
The credit for this victory belongs to Mrs. Belva Lockwood, of this city, who, hav-
ing been refused admission to the bar of the United States Supreme Court, appealed
to congress, and by dint of hard work has finally succeeded in having her bill passed
by both houses. She called on Mrs. Hayes last evening, who complimented her upon
her achievement, and informed her that she had sent a bouquet to Senator Hoar, in
token of his efforts in behalf of the bill. — [Washington Star, February 8.
The bill was carried through merely by the energetic advocacy of Senators Mc-
Donald, Sargent and Hoar, whose oratorical efforts were reenforced by the presence of
Mrs. Lockwood. After the struggle was over, all the senators who advocated the bill
were made the recipients of bouquets, while the three senators whose names we have
given received large baskets of flowers. This is a pleasing omen of that purification
of legal business which it is hoped will flow from the introduction of women to the
courts. It was not flowers that used to be distributed at Washington and Albany in
the old corrupt times, among legislators, in testimony of gratitude for their votes. Let
us hope that venal legislation at Washington will be extirpated by the rise of this
beautiful custom. — [New York Nation.
It was noticeable that all the presidential candidates dodged the issue except Senator
Blaine, who voted for the bill. — [Chicago Inter-Ocean.
How humiliated poor old Judge Magruder must feel, since the congress of the
United States paid the woman whom he forbade to open her mouth in his august pres-
ence, in his little court, so much consideration as to pass an act opening to her the
doors of the Supreme Court of the United States. All honor to the brave woman,
who by her own unaided efforts thus achieved honor, fortune and fame — the just
rewards of her own true worth. — [Havre Republican, Havre de Grace, Maryland.
ENTER PORTIA. — An act of congress was not necessary to authorize women to be
lawyers, if their legal acquirements fitted them for that vocation; nor was it neces-
sary to state, as an expression of opinion by the national legislature, that some women
are so fully qualified for the legal profession that no barriers should be permitted to
stand in their way. It was needed simply as a key whereby the hitherto locked door
of the Supreme Court of the United States may he opened if a woman lawyer, with
the usual credentials, should knock thereon. That is all; and there is no new question
opened for profitless debate. The ability of some women to be lawyers is like the
ability of others to make bread — it rests upon the facts. There is no room for elaborate
argument to prove either their fitness or unfitness for legal studies, so long as in Mis-
souri, Wisconsin, Michigan, the District of Columbia, Iowa and North Carolina there
are women in more or less successful practice and repute. * * * No-
where are these great attributes of civilization and regulated liberty — law, con-
servatism, justice, equity and mercy in the administration of human affairs put in
broader light or truer, than they are by the words that Shakespeare puts in the mouth
of this woman jurist. — \JPublic Ledger, Philadelphia, February 12.
When congress recently passed a law allowing women to practice in the Supreme
Court, it was not a subject of any special or eager comment. A woman who is a law-
yer sent flowers to the desks of the members who voted for the bill, and before they
had faded, comment was at an end. The home was still safe and the country was not
in peril. It was one of the questions which had settled itself and was a foregone con-
clusion. * * * United States Senator Edmunds of Vermont, has 'fallen into dis-
favor with the ladies for voting against the above bill. — [From John W. Forney's
Progress, February 22.
On March 3, by motion of Hon. A. G. Riddle, Mrs. Lockwood
was admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court,*
* Conspicuous in the large and distinguished audience present were Senator M'Donald, Attorney-
general Williams, Hon. Jeremiah .Wilson, Judge Shellabargcr, Hon. George W. Julian, who with
many others extended hearty congratulations to Mrs. Lockwood.
142 History of Woman Suffrage.
taking the official oath and receiving the classic sheep-skin ; and
the following week she was admitted to practice before the Court
of Claims. The forty-sixth congress contained an unusually
large proportion of new representatives, fresh from the people,
ready for the discussion of new issues, and manifesting a chival-
ric spirit toward the consideration of woman's claims as a citizen.
On Tuesday, April 29, the following resolution was submitted
to the Committee on Rules in the House of Representatives :
Resolved, That a select committee of nine members be appointed by the speaker, to
be called a Committee on the Rights of Women, whose duty it shall be to consider
and report upon all petitions, memorials, resolutions and bills that may be presented
in the House relating to the rights of women.
Admitting the justice of a fair consideration of a question in-
volving every human right of one-half of the population of this
country, Alex. H. Stephens of Georgia, James A. Garfield of
Ohio, Wm. P. Frye of Maine, immediately declared themselves
in favor of the appointment of said committee, and Speaker
Randall, the chairman, ordered it reported to the House. A
similar resolution was introduced in the Senate, before the ad-
journment of the special session. This showed a clearer percep-
tion of the magnitude of the question, and the need of its early
and earnest consideration, than at any time during the previous
thirty years of argument, heroic struggle and sacrifice on the
altar of woman's freedom.
The anniversary of 1879 was ne^ m St. Louis, Missouri, May
7, 8, 9. Mrs. Virginia L. Minor and Miss Phoebe W. Couzins
made all possible arrangements for the success of the meeting
and the comfort of the delegates.* Mrs. Minor briefly stated the
object of the convention and announced that, as the president of
the association had not arrived, Mrs. Joslyn Gage would take the
chair. Miss Couzins gave the address of welcome :
Mrs. President and Members of the National Woman Suffrage Association :
It becomes my pleasant duty to welcome you to the hospitalities of my
native city. To extend to you who for the first time meet beyond the Mis-
sissippi, a greeting — not only in behalf of the friends of woman suffrage, but
* // 'as/iington, D. C. — Sara A. Spencer. Illinois — Clara Lyon Peters, Watseka ; Mrs. G. P. Graham
Martha L. Mathews, Amanda E. and Matilda S. Frazer, Aledo ; Hannah J. Coffee, Abby B. Trego
Orion ; Mrs. Senator Hanna, Fairfield ; Sarah F. Nourse, Moline; Mrs. E. P. Reynolds, Rock Island
Cynthia Leonard, Chicago. Missouri — Virginia L. Minor, Mrs. M. A. Peoquine, Mrs. P. W. Thomas
Eliza J. Patrick, Mrs. E. M. Dan, Eliza A. Robbins Phoebe W. Couzins, Alex. Robbins, St. Louis
James L. Allen, Oregon ; Mi-; A. J. Sparks, Warrensbtirg. Wisconsin— Rev. Olympia Brown
Racine. Nc~u York — Susan B. Anthony Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mary R. Pell, Florence Pell. Indiana
— Helen Austin, Richmond ; May Wright Thompson, Amy E. Dunn, Gertrude Garrison, Mary E
Haggart, Indianapolis. Tennessee — Elizabeth A very Meriwether, Minor Lee Meriwether, Memphis
Kentucky — Mary B. Clay, Richmond. Louisiana — i.mily P. Collins, Ponchatoula. Ohio — Eva L
Pinney, South Newbury. Pennsylvania — Mrs. L. P. Danforth, Julia and Rachel Foster. Philadelphia
Miss Couzins1 Address of Welcome. 143
for those of our citizens who, while not in full sympathy with your views,
have a desire to hear you in deliberative council and to cordially tender
you tne same courtesies offered other conventions which have chosen St.
Louis as their place of annual gathering.
And I am the more happy to do this because of the opportunity it af-
fords me to disabuse your minds of certain impressions which have gone
abroad concerning our slowness of action in the line of advanced ideas.
Certainly in some phases of that reformation to which you and your co-
laborers have pledged your lives, your fortunes — the cause of woman —
St. Louis is the leader.
When, eighteen or twenty years since, Harriet Hosmer desired to study
anatomy, to perfect herself in her art, not a college in New England would
open its doors to her; she traveled West, and through the generous
patronage of Wayman Crow of this city, she became a pupil of the dean
of the St. Louis Medical college.
When other cities had refused equality of wages and position, St. Louis
placed Miss Brackett at the head of our normal school, giving her — a
heretofore exclusively male prerogative — the highest wages, added to the
highest educational rank.
And here in St. Louis began the advance march which has finally
broken down the walls of the highest judicial fortress, the Supreme Court
of the United States. Washington University, in response to my request,
unhesitatingly opened its doors, and for the first time in the history of
America, woman was accorded the right to a legal course of training with
man, and, at its close, after successful examination, I was freely accorded
the degree of Bachelor of Laws ! A city or a State that could perpetrate
the anomaly of a female bachelor, is certainly not far behind the radicalism
of the age.
Again, as I turn to its record on suffrage, I find as early as 1866 the
Hon. B. Gratz Brown of Missouri made a glowing speech for woman's
enfranchisement, in the United States Senate, on Mr. Cowan's motion to
strike out "male" from the District of Columbia suffrage bill, which re-
sulted in an organization in 1867, through the efforts of Mrs. Virginia L.
Minor, its first president. And again, I remember when that hydra-headed
evil arose in our midst, degrading all women and violating all the sweet
and sacred sanctities of life — a blow at our homes and a lasting stigma on
our civilization — the people of this community, led by the chancellor of
Washington Universiy, at the ballot-box but recently laid that monster
away in a tomb, never, I trust, to be resurrected.
And now, Mrs. President, let me add, in words which but faintly express
the emotion of my heart, the gratitude we feel towards the noble women
who have borne the burden and heat of the day. They who have been
ridiculed, villified, maligned, but through it all maintained an unswerving
allegiance to truth. In the name of all true womanhood I welcome this
association in our midst as worthy of the highest honor.
We have lived to see the enlargement of woman's thought in all direc-
tions. From our laboratories, libraries, observatories, schools of medicine
and law, universities of science, art and literature, she is advancing to the
History of Woman Suffrage.
examination of the problems of life, with an eye single only to *he glory of
truth. Like the Spartan of old she has thrown her spear into the thickest
of the fray, and will fight gloriously in the midst thereof till she regains
her own. No specious sophistry or vain delusion — no time-honored tra-
dition or untenable doctrine can evade her searching investigation.
Mrs. Gage responded to this address in a few earnest, appro-
priate words.
Of the many letters* read in the convention none was received
with greater joy than the few lines, written with trembling hand,
from Lucretia Mott, then in the eighty-seventh year of her age :
ROADSIDE, Fourth Month, 26, 1879.
MY DEAR SUSAN ANTHONY — It would need no urgent appeal to draw
me to St. Louis had I the strength for the journey. You will have no
need of my worn-out powers. Our cause itself has become sufficiently
attractive. Edward M. Davis has a joint letter on hand for my signature,
so this is enough, with my mite toward expenses. And to all assembled
in St. Louis best wishes for — yes, full faith in your success. I have signed
Edward's letter, so it is hardly necessary for me to say,
LUCRETIA MOTT.
The distinguishing feature of this convention was an afternoon
session of ladies alone, prompted by an attempt to reenact a law
for the license of prostitution, which had been enforced in St.
Louis a few years before and repealed through the united efforts
of the best men and women of the city. Mrs. Joslyn Gage opened
the meeting by reading extracts from the Woman's Declaration of
Rights presented at the centennial celebration, and drew especial
attention to the clause referring to two separate codes of morals
for men and women, arising from woman's inferior political posi-
tion :
There are two points which may be considered open for discussion dur-
ing the afternoon — one, the fact that there are existing in all forms of
society, barbaric, semi-civilized, civilized or enlightened, two separate
111.; oeo. m. jacKson, jonn rinn, A rracucai woman, ai. i^ouis ; maria narKner, mrs. j. i>iarun,
Kate B. Ross, 111.; Emma Molloy, Ind.; Maria J. Johnston, Mo.; Zenas Brockett, N. Y.; Kate N.
Doggett, president of the Association for the Advancement of Women ; Rebecca N. Hazard, president
Josephine E. Butlers Letter. 145
codes of morals; the strict code to which women are held accountable,
and the lax code which governs the conduct of men.
The other question which can very properly be discussed at the present
time is, "Why in this country, and in all civilized nations, do one-half of
the population die under five years of age, and in some countries a very
large proportion under one year? "
A letter was read from Mrs. Josephine E. Butler. As the ex-
periment of licensing prostitution had been extensively tried in
England, and she had watched the effects of the system not only
in her own country but on the continent, her opinions on this
question are worthy of consideration :
To the Annual Meeting of the National Suffrage Association in St. Louis :
DEAR FRIENDS — As I am unable to be present at your convention on
May 7, 8, 9, and as you ask for a communication from me, I gladly write
you on some of the later phases of our struggle against legalized prostitu-
tion. A brave battle has been fought in St. Louis against that iniquity,
and we have regarded it with sympathy and admiration ; but you are not
yet safe against the devices of those who uphold this white slavery, nor
are we safe, although we know that in the end we shall be conquerors.
You tell me that "England is held up as an example of the beneficial
working of the legalizing of vice." England holds a peculiar position in re-
gard to the question. She was the last to adopt this system of slavery and
she adopted it in that thorough manner which characterizes the Anglo-
Saxon race. In no other country has prostitution been regulated by law.
It has been understood by the Latin races, even when morally enervated,
that the law could not without risk of losing its majesty violate justice.
In England alone the regulations are law. Their promoters, by their
hardihood in asking parliament to decree injustice, have brought on un-
consciously to themselves, the beginning of the end of the whole system.
The Englishman is a powerful agent for evil as for good. In the best
times of our history my countrymen possessed preeminently vigorous
minds in vigorous bodies. But when the animal nature has outgrown the
moral, the appetites burst their proper restraints, and man has no other
notion of enjoyment save bodily pleasure ; he passes by a quick and easy
transition into a powerful brute. And this is what the upper-class English-
man has to a deplorable extent become. There is no creature in the world
so ready as he to domineer, to enslave, to destroy. But together with
this development towards evil, there has been in our country a counter
development. Moral faith is still strong among us. There are powerful
women, as well as strong, pure, and self-governed men, of the real old
Anglo-Saxon type. It was in England then, which adopted last the
hideous slavery, that there arose first a strong national protest in oppo-
sition. English people rose up against the wicked law before it had been
in operation three months. English men and women determined to carry
abolition not at home only, but abroad, and they promptly carried their
standard to every country on the continent of Europe. In all these coun-
tries men and women came forward at the first appeal, and said, "We are
IO
146 History of Woman Suffrage.
ready, we only waited for you, Anglo-Saxons, to take the lead ; we have
groaned under the oppression, but there was not force enough among us
to take the initiative step."
We have recently had a visit from Monsieur Aimi Humbert of Switzer-
land, our able general secretary for the continent. Much encouragement
w;is derived from the reports which reached us from France, Holland,
Denmark, Sweden and even Spain, where a noble lady, Donna Concepcion
Arenal of Madrid, and several gentlemen have warmly espoused our cause.
The progress is truly encouraging; yet, on the other hand, it is obvious
that the partisans of this legislation have recently been smitten with a
kind of rage for extending the system everywhere, and are on the watch
to introduce it wherever we are off our guard. In almost all British
colonies they are very busy. At the Cape of Good Hope, where the Cape
parliament had repealed the law, the governor, Sir Bartle Frere, has been
induced by certain specialists and immoral men, to reintroduce it. But
since he could not count on the parliament at Cape Town for doing this,
he has relntroduced the miserable system by means of a proclamation or
edict, without the sanction and probably, to a great extent, without the
knowledge of parliament. The same game is being played in other colo-
nies. These facts seem to point to a more decided and bitter struggle on
the question than we have yet seen. An engergetic member of our ex-
ecutive committee, M. Pierson of Zetten, in Holland, says :
I look upon legalized prostitution as the system in which the immorality of our age
is crystalized, and that in attacking it we attack in reality the great enemies which are
hiding themselves behind its ramparts. But if we do not soon overthrow these ramparts
we must not think our work is fruitless. A great work is already achieved ; sin is once
more called sin instead of necessary evil, and the true standard of morality — equal for
men and women, for rich and poor — is once more raised in the face of all the nations.
This legalization of vice which recognized the " necessity " of impurity
for man and the institution of slavery for woman, is the most open denial
which modern times have seen of the principle of the sacredness of the
individual human being. It is the embodiment of socialism in its worst
form. An English high-class journal confessed this, when it dared to de-
mand that women who are unchaste shall henceforth be dealt with " not
as human beings, but as foul sewers," or some such " material nuisance "
without souls, without rights and without responsibilities. When the lead-
ers of public opinion in a country have arrived at such a point of com-
bined depotism as to recommend such a manner of dealing with human
beings, there is no crime which that countn^ may not legalize. Were it
possible to secure the absolute physical health of a whole province, or an
entire continent by the destruction of one, only one poor and sinful
woman, woe to that nation which should dare, by that single act of de-
struction, to purchase this advantage to the many! It will do it at its
peril.
We entreat our friends in America to renew their alliance with us
in the sacred conflict. Union will be strength. The women of England
are beginning to understand their responsibilities. Like yourselves, we
are laboring to obtain the suffrage. The wrong which has fallen upon us
in this legalizing of vice has taught us the need of power in legislation.
Tribute to Miss Anthony. 147
Meanwhile, the crusade against immorality is educating women for the
right use of suffrage when they obtain it. The two movements must go
hand in hand.
Altogether this was an impressive occasion in which women
met heart to heart in discussing the deepest humiliations of their
sex. After eloquent speeches by Mrs. Meriwether, Mrs. Spencer,
Mrs. Leonard, Mrs. Thompson and Rev. Olympia Brown, the
audience slowly dispersed.
The closing scenes of the evening were artistic and interesting.
The platform was tastefully decked with flags and flowers, and
the immense audience that had assembled at an early hour —
hundreds unable to gain admission — made this the crowning ses-
sion of the convention. Miss Couzins announced the receipt of
an invitation from Mr. John Wahl, inviting the convention to
visit the Merchants' Exchange, " with assurances of high regard."
The announcement was heard with considerable merriment by
those who remembered her criticisms on Mr. Wahl for his
failure to deliver the address of welcome at the opening of the
convention. She also announced the receipt of an invitation from
Secretary Kalb to visit the fair-grounds, and moved that the
convention first visit the Exchange and then proceed to the fair-
grounds in carriages, the members of the Merchants' Exchange,
of course paying the bill. The motion was carried amidst applause.
An invitation was also received from Dr. Eliot, chancellor of
"Washington University, to attend the art lecture of Miss Schoon-
maker at the Mary Institute, Monday evening. In a letter to
the editor of the National Citizen, Mrs. Stanton thus describes
the incident of the evening:
The delegates from the different States, through May Wright Thomp-
son of Indianapolis, presented Miss Anthony with two baskets of ex-
quisite flowers. She referred in the most happy way to Miss Anthony's
untiring devotion to all the unpopular reforms through years of pitiless
persecution, and thanked her in behalf of the young womanhood of the
nation, that their path had been made smoother by her brave life. Miss
Anthony was so overcome with the delicate compliments and the fragrant
flowers at her feet, that for a few moments she could find no words to ex-
press her appreciation of the unexpected acknowledgement of what all
American women owe her. As she stood before that hushed audience,
her silence was more eloquent than words, for her emotion was shared
by all. With an effort she at last said :
Friends, I have no words to express my gratitude for this marked attention. I have
so long been the target for criticism and ridicule, I am so unused to praise, that I
stand before you surprised and disarmed. If any one had come to this platform and
148 History of Woman Suffrage.
abused all womankind, called me hard names, ridiculed our arguments or denied the
justice of our demands, I could with readiness and confidence have rushed to the de-
fence, hut I cannot make any apropriate reply for this offering of eloquent words and
flowers, and I shall not attempt it.
Being advertised as the speaker of the evening, she at once began her
address, and as she stood there and made an argument worthy a senator
of the United States, I recalled the infinite patience with which, for up-
wards of thirty years, she had labored for temperance, anti-slavery and
woman suffrage, with a faithfulness worthy the martyrs in the early days
of the Christian church, and said to myself, verily the world now as ever
crucifies its saviors.
Thanks to the untiring industry of Mrs. Minor and Miss Couzins, the
convention was in every way a success, morally, financially, in crowded
audiences, and in the fair, respectful and complimentary tone of the press.
Looking over the proceedings and resolutions, the thought struck me
that the National Association is the only organization that has steadily
maintained the doctrine of federal power against State rights. The great
truths set forth in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of United
States supremacy, so clearly seen by us, seem to be vague and dim to our
leading statesmen and lawyers if we may judge by their speeches and de-
cisions. Your superb speech on State rights should be published in tract
form and scattered over this entire nation. How can we ever have a
homogeneous government so long as universal principles are bounded
by State lines.
The delegates remaining in the city went on 'Change in a body
at 12 o'clock Saturday, on invitation of the president, John Wahl.
They were -courteously received and speeches were made by
Mesdames Couzins, Stanton, Anthony, Meriwether and Thomp-
son. Mrs. Meriwether's speech was immediately telegraphed in
full to Memphis. All wore badges of silk on which in gold letters
appeared " N. W. S. A., May 10, 1879, Merchants' Exchange."
From the Exchange the ladies proceeded in carriages to the fair-
grounds, and Zoological Gardens where they took refreshments.
On Saturday evening Miss Couzins gave a delightful reception.
Her parlors were crowded until a late hour, where the friends of
woman suffrage had an opportunity to use their influence socially
in converting many distinguished guests. On Sunday night
Mrs. Stanton was invited by the Rev. Ross C. Houghton to
occupy his pulpit in the Union Methodist church, the largest
in the city of that denomination. She preached from the text
in Genesis i., 27, 28. The sermon was published in the St.
Louis Globe the next morning.* Mrs. Thompson was also in-
* Though an extra edition was struck off not a paper was to be had by 10 o'clock in the morning
Gov. Stannard and other prominent members of the suffrage association bought and mailed ever/
copy they could obtain.
Results. 149
vited to occupy a Presbyterian pulpit, but imperative duties
compelled her to leave the city.
The enthusiasm aroused by the convention in woman's en-
franchisement was encouraging to those who had so long and
earnestly labored in this cause.* This was indeed a week of
profitable work. With arguments and appeals to man's reason
and sense of justice on the platform, to his religious emotions
and conscience in the pulpit, to his honor and courtesy in the par-
lor, all the varied influences of public and private life were-
exerted with marked effect ; while the press on the wings of the
wind carried the glad tidings of a new gospel for woman to every
town and hamlet in the State.
* On the Tuesday following the convention a large number of St. Louis people met and formed a
woman suffrage society, auxiliary to the National. Miss Anthony who had remained over, called the
meeting to order ; Mrs. E. C. Johnson made an effective speech ; Mrs. Minor was chosen president.
Over fifty persons enrolled as members. The second meeting held a fortnight after, was also crowded •
twenty-fi /e new members were obtained.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS AND CONVENTIONS.
1880-1881.
Why we Hold Conventions in Washington — Lincoln Hall Demonstration — Sixty-six
Thousand Appeals — Petitions Presented in Congress — Hon. T. W. Ferry of
Michigan in the Senate — Hon. George B. Loring of Massachusetts in the House —
Hon. J. J. Davis of North Carolina Objected — Twelfth Washington Convention —
Hearings before the Judiciary Committees of both Houses — 1880— May Anni-
versary at Indianapolis — Series of Western Conventions — Presidential Nominating
Conventions — Delegates and Addresses to each — Mass-meeting at Chicago — Wash-
ington Convention, iSSi — Memorial Service to Lucretia Mott — Mrs. Stanton's
Eulogy — Discussion in the Senate on a Standing Committee — Senator McDonald
of Indiana Championed the Measure — May Anniversary in Boston — Conventions
in the Chief Cities of New England.
THE custom of holding conventions at the seat of government
in mid-winter has many advantages. Congress is then in session,
the Supreme Court sitting, and society, that mystic, headless,
power, at the height of its glory. Being the season for official
receptions, where one meets foreign diplomats from every civilized
nation, it is the time chosen by strangers to visit our beautiful
capital. Washington is the modern Rome to which all roads
lead, the bright cynosure of all eyes, and is alike the hope and
fear of worn-out politicians and aspiring pilgrims. From this
great center varied influences radiate to the vast circumference
of our land. Supreme-court decisions, congressional debates,
presidential messages and popular opinions on all questions of
fashion, etiquette and reform are heralded far and near, awaken-
ing new thought in every State in our nation and, through their
representatives, in the aristocracies of the old world. Hence to
hold a suffrage convention in Washington is to speak to the
women of every civilized nation.
The Twelfth Annual Convention of the National Association
assembled in Lincoln Hall, January 21, 1880. Many distin-
guished ladies and gentlemen occupied the platform, which was
tastefully decorated with flags and flowers, and around the walls
Twelfth Washington Convention. 151
hung familiar mottoes,* significant of the demands of the hour.
On taking the chair Susan B. Anthony made some appropriate
remarks as to the importance of the work of the association dur-
ing the presidential campaign. Mrs. Spencer called the roll, and
delegates f from sixteen States responded.
Mrs. Gage read the call :
The National Association will hold its twelfth annual convention in
Lincoln Hall, Washington, D. C., January 21, 22, 1880.
The question as to whether we are a nation, or simply a confederacy of
States, that has agitated the country from the inauguration of the govern-
ment, was supposed to have been settled by the war and confirmed by
the amendments, making United States citizenship and suffrage practi-
cally synonymous. Not, however, having been pressed to its logical re-
sults, the question as to the limits of State rights and national power is
still under discussion, and is the fundamental principle that now divides
the great national parties. As the final settlement of this principle in-
volves the enfranchisement of woman, our question is one of national
politics, and the real issue of the hour. If it is the duty of the general
government to protect the freedmen of South Carolina and Louisiana in
the exercise of their rights as United States citizens, the government
owes the same protection to the women in Massachusetts and New York.
This year will again witness an exciting presidental election, and this
question of momentous importance to woman will be the issue then
presented. Upon its final decision depends not only woman's speedy en-
franchisement, but the existence of the republic.
A sixteenth amendment to the national constitution, prohibiting the
States from disfranchising United States citizens on the ground of sex,
will be urged upon the forty-sixth congress by petitions, arguments and
appeals. The earnest, intelligent and far-seeing women of every State
should assemble at the coming convention, and show by their wise coun-
sels that they are worthy to be citizens of a free republic. All asso-
* " True labor reform ; the ballot for woman, the unpaid laborer of the whole earth."
" Man's work is from sun to sun,
But woman's work is never done."
"Taxation without representation is tyranny. Woman is taxed to support pauperism and crime,
and is compelled to feed and clothe the law-makers who oppress her."
"Women are voting on education, the bulwark of the republic, in Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,
Colorado, Oregon, New Hampshire and Massachusetts."
" Women are voting on all questions in Wyoming and Utah. The vote of women transformed
Wyoming from barbarism to civilization."
'' The financial problem for woman : equal pay for equal work, and one hundred cents on the dollar."
" When a woman Will, she WILL, and you may depend on it, she WILL vote."
t California, Jane B.Archibald; Connecticut, Julia E. Smith (Parker), E. C. Champion; Dela-
ware, Mary A. Stuart; District of Columbia, Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford, Ellen H.
Sheldon, Sara J. Messer, Amanda M. Best, Belva A. Lockwood. Mary A. S. Carey, Rosina M. Par-
nell, Mary L. Woostcr, Helen Rand Tindall, Lura McNall Orme ; Illinois, Miss Jessie Waite,
daughter of Caroline V. and Judge Waite; Indiana, Zerelda G. Wallace, Emma Mont McRae ;
Flora M. Hardin ; Iowa, Nancy R. Allen; Kansas, Delia Ross; Louisiana, Elizabeth L. Saxon,
Maine, Sophronia C. Snow; Maryland, Lavinia Dundore ; Michigan, Catherine A. F. Stebbins:
Missouri, Phcebe W. Couzins ; Neiu Hampshire, Marilla M. Ricker ; Neiv Jersey, Lucinda B.
Chandler; New York, Susan B. Anthony. Matilda Joslyn Gage, Lillie Devereux Blake, Dr. A. W.
Lozier, Jennie de M. Lozier, M. D., Helen M. Slocum ; Pennsylvania, Rachel G. Foster, Julia T..
Foster ; South Carolina, Mary R. Pell.
History of Woman Suffrage.
ciations in the United States which believe it is the duty of congress to
submit an amendment protecting woman in the exercise of the right of
suffrage, are cordially invited to send delegates. Those who cannot at-
tend the convention, are urged to address letters to their representa-
tives in congress, asking them to give as careful attention to the pro-
posed amendment and to the petitions and arguments urged in its behalf,
as though the rights of men, only, were involved. A delegate from each
section of the country will be heard before the committees of the House
and Senate, to whom our petitions will be referred.*
Mrs. Spencer presented a series of resolutions which were ably
discussed by the speakers and adopted :
Resolved, That we are a nation and not a mere confederacy, and that the right of
citizens of the United States to self-government through the ballot should be guaran-
teed by the national constitution and protected everywhere under the national flag.
Resolved, That while States may have the right to regulate the time, place and man-
ner of elections, and the qualifications of voters upon terms equally applicable to all
citizens, they should be forbidden under heavy penalties to deprive any citizen of the
right to self-government on account of sex.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the forty-sixth congress to immediately submit to the
several States the amendment to the national constitution recently proposed by Senator
Ferry and Representative Loring, and approved by the National Suffrage Association.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the House of Representatives to pass immediately
the resolution recommended by the Committee on Rules directing the speaker to ap-
point a committee on the rights of women.
Resolved, That the giant labor reform of this age lies in securing to woman, the
great unpaid and unrecognized laborer and producer of the whole earth, the fruits of
her toil.
Resolved, That the theory of a masculine head to rule the family, the church, or the
State, is contrary to republican principles, and the fruitful source of rebellion and cor-
ruption.
Resolved, That the assumption of the clergy, that woman has no right to participate
in the ministry and offices of the church is unauthorized theocratic tyranny, placing a
masculine mediator between woman and her God, which finds no authority in reason,
and should be resisted by all women as an odious form of religious persecution.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the congress of the United States to provide a re-
form school for girls and a home for the children whom no man owns or protects, and
who are left to die upon the streets of the nation's capital, or to grow up in ignorance,
vice and crime.
Hesolved, That since man has everywhere committed to woman the custody and
/ownership of the child born out of wedlock, and has required it to bear its mother's
name, he should recognize woman's right as a mother to the custody of the child born
in marriage, and permit it to bear her name!
Resolved, That the National Association will send a delegate and an alternate to
•each presidential nominating convention to demand the rights of woman, and to sub-
mit to each party the following plank for presidential platform : Resolved, That the
-right to use the ballot inheres in the citizen of the United States, and we pledge our-
selves to secure protection in the exercise of this right to all citizens irrespective of sex.
Resolved, That one-half of the number of the supervisors of the tenth census, and
one-half of the collectors of said census, should be educated, intelligent women, who
can be safely entrusted to enumerate women and children, their occupations, ages,
* Signed by Matilda Joslyn Gage, Chairman Executive Committee: Susan B. Anthony, I'ice-fres-
ident-at-iarge; Sara Andrews Spencer, Corresponding Secretary ; Jane H. Spofford, Treasurer.
Anna Ella Carroll, of Maryland. 153
diseases and deaths, and who would not be likely to overlook ten millions of house-
keepers.
Resolved, That Ulysses S. Grant won his first victories through the military plans
and rare genius of a woman, Anna Ella Carroll, of Maryland, and while he has been
rewarded with the presidential office through two terms, and a royal voyage around the
world, crowned with glory and honor, Miss Carroll has for fifteen years been suffer-
ing in poverty unrecognized and unrewarded.
Resolved, That the thanks of this association are hereby tendered to Governor Chas.
B. Andrews, of Connecticut, for remembering in each annual message to ask for justice
to women.
The comments of the press* were very complimentary, and
their daily reports of the convention full and fair. Among the
many letters f to the convention, the following from a Southern
lady is both novel and amusing:
MEMPHIS, Term., December 11, 1889.
DEAR MRS. SPENCER: You want petitions. Well I have two which I
got up some time ago, but did not send on because I thought the names
too few to count much. The one is of white women 130 in number. The
other contains no names of black women. This last is a curiosity, and
was gotten up under the following circumstances :
Some ladies were dining with me and we each promised to get what
names we could to petitions for woman suffrage. My servant who waited
* This week has been devoted almost exclusively to the women, who as temperance leaders, female
suffragists and general reformers, have become a power in the land which can no longer be ridiculed or
ignored. Yesterday Lincoln Hall was packed to its utmost capacity with such an audience as no other
entertainment or amusement has ever before gathered in this city. Women of refinement and cultiva-
tion, of thought and purpose, women of standing and position in society, mothers of families, wives of
clergymen, were there by the hundreds, to listen to the words of wisdom and eloquence that fell
from the lips of that assembly, the most carefully organized, thoroughly governed, harmoniously acting
association in this great country. Members of congress, professors of colleges, judges and gentlemen of
leisure, sat or stood in admiration of the progress of the women, who are so earnestly striving to regen-
erate our beloved republic, over which the shadow of anarchy and dissolution is hovering with outspread
wings. These women are no longer trembling suppliants, feeling their way cautiously and feebly amid
an overpowering mass of obstructions ; they are now strong in their might, in their unity, and in the
righteousness of their cause. Men will do wisely if they attract this power instead of repelling it; if
they permit women to work in concert with them, instead of compelling them to be arrayed against
them. The fate of Governor Robinson and Senator Ecelstine of New York, indicates what they can
do, and what they will do, if obliged to assume the attitude of aggressors. Congress has heard no such
eloquence upon its floors this week as we have listened to from the lips of these noble women. — [Wash-
ington correspondent of the Portland (Me.) Transcript, Jan. 23, 1880.
These conventions occur yearly and although the ladies have fought long and hard, and seem to have
not yet reached a positive assurance of success, still they continue to force the fight with greater earn-
estness and redoubled energy, and their meetings are conducted with much wisdom and decided spirit*
Thcra is one thing to the credit of these ladies which cannot be said of the opposite sex, and that is,
their conventions are models of good order and parliamentary eloquence, and they put their work
through in a graceful, business-like manner. — [Washington Critic, Jan. 21. 1880.
The announcement that the public session of the National Woman Suffrage Convention would begin
at one o'clock yesterday afternoon at Lincoln Hall sufficed to attract a most brilliant audience, composed
principally of ladies, occupying every seat and thronging the aisles. The inconvenience of re-
maining standing was patiently endured by hundreds who seemed loth to leave while the convention
was in progress. — [Washington National Republican, Jan. 22, 1880.
The session of the Woman Suffrage Convention in Washington this week has developed the fact
that these strong-minded women are making progress. The convention itself was composed of women
of marked ability, and its proceedings were marked by dignity and decorum. The very best citizens of
the city attended the meetings. — [Washington correspondent Syracuse Daily Standard.
t Letters were read from Mary Powers Filley, N. H.; Martha G. Tunstall, Texas ; M. A. Darling,
Mich.; May Wright Thompson, Ind.; Sarah Burger "Stearns, Minn.; Miss Martin, 111.; W. G.
Myers, O.; Annie L. Quinby, Ky.; Zina Young Williams, Utah; Barbara J. Thompson. Neb.; Mir*
L. Sturgis, Me.; Orra Langhorne, Va.; Emily P. Collins, La,; Charles P. Wellman, esq., Ga.
154 History of Woman Suffrage.
on table was a coal-black woman. She became interested and after the
ladies went away asked me to explain the matter to her, which I did. She
then said if I would give her a paper she could get a thousand names
among the black women, that many of them felt that they were as much
slaves to their husbands as ever they had been to their white masters. I
gave her a petition, and said to her, "Tell the women this is to have a law
passed that will not allow the men to whip their -wives, and will put
down drinking saloons." " Every black woman will go for that law!"
She took the paper and procured these no signatures against the
strong opposition of black men who in some cases threatened to whip'
their wives if they signed. At length the opposition was so great my
servant had not courage to face it. She feared some bodily harm would be
done her by the black men. You can see this is a genuine negro petition
from the odd way the names are written, sometimes the capital letter in
the middle of the name, sometimes at the end.
Yours, ELIZABETH AVERY MERIWETHER.
In response to 66,000 documents containing appeals to women,
issued by the National Association, 250 petitions, signed by over
12,000, arrived in Washington in time for presentation to congress
before the assembling of the convention, and were read on the
floor of the Senate, with the leading names, January 14, 16, 20, 21,
by forty-seven senators.
In the House of Representatives this courtesy (reading peti-
tions and names), requires unanimous consent, and one man, Hon.
J. J. Davis of North Carolina, who had no petition from the wo-
men of his State, objected. Sixty-five representatives presented
the petitions at the clerk's desk, under the rule, January 14, 15,
16. In answer to these appeals to both Houses, on Monday,
January 19, Hon. T. W. Ferry, of Michigan, introduced in the
Senate a joint resolution for a sixteenth amendment, which with
all the petitions was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Tuesday, January 20, Hon. George B. Loring, of Massachusetts,
introduced the same resolution in the House of Representatives,
and it was referred, with all the petitions, to the Committee on
the Judiciary. There were also during this congress presented
over 300 petitions from law-abiding, tax-paying women, praying
for the removal of their political disabilities.
On Friday and Saturday, January 23, 24, these committees
granted hearings of two hours each to delegates from ten States
who had been in attendance at the convention. Thoughtful at-
tention was given to arguments upon every phase of the question,
and senators and representatives expressed a strong determina-
tion to bring the subject fairly before the people.
Argument Before the Senate Committee. 155
The committees especially requested that only the delegates
should be present, wishing, as they said, to give their sole atten-
tion to the arguments undisturbed by the crowds who usually
seek admittance. Even the press was shut out. These private
sessions with most of the members present, and the close atten-
tion they gave to each speaker, were strong proof of the growth
of our reform, as but a few years before representatives sought
excuses for absence on all such occasions.
THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, U. S. SENATE, )
Friday, Jan. 23, 1880. \
The committee assembled at half-past 10 o'clock A. M. Present, Mr.
Thurman, chairman, Mr. McDonald, Mr. Bayard, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr.
Edmunds.
The CHAIRMAN : Several members of the committee are unable to be
here. Mr. Lamar is detained at his home in Mississippi by sickness ; Mr.
Carpenter is confined to his room by sickness ; Mr. Conkling has been un-
well ; I do not know how he is this morning ; and Mr. Garland is chair-
man of the Committee on Territories, which has a meeting this morning
that he could not fail to attend. I do not think we are likely to have any
more members of the committee than are here now, and we will hear you,
ladies.
Mrs. ZERELDA G. WALLACE of Indiana said: Mr. Chairman, and.Gen-
tlemen of the Committee : It is scarcely necessary to say that there is not
an effect without a cause. Therefore it would be well for the statesmen
of this nation to ask themselves the question, What has brought the
women from all parts of this nation to the capital at this time ? WThat has
been the strong motive that has taken us away from the quiet and com-
fort of our own homes and brought us before you to-day ? As an answer
to that question I will read an extract from a speech made by one of In-
diana's statesmen. He found out by experience and gave us the benefit
of it:
You can go to meetings ; you can vote resolutions ; you can attend great demonstra-
tions in the street ; but, after all, the only occasion where the American citizen
expresses his acts, his opinions, and his power is at the ballot-box ; and that little ballot
that he drops in there is the written sentiment of the times, and it is the power that he
has as a citizen of this great republic.
That is the reason why we are here ; the reason why we want to vote.
We are not seditious women, clamoring for any peculiar rights; it is
not the woman question that brings us before you to-day ; it is the
human question underlying this movement. We love and appreciate our
country; we value its institutions. We realize that we owe great obliga-
tions to the men of this nation for what they have done. To their
strength we owe the subjugation of all the material forces of the uni-
verse which give us comfort and luxury in our homes. To their brains
\veo\vethemachinerythat gives us leisure for intellectual culture and
achievement. To their education we owe the opening of our colleges
and the establishment of our public schools, which give us these great
History of Woman Suffrage.
and glorious privileges. This movement is the legitimate result of this
development, and of the suffering that woman has undergone in the
ages past.
A short time ago I went before the legislature of Indiana with a petition
signed by 25,000 of the best women in the State. I appeal to the
memory of Judge McDonald to substantiate the truth of what I say.
Judge McDonald knows that I am a home-loving, law-abiding, tax-paying
woman of Indiana, and have been for fifty years. When I went before
our legislature and found that one hundred of the vilest men in our State,
merely by the possession of the ballot, had more influence with our law-
makers than the wives and mothers it was a startling revelation.
You must admit that in popular government the ballot is the most
potent means for all moral and social reforms. As members of society,
we are deeply interested in all the social problems with which you have
grappled so long unsuccessfully. We do not intend to depreciate your
efforts, but you have attempted to do an impossible thing; to represent
the whole by one-half, and because we are the other half we ask you to
recognize our rights as citizens of this republic.
JULIA SMITH PARKER of Glastonbury, Conn., said: Gentlemen: You
may be surprised to see a woman of over four-score years appear before
you at this time. She came into the world and reached years of discre-
tion before any person in this room was born. She now comes before
you to plead that she can vote and have all the privileges that men have.
She has suffered so much individually that she thought when she was
young she had no right to speak before the men ; but still she had courage
to get an education equal to that of any man at the college, and she had
to suffer a great deal on that account. She went to New Haven to school,
and it was noised around that she had studied the languages. It was
such an astonishing thing for girls at that time to have the advantages of
education, that I had actually to go to cotillon parties to let people see
that I had common sense. [Laughter.]
She has had to pay $200 a year in taxes without knowing what becomes
of it. She does not know but that it goes to support grog-shops. She
knows nothing about it. She has had to suffer her cows to be sold at
the sign-post six times. She suffered her meadow land, worth $2,000, to
be sold for a tax less than $50. If she could vote as the men do she would
not have suffered this insult ; and so much would not have been said
against her as has been said if men did not have the whole power. I was
told that they had the power to take anything that I owned if I would not
exert myself to pay the money. I felt that I ought to have some little
voice in determining what should be done with what I paid. I felt that
I ought to own my own property ; that it ought not to be in these
men's hands ; and I now come to plead that I may have the same privi-
leges before the law that men have. I have seen what a difference
there is, when I have had my cows sold, by having a voter to take my
part.
I have come from an obscure town on the banks of the Connecticut,
where I was born. I was brought up on a farm. I never had an idea that
Elizabeth L. Saxons Speech. 157
I should come all the way to Washington to speak before those who
had not come into existence when I was born. Now, I plead that there
may be a sixteenth amendment, and that women may be allowed the pri-
vilege of owning their own property. I have suffered so much myself that
I felt it might have some effect to plead before this honorable committee.
I thank you, gentlemen, for hearing me so kindly.
ELIZABETH L. SAXON of Louisiana, said : Gentlemen : I feel that after
Mrs. Wallace's plea there is no necessity for me to say anything. I come
from the extreme South, she from the West. People have asked me why
I came. I care nothing for suffrage merely to stand beside men, or rush
to the polls, or to take any privilege outside of my home, only, as Mrs.
Wallace says, for humanity. I never realized the importance of this
cause, until we were beaten back on every side in the work of reform.
If we attempted to put women in charge of prisons, believing that wher-
ever woman sins and suffers women should be there to teach, help and
guide, every place was in the hands of men. If we made an effort to get,
women on the school-boards we were combated and could do nothing.
In the State of Texas, I had a niece living whose father was an inmate
of a lunatic asylum. She exerted as wide an influence as any woman in
that State ; I allude to Miss Mollie Moore, who was the ward of Mr. Gush-
ing. I give this illustration as a reason why Southern women are taking
part in this movement. Mr. Wallace had charge of that lunatic asylum
for years. He was a good, honorable, able man. Every one was endeared
to him ; the State appreciated him as superintendent of this asylum.
When a political change was made and Gov. Robinson came in, Dr.
Wallace was ousted for political purposes. It almost broke the hearts
of some of the women who had sons, daughters or husbands there.
They determined at once to try and have him reinstated. It was im-
possible, he was out, and what could they do ?
A gentleman said to me a few days ago, "These women ought to marry."
I am married ; I am a mother ; and in our home the sons and brothers are
all standing like a wall of steel at my back. I have cast aside the preju-
dices of the past. They lie like rotted hulks behind me.
After the fever of 1878, when our constitutional convention was about
to convene, I suppressed the agony and grief of my own heart (for one of
my children had died) and took part in the suffrage movement in Louisiana
with the wife of Chief-Justice Merrick* Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey, and Mrs.
Harriet Keating of New York, the niece of Dr. Lozier. These three
ladies aided me faithfully and ably. I went to Lieutenant-Governor Wiltz,
and asked him if he would present or consider a petition which I wished
to bring before the convention. He read the petition. One clause of our
State law is that no woman can sign a will. Some ladies donated property
to an asylum. They wrote the will and signed it themselves, and it was
null and void, because they were women. That clause, perhaps, will be
wiped out. Many gentlemen signed the petition on that account. Gov-
ernor Wiltz, then lieutenant-governor, told me he would present the peti-
tion. He was elected president of the convention. I presented my
first petition, signed by the best names in the city of New Orleans and
158 History of Woman Suffrage.
in the State. I had the names of seven of the most prominent physi-
cians. Three prominent ministers signed it for moral purposes alone.
When Mrs. Dorsey was on her dying bed the last time she ever signed
her name was to a letter to go before that convention. Mrs. Merrick and
myself addressed the convention. We made the petition then that we
make here ; that we, the mothers of the land, should not be barred on
every side in the cause of reform. I pledged my father on his dying
bed that I would never cease work until woman stood with man equal
before the law.
I beg of you, gentlemen, to consider this question seriously. We stand
precisely in the position of the colonies when they plead, and, in the words
of Patrick Henry, were " spurned with contempt from the foot of the
throne." We have been jeered and laughed at ; but the question has
passed out of the region of ridicule. This clamor for woman suffrage, for
woman's rights, for equal representation, is extending all over the land.
I plead because my work has been combated in the cause of reform
everywhere that I have tried to accomplish anything. The children that
fill the houses of prostitution are not of foreign blood and race. They
come from sweet American homes, and for every woman that went down
some mother's heart broke. I plead by the power of the ballot to be
allowed to help reform women and benefit mankind.
MARY A. STEWART of Delaware said : The negroes are a race inferior,
you must admit, to your daughters, and yet that race has the ballot, and
why? It is said they earned it and paid for it with their blood. Whose
blood paid for yours ? The blood of your forefathers and our fore-
fathers. Does a man earn a hundred thousand dollars and lie down
and die, saying, " It «is all my boys'"? Not a bit of it. He dies
saying, " Let my children, be they cripples, be they idiots, be they
boys, or be they girls, inherit all my property alike." Then let us
inherit the sweet boon of the ballot alike. When our fathers were
driving the great ship of State we were willing to sail as deck or cabin
passengers, just as we felt disposed ; we had nothing to say ; but to-day
the boys are about to run the ship aground, and it is high time that the
mothers should be asking, " What do you mean to do ?" In our own little
State the laws have been very much modified in regard to women. My
father was the first man to blot out the old English law allowing the eldest
son the right of inheritance to the real-estate. He took the first step, and
like all those who take first steps in reform he received a mountain of
curses from the oldest male heirs.
Since 1868 I have, by my own individual efforts, by the use of hard-
earned money, gone to our legislature time after time and have had this
law and that law passed for the benefit of women ; and the same little
ship of State has sailed on. To-day our men are just as well satisfied with
the laws in force in our State for the benefit of women as they were years
ago. A woman now has a right to make a will. She can hold bonds and
mortgages of her own. She has a right to her own property. She cannot
sell it though, if it is real-estate, simply because the moment she marries,
her husband has his right of courtesy. The woman does not grumble at
Arguments Before the Senate Committee. 159
that ; but still when he dies owning real-estate, she gets only the rental
value of one-third, which is- called the widow's dower. Now I think the
man ought to have the rental value of one-third of the woman's maiden
property or real-estate, and it ought to be called the widower's dower.
It would be just as fair for one as for the other. All that I want is
equality.
The women of our State, as I said before, are taxed without representa-
tion. The tax-gatherer comes every year and demands taxes. For
twenty years I have paid tax under protest, and if I live twenty ydars
longer I shall pay it under prote§t every time. The tax-gatherer came to
my place not long since. "Well," said I, "good morning, sir." Said he,
•" Good morning." He smiled and said, " I have come bothering you."
Said I, " I know your face well. You have come to get a right nice little
woman's tongue-lashing." Said he, " I suppose so, but if you will just pay
your tax I will leave." I paid the tax, " But," said I, " remember I pay it
under protest, and if I ever pay another tax I intend to have the protest
•written and make the tax-gatherer sign it before I pay the tax, and if he
will not sign that protest then I shall not pay, and there will be a fight at
once," Said he, " Why do you keep all the time protesting against paying
this small tax ?" Said I, " Why do you pay your tax ?" " Well," said he,
" I would not pay it if I did not vote." Said I, " That is the very reason
why I do not want to pay it. I cannot vote." Who stay at home from
the election ? The women, and the black and white men who have been
to the whipping-post. Nice company to put your wives and daugh-
ters in.
It is said that the women do not want to vote. Every woman sitting
here wants to vote, and must we be debarred the privilege of voting be-
cause some luxurious woman, rolling around in her carriage in her little
downy nest that some good, benevolent man has provided for her, does
not want to vote ? There was a society that existed up m the State of
New York called the Covenanters that never voted. Were all you men
disfranchised because that class or sect up in New York would not vote ?
Did you all pay your taxes and stay at home and refrain from voting be-
cause the Covenanters did not vote? Not a bit of it. You went to the
election and told them to stay at home if they wanted to, but that you, as
citizens, were going to take care of yourselves. That was right. We, as
citizens, want to take care of ourselves.
One more thought, and I will be through. The fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments, in my opinion, and in the opinion of a great many smart
men in the country, and smart women, too, give the right to women to
vote without any " if s " or " and's " about it, and the United States protects
us in it ; but there are a few who construe the law to suit themselves, and
say that those amendments do not mean that, because the congress which
passed the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments had no such intention.
Well, if that congress overlooked us, let the wiser congress of to-day take
the eighth chapter and the fourth verse of the Psalms, which says,
"What is man that Thou art mindful of him?" and amend it by adding,
"What is woman, that they never thought of her?"
160 History of Woman Suffrage.
NANCY R. ALLEN of Iowa said : Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the
Judiciary Committee: I am a representative of a large class of women of
Iowa, who are heavy taxpayers. There is now a petition being cir-
culated throughout our State, to be presented to the legislature, praying
that women be exempted from taxation until they have some voice in the
management of the affairs of the State. You may ask, " Do not your
husbands protect you? Are not all the men protecting you?" We
answer that our husbands are grand, noble men, who are willing to do all
they can for us, but there are many who have no husbands and who own
a great deal of property in the State of Iowa. Particularly in great moral
reforms the women there feel the need of the ballot. By presenting long
petitions to the legislature they have succeeded in having better temper-
ance laws enacted, but the men have failed to elect the officials who will
enforce those laws. Consequently they have become as dead letters upon
the statute books.
To refer again to taxes. I have a .list showing that in my city three
women pay more taxes than all the city officials together. They are good
temperance women. Our city council is composed almost entirely of
saloon-keepers, brewers and men who patronize them. There are some
good men, but they are in the minority, and the voices of these women
are but little regarded. All these officials are paid, and we have to help
support them. As Sumner said, " Equality of rights is the first of rights."
If we can only be equal with man under the law, it is all that we ask. We
do not propose to relinquish our domestic life, but we do ask that we
may be represented.
Remarks were also made by Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Archibald and
Mrs. Spencer. The time having expired, the committee voted
to give another hour to Miss Anthony to state the reasons why
we ask congress to submit a proposition to the several legisla-
tures for a sixteenth amendment, instead of asking the States to
submit the question to the popular vote of their electors.* When
Miss Anthony had finished, the chairman, Senator Thurman of
Ohio, said:
I have to say, ladies, that you will admit that we have listened to you
with great attention, and I can certainly say, with great interest; your
appeals will be duly and earnestly considered by the committee.
Mrs. WALLACE: I wish to make just one remark in reference to what
Senator Thurman said as to the popular vote being against woman suf-
frage. The popular vote is against it, but not the popular voice. Owing
to the temperance agitation in the last six years, the growth of the suf-
frage sentiment among the wives and mothers of this nation has largely
increased.
* Judge Edmunds meeting Miss Anthony afterwards, complimented her on having made an argu-
ment instead of what is usually given before committees, platform oratory. He said her logic was
sound, her points unanswerable. Nor were the delegates familiar with that line of argument less im-
pressed by it, given as it was without notes and amid many interruptions. It was one of those occasions
rarely reached, in which the speaker showed the full height to which she was capable of rising. We
have not space for the whole argument, and the train of reasoning is too close to be broken. — [M. J. G.
Arguments Before the House Committee. 161
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 24, 1880.
The CHAIRMAN pro tern. (Mr. HARRIS of Virginia) : The order of busi-
ness for the present session of the committee is the delivery of arguments
by delegates of the Woman Suffrage Convention now holding its sessions
in Washington. I am informed that the delegates are in attendance
upon the committee. We will be pleased to hear them. A list of the
names of the ladies proposing to speak, with a memorandum of the limit
of time allotted to each, has been handed to me for my guidance ; and, in
the absence of the chairman [Mr. Knott] it will be my duty to confine
the speakers to the riurnber of minutes apportioned to them respectively
upon the paper before me. As an additional consideration for adhering
to the regulation, I will mention that members of the committee have in-
formed me that, having made engagements to be at the departments and
elsewhere on business appointments, they will be compelled to leave the
committee-room upon the expiration of the time assigned. The first name
upon the list is that of Mrs. Emma Mont. McRae of Indiana, to whom
five minutes are allowed.
Mrs. McRAE said: Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Judiciary Com-
mittee: In Indiana the cause of woman has made marked advancement.
At the same time we realize that we need the right to vote in order that
we may have protection. We need the ballot because through the
medium of its power alone we can hope to wield that influence in the
making of laws affecting our own and our children's interests.
Some recent occurences in Indiana, one in particular in the section of
the State from which I come, have impressed us more sensibly than ever
before with the necessity of this right. The particular incident to which I
refer was this: In the town of Muncie, where I reside, a young girl,
who for the past five years had been employed as a clerk in the post-
office, and upon whom a widowed mother was dependent for support,
was told on the first of January that she was no longer needed in the
office. She had filled her place well ; no complaint had been made
against her. She very modestly asked the postmaster the cause of her
discharge, and he replied : " We have a man who has done work for
the party and we must give that man a place ; I haven't room for both of
you." Now, there you have at once the reason why we want the ballot;
we want to be able to do something for the party in a substantial way, so
that men may not tell us they have no room for us because we do noth-
ing for the party. When they have the ballot women will work for "the
party" as a means of enabling them to hold places in which they may
get bread for their mothers and for their children if necessity requires.
Miss JESSIE T. WAITE of Illinois said : Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of
the Jitdiciary Committee : In the State of Illinois we have attained to al-
most every right except that of the ballot. We have been admitted to
all the schools and colleges ; we have become accustomed to parliament-
ary usages ; to voting in literary societies and in all matters connected with
the interests of the colleges and schools ; we are considered members in
good standing of the associations, and, in some cases, the young ladies in
the institutes have been told they hold the balance of power. The same
II
1 62 History of Woman Suffrage.
reason for woman suffrage that has been given by the delegate from Indi-
ana [Mrs. McRae] holds good with reference to the State of Illinois.
Women must have the ballot that they may have protection in getting
bread for themselves and their families, by giving to the party that looks
for their support some substantial evidence of their strength. Experi-
ence has demonstrated, especially in the temperance movement, how
fruitless are all their efforts while the ballot is withheld from their hands.
They have prayed ; they have petitioned; they have talked; they have
lectured; they have done all they could do, except to vote ; and yet all
avails them nothing. Miss Frances Williard presented to the legisla-
ture of Illinois a petition of such length that it would have reached
around this room. It contained over 180,000 signatures. The purpose of
the petition was to have the legislature give the women of the State the
right to vote upon the question of license or no license in their respec-
tive districts.
In some of the counties of our State we have ladies as superinten-
dents of schools and professors in colleges. One of the professors in the
Industrial University at Champaign is a lady. Throughout the State you
may find ladies who excel in every branch of study and in every trade.
It was a lady who took the prize at " the Exposition " for the most beauti-
ful piece of cabinet-work. This is said to have been a marvel of beauty
and extraordinary as a specimen of fine art. She was a foreigner ; a Scan-
dinavian, I believe. Another lady is a teacher of wood-carving We have
physicians, and there are two attorneys, Perry and Martin, now practicing
in the city of Chicago. Representatives of our sex are also to be found
among real-estate agents and journalists, while, in one or two instances
as preachers they have been recognized in the churches.
CATHERINE A. STEBBINS of Michigan said : " Better fifty years of
Europe than a cycle of Cathay ! " So said the poet ; and I say, Better a
week with these inspired women in conference than years of an indif-
ferent, conventional society ! Their presence has been a blessing to the
people of this District, and will prove in the future a blessing to our gov-
ernment. These women from all sections of our country, with a moral
.and spiritual enthusiasm which seeks to lift the burdens of our government,
come to you, telling of the obstacles that have beset their path. They
have tried to heal the stricken in vice and ignorance; to save our land
from disintegration. One has sought to reform the drunkard, to save
the moderate drinker, to convert the liquor-seller; another, to shelter the
homeless; another, to lift and save the abandoned woman. "Aban-
doned ? " once asked a prophet-like man of our time, who added, " There
never was an abandoned woman without an abandoned man ! " Aban-
doned of whom? let us ask. Surely not by the merciful Father. No;
neither man nor woman is ever abandoned by him, and he sends his in-
struments in the persons of some of these great-hearted women, to appeal
to you to restore their God-given freedom of action, that "the least of
these " may be remembered.
But in our councils no one has dwelt upon one of the great evils of our
civilization, the scourge of war; though it has been said that women will
Argument of Mrs. Devereux Blake. 163
fight. It is true there are instances in which they have considered it a
duty ; there were such in the rebellion. But the majority of women would
not declare war, would not enlist soldiers and would not vote supplies
and equipments, because many of the most thoughtful believe there is a
better way, and that women can bring a moral power to bear that shall
make war needless.
Let us take one picture representative of the general features of the
war — we say nothing of our convictions in regard to the conflict. Ulys-
ses S. Grant or Anna Ella Carroll makes plans and maps for the campaign ;
McClellan and Meade are commanded to collect the columbiads, muskets
and ammunition, and move their men to the attack. At the same time
the saintly Clara Barton collects her cordials, medicines and delicacies, her
lint and bandages, and, putting them in the ambulance assigned, joins the
same moving train. McClellan's men meet the enemy, and men —
brothers — on both sides fall by the death-dealing missiles. Miss Barton
and her aids bear off the sufferers, staunch their bleeding wounds, soothe
the reeling brain, bandage the crippled limbs, pour in the oil and wine,
and make as easy as may be the soldier's bed. What a solemn and heart-
rending farce is here enacted ! And yet in our present development
men and women seek to reconcile it with the requirements of religion
and the necessities of our conflicting lives. So few recognize the abso-
lute truth !
Mrs. DEVEREUX BLAKE said : Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Com-
mittee: I come here with your own laws in my hands — and the volume is
quite a heavy one, too — to ask you whether women are citizens of this
nation ? I find in this book, under the heading of the chapter on "Citi-
zenship," the following :
Sec. 1,992. All persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign
power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to be citizens of the United States.
I suppose you will admit that women are, in the language of the sec-
tion, "persons," and that we cannot reasonably be included in the class
spoken of as " Indians not taxed." Therefore I claim that we are "citi-
zens." The same chapter also contains the following :
Sec. 1,994. Any woman who is now or may hereafter be married to a citizen of the
United States, and who might herself be lawfully naturalized, shall be deemed a
citizen.
Under this section also we are citizens. I am myself, as indeed are
most of the ladies present, married to a citizen of the United States; so
that we are citizens under this count if we were not citizens before.
Then, further, in the legislation known as "The Civil Rights Bill," I find
this language :
All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right,
in every State and territory, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give
evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security
of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like
punishments, pains, penalties, etc.
One would think the logical conclusion from that which I have last
read would be that all citizens are entitled to equal protection everywhere.
164 History of Woman Suffrage.
It appears to mean that. Then I turn to another piece of legislation—
that which is known as " The Enforcement Act "—one which some of you,
gentlemen, did not like very much when it was enacted — and there I find
another declaration on the same question. The act is entitled "An Act
to Enforce the Right of Citizens of the United States to Vote In the
Several States of this Union, and for other purposes." The right of " citi-
zens " to vote appears to be conceded by this act. In the second section
it says :
It shall be the duty of every such person and officer to give to all citizens of the
United States the same and equal opportunity to perform such prerequisite, and to be-
come qualified to vote, without distinction of race, color or previous condition of
servitude.
I ask you, gentlemen of the committee, as lawyers, whether you do not
think that, after we have been declared to be citizens, we have the right
to claim the protection of this enforcement act? When you gentlemen
from the North rise in your places in the halls of congress and make
these walls ring with your eloquence, you are prone to talk a great deal
about the right of every United States citizen to the ballot, and the neces-
sity of protecting every such citizen in its exercise. What do you mean
by it ?
It occurs to me here to call your attention to a matter of recent occur-
rence, As you know, there has been a little unpleasantness in Maine — a
State which is not without a representative among the members of the
Judiciary Committee — and certain gentlemen there, especially Mr. Elaine,
have been greatly exercised in their minds because, as they allege, the
people of Maine have not been permitted to express their will at the polls.
Why, gentlemen, I assert that a majority of the people of Maine have
never been permitted to express their will at the polls. A majority of the
people of Maine are women, and from the foundation of this government
have never exercised any of the inalienable rights of citizens. Mr. Elaine
made a speech a day or two ago in Augusta. He began by reciting the
condition of affairs, owing to the effort, as he states, "to substitute a false
count for an honest ballot," and congratulated his audience upon the in-
strumentalities by which they had triumphed —
Without firing a gun, without shedding a drop of blood, without striking a single
blow, without one disorderly assemblage. The people have regained their own right
through the might and majesty of their own laws.
He goes on in this vein to speak of those whom he calls "the people of
Maine." WTell, gentlemen, I do not think you will deny that women are
people. It appears to me that what Mr. Elaine said in that connection was
nonsense, unless indeed he forgot that there were any others than men
among the people of the State of Maine. I don't suppose that you, gen-
tlemen, are often so forgetful. Mr. Elaine said fuither:
The Republicans of Maine and throughout the land felt that they were not merely
fighting the battle of a single year, but for all the future of the State; not merely
fighting the battle of our own State alone, but for all the States that are attempting
the great problem of State government throughout the world. The corruption or
destruction of the ballot is a crime against free government, and when successful is a
subversion of free government.
Argument of Mrs. Blake.
165
Does that mean the ballot for men only or the ballot for the people, men
and women too ? If it is to be received as meaning anything, it ought to
mean not for one sex alone, but for both. Mr. Lincoln declared, in one.of
his noblest utterances, that no man was good enough to govern another
man without that man's consent. Of course he meant it in its broadest
terms ; he meant that no man or woman was good enough to govern an-
other man or woman without that other man's or woman's consent.
Mr. Elaine, on another occasion, in connection with the same subject-
matter, had much^to say of the enormity of the oppression practiced by
his political opponents in depriving the town of Portland of the right of
representation in view of its paying such heavy taxes as it does pay. He
expressed the greatq|t indignation at the attempt, forgetting utterly that
great body of women who pay taxes but are deprived of the right of rep-
resentation. In this connection it may be pertinent for me to express the
hope, by way of a suggestion, that hereafter, when making your speeches,
you will not use the term "citizens" in a broad sense, unless you mean
to include women as well as men, and that when you do not mean to
include women you will speak of male citizens as a separate class,
because the term, in its general application, is illogical and its meaning
obscure if not self-contradictory.
President Hayes was so pleased with one of the sentences in his mes-
sage of a year ago that in his message of this year he has reiterated it.
It reads thus :
That no temporary or administrative interests of government will ever displace the
zeal of our people in defense of the primary rights of citizenship, and that the power
of public opinion will override all political prejudices and all sectional and State
attachments in demanding that all over our wide territory the name and character of
citizen of the United States shall mean one and the same thing and carry with them
unchallenged security and respect.
Let me suggest what he ought to have said unless he intended to in-
clude women, although I am afraid that Mr. Hayes, when he wrote this,
forgot that there were women in the United States, notwithstanding that
his excellent wife, perhaps, stood by his side. He ought to have said :
An act having been passed to enforce the rights of male citizens to vote, the true
vigor of half the population is thus expressed, and no interests of government will
ever displace the zeal of half of our people in defense of the primary rights of our
male citizens. The prosperity of the States depends upon the protection afforded to our
male citizens; and the name and character of male citizens of the United States shall
mean one and the same thing and carry with them unchallenged security and respect.
If Mr. Hayes had thus expressed himself, he would have made a per-
fectly logical and clear statement. Gentlemen, I hope that hereafter,
when speaking or voting in behalf of the citizens of the United States,
you will bear this in mind and will remember that women are citizens as
well as men, and that they claim the same rights.
This question of woman suffrage cannot much longer be ignored. In
the State from which I come, although we have not a right to vote, we are
confident that the influence which women brought to bear in determining
the result of the election last fall had something to do with sending into
retirement a Democratic governor who was opposed to our reform, and
1 66 History of Woman Suffrage.
electing a Republican who was in favor of it. Recollect, gentlemen, that
the expenditure of time and money which has been made in this cause
will not be without its effect. The time is coming when the demand of
an* immense number of the women of this country cannot be ignored.
When you see these representatives coming from all the States of the
Union to ask for this right, can you doubt that, some day, they will suc-
ceed in their mission ? We do not stand before you to plead as beggars ;
we ask for that which is our right. We ask it as due to the memory of
our ancestors, who fought for the freedom of this country just as bravely
as did yours. We ask it on many considerations. Wrhy, gentlemen, the
very furniture here, the carpet on this floor, was paid for with our money.
We are taxed equally with the men to defray the expenses of this con-
gress, and we have a right equally with them to parraipate in the govern-
ment.
In closing, I have only to ask, is there no man here present who ap-
preciates the emergencies of this hour? Is there no one among you who
will rise on the floor of congress as the champion of this unrepresented
half of the people of the United States ? The time is not far distant when
we shall have our liberties, and the politician who can now understand
the importance of our cause, the statesman who can now see, and will
now appreciate the justice of it, that man, if true to himself, will write his
name high on the scroll of fame beside those of the men who have been
the saviors of the country. Gentlemen I entreat you not to let this hear-
ing go by without giving due weight to all that we have said. You can
no more stay the onward current of this reform than you can fight against
the stars in their courses.
Mr. WILLITS of Michigan : Mr. Chairman : I would like to make a sug-
gestion here. The regulation amendment, as it has heretofore been sub-
mitted, provided that the right of citizens of the United States to vote
should not be abridged on account of sex. I notice that the amendment
which the ladies here now propose has prefixed to it this phrase : "The
right of suffrage in the United States shall be based on citizenship." I call
attention to this because I would like to have them explain as fully as
they may why they incorporate the phrase, "shall be based on citizen-
ship." Is the meaning this, that all citizens shall have the right to vote,
or simply that citizenship shall be the basis of suffrage ? The words, " or
for any reason not applicable to all citizens of the United States," also
seem to require explanation. The proposition in the form in which it is
now submitted, I understand, covers a little more than has been covered
by the amendment submitted in previous years.
SARA A. SPENCER of Washington, D. C.: If the committee will permit
me, I will say that the amendment in its present form is the concentrated
wish of the women of the United States. The women of the country sent
to congress petitions asking for three different forms of constitutional
amendment, and when preparing the one now before the committee these
three were concentrated in the one now before you (identical with that
of the resolution offered in the House by Hon. George B. Loring and by
Hon. T. W. Ferry in the Senate), omitting, at the request of each of the
Matilda Joslyn Gages Argument. 167
three classes of petitioners, all phrases which, were regarded by any of
them as objectionable. The amendment as now presented is therefore
the combined wish of the women of the country, viz., that citizenship in
the United States shall mean suffrage, and that no one shall be deprived
of the right to vote for reasons not equally applicable to all citizens.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE said : It is necessary to refer to a remarkable
decision of the Supreme Court. The case of Virginia L. Minor, claiming
the right to vote under the fourteenth amendment, was argued before the
Supreme Court of the United States, October term, 1874; decision ren-
dered adversely by Chief-Justice Wr.ite, March, 1875, upon the ground that
"the United States had no voters in the States of its own creation."
This was a most amazing decision to emanate from the highest judicial
authority of the nation, and is but another proof how fully that body is
under the influence of the dominant political party.
Contrary to this decision, I unhesitatingly affirm that the United States
has possessed voters in States of its own creation from the very date of
the constitution. In Article I, Sec. 2, the constitution provides that
The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second
year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legisla-
ture.
The persons so designated are voters under State laws ; but by this
section of the national constitution they are made United States voters.
It is directed under what conditions of State qualification they may cast
votes in their respective States for members of the lower house of con-
gress. The constitution here created a class of United States voters by
adoption of an already voting class. Did but this single instance exist, it
would be sufficient to nullify Chief-Justice Waite's decision, as Article VI,
Sec. 2, declares
The constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursu-
ance thereof * * * shall be the supreme law of the land.
This supreme law at its very inception created a class of United States
voters. If in the Minor case alone, the premises of the Supreme Court
and Chief-Justice Waite were wrong, the decision possesses no legal
value; but in addition to this class, the United States, by special laws and
amendments has from time to time created other classes of United States
voters.
Under the naturalization laws citizenship is recognized as the basis of
suffrage. No State can admit a foreigner to the right of the ballot, even
under United States laws, unless he is already a citizen, or has formally
declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States. The
creation of the right here is national ; its regulation, local.
Men who commit crimes against the civil laws of the United States for-
feit their rights of citizenship. State law cannot re-habilitate them, but
within the last five years 2,500 such men have been pardoned by congres-
sional enactment, and thus again been made voters in States by United
States law. Is it not strange that with a knowledge of these facts before
him Chief-Justice Waite could base his decision against the right of a.
1 68 History of Woman Suffrage.
woman to the ballot, on the ground that the United States had no voters
in the States of its own creation ?
Criminals against the military law of the United States, who receive
pardon, are still anolher class of voters thus created. A very large body
of men, several hundred thousand, forfeited their rights of citizenship,
their ballot, by participation in the rebellion ; they were political crim-
inals. When general amnesty was proclaimed they again secured the
ballot. They had been deprived of the suffrage by United States law
and it was restored to them by the same law.
It may be replied that the rebellious States had been reduced to the
condition of territories, over whose suffrage the general government had
control. But let me ask why, then, a large class of men remained dis-
franchised after these States again took up local government ? A large
class of men were especially exempted from general amnesty and for the
restoration of their political rights were obliged to individually petition
congress for the removal of their political disabilities, and these men
then became "voters in States," by action of the United States. Here,
again, the United States recognized citizenship and suffrage as synony-
mous. If the United States has no voters of its own creation in the
States, what are these men ? A few, the leaders in the rebellion, are yet
disfranchised, and no State has power to change this condition. Only the
United States can again make them voters in States.
Under the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments the colored men of the
South, who never had possessed the ballot, and those colored men of the
North over whom some special disqualification hung, were alike made
voters by United States law. It required no action of Delaware, Indiana,
New York, or any of those States in which the colored man was not upon
voting equality with the white men, to change their constitutions or
statutes in order to do away with such disqualifications. The fourteenth
amendment created another class of United States voters in States, to the
number of a million or more. The fourteenth amendment, and the act of
congress to enforce it, were at once recognized to be superior to State
law— abrogating and repealing State constitutions and State laws contra-
dictory to its provisions.
By an act of congress March 3, and a presidential proclamation of March
11, 1865, all deserters who failed to report themselves to a provost mar-
shall within sixty days, forfeited-their rights of citizenship as an additional
penalty for the crime of desertion, thus losing their ballot without possi-
bility of its restoration except by an act of congress. Whenever this may
be done collectively or individually, these men will become State voters
by and through the United States law.
As proving the sophistry used by legal minds in order to hide from
themselves and the world the fact that the United States has power over
the ballot in States, mention may be made of a case which, in 1866, came
before Justice Strong, then a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl-
vania, but since a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. For
sophistical reasoning it is a curiosity in legal decisions. One point made
by Judge Strong was, that congress may deprive a citizen of the oppor-
Matilda Joslyn Gages Argument. 169
tunity to enjoy a right belonging to him as a citizen of a State even the
right of voting, but cannot deprive him of the right itself. This is on a
par with saying that congress may deprive a citizen of the opportunity to
enjoy a right belonging to him as an individual, even the right of life, but
cannot deprive him of life itself.
A still more remarkable class of United States voters than any yet men-
tioned, exists. Soon after the close of the war congress enacted a law
that foreigners having served in the civil war and been honorably dis-
charged from the army, should be allowed to vote. And this, too, without
the announcement of their intention of becoming citizens of the repub-
lic. A class of United States voters were thus created out of a class of
non-citizens.
I have mentioned eight classes of United States voters, and yet
not one of the States has been deprived of the powers necessary to
local self-government. To States belong all matters of strictly local in-
terest, such as the incorporation of towns and cities, the settlement of
county and other boundaries ; laws of marriage, divorce, protection of
life and property, etc. It has been said, the ordaining and establish-
ment of a constitution for the government of a State is always the act of
a State in its highest sovereign capacity, but if any question as to nation-
ality ever existed, it was settled by the war. Even State constitutions
were found unable to stand when in conflict with a law of the United
States or an amendment to its constitution. All are bound by the author-
ity of the nation.
This theory of State sovereignty must have a word. When the Union
was formed several of the States did not even frame a constitution. It
was in 1818 that Connecticut adopted her first State constitution. Rhode
Island had no constitution until 1842. Prior to these years the govern-
ment of these States was administered under the authority of royal char-
ters brought out from England.
Where was their State sovereignty? The rights even of suffrage enjoyed
by citizens of these States during these respective periods of forty-two and
sixty-six years, were either secured them by monarchial England or republi-
can United States. If by the latter all voters in these two States during these
years were United States voters. It is a historical fact that no State save
Texas was ever for an hour sovereign or independent. The experience
of the country proves there is but one real sovereignty. It has been said,
with truth,
There is but one sovereign State on the American continent known to interna-
tional or constitutional law, and that is the republic itself. This forms the United
States and should be so called.
I ask for a sixteenth amendment because this republic is a nation and
not a confederacy of States. I ask it because the United States not only
possesses inherent power to protect its citizens but also because of its
national duty to secure to all its citizens the exercise of their rights of
self-government. I ask it because having created classes of voters in
numberless instances, it is most flagrant injustice to deny this protection
to woman. I ask it because the Nation and not the State is supreme.
170 History of IVoman Suffrage.
PHCEBE W. COUZINS of Missouri, to whom had been assigned the next
thirty minutes, said : Jlfr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Judiciary Com-
mittee : I am invited to speak of the dangers which beset us at this hour
in the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Mrs. Minor's
case, which not only stultifies its previous interpretation of the recent
constitutional amendments and makes them a dead letter, but will rank,
in the coming ages, in the history of the judiciary, with the Dred Scott
decision. The law, as explained in the Dred Scott case, was an infamous
one, which trampled upon the most solemn rights of the loyal citizens of
the government, and declared the constitution to mean anything or noth-
ing, as the case might be. Yet the decision in that case had a saving
clause, for it was not the unanimous voice of a Democratic judiciary.
Dissenting opinions were robly uttered from the bench. In the more
recent case, under the rule of a Republican judiciary created by a party
professing to be one of justice, the rights of one-half of the people were
deliberately abrogated without a dissenting voice. This violation of the
fundamental principles of our government called forth no protest. In all
of the decisions against woman in the Republican court, there has not
been found one Lord Mansfield, who, rising to the supreme height of an
unbiased judgment, would give the immortal decree that shall crown with
regal dignity the mother of the race : " I care not for the dictates of judges,
however eminent, if they be contrary to principle. If the parties will have
judgment, let justice be done, though the heavens fall."
The Dred Scott decision declared as the law of citizenship, "to be a citi-
zen is to have actual possession and enjoyment, or the perfect right to
the acquisition and enjoyment of an entire equality of privileges, civil and
political." But the slave-power was then dominant and the court decided
that a black man was not a citizen because he had not the right to vote.
But when the constitution was so amended as to make "all persons born
or naturalized in the United States citizens thereof," a negro, by virtue of
his United States citizenship, was declared, under the amendments, a
voter in every State in the Union. And the Supreme Court reaffirmed
this right in the celebrated slaughter-house cases (16 Wallace, 71). It
said, " The negro, having by the fourteenth amendment, been declared to
be a citizen of the United States, is thus made a voter in ever State in the
Union."
But when the loyal women of Missouri, apprehending that "all persons
beneath the flag were rHade citizens and voters by the fourteenth amend-
ment," through Mrs. Minor, applied to the Supreme Court for protection
in the exercise of that same right, this high tribunal, reversing all its for-
mer decisions, proclaims State sovereignty superior to national authority.
This it does in this strange language : " Being born in the United States,
a woman is a person and therefore a citizen " — we are much obliged to
them for that definition of our identity as persons — " but the constitution
of the United States does not confer the right of suffrage upon any one."
And then, in the face of its previous decisions, the court declared : "The
United States has no voters in the States of its own creation ". that ths
elective officers of the United States are all elected, directly or indirectly,
Phoebe IV. Cousins' Argiiment. 171
by State voters. It remands woman to the States for her protection, thus
giving to the State the supreme authority and overthrowing the entire re-
sults of the war, which was fought to maintain national supremacy over
any and all subjects in which the rights and privileges of the citizens
of the United States are involved.
No supreme allegiance, gentlemen of the committee, can be claimed for
or by a government, if it has no citizens of its own creation, and consti-
tutional amendments cannot confer authority over matters which have
no existence in the constitution. Thus, our supreme law-givers hold
themselves up for obloquy and ridicule in their interpretation of the most
solemn rights of loyal citizens, and make our constitutional law to mean
anything or nothing as the case may be. You will see, gentlemen, that
the very point which the South contended for as the true one is here ac-
knowledged to be the true one by the Supreme Court — that of State
rights superior to national authority. The whole of the recent contest
hinged upon this. The appeal to arms and the constitutional amendments
were to establish the subordination of the State to national supremacy, to
maintain the national authority over any and all subjects in which the
rights and privileges of the citizens of the United States were involved ;
but this decision in Mrs. Minor's case completely nullifies the supreme
authority of the government, and gives the States more than has hitherto
been claimed for them by the advocates of State rights. The subject of
the franchise is thus wholly withdrawn from federal supervision and con-
trol. If " the United States has no citizens of its own creation," of course
no supreme allegiance can be claimed over the various citizens of the
States.
The constitutional amendments cannot confer authority over a matter
which has no existence in the constitution. If it has no voters, it can
have nothing whatever to do with the elections and voting in the States ;
yet the United States invaded the State of New York, sent its officers
there to try, convict, and sentence Miss Anthony for exercising a right in
her own State which they declared the United States had no jurisdiction
over. They send United States troops into the South to protect the
negro in his right to vote, and then declare they have no jurisdiction over
his voting. Then, mark the grave results which may and can follow this
derision and legislation. I do not imagine that the Supreme Court, in its
cowardly dodging of woman's right to all the rights and privileges which
citizenship involves, designed to completely abrogate the principles es-
tablished by the recent contest, or to nullify the ensuing legislation on
the subject. But it certainly has done all this; for it must logically fol-
low that if the United States has no citizens, it cannot legislate upon the
rights of citizens, andthe recent amendments are devoid of authority. It
has well been suggested by Mr. Minor, in his criticism of the decision,
that if members of the House of Representatives are elected by State
voters, as the Supreme Court has declared, there is no reason why
States may not refuse to elect them as in 1860, and thus deprive congress
of its power. And if a sufficient number could be united to recall at their
pleasure these representatives, what authority has the federal govern-
172 History of Woman Suffrage.
ment, under this decision, for coercing them into subjection or refusing
them a separation, if all these voters in the States desired an independent
existence? None whatever. Mr. Garfield, in the House, in his speech
last March, calls attention to this subject, but does not allude to the fact
that the Supreme Court has already opened the door. He says :
There are several ways in which our government maybe annihilated without the fir-
ing of a gun. For example, suppose the people of the United States should say, we
will elect no representatives to congress. Of course this is a violent supposition ; but
suppose that they do not. Is there any remedy? Does our constitution provide any
remedy whatever ? In two years there would be no House of Representatives ; of
course, no support of the government and no government. Suppose, again, the States
should say, through their legislatures, we will elect no senators. Such abstention
alone would absolutely destroy this government ; and our system provides no process
of compulsion to prevent it. Again, suppose the two houses were to assemble in their
usual order, and a majority of one in this body or in the Senate should firmly band
themselves together and say, we will vote to adjourn the moment the hour of meeting
arrives, and continue so to vote at every session during our two years of existence — the
government would perish, and there is no provision of the constitution to prevent it.
The States may inform their representatives that they can do this ; and,
under this position, they have the power and the right so to do.
Gentlemen, we are now on the verge of one of the most important
presidential campaigns. The party in power holds its reins by a very
uncertain tenure. If the decision shall favor the one which has been
on the anxious bench for lo ! these twenty years, and in probation until
hope has well-nigh departed, what may be its action if invested again
with the control of the destinies of this nation ? The next party in
power may inquire, and answer, by what right and how far the Southern
States are bound by the legislation in which they had no part or consent.
And if the Supreme Court of a Republican judiciary now declares, after
the war, after the constitutional amendments, that federal suffrage does
not exist and never had an existence in the constitution, it follows that
the South has the right to regulate and control all of the questions aris-
ing upon suffrage in the several States without any interference on the
part of an authority which declares it has no jurisdiction. An able
writer has said :
All injustice at last works out a loss. The great ledger of nations does not report a
good balance for injustice. It has always met fearful losses. The irrepealable law of
justice will, sooner or later, grind a nation to powder if it fail to establish that
equilibrium of allegiance and protection which is the essential end of all government.
Woe to that nation which thinks lightly of the duties it owes to its citizens and imagines
that governments are not bound by moral laws.
It was the tax on tea — woman's drink prerogative — which precipitated
the rebellion of 1776. Tq allay the irritation of ^the colonies, all taxes
were rescinded save that on tea, which was left to indicate King George's
dominion. But our revolutionary fathers and mothers said, "No; the
tax is paltry, but the principle is great "; and Eve, as usual, pointed the
moral for Adam's benefit. A most suggestive picture, one which aroused
the intensest patriotism of the colonies, was that of a woman pinioned by
her arms to the ground by a British peer, with a British red-coat holding
her with one hand and with the other forcibly thrusting down her
P/icebe W. Couzins Argument. 173
throat the contents of a tea-pot, which she heroically spewed back in his
face ; while the figure of Justice, in the distance, wept over this pros-
trate Liberty. Now, gentlemen, we might well adopt a similar repre-
sentation. Here is Miss Smith of Glastonbury, Conn., whose cows have
been sold every year by the government, contending for the same princi-
ple as our forefathers — that of resistance to taxation without represen-
tation. We might have a picture of a cow, with an American tax-col-
lector at the horns, a foreign-born assessor at the heels, forcibly selling
the birthright of an American citizen, while Julia and Abby Smith, in
the background, with veiled faces, weep over the degeneracy of Repub-
lican leadership.
But there are those in authority in the government who do not believe
in this decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. The attorney-
general, in his instructions to the United States marshals and their depu-
ties or assistants in the Southern States, when speaking of the counte-
nance and support of all good citizens of the United States in the
respective districts of the marshals, remarks:
It is not necessary to say that it is upon such countenance and support that the
United States mainly rely in their endeavor to enforce the right to vote which they
have given or have secured.
You notice the phraseology. Again, he says :
The laws of the United States are supreme, and so, consequently, is the action of
officials of the United States in enforcing them.
Secretary Sherman said in his speech at Steubenville, July 6:
The negroes are free and are citizens and voters. That, at least, is a part of the
constitution and cannot be changed.
And President Hayes in his two last messages, as Mrs. Blake recited to
you, has declared that —
United States citizenship shall mean one and the same thing and carry with it all
over our wide territory unchallenged security and respect.
And that is what we ask for women.
In conclusion, gentlemen, I say to you that a sense of justice is the
sovereign power of the human mind, the most unyielding of any; it re-
wards with a higher sanction, it punishes with a deeper agony than any
earthly tribunal. It never slumbers, never dies. It constantly utters
and demands justice by the eternal rule of right, truth and equity. And
on these eternal foundation-stones we stand.
Crowning the dome of this great building there stands the majestic
figure of a woman representing Liberty. It was no idealistic thought or
accident of vision which gave us Liberty prefigured by a woman. It is
the great soul of the universe pointing the final revelation yet to come
to humanity, the prophecy of the ages — the last to be first.*
When the proposition to print these speeches came before the
House a prolonged debate against it showed the readiness of the
opposition to avail themselves of every legal technicality to de-
* Speeches were also made by Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Spencer and Miss Anthony.
174 History of Woman Suffrage.
prive women of equal rights and privileges. But the measure
finally passed and the documents were printed. To the Hon.
Elbridge G. Lapham of New York we were largely indebted for
the success of this measure.
The Washington Republican of February 6, 1880, describes a
novel event that took place at that time :
In the Supreme Court of the United States, on Monday, on motion of
Mrs. Belva Lockwood, Samuel R. Lowry of Alabama was admitted to
practice. Mr. Lowry is president of the Huntsville, Ala., industrial school,
and a gentleman of high attainments. It was quite fitting that the first
woman admitted to practice before this court should move the admission
of the first Southern colored man. Both will doubtless make good records
as representatives of their respective classes. This scene was character-
ized by George W. Julian as one of the most impressive he ever wit-
nessed— a fitting subject for an historical painting.
In 1880, women were for the first time appointed census
enumerators. Gen. Francis Walker, head of that department,
said there was no legal obstacle to the appointment of women
as enumerators, and he would gladly confirm the nomination
of suitable candidates. Very different was the action of the
head of the post-office department, who refused, on the ground of
sex, the application of 500 women for appointment as letter-
carriers.
In view of the important work to be done in a presidential
campaign, the National Association decided to issue an appeal to
the women of the country to appoint delegates from each State
and territory, and prepare an address to each of the presidential
nominating conventions. In Washington a move was made
for an act of incorporation in order that the Association might
legally receive bequests. Tracts containing a general statement
of the status of the movement were mailed to all members of
congress and officers of the government.
At a meeting of the Committee on Rules, Mr. Randall, a Demo-
cratic member of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Garfield, a Republican
mdmber of Ohio, reminded Mr. Frye of Maine that he had been
instructed by that committee, nearly a year before, to present to
the House a resolution on the rights of women. The Congressional
Record'oi March 27 contains the following:
Mr. FKVF. : I am instructed by the Committee on Rules to report a
resolution providing for the appointment of a special committee on the
political rights of women, and to move that it be placed on the House
calendar.
Mr. COXGKR: Let it be read.
Mass Meetings. 175
The clerk read the resolution as follows :
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the speaker appoint a special commit-
tee of nine members, to whom shall be referred all memorials, petitions, bills and
resolutions relating to the rights of the women of the United States, with power to
hear the same and report thereon by bill or otherwise. The resolution was referred to
the House calendar.
This was a proof of the advancing status of our question that
both Republican and Democratic leaders regarded the "rights of
•women " worthy the consideration of a special committee.
In the spring of 1880, the National Association held a series of
mass meetings in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and
Michigan, commencing with the May anniversary in Indianapolis,
at which sixteen States were represented.* The convention was
held in Park Theatre, Miss Anthony presiding. The arrange-
ments devolved chiefly on Mrs. May Wright Thompson, who dis-
charged her responsibilities in a most praiseworthy manner,
providing entertainment for the speakers, and paying all the
expenses from the treasury of the local association. A series of
resolutions was presented, discussed by a large number of
the delegates, and adopted.
In accordance with the plan decided upon in Washington of
attending all the nominating conventions, the next meeting was
held in Chicago, beginning on the same day with the Republican
convention. Farwell Hall was filled at an early hour ; Miss
Anthony in the chair. A large number of delegates f were present
' * Alabama, Mrs. P. Holmes Drake, Huntsville. Connecticut, Elizabeth C. Champion, Bridgeport.
District of Columbia, Belva A. Lockwood, Eveleen L. Mason, Jerusha G. Joy, Ellen H. Sheldon,
Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford. Illinois, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, vice-president of
the National Association and editor of the "Woman's Kingdom" in the Chicago Inter-Ocean, Evan-
stoD ; Dr. Ann M. Porter, Danville. Indiana, Mary E. Haggart, vice-president ; Martha Grimes,
.Zerelda G. Wallace, May Wright Thompson, A. P. Stanton, Indianapolis; Salome McCain, Frances
Joslin, Crawfordsville ; Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, editor of the " Bric-a-brac department " of the Lafay-
ette Courier, Lafayette; Thomas Atkinson, Oxford; Mrs. Dr. Rogers, Greencaslle ; Florence M.
Hardin, Pendelton. Joti'a, Mrs. J. C. M'Kinney, Mrs. Weiser, Decorah. Kentucky, Mary B.
Clay, Richmond ; Mrs. Carr. Mrs. E. T. Housh, Louisville. Louisiana, Elizabeth L. Saxon, New
Orleans. Maryland, Mary A. Butler, Baltimore. Michigan, Catherine A. F. Stebbins, Detroit.
Missouri, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor, Mrs. Eliza J. Patrick, Mrs. Annie T. Anderson, Mrs. Caroline
Johnson Todd, Mrs. Endie J. Polk, Miss Phoebe Couzins, Miss M. A. Baumgarten, Miss Emma Neave,
Miss F.liza B. Bucklev, St. Louis; Mrs. Frances Montgomery, Oregon. JWro Hamfshire, Parker
Pillsbury, Concord. New Jersey, Lucinda B. Chandler. New York, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Gage, Miss
Anthony. Ohio, Mrs. Amanda B. Merrian, Mrs. Cordelia A. Plimpton, Cincinnati; Sophia L. O.
Allen, Eva L. Pinney, South Newbury ; Mrs. N. L. Braffet, New Paris. Pennsylvania, Rachel Fos-
ter, Julia T. Foster, Philadelphia. South Carolina, Mary R. Pell, Cowden P. O.
+ Colorado, Florence M. Haynes, Greeley. Connecticut, Elizabeth C. Champion, Bridgeport. Dfi-
trict ef Columbia, IJelva A. Lockwood, Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford, Ellen H. Sheldon,
• n L. Mason, Jerusha G. Joy, Helen Rand Tindall, Amanda M. Best, Washington. Illinois,
Kit. alirth Boynton Harbert, Sarah Hackett Slephenson, Kate Newell Doggett, Catherine V. Waite,
Kli/aljcth J. Loomis, Alma Van Winkle, Chicago; Dr. Ann Porter, Danville ; Mrs. F. Lillebridge,
Rockford ; Ann L. Barnett, Lock port ; Mrs. F. A. Ross, Mrs. I. R. Lewison, Mansfield ; Amanda
Smith, Prophctstown. Indiana, Helen M. Cougar, Lafayette; Dr. Rachel B. Swain, Gertrude Garri-
son, Indianapolis. 7<>7crt, Nancy R. Allen, Maquoketa ; Jane C. M'Kinney, Mrs. Weiser. Decorah ;
Virginia Cornish, Hamburg; Ellen J. Foster, Clinton; Clara F. Harkness, Humboldt. Kansas,
176
History of Woman Suffrage.
from every part of the Union, among whom were many of the
most distinguished advocates of woman suffrage. Mrs. Harbert
gave an eloquent address of welcome.
Committees were appointed to visit the delegates from the
different States to the Republican convention, to secure seats for
the members of the National Association, and to ask that a plank
recommending a sixteenth amendment be incorporated in the
platform adopted by the Republican party. The proprietor of
the Palmer House gave the usff of a large parlor to the Asso-
ciation for business meetings and the reception of Republican
delegates, many of whom were in favor of a woman's plank in
their platform, and of giving the ladies seats in the convention.
Strenuous efforts had been made to this end. One hundred and
eighteen senators and representatives addressed a letter to the
chairman of the National Republican committee — Don Cameron
— asking that seventy-six seats should be given in the convention
to the representatives of the National Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion. It would naturally be deemed that a request, proceeding
from such a source, would be heeded. The men who made it were
holding the highest positions in the body politic ; but the party
managers presumed to disregard this request, and also the vote
of the committee. The question of furnishing seats for our dele-
gates was brought up before the close of their deliberations by
Mr. Finnell, of Kentucky, who said :
A committee of women have been here and they ask for seventy-six
seats in this convention. I move that they be furnished.
Mr. Cary of Wyoming, made some remarks showing that
woman suffrage in his territory had been to the advantage of
the Republican party, and seconded the motion of Mr. Finnell,
which was adopted. The following resolution of the Arkansas
delegation to the National Republican convention was read and
received with enthusiasm :
Amanda B. Way, Elizabeth M'Kinney, Kenneth. Kentucky* Mary B. Clay, Sallie Clay Bennett,
Richmond. Louisiana* Elizabeth L. Saxon, New Orleans. Maryland* Mary A. Butler, Baltimore.
Massachusetts* Addie N. Ayres, Boston. Minnesota, A. H. Street, Albert Lee. Michigan* Cath-
erine A. F. Stebbins, Detroit; Eliza Burt Gamble, Miss Mattie Smedly, East Saginaw ; P. Engle
Travis, Hartford ; Dr. Elizabeth Miller, South Frankford. Missouri, Virginia L. Minor, Phoebe W.
Couzins, Annie T. Anderson, Caroline J. Todd, St. Louis ; Dr. Augusta Smith, Springfield. A>7f
Hampshire* Parker Pillsbury, Concord. Nebraska* Harriet S. Brooks, Omaha ; Dr. Amy R. Post.
Hastings, ffeiv Jersey* Margaret H. Ravenhill. Nevt I'ork* Susan B. Anthony, Rochester; Ma-
tilda Joslyn Gage, Fayetteville ; Lillie Devereux Blake, New York city. Ohio* Eva L. Pinney, South
Newbury ; Julia B. Cole. Oregon* Mrs. A. J. Duniway (as substitute), Portland. Pennsylvania,
Rachel Foster, Julia T. Foster, Lucinda B. Chandler, Philadelphia; Cornelia H. Scarborough, New
Hope. South Carolina, Mary R. Pell, Cowden P. O. Tennessee* Elizabeth Avery Meriwether,
Memphis. Wisconsin, Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine; Almedia B. Gray, Schofield Mills. Wyoming
Territory, Amelia B. Post.
Memorial to the Republican Party. 177
Resolved, That we pledge ourselves to secure to women the exercise of their
right to vote.
It is here to be noted that not only were the Arkansas delega-
tion of Republicans favorable to the recognition of woman suffrage
in the platform of that party, but that the Southern delegates
were largely united in that demand. Mr. New told the ladies
that the Grant men had voted as a unit in favor of the women,
while the Elaine and Sherman men unanimously voted against
them.
But the ladies, well knowing the uncertainty of politicians,
were soon upon the way to the committee-room, to secure posi-
tive assurance from the lips of the chairman himself — Don Cam-
eron of Pennsylvania — that such tickets should be forthcoming,
when they were stopped by a messenger hurrying after them to
announce the presence of the secretary of the committee, Hon.
John New, at their headquarters, in the grand parlor of the Pal-
mer House, with a communication in regard to the tickets. He
said the seventy-six seats voted by the committee had been
reduced to ten by its chairman, and these ten were not offered to
the Association in its official capacity, but as complimentary or
" guest tickets," for a seat on the platform back of the presiding
officers.
The Committee on Resolutions, popularly known as the plat-
form committee, held a meeting in the Palmer House, June 2, to
which Belva A. Lockwood obtained admission. On motion of
Mr. Fredley of Indiana, Mrs. Lockwood was given permission to
present the memorial of the National Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion to the Republican party.
To Uie Republican Party in Convention assembled, Chicago, June 2, 1880 :
Seventy-six delegates from local, State and National suffrage associa-
tions, representing every section of the United States, are here to-day to
ask you to place the following plank in your platform :
Resolved, That we pledge ourselves to secure to women the exercise of their right
to vote.
We ask you to pledge yourselves to protect the rights of one-half of the
American people, and to thus carry your own principles to their logical
results. The thirteenth amendment of 1865, abolishing slavery, the four-
teenth of 1867, defining citizenship, and the fifteenth of 1870, securing
United States citizens in their right to vote, and your prolonged and pow-
erful debates on all the great issues involved in our civil conflict, stand as
enduring monuments to the honor of the Republican party. Impelled by
the ever growing demand among women for a voice in the laws they are
required to obey, for their rightful share in the government of this re-
12
i 78 History of Woman Suffrage.
public, various State legislatures have conceded partial suffrage. But the
great duty remains of securing to woman her right to have her opinions
on all questions counted at the ballot-box.
You cannot live on the noble words and deeds of those who inaugurated
the Republican party. You should vie with those men in great achieve-
ments. Progress is the law of national life. You must have a new, vital
issue to rouse once more the enthusiasm of the people. Our question of
human rights answers this demand. The two great political parties are
alike divided upon finance, free-trade, labor reform and general questions
of political economy. The essential point in which you differ from the
Democratic party is national supremacy, and it is on this very issue we
make our demand, and ask that our rights as United States citizens be
secured by an amendment to the national constitution. To carry this
measure is not only your privilege but your duty. Your pledge to enfran-
chise ten millions of women will rouse an enthusiasm which must count
in the coming closely contested election. But above expediency is right,
and to do justice is ever the highest political wisdom.
The committee then adjourned to meet at the Sherman-house
club room, where they reassembled at 8 o'clock. Soon after
the calling to order of our own convention in Farwell Hall, word
came that a hearing had been accorded before the platform com-
mittee. This proved to be a sub-committee. Ten minutes were
given Miss Anthony to plead the cause of 10,000,000 — yes, 20,-
000,000 citizens of this republic (?), while, watch in hand, Mr.
Pierrepont sat to strike the gavel when this time expired. Ten
minutes ! ! Twice has* the great Republican party, in the plenti-
tude of its power, allowed woman ten minutes to plead her cause
before it. Ten minutes twice in the past eight years, while all
the remainder of the time it has been fighting for power and
place and continued life, heedless of the wrongs and injustice it
was constantly perpetrating towards one-half the people. Ten
minutes! What a period in the history of time. Small hope
remained of a committee, with such a chairman, introducing a
plank for woman suffrage.
The whole Arkansas delegation had expressed itself in favor ;
most of the Kentucky delegation were known to be so, while
New York not only had friends to woman suffrage among its
number, but even an officer of the State association was a dele-
gate to the Republican convention. These men were called upon,
a form of plank placed in their hands and they were asked to offer
it as an amendment when the committee reported, but that plan
was blocked by a motion that ail resolutions should be referred
to the committee for action.
Chicago Historical Society. 179
Senator Farr of Michigan, a colored man, was the only member
of the platform committee who suggested the insertion of a
-woman suffrage plank, the Michigan delegation to a man, favor-
ing such action. The delegates were ready in case opportunity
offered, to present the address to the convention. But no such
moment arrived.
The mass convention had been called for June 2, but the crowds
in the city gave promise of such extended interest that Farwell
Hall was engaged for June I, and before the second day's pro-
ceedings closed, funds were voluntarily raised by the audience to
continue the meeting the third day. So vast was the number of
letters and postals addressed to the convention from all parts of
the country from women who desired to vote, that the whole
time of each session could* have been spent in reading them —
one day's mail alone bringing letters and postals from twenty-
three States and three territories. Some of these letters con-
tained hundreds of names, others represented town, county, and
State societies. Many were addressed to the different nominat-
ing conventions, Republican, Greenback, Democratic, while the
reasons given for desiring to vote, ranged from the simple de-
mand, through all the scale of reasons connected with good gov-
ernment and morality. So highly important a contribution to
history did the Chicago Historical Society* deem these expres-
sions of woman's desire to vote, that it made a formal request to
be put in possession of all letters and postals, with a promise
that they should be carefully guarded in a fire-proof safe.
* HISTORICAL SOCIETY ROOMS, 140-42 DEARBORN AVE., CHICAGO, May ig, 1880.
Mrs. E. C. Stanton, President National Woman Suffrage Association, fjb West Lake street :
Dear Madam : I write you in behalf of the Chicago Historical Society, and with the hope that you
will obligingly secure for and present to this society a full manuscript record of the mass-meeting to
be held in Farwell Hall in this city, June 2, 1880, duly signed by its officers. We hope too you will do
the society the great favor to deposit in its archives all the letters and postals which you igay
receive in response to your invitations to attend that meeting.
This meeting may be an important one and long to be remembered. It is hard to measure the possi-
bilities of 1880. I hope this meeting will mark an epoch in American history equal to the convention
held in Independence Hall in 1776. How valuable would be the attested manuscript record of that con-
vention and the correspondence connected therewith ! The records of the Farwell-hall meeting may be
<qually valuable one hundred years hence. Please let the records be kept in the city in which the con-
vention or mass-meeting is held.
I am a Republican. I hope the party to which I belong will be consistent. On the highest stripe of
its banner is inscribed " Freedom and Equal Rights." I hope the party will not be so inconsistent
as to refuse to the " better half" of the people of the United States the rights enjoyed by the liberated
slaves at the South.
The leaders should not be content to suffer it to be so, but should work with a will to make it so. I
have but little confidence in the sincerity of the man who will shout himself hoarse about "shot guns"
and " intimidation " at the South, when ridicule and sneers come from his " shot gun "pointed at those
who advocate the doctrine that our mothers, wives and sisters are as well qualified to vote and hold
official position as the average Senegambian of Mississippi.
We should be glad to have you and your friends call at these rooms, which are open and free for all.
Very Respectfully, A. D. HACER, Librarian.
180 History of Woman Suffrage.
After the eloquent speeches* of the closing session, Miss Alice
S. Mitchell sang Julia Ward Howe's " Battle Hymn of the Repub-
lic," Mrs. Harbert playing the accompaniment, and the immense
audience of 3,000 people joining in the chorus. This convention
held three sessions each day, and at all except the last an admis-
sion fee was charged, and yet the hall was densely crowded
throughout. For enthusiasm, nothing ever surpassed these meet-
ings in the history of the suffrage movement. A platform and
resolution were adopted as the voice of the convention.
The special object of the National Woman Suffrage Association is to secure national
protection for women in the exercise of their right of suffrage. It recognizes the fact
that our government was formed on the political basis of the consent of the governed,
and that the Declaration of Independence struck a blow at every existing form by de-
claring the individual to be the source of all power. The members of this association,
outside of our great question, have diverse political affiliations, but for the purpose of
gaining this great right to the ballot, its members hold their party predilections in
abeyance; therefore,
Resolved, That in this year of presidential nominations and political campaigns, we
announce our determination to support no party by whatever name called, unless such
party shall, in its platform, first emphatically endorse our demand for a recognition of
the exact and permanent political equality of all citizens.
A delegation f went to the Greenback convention and pre-
sented the following memorial :
When a new political party is formed it should be based upon the prin-
ciples of justice to all classes hitherto unrecognized. The finance ques-
tion, as broad as it is, does not reach down to the deepest wrong in the
nation. Beneath this question lies that of the denial of the right of self-
government to one-half the people. It is impossible to secure the
property rights of the people without first recognizing their personal
rights. More than any class of men, woman represents the great unpaid
laborer of the world — a slave, who, as wife and daughter, absolutely works
for her board and clothes. The question of finance deeply interests
* By Mrs. Saxon of New Orleans, La.; Mrs. Meriwether of Memphis, Mrs. Sallie Clay Bennett,
daughter of Cassius M. Clay of Richmond Ky.; and others. Mrs. Bennett related a little home inci-
dent. She said : A few days ago she was in her front yard planting with her own hands some roses,
wRen " our ex-governor," passing by, exclaimed : " Mrs. Bennett, I admire that in you ; whatever one
wants well done he must do himself." She immediately answered : " That is true Governor, and that
is why we women suffragists have determined to do our own voting hereafter." She then informed him
that she wanted to speak to him on that great question. He was rather anxious to avoid the argument,
and expressed his surprise and " was sorry to see a woman like her, surrounded by so many blessings,
with a kind husband, numerous friends and loving children, advocating woman suffrage ! She ought
to be contented with these. She was not like Miss Anthony — " " Stop, Governor," I exclaimed,
" Don't think of comparing me to that lady, for I feel that I am not worthy to touch the hem of her
garments." She was, she said, indeed the mother of five dear children, but she [Miss Anthony] is the
mother of a nation of women. She thought the women feared God rather than man, and it was only
this which encouraged them to speak on this subject, so dear to their hearts, in public. One lady gave
as a reason why she wanted to vote, that it was because " the men did not want them to," which evoked
considerable merriment. This induced the chair to remind the audience of Napoleon's rule : "Go,
see what your enemy does not want you to do and do it." Of the audience the Inter-Ocean said;
" The speakers of all the sessions were listened to with rapt attention by the audience, and the
points made were heartily applauded. It would be difficult to gather so large an audience of our sex
whose appearance would be more suggestive of refinement and intelligence."
t Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Haggart.
At the Democratic Convention. 181
woman, but her opinions upon it are valueless while deprived of the
right of enforcing- them at the ballot box. You are here in conven-
tion assembled, not alone to nominate a candidate for president, but
also to promulgate your platform of principles to the world. Now is your
golden opportunity. The Republican party presents no vital issue to the
country; its platform is a repetition of the platitudes of the past twenty
years. It has ceased to be a party of principles. It lives on the past.
The deeds of dead men hold it together. Its disregard of principles has
thrown opportunity into your hands. Will you make yourselves the
party of the future ? Will you recognize woman's right of self-govern-
ment ? Will you make woman suffrage an underlying principle in your
platform ? If you will make these pledges, the National Association will
work for the triumph of your party in the approaching closely con-
tested campaign.
The ladies were accorded hearings by several delegations pre-
vious to the assembling of the convention. A resolution com-
mittee of one from each State was appointed, and each mem-
ber allowed two minutes to present either by speech or writ-
ing such principles as it requested incorporated in the platform.
Lucinda B. Chandler, being a Greenbacker on principle, was a
regularly elected delegate and by courtesy was added to a sub-
committee on resolutions. The one prepared by the National
Association was placed in her hands, but, as she was forbidden to
speak upon it, her support could only be given by vote, and a
meaningless substitute took its place. The courtesy of placing
Mrs. Chandler upon the committee was like much of man's
boasted chivalry to woman, a seeming favor at the expense of
right.
After trying in vain for recognition as a political factor from
the Republican and Greenback nominating conventions the dele-
gates went to Cincinnati.*
Committees were at once appointed to visit the different dele-
gations. Women were better treated by the Democrats at Cin-
cinnati than by the Republicans at Chicago. A committee-
room in Music Hall was at once placed at their disposal, placards
pointing to their headquarters were printed by the local commit-
tee at its own expense, and sixteen seats given to the ladies upon
the floor of the house, just back of the regular delegates. A
hearingf before the platform committee was granted with no limit
as to time. At the close a delegate approached the table, saying,
i
* Twenty delegates from eleven different States, who had been in attendance at Chicago, went to
Cincinnati.
t Before which Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Meriwether, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Blake spoke.
1 82 History of Woman Suffrage.
" I favor giving woman a plank," " So do I," replied Mr. Watter-
son, chairman of the committee. Many delegates in conversa-
tion, favored the recognition of woman's political rights, and a
large number of the platform committee favored the introduc-
tion of the following plank :
That the Democratic part}1, recognizing the rapid growth of the woman
suffrage question, suggests a consideration of this important subject by the
people in anticipation of the time, near at hand, when it must become a
political issue.
But although the platform committee sat until 2 A. M., no such
result was reached, in consequence, it was said, of the objection
of the extreme Southern element which feared the political
recognition of negro women of the South.
The delegations from Maine, Kansas and New York were favor-
able, and offered the Association the use of their committee-rooms
at the Burnett House and the Grand Hotel whenever desired.
Mayor Prince of Boston not only offered a committee-room but
secured seats for the delegates on the floor of the house. Mr.
Henry Watterson, of the Louisville Courier-Journal, as chairman
of the Platform Committee, extended every courtesy within his
power. Mayor Harrison of Chicago did his best to secure to the
delegates a hearing before the convention. He offered to escort
Miss Anthony to the platform that she might at least present the
address. " You may be prevented," suggested one. " I'd like to
see them do it," he replied. " Have I not just brought about a
reconciliation between Tammany and the rest of New York?"
Taking Miss Anthony upon his arm and telling her not to flinch,
he made his way to the platform, when the chairman, Hon.
Wade Hampton of South Carolina, politely offered her a seat,
and ordered the clerk to read the address:
To the Democratic Party in Nominating Convention Assembled, Cincinnati,
June 22, 1880:
On behalf of the women of the country we appear before you, asking
the recognition of woman's political rights as one-half the people. We
ask no special privileges, no special legislation. We simply ask that
you live up to the principles enunciated by the Democratic party
from the time of Jefferson. By what principle of democracy do men as-
sume to legislate for women? Women are part of the people ; your very
name signifies government by the people. When you deny political
rights to women you are false to your own principles.
The Declaration of Independence recognized human rights as its
basis. Constitutions should also be general in character. But in oppo-
sition to this principle the party in power for the last twenty years has
At the Prohibition Convention. 183
perverted the Constitution of the United States by the introduction of the
word "male " three times, thereby limiting the application of its guaran-
tees to a special class. It should be your pride and your duty to restore
the constitution to its original basis by the adoption of a sixteenth amend-
ment, securing to women the right of suffrage ; and thus establish the
equality of all United States citizens before the law.
Not for the first time do we make of you these demands. At your nom-
inating convention in New York, in 1868, Susan B. Anthony appeared
before you, asking recognition of woman's inherent natural rights. At
your convention of 1872, in Baltimore, Isabella Beecher Hooker and Susan
B. Anthony made a similar appeal. In 1876, at St. Louis, Phoebe W.
Couzins and Virginia L. Minor presented our claims. Now, in 1880,
our delegates are present here from the Middle States, from the West
and from the South. The women of the South are rapidly uniting
in their demand for political recognition, as they have been the most
deeply humiliated by a recognition of the political rights of their former
slaves.
To secure to 20,000,000 of women the rights of citizenship is to base your
party on the eternal principles of justice; it is to make yourselves the
party of the future; it is to do away with a more extended slavery than
that of 4,000,000 of blacks ; it is to secure political freedom to half the na-
tion ; it is to establish on this continent the democratic theory of the
equal rights of the people.
In furtherance of this demand we ask you to adopt the following
resolution : ,
WHEREAS, Believing in the self-evident truth that all persons are created with cer-
tain inalienable rights, and that for the protection of these rights governments are in-
stituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; therefore,
Resolved, That the Democratic party pledges itself to use all its powers to secure to
the women of the nation protection in the exercise of their right of suffrage.
On behalf of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Chairman Executive Committee.
That the women however, in the campaign of 1880, received
the best treatment at the hands of the National Prohibition party
is shown by the following invitation received at the Bloomington
convention :
To the National Woman Suffrage Association of the United States :
The woman suffragists are respectfully invited to meet with and parti-
cipate in the proceedings of the National Prohibition Convention to be
held at Cleveland, Ohio, June, 1880.
JAMES BLACK, Chairman of National Committee.
Per J. W. HAGGARD.
A letter was received from Mr. Black urging the acceptance of
the invitation. Accordingly Miss Phoebe Couzins was sent as
a delegate from the association. The Prohibition party in its
eleventh plank said :
1 84 History of Woman Suffrage.
We also demand that women having privileges as citizens in other respects,
shall be clothed with the ballot for their own protection, and as a rightful means
for a proper settlement of the liquor question.
After attending all these nominating conventions, some of the
delegates * went to Wisconsin where the State and National Asso-
ciations held a joint convention, in the Opera House at Milwaukee,
June 4, 5. Madam Anneke gave the address of welcome.f
Fresh from the exciting scenes of the presidential conventions,
the speakers were unusually earnest and aggressive. The resolu-
tions discussed at the Indianapolis convention were considered
and adopted. Carl Doerflinger read a greeting in behalf of the
German Radicals of the city. Letters were read from prominent
persons, expressing their interest in the movement. \ Dr. Laura
Ross Wolcott made all the arrangements and contributed largely
to the expenses of the convention. The roll of delegates shows
that the State, at least, was well represented. §
Thus through the terrible heat of June this band of earnest
women held successive conventions in Bloomington, 111., Grand
Rapids, Mich., Lafayette and Terre Haute, Ind. They were most
hospitably entertained, and immense audiences greeted them at
every point. Mrs. Cordelia Briggs took the entire responsibility
of the social and financial interests of the, convention at Grand
Rapids, which continued for three days with increasing enthusi-
asm to the close. Mrs. Helen M. Gougar made the arrangements
for Lafayette which were in every way successful.
After the holding of these conventions, delegations from the
National Association called on the nominees of the two great
parties to ascertain their opinions and proposed action, if any, on
the question of woman suffrage. Mrs. Blake, and other ladies
representing the New York city society, called on General Han-
cock at his residence and were most courteously received. In
* Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Meriwether, Mrs. Saxon, Miss. Couzins, Rev. Olympia
.Brown, Misses Rachel and Julia Foster.
t This was the last time this noble German woman honored our platform, as her eventful life closed
31 few years after.
\ Among others, from Assemblyman Lord, State-Superintendent-of-Public-Instruction Whitford, J.
M. Ij'mgham and Superintendent MacAlister.
jj The delegates were Olympia Brown, Racine: L. C. Gait, M. M. Frazier, .Ifukiv onngo ; E. A.
Brown, Berlin; E. M. Cooley, Eureka ; E. L. Woolcott, Ripon ; O. M. Patton, M. D., Appleton;
H. Suhm, E. Hohgrave, Sauk City; M. W. Mabbs, C. M. Stowers, Manitowoc ; S. C. Guernsey,
Janesville ; H. T. Patchin, A'ew London ; Jennie Pomeroy, Grand Rapids ; Mrs. H. W. Rice, Oco-
nomou'oc ; Amy Winship, Racine; Almedia B. Gray, Matilda Graves, Jessie Gray, Scholfield . Milts ;
Mrs. Mary Collins, Muhwonago : Mrs. Jere Witter, Grand Rapids ; Mrs. Lucina E. De Wolff, White-
water. The Milwaukee delegates were: Dr. Laura R. Wolcott, Mme. Mathilde Franceske Anneke,
Mrs. A. M. Bolds. Mrs. A. Flagge, Agnes B. Campbell, Mary A. Rhienart, Matilda Pietsch, N. J.
Comstock. Sarah R. Munro, M. D., Juliet H. Severance, M. D., Mrs. Emily Firega, Carl Doerflinger.
Maximillian Grossman and Carl Herman Boppe.
Correspondence with. Presidential Candidates. 185
the course of a long conversation in which it was evident that he
had given some thought to the question, he said he would not
veto a District of Columbia Woman Suffrage bill, provided such
a bill should pass congress, thereby putting himself upon better
record than Horace Greely the year of his candidacy, who not
only expressed himself as opposed to woman suffrage, but also
declared that, if elected, he would veto such a bill provided it
passed congress.
Miss Anthony visited James A. Garfield at his home in Mentor,
Ohio. He was very cordial, and listened with respect to her pre-
sentation of the question. Although from time to time in con-
gress he had uniformly voted with our friends, yet he expressed
/ serious doubts as to the wisdom of pressing this measure during
the pending presidential campaign.
As it was deemed desirable to get some expression on paper
from the candidates, the following letter, written on official paper,
was addressed to the Republican and Democratic nominees :
ROCHESTER, N. Y., August 17, 1880.
Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD: Dear Sir: As vice-president-at-large of
the National Woman Suffrage Association, I am instructed to ask you, if,
in the event of your election, you, as President of the United States, would
recommend to congress, in your message to that body, the submission to
the several legislatures of a sixteenth amendment to the national consti-
tution, prohibiting the disfranchisement of United States citizens on
account of sex. What we wish to ascertain is whether you, as president,
would use your official influence to secure to the women of the several
States a national guarantee of their right to a voice in the government on
the same terms with men. Neither platform makes any pledge to secure
political equality to women — hence we are waiting and hoping that one
candidate or the other, or both, will declare favorably, and thereby make
it possible for women, with self-respect, to work for the success of one or
the other or both nominees. Hoping for a prompt and explicit statement,
1 am, sir, very respectfully yours, SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
To this General Hancock vouchsafed no reply, while General
Garfield responded as follows :
MENTOR, O., August 25, 1880.
Dear Miss ANTHONY : Your letter of the i7th inst. came duly to hand.
I take the liberty of asking your personal advice before I answer your
official letter. I assume that all the traditions and impulses of your life
lead you to believe that the Republican party has been and is more nearly
in the line of liberty than its antagonist the Democratic party ; and I know
you desire to advance the cause of woman. Now, in view of the fact that
the Republican convention has not discussed your question, do you not
think it would be a violation of the trust they have reposed in me, to
1 86 History of Woman Suffrage.
speak, " as their nominee " — and add to the present contest an issue that
they have not authorized ? Again, if I answer your question on the
ground of my own private opinion, I shall be compelled to say, that while
I am open to the freest discussion and fairest consideration of your ques-
tion, I have not yet reached the conclusion that it would be best for
woman and for the country that she should have the suffrage. I may
reach it ; but whatever time may do to me, that fruit is not yet ripe on my
tree. I ask you, therefore, for the sake of your own question, do you
think it wise to pick my apples now? Please answer me in the frankness
of personal friendship. With kind regards, I am very truly yours,
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Miss SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Rochester, N. Y.
ROCHESTER, N. Y., September 9, 1880.
Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD: Dear Sir: Yours of the 25th ult. has
waited all these days that I might consider and carefully reply.
First. The Republican party did run well for a season in the " line of
liberty"; but since 1870, its congressional enactments, majority reports,
Supreme Court decisions, and now its presidential platform, show a retro-
grade movement — not only for women, but for colored men — limiting the
power of the national government in the protection of United States citi-
zens against the injustice of the States, until what we gained by the
sword is lost by political surrenders. And we need nothing but a Demo-
cratic administration to demonstrate to all Israel and the sun the fact, the
sad fact, that all ts lost by the Republican party, and not to be lost by the
Democratic party. I mean, of course, the one vital point of national
supremacy in the protection of United States citizens in the enjoyment of
their right to vote, and the punishment of States or individuals thereof,
for depriving citizens of the exercise of that right. The first and fatal
mistake was in ceding to the States the right to "abridge or deny " the
suffrage to foreign-born men in Rhode Island, and all women throughout
the nation, in direct violation of the principle of national supremacy.
And from that time, inch by inch, point by point has been surrendered,
until it is only in name that the Republican party is the party of national
supremacy. Grant did not protect the negro's ballot in 1876 — Hayes can-
not in 1880 — nor could Garfield in 1884 — for the "sceptre has departed
from Judah."
Second. For the candidate of a party to add to the discussions of the
contest an issue unauthorized or unnoted in its platform, when that issue
was one vital to its very life, would, it seems to me, be the grandest act
imaginable. And, for doing that very thing, with regard to the protection
of the negroes of the South, you are to-day receiving more praise from
the best men of the party, than for any and all of your utterances inside
the line of the platform. And I know, if you had in your letter of accept-
ance, or in your New York speech, declared yourself in favor of " perfect
equality of rights for women, civil and political, "you would have touched
an electric spark that would have fired the heart of the women of the
entire nation, and made the triumph of the Republican party more grand
and glorious than any it has ever seen.
Memorial of Lucretia Mott. 187
Third. As to picking fruit before it is ripe ! Allow me to remind you
that very much fruit is never picked ; some gets nipped in the blossom ;
some gets worm-eaten and falls to the ground ; some rots on the trees
before it ripens ; some, too slow in ripening, gets bitten by the early frosts
of autumn ; while some rich, rare, ripe apples hang unpicked, frozen and
worthless on the leafless trees of winter! Really. Mr. Garfield, if, after
passing through the war of the rebellion and sixteen years in congress ; —
if, after seeing, and hearing, and repeating, that no class ever got justice
and equality of chances from any government except it had the power —
the ballot — to clutch them for itself; — if, after all your opportunities for
growth and development, you cannot yet see the truth of the great prin-
ciple of individual self-government; — if you have only reached the idea
of class-government, and that, too, of the most hateful and cruel form —
bounded by sex — there must ,be some radical defect in the ethics of the
party of which you are the chosen leader.
No matter which party administers the government, women will con-
tinue to get only subordinate positions and half-pay, not because of the
party's or the president's lack of chivalric regard for woman, but because,
in the nature of things, it is impossible for any government to protect
a disfranchised class in equality of chances. Women, to get justice, must
have political freedom. But pardon this long trespass upon your time
and patience, and please bear in mind that it is not for the many good
things the Republican party and its nominee have done in extending the
area of liberty, that I criticise them, but because they have failed to place
the women of the nation on the plane of political equality with men. I do
not ask you to go beyond your convictions, but I do most earnestly beg
you to look at this question from the stand-point of woman — alone,
without father, brother, husband, son — battling for bread ! It is to help
the millions of these unfortunate ones that I plead for the ballot in the
hands of all women. With great respect for your frank and candid talk
with one of the disfranchised, I am very sincerely yours,
SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
As Mr. Garfield was the only presidential nominee of either of
the great parties who deigned a reply to the National Associa-
tion, we have given his letter an honored place in our history,
and desire to pay this tribute to his memory, that while not fully
endorsing our claims for political equality he earnestly advocated
for woman all possible advantages of education, equal rights in
the trades and professions, and equal laws for the protection of
her civil rights.
The Thirteenth Annual Washington Convention assembled in
Lincoln Hall, January 18, 1881. The first session was devoted to
memorial services in honor of Lucretia Mott. A programme*
* i. Silent Invocation. 2. Music. 3. Eulogy, Elizabeth Cady Stanlon. 4. Tributes, Frederick
Douglass, Susan H. Anthony. 5. Music. 6. Tributes, Robert Purvis, May Wright Sew. ill, Phcebe
W. Couzins. 7. Closing Hymn — " Nearer , my GW, to T/tee."
1 88 History of Woman Suffrage.
for the occasion was extensively circulated, and the response in
character and numbers was such an audience as had seldom be-
fore crowded that hall. The spacious auditorium was brilliant
with sunlight and the gay dresses, red shawls and flowers of
the ladies of the fashionable classes. Mrs. Hayes with several
of her guests from the White House occupied front seats.
The stage was crowded with members of the association, Mrs.
Mott's personal friends and wives of members of congress. The
decorations which had seldom been surpassed in point of beauty
and tastefulness. of arrangement, formed a fitting setting for this
notable assemblage of women. The background was a mass of
colors, formed by the graceful draping of national flags, here and
there a streamer of old gold with heavy fringe to give variety,
while in the center was a national shield surmounted by two flags.
On each side flags draped and festooned, falling at the front of
the stage with the folds of the rich maroon curtains. Graceful
ferns and foliage plants had been arranged, while on a table stood
a large harp formed of beautiful red and white flowers.* At the
other end was a stand of hot-house flowers, while in the center,
resting on a background of maroon drapery, was a large crayon
picture of Lucretia Mott. Above the picture a snow-white dove
held in its beak sprays of smilax, trailing down on either side, and
below was a sheaf of ripened wheat, typical of the life that had
ended. The occasion which had brought the ladies together, the
placid features of that kind and well-remembered face, had a
solemnizing effect upon all, and quietly the vast audience passed
into the hall. The late-comers finding all the seats occupied
stood in the rear and sat in the aisles.
Presently Miss Couzins, stepping to the front of the stage said
gently, " In accordance with the custom of Mrs. Mott and the
time-honored practice of the Quakers, I ask you to unite in an
invocation to the Spirit." She bowed her head. The audience
followed her example. For several minutes the solemn stillness
of devotion pervaded the hall. When Miss Couzins had taken
her seat the quartette choir of St. Augustine's church (colored)
which was seated on the platform, sang sweetly an appropriate
selection, after which Mrs. Stanton delivered the eulogy,f holding
a.l
Th
sylvania.
t The eulogy will be found in Volume I., page 407.
Memorial of Lucretia Mott. 189
the rapt attention of her audience over an hour. At the close
Frederick Douglass said :
He had listened with interest to the fine analysis of the life and services
of Lucretia Mott. He was almost unwilling to have his voice heard after
what had been said. He was there to show by his presence his profound
respect and earnest love for Lucretia Mott. He recognized none whose
services in behalf of his race were equal to hers. Her silence even in
that cause was more than the speech of others. He had no words for this
occasion.
Robert Purvis at the request of a number of colored citizens of
Washington, presented a beautiful floral harp to Mr. Davis, the
son-in-law of Lucretia Mott, the only representative of her family
present. He paid a tender tribute to the noble woman whose
life-long friendship he had enjoyed. Mr. Davis having a seat on
the platform, received the gift with evident emotion, and return-
ing thanks, he said :
He would follow the example of Mrs. Mott who seldom kept a gift long,
and present these rare flowers to Mrs. Spofford, the treasurer of the Asso-
ciation.
Miss ANTHONY said : The highest tribute she could pay, was, that dur-
ing the past thirty years she had always felt sure she was right when she
had the approval of Lucretia Mott. Next to that of her own conscience
she most valued the approval of her sainted friend. And it was now a
great satisfaction that in all the differences of opinion as to principles
and methods in our movement, Mrs. Mott had stood firmly with the Na-
tional Association, of which she was to the day of her death the honored
and revered vice-president.
Mrs. Sewall, after speaking of the many admirable qualities of
Mrs. Mott, said:
In looking around this magnificent audience I cannot help asking
myself the question, Where are the young girls? They should be here..
It is the birthright of every girl to know the life and deeds of every noble
woman. I think Lucretia Mott was as much above the average woman
as Abraham Lincoln above the average man.
Miss Couzins closed with a few graceful words. She expressed
her pleasure in meeting so magnificent an audience, and thought
the whole occasion was a beautiful tribute to one of America's
best and noblest women. She hoped the mothers present would
carry away the impressions they had received and teach their
daughters to hold the name of Lucretia Mott ever in grateful
remembrance. The choir sang " Nearer, My God, to Thee."
The entire audience arose and joined in the singing, after which
they slowly dispersed, feeling that it had indeed been a penta-
costal occasibn.
190 History of Woman Suffrage.
An able paper from Alexander Dumas, on "Woman Suffrage
as a means of Moral Improvement and Prevention of Crime,"*
was translated for this meeting by Thomas Mott, the only son of
James and Lucretia Mott. This convention continued two days,
with the usual number of able speakers.f It was announced at
the last session that an effort would be made by Senator Mc-
Donald, next day, to call up a resolution providing for the ap-
pointment of a standing committee for women ; accordingly the
ladies' gallery in the Senate was well filled with delegates.
From the Congressional Record, January 20, 1881 :
Mr. McDoNALD : On February 16, 1880, I submitted a resolution pro-
viding for the appointment of a committee of nine senators, whose duty
it shall be to receive, consider and report upon all petitions, memorials,
resolutions and bills relating to the rights of women of the United States,
said committee to be called "Committee on the Rights of Women." It
is on the calendar, and I ask for its present consideration.
The VICE-PRESIDENT (Mr. Wheeler of New York) : The senator from
Indiana calls up for consideration a resolution on the calendar, which will
be reported.
The chief clerk read the resolution, as follows:
Resolved, That a committee of nine senators be appointed by the Senate, whose
duty it shall be to receive, consider and report upon all petitions, memorials, resolu-
tions and bills relating to the rights of women of the United States, said committee to
be called the Committee on the Rights of Women.
The VICE-PRESIDENT : The question is, Will the Senate agree to the
resolution ?
Mr. MCDONALD : Mr. President, it seems to me that the time has arrived
when the rights of the class of citizens named in the resolution should
have some hearing in the national legislature. We have standing com-
mittees upon almost every other subject, but none to which this class of
citizens can resort. When their memorials come in they are sometimes
sent to the Committee on the Judiciary, sometimes to the Committee on
Privileges and Elections, and sometimes to other committees. The con-
sequence is that they pass around from committee to committee and never
receive any consideration. In the organization and growth of the Senate
a number of standing committees have been from time to time created
and continued from congress to congress, until many of them have but
very little duty now to perform. It seems to me to be very appropriate
to consider this question now, and provide some place in the capitol,
some room of the Senate, some branch of the government, where this
class of applicants can have a full and fair hearing, and have such meas-
ures as may be desired to secure to them such rights brought fairly and
* See National Citizen of February, 1881.
t Edward M. Davis. Susan B. Anthony, Marilla M. R:cker, Rachel and Julia Foster, Frederick
Douglass, Belva A. Lockwood, Robert Purvis, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This was the first time that
Mrs. Martha M'Clellan Brown, Miss Jessie Waite, Mrs. May Wright Sewall and Mrs. Thornton
Charles were on our Washington platform. The latter read a poem on woman's sphere.
Committee on the Rights of Women. 191
properly before the country. I hope there will be no opposition to the
resolution but that it will be adopted by unanimous consent.
Mr. CONKLING : Does the senator from Indiana wish to raise a perma-
nent committee on this subject to take its place and remain on the list of
permanent committees?
Mr. McDONALD : That is precisely what I propose to do.
Mr. CONKLING • Mr. President, I was in hopes that the honorable sen-
ator from Indiana, knowing how sincere and earnest he is in this regard,
intended that an end should be made soon of this subject ; that the prayer
of these petitioners should be granted and the whole right established ;
but now it seems that he wishes to create a perpetual committee, so that
it is to go on interminably, from which I infer that he intends that never
shall these prayers be granted. I suggest to the senator from Indiana
that, if he be in earnest, if he wishes to crown with success this great and
beneficent movement, he should raise a special committee, which com-
mittee would understand that it was to achieve and conclude its purpose,
and this presently, and not postpone indefinitely in the vast forever the
realization of this hope. I trust, therefore, that the senator from Indi-
ana will make this a special committee, and will let that special committee
understand that before the sun goes down on the last day of this session
it is to take final, serious, intelligent action, for which it is to be respons-
ible, whether that action be one way or the other.*
Mr. McDONALD : The senator from New York misapprehends one pur-
pose of this committee. I certainly have no desire that the rights of this
class of our citizens should be deferred to that far-distant future to which
he has made reference, nor would this committee so place them. If it be
authorized by the Senate, it will be the duty of the committee to receive
all petitions, memorials, resolutions and bills relating to the rights of
women, not merely presented now but those presented at any future
time. It is simply to provide a place where one-half the people of the
United States may have a tribunal in this body before which they can
have their cases considered. I apprehend that these rights are never to
be ended. I do not suppose that the time will ever come in the history
of the human race when there will not be rights of women to be con-
sidered and passed upon. Therefore, to make this merely a special com-
mittee would not accomplish the purpose I had in view. While it would
of course give a committee that would receive and hear such petitions as
are now presented and consider such bills as should now be brought for-
ward, it would be better to have a committee from term to term, where
these same plaints could be heard, the same petitions presented, the same
bills considered, and where new rights, whatever they might be, can be dis-
* A standing committee is a permanent one about which no question can be raised in any congress.
A special committee is a transient one to be decided upon at the opening of each congress ; hence may
be at any time voted out of existence. No one understood this better than New York's Stala-art sena-
tor, and his plausible manner of killing the measure deceived the very elect. Enough senators were
pledged to have carried Mr. McDonald's motion had it been properly understood, but they, as well
as some of the ladies in the gallery, were entirely misled by Mr. Conkling's seeming earnest in-
tention to hasten the demands of the women by a short-lived committee, and while those in the gallery
applauded, those on the floor defeated the measure they intended to carry.
192 History of Woman Suffrage.
cussed and acted upon. Therefore I cannot accept the suggestion of the
senator from New York to make this a special committee.
Mr. DAVIS of West Virginia: I think it a bad idea to raise an extra
committee. I move that the resolution be referred to the Committee on
Rules, I think it ought to go there. That is where the rules generally
require all such resolutions to be referred.
The VICE-PRESIDENT : The question is on the motion of the senator
from Virginia, that the resolution be referred to the Committee on Rules.
Which was agreed to by a vote of 26 yeas to 23 nays.*
Amid all the pleasure of political excitement the social ameni-
ties were not forgotten. A brilliant reception f and supper
were given to the delegates by Mrs. Spofford at the Riggs House.
During the evening Mrs. Stanton presented the beautiful life-size
photograph of Lucretia Mott which had adorned the platform at
the convention, to Howard University, and read the following
letter from Edward M. Davis:
Mrs. ELIZABETH CADY STANTON — Dear Madam : As afi expression ot
my gratitude to the colored people of the District for their beautiful floral
tribute to the memory of my dear mother, I desire in the name of her
children to present to Howard University the photograph of Lucretia
Mott which adorned the platform during the convention. It is a fitting
gift to an institution that so well illustrates her principles in opening its
doors to all youth without regard to sex or color. With sincere regret
that I cannot be present this evening at the reception, I am gratefully
yours, EDWARD M. DAVIS.
In receiving the beautiful gift, Dr. Patton, president of the
institution, made a graceful response.
In the spring of 1881, the National Association held a series of
conventions through New England, beginning with the May
anniversary in Boston, of which we give the following description
f^om the Hartford Courant :
Among the many anniversaries in Boston the last week in May, one of
the most enthusiastic was that of the National Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion, held in Tremont Temple. The weather was cool and fair and the
audience fine throughout, and never was there a better array of speakers
at one time on any platform. The number of thoughtful, cultured young
women appearing in these conventions, is one of the hopeful features for
* }'eas — Messrs. Beck, Booth, Brown, Coke. Davis (W. Va.), Eaton, Edmunds, Farley, Garland,
Groome, Hill (Ga.), Harris, Ingalls, Reman. Lamar, Morgan, Morrill, Pendlcton, Platt, Pugh, Ransom,
Saul>bury, Slater, Vance, Vest and Withers — 26.
Nays — Messrs. Anthony, Blair, Burnside, Butler, Call, Cameron (Pa.), Cameron (Wis.), Conkling,
Dawes, Ferry, Hoar, Johnston, Jonas, Kellogg, Logan, McDonald, McMillan, McPherson, Rollins,
Saunders, Teller, Williams and Windom — 23.
t Of this reception the National Republican said : The attractions presented by the fair seekers of
the ballot were so much superior to tho«e of the dancing reception going on in the parlors above, that
it was almost impossible to form a set of the lanciers until after the gathering in the lower parlors had
entirely dispersed.
Boston May Anniversary. 193
the success of this movement. The selection of speakers for this occasion
had been made at the Washington convention in January, and different
topics assigned to each that the same phases of the question might not be
treated over and over again.
Mrs. Harriet Hansom Robinson (wife of " Warrington," so long the
able correspondent of the Springfield Republican), who with her daughter
made the arrangements for our reception, gave the address of welcome, to
which the president, Mrs. Stanton, replied. Rev. Frederic Hinckley of
Providence, spoke on " Unity of Principle in Variety of Method," and
showed that while differing on minor points the various woman suffrage
associations were all working to one grand end. Anna Garlin Spencer
made a few remarks on "The Character of Reformers." Rev. Olympia
Brown gave an exceptionally brilliant speech a full hour in length on
" Universal Suffrage "; Harriette Robinson Shattuck's theme was " Believ-
ing and Doing "; Lillie Devereux Blake's, " Demand for Liberty " ; Matilda
Joslyn Gage's, "Centralization"; Belva A. Lockwood's, "Woman and
the Law". Mary F. Eastman followed showing that woman's path
was blocked at every turn, in the professions as well as the trades and the
whole world of work ; Isabella Beecher Hooker gave an able argument
on the "Constitutional Right of Women to Vote"; Martha McLellan
Brown spoke equally well on the " Ethics of Sex " ; Mrs. Elizabeth Avery
Meriwether of Tennessee, gave a most amusing commentary on the
spirit of the old common law, cuffing Blackstone and Coke with merciless
sarcasm. Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon of Louisiana spoke with great effect on
"Woman's Intellectual Powers as Developed by the Ballot." These two
Southern ladies are alike able, witty and pathetic in their appeals for justice
to woman. Mrs. May Wright Sewall's essay on "Domestic Legislation,"
showing how large a share of the bills passed every year directly effect
home life, was very suggestive to those who in answer to our demand for
political power, say " Woman's sphere is home," as if the home were
beyond the control and influence of the State. Beside all these thoroughly
prepared addresses, Susan B Anthony, Dr. Clemence Lozier, Dr. Caroline
Winslow, ex-Secretary Lee of Wyoming, spoke briefly on various points
suggested by the several speakers.
The white-haired and venerable philosopher, A. Bronson Alcott, was
very cordially received, after being presented in complimentary terms by
the president. Mr. Alcott paid a glowing tribute to the intellectual worth
of woman, spoke of the divinity of her character, and termed her the
inspiration font from which his own philosophical ideas had been drawn.
Not until the women of our nation have been granted every privilege
would the liberty of our republic be assured.* The well-known Francis
* Miss Anthony was presented with a beautiful basket of flowers from Mrs. Mary Hamilton Wil-
liams of Fort Wayne, Ind., and returned her thanks. Another interesting incident during the pro-
ceedings of the convention was the presentation of an exquisite gold cross from the "Philadelphia
Citizens' Suffrage Association," to Miss Anthony. Mrs. Sewall of Indianapolis, in a speech so tender
and loving as to bring tears to many eyes, conveyed to her the message and the gift. Miss Anthony'*
acceptance was equally happy and impressive. As during the last thirty years the press of the country
has made Susan B. Anthony a target for more ridicule and abuse than any other woman on the suffrage
platform, it is worth noting that all who know her now vie with each other in demonstrations of love
and honor. — [E. C. S.
13
*94 History of Woman Suffrage.
W. Bird of Walpole, who has long wielded in the politics of the Bay State,
the same power Thurlow Weed did for forty years in New York, being
invited to the platform, expressed his entire sympathy with the demand
for suffrage, notwithstanding the common opinion held by the leading
men of Massachusetts, that the women themselves did not ask it. He
recommended State rather than national action.
Rev. Ada C. Bowles of Cambridge, and Rev. Olympia Brown, of Racine,
opened the^arious sessions with prayer — striking evidence of the
growing self-assertion of the sex, and the rapid progress of events towards
the full recognition of the fact that woman's hour has come.
Touching deeper and tenderer chords in the human soul than words
could reach, the inspiring strains of the celebrated organist, Mr.
Ryder, rose ever and anon, now soft and plaintive, now full and command-
ing, mingled in stirring harmony with prayer and speech. And as loving
friends had covered the platform with rare and fragrant flowers, the
aesthetic taste of the most fastidious artist might have found abundant
gratification in the grouping and whole effect of the assemblage in that
grand temple. Thus through six prolonged sessions the interest was not
only kept up but intensified from day to day.
The National Association was received right royally in Boston. On
•arriving they found invitations waiting to visit Governor Long at the
.'State House, Mayor Prince at the City Hall, the great establishment of
Jordan, Marsh & Co., and the Reformatory Prison for Women at Sher-
born. Invitations to take part were extended to woman suffrage speakers
in many of the conventions of that anniversary week. Among those
who spoke from other platforms, were Matilda Joslyn Gage, Ellen H.
-Sheldon, Caroline B. Winslow, M. D., editor of The Alpha, and Rev.
Olympia Brown. The president of the association, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, received many invitations to speak at various points, but had
time only for the " Moral Education," " Heredity," and " Free Religious "
associations. Her engagement at Parker Memorial Hall, prevented her
from accepting the governor's invitation, but Isabella Beecher Hooker
and Susan B Anthony led the way to the State house and introduced the
delegates from the East, the West, the North and the South, to the hon-
ored executive head of the State, who had declared himself, publicly, in
favor of woman suffrage. The ceremony of hand-shaking over, and some
hundred women being ranged in a double circle about the desk, Mrs.
Hooker stepped forward, saying :
Speak a word to us, Governor Long, we need help. Stand here, please, face to
face with these earnest women and tell us where help is to come from.
The Governor responded, and then introduced his secretary, who con-
ducted the ladies through the building.
Mrs. HOOKER said: Permit me, sir, to thank you for this unlooked-for and
unusual courtesy in the name of our president who should be here to speak for herself
and for us, and in the name of these loyal women who ask only that the right of the
people to govern themselves shall be maintained. In this great courtesy extended us
by good old Massachusetts as citizens of this republic unitedly protesting against being
taxed without representation, and governed without our consent, we see the beginning
of the end — the end of our wearisome warfare — a warfare which though bloodless, has
Reception at the State-house, 195
cost more than blood, by as much as soul-suffering exceeds that of mere flesh. I see as
•did Stephen of old, a celestial form close to that of the Son of Man, and her name is
Liberty — always a woman — and she bids us go on — go on — even unto the end.
Miss Anthony standing close to the governor, said in low, pathetic
iones :
Yes, we are tired. Sir, we are weary with our work. For forty years some of us
have carried this burden, and now, if we might lay it down at the feet of honorable
unen, such as you, how happy we should be.
The next day Mayor Prince, though suffering from a late severe attack
of rheumatism, cordially welcomed the delegates in his room at the City
Hall, and chatting familiarly with those who had been at the Cincinnati
-convention and witnessed his great courtesy, some one remarked that
from that time Miss Anthony had proclaimed him the prince among
men, and Mrs. Stanton immediately suggested that if the party with which
he was identified were wise in their day and generation they would accept
his leadership, even to the acknowledgement of the full citizenship of this
republic, and thus secure not only their gratitude but their enthusiastic
support in the next presidential election. Having compassion upon his
Honor because of his manifest physical disability, the ladies soon with-
drew and went directly to the house of Jordan, Marsh & Co., where were
assembled in a large hall at the top of the building such a crowd of hand-
some, happy, young girls as one seldom sees in this work-a-day world;
that well-known Boston firm within the last six months having fitted
up a large recreation room for the use of their employes at the noon
hour. Half a hundred girls were merrily dancing to the music of a piano,
but ceased in order to listen to words of cheer from Mrs. Lockwood, Mrs.
Hooker and Mrs. Sewall. At the close of their remarks Mr. Jordan
brought forward a reluctant young girl who could give us, if she would, a
-charming recitation from "That Lass o' Lowrie's," in return for our kind-
ness in coming to them. And after saying in a whisper to one who kindly
urged compliance to this unexpected call, that this had been such a busy
-day she feared her dress was not all right, her face became unconscious
of self in a moment, and with true dramatic instinct, she gave page after
page of that wonderful story of the descent into the mine and the recog-
nition there of one whom she loved, precisely as you would desire to hear
it were the scene put upon the stage with all the accessories of scenery
and companion actors.
From Jordan, Marsh £ Co.'s a large delegation proceeded to visit the
Reformatory Prison at Sherborn which was established three or four
years ago. The board of directors, consisting of three women and two
men, has charge of all the prisons of the State. Mrs. Johnson, one of the
•directors, a noble, benevolent woman, interested in the great charities of
Boston, was designated by Governor Long — through whose desire the
-Association visited the prison — to do the honors and accompany the
jparty from Boston. The officers, matron and physician of the Sher-
born prison, are all women. Dr. Mosher, the superintendent, formerly
the physician, is a fair, noble-looking woman about thirty-five years of
age. She has her own separate house connected with the building.
196 History of Woman Suffrage.
The present physician, a delicate, cultured woman, with sympathy for
her suffering charges, is a recent graduate of Ann Arbor.
The entire work is done by the women sent there for restraint, and the
prison is nearly self-supporting ; it is expected that within another
year it will be entirely so. Laundry work is done for the city of Boston,
shirts are manufactured, mittens knit, etc. The manufacturing ma-
chinery will be increased the coming year. The graded system of reward
has been found successful in the development of better traits. It has
four divisions, and through it the inmates are enabled to work up by
good behavior toward more pleasant surroundings, better clothes and
food and greater liberty. From the last grade they reach the freedom
of being bound out; of seventy-eight thus bound during the past year
but seven were returned. The whole prison, chapel, school-room, din-
ing-room, etc., possesses a sweet, clean, pure atmosphere. The rooms
are light, well-ventilated, vines trailir.g in the windows from which
glimpses of green trees and blue sky can be seen.
Added to all the other courtesies, there came the invitation to a few of
the representatives of the movement i;o dine with the Bird Club at the
Parker House, in the same cozy room where these astute politicians have
held their councils for so many years, and whose walls have echoed
to the brave words of many of New England's greatest sons. The only
woman who had ever been thus honored before was Mrs. Stanton, who,
"escorted by Warrington," dined with these honorable gentlemen in 1871.
On this occasion Susan B. Anthony and Harriet H. Robinson accompanied
her. Around the table sat several well-known reformers and distin-
guished members of the press and bar. There was Elizur Wright whose
name is a household word in many homes as translator of La Fon-
taine's fables for the children. Beside him sat the well-known Parker
Pillsbury and his nephew, a promising young lawyer in Boston. At one
end of the table sat Mr. Bird with Mrs. Stanton on his right and Miss
Anthony on his left. At the other end sat Frank Sanborn with Mrs.
Robinson (wife of " Warrington ") on his right. On either side sat Judge
Adam Thayer of Worcester, Charles Field, Williard Phillips of Salem,
Colonel Henry Walker of Boston, Mr. Ernst of the Boston Advertiser,
and Judge Henry Fox of Taunton. The condition of Russia and the
Conkling imbroglio in New York ; the new version of the Testament and
the reason why German Liberals, transplanted to this soil, immediately
become conservative and exclusive, were all considered. Carl Schurz,
with his narrow ideas of woman's sphere and education, was mentioned
by way of example. In reply to the question how the Suffrage Associa-
tion felt in regard to Conkling's reelection. Mrs. Robinson said :
That the leaders, who are students of politics were unitedly against him. Their
only hope is in the destruction of the Republican party, which is too old and corrupt
to take up any new reform.
Frank Sanborn, fresh from the perusal of the New Testament, asked
if women could find any special consolation in the Revised Version
regarding everlasting punishment. Mrs. Stanton replied:
Reception at Mrs, Tudor s.
197
Certainly, as we are supposed to have brought "original sin" into the world with
its fearful forebodings of eternal punishment, any modification of Hades in fact or
name, for the men of the race, the innocent victims of our disobedience, fills us with
satisfaction.
From the club the ladies hastened to the beautiful residence of Mrs.
Fenno Tudor, fronting Boston Common, where hundreds of friends had
already gathered to do honor to the noble woman so ready to identify
herself with the unpopular reforms of her day. Among the many beau-
tiful works of art, a chief attraction was the picture of the grand-mother
of Parnell, the Irish agitator, by Gilbert Stuart. The house was fragrant
with flowers, and the unassuming manners of Mrs, Tudor, as she moved
about among her guests, reflected the glory of our American institutions
in giving the world a generation of common-sense women who do not
plume themselves on any adventitous circumstances of wealth or position,
but bow in respect to morality and intelligence wherever they find it.
At the close of the evening Mrs. Stanton presented Mrs. Tudor with the
" History of Woman Suffrage " which she received with evident pleasure
and returned her sincere thanks.
At the close of the anniversary week in Boston, successful
meetings were held in various cities,* beginning at Providence,
where Dr. Wm. F. Channing made the arrangements. These
conventions were the first that the National Association ever
held in the New England States, presenting the national pian
of woman's enfranchisement through a sixteenth amendment
to the United States Constitution.
* PROVIDENCE, R. I. — First Light Infantry Hall, May 30, 31. Rev. Frederick A. Hinckley gave
the address of welcome.
PORTLAND, Me.— City Hall, June 2, 3. Rev. Dr. McKeown of the M. E. Church made the address
of welcome. Letter read from Dr. Henry C. Garrish. Among the speakers were Charlotte Thomas,
A. J. Grover.
DOVER, N. H. — Belknap Street Church, June 3, 4. Marilla M. Ricker took the responsibility of
this meeting.
CONCORD, N. H. — White's Opera House, June 4, 5. Speakers entertained by Mrs. Armenia Smith
White. Olympia Brown and Miss Anthony spoke before the legislature in Representatives Hall —
nearly all the members present — the latter returned on Sunday and spoke on temperance and woman
suffrage at the Opera House in the afternoon, Universalist church in the evening.
KEENE, N. H. — Liberty, Hall, June 9, 10. Prayer offered by Rev. Mr. Eakins. Mayor Russell
presided and gave the address of welcome.
HARTFOKD, Ct. — Unity Hall. June 13, 14. Mrs. Hooker presiding ; Frances Ellen Burr, Emily P.
Collins, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Caroline Gilkey Rogers, Mary A. Pell taking part in the meetings.
NEW HAVEN, Ct. — Athaeneum, June 15, 16. Joseph and Abby Sheldon, Catherine Comstock and
others entertained the visitors and speakers.
The speakers who made the entire New England tour were Rev. Olympia Brown, Mrs. Gage, Mrs.
Saxon, Mrs. Merlwether, the Misses Foster and Miss Anthony. The arrangements for all these con-
ventions were made by Rachel Foster of Philadelphia.
CHAPTER XXX.
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES AND CONVENTIONS.
1882-1883.
Prolonged Discussions in the Senate on a Special Committee to Look After the Rights
of Women, Messrs. Bayard, Morgan and Vest in Opposition — Mr. Hoar Cham-
pions the Measure in the Senate, Mr. Reed in the House — Washington Conven-
tion— Representative Orth and Senator Saunders on the Woman Suffrage Platform.
— Hearings Before Select Committees of Senate and House — Reception Given by-
Mrs. Spofford at the Riggs House — Philadelphia Convention — Mrs. Hannah
Whitehall Smith's Dinner — Congratulations from the Central Committee of Great
Britain — Majority and Minority Reports in the Senate — Nebraska Campaign — Con-
ventions in Omaha — Joint Resolution Introduced by Hon. John D. White of
Kentucky, Referred to the Select Committee — Washington Convention, January
24, 25, 26, 1883 — Majority Report in the House.
ALTHOUGH the effort to secure a standing committee on the
political rights of women was defeated in the forty-sixth congress,
by New York's Stalwart Senator, Roscoe Conkling, motions were
made early in the first session of the forty-seventh congress, by
Hon. George F. Hoar in the Senate, and Hon. John D. White in
the House, for a special committee to look after the interests of
women.* It passed by a vote of 115 to 84 in the House, and by
35 to 23 in the Senate. On December 13, 1881, the Senate Com-
mittee on Rules reported the following resolution for the ap-
pointment of a special committee on woman suffrage:
Resolved, That a select committee of seven senators be appointed by the Chair, to»
whom shall be referred all petitions, bills and resolves providing for the extension of
suffrage to women or the removal of their legal disabilities.
DECEMBER 14,
Mr. HOAR: I move to take up the resolution reported by the Com-
mittee on Rules yesterday, for the appointment of a select committee on
the subject of woman suffrage.
Mr. VEST: Mr. President, I am constrained to object to the passage of
this resolution, and I do it with considerable reluctance. At present we
* During the autumn Miss Anthony, Mrs. Jones, Miss Snow and Miss Couzins, spending some weeks
in Washington, asked for an audience with President Chester A. Arthur, and urged him to recom-
mend in his first message to congress the appointment of a standing committee and the submission of a
sixteenth amendment.
Debate on a Select Committee. 199
have thirty standing committees of the Senate ; four joint and seven
special committees, in addition to the one now proposed.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The Chair will inform the senator from
Missouri that a majority of the Senate has to decide whether the resolu-
tion shall be considered.
Mr. VEST : I understood the Chair to state that it was before the Senate.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : It is before the Senate if there be no ob-
jection. The Chair thought the senator made objection to its considera-
tion.
Mr. HOAR : It went over under the rule yesterday and comes up now.
Mr. EDMUNDS : It is the regular order now.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : Certainly. The Chair thought the sen-
ator from Missouri objected to its consideration.
Mr. VEST : No, sir.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The resolution is before the Senate and
open to debate.
Mr. VEST : I have had the honor for a few years to be a member of the
Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and my colleagues on that
committee will bear witness with me to the trouble and annoyance which
at every session have arisen in regard to giving accommodations to the
special committees. Two sessions ago there was a conflict between the
Senate and House in regard to furnishing committee-rooms for three
special committees, and it is only upon the doctrine of pedis possessto that
the Senate to-day holds three committee-rooms in the capitol, the House
still laying claim as a matter of law, through their Committee on Public
Buildings and Grounds, for the possession of these rooms. At the special
session, on account of the exigencies in regard to rooms, we were com-
pelled to take the retiring-room assigned near the gallery to the ladies,
and cut it into two rooms, to accommodate select committees.
At this session we have created two special committees more, and I
should like to make the inquiry when and where this manufacture ol
special committees is to cease ? As soon as any subject becomes one of
comment in the newspapers, or, respectfully I say it, a hobby with certain
zealous partisans throughout the country, application is made to the
Senate of the United States and a special committee is to be appointed.
For this reason, and for the simple reason that a stop must be had some-
where to the raising of special committees, I oppose the proposition now
before the Senate.
But, Mr. President, I will be entirely ingenuous and give another rea-
son. This is simply a step toward the recognition of woman suffrage, and
I am opposed to it upon principle in its inception. In my judgment it
has nothing but mischief in it to the institutions and to the society of
this whole country. I do not propose to enter into a discussion of that
subject to-day, but it will be proper for me to make this statement, and I
make it intending no reflection upon the zealous ladies who have en-
gaged for the past ten years in manufacturing a public sentiment upon
this question. I received to-day a letter from a distinguished lady in my
2OO
s
History of Woman Suffrage.
own State, for whom I have personally the greatest admiration and re-
spect, calling my attention to the fact that I propose to deny justice to
the women of the country. Mr. President, I deny it. It is because I be-
lieve that the conservative influence of society in the United States rests
with the women of the country that I propose not to degrade the wife
and mother to the ward politician, the justice of the peace, or the notary
public. It is because I believe honestly that all the best influences for
the conservation of society rest upon the women of the country in their
proper sphere that I shall oppose this and every other step now and
henceforth as violating, as I believe, one of the great essential fundamental
laws of nature and of society.
Mr. President, the revenges of nature are sure and unerring, and these
revenges are just as certain in political matters and in social matters as
in the physical world. Now and here I desire to record once for all my
conviction that in this movement to take the women of the country out
of their proper sphere of social influence, that great and glorious sphere
in which nature and nature's God have placed them, and rush them into
the political arena, the attempt is made to put them where they were
never intended to be ; and I now and here record my opposition to it.
This may seem to be but a small matter, but as this letter shows, and I
reveal no private confidence, it recognizes the first great step in this
reform, as its advocates are pleased to term it. My practice and convic-
tion as a public man is to fight every wrong wherever I believe it to
exist. I am opposed to this movement. I am opposed to it upon prin-
ciple, upon conviction, and I shall call for the yeas and nays in order to
record my vote against it.
DECEMBER 15.
The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution reported from
the Committee on Rules by Mr. Hoar on the I3th inst.
Mr. VEST : Mr. President, I disclaim any intention again to incite or excite
any general discussion in regard to woman suffrage. The senator from
Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar], for whom I have very great regard, was yester-
day pleased to observe that the State governments furnished by the sen-
ator from Missouri and other senators in the past had been no argument
in favor of manhood suffrage. Mr. President, I have been under the im-
pression that the American people to-day are the best governed, the best
clothed, the best fed, the best housed, the happiest people upon the face
of the globe, and that, too, notwithstanding the fact that they have been
under the domination of the Republican party for twenty long )-ears. I
have also been under the impression that the institutions of the States
and of the United States are an improvement upon all governmental theo-
ries and schemes hitherto known to mortal man ; but we are to learn to-
day from the senator from Massachusetts that this government and the
State governments have been failures, and that woman suffrage must be
introduced in order to purify the political atmosphere and elevate the
suffrage.
Mr. HOAR : Will the senator allow me to interrupt him for a moment?
Mr. VEST: Of course.
Mr. Vest's Remarks.
201
Mr. HOAR: I desire to disclaim the meaning which the honorable sen-
ator seems to have put upon my words. I agree with him that the Ameri-
can governments have been the best on the face of the earth, but it is
because of their adoption of that principle of equality more than any other
government, the logical effect of which will compel them to yield the
right prayed for to women, that they are the best. But still best as they
are, I said, and mean to say, that the business of governing mankind has
been the one business on the face of the earth which has been done most
clumsily, which has been, even where most excellent, full of mistakes, ex-
pense, injustice, and wrong-doing. What I said was that I did not think
the persons to whom that privileged function had been committed so far
were entitled to claim any special superiority for the masculine intellect
in the results which it had achieved.
Mr. VEST : To say that the governments, State and national, now in
existence upon this continent are imperfect is but to announce the truism
that everything made by man is necessarily imperfect. But I stand here
to declare to-day that the governments of the States, and the national
government, in theory, although failing sometimes in practice, are a
standing monument to the genius and intellect of the men who created
them. But the senator from Massachusetts was pleased to say further,
that woman suffrage should obtain in this country in the interest of edu-
cation. I permit not that senator to go further than myself in the line of
universal public education. I have declared, over and over again, in
every county in my State for the past ten years, that universal education
should accompany universal suffrage, that the school-house should crown
every mound in prairie and forest, that it was the temple of liberty and
the altar of law and order.
I well remember that I was thrilled with the eloquence of the distin-
guished senator from Massachusetts at the last session of the last con-
gress, when, upon a bill to provide for general education by a donation of
the public lands, he so pathetically and justly described the mass
of dark ignorance and illiteracy projected upon the people of the
South under the policy of the Republican party, and the senator then
stood here and said that the people of Massachusetts extended the public
lands to relieve the people of the South from this monstrous burden.
What does the senator propose to do to-day? He proposes with one
stroke of the pen to double, and more than double, the illiterate suffrage
of the United States. The senator says that one-half the people of the
United States are represented in this measure of woman suffrage. I deny
it, sir. If the senator means that the women of America, comprising one-
half of the population, are interested in this measure, I deny it most em-
phatically and most peremptorily. Not one-tenth of them want it. Not
one-tenth of the mothers and sisters and Christian women of this land
want to be turned into polititians or to meddle in a sphere to which God
and nature have not assigned them.
Sir, there are some ladies — and I do not intend to term them anything
but ladies — who are zealously engaged in this cause, and they have flooded
this hall with petitions, and have called their women's rights conventions
2O2
History of Woman Suffrage.
all over the land. I assail not their motives, but I deny that they repre-
sent the women of the United States. I say that if woman suffrage ob-
tains, the worst class of the women of the country will rush to the polls and
the best class will remain away by a large majority. That is my deliberate
judgment and firm conviction. But, Mr. President, a word in regard to
the committees. I desire no general discussion upon woman suffrage,
and simply alluded in passing to what had been said by the senator from
Massachusetts.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The hour of one o'clock has arrived, and
the morning hour is closed.
DECEMBER 16.
Mr. JONES of Florida : I desire to call up a resolution now lying on the
table, which I introduced on the I4th instant, calling for information
from the Secretary of War touching a ship-canal across the peninsula
of Florida.
Mr. HOAR: Mr. President —
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The senator from Florida asks leave to
call up a resolution submitted by him.
Mr. HOAR : My resolution was before the Senate yesterday, and comes
up in order. I hope we shall vote on it.
Mr. JONES of Florida : I will only say that my resolution was laid over
temporarily on the objection of the senator from Vermont [Mr. Edmunds],
which he will not insist upon.
Mr. HOAR : Allow me to call the attention of the Chair to the fact ; it is
not the question of a resolution which has not been taken up. The reso-
lution reported by me from the Committee on Rules was taken up, and
was under discussion when the senator from Missouri [Mr. Vest] was
taken from the floor by the expiration of the morning hour, in the midst
of his remarks. Certainly his right to conclude his remarks takes prec-
edence of other business under the usual practice of the Senate.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The Chair thought the senator from Mis-
souri had ended his remarks, or he would not have interposed when
he did.
Mr. HOAR: No, sir.
Mr. JONES of Florida: My resolution involves no debate. It is merely
a resolution of inquiry.
Mr. HOAR : The other will be disposed of, I hope, in a few moments.
Mr. JONES of Florida : The resolution to which I refer went over infor-
mally on the objection of the senator from Vermont, and I think he has
no objection now.
Mr. HOAR : The other will be disposed of in a moment, and I hope we
shall vote on it.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The Chair lays before the Senate the reso-
lution of the senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar].
The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution reported from
the Committee on Rules by Mr. Hoar on the I3th instant.
The PRESIDENT /r0 tempore : The Chair would state to the senator from
Missouri [Mr. Vest] that the Chair supposed yesterday that he had fin-
Facetious Proposal of Mr. Vest. 203
ished his remarks, or the Chair would not have stopped him at that mo-
ment. The question is on agreeing to the resolution, on which the senator
from Missouri [Mr. Vest] is entitled to the floor.
Mr. VEST: Mr. President, 1 was on the eve of finishing my remarks
yesterday when the morning hour expired, and I do not now wish to
detain the Senate. 1 was about to say at that time that the Senate now
has forty-one committees, with a small army of messengers and clerks,
one-half of whom, without exaggeration, are literally without employment.
I shall not pretend to specify the committees of this body which have not
one single bill, resolution, or proposition of any soft pending before them,
and have not had for months. I am very well aware that if I should name
one of them, Liberty would lie bleeding in the streets at once, and that
committee would become the most important on the list of committees of
the Senate. I shall not venture to do that. I am informed by the Ser-
geant-at-arms that if this resolution is adopted he must have six addi-
tional messengers to be added to that body of ornamental employes who
now stand or sit at the doors of the respective committee-rooms. I have
heard that this committee is for the purpose of giving a committee to a
senator in this body. I have heard the statement made, but I cannot be-
lieve if, and I am very certain that no senator will undertake to champion
the resolution upon any such ground.
The senator from Massachusetts was pleased to say that the Committee
on the Judiciary had so many important questions pending before it, that
the subject of woman suffrage should not be added to them. The Com-
mittee on Territories is open to any complaint or suggestion by the ladies
who advocate woman suffrage, in regard to this subject in the territories;
and the Committee on Privileges and Elections to which this subject should
go most appropriately, as affecting the suffrage, has not now before it, as
I am informed, one single bill, resolution, or proposition of any sort what-
ever. That committee is also open to inquiry upon this subject.
But, Mr. President, out of all committees without business, and habitu-
ally without business, in this body, there is one that beyond any question
could take jurisdiction of this matter and do it ample justice. I refer to
that most respectable and antique institution, the Committee on Revolu-
tionary Claims. For thirty years it has been without business. For thirty
long years the placid surface of that parliamentary sea has been without
one single ripple. If the senator from Massachusetts desires a tribunal
for calm judicial equilibrium and examination, a tribunal far from the
" madding crowd's ignoble strife," a tribunal eminently respectable,
dignified and unique, why not send this question to the Committee on
Revolutionary Claims ? When I name the personnel oi that committee it
will be evident that any consideration on any subject touching the female
sex would receive not only deliberate but immediate attention, for the
second member upon that committee is my distinguished friend from
Florida [Mr. Jones], and who can doubt that he would give his undivided
attention to the subject? [Laughter.] It is eminently proper that this
subject should go to that committee because if there is any revolutionary
claim in this country it is that of woman suffrage. [Laughter.] It revo-
204
Tistory of Woman Suffrage.
lutionizes society; it revolutionizes religion; it revolutionizes the con-
stitution and laws; and it revolutionizes the opinions of those so
old-fashioned among us as to believe that the legitimate and proper
sphere of woman is the family circle as wife and mother and not as poli-
tician and voter — those of us who are proud to believe that —
A woman's noblest station is retreat ;
Her fairest virtues fly from public sight ;
Domestic worth — that shuns too strong a light.
Before that Committee on Revolutionary Claims why could not this
most revolutionary of*all claims receive immediate and ample attention?
More than that, as I said before, if there is any tribunal that could give
undivided time and dignified attention, is it not this committee ? If there
is one peaceful haven of rest, never disturbed by any profane bill or reso-
lution of any sort, it is the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. It is, in
parliamentary life, described by that ecstatic verse in Watts' hymn :
There shall I bathe my wearied soul
In seas of endless rest,
And not one wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast.
For thirty years there has been no excitement in that committee, and
it needs to-day, in Western phrase, some " stirring-up." By all natural
laws stagnation breeds disease and death ; and what could stir up this
most venerable and respectable institution more than an application of
the strong-minded, with short hair and shorter skirts, invading its dignified
realm and elucidating all the excellences of female suffrage? Moreover,
if these ladies could ever succeed, in the providence of God, in obtaining
a report from that committee, it would end this question forever; for the
public at large and myself included, in view of that miracle of female
blandishment and female influence, would surrender at once, and female
suffrage would become constitutional and lawful. Sir, I insist upon it
that in deference to this committee, in deference to the fact that it needs
this sort of regimen and medicine, this whole subject should be so re-
ferred. [Laughter.]
Mr. MORRILL: Mr. President, I do not desire to say anything as to the
merits of the resolution, but I understand the sole purpose of raising this
committee is to have a committee-room. So far as I know, there are
some five or six committees now which are destitute of rooms, and it would
be impossible for the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds to
assign any room to this committee — the object which I understand is
at the foundation of the introduction of the proposition ; that is to say. to
give these ladies an opportunity to be heard in some appropriate com-
mittee-room on the questions which they wish to agitate and submit.
Mr. HOAR: They would find room in some other committee-room.
They could have the room of the Committee on Privileges and Elections,
if there were no other place.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The question is on the adoption of the
resolution reported by the senator from Massachusetts.
Discussion of Amendments. 205
Mr. HARRIS : Did not the senator from Missouri [Mr. Vest] offer an
amendment?
Mr. GARLAND : As I understand, he moved to refer the subject to the
Committee on Revolutionar)' Claims.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : Does the Chair understand that the sen-
ator from Missouri has offered an amendment?
Mr. VEST: Yes, sir; I move to refer the matter to the Committee on
Revolutionary Claims.
Mr. CONGER: Let the resolution be reported.
The acting secretary read the resolution.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The senator from Missouri offers an
amendment, that the subject be referred to the standing Committee on
Revolutionary Claims. The question is on the amendment of the senator
from Missouri. [Putting the question.] The noes appear to have it.
Mr. FARLEY called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered and
taken.
Mr. BLAIR [after having voted in the negative] : I have voted inadver-
tently. I am paired with the senator from Alabama [Mr. Pugh]. Were
he present he would have voted "yea," as I have voted " nay." I with-
draw my vote.
Mr. WINDOM : I am paired with the senator from West Virginia [Mr.
Davis], but as I understand he would vote "nay" on this question, I vote
"nay."
Mr. INGALLS : I am paired with the senator from Mississippi [Mr. Lamar].
The result was announced — yeas 22, nays 31. So the motion was not
agreed to.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The question recurs on the adoption of
the resolution.
Mr. BAYARD : Is it in order for me to move the reference of the subject
to the Committee on the Judiciary?
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : It is in order to move to refer the resolu-
tion to the Committee on the Judiciary, the Chair understands.
Mr. BAYARD: Then I make a motion that the resolution be sent to the
Committee on the Judiciary. I would state that I voted with some regret
and hesitancy upon the motion of the senator from Missouri [Mr. Vest]
to refer this matter to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. My
regret was owing to the fact that I do not wish even to seem to treat a
subject of this character in a spirit of levity, or to indicate the slightest
disrespect by such a reference, to those whose opinions upon this subject
differ essentially from my own. I cast the vote because I considered it
would be taking the subject virtually away from the consideration of con-
gress at its present session. I do, however, hold that there is no necessity
for the creation of a special committee to attend to this subject. The
Committee on the Judiciary has within the last few years, upon many
occasions, attempted to deal with it. Since you, sir, and I have been
members of that committee —
Mr. HOAR: Mr. President —
206 History of Woman Suffrage.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : Will the senator from Delaware yield to
the senator from Massachusetts?
Mr. BAYARD : I will, if he thinks it necessary to interrupt me.
Mr. HOAR: I desire to ask the senator, if he is willing, having been
lately a member of the committee to which he refers, whether it is not
the rule of that committee to allow no hearings to individual petitioners,
a rule which is departed from only in very rare and peculiar cases?
Mr. BAYARD : I will reply to the honorable senator that the occasion
which arose to my mind and caused me to remember the action of that
committee was the audience given by it to a very large delegation of
woman suffragists, to wit, the representatives of a convention theld in this
city, who to the number, I think, of twenty-five, came into the committee-
room of the Committee on the Judiciary, and were heard, as I remember,
for more than one day, or certainly had more than one hearing, before
that committee, of which you, sir, and I were members.
Mr. HOAR : If the senator will pardon me, however, he has not answered
my question. I asked the senator not whether on one particular occasion
they gave a hearing on this subject, but whether it is not the rule of that
committee, occasioned by the necessity of its business, from which it de-
parts only in very rare cases, not to give hearings ?
Mr. BAYARD: I cannot answer whether a rule so defined as that sug-
gested by the honorable senator from Massachusetts exists in that
committee. It is my impression, however, that cases are frequently, by
order of that committee, argued before it. We have had very elaborate
and able arguments upon subjects connected with the Pacific railroads, I
remember ; and we have had arguments upon various subjects. It is con-
stantly our pleasure to hear members of the Senate upon a variety of
questions before that committee. It may be only a proof that women's
rights are not unrecognized nor their influence unfelt when I state the fact
that if there be such a rule as is suggested by the honorable senator from
Massachusetts of excluding persons from the audience of that committee,
on the occasion of the application of the ladies a hearing was granted, and
they came in force, — not only force in numbers, but force in the character
and intelligence of those who appeared before the committee. They were
listened to with great respect, but their views were not concurred in by
the committee as it was then composed. We were all entertained by the
bright wit, the clever and, in my judgment, in many respects, the just sar-
casm of our honorable friend from Missouri [Mr. Vest], but my habit is
not to consider public measures in a jocular light ; it is not to consider a
question of this kind in a jocular light. Whatever may be the merits or
demerits of this proposition, whatever may be the reasons for or against it,
no man can doubt that it will strike at the very roots of the present organi-
zation of society, and that its consequences will be most profound and far-
reaching should the advocates of the measure proposed prevail.
Therefore it is that I think this subject should not be considered sepa-
rately ; it should not have a special committee — either of advocates or op-
ponents arranged for its consideration ; but it should go where proposed
amendments to the fundamental law of the land have always been sent for
Discussion of Amendments. 207
consideration, — to that committee to which judicial questions, questions
of a constitutional nature, have always in the history of this government
been committed. There is no need, there is no justice, there is no wisdom
in attempting to separate the fate of this question, which affects society so
profoundly and generally, from the other questions that affect society. It
cannot be made a specialty ; it ought not to be. You cannot tear this
question from the great contest of human passions, affections, and interests
which surround it, and treat it as a th ing by itself. It has many sides from
which it may be viewed, some that are not proper or fitting for this forum,
and a discussion now in public. There are the claims of religion itself to
be considered in connection with this case. Civil rights, social rights,
political rights, religious rights, all are bound up in the consideration of a
measure like this. In its consideration you cannot safely attempt to seg-
regate this question and leave it untouched and uninfluenced by all those
other questions by which it is surrounded and in the consideration of which
it is bound to be connected and concerned. Therefore, without going
further, prematurely, into a discussion of the merits of the proposition itself
or its desirability, I say that it should take the usual course which the
practice and laws of this body have given to grave public questions. Let
it go to the Committee on the Judiciary, and let them, under their sense of
duty, deal with it according to its gravity and importance, and if it be here
returned let it be passed upon by the grave deliberations of the Senate
itself. I hope the special committee proposed will not be raised, and I trust
the Senate will concur with me in thinking that the subject should be sent
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. LOGAN rose.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The morning hour has expired.
Mr. LOGAN : I want to say just one word.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : It requires unanimous consent.
Mr. LOGAN : I do not wish to make a speech ; I merely desire to say a
word in response to what the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard] has said
in relation to the reference to the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. HARRIS : I ask unanimous consent that the senator from Illinois
may proceed.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : There being no objection unanimous con-
sent will be presumed to have been given for the senator from Illinois to
make his explanation.
Mr. LOGAN : This question having been once before the Judiciary Com-
mittee, and it being a request by many ladies, who are citizens of the United
States just as we are, that they should have a special committee of the
Senate before which they can be heard, I deem it proper and right, without
any committal whatever in reference to my own views, that they should
have that committee. It is nothing but fair, just, and right that they
should have a committee organized as nearly as can be in the Senate in
favor of the views they desire to present, It is treating them only as other
citi/ens would desire to be treated before a body of this character. I am,
therefore, opposed to the reference of the proposition to the Judiciary
Committee, and I hope the Senate will give these ladies a special committee
208 History of Woman Suffrage.
where they can be heard, and that that committee may be so organized as
that it will be as favorable to their views as possible, so that they may have
a fair hearing. That is all I desire to say.
Mr. MORRILL: I hope this subject will be concluded this morning,
otherwise it is to come up constantly and monopolize all the time of the
morning hour. I do not think it will require many minutes more to dis-
pose of it now.
The PRESIDENT^™ lempore : The Chair will entertain a motion on that
subject.
Mr. MORRILL: I move to set aside other business until this resolution
shall be disposed of. If it should continue any length of time of course I
would withdraw the suggestion.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The senator from Vermont
Mr. VOORHEES: Mr. President, I feel constrained to call for the regular
order.
DECEMBER 19. 1881.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: Are there further " concurrent or other
resolutions " ?
Mr. HOAR: I call up the resolution in regard to woman suffrage, re-
ported by me from the Committee on Rules.
Mr. JONES of Florida : I ask for information how long the morning hour
is to extend ?
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The regular business of the morning hour
is closed. The morning hour, however, will not expire until twenty min-
utes past one. The senator from Massachusetts asks to have taken up
the resolution reported by him from the Committee on Rules.
Mr. HOAR : I hope we may have a vote on the resolution this morning.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The question is on the amendment pro-
posed by the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard], that the subject be
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. HOAR: It is not intended by the resolution to commit the Senate
or any senator in the slightest degree to any opinion upon the question
of woman suffrage, but it is merely the question of a convenient mode of
hearing. I hope we shall be allowed to have a vote on the resolution.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: Is the Senate ready for the question on
the motion of the senator from Delaware ?
Mr. BAYARD and Mr. FARLEY called for the yeas and nays, and they
were ordered. ,
Mr. BECK : Mr. President, I have received a number of communications
from very respectable ladies in my own State upon this important ques-
tion ; but I am unable to comply with their request and support the
female suffrage which they advocate. I shall vote for the reference to
the Committee on the Judiciary in order that there may be a thorough
investigation of the question. I wholly disagree with the suggestion of
the senator from Illinois [Mr. Logan], that a committee ought to be ap-
pointed as favorable to the views of these ladies as possible. I desire a
committee that will have no views, for or against them, except what is
best for the public good. Such a committee I understand the Committee
on the Judiciary to be.
Discussion of Amendments. 209
I desire to say only in a word that the difficulty I have and the question
I desire the Committee on the Judiciary to report upon is, the effect of this
question upon suffrage. By the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution
of the United States there can be no discrimination made in regard to
voting on account of race, color or previous condition. Intelligence is
properly regarded as one of the fundamental principles of fair suffrage.
We have been compelled in the last ten years to allow all the colored
men of the South to become voters. There is a mass of ignorance there
to be absorbed that will take years and years of care in order to bring
that class up to the standard of intelligent voters. The several States are
addressing themselves to that task as earnestly as possible. Now it is
proposed that all the women of the country shall vote ; that all the
colored women of the South, who are as much more ignorant than the
colored men as it is possible to imagine, shall vote. Not one perhaps in
a hundred of them can read or write. The colored men have had the
advantages of communication with other men in a variety of forms.
Many of them have considerable intelligence; but the colored women
have not had equal chances. Take them from their wash-tubs and their
household work and they are absolutely ignorant of the new duties of
voting citizens. The intelligent ladies of the North and the West and
the South cannot vote without extending that privilege to that class of
ignorant colored people. I doubt whether any man will say that it is safe
for the republic now, when we are going through the problem we are
obliged to solve, to fling in this additional mass of ignorance upon the
suffrage of the country. Why, sir, a rich corporation or a body of men
of wealth could buy them up for fifty cents apiece, and they would vote
without knowing what they were doing for the side that paid most. Yet
we are asked to confer suffrage upon them, and to have a committee
appointed as favorable to that view as possible, so as to get a favorable
report upon it !
1 want the Committee on the Judiciary to tell the congress and the
country whether they think it is good policy now to confer suffrage on
all the colored women of the South, ignorant as they are known to be,
and thus add to the ignorance that we are now struggling with, and
whether the republic can be sustained upon such a basis as that. For
that reason, and because I want that information from an unbiased com-
mittee, because I know that suffrage has been degraded sufficiently
already, and because it would be degraded infinitely more if a report favor-
able to this extension of suffrage should be adopted and passed through
congress, I am opposed to this movement. No matter if there are a num-
ber of respectable ladies who are competent to vote and desire it to be
done, because of the very fact that they cannot be allowed this privilege
without giving all the mass of ignorant colored women in the country
the right to vote, thus bringing in a mass of ignorance that would crush
and degrade the suffrage of this country almost beyond conception, I
shall vote to refer the subject to the Judiciary Committee, and I shall
await their report with a good deal of anxiety.
Mr. MORGAN: Mr. President —
14
2io History of Woman Suffrage.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The morning hour has expired, and the
unfinished business is before the Senate.
DECEMBER 20, 1881.
Mr. HOAR : I now call up the resolution for appointing a special com-
mittee on woman suffrage.
The PRESIDENT fro tempore: The morning hour having expired, the
Senator from Massachusetts calls up the resolution which was under con-
sideration yesterday.
Mr. INGALLS : What is the regular order ?
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: There is no regular unfinished business.
The senator from Florida [Mr. Call] gave notice yesterday that he would
ask the indulgence of the Senate to-day to consider the subject of home-
stead rights.
Mr. HOAR : I hope this matter may be disposed of. It is very unpleas-
ant to me to stand before the Senate in this way, taking up its time with
this matter in a five minutes' debate every day in succession for an un-
limited period of time. It is a matter which every senator understands.
.It has nothing to do with the merits of the woman suffrage question
at all. It is a mere desire on the part of these people to have a particular
form of hearing, which seems to me the most convenient for the Senate,
rand I hope the Senate will be willing to vote on the resolution and let it
pass.
Mr. MORGAN : I have no objection to proceeding to the consideration
•of the resolution, but 1 desire to address the Senate upon it.
Mr. HOAR : I think I must ask now as a favor of the senator from Ala-
bama that he let the resolution be disposed of promptly.
The PRESIDENT^*? tempore : The senator from Alabama states that he
has no objection to the present consideration of the resolution, but he asks
leave to make some remarks upon it. The Chair hearing no objection to
the consideration of the resolution, it is before the Senate.
Mr. FARLEY : I object to the consideration of the resolution.
Mr. HOAR : I move to take it up.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The senator from Massachusetts calls it
up as a matter of right. If a majority of the Senate agree to take up the
resolution it is before the Senate, and the Chair will put the question. The
question is on agreeing to the motion of the senator from Massachusetts
to proceed to the consideration of the resolution. [The motion was agreed
to; and the Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution reported
from the Committee on Rules by Mr. Hoar on the i3th instant, which was
read.]
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The pending question is on the motion of
the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard] to refer the subject to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, on which the yeas and nays have been ordered.
Mr. MORGAN : Mr. President, I stand in a different relation to this ques-
tion from that of the senator from Kentucky [Mr. Beck], who said yester-
day that he had received a number of communications from very respect-
able ladies in his own State upon this very important subject, and yet felt
constrained by a sense of duty to deny the action which they solicited at
A Voice from Alabama. 211
the hands of congress. I am not informed that any woman from Alabama
has ever sent a petition to the Senate, or to either house, upon this matter.
Indeed, it is my impression that no petitions or letters have ever been
addressed by any lady in the State of Alabama to either house of congress
upon this question. It may be that that peculiar type of civilization which
drives women from their homes to the ballot-box to seek redress and pro-
tection against their husbands has never yet reached the State of Alabama,
and I shall not be disagreeably disappointed if it should never come upon
our people, for they have lived in harmony and in prosperity now for
many years. Besides the relief which the State has seen proper to give
to married women in respect of their separate estates, we have not thought
it wise or politic in any sense to go further and undertake to make a line
of demarkation between the husband and wife as politicians. On the con-
trary, according to our estimate of a proper civilization, we look to the
family relation as being the true foundation of our republican institutions.
Strike out the family relation, disband the family, destroy the proper au-
thority of the person at the head of the family, either the wife or the hus-
band, and you take from popular government all legitimate foundation.
The measure which is now brought before the Senate of the United States
Is but the initial measure of a series which has been urged upon the atten-
tion of States and territories, and upon the attention of the Congress of
the United States in various forms to draw a line of political demarkation
through a man's household, through his fireside, and to open to the intru-
sion of politics and politicians that sacred circle of the family where no
man should be permitted to intrude without the consent of both the heads
of the family. What picture could be more disagreeable or more disgust-
ing than to have a pot-house politician introduce himself into a gentle-
man's family, with his wife seated at one side of the fireplace and himself
at the other, and this man coming between to urge arguments why the
wife should oppose the policy that the husband advocates, or that the hus-
band should oppose the policy that the wife advocates?
If this measure means anything it is a proposition that the Senate of the
United States shall first vote to carry into effect this unjust and improper
intrusion into the home circle. Suppose this resolution to raise a select
committee should be passed: that committee will have its hands full and
its ears full of petitions and applications and speeches from strong-minded
women, and of course it must make some report to the Senate ; and we
shall have this subject introduced in here as one that requires a peculiar
application of the powers of the Senate for its digestion and for the com-
pletion of the bills and measures founded upon it. At the next session
of congress this select committee will become a standing committee of
the Senate, and then we shall have that which appears to be the most po-
tential and at the same time the most dangerous element in politics to-day,
agitation, agitation, agitation. It seems that the legislators of the United
States Government are not to be allowed to pass in quiet judgment upon
measures of this character, but like many other things which are address-
ing themselves to the attention of the people on this side of the water and
the other, they must all be moved against the Senate and against the House
212 History of Woman Suffrage.
by agitation. You raise your committee and allow the agitators to come
before them, yea, more than that, you invite them to come ; and what is
the result? The Congress of the United States will for the next ten or
perhaps twenty years be continually assailed for special and peculiar legis-
lation in favor of the women of the land.
I do not understand that a woman in this country has any more right to
a select committee than a man has. It would be just as rational and as
proper in every legislative and parliamentary sense to have a select com-
mittee for the consideration of the rights of men as to have a committee
for the consideration of the rights of women. I object, sir, to this dissev-
erance between the sexes, and I object to the Senate of the United States
giving its sanction in advance or in any way to this character of legislation.
It is a false principle, and it will work evil, and only evil, in this country.
What jurisdiction do you expect to exercise in the Senate of the United
States for the benefit of the women in respect of suffrage or in respect of
separate estates ? Where are the boundaries of your jurisdiction ? You
find them in the territories and in the District of Columbia. If you expect
to proceed into the States you must have the Constitution of the United
States amended so as to put our wives and our daughters upon the footing
of those who are provided for in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments.
Your jurisdiction is limited to the territories and to the District of Co-
lumbia.
Inasmuch as this measure, I understand, has been made a party measure
by the decree of a caucus, I propose to make some little inquiry into the
past legislation of the Congress of the United States under Republican
rule in respect of the extension of the right of suffrage to certain classes
of people in this country. I will take up first the territories.
Let us look for a moment at the result of woman suffrage in some of the
territories. The territorial legislature of Utah has gone forward and con-
ferred the right of suffrage upon women. The population in the last
decade has reached from 64,000, 1 believe, to about 150,000. The territorial
legislature of Utah conferred upon the females of that territory the right
of suffrage, and how have they exercised that right ? Sir, I am ashamed
to say it, but it is known to the world that the power of Mormonism and
polygamy in Utah territory is sustained by female suffrage. You can-
not get rid of those laws. Ninety per cent, of the legislative power
of Utah territory is Mormon and polygamous. If female suffrage is
to be incorporated into the laws of our country with a view to the ameli-
oration of our morals or our political sentiments, we stand aghast at the
spectacle of what has been wrought by its exercise in the territory of
Utah. There stands a power supporting the crime of polygamy through
what they call a divine inspiration, or teaching from God, and all the
power of the judges of the United States and of the Congress of the
United States has been unavailing to break it down. Who have upheld
it ? Those who in the family circle represent one husband to fifteen women.
A continual accumulation of the power of the church and of polygamy
is going on, and when the Gentiles, as they are called, enter that territory
with the view of breaking it up they are confronted by the women, who
Mr. Morgan Proceeds. 213
are allowed to vote, and from whom we should naturally expect a better and
a higher morality in reference to subjects of the kind. But this only
shows the power of man over woman. It only shows how through her
tender affections, her delicate sensibilities, and her confiding spirit she can
be made the very slave and bond-servant of man, and can scarcely ever
be made an independent participant in the stronger exercise of the
powers which God seems to have intrusted to him. Never was there a
picture more disgusting or more condemnatory of the extension of the
franchise to women as contradistinguished from men than is presented in
the territory of Utah to-day.
Where is the necessity of raising the number of voters in the United
States from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000? That would be the direct effect of
conferring suffrage upon the •women, for they are at least one-half, if not
a little more than one-half, of the entire population of the country above
the age of twenty-one. We have now masses of voters so enormous in
numbers as that it seems to be almost beyond the power of the law to
execute the purposes of the elective franchise with justice, with propriety,
and without crime. How much would these difficulties and these intrinsic
troubles be increased if we should raise the number of voters from 10,-
000,000 to 20,000,000 in the United States? That would be the direct and
immediate effect of conferring the franchise upon the women. What
would be the next effect of such an extension of the suffrage ? It was
described by my friend from Missouri [Mr. Vest] and by other senators
•who have spoken upon this subject. The effect would be to drive the
ladies of the land, as they are termed, the well-bred and well-educated
women, the women of nice sensibilities, within their home circle, there to
remain, while the ruder of that sex would thrust themselves out on the
hustings and at the ballot-box, and fight their way to the polls through
negroes and others who are not the best of company even at the polls, to
say nothing of the disgrace of association with them. You would paralyze
one-third at least of the women of this land by the very vulgarity of the
overture made to them that they should go struggling to the polls in
order to vote in common with the herd of men. They would not under-
take it. The most intelligent and trustworthy part of the suffrage thus
placed upon the land would never be available, while that which was not
worthy of respect either for its character or for its information would take
the matter in hand and move along in the circle of politicians to cast their
suffrages at the ballot-box.
As the States to be formed out of the territories are admitted into the
Union, they will come stamped with the characteristics which the legis-
latures of the territories have imprinted upon them ; and if after due con-
sideration in those territories the men who have the regulation of public
affairs should come to the conclusion that it was best to have woman
suffrage, then we can allow them, under existing laws, to go on and per-
fect their systems and apply for admission into the Union with them as
they may choose to adopt them and to shape them. The law upon that
subject as it exists is liberal enough, for it gives to the legislatures the
right to regulate the qualifications of suffrage. It leaves it to each local
2I4
History of Woman Suffrage.
community, wherever it may be throughout the territories of the United
States, to determine for itself what it may prefer to have.
Is it the object in the raising of this committeee only that it shall have
so many speeches made, so much talk about it, or is it to be the object of
the committee to have legislation brought here ? If you bring legislation
here, what will you bring? An amendment to the constitution like the
fourteenth amendment, or else some provision obligatory upon the ter-
ritories by which female suffrage shall be allowed there, whether the
people want it or whether they do not? For my part, before this session
of congress ends I intend to introduce a bill to repeal woman suffrage in
the territory of Utah, knowing and believing that that will be the 'most
effectual remedy for the extirpation of polygamy in that unfortunate ter-
ritory. If you choose to repeal the laws of any territory conferring the
right of suffrage upon women you have the power in congress to do it ; but
there are no measures introduced here and none advocated in that direc-
tion. The whole drift of this movement is in the other direction. This
committee is sought to be raised either for the accommodation of some
senator who wants a chairmanship and a clerk, or it is sought to be raised
for the purpose of encouraging a raid on the laws and traditions of this
country, which I think would end in our total demoralization, I therefore
oppose this measure in the beginning, and I expect to oppose it as far as
it may go.
Now let us notice for a moment the case of the District of Columbia.
There are some senators here who have given themselves a great deal of
trouble in the advocacy of the right of suffrage of the people of the United
States, and especially of the colored people. They put themselves to great
trouble, and doubtless at some expense of feeling, to worry and beset and
harry gentlemen who come from certain States of this Union, in reference
to the votes of the negroes : and yet these very gentlemen have been
either in this House or in the other when the Republican party has had a
two-thirds majority of both branches and has deliberately taken from the
people of the District of Columbia the right to elect any officer from a
constable to a mayor, all because when the experiment was tried here it
was found that the negroes were a little too strong. There was too much
African suffrage in the ballot-box, and they must get rid of it, and to get
rid of it on terms of equality they have disfranchised every man in the
District of Columbia.
I shall have more faith in the sincerity of the declarations of .gentlemen
of their desire to have the women vote when I see that they have made
some step toward the restoration of the right of suffrage to the people of
the District of Columbia. While they let this blot remain upon our law,
while they allow this damning conviction to stand, they may stare us in
the face and accuse us continually of a want of candor and sincerity on
this subject, but they will address their arguments to me in vain, even as
coming from men who have an infatuation upon the subject. I do not be-
lieve a word of it, Mr. President.
I cannot be convinced against these facts that this new movement in
favor of female suffrage means anything more than to add another patch
Vote on Mr. Bayard's Motion. 215
to the worn-out garment of Republicanism, which they patched with Ma-
honeism in Virginia, with repudiation elsewhere, and which they now seek
to patch further by putting on the delicate little silk covering of woman
suffrage. I do not believe that this movement has its root and branch in
any sincere desire to give to the women of this land the right of suffrage.
I think it is a mere party movement with a view of attempting to draw into
the reach of the Republican party some little support from the sympathy
and interest they suppose the ladies will take in their cause if they should
advocate it here. No bill, perhaps, is expected to be reported. The com-
mittee will sit and listen and profess to be charmed and enlightened and
instructed by what may be said, and then the subject will be passed by
without any actual effort to secure the passage of a bill.
Introduce your bills and let them go to the Judiciary Committee, where
the rights of men are to be considered as well as the rights of women. If
this subject is of that pressing national importance which senators seem
to think it is, it is not to be supposed that the Committee on the Judiciary
will fail to give it profound and early attention. When you bring a select
committee forward under the circumstances under which this is to be
raised, you must not expect us to give credit generally to the idea that
the real purpose is to advance the cause of woman suffrage, but rather
that the real purpose is to advance the cause of political domination in this
country. I can see no reason for the raising of this select committee, un-
less it be to furnish some senator, as I have remarked, with a clerk and
messenger. If that were the avowed reason or could even be intimated, I
think I should be disposed to yield that courtesy to the senator, whoever
he might be ; but I cannot do it under the false pretext that the real ob-
ject is to bring forward measures here for the introduction of woman
suffrage into the District of Columbia, where we have no suffrage, or
into the territories, where they have all the suffrage that the territorial
legislatures see proper to give them. I therefore shall oppose the reso-
lution.
Mr. BAYARD : I move the that Senate proceed to the consideration of
executive business. [The motion was agreed to.]
JANUARY 9, 1882.
Mr. HOAR : I now ask for the consideration of the resolution relating
to a select committee on woman suffrage.
The PRESIDENT pro tcmpore : There being ten minutes left of the morn-
ing hour, the senator Irom Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar] asks for the consid-
eration of the resolution relating to woman suffrage. The pending ques-
tion is on the motion of the senator from Delaware [Mr. Bayard] to refer
the subject-matter to the Committee on the Judiciary, on which the yeas;
and nays have been ordered.
The principal legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BUTLER (when Mr. Pugh's name was called) : I was requested'
by the senator from Alabama [Mr. Pugh] to announce his pair with the;
senator from New York [Mr. Miller].
The roll-call was concluded.
History of Woman Suffrage.
Mr. TELLER : On this question I am paired with the senator from Ala-
bama [Mr. Morgan]. If the senator from Alabama were present, I should
vote " nay."
Mr. McPHERSON (after having voted in the affirmative) : I rise to ask
the privilege of withdrawing my vote. I am paired with my colleague
[Mr. Sewell] on all political questions, and this seems to have taken a po-
litical shape.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The senator from New Jersey withdraws
his vote.
The result was announced — yeas 27, nays 31. So the motion was not
agreed to.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore: The question recurs on the adoption of
the resolution.
Mr. EDMUNDS : Let it be read for information. The secretary read the
resolution,
Mr. EDMUNDS: "Shall" ought to be stricken out and "may" inserted,
because the Senate ought always to have the power to refer any particular
measure as it pleases.
Mr. HOAR : I have no objection to that modification.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The senator from Massachusetts accepts
the suggestion of the senator from Vermont, and the word " may" will be
substituted for "shall."
Mr. HILL of Georgia: I wish to say that I have opposed all resolu-
tions, whether originating on the other side of the chamber or on this
side, appointing special committees. They are all wrong. They are not
founded, in my judgment, on a correct principle. There is no necessity
to raise a select committee for this business. The standing committees of
the Senate are ample to do everything that it is proposed the select com-
mittee asked for shall do. The only result of appointing more special
committees is to have just that many more clerks, just that much more
expense, just that many more committee-rooms. This is not the first time
I have opposed the raising of a select committee.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The morning hour has expired, and it re-
quires unanimous consent for the senator from Georgia to proceed with
his remarks.
JANUARY 21, 1882.
Mr. HOAR: I move that the Senate proceed with the consideration of
the resolution.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : If there is no objection, unanimous con-
sent will be assumed,
jjjjr. FARLEY and others: I object.
Mr,. HOAR : I move that the Senate proceed with the consideration of
the resolution.
Mr. SHERMAN : Let it be proceeded with informally, subject to the call
for other business.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The question is on the motion of the sen-
ator from Massachusetts. [Putting the question.] The Chair is uncertain
from the sound and will ask for a division.
Mr. Hill's Speech. . 217
The motion was agreed to ; there being on a division — ayes 32, noes 20.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The resolution is before the Senate and
the senator from Georgia [Mr. Hill] has the floor.
Mr. HILL of Georgia : Mr. President, I do not intend to say one word
on the subject of woman suffrage. I shall not get into that discussion
which was alluded to by the senator from Massachusetts. The senator
will remember, if he refreshes his recollection, that when my late col-
league, now no longer a senator, made a motion for the appointment of a
select committe in relation to the inter-oceanic canal, I opposed it dis-
tinctly, though it came from my colleague, upon the ground that the
appointment of select committees ought to stop, that it was wrong; and
I oppose this resolution for the same reason. I voted against a resolution
to raise a select committee offered by a senator on this side of the cham-
ber at the present session, and I have voted against all resolutions of that
character.
No senator, in my judgment, will rise in his place in the Senate and say
that it is necessary to appoint a special committee to consider the matters
referred to in the resolution. It is true I am a member of the committee,
and perhaps ought not to refer to it, but we have a standing committee,
of which the distinguished senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar] is
chairman, the Committee on Privileges and Elections, that, I take occa-
sion to say, is a very proper committee for this matter to go to ; and that
committee has almost nothing on earth to do. There is but one single
subject-matter now before it, and I believe there will be scarcely another
question before that committee at this session. There is not a contested
election ; there is not a dispute about anybody's seat ; and yet it is a Com-
mittee on Privileges and Elections. What is the reason for going on
continually and appointing these select committees, when there are stand-
ing committees here, properly organized to consider the very question
specified by the resolution, with nothing to do ?
Now, I am going to say one other thing. I do not pretend that the
purpose I am now about to state is the purpose of the senator from Mas-
sachusetts. I have no reflections to make as to what this resolution is
intended for, but we do know that there is an idea abroad that select com-
mittees are generally appointed for the purpose of giving somebody a
chairmanship, that somebody may have a clerk. That is not the case here,
I dare say. I do not mean to intimate that it is the case here, but it ought
to be put a stop to ; it is all wrong. I think, though, that there ought to
be a resolution passed by this body giving every senator who has not a
committee a clerk. Everybody knows that every chairman of a committee
has a clerk in the clerk of that committee. The other senators, at least
in my opinion, ought each to have a clerk. I would vote for such a reso-
lution. I believe it would be right, and I believe the country would ap-
prove it. Every senator knows that he has more business to attend to
here than he can possibly perform. Why, sir, if I were to attend to all
the business in the departments and otherwise that my constituents ask
me to perform, I could not discharge half my duties in this chamber; and
every senator, I dare say, has the same experience. It is to the public
218 History of Woman Suffrage.
interest, therefore, in my judgment, that every senator should have a
clerk. I am unable to employ a clerk from my own funds ; many other
senators are more fortunately situated ; but still I must do that or move
the appointment of a special committee for the purpose in an indirect way
of getting a clerk. It is not right.
It has been said that if senators each have a clerk, for instance, a clerk
at $100 a month salary during the session, which would be a very small
matter, the members of the other House would each want a clerk. It does
not follow. There is a vast difference. A member of the other House
represents a narrow district, a single district ; a senator represents a whole
State. Take the State of New York. There are thirty-three representa-
tives in the House from the State of New York ; there are but two sena-
tors here from that State. Those two senators in all likelihood have as
much business to perform here for their constituents as the thirty-three
members of the House. There is, therefere, an eminent reason why a
senator should have a clerk and why a member of the House should not.
I cannot vote for the appointment of select committees unless you raise
a select committee for every senator in the body so as to give him a clerk.
You have appointed select committees for this business and for that. It
gives a few men an advantage when the business of the country does not
require it, whereas if you appointed a clerk for each senator, with a nominal
salary of $100 per month during the session, it would enable every senator
to do his work more efficiently both here and for his constituents ; it
would put all the senators on a just equality; it would be in furtherance
of the public interest ; and it would avoid what I consider (with all due
deference and not meaning to be offensive) the unseemly habit of con-
stantly moving the appointment of select committees in this body. This
is all I have to say. I vote against the resolution simply because I am
opposed to the appointment of a select committee for this or any other
purpose that I can now think of.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : The question is on the adoption of the
resolution.
Mr. VEST called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered, and the
principal legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JONES of Florida (when his name was called) : I propose to vote
for this resolution, but at the same time I do not regard my vote as in
any way committing myself on the subject of female suffrage. If they
think an investigation of this subject should be had in this way, I for one
am willing to have it. I vote "yea."
Mr. TELLER, (when his name was called) : On this question I am paired
with the senator from Alabama [Mr. Morgan]; otherwise I should vote
"yea."
The roll-call having been concluded, the result was announced — yeas
35, nays 23 ; so .the resolution was agreed to.*
* Yeas — Aldrich, Allison, Anthony, Blair, Cameron of Pa., Cameron of Wis., Conger, Davis of 111.,
Dawes, Edmunds, Ferry, Frye, Harrison, Hawley, Hill of Col., Hoar, Jones of Fla., Jones of Nev.,
Kellogg, Lapham, Logan, McDill, McMillan, Miller of Cal., Mitchell, Merrill, Platt, Plumb, Ransom,
Rollins, Saunders, Sawyer, Sewell, Sherman, Windom — 35.
House Resolution on Select Committee. 219
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 20, 1881.
Mr. WHITE of Kentucky ; I ask consent to offer for consideration at
this time the resolution which I send to the clerk's desk.
The clerk read as follows :
Resolved, That a select committee of seven members of the House of Representa-
tives be appointed by the Speaker, to whom shall be referred all petitions, bills and
resolves providing for the extension of suffrage to women, or for the removal of legal
disabilities.
Mr. MILLS of Texas : I object.
Mr. KELLEY of Pennsylvania: A similar resolution has already been re-
ferred to the Committee on Rules.
The SPEAKER (Mr. Keifer of Ohio): Objection being made to its con-
sideration at this time, the resolution will be referred to the Committee
on Rules.
The resolution was referred accordingly.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 25, 1882.
Mr. REED of Maine : I rise to make a privileged report. The Committee
on Rules, to whom were referred sundry resolutions relating to the sub-
ject, have instructed me to report the resolution which I send to the desk.
The clerk read as follows :
Resolved, That a select committee of nine members be appointed, to whom shall be
referred all petitions, bills and resolves asking for the extension of suffrage to women
or the removal of their legal disabilities.
The SPEAKER: The question is on the adoption of the report of the
Committee on Rules.
Mr. HOLMAN of Indiana : I ask that the latter portion of the resolution
be again read. It was not heard in this part of the house.
The resolution was again read.
Mr. TOWNSHEND of Illinois : I rise to make a parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER: The gentleman will state it.
Mr. TOWNSHEND : My inquiry is whether that resolution should not go
to the House calendar.
The SPEAKER : It is a privileged report under the rules of the House
from the Committee on Rules. The question is on the adoption of the
resolution.
Mr. McMiLLiN of Tennessee : I make the point of order that it must lie
over for one day.
The SPEAKER: It is the report of a committee privileged under the
rules.
Mr. McMiLLiN : The committtee are privileged to report, but under the
rule the report has to lie over a day.
Nays— Bayard, Beck, Brown, Butler, Camden, Cockrell, Coke, Davis of W. Va., Fair, Farley, Gaiv
land, Hampton, Hill of Ga., Jackson, Jonas, McPherson, Maxey, Saulsbury, Slater, Vance, Vest,
Walker, \Villiams — 23.
Absent — Call. George, Gorman, Groome, Grover, Hale, Harris, Ingalls. Johnston. 1 .tni.ir, Mahone,
Miller of N. Y., Morgan, Pendleton, Pugh, Teller. Van Wyck, Voorhees— 18.
The members of the committee were Senators Lapham of New York, Anthony of Rhode Island,
Blair of New Hampshire, Jackson of Tennessee, George of Mississippi, Ferry of Michigan and Fair
of Nevada.
220 History of Woman Suffrage.
The SPEAKER: The gentleman from Tennessee will oblige the Chair by
directing his attention to any rule which requires such a report to lie over
one day. It changes no standing rule or order of the House.
Mr. McMlLLiN : It does, by making a change in the number and nature
of the committees. All measures of a particular class, the resolution
states, must be referred to the proposed committee, whereas heretofore
they have been referred to a different committee. Therefore the resolu-
tion changes the rules of the House.
The SPEAKER: The Chair is of opinion the resolution does not rescind
or change any standing rule of the House. The question is on the adop-
tion of the resolution.
Mr. SPRINGER: Mr. Speaker, I desire to call the attention of the Chair
to the fact that this does distinctly change one of the standing rules of
the House. One of the standing rules is —
The SPEAKER: The Chair has passed on that question, and no appeal
has been taken from his decision.
Mr. SPRINGER: I desire to call the attention of the Chair to Rule 10,
which specifically provides for the appointment of the full number of
committees this House is to have, and this is not one of them.
The SPEAKER: Not one of the standing committees, but a select com-
mittee.
Mr. SPRINGER : That rule provides there shall be a certain number of
committees, the names of which are therein given.
Mr. REED : I sincerely hope this will not be made a matter of technical
discussion or debate. It is a matter upon which members of this House
must have opinions which they can express by voting, in a very short
time, without taking up the attention of the House beyond what is really
necessary for a bare discussion of the merits of the question.
Mr. McMlLLiN : Will the gentleman permit me to ask him a question ?
Mr. REED : Certainly.
Mr. McMlLLiN : Would you not, as a parliamentarian, concede that this
does change the existing rules of the House?
Mr. REED : By no manner of means, especially when the accomplished
Speaker has decided the other way, and no gentleman has taken an ap-
peal from his decision. [Laughter.]
Mr. McMlLLiN : Then you have no opinion beyond his decision ?
The SPEAKER: The Chair will state to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr.
Springer] that this resolution does not change any of the standing com-
mittees of the House which are provided for in Rule 10.
Mr. SPRINGER: It provides for a new committee.
The SPEAKER : It provides for a select committee. The subject was
referred to the Committee on Rules by order of the House, and this is a
report on the resolution so referred.
Mr. SPRINGER : The rule provides that no standing rule or order of the
House shall be rescinded or changed without one day's notice.
The SPEAKER : The Chair would decide that this does not propose any
change or rescinding of any standing rule of the House.
Vote on tke Resolution. 221
Mr. SPRINGER : Does the Chair hold that the making of a new rule is
not a change of the existing rules ?
The SPEAKER : The Chair does not decide anything of the kind.
Mr. SPRINGER : What does the Chair decide ?
The SPEAKER: The Chair does not undertake to decide any such ques-
tion, for it is not now presented.
Mr. SPRINGER: Is this not a new rule?
The SPEAKER : It is not.
Mr. SPRINGER: It is not?
The SPEAKER: It is a provision for a select committee.
Mr. SPRINGER: Can you have a committee without a rule of the House
providing for it?
The SPEAKER : The question is on the adoption of the resolution re-
ported from the Committee on Rules.
Mr. ATKINS : On that question I call for the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The question was taken and there were — yeas 115, nays 84, not voting
93 ; so the resolution was carried.*
Mr. REED moved to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was
adopted ; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the
table. The latter motion was agreed to.
On Monday, March 13, 1882, the Chair announced the appointment of
the following gentlemen as the Select Committee on Woman Suffrage
authorized by the House : Mr. Camp of New York, Mr. White of Ken-
tucky, Mr. Sherwin of Illinois, Mr. Stone of Massachusetts. Mr. Hepburn
of Iowa, Mr. Springer of Illinois, Mr. Vance of North Carolina, Mr. Mul-
drow of Mississippi and Mr. Stockslager of Indiana.
The Annual Washington Convention was held in Lincoln Hall
as usual, January 18, 19, 20, 1882. The afternoon before the
convention, at an executive session held at the Riggs House,
* Yeas — Aldrich, Anderson, Bayne. Beach, Belford, Bingham, Black, Bliss, Brewer. Briggs, Browne,
Brumm, Buck, Burrows, Julius C., Butterworth, Calkins, Camp, Campbell, Candler, Cannon, Carpen-
ter, Caswell, Converse, Crapo, Davis, George R., Dawes, Deering, De Motte, Dezendorf, Dinglcy,
Dwight, Farwell, Sewall S., Finley, Flower, Geddes, Grout, Hardenburgh, Harris, Henry, S., Husel-
tine, Haskell, Hawk, Hazelton, Hcilman, Henderson, Hepburn, Hill, Hiscock, Horr, Houk, Hubbell,
Humphrey, Hutchinson, Jacobs, Jadwin, Jones, Phineas. Kasson, Kelley, Ladd, Lord, Marsh, Mason,
McClure, McCoid, McCook, McKinley, Miles, Miller, Moulton, Murch, Nolan, Norcross, O'Neill, Orth,
Page, Parker, Paul, Payson, Poole. Pierce, Pettibone, Pound, Prescott, Ranncy, Ray, Reed, Rice.
Theron M., Richardson, D. P., Ritchie, Robeson, Robinson, Geo. D., Robinson, James S., Ryan,
Scranton, Shallenberger, Sherwin, Skinner, Smith, A. Herr, Smith, Dietrich C., Spaulding, Spooner,
Steele, Stephens, Stone, Strait, Taylor, Updegraff, J. T., Updegraff, Thomas, Valentine, Van Arm. mi,
Walker, Watson, West, White, Williams, Chas. G., Willits— 115.
Nays — Aiken, Atkins, Berry, Blackburn, Bland, Blount, Bragg, Buchanan, Buckner, Cabell, Cald-
well, Cassiday, Chapman, Clark, Clements, Cobb, Colerick, Cox, William R., Covington, Cravens,
Culbcrson, Curtin, Deuster, Dibrcll, Dowd, Evins, Forney, Frost, Fulkerson, Garrison, Guenther,
Gunter, Hammond, N. J., Hatch, Herbert, Hewitt, G. W. Hope, Holman, House, Jones, George W.,
Jones, James K., Joyce, Kenna, Klotz, Knott, Latham, Leedom. Manning, Martin, Matson, McMillin,
Mills, Money, Morrison, Mutchler, Gates, Phister, Reagan, Rosecrans, Ross, Schackleford, Shelley,
Simonton, Singleton, Jas. W., Singleton, Otho R., Sparks, Speer, Springer, Stockslager, Thompson,
P. B.. Thompson, Wm. G., Tillman, Tucker, Turner, Henry G., Turner, Oscar, Upson, Vance, War»
ner, Whittihore, Williams, Thomas, Willis, Wilson, Wise, George D., Young— 84.
222 History of Woman Suffrage.
forty delegates were present from fourteen different States.*
Among these were five from Massachusetts, and for the first
time that State was represented on the platform of the National
Association. Mrs. Stanton gave the opening address, and made
some amusing criticisms on a recent debate on Senator H'oar's
proposition for a special committee on the rights and disabilities
of women. Such a committee had been under debate for several
years and it was during this convention that the bill passed the
Senate.
Invitations to attend the convention were sent to all the
members of congress, and many were present during the various
sessions. Miss Ellen H. Sheldon, secretary, read the minutes of
the last convention, and, instead of the usual dry skeleton of facts,
she gave a glowing description of that eventful occasion. Clara
B. Colby gave an interesting narration of the progress of woman
suffrage in Nebraska, and of the efforts being made to carry the
proposition pending before the people, to strike the word " male "
from the constitution in the coming November election.
Rev. Frederick A. Hinckley of Providence, R. I., spoke upon
" Our Demand in the Light of Evolution." He said :
It is about a century since our forefathers declared that "governments
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," and
about a half century since woman began to see that she ought to be
included in this declaration. At present the expressions of the Declara-
tion of Independence are a "glittering generality," for only one-half of the
people "consent." Modern science has demonstrated the truth of evolu-
tion— like causes produce like results — and this is seen in the progress of
government and of woman. From the time when physical force ruled,
up to the present, when ostensibly in the United States every person is his
own ruler, there have been many steps. The importance of the masses
has steadily taken the place of the importance of individuals. At first the
idea was "You shall obey because I say so"; then, "You shall obey be-
cause I am your superior, and will protect you"; now it is '• Everyone
shall be his own protector." But we do not live up to this idea while only
one-half instead of the whole of " everyone " is his own protector. The
phases of woman's advancement are fitly described by the four words —
slave, subject, inferior, dependent ; and no step in this advance has been
* Connecticut, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Frances Ellen Burr. Colorado, Mrs. Elizabeth G. Campbell,
District of Columbia, Ellen H. Sheldon, Jane H. Spofford, Dr. Caroline B. Winslow, Ellen M.
O'Conner, Eliza Titus Ward, Belva A. Lockwood, Mrs. H. L. Shephard, Martha Johnson. Indiana,
Helen M. Gongar, May Wright Sewall, Laura Kregelo, Alexiana S. Maxwell. Maine, Sophronia
C. Snow. Massachusetts, Mrs. Harriet H. Robinson, Harriette R. Shattuck, Laura E. Brooks, Mary
R. Brown, Emma F. Clary. Nebraska, Clara B. Colby. New Jersey, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Chandler.
A'/w York, Mrs. Caroline Gilkey Rogers, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Gage, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Helen M.
Loder. Pennsylvania, Mrs. McClellan Brown, Rachel G. Foster, Emma C. Rhodes. Rhode Island^
Rev. Frederick A Hinckley, Mrs. Burgess. Wisconsin, Miss Eliza Wilson and Mrs. Painter.
Speech of Phoebe W. Couzins. 223
accomplished without a hard struggle. The logic of evolution in govern-
ment points to universal suffrage. The same logic points to unqualified
individual freedom for woman.
Mrs. Blake in reporting from her State said :
Governor Cornell was the first New York Governor to mention woman
in an inaugural address, and the bill allowing women to vote in school
elections was passed the same winter. There was a great deal of opposi-
tion in different parts of the State to the voting of women. In some
country districts where the polls are in the school-houses, certain men
went early and locked the doors, filled the room with smoke and even put
tobacco on the stoves to make it as disagreeable for the women as possi-
ble. More respectable men had to ventilate and clean the rooms to make
them decent for either man or woman. From this lowest class of oppo-
nents up to those who say : " My dear, you'd better not make yourself con-
spicuous ! " the spirit is the same. Believing that under our constitution
women are already entitled to the ballot, we do not ask for a constitu-
tional amendment, but for a bill extending the suffrage at once.
Mrs. COLBY in contrast to this stated that in Nebraska the greatest
courtesy had always been shown to women who voted at school elections
There is only one organized effort against woman suffrage, and that is
made by the " Sons of Liberty ! " " O, Consistency, thou art a jewel ! "
The following resolution introduced into the Senate, January
II, by Mr. Morgan of Alabama, was finally referred to the Com-
mittee on Woman Suffrage. This was the first subject brought
before them for action.
Resolved, That the committee on " The extension of suffrage to women, or the re-
moval of their disabilities," be directed to examine into the state of the law regulating
the ri<;ht of suffrage in the territory of Utah, and report a bill to set aside and annul
any law or laws enacted by the legislature of said territory conferring upon women
the right of suffrage.
Miss Couzins made an admirable speech on the following reso-
lution :
Resolved, That Senator Morgan's bill to deprive the women of Utah of the right of
suffrage because of the social institutions and religious faith originated and maintained
by the men of the territory,^ a travesty on common justice. While the wife has not
absolute possession of even one husband, and the husband has many wives, surely the
men and not the women, if either, should be deprived of the suffrage.
Miss COUZINS said : The task of dealing fairly and justly with this ter-
ritorial complication should never be committed to the blundering legis-
lation of man alone. His success as a legislator and executive for woman
in the past does not inspire a confidence that in this most serious problem
he will be any the less an unbiased judge and law-giver. This government
of men permitted the establishment of a religious colony, so called, whose
basis of faith was the complete humiliation of women ; recognized the
system by appointing its chief, Brigham Young, governor of the territory,
under whose fostering care polygamy grew to its present proportions.
224 History of Woman Suffrage.
That woman has not thrown off the yoke of religious despotism can be
readily appreciated when we recognize the fact that man, from time imme-
morial, has played upon her religious faith to exalt his own attributes and
degrade hers ; that through this teaching her abiding belief in his superior
capacity to interpret scriptural truths for her has been the means of sacri-
ficing her power of mind, her tender affections, her delicate sensibilities,
on the altar of his base selfishness throughout the ages. Orthodoxy
recognizes no " inspiration " for woman to-day. She is not " called " save
to serve man. Under its teaching her thought has been padlocked in the
name of Divinity, and her lips sealed in sacrilegious pretense of au-
thority from heaven ; and nothing so clearly bespeaks the degenerating
influence of the ages of this masculine teaching as the absolute faith
manifested by the women of Utah in this ipse dixit of man's religious doc-
trine. Their emancipation must necessarily be slow.
The paternal government allowed polygamy to be planted, take root,
and grow in a wilderness where the attraction of nobler minds and freer
thoughts was not known. The victims came from the political despotisms
of the old world to be shackled in a land of freedom with a still
darker despotism, and under the aegis of the American flag they have
borne children as a religious duty they owed to God and man ; and surely
it can not be expected, even with that grand emancipator from king and
priestcraft rule, the ballot, that at once they will vote themselves outcast
and their children illegitimate.
It took the white men of this nation one hundred years to put away
that relic of barbarism, slavery ; the removal of the twin relic will come
through liberty for woman, higher education for children, and the incom-
ing tide of Gentile immigration. The fitting act of justice is not disfran-
chisement of woman, as Senator Morgan proposes, and the reenactment
of that old Adamic cry: "The woman whom thou gavcst," but the dis-
franchisement of man, who is the only polygamist, and the stepping down
and out of the sex as a legislator under whose fostering care this evil has
grown. Retire to your sylvan groves and academic shades, gentlemen, as
Mrs. Stanton suggests, and let the Deborahs, the Huldahs, and the Vashtis
come to the front, and let us see what we can do toward the remedy of
your wretched legislation. But suffrage for women in Utah has accom-
plished great good. I spent one week there in close observation.
Outside of their religious convictions, the wo^ien are emphatic in con-
demnation of wrong. Their votes banished the liquor saloon. I saw no
drunkenness anywhere; the poison of tobacco smoke is not allowed to
vitiate the air of heaven, either on the streets or in public assemblies.
Their court-room was a model of neatness and good order. Plants were
in the windows and handsome carpets graced the floor. During my stay,
the daughter of a Mormon, the then advocate-general of the territory, was
admitted to the bar by Chief-Justice McKean of the United States Court,
who, in fitting and beautiful language, welcomed her to the profession as
a woman whose knowledge of the law fitted her to be the peer of any
man in his court. She told me that she detested polygamy, but felt that
she could render greater service to the emancipation of her sex inside of
A Large Senator and a Live Representative, 225
Utah than out. At midnight I wandered, with one of my own sex, about
the streets to test the assertion that it was as safe for women then as at
mid-day. No bacchanalian shout rent the air; no man was seen reeling
in maudlin imbecility to his home. No guardians put in an appearance,
save the stars above our heads ; no sound awoke the stillness but the purl-
ing of the mountain brooks which washed the streets in cleanliness and
beauty. What other city on this continent can present such a showing ?
With murder for man and rapine for woman where man alone is maker
and guardian of the laws, it behooves him to pause ere he launches in-
vectives at the one result of woman's votes.
Mrs. Gougar, on our Washington platform for the first time,
delighted the audience with her readiness and wit. She has a
good voice, fine presence, and speaks fluently, without notes.
She spoke of the reformatory prison for women in her State, and said
that the statistics showed that eighty-two per cent, of the women con-
fined there were sent out reformed. Speaking of the gallantry of men,
she cited a case of a man who came to an Indiana lawyer and desired him
to make a will. The following conversation ensued : " I want you to
make this will so that my wife will have $400 a year; that's enough
for any woman." "Is she the only wife you ever had?" "Yes."
" How long have you been married ? " " Forty-two years." " How
many children have you had?" "Eleven." "Did you have all your
property before marriage?" "No; didn't have a cent; I've earned
it all." " Has your wife helped you in any way to earn it? " "Why, yes,
I suppose she has ; but then I want to fix my will so she can only have
$400 a year; it's enough." "Well, sir, you will have to move out of the
State of Indiana then, for the law provides for the wife better than that,
and you will have to get another lawyer." It is needless to say that this
lawyer is a staunch champion of woman suffrage, and it is pleasant to know
that there are more such men being educated by this agitation.
Mrs. Maxwell gave a fine recitation of " The Dying Soldier," at
one of the evening sessions. It was evident by the sparkling eyes
of the Indiana delegation that the ladies had in reserve some pleas-
ant surprise for the convention, which at last revealed itself in
the person of Judge Orth, a live member of congress from In-
diana, who stood up like a man and avowed his belief in woman
suffrage. His words were few but to the point, and his hearers
all knew exactly where he stood on the question.
The next evening the Nebraska delegation, determining not to
be outdone, captured one of their United States senators and tri-
umphantly brought him on the platform. It was a point gained
to have a congressman publicly give in his adhesion to the ques-
tion, but how much greater the achievement to appear in the
convention with a United States senator. It was a proud
15
226 History of Woman Suffrage.
moment for Mrs. Colby when Senator Saunders, a large man of
fine proportions, stepped to the front. But alas ! her triumph
over the Indiana ladies was short indeed, for while the senator
surpassed the representative in size and official honors, he fell far
below him in the logic of his statements and the earnestness of
his principles. In fact the audience and the platform were in
doubt at the close of his remarks as to his true position on the
question. Mrs. May Wright Sewall, who followed him, sparkled
with the satisfaction she expressed in paying most glowing
tributes to the men of Indiana and their State institutions. She
said:
The principal objection to woman suffrage has always been that it will
take women from their homes and destroy all home life. She showed
that there is not an interest of home which is not represented in the
State, and that the subordination of the State to the family has kept pace
with the subordination of physical to spiritual force. Woman has an in-
terest in everything which affects the State, and only lacks the legitimate
instrument of these interests — the ballot — with which to enforce them.
Life regulates legislation. Domestic life is woman's sphere, but a sphere
of much larger dimensions than has ever yet been accorded it, these
dimensions reaching out and controlling the functions of the State. The
ballot is not a political or a military, but a domestic necessity.
Mrs. Harriette R. Shattuck spoke on the golden rule, asking
men to put themselves in the place of disfranchised women, and
then legislate for them as they would be legislated for. Mrs.
Robinson gave a resume of the legal, political and educational
position of women in Massachusetts. Mrs. Hooker showed that
political equality would dignify woman in home life, give added
weight to her opinions on all questions, and command new
respect for her from all classes of men. Mrs. Colby gave an in-
teresting address on " The Social Evolution of Woman " :
She traced the history of woman from the time when she was bought
and sold, up to the present. She said that the first believer in woman's
rights was the one who first proposed that women should be allowed to
eat with their husbands. This once granted, everything else has followed
of necessity, and the ballot will be the crowning right. Once women
were not allowed to sing soprano because it was the "governing part."
From these and many like indignities woman has gradually evolved until
she now stands on an equality with man in many social rights.
Martha McClellan Brown read an able essay on " The Power of
the Veto." She is a woman of fine presence, pleasing manners
and a well trained voice that can fill any hall. Her address was
one of the best in the convention and all felt that in her we had
Hearing Before the Senate Committee. 227
a valuable acquisition to our Association. Mrs. Gage gave an able
address on " The Moral Force of Woman Suffrage."
During the first day of the convention a request, signed by the
officers of the association, was sent to the Special Committee on
Woman Suffrage in the Senate, asking for a hearing on the six-
teenth amendment to the constitution. The hearing was granted
on Friday morning, January 20, 1882. A distinguished speaker in
England having advised the friends of suffrage there to employ
young and attractive women to advocate the measure, as the
speediest means of success, Miss Anthony took the hint in making
the selection for the first hearing before the committee of those
who had never been heard before,* of whom some were young,
and all attractive as speakers. Miss Anthony said that she would
introduce some new speakers to the committee, in order to dis-
prove the allegation that " it was always the same old set." The
committee listened to them with undivided attention throughout,
and at the conclusion of the hearing the following resolution,
offered by Senator George of Mississippi, was adopted unani-
mously:
Resolved, That the committee are under obligations to the representatives of the
•women of the United States for their attendance this morning, and for the able and
instructive addresses which have been made, and that the committee assure them that
they will give to the subject of woman suffrage the careful and impartial consideration
which its grave importance demands.
In describing the occasion for the Boston Transcript, Mrs.
Shattuck said :
As we stood in the committee-room and presented our plea for freedom,
we felt that at last we had obtained a fair hearing, whatever its result
might be. And the most encouraging sign of the impression made by
our words was the change in the faces of some of the members of the
committee as the speaking went on. At first there was a look of indiffer-
ence and scorn — merely toleration ; this gradually changed to interest
mingled with surprise; finally, as Miss Anthony closed with one of her
most eloquent appeals, all the faces showed a decided and almost eager
interest in what we had to say. Senator George, who certainly looked
more unpropitious than any other one, assured the ladies that he would
give to the subject of woman suffrage that careful and impartial considera-
tion which its grave importance demands. This, from one who heralded
his entrance by inquiring of Miss Anthony, in stentorian tones, if she
"wanted to go to war," was, to say the least, a concession. The speakers
were closely questioned by some members of the committee, who after-
wards told us " that they had never heard a speech on the subject before
* Short speeches were made by Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Shattuck of Massachusetts. Mrs. Sewall
and Mrs. Cougar of Indiana, Mrs. Saxon of Louisiana, Mrs. Colby of Nebraska.
228 History of Woman Suffrage.
and were surprised to find so much in the demand, and to see such ability
as was manifested by the women before them."
The committee having expressed a wish to hear others on the
subject, appointed the next morning at 10 o'clock.* Mrs. Stan-
ton, being introduced by the chairman, said :
Gentlemen, when the news of the appointment of this committee
was flashed over the wires, you cannot imagine the satisfaction that
thrilled the hearts of your countrywomen. After fourteen years of
constant petitioning, we are grateful for even this slight recognition
at last. I never before felt such an interest in any congressional commit-
tee, and I have no doubt that all who are interested in this reform, share
in my feelings. Fortunately your names make a great couplet in rhyme,
Lapham, Anthony and Blair,
Jackson, George, Ferry and Fair.
which will enable us to remember them always. This I discovered in writ-
ing your names in this volume, which allow me to present you.
The gentlemen rising in turn received with a gracious bow
"The History of Woman Suffrage" which, Mrs. Stanton told
them, would furnish all the arguments they needed to defend their
clients against the ignorance and prejudice of the world. Mr.
George of Mississippi asked why this agitation was confined to
Northern women ; ke had never heard the ladies of the South ex-
press the wish to vote. Mrs. Stanton referred him to those
to whom the volume before him was dedicated. " There," said
she, " you will find the names of two ladies from one of the
most distinguished families in South Carolina, who came North
over forty years ago, and set this ball for woman's freedom in
motion. But for those noble women, Sarah and Angelina Grimke,
we might not stand here to-day pleading for justice and equality."
As the speakers had requested the committee to ask questions,
they were frequently interrupted. All urged the importance of a
national protection, preferring congressional action, to submit-
ting the proposition to the popular vote of the several States. On
this point Mr. Jackson of Tennessee asked many pertinent ques-
tions. Mrs. Shattuck, writing of this occasion to the Boston
Transcript, said :
One of the speakers eloquently testified to the interest of many Southern
women in this subject, and urged the Southern members of the com-
mittee not to declare that the women of the South do not want the ballot
until they have investigated the matter. After the hearing three Southern
* When Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Gage and Mrs. Blake of New York, Mrs. Hooker of Connecticut and
Mrs. Saxon of Louisiana, and Mrs. Sewall, by special request of the chairman, again addressed the
committee.
Convention at Philadelphia. 229
ladies, wives of congressmen, thanked her for what she had said. The
member from Mississippi showed a great deal of interest and really became
quite waked up before the session ended. But, when we look at it in one
light, there is something exceedingly humiliating in the thought that
women representing the best intellect and the highest morality of our
country, should come here in their grand old age and ask men for that
which is theirs by right. Is it not time that this aristocracy of sex should
be overthrown ? Several of the senators were so moved by the speeches
that they personally expressed their thanks, and one who has long been
friendly, said the speeches were far above the average committee-hear-
ings on any subject. We might well have replied that the reason is be-
cause all the speakers feel what they say and know that the question is
one of vital importance.
In securing these hearings before this special committee of the Senate
the friends feel they have reached a milestone in the progress of their
reform. To secure the attention for four hours of seven representative
men of the United States, must have more effect than would a hundred
times that amount of time and labor expended upon their constituents.
If one of these senators, for instance, shou.ld become convinced of the
justice of woman's claim to the ballot, his constituency would begin to
look upon that question with respect, whereas it would take years to bring
that same constituency up to the position where they could elect such a
representative. To convince the representatives is to sound the keynote,
and it is for this reason that these hearings before the Senate committee
are of such paramount importance to the suffrage cause.
At the close of the hearing Mrs. Robinson presented each member of
the committee with her little volume, " Massachusetts in the Woman Suf-
frage Movement."
January 23 the House Committee on Rules* gave a hear-
ing to Mrs. Jane Graham Jones of Chicago, Mrs. May Wright
Sewall and Miss Anthony. During this congress the question of
admitting the territory of Dakota as a State was discussed in
the Senate. Our committee stood ready to oppose it unless
the word " male " were stricken from the proposed constitution.
Immediately after this most of the speakers wentf to Philadel-
phia where Rachel Foster had made arrangements for a two-
days convention. Rev. Charles G. Ames gave the address of
welcome.
He told of his conversion to woman suffrage from the time when he be-
lieved women and men were ordained to be unequal, just as in nature the
mountain is different from the valley — he looking down at her, she gazing
up at him — until the time when he began to see that women are not of
necessity the valleys, nor men of necessity the mountains ; and so on, until
* Mr. 1'lackburn, Mr. Robeson, and Mr. Reed were present.
t Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Sewall, Mrs. McClellan Brown, Mrs. Colby, Miss Couiins, Miss An-
thony, Edward M. Davis, Robert Purvis, Mrs. Shattuck, Rev. Frederick A. Hinckley, Mrs. Robinson.
230 History of Woman Suffrage.
now he believes women entitled to stand on an equal plane with men,
socially and politically.
The President, Mrs. Stanton, responded. Hannah Whitehall
Smith of Germantown, prominent in the temperance movement,
spoke of the hardship of farmers' wives, and asked :
If that condition was not one of slavery which obliged a woman to rise
early and cook the family breakfast while her husband lay in bed ; to
work all day long, and then in the evening, while he smoked his pipe or
enjoyed himself at the corner grocery, to mend and patch his old clothes.
But she thought the position of woman was changing for the better. Even
among the Indians a better feeling is beginning to prevail. It is Indian
etiquette for the man to kill the deer or bear, and leave it on the spot
where it is struck down for the woman to carry home. She must drag
it over the ground or carry it on her back as best she may, while he
quietly awaits her coming in the family wigwam. A certain Indian, after
observing that white folks did differently by their women, once resolved
to follow their example. But such was the force of public opinion that,
when it was discovered that he brought home his own game, both he and
his wife were murdered. This shows what fearful results prejudice may
bring about ; and the only difference between the prejudice which ruled
his tribe in regard to woman and that which rules white American men
to-day, is a difference in degree, dependent upon the difference in enlight-
enment. The principle is the same. The result would be the same were
each equally ignorant.
The familiar faces of Edward M. Davis, Mary Grew, Adeline
Thompson, Sarah Pugh, Anna McDowell and two of Lucretia
Mott's noble daughters, gladdened many a heart during the vari-
ous sessions of the convention. Beautiful tributes were paid to
Mrs. Mott by several of the speakers. The Philadelphia conven-
tion was supplemented by a most delightful social gathering,
without mention of which a report of the occasion would be in-
complete :
Like many historical events, this was entirely unpremeditated, no one
who participated in its pleasures had any forewarning, aside from an in-
formal invitation to lunch with Mrs. Hannah Whitehall Smith and her gen-
erous husband, both earnest friends of temperance and important allies of
the woman suffrage movement. Mrs. Smith met the guests at the
station in Philadelphia, tickets in hand, marshaling them to their respective
seats in the cars as if born to command, and on arriving at Germantown,
transferred them to carriages in waiting, with the promptness of a railroad
official. Without noise or confusion one and all crossed the threshold of
her well-ordered mansion, and with other invited guests were soon seated
in the spacious parlor, talking in groups here and there. "Ah ! " said Mrs.
Smith on entering, " this will never do, think of all the good things that will
be lost in these side talks. My plan is to have a general conversation, a
kind of love-feast, each telling her experience. It would be pleasant to
First Favorable Majority Report. 231
know how each has reached the same platform, through the tangled
labyrinths of human life." Soon all was silence and one after another
related the special incidents in childhood, girlhood and mature years that
had turned her thoughts to the consideration of woman's position. The
stories were as varied as they were pathetic and amusing, and were listened
to amidst smiles and tears with the deepest interest. And when all * had
finished the tender revelations of the hopes and fears, the struggles and tri-
umphs through which each soul had passed, these sacred memories seemed
to bind us anew together in a friendship that we hope may never end. A
sumptuous lunch followed, and amid much gaiety and laughter the guests
dispersed, giving the hospitable host and hostess a warm farewell — a day
to be remembered by all of us.
Our Senate committee, through its chairman, Hon. Elbridge
G. Lapham, very soon reported in favor of the submission of a
sixteenth amendment. We had had a favorable minority report
in the House in 1871 and in the Senate in 1879 — Dut t^8 was t^e
first favorable majority report we had ever had in either house :
IN THE SENATE, MONDAY, June 5, 1882.
Mr. LAPHAM: I am instructed by the Select Committee on Woman
Suffrage, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. R. No. 60) propos-
ing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, to report it
with a favorable recommendation, without amendment, for the considera-
tion of the Senate. This is a majority report, and the minority desire the
opportunity to present their report also, and have printed the reasons
which they give for dissenting. As this is a question of more than ordi-
nary importance, I should like to have 1,000 extra copies of the report
printed for the use of the committee.
Mr. GEORGE: I present the views of the minority of the committee,
consisting of the senator from Tennessee [Mr. Jackson], the senator from
Nevada [Mr. Fair], and myself.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore : It is moved that 1,000 extra copies of the
report be printed for the use of the Senate.
Mr. ANTHONY : The motion should go by the statute to the Committee
on Printing.
Mr. LAPHAM : I will present it in the form of a resolution for reference
to the Committee on Printing.
The resolution was referred to the Committee on Printing, as follows-.
Resolved, That 1,000 additional copies of the report and views of the minority on
Senate Joint Resolution No. 60 be printed for the use of the Select Committee on
Woman Suffrage.
In the Senate of the United States, June 5, 1882, Mr. Lapham,
from the Committee on Woman Suffrage, submitted the follow-
ing report :
* Those present were Mesdames Spofford, Stanton, Robinson, Shattuck, Sewall and Saxon; IVffsses
Thompson, Anthony, Couzins and Foster. Many pleasant ladies from the Society of Friends were
there also and contributed to the dignity and interest of the occasion.
232 History of Woman Suffrage.
The Select Committee on Woman Suffrage, to whom was referred Senate
Resolution No. 60, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States to secure the right of suffrage to all citizens without regard to sex,
having considered the same, respectfully report :
The gravity and importance of the proposed amendment must be ob-
vious to all who have given the subject the consideration it demands.
A very brief history of the origin of this movement in the United States
and of the progress made in the cause of female suffrage will not be out
of place at this time. A World's Anti-slavery Convention was held in
London on June 12, 1840, to which delegates from all the organized socie-
ties were invited. Several of the American societies sent women as
delegates. Their credentials were presented, and an able and exhaustive
discussion was had by many of the leading men of America and Great
Britain upon the question of their being admitted to seats in the conven-
tion. They were allowed no part in the discussion. They were denied
seats as delegates, and, by reason of that denial, it was determined to hold
conventions after their return to the United States, for the purpose of
asserting and advocating their rights as citizens, and especially the right
of suffrage. Prior to this, and as early as the year 1836, a proposal had
been made in the legislature of the State of New York to confer upon
married women their separate rights of property. The subject was under
consideration and agitation during the eventful period which preceded
the constitutional convention of New York in the year 1846, and the
radical changes made in the fundamental law in that year. In 1848 the
first act " For the More Effectual Protection of the Property of Married
Women " was passed by the legislature of New York and became a law.
It passed by a vote of 93 to 9 in the Assembly and 23 to i in the Senate.
It was subsequently amended so as to authorize women to engage in busi-
ness on their own account and to receive their own earnings. This
legislation was the outgrowth of a bill prepared several years before
under the direction of the Hon. John Savage, chief-justice of the Supreme
Court, and of the Hon. John C. Spencer, one of the ablest lawyers in the
State, one of the revisers of the statutes of New York, and afterward a
cabinet officer. Laws granting separate rights of property and the right
to transact business, similar to those adopted in New York, have been
enacted in many, if not in most of the States, and may now be regarded
as the settled policy of American legislation on the subject.
After the enactment of the first law in New York, as before stated, and
in the month of July, 1848, the first convention demanding suffrage 'for
women was held at Seneca Falls in said State. The same persons who
had been excluded from the World's Convention in London were promi-
nent and instrumental in calling the meeting and in framing the declara-
tion of sentiments adopted by it, which, after reciting the unjust limita-
tions and wrongs to which women are subjected, closed in these words :
Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half of the people of this coun-
try and their social and religious degradation; in view of the unjust laws above men-
tioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed and fraudulently
^deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to
Some Celebrated Sympathizers. 233
all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States. In
entering upon the great work before us we anticipate no small amount of misconcep-
tion, misrepresentation and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our
power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State
and national legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf.
We hope this convention will be followed by a series of conventions embracing every
part of the country.
The meeting also adopted a series of resolutions, one of which was in
the following words :
Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves
their sacred right to the elective franchise.
This declaration was signed by seventy of the women of Western New
York, among whom was one or more of those who addressed your com-
mittee on the subject of the pending amendment, and there were present,
participating in and approving of the movement, a large number of prom-
inent men, among whom were Elisha Foote, a lawyer of distinction, and
since that time Commissioner of Patents, and the Hon. Jacob Chamber-
lain, who afterwards represented his district in the other House. From
the movement thus inaugurated, conventions have been held from that
time to the present in the principal villages, cities and capitals of the
various States, as well as the capital of the nation.
The First National Convention upon the subject was held at Worcester,
Mass., in October, 1850, and had the support and encouragement of many
leading men of the republic, among whom we name the following : Gcrrit
Smith, Joshua R. Giddings, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John G. Whittier, A.
Bronson Alcott, Samuel J. May, Theodore Parker, William Lloyd Garri-
son, Wendell Phillips, Elizur Wright, William J. Elder, Stephen S. Foster,
Horace Greeley, Oliver Johnson, Henry Ward Beecher, Horace Mann.
The Fourth National Convention was held at the city of Cleveland,
Ohio, October, 1853. The Rev. Asa Mahan, president of Obcrlin
College, and Hon. Joshua R. Giddings were there. Horace Greeley and
William Henry Channing addressed letters to the convention. The letter
of Mr. Channing stated the proposition to be that —
The right of suffrage be granted to the people, universally, without distinction of
sex; and that the age for attaining legal and political majority be made the same for
women as for men.
In 1857, Hon. Salmon P. Chase, chief-justice of the Supreme Court of
the United States, then governor of Ohio, recommended to the legislature
a constitutional amendment on the subject, and a select committee of the
Senate made an elaborate report, concluding with a resolution in the fol-
lowing words: •
Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee be instructed to report to the Senate a bill
to submit to the qualified electors, at the next general election for senators and repre-
sentatives, an amendment to the constitution, whereby the elective franchise shall be
extended to the citizens of Ohio without distinction of sex.
During the same year a similar report was made in the legislature of
Wisconsin. From the report on the subject we quote the following :
We believe that political equalit) , by leading the thoughts and purposes of men
and women into the same channel, will more completely carry out the designs of
234 " History of Woman Suffrage.
nature. Woman will be possessed of a positive power, and hollow compliments will
be exchanged for well-grounded respect when we see her nobly discharging her part
in the great intellectual and moral struggles of the age that wait their solution by a
direct appeal to the ballot-box. Woman's power is at present poetical and unsub-
stantial ; let it be practical and real. There is no reality in any power that cannot be
coined in votes.
The effect of these discussions and efforts has been the gradual advance-
ment of public sentiment towards conceding the right of suffrage without
distinction of sex. In the territories of Wyoming and Utah, full suf-
frage has already been given. In regard to the exercise of the right in the
territory of Wyoming, the present governor of that territory, Hon. John
W. Hoyt, in an address delivered in Philadelphia, April 3, 1882, in answer
to a question as to the operation of the law, said :
First of all, the experience of Wyoming has shown that the only actual trial of
woman suffrage hitherto made — a trial made in a new country where the conditions
were not exceptionably favorable — has produced none but the most desirable
results. And surely none will deny that in such a matter a single ounce of
experience is worth a ton of conjecture. But since it may be claimed that the sole
experiment of Wyoming does not afford a sufficient guaranty of general expediency,
let us see whether reason will not furnish a like answer. The great majority of
women in this country already possess sufficient intelligence to enable them to vote
judiciously on nearly all questions of a local nature. I think this will be conceded.
Secondly, with their superior quickness of perception, it is fair to assume that when
stimulated by a demand for a knowledge of political principles — such a demand as a
sense of the responsibility of the voter would create — they would not be slow in rising
to at least the rather low level at present occupied by the average masculine voter. So
that, viewing the subject from an intellectual stand-point merely, such fears as at first
spring up, drop away, one by one, and disappear. But it must not be forgotten that a
very large proportion of questions to be settled by the ballot, both those of principle
and such as refer to candidates, have in them a moral element which is vital. And
here we are safer with the ballot in the hands of woman ;.for her keener insight and
truer moral sense will more certainly guide her aright — and not her alone, but also, by
reflex action, all whose minds are open to the influence of her example. The weight
of this answer can hardly be overestimated. In my judgment, this moral consideration
far more than offsets all the objections that can be based on any assumed lack of an
intellectual appreciation of the few questions almost wholly commercial and econom-
ical. Last of all, a majority of questions to be voted on touch the interests of woman
as they do those of man. It is upon her finer sensibilities, her purer instincts, and her
maternal nature that the results of immorality and vice in every form fall with more
crushing weight.
A criticism has been made upon the exercise of this right by the women
of Utah that the plural wives in that territory are under the control of
their polygamous husbands. Be that as it may, it is an undoubted fact
that there is probably no city of equal size on this continent where there
is less disturbance of the peace, or where the citizen is more secure in his
person or property, either by day or night, than in the city of Salt Lake.
A qualified right of suffrage has also been given to women in Oregon,
Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Vermont, New Hampshire, Mas-
sachusetts, Michigan, Kentucky, and New York. Of the operation of the
law in the last-named State, Governor Cornell in a message to the
legislature on May 12, said:
Reasons for a Sixteenth Amendment. 235
The recent law, 1882, making women eligible as school trustees, has produced admir-
able results, not only in securing the election of many of them as trustees of schools, but
especially in elevating the qualifications of men proposed as candidates for school-
boards, and also in stimulating greater interest in the management of schools generally.
The effect of these new experiences is to widen (.he influence and usefulness of women.
So well satisfied are the representatives in the legislature of that State
with these results that the assembly, by a large majority, recently passed
to a third reading an act giving the full right of suffrage to women, the
passage of which has been arrested in the Senate by an opinion of the
attorney-general that a constitutional amendment is necessary to accom-
plish the object. In England women are allowed to vote at all municipal
elections, and hold the office of guardian of the poor. In four States,
Nebraska, Indiana, Oregon, and Iowa, propositions have passed their
legislatures and are now pending, conferring the right of suffrage upon
women.
Notwithstanding all these efforts, it is the opinion of the best informed
men and women, who have devoted more than a third of a century to the
consideration and discussion of the subject, that an amendment to the
federal constitution, analogous to the fifteenth amendment of that instru-
ment, is the most safe, direct, and expeditious mode of settling the ques-
tion. It is the question of the enfranchisement of half the race now denied
the right, and that, too, the most favored half in the estimation of those
who deny the right. Petitions, from time to time, signed by many
thousands, have been presented to congress, and there are now upon our
files seventy-five petitions representing eighteen different States. Two
years ago treble the number of petitions, representing over twenty-five
States, were presented.
If congress should adopt the pending resolution, the question would go
before the intelligent bodies who are chosen to represent the people in
the legislatures of the various States, and would receive a more enlightened
and careful consideration than if submitted to the masses of the male
population, with all their prejudices, in the form of an amendment to the
constitutions of the several States. Besides, such an amendment, if
adopted, would secure that uniformity in the exercise of the right which
could not be expected by action from the several States. We think the
time has arrived for the submission of such an amendment to the legis-
latures of the States. We know the prejudices which the movement for
suffrage to all without regard to sex, had to encounter from the very
outset, prejudices which still exist in the minds of many. The period for
employing the weapons of ridicule and enmity has not yet passed. Now,
as in the beginning, we hear appeals to prejudice and the baser passions
of men. The anathema, " woe betide the hand that plucks the wizard beard
of hoary error," is yet employed to deter men from acting upon their con-
victions as to what ought to be done with reference to this great ques-
tion. To those who are inclined to cast ridicule upon the movement, we
quote the answer made while one of the early conventions was in session
in the State of New York :
A collection of women arguing for political rights and for the privileges usually con-
ceded only to the other sex is one of the easiest things in the world to make fun
236 History of Woman Suffrage.
of. There is no end to the smart speeches and the witty remarks that may be made
on the subject. But when we seriously attempt to show that a woman who pays taxes
ought not to have a voice in the manner in which the taxes are expended, that a woman
whose property and liberty and person are controlled by the laws should have no
voice in framing those laws, it is not so easy. If •women are fit to rule in a mon-
archy, it is difficult to say why they are not qualified to vote in a republic ; nor can
there be greater indelicacy in a woman going to the ballot-box than there is in a
woman opening a legislature or issuing orders to an army.
To all who are more serious in their opposition to the movement, we
would remind them of the words of a few distinguished men : —
I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its bur-
dens, by no means excluding women. — [ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
I believe that the vices in our large cities will never be conquered until the ballot
is put into the hands of women. — [Bishop SIMPSON.
I do not think our politics will be what it ought to be till women are legislators
and voters. — [Rev. JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.
Women have quite as much interest in good government as men, and I have never
heard or read of any satisfactory reason for excluding them from the ballot-box; I have
no more doubt of their ameliorating influence upon politics than I have of the influ-
ence they exert everywhere else. — [GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.
In view of the terrible corruption of our politics, people ask, can we maintain uni-
versal suffrage? I say no, not without women. The only bear-gardens in our com-
munity are the town-meeting and the caucus. Why is this ? Because these are the only
places at which women are not present. — [Bishop GILBERT HAVEN.
I repeat my conviction of the right of woman suffrage. Because suffrage is a right
and not a grace, it should be extended to women who bear their share of the public
cost, and who have the same interest that I have in the selection of officials and the
making of laws which affect their lives, their property, and their happiness. — [Gov-
ernor LONG of Massachusetts.
However much the giving of political power to woman may disagree with our notions
of propriety, we conclude that, being required by that first prerequisite to greater hap-
piness, the law of equal freedom, such a concession is unquestionably right and
good. — [HERBERT SPENCER.
In the administration of a State neither a woman as a woman, nor a man as a man
has any special functions, but the gifts are equally diffused in both sexes. The same
opportunity for self-development which makes man a good guardian will make woman
a good guardian, for their original nature is the same. — [PLATO.
It has become a custom, almost universal, to invite and to welcome the
presence of women at political assemblages, to listen to discussions upon
the topics involved in the canvass. Their presence has done much toward
the elevation, refinement, and freedom from insincerity and hypocrisy, of
such discussions. Why would not the same results be wrought out by
their presence at the ballot-box ? Wherever the right has been exercised
by law, both in England and this country, such has been its effect in the
conduct of elections.
The framers of our system of government embodied in the Declaration
of Independence the statement that to secure the rights which are therein
declared to be inalienable and in respect to which all men are created
equal, " governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed." The system of representative govern-
ment they inaugurated can only be maintained and perpetuated by allow-
Recommendation of the Committee. 237
ing all citizens to give that consent through the medium of the ballot-box
— the only mode in which the " consent of the governed " can be obtained.
To deny to one-half of the citizens of the republic all participation in
framing the laws by which they are to be governed, simply on account of
their sex, is political despotism to those who are excluded, and "taxation
without representation " to such of them as have property liable to taxa-
tion. Their investiture with separate estates leads, logically and necessa-
rily, to their right to the ballot as the only means afforded them for the
protection of their property, as it is the only means of their full protec-
tion in the enjoyment of the immeasurably greater right to life and liberty.
To be governed without such consent is clear denial of a right declared
to be inalienable.
It is said that the majority of women do not desire and would not exer-
cise the right, if acknowledged. The assertion rests in conjecture. In
ordinary elections multitudes of men do not exercise the right. It is only
in extraordinary cases, and when their interests and patriotism are ap-
pealed to, that male voters are with unanimity found at the polls. It
would doubtless be the same with women. In the exceptional instances
in which the exercise of the right has been permitted, they have engaged
with zeal in every important canvass. Even if the statement were founded
in fact, it furnishes no argument in favor of excluding women from the
exercise of the franchise. // is the denial of the right of which they com-
plain. There are multitudes of men whose vote can be purchased at an
election for the smallest and most trifling consideration. Yet all such
would spurn with scorn and unutterable contempt a proposition to pur-
chase their right to vote, and no consideration would be deemed an equiva-
lent for such a surrender. Women are more sensitive upon this question
than men, and so long as this right, deemed by them to be sacred, is de-
nied, so long the agitation which has marked the progress of this contest
thus far will be continued.
Entertaining these views, your committee report back the proposed
resolution without amendment for the consideration of the Senate, and
recommend its passage. E. G. LAPHAM,
T. M. FERRY,
H. W. BLAIR.
The constitution is wisely conservative in the provision for its own
amendment. It is eminently proper that whenever a large nunber of the
people have indicated a desire for an amendment, the judgment of the
amending power should be consulted. In view of the extensive agitation
of the question of woman suffrage, and the numerous and respectable
petitions that have been presented to congress in its support, I unite with
the committee in recommending that the proposed amendment be sub-
mitted to the States. H. B. ANTHONY.
June 5, 1882, Mr. George, from the Committee on Woman Suf-
frage, submitted the following views of the minority :
The undersigned are unable to concur in the report of the majority
recommending the adoption of the joint resolution proposing an amend-
238 History of Woman Suffrage.
ment to the Constitution of the United States, for reasons which they will
now proceed to state.
We do not base our dissent upon any ground having relation to the ex-
pediency or inexpediency of vesting in women the right to vote. Hence
we shall not discuss the very grave and important social and political
questions which have arisen from the agitation to admit to equal political
rights the women of our country, and to impose on them the burden of
discharging, equally with men, political and public duties. Whether so
radical a change in our political and social system would advance the hap-
piness and welfare of the American people, considered as a whole, without
distinction of sex, is a question on which there is a marked disagreement
among the most enlightened and thoughtful of both sexes. Its solution
involves considerations so intimately pertaining to all the relations of so-
cial and private life — the family circle — the status of women as wives,
mothers, daughters, and companions, to the functions in private and pub-
lic life which they ought to perform, and their ability and willingness to
perform them — the harmony and stability of marriage, and the division of
the labors and cares of that union — that we are convinced that the proper
and safe discussion and weighing of them would be best secured by delib-
erations in the separate communities which have so deep an interest in
the rightful solution of this grave question. Great organic changes in
government, especially when they involve, as this proposed change does,
a revolution in the modes of life, long-standing habits, and the most
sacred domestic relations of the people, should result only upon the de-
mand of the people, who are to be affected by them. Such changes should
originate with, and be molded and guided in their operation and extent
by, the people themselves. They should neither precede their demand
for them, nor be delayed in opposition to their clearly expressed wishes.
Their happiness, their welfare, their advancement, are the sole objects of
the institution of government ; of these they are not only the best, but
they are the exclusive judges. They have commissioned us to exercise
for their good the great powers which they have intrusted to us by their
letter of attorney, the constitution ; not to assume to ourselves a superior
wisdom, or usurp a guardianship over them, dictating reforms not de-
manded by them, and attempting to grasp power not granted.
The organization of our political institutions is such that the great mass
of the powers of government, the proper exercise of which so deeply
concerns the welfare of the people, is left to the States. In that deposi-
tory the will of the people is most certainly ascertained, and the exercise
of power is more directly under their guidance. Our free institutions have
had their great development and owe their stability more to causes con-
nected with the direct exercise of the power of the people in local self-
government than to all other causes combined. Recent events, though
tending strongly to centralization, have not destroyed in the public mind
the inestimable value of local self-government. Among the powers which
have hitherto been esteemed as most essential to the public welfare is the
power of the States to regulate their domestic institutions in their own
way ; and among those institutions none has been preserved by the
Views of the Minority. 239
States with greater jealousy than their absolute control over 'marriage
and the relation between the sexes.
Another power of the States, deemed by the people when they assented
to the Constitution of the United States most essential to the public wel-
fare, was the right of each State to determine the qualifications of electors.
Wherever the federal constitution speaks of elections for a federal office,
it adopts the qualifications for electors prescribed by the State in which
the election is to be held.
Nor has this fundamental rule been departed from in the fifteenth
amendment. That impairs it only to the extent that race, color, or pre-
vious condition of servitude shall not be made a ground of exclusion from
the right of suffrage. In all else that pertains to the qualifications of
electors the absolute will of the State prevails. This amendment was in-
serted from considerations which pertain to no other part of the question
of suffrage. The negro race had been recently emancipated ; it was sup-
posed that the antagonism between them and their old masters and the
prejudice of race would be such as to obstruct the equal enjoyment of the
rights of freedom conferred by the national forces, and would prevent the
white race of the South from admitting the negro race, however deserving
it might be, to equal political privileges. And, moreover, it was deemed
by the North a point of honor that, having conferred freedom on the
negro, he should be provided with the right of suffrage.
None of these considerations applies in the present case. It is not pre-
tended that any such antagonism or prejudice exists between the sexes.
It is not pretended that women have been redeemed from an intolerable
slavery by the power of the government. It is not pretended that the
sex in whose hands is the political power of the States is unwilling, from
any cause, to do full justice to the other ; for it is conceded that if the
proposed amendment should be adopted, its incorporation into the con-
stitution must result from the voluntary action of that sex in which is
vested this political power. No good reason has been given why the
congress of the United States should force or even hasten the States into
such action, and no such reason can be given without a reversal of the
theories on which our free institutions are based.
The history given by the majority, of the legislation of the several
States in relation to the rights of persons and property of married women
showing as it does a steady advance in the abolition of their common-law
disabilities, conclusively demonstrates that this question may be safely
left for solution where it now is and has always hitherto belonged. The
public mind is now being agitated in many of the States as to the rights
of women, not only as to suffrage, but as to their engaging in the various
employments from which they have hitherto been excluded. This ex-
clusion from certain employments has not been the result of municipal
but of social laws — the strongest of all human regulations. As these
social laws have been modified, so the sphere of woman's activities and
usefulness has been enlarged. These social laws are in the main the
groundwork of the exclusion of women from the right of suffrage. In
the establishment of these laws, as in their modification, women then"
240 History of Woman Suffrage.
selves h»ive even a greater influence than men. Their disability to vote
is, therefore, self-imposed ; when they shall will otherwise, it is not too
much to say that the disability will no longer exist. If in the future it
shall be found that these laws deny a right to women the enjoyment of
which they desire, and for the exercise of which they are qualified, it can-
not be doubted that they will give way. If, on the contrary, neither of
these shall be discovered, it will happen that the exclusion of suffrage will
not be considered as a denial of a right, but as an exemption granted to
women from cares and burdens which a tender and affectionate regard for
womanhood refuses to cast on them.
We are convinced, therefore, that the best mode of disposing of the
question is to leave its solution to that power most amenable to the in-
fluences and usages of society in which women have so large and so
potential a share, confident that at no distant day a right result will be
reached in each State which will be satisfactory to both sexes and per-
fectly consistent with the welfare and happiness of the people. Certainly
this must be so if the people themselves, the source and foundation of all
power, are capable of self-government.
At two of its meetings the committee listened with great pleasure to
several eminent ladies who appeared before it as advocates of the pro-
posed amendment. At none of the meetings of the committee, including
that at which the members voted on the proposed amendment, was there
any discussion of this important subject ; none was asked for or desired
by any member of the committee, and the vote was taken. The reports
of the majority and of the minority of the committee are therefore to be
construed only as the individual opinions of the members who respec-
tively concur in them. They are in no sense to be treated as the judg-
ment of a deliberative body charged with the examination of this important
subject.
The foregoing leads us to but one recommendation : that the committee
should be discharged from the further consideration of the subject, that
the resolution raising it be rescinded, and that the proposed amendment
be rejected. J. Z. GEORGE,
HOWELL E. JACKSON,
JAMES G. FAIR.
In a letter from Miss Caroline Biggs to the president of the
National Association the following congratulations came from
the friends of suffrage in England :
CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR )
WOMAN SUFFRAGE, 64 Berners Street, LONDON, W. \
At a meeting of the Executive Committee, on May 18, 1882, the follow-
ing resolution was proposed by Mrs. Lucas, seconded by Miss Jane Cobden,
and passed unanimously :
Resolved, That the Executive Committee of the National Society for Woman Suf-
frage have heard with hearty satisfaction that a select committee of the United States
Senate in Washington has passed by a majority of votes the recommendation to adopt
a constitutional amendment in favor of women's suffrage. They feel that the cause
of woman is one in all countries, and they offer their most cordial congratulations to
National Association Meeting. 241
the women of America on the important step which has just been gained, and their
warmest good-wishes for a speedy success in obtaining a measure which will guaran-
tee justice and equal rights to half the population of a sister country.
Nebraska now became the center of interest, as a constitutional
amendment to secure the right of suffrage to woman was sub-
mitted to be voted upon in the November election. As the
submission of such a proposition makes an important crisis in
the history of a State, as well as in the suffrage movement, the
notes of preparation were as varied as multitudinous throughout
the nation, rousing all to renewed earnestness in the work.
Both the American and National associations decided to hold
their annual conventions in Omaha, the chief city of the
State, and to support as many speakers* as possible through the
campaign, that meetings might be held and tracts distributed in
every county of the State, an Herculean undertaking, as Nebraska
comprises 230,000 inhabitants scattered over an area of 76,000
square miles, divided into sixty-six counties ; and yet this is what
the friends of the measure proposed to do. The American
Association f held its convention September 12, 13, 14. The
National \ continued three days, September 27, 28, 29.
The Opera House, in which the National Association held its
meeting, was completely filled during all the sessions. The ad-
dress of welcome was given by Hon. A. J. Poppleton, one of the
most distinguished lawyers in that State. He said :
I deem it no light compliment that, in the face of an explicit declaration
that I am not in favor of woman suffrage, I have been asked to make, on
behalf of the people of Omaha and the State, an address of welcome to
the many distinguished men and women whom this occasion has brought
together. Doubtless the consideration shown me is a recognition of the
fact that I have been a life-long advocate of the advancement of women
through the agencies of equality in education, equality in employment,
equality in wages.^quality in property-rights and personal liberty, in
short, a fair, open, W|ual field in the struggle for life. That I cannot go
beyond this and embrace equal suffrage, is due rather to long adherence
* The speakers in ihe American convention were Lucy Stone, Henry B. Blackwell, Margaret W.
Campbell, Mary E. Haggart, Judge Kingman and Governor Hoyt of Wyoming, Hannah Tracy Cutler,
Mary B. Clay, Dr. Mary F. Thomas, Rebecca N. Hazzard, Ada M. Bittenbender, Mrs. O. C. Dins-
more, Matilda-Hindman, Rev. W. E. Copeland, Erasmus M. Correll.
The speakers at the National convention were Virginia L. Minor, Phoebe Couzins, Mrs. Saxon, Mrs.
Bloomer, Mrs. McKinney, Mrs. Shattuck, Mrs. Neyman, Mrs. Colby, Mrs. Sewall, Mrs. Mason, Mrs.
Brooks, Mrs. Blake, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Dinsmore, Miss Hindman, Mrs. Cougar, Mr. Correll and
Mrs. Harbert. Many of those from both associations took part in the canvass. Miss Rachel G. Foster
went out in the spring and made all the arrangements for the work of the National. She studied the
geography of the State, and the railroads, and mapped out all the meetings for its twelve speakers.
t For full reports of the American convention see the Woman's Journal, edited by Lucy Stone and
published in Boston.
$ For reports of the National see Our Herald, edited by Helen M. Cougar and published in
Lafayette, Ind. The daily papers of Omaha had full reports, the most fair by the Republican, edited
by Mr. Brooks.
16
242 History of Woman Suffrage.
to the political philosophy of Edmund Burke than any lack of conviction
of the absolute equality of men and women in natural rights.
In the winter of 1852-3, when a student at Poughkeepsie, N. V., while
the spot on which we now stand was Indian country as yet untouched by
the formative power of national legislation, I listened to Miss Susan B.
Anthony, Miss Antoinette Brown and others in the advocacy of the rights
of women. It seems a strange fortune that brings now, nearly thirty years
after, one of those speakers, crowned with a national reputation, into a
State carved out of that Indian country and containing 60,000 people, in
advocacy of equal suffrage for her sex. This single fact proclaims in
thunder tones the bravery, the fidelity, the devotion of these pioneers of
reform, and challenges for them the sympathy, respect, esteem and ad-
miration of every good man and woman in America.
The thirty years commencing about 1850 have been prolific of moment-
ous changes. It is the era of the sewing machine, of the domestication of
steam and electricity, the overthrow of the great rebellion, the destruction
of slavery, the consolidation of the German empire, the fall of the second
Napoleon, the birth of the French republic, the incorporation of India
into the British empire, and the revolution of commerce by the Pacific
railways and the Suez canal. Great changes have likewise taken place in
the structure of our own State and national legislation, the most conspic-
uous and pronounced result being the centralization of power in the fed-
eral government. It has been preeminently a period of amelioration, a
long stride in the direction of tolerance of opinion, belief, speech and
creed. Hospitals, asylums, schools, colleges and the manifold agencies of
an advanced Christian civilization for alleviating the average lot of hu-
manity, have grown and multiplied beyond the experience of former times,
and men like Matthew Vassar, George Peabody and John Hopkins have
hastened to consecrate the abundant fruits of honorable lives to the ex-
altation and advancement of the race.
But in no direction have greater changes occurred in this country than
in the condition of woman in respect to employment, wages, personal and
property rights. In all heathen countries at this hour the mass of women
are slaves or worse, wholly deprived of civil right£ In most Christian
countries their legal status is one of absolute subordination in person and
property to men. In this republic alone have we attained an altitude
where some small measure of justice is meted out to women by the laws.
In 1850 a fair measure of her rights was the grim edict of the common law
holding her in guardianship prior to marriage, and upon marriage making
her and all her possessions practically the property of her husband, while
a cruel, unreasonable and vicious public opinion excluded her from all
except menial and ill-paid service. One by one and year by year these
barriers have given way, until in many States her property and personal
rights enjoy the complete shelter of the law. Now more than half the
occupations and employments of this age of industrial activity and prog-
ress are thronged with the faithful, efficient and contented labor of women.
The law has broken forever the thraldom of an odious and hopeless
marriage by reasonable laws for divorce for just cause, given her the cus-
Address of Hon. A. J. Popple ton. 243
tody of her children, vested her with the absolute power of disposition
and control over her property, inherited or acquired, freed it from the
claims of her husband's creditors, and clothed her with ample legal reme-
dies even against her husband. Perhaps Nebraska alone of all the States,
by its court of last resort, has upheld the power of the wife to make con-
tracts with her husband and enforce them against him in her own name
by the appropriate legal remedies. This surely is progress. Beyond this
there lies but one field to win or fortress to reduce. Then surely the worn
soldier in the long campaign crowned with the garlands of victory may
rest from the battle.
Not many years ago, coming from Wisconsin, I think, a girl presented
herself in the Illinois courts for admission to the bar, and after a rigid and
unsparing examination she was admitted with public compliment. She
took an office in the great city of Chicago and in the short remnant of an
uncertain life so wrought in her profession as to attain an average profes-
sional income, and win the undivided respect and esteem of her profes-
sional associates. And when from a far country, whither she had gone in
hope to escape a fell disease, her lifeless corpse was brought back for sep-
ulture, many of the foremost lawyers of Chicago gathered about her bier
and bore emphatic testimony to her virtues as a woman and her attain-
ments as a lawyer. To me no greater work has been done by any Ameri-
can woman. When Alta Hulett unobtrusively, silently but indomitably
pressed her way to the front of the legal profession, and established her-
self there, she vindicated the right of her sex to contend for the highest
prizes of life, and left her countrywomen a legacy which will ultimately
blazon her name imperishably in the history of the advancement of women ;
and every American woman who, like her, goes to the front of any hon-
orable occupation, employment or profession, and stays there, becomes
her coadjutor in work and a sharer in her reward,
Laden with the trophies of thirty years of conflict, of progress, of meas-
urable success, the vice-president of the National Woman Suffrage Asso-
ciation and her associates present themselves to Nebraska and ask a
hearing upon the final issue, " Shall this work be crowned by granting to
women in this State ttyp highest privilege of the citizen — suffrage ? " On
behalf of the people of a State whose legislature has granted everything
else to women — whose devotion to free speech, untrammeled discussion
and an independent press has been conspicuous in its constitutional and
legislative history — I welcome them to this city an'd State, and bespeak
for them a patient, candid, respectful, appreciative hearing.
Miss Anthony replied briefly to Mr. Poppleton's eloquent ad-
dress and returned the thanks of the convention for the courtesy
with which its members had been received by the citizens of
Omaha.* She then read a letter from the president of the con-
vention :
* Their many courtesies are welt summed up by Miss Foster in a letter to Our Herald : — DEAR
HERALD : As your readers will know from the report of the executive meetings, it was decided to
have a headquarters for National Woman Suffrage Association speakers at Omaha. When your
editor left, the arrangements had not been completed for office-room and furnishings. It is finally de-
244 History of Woman Suffrage.
TOULOUSE, France, September i, 1882.
To the National Woman Suffrage Association in Convention assembled:
DEAR FRIENDS : People never appreciate the magnitude and impor-
tance on any step in progress, at the time it is taken, nor the full moral
worth of the characters who inspire it, hence it will be in line with the whole
history of reform from the beginning if woman's enfranchisement in
Nebraska should in many minds seem puerile and premature, and its ad-
vocates fanatical and unreasonable. Nevertheless the proposition speaks
for itself. A constitutional amendment to crown one-half of the people
of a great State with all their civil and political rights, is the most vital
question the citizens of Nebraska have ever been called on to consider;
and the fact cannot be gainsaid that some of the purest and ablest women
America can boast, are now in the State advocating the measure.
For the last two months I have been assisting my son in the compila-
tion of a work soon to be published in America, under the title, "The
Woman Question in Europe," to which distinguished women in different
nations have each contributed a sketch of the progress made in their con-
dition. One interesting and significant fact as shown in this work, is, that
in the very years we began to agitate the question of equal rights, there
was a simultaneous movement by women for various privileges, indus-
trial, social, educational, civil and political, throughout the civilized world.
And this without the slightest concert of action, or knowledge of each
other's existence, showing that the time had come in the natural evolu-
tion of the species, in the order of human development, for woman to
cided that I, as secretary of the National Woman's Suffrage Association, remain in charge of this
Omaha office, with Mrs. C. B. Colby as my associate, while Mrs. Bittenbender has charge of the head-
quarters at Lincoln, and manages the American and State speakers, these two officers of the campaign
committee being in constant consultation.
I cannot too strongly express the gratitude which our committee, and especially our National
Woman's Suffrage Association, owes to the kind firm of Kitchen Brothers, proprietors of the Paxton
Hotel. During our late convention their attention has been unremitting, and they now crown it by
giving us, rent free, a large, well-lighted office to be occupied until election as the Omaha headquarters
of our campaign committee. I was somewhat puzzled about the suitable furnishings for the room, but
Mr. Kitchen told me he would attend to that himself, and through his kindness it will be made very
comfortable for us to occupy for the next five weeks.
Messrs. Dewey and Stone of this city, large dealers in furniture, have given the use of a handsome
and convenient desk which will enable us to bring order out of chaos. So you can imagine us, sur-
rounded by all convenient appliances, hard at work in our new quarters a good part of every day for
this last month before election. We can certainly not complain that we are not made welcome to the
best the city affords by these kind citizens of Omaha. Why, we even had a special engine and car given
us by the accommodating manager of the Burlington & Missouri railroad to run one of our speakers from
Omaha to Lincoln to enable her to attend a meeting which would otherwise have lacked a speaker.
Mr. Montmorency, on behalf of the Burlington & Missouri railroad, extended this courtesy (and in our
need at that hour it was highly appreciated) to us because of the work in which we are engaged. As
all know ere this, both this road and the Union Pacific have given to our speakers and delegates gen-
erous reductions over all their lines in this State.
Mayor Boyd, owner of the Opera House, has also done his share to aid us toward success, in his
great reduction of ordinary rates to us while we occupy his handsome building with our suffrage mass
meetings. We have the Opera House now secured for October 4, 13, 19, a6, Novembers and 6, on which
dates larpe meetings will be addressed by some of our principal speakers. The first date is to be filled
by Miss Phoebe Couzins, on " The Woman Without a Country.''
The full report of our proceedings at the Omaha and Lincoln conventions, with the newspaper com-
ments upon the size and character of the audiences there assembled, as well as the courtesies which I
have just mentioned, will convince our readers that we are seemingly welcome guests here in Nebraska,
and I may say especially in Omaha. I will keep the Htrald posted from week to week upon campaign
committee work. Yours for success, RACHEL G. FOSTER.
Headquarters of Suffrage Campaign Committee, Paxton House, Omaha, October a, 1882.
Mrs. Stantoris Letter. 245
assert her rights, and to demand the recognition of the feminine element
in all the vital interests of life.
To battle against a palpable fact in philosophy and the accumulated
facts in achievement that can be seen on all sides in woman's work for
the last forty years, from slavery to equality, is as vain as to fight against
the law of gravitation. We shall as surely reach the goal we purposed
when we started, as that the rich prairies of Nebraska will ere long feed
and educate millions of brave men and women, gathered from every na-
tion on the globe. Every consideration for the improvement of your
home life, for the morality of your towns and cities, for the elevation of
your schools and colleges, and the loftiest motives of patriotism should
move you, men of Nebraska, to vote for this amendment. Gallon in his
great work on Heredity says:
We are in crying want of a greater fund of ability in all stations of life, for neither
the classes of statesmen, philosophers, artisans nor laborers, are up to the modern
complexity of their several professions. An extended civilization like ours comprises
more interests than the ordinary statesmen or philosophers of our race are capable of
dealing with, and it exacts more intelligent work than our ordinary artisans and
laborers, are capable of performing. Our race is overweighted, and appears likely to
be dragged into degeneracy by demands that exceed its powers. If its average ability
were raised a grade or two, a new class of statesmen would conduct our. complex
affairs at home and abroad, as easily as our best business men now do their own pri-
vate trades and professions. The needs of centralization, communication, and culture,
call for more brains and mental stamina, than the average of our race possesses.
Does it need a prophet to tell us where to begin this work ? Does not
the physical and intellectual condition of the women of a nation decide
the capacity and power of its men? If we would give our sons the help
and inspiration of woman's thought and interest in the complex questions
of our present civilization, we must first give her the power that political
responsibility secures. With the ballot in her own right hand, she would
feel a new sense of dignity, and command among men a respect they have
never felt before.
Nebraska has now the opportunity of making this grand experiment of
securing justice, liberty, equality, for the first time in the world's history,
to woman, through her education and enfranchisement, of lifting man to
that higher plane of thought where he may be able wisely to meet all the
emergencies of the period in which he is called on to act. Let every
man in Nebraska now so do his duty, that, when the sun goes down on
the eighth of November, the glad news may be sent round the world that
at last one State in the American republic has fully accorded the sacred
right of self-government to all her citizens, black and white, men and
women. With sincere hope for this victory,
Cordially yours, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
Many interesting letters were received from friends at home
and abroad, of which we give a few. The following is from our
Minister Plenipotentiary at the German Court:
BERLIN, September 9, 1882.
Miss ANTHONY : Esteemed Friend: At this great distance I can only
sympathize with the earnest effort to be made this fall to secure poli-
246 History of Woman Suffrage.
tical recognition for women in Nebraska. I am glad that the prospect
is so good and that Nebraska, which gave a name, with Kansas, to the
first successful resistance to the encroachments of slavery, is the arena
where the battle is to be fought under such promise of a just result. By
recognizing the right of its women to an equal share in all the duties
and responsibilities of life, Nebraska will honor itself while securing for
all time wholesome laws and administration.
I believe society would more benefit itself than grant a favor to women
by extending the suffrage to them. All the interests of women are pro-
moted by a government that shall guard the family circle, re'strain excess,
promote education, shield the young from temptation. While the true
interests of men lie in the same direction, women more generally appreciate
these facts and illustrate in their lives a desire for their attainment. Could
we bring to the ballot-box the great fund of virtue, intelligence and good
intention stored up in the minds and hearts of our wives and sisters, how
great the reinforcement would be for all that is noble, patriotic and pure
in public life ! Who should fear the result who desires the public welfare ?
From the stand-point of better principles applied to the direction of public
affairs and the best individuals in office, the argument seems impregnable.
It is getting late to resist this measure on the ground that the character
of women themselves would be lowered by contact with politics. That
objection is identical with the motive which causes the Turk to shut up
his women in a harem and closely veil them in public. He fears their
delicacy will be tarnished if they speak to any man but their proprietor.
So prejudice feared woman would be unsexed if she had equal educa-
tion with man. The professions were closed to women for the same
consideration. Women have vindicated their ability to endure the
education and engage in the dreaded pursuits, yet society is not
dissolved, and these fearful imaginings have proved idle dreams. As
every advance made by woman since the days when it was a mooted
law-point how large could be the stick with which her husband could
punish her, down to the day when congress opened to her the bar of
the United States Supreme Court, has been accompanied by Constantly
refuted assertions that she and society were about to be ruined. I think
we can safely trust to her good sense, virtue and delicacy to preserve for
us the loved and venerated object we have always known, even if society
shall yield the still further measure of complete enfranchisement, and thus
add to her social dignity, duties and responsibilities.
No class has ever been degraded by the ballot. All have rather been
elevated by it. We cannot rationally anticipate less desirable personal
consequences to those whose tendencies are naturally good, than to those
on whom the ballot has been conferred belonging to a lower plane of
being. But these considerations go only to show the policy of granting
suffrage to women. From the stand-point of justice the argument is more
pressing. If woman asks for the ballot shall man deny it? By what
right ? Certainly not by the right of a majority ; for women are at least
as numerous. Certainly not by any right derived from nature ; for our
common mother has set no brand on woman. If one woman shall ask
Appeal of Miss Harriot Stanton.
247
for a voice in the regulation of society of which she is at least one-half,
who shall say her nay? If any woman shall ask it, who shall deny it be-
cause another woman does not ask it ? There are many men who do not
value their citizenship ; shall other men therefore be deprived of the bal-
lot ? Suppose many women would not avail themselves of such a func-
tion, are those with higher, or other views, to be therefore kept in
tutelage ?
I trust you may succeed in this work in Nebraska. It is of supreme
importance to the cause. The example of Nebraska would soon be fol-
lowed by other States. The current of such a reform knows no retiring
ebb. The suffrage once acquired will never be relinquished ; first, be-
cause it will recommend itself, as it has in Wyoming, by its results;
second, because the women will jealously guard their rights, and defend
them with their ballots. Wishing I could do more than send you good
wishes for the cause,* I am, respectfully yours, A. A. SARGENT.
The following letter is from a daughter of Elizabeth Cady
Stanton (a graduate of Vassar College, and classmate of Miss
Elizabeth Poppleton), who two years before, on the eve of her
departure for Europe, gave her eloquent address on Edmund
Burke in that city :
TOULOUSE, France, September 3, 1882.
To the Voters of my Generation in Nebraska :
It is not my desire to present to you any argument, but only to give
you an episode in my own life. I desire to lay before you a fact, not a
fiction ; a reality, not a supposition ; an experience not a theory.
I was born in a free republic and in my veins runs very rebellious blood.
An ancestor of my father was one of those intrepid men who left the
shores of old England and sailed forth to establish on a distant continent
the grandest republic that has ever yet been known. That, you see, is
not good blood to submit to injustice. And on my mother's side we find
a sturdy old Puritan from whom our stock is traced, fleeing from England
because of the faith that was in him, and joining his rebellious life to one
of that honest Holland nation which had defied so nobly the oppressions
of the Catholic church and Spanish inquisition. As if this were not suf-
ficiently independent blood to pass on to other generations, my own father
became an abolitionist, and step by step fought his belief to victor}', and
my mother early gave her efforts to the elevation of woman. It is all this,
together with my living in the freest land on the globe and in a century
rife with discussions of all principles of government, that has made me in
every fiber a believer in republican institutions.
Having been reared in a large family of boys where we enjoyed equal
freedom, and having received the same collegiate education as my
brothers, it is not until lately that I have felt the crime of my woman-
hood. I have dwelt thus upon the antecedents and influences of my life
in order to ask you one question : Do you not think I can appreciate the
real meaning, the true sacredness of a republic ? Do you not believe I feel
* A private letter was received from Mrs. Ellen Clark Sargent, enclosing a check for $50.
248 History of Woman Suffrage.
the duties it demands of its citizens ? But I want you to hold your reply
in abeyance, till I give you one bit more of history.
A ship at sea crossing on the Atlantic between Europe and America.
Of two persons on this vessel I wish to speak to you. Of one I have al-
ready told you much ; I need but add that my two years spent in Europe,*
previous to my return to America for a few months last winter, had not
made me less American, less a lover of republicanism. And now this ship,
baffling the February storm, was sweeping nearer the land where the
people reign. My heart beat high as I thought it was in my native country
where women were free, more honored than in any nation in the world.
As I stood on the deck, the strong sea-wind blowing wildly about me, and
the ocean bearing on its heart-wave mountains, visions of the grandeur
of the nation lying off beyond the western horizon, rose before me. And
it was a proud heart that cried — " My Country ! "
And the other person I want to speak of? It is a man, a German, com-
ing to the United States to escape military service in Prussia. He came
in the steerage ; was poor and ignorant. He could speak no English, not
one word of your language and mine. His fellows were all Irish, so I
offered to be an interpreter for him. I visited the steerage quarters, and
returned with a heavy heart. Such brutal faces as I saw ! Ignorance,
cruelty, subserviency, were everywhere depicted. Herds of human beings
that I feared, they looked so dull and brutal. The full meaning of a terri-
ble truth rushed upon me. Soon these men would be my sovereigns — I
their subject!
I had just spent a year in that German's native land, and I remembered
that I had seen their women doing the work of men in the fields, husbands
returning from their day's labor empty-handed, and their wives toiling on
behind bent under heavy burdens, and as I thought on this, our ship bore
him and me towards the land that glories in having given birth to Lucretia
Mott. In the country where he had been reared, I had seen women har-
nessed with beasts of burden, dragging laden wagons, and yet our vessel
carried him and me at each moment towards a safe harbor, in a land that
pays homage to the memory of Margaret Fuller. Our ship sailed on,
taking him from a land where he had been taught to worship royalty,
whatever its worth or crime ; where he had paid cringing submission to
an arbitrary rule of police ; where he had been surrounded by the degrad-
ing effects of the mightiest military system on the globe. The ship plowed
on and on through the waves, bringing him to a republic, not one prin-
ciple of which he comprehended.
And now we sail up New York bay. The day is bright, and a softening
haze hangs over all. Surely this is some vision-land. Yes, it is indeed a
yision-land, for it has never known the presence of a royal line; against
jits oppressors it fought in no mean rebellious spirit, but rose in revolution
-with its motto, "Governments derive their just powers from the consent
tof the governed," written on its 'brow to be known of all men. And I
* Miss Stanton, having studied astronomy with Professor Maria Mitchell, went to Europe to talce a
degree in Mathematics from the College of France ; but before completing her course, she shared the
fate of too many of our American girls ; she expatriated herself by marrying a foreigner.
Letters from England. 249
think as we slowly sail up the bay on our vessel, Does that deadened
soul respond to what lies before him ? Does there in his heart rise the
prayer, Oh, God ! make me true to the duties about to be laid upon me ;
make me worthy of being free? Yes, then, for the first time I felt the
full depth of the indignity offered to my womanhood. I felt my enthusi-
asm for America wavering — love of country dead. My country ! — I have
no country.
Young men of Nebraska, I ask you to free your minds from prejudice,
to be just towards the demands of another human soul, to be frank, to be
wholly truthful, and answer my demand : Why should I not be a citizen
of this republic ? In replying, read between the lines of my tedious story
and bear in mind the words of Voltaire : " Who would dare change a law
that time has consecrated ? Is there anything more respectable than an
ancient abuse ! Reason is more ancient, replied Zadig."
Respectfully, HARRIOT STANTON.
MANCHESTER NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE, )
MANCHESTER, England, September 5, 1882. \
DEAR Miss ANTHONY : WTill you accept a word of cheer and God-speed
from your sisters in England in your crusade for the emancipation of
woman in Nebraska? You carry with you the hopes and sympathetic
wishes of all on this side of the water. If you win, as I trust you may,
your victory will have a distinct influence on the future of our parlia-
mentary campaign, which we hope to begin in early spring in England.
In the name of English women I would appeal to the men of Nebraska to
assent to the great act of justice to women which is proposed to them
by their elected representatives, and by so doing to aid in the enfran-
chisement of women all over the world.
Yours faithfully, LYDIA E. BECKER.
LONDON, September i, 1882.
DEAR Miss ANTHONY : Having heard that the next convention of the
National Woman Suffrage Association will meet at Omaha this month, I
cannot refrain from sending a few lines to assure our friends who are
working so steadfastly in America for the same sacred cause as our own,
of our loving sympathy and good-wishes for success in the coming
struggle. The eyes and hearts of hundreds of women are, like my own,
turned to Nebraska, where so momentous an issue is to be decided two
months hence. The news of their vote, if rightly given, will "echo round
the world " like the first shot fired at Concord. It will be the expression
of their determination to establish their freedom by giving freedom to
others, and their example will be followed by Indiana and Oregon, and
soon by the other States of the Union and by England. Everything
points with us to a speedy triumph of the principle of equal justice for
woman. Next November, about the time when Nebraska will be voting
for equal suffrage, the women in Scotland will be voting for the first time
in their municipal elections. The session of 1882 will be memorable in
future for having passed the act which gives a married woman the right
to hold her own property, make contracts, sue and be sued, in the same
manner as if she were a single woman. It is nearly thirty years since we
250 History of Woman Suffrage.
first began our efforts in this matter, and each succeeding step has been
won very slowly and with great difficulty through the efforts of those who
are working to obtain the .suffrage. Mr. Gladstone still expresses the
hope that next session will place the franchise on a "fair" basis, meaning
thereby the same right of voting for counties as for boroughs. We
maintain that the franchise can never be said to be on a fair basis while
women are debarred from the right of voting. Our progress and your
progress will keep even pace together, for if women are free in America
no long time can elapse before they are free here. We can but offer you
our sympathy and we beg this favor of you, that as soon as you have the
returns of the vote ascertained, you will telegraph the news to us, that
our English societies may keep the day of rejoicing heart in heart with
the American National Association.
With cordial sympathy in all your efforts, I am, faithfully yours,
CAROLINE ASHURST BIGGS.
To the National Woman Suffrage Association, in Convention assembled, at
Omaha, Nebraska, September 26, 27, 28 :
DEAR FRIENDS : The most pressing work before the National Woman
Suffrage Convention, is bringing all its forces to bear upon congress for
the submission of a sixteenth amendment to the national constitution,
which shall prohibit States from disfranchising citizens of the United
States, on the ground of sex, or for any cause not equally applicable to
all citizens. While we of the National are glad to see an amendment to
a State constitution proposed, securing suffrage to woman, as is the
case in Nebraska this fall, we must not be led by it to forget or neglect
our legitimate work, an amendment to the national constitution, which
will secure suffrage at one and the same moment to the women of each
State. While all action of any kind and everywhere is good because it is
educational, the only real, legitimate work of the National Woman Suf-
frage Association, is upon congress. Never have our prospects been
brighter than to-day. A select committee on woman suffrage having been
appointed in both houses during the last session of congress, and a resolu-
tion introduced in the Senate, proposing an amendment to the Constitu-
tion of the United States, to secure the right of suffrage to all citizens
irrespective of sex, having been referred to this select committee and
receiving a favorable majority report thereon, we have every reason to
expect the submission of such an amendment at the next session of
congress.
The work then, most necessary, is with each representative and senator;
and the legislatures of the several States should be induced to pass reso-
lutions requesting the senators and representatives from each State to give
voice and vote in favor of the submission of such an amendment. This
work is vitally important for the coming winter, and none the less so, even
should Nebraska vote aye November 7, upon the woman suffrage amend-
ment to its own constitution. In view of the probability of the submis-
sion of a sixteenth amendment at the coming session of congress, I offer
the following resolution, which I consider one of the most important of
the series I have been asked to prepare for adoption by the convention :
Closing Scenes. 251
Resolved, That it is the duty of every woman to work with the legislature of her
own State, to secure from it the passage of a joint resolution requesting its senators
and representatives in congress to use voice and vote in favor of the submission of an
amendment to the national constitution which shall prohibit States from disfranchis-
ing citizens on the ground of sex.
I hope the above resolution will be unanimously adopted, and that each
woman will strive to carry its provisions into effect as a religious duty.
With my best wishes for a, grand and successful convention, and the
hope that Nebraska will set itself right before the world by the adoption
of the woman suffrage amendment this fall, I am,
Very truly yours, MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE.*
The Republican in describing the closing scenes of the conven-
tion, said :
Fully 2,500 people assembled last evening to listen to the closing pro-
ceedings of the convention. The stage, which was beautifully furnished
and upholstered, was completely occupied by the ladies of the Associa-
tion ; and as they all were in full dress, in preparation for the reception
at the Paxton Hotel, the sight was a brilliant one. As respects the audi-
ence, not only the seats, but the lobbies were crowded, and hundreds upon
hundreds were turned away. Manager Boyd remarked as we passed in,
"You will see to-night the most magnificent gathering that has ever been
in the Opera House," and such truly it was — the intellect, fashion and
refinement of the city. Addresses were given by M'me Neyman, whose
earnest and eloquent words were breathlessly heard ; Mrs. Minor of St.
Louis, whose utterances were serious and weighty; and Miss Phoebe
Couzins, who touched the springs of sentiment, sympathy, pathos and
humor by turns. After answering two or three objections that had not
been fully touched upon, Miss Couzins fairly carried away the house,
when she said in conclusion, "Miss Anthony and myself, and another who
has addressed you are the only spinsters in the movement. We, indeed,
expect to marry, but we don't want our husbands to marry slaves [great
merriment]; we are waiting for our enfranchisement. And now, if you
want Miss Anthony and myself to move into your State — " this hit, with
all it implied, set the audience into a convulsion of cheers and
laughter which was quite prolonged ; and after the merriment had
subsided, Miss Couzins completed her sentence by saying, " We are under
sailing orders to receive proposals ! " whereupon the applause broke out
afresh. " However," she added, seeing Miss Anthony shake her head, "it
takes a very superior woman to be an old maid, and on this principle I
think Miss Anthony will stick to her colors." Miss Couzins quoted Haw-
thorne as speaking through " Zenobia " :
" It is my belief, yea, my prophecy, that when my sex shall have attained its freedom
there will be ten eloquent women where there is now one eloquent man," and in-
stanced this convention as an illustration of what might be expected.
* Letters were also received from Rebecca Moore, England; Mrs. 2. G. Wallace, Indianapolis;
Frederick Dou^hiss, Washington, D. C.; Theodore Staiuon, Paris, France; Sarah Knox Goodrich,
Clarina Howard Nichols, California, and many others.
252 History of Woman Suffrage.
Miss Couzins was followed by Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Neyman and
Miss Hindman. The resolutions,* which were presented by Mrs.
Sewall, among their personal commendations expressed the ap-
preciation of the Association for the services rendered by Mrs.
Clara Bewick Colby, in making preparations for the convention.
Mrs. Colby in making her acknowledgments said :
There was another to whom the Association owed much for the work
done which has made possible the brilliant success of the convention —
one to whom, while across the water their thoughts and hearts had often
turned ; and she was sure that all present would gladly join in extending
a welcome to the late president, and now chairman of the executive com-
mittee of the State association, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks.
Mrs. Brooks came forward amid applause, and said :
That at this late hour while a speech might be silvern, silence was
golden ; and she would say no more than, on behalf of all the members
and officers of the State association, and the friends of the cause in Omaha,
to tender their most grateful thanks to the National Association for "the
feast of reason and the flow of soul " with which they have been favored
during the last three days.
At the close of the convention the spacious parlors of the
Paxton House were crowded. Over a thousand ladies and gen-
tlemen passed through, shaking hands with the delegates and
congratulating them on the great success of the convention.
Another enthusiastic meeting was held at Lincoln, the capital
of the State, and radiating from this point in all directions these
missionaries of the new gospel of woman's equality traversed the
entire State, scattering tracts and holding meetings in churches,
school-houses and the open air, and thus the agitation was
* WHEREAS, The National Woman Suffrage Association has labored unremittingly to secure the ap-
pointment of a committee in the congress of the United States to receive and consider the petitions of
women and whereas, this Association realizes the importance of such a committee,
Resolved^ That the thanks of this Association are due and are hereby tendered to congress for the
appointment at its last session of a Select Woman Suffrage Committee in each house.
Resolved, That the thanks of this Association are hereby tendered to Senators Lapham, Ferry, Blair
and Anthony, of the Select Committee, for their able majority report.
Resolved^ That it is the paramount duty of congress at its next session to submit a sixteenth amend-
ment to the constitution which shall secure the enfranchisement of the women of the republic.
Resolved, That the recent action of King Christian of Denmark, in conferring the right of municipal
suffrage upon the women in Iceland, and the similar enlargement of woman's political freedom in Scot-
land, India and Russia, are all encouraging evidences of the progress of self-government even in mon-
archical countries. And farther, that while the possession of these privileges by our foreign sisters is an
occasion of rejoicing to us, it still but emphasizes the inconsistency of a republic which refuses political
recognition to one-half of its citizens.
Resolved, That the especial thanks of the officers and delegates of this convention are due and are
hereby most cordially tendered to Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby, for the exceptionally efficient manner in
which she has discharged the onerous duties which devolved upon her in making all preparations for
this convention and for the grand success which her efforts have secured.
Resolved, That the National Woman Suffrage Association on the occasion of this, its fourteenth
annual convention, does, in the absence of its honored president, desire to send greeting to Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, and to express to her the sympathetic admiration with which the members of this body
have followed her in her reception in a foreign land.
Nebraska Campaign.
253
kept up until the day of election. As it was the season for
agricultural fairs, the people were more easily drawn together,
and the ladies readily availed themselves, as they had opportunity,
of these great gatherings. Two notable debates were held in
Omaha in answer to the many challenges sent by the opposition.
Miss Couzins, the first to enter the arena, was obliged to help her
antagonist in his scriptural quotations, while Miss Anthony was
compelled to supply hers with well-known statistics. It was
evident that neither of the gentlemen had sharpened his
weapons for the encounter.
To look over the list of counties visited and the immense dis-
tances traveled in public and private conveyances, enables one in a
measure ^to appreciate the physical fatigue these ladies endured.
In reading of their earnest speeches, debates, conversations at
every fireside and dinner-table, in every car and carriage as they
journeyed by the way or waited at the station, their untiring per-
severance must command the unqualified admiration of those
who know what a political campaign involves. During those six
weeks of intense excitement they were alike hopeful and anxious
as to the result. At last the day dawned when the momentous
question of the enfranchisement of 75,000 women was to be
decided. Every train brought some of the speakers to their
headquarters in Omaha, with cheering news from the different
localities they had canvassed. And now one last effort must be
made, they must see what can be done at the polls. Some of the
ladies went in carriages to each of the polling booths and made
earnest appeals to those who were to vote for or against the
woman's amendment. Others stood dispensing refreshments and
the tickets they wished to see voted, all day long. And while
the men sipped their coffee and ate their viands with evident
relish, the women appealed to their sense of justice, to their love
of liberty and republican institutions. Vain would be the attempt
to describe the patient waiting, the fond hopes, the bright visions
of coming freedom, that had nerved these brave women to these
untiring labors, or to shadow in colors dark enough the fears, the
anxieties, the disappointments, all centered in that November
election. A fitting subject for an historical picture was that group
of intensely earnest women gathered there, as the last rays of the
setting sun warned them that whether for weal or for woe the
decisive hour had come ; no word of theirs could turn defeat to
victory.
254 History of Woman Suffrage.
The hours of anxious waiting were not long, the verdict soon
came flashing on every wire, from the north, the south,
the west : " No !" " No !" " No !" The mothers, wives
and daughters of Nebraska must still wear the yoke of slavery ;
they who endured with man the hardships of the early days and
bravely met the dangers of a pioneer life, they who have reared
two generations of boys and taught them the elements of all they
know, who have stood foremost in all good works of charity and
reform, who appreciate the genius of free institutions, native-
born American citizens, are still to be governed by the ignorant,
vicious classes from the old world. What a verdict was this for
one of the youngest States in the American republic irt the nine-
teenth century!
But these heroic women did not sit down in sackcloth and
ashes to weep over the cruel verdict. Anticipating victory, they
had engaged the Opera House to hold their jubilee if the women
of Nebraska were enfranchised ; or, if the returns brought them
no cause for rejoicing, they would at least exalt the educational
•vpork that had been done in the State, and dedicate themselves
anew to this struggle for liberty. They had survived three de-
feats, in Kansas, Michigan, Colorado, and tasted the bitterness of
repeated disappointments, and another could not crush them.
When the hour arrived, an immense audience welcomed them in
the Opera House, and from this new baptism of sorrow they spoke
more eloquently than ever before. In their calm, determined
manner they seemed to say with Milton's hero :
"All is not lost : the unconquerable will is ours."
A report of the Fifteenth Annual Washington Convention,
Jan. 23, 24, 25, 1883, was written by Miss Jessie Waiteof Chicago,
and published in the Washington Chronicle, from which we give
the following extracts :
The proceedings of the Association were inaugurated at Lincoln Hall
Monday evening by a novel lecture, entitled "Zekle's Wife," by Mrs.
Amy Talbot Dunn of Indianapolis. The personality of Mrs. Dunn is so
entirely lost in that of Zekle's wife that it is hard to realize that the old
lady of so many and so varied experiences is a happy young wife. As a
character sketch Mrs. Dunn's "Zekle's Wife " stands on an equality with
Denman Thompson's "Joshua WThitcomb " and with Joe Jefferson's " Rip
Van Winkle." To sustain a conception so foreign to the natural charac-
teristics of the actor without once allowing the interest of the audience to
flag, requires originality of thought, independence of idea, and genius for
action. Mrs. Dunn, herself the author of her sketch, possesses to a re-
Fifteenth Annual Washington Convention. 255
markable degree the power to impress upon her audience the feeling that
the old lady from "Kaintuck " is before them, not only to say things for
their amusement, but also to impress upon them those great truths which
have presented themselves to her mind during the fifty years of her mar-
ried life. "Zekle's Wife" is a keen, shrewd, warm-hearted, lovable old
woman, without education or culture, yet with an innate sense of refine-
ment and a touching undercurrent of desire " not to be too hard on Zekle."
As she tells her story, which she informs us is a true one from real life,
she engages the attention and wins the sympathy of all her hearers, and
frequent bursts of applause evidence the satisfaction of the audience.
The convention proper opened on Tuesday morning with the appoint-
ment of various committees,* and reports t from the different States filled
up most of the time during the day. May Wright Sewall said :
Women must learn that power gives power ; that intelligence alone can appreciate
or be influenced by intelligence ; that justice alone is moved by appeals based oh jus-
tice. More than anything in the course of suffrage labor does the Nebraska campaign
justify the primary method of this National Association. We have a right to expect
that each legislature will be composed of the picked men of the State. We have a
right to believe that as the intelligence, wisdom and justice of the picked men of the
nation are superior to the same qualities in the mass of men, so is the fitness of national
and State legislators to consider the demands for the ballot.
Mrs. Mills of Washington sang, as a solo, " Barbara Fritchie," in excel-
lent style. Mrs. Caroline Hallowell Miller (wife of Francis Miller, esq.,
late assistant attorney for the District of Columbia) spoke with the
greatest ease and most remarkable command of language. She is in
every sense a strong woman. She said that, born and reared as she was
in a Virginia town noted for its intense conservatism, where she had seen
a woman stripped to the waist and brutally beaten by order of the law
(her skin happened to be of a dark color) whose only crime was that of
alleged impertinence, and that impertinence provoked by improper con-
duct on the part of a young man ; that, reared in such a cradle as this,
still, through the blessing of a good home, she had learned to deeply
appreciate the noble efforts of women who dared to tread new paths, to
break their own way through the dense forest of prejudice and ignorance.
Man cannot represent woman. If woman breaks any law of man, of na-
ture, or of God, she alone must suffer the penalty. "This fact seems to
me," said Mrs. Miller, "to settle the whole question."
Miss Anthony read the following letter from Hon. Benjamin F. Butler,
who, she said, had the honor of being an advocate of this cause, in addi-
tion to being governor of Massachusetts :
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 23, 1883.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY : I received your kind note asking me to attend the
National Convention of the friends of woman suffrage at Washington, for which
courtesy I am obliged. My engagements, which have taken me out of the common-
wealth, cover all, and more than all, of my time, and I find I am to hurry back, leav-
* Committee on Resolutions, composed of Lillic Devereux Blake of New York city, Virginia L. Mi-
nor of St. Louis, Harriet R. Shattuck of Boston, May Wright Sewall of Indianapolis, and Ellen H.
Sheldon of the District of Columbia.
t Mrs. Spofford, the treasurer, reported that $5,000 were spent in Nebraska in the endeavor to carry
the amendment in that State.
256 History of Woman Suffrage.
ing some of them undisposed of. It will therefore be impossible for me to attend the
convention.
As I have already declared my conviction that the fourteenth amendment fully
covers the right of all persons to vote, and as I assume that the women of the country
are persons, and very important persons to its happiness and prosperity, I never have
been able to see any reason why women do not come within its provisions. I think
such will be the decision of the court, perhaps quite as early as you may be able to get
through congress and the legislatures of the several States another amendment. But
both lines of action may well be followed, as they do not conflict with each other.
This course was taken in the case of the fifteenth amendment, which was supposed to
be necessary to cover the case of the negro, although many of the friends of the colored
man looked coldly upon that amendment, because it seemed to be an admission that
the fourteenth amendment was not sufficient. Therefore I can without inconsistency,
I think, bid you ' ' God speed " in your agitation for the sixteenth amendment. It will
have the effect to enlighten the public mind as to the scope of the fourteenth amend-
ment. I am very truly, your friend and servant, BE.NJ. F. BUTLER.
Mrs. Blake presented a series of resolutions, which were laid on the
table for consideration :
WHEREAS, In larger numbers than ever before the women of the United States are
demanding the repeal of arbitrary restrictions which now debar them from the use of
the ballot ; and
WHEREAS, The recent defeat in Nebraska of a constitutional amendment, giving
the women of the State the right to vote, proves that failure is the natural result of an
appeal to the masses on a question which is best understood and approved by the more
intelligent citizens; therefore,
Resolved, That we call upon this congress to pass, without delay, the sixteenth
amendment to the federal constitution now pending in the Senate.
Resolved, That all competitive examinations for places in the civil service of the
United States should be open on equal terms to citizens of both sexes, and that any so-
called civil service reform that does not correct the existing unjust discrimination
against women employe's, and grade all salaries on merit and not sex, is a dishonest
pretense at reform.
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States declares that no State shall be
admitted to the Union unless it have a republican form of government; and whereas,
no true republic can exist unless all the inhabitants are given equal civil and political
rights; therefore,
Resolved, That we earnestly protest against the admission of Dakota as a State, un-
less the right of suffrage is secured on equal terms to all her citizens.
Resolved, That the women of these United States have not deserved the infliction
of this punishment of disfranchisement, and do most earnestly demand that they be
relieved from the cruelties it imposes upon them.
WHEREAS, During the war hundreds of women throughout our land entered the
service of the nation as hospital nurses; and
WHEREAS, Many of these women were disabled by wounds and by disease, while
many were reduced to permanent invalidism by the hardships they endured; therefore,
Resolved, That these women should be placed on the pension list and rewarded for
their services.
After the reading of the resolutions an animated discussion followed,
Miss Anthony showing in scathing terms the injustice of the employment
of women to do equal work with men at half the salaries, in the depart-
ments at Washington and elsewhere. An additional resolution was
adopted declaring that paying Dr. Susan A. Edson for her services as
attendant physician to President Garfield, $1,000 less than was paid for
Discussion of the Resolutions. 257
an equivalent service rendered by Dr. Boynton, a more recent graduate of
tjie same college from which she received her diploma, is an unjust dis-
crimination on account of sex.
Mrs. SEWALL said men in the departments were given extra leave of absence each
year to go home to vote, and suggested that women be given (until the time comes for
them to vote) extra leave to meditate upon the ballot.
Miss ANTHONY said she had addressed a letter to each secretary asking that such
women as desired be given permission to attend the meetings of this convention with-
out loss of time to them. She had received but one answer, which was from Secretary
Folger, who wrote: " The condition of the public business prevents us from acceding
to your request. "
Mrs. HARRIETTE R. SHATTUCK'of Boston said: Tired as some of the audience must
be of hearing the same old argument in favor of the ballot for women repeated from
year to year, they could not possibly be more tired than the friends of the cause were
of hearing the same old objections repeated" from year to year. While the forty-year-
old objections are raised the forty-year-old rejoinders must be given. We must con-
tinue to agitate until we force people to listen. It is like the ringing of a bell. At
first no one notices it; in a little while, a few will listen; finally, the perpetual ding-
dong, ding-dong, will force itself to be heard by every one. The oldest of all the old
arguments is that of right and justice, and the tune which my little bell shall ring is
merely this : " It is right!" This cry of woman for liberty and equality increases
every day, and it is a cry that must some day be heard and responded to.
Mrs. Virginia L. Minor of St. Louis was then introduced as the woman
who stands to this cause in the same relation that Dred Scott had stood
to the Republican party. Miss Couzins said that in introducing Mrs.
Minor she wanted to say one word about the work Mrs. Minor had done
for the soldiers, during the sanitary fair and all through the war. She had
canned fruit, refusing the money offered in payment, returning it all to be
used for the sick and wounded soldiers [applause]. Mrs. Minor spoke in
a calm, deliberate manner, with perfect conviction in the truth of her
statements and with a winning sweetness of expression that indicated the
highest sensibilities of a refined nature. She showed that women voted
in the early days of the country, and that undoubtedly it was the inten-
tion of the framers of the constitution that they should do so. This right
had been taken away when the constitution was amended and the word
" male " inserted. What is now desired is simply restoration of that which
had been taken away. She believed that this restoration was made, un-
wittingly, by the addition of the fourteenth amendment, which, without
doubt, makes women citizens. It is men who have abused the republican
institution of suffrage ; it is women who desire to restore it to its proper
exercise. Miss Anthony read a letter from Mrs. Wallace, the wife of one
of the former governors of Indiana :
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. , January 21, 1883.
DEAR Miss ANTHONY : When in the call I read that for fourteen consecutive years
the National Woman Suffrage Association had held a convention in Washington, I
was oppressed by two thoughts : First, how hard it is to overcome prejudice and
ignorance when they have been fortified by the usages and customs of ages; and sec-
ondly, the sublime faith, courage and perseverance of the advocates of woman's en-
franchisement, and their confidence in the ultimate triumph of justice. After all, by
what are governments organized and maintained? By brute force alone? Despot-
isms may be, but republics never. What are the qualifications for the ballot ? The
power to fight ? Are they not rather intelligence, virtue, truth and patriotism ? I scarce
17
258 History of Woman Suffrage.
think the most obstinate and egotistical of our opponents will assert- that men possess
a monopoly of these virtues, or even a moiety of them. As to their fighting capacities,
of which we hear so much, I think they would have cut a sorry figure in the wars
which they have been compelled to wage in order to establish and maintain this gov-
ernment, if they had not had the sympathy and cooperation of woman. I entirely
agree with you that, while agitation in the States is necessary as a means of education,
a sixteenth amendment to the national constitution is the quickest, surest and least
laborious way to secure the success of this great work for human liberty. Any legis-
lature of Indiana in the last six years would have ratified such an amendment. With
highest regards for yourself and the best wishes for the success of the convention, I
remain, Yours, etc., ZERELDA G. WALLACE.
After several other speakers,* Madame Clara Neyman of New York
city, delivered what was, without question, one of the best addresses of
the convention. She spoke with a slightly German accent, which only
served to enhance the interest and hold the attention of the audience.
Her eloquence and argument could not fail to convince all of her earnest
purpose. After showing the philosophy of reform movements, and every
step of progress, she said :
Woman's enfranchisement will be wrought out by peaceful means. We shall use
no fire-arms, no torpedoes, no heavy guns to gain our freedom. No precious human
lives will be sacrificed; no tears will be shed to establish our right. We shall capture
the fortresses of prejudice and injustice by the force of our arguments; we shall send
shell after shell into these strongholds until their defective reasoning gives way to vic-
torious truth. "Inability to bear arms," says Herbert gpencer, "was the reason
given in feudal times for excluding woman from succession," and to-day her position
is lowest where the military spirit prevails. A sad illustration of this is my own coun-
try. Being a born German, and in feeling, kindred, and patriotism attached to the
country of my birth and childhood, it is hard for me to make such a confession. But
the truth must be told, even if it hurts. It has been observed by those who travel in
Europe, that Germany, which has the finest and best universities, which stands highest
in scholarship, nevertheless tolerates, nay, enforces the subjection of woman. The
freedom of a country stands in direct relation to the position of its women. America,
which has proclaimed the freedom of man, has developed pari passu a finer woman-
hood, and has done more for us than any other nation in existence. A new type of
manhood has been reared on American soil — a type which Tennyson describes in his
Princess:
Man shall be more of woman, she of man ;
He gain in sweetness and in moral height,
Nor lose the thews that wrestle with the world ;
She, mental breadth, nor fail in childward care,
Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind ;
Till at the last they set them each to each.
Like perfect music unto noble words.
Then comes the statelier Eden back to man ;
Then springs the crowning race of human kind.
At the evening session the time was divided between Lillie Devereux
Blake and Phcebe W. Couzins. Mrs. Blake spoke on the question, " Is it
a Crime to be a Woman ? "
She showed in a clear, logical manner that wherever a woman was apprehended for
crime the discrimination against her was not because of the crime she had committed,
but because the crime was committed by a woman. Every woman in this country is
treated by the law as if she were to blame for being a woman. In New York an hon-
* Short speeches were made by Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Lockwood, Mrs. McKinney, Mrs. Lodcr and
others.
Brief Addresses. 259
orable married woman has no right to her children. A man may beat his wife all he
pleases; but if he beats another man the law immediately interferes, showing that the
woman is not protected simply because she is so indiscreet as to be a -woman. If it is
not a crime to be a woman, why are women subjected to unequal payment with men
for the same service ? Why are they forced at times to don men's clothes in order to
obtain employment that will keep them from starvation ?
Miss COUZINS said that the American-born woman was "a woman without a
country"; but before she had closed she had proved that this country belonged ex-
clusively to the women. It was a woman, Queen Isabella, that enabled a man to dis-
cover this country, and in the old flag the initials were "I" and "F," representing
Isabella and Ferdinand, showing that it was acknowledged that the woman's initial
was the more important in this matter and to be first considered. It was a woman,
Mary Chilton, that first landed on Plymouth rock. It was a woman, Betsy Ross,
that designed our beautiful flag, the original eagle on our silver dollar, and the
seal of the United States without which no money is legal. All the way down in our
national history woman has been hand in hand with man, has assisted, supported and
encouraged him, and now there are women ready to help reform the life of the body
politic, and side by side with man work to purify, refine and ennoble the world. Miss
Couzins seemed Inspired by her own thoughts and carried the audience along with her
in her flights of eloquence.
Being asked to make a few closing remarks, Mrs. May Wright Sewall
said :
Difficult, indeed, is the task of closing a three days' convention; vain is the hope to
do it with fitting words which shall not be mere repetitions of what has been said on
this platform. The truth which bases this claim lies in a nut-shell, and the shell seems
hard to be cracked. It is unfair, when comparing the ability of men and women, to
compare the average woman to the exceptional man, but this is what man always does.
If, perchance, he admits not only the equality but the superiority of woman, he tells
her she must not vote because she is so nearly an angel, so much better than he is, and
this, in the face of the fact that every angel represented or revealed has been shown in
the form of a handsome young man. If any class then must abstain from meddling in
politics on account of relation to the angels, it is the men ! But she informed
the gentlemen she had no fears for them on that ground, for their relationship was not
near enough to cause any serious inconvenience. Speaking of the objections to women
undertaking grave or deep studies, that woman lacks the logical faculty, that she has
only intuition, nerve-force, etc., Mrs. Sewall said: It is true of every woman who has
done the worthiest work in science, literature, or reform, from Diotima, the teacher of
Socrates, to Margaret Fuller, the pupil of Channing and the peer of Emerson, that
ignoring the methods of nerves and instincts, she has placed herself squarely on the
basis of observation, investigation and reason. Men will admit that these women
had strength and logic, but say they are exceptional women. So are Gladstone,
Bismarck, Gambetta, Lincoln and Garfield exceptional men. She mentioned
Miss Anthony's proposed trip to Europe, and said that she had not had a holiday for
thirty years.
Miss ANTHONY said she wished to call attention to the report of the Special Com-
mittee of the Senate, which distinctly stated that the question had had " general agita-
tion," and that the petitions at different times presented were both "numerous and
respectable." This was sufficient answer, coming from such high authority, that
of Senator Anthony, to all the insinuations and unjust remarks about the petitions pre-
sented to congress, and with regard to the assertion that women themselves did not
want the ballot. She expressed her obligations to the press, and mentioned that the
Sunday Chronicle had announced its intention of giving much valuable space to the
proceedings, and that when she had learned this, she had ordered 1,000 copies, which
she would send to the address of any friend in the audience free of charge.
260 History of Woman Suffrage.
The " Star Spangled Banner" was then sung, Miss Couzins and Mrs. Shat-
tuck singing the solos, Mr. Wilson of the Foundry M. E. Church, leading the
audience in the chorus, the whole producing a fine effect. Miss Anthony said
the audience could see how much better it was to have a man to help, even
in singing. This brought down the house.
In closing this report, a word may be said of the persons most
conspicuous in it. This year several remarkable additions have been
made to our number, and it is of these especially that we would speak.
Mrs. Minor of St. Louis, in her manner has all the gentleness and sweet-
ness of the high-born Southern lady ; her personal appearance is very
pleasant, her hair a light chestnut, untouched with gray ; her face has lost
the color of youth, but her eyes have still their fire, toned down by the
sorrow they have seen. Madame Neyman is also new to the Washing-
ton platform. She is a piquant little German lady, with vivacious manner,
most agreeable accent, and looked in her closely-fitting black-velvet dress
as if she might have just stepped out of a painting. In direct contrast is
Mrs. Miller of Maryland — a large, dark-haired matron, past middle age, but
newly born in her enthusiasm for the cause. She is a worker as well as
a talker, and is a decided acquisition to the ranks. The other novice in
the work is Mrs. Amy Dunn, who has taken such a novel way to render
assistance. Mrs. Dunn is tall and slender, with dark hair and eyes. She
is a shrewd observer, does not talk much socially, but when she says any-
thing it is to the point. Her character sketch, "Zekle's Wife," will be a
stepping-stone to many a woman on her way to the suffrage platform.
Two women who have done and are doing a great work in this city, and
who are not among the public speakers, are Mrs. Spofford, the treasurer,
wife of the proprietor of the Riggs House, and Miss Ellen H. Sheldon,
secretary of the Association. To these ladies is due much of the success
of the convention. Mrs. Sheldon is of diminutive stature, with gray hair,
and Mrs. Spofford is of large and queenly figure, with white hair. Her
magnificent presence is always remarked at the meetings.
The following were among the letters read at this. convention :
10 DUCHESS STREET, PORTLAND PLACE, LONDON, Eng., Jan. 12.
DEAR Miss ANTHONY : To you and our friends in convention assembled, I send
greeting from the old world. It needs but little imagination to bring Lincoln Hall,
the usual fine audiences, and the well-known faces on the platform, before my mind,
so familiar have fifteen years of these conventions in \Vashington made such scenes
to me. How many times, as I have sat in your midst and listened to the grand
speeches of my noble coadjutors, I have wondered how much longer we should be
called upon to rehearse the oft-repeated arguments in favor of equal rights to all.
Surely the grand declarations of statesmen at every period in our history should make
the principle of equality so self-evident as to end at once all class legislation.
It is now over half a century since Frances Wright with eloquent words first asserted
the political rights of women in our republic; and from that day to this, inspired
apostles in an unbroken line of succession have proclaimed the new gospel of the
motherhood of God and of humanity. We have plead our case in conventions of the
people, in halls of legislation, before committees ot congress, and in the Supreme
Court of the United States, and our arguments still remain unanswered. History
shows no record of a fact like this, where so large a class of virtuous, educated, native-
born citizens have been subjugated by the national government to foreign domination.
Letters. 261
While our American statesmen scorn the thought that even the most gifted son of a
monarch, an emperor or a czar should ever occupy the proud position of a president
of these United States, and by constitutional provision deny to all foreigners this high
privilege, they yet allow the very riff-raff of the old world to make laws for the
proudest women of the republic, to make the moral code for the daughters of our
people, to sit in judgment on all our domestic relations.
England has taken two grand steps within the last year in extending the municipal
suffrage to the woman of Scotland and in passing the Married Woman's Property
bill. They are holding meetings all over the country now in favor of parliamentary
suffrage. Statistics show that women generally exercise the rights already accorded.
They have recently passed through a very heated election for members of the school-
board in various localities. Miss Lydia Becker was elected in Manchester, and Miss
Eva Mttller in one of the districts of London, and several other women in different
cities.
A little incident will show you how naturally the political equality of woman is com-
ing about in Queen Victoria's dominions. I was invited to dine at Barn Elms, a beau-
tiful estate on the banks of the Thames, a spot full of classic associations, the residence
of Mr. Charles McLaren, a member of parliament. Opposite me at dinner sat a
bright young girl tastefully attired ; on my right the gentleman to whom she was en-
gaged; at the head of the table a sparkling matron of twenty-five, one of the most
popular speakers here on the woman suffrage platform. The dinner-table talk was
such as might be heard in any cultivated circle — art, literature, amusements, passing
events, etc., etc. — and when the repast was finished, ladies and gentlemen, in full din-
ner dress, went off to attend an important school-board meeting, our host to preside and
the young lady opposite me to make the speech of the evening, and all done in as
matter-of-fact a way as if the party were going to the opera. Members of parliament
and lord-mayors preside and speak at all their public meetings and help in every way
to carry on the movement, giving money most liberally; and yet how seldom any of
our senators or congressmen will even speak at our meetings, to say nothing of send-
ing iis a check of fifty or a hundred dollars. I trust that we shall accomplish enough
this year to place the women of republican America at least on an even platform with
monarchical England. With sincere wishes for the success of the convention, cordially
yours, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
LONDON, January 10, 1883.
DEAR Miss ANTHONY : I was very glad indeed to receive notice of your mid-win-
ter conference in time to send you a few words about the progress of our work in
England. I believe our disappointment at the result of the vote in Nebraska must
have been greater than yours, as, being on the spot, you saw-the difficulties to be sur-
mounted. I had so hoped that the men of a free new State would prove themselves
juster and wiser than the men of our older civilizations, whose prejudice and pre-
cedents are such formidable barriers. But we cannot, judging from a distance, look
upon the work of the campaign as thrown away. Twenty-five thousand votes in favor
of woman suffrage in the face of such enormous odds is really a victory, and the legis-
latures of these States are deeply pledged to ratify the constitutional amendment, if
passed by congress. We look forward hopefully to the discussion in congress. The
majority report of the Senate cannot fail to secure attention, and I hope your present
convention will bring together national forces that will greatly influence the debate.
CAROLINE A. BIGGS.
51 RUE DE VARENNE, PARIS, January 15, 1883.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY : Perhaps a brief account of what has been done with
the two packages of " The History of Woman Suffrage " which you sent me for dis-
tribution in Europe may prove interesting to the convention. In the first place, sets
in sheep have been deposited already, or will have been before spring, in all the great
continental libraries from Russia to France, and from Denmark to Turkey. In the
second place, copies in cloth have been presented to reformers, publicists, editors, etc,
262 History of Woman Suffrage.
in every country of the old world. This generous distribution of a costly work has
already begun to produce an effect. Besides a large number of private letters from
all parts of Europe acknowledging the receipt of the volumes and bestowing on their
contents the highest praise, the History has been reviewed in numerous reform, edu-
cational and socialistic periodicals and newspapers in almost every modern European
tongue. Nor is this all. Every week a new pamphlet or book is sent me, or comes
under my notice, in which this History is cited, sometimes at great length, and is pro-
nounced to be the authority on the American women's movement. I have carefully
kept all these letters, newspaper notices, etc., and at the proper time I hope to prepare
a little pamphlet for your publisher on European opinion concerning your great work.
Very truly yours, THEODORE STANTON.
51 RUE DE VARENNE, PARIS, January 15, 1883.
DEAR Miss ANTHONY : My husband has just read me a letter he has written you
concerning the enthusiastic reception your big History has had among liberal people
on this side of the Atlantic, but he did not inform you that he should send the Ameri-
can public next spring a similar though much smaller work, entitled "The Woman
Question in Europe." The Putnamsof New York are now busy on the volume. You.
in the new world have little idea how the leaders of the women's movement here watch
everything you do in the United States. The great fact which my husband's volume
will teach you in America is the important and direct influence your movement is
having on the younger, less developed, but growing revolution in favor of our sex, now
in progress in every country of the old world. While assisting in the preparation of
the manuscript for this book this fact has been thrust upon my notice at every instant,
and never before did I fully realize the grand role the United States is acting in this
nineteenth century, for, rest assured, the moment European women are emancipated
monarchy gives way to the republic everywhere.
Most sincerely yours, MARGUERITTE BERRY STANTON.
134 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, S. E., January 25, 1883.
DEAR SUSAN ANTHONY : I believe that this is the only week of the whole winter
when I could not come to you nor attend your convention, much as I wish to do so.
It has been an exceptional week to me in the way of work and engagements, full of
both as I always am. I could not call on you last Monday, as I was in my own
crowded parlors from I till 10 o'clock at night. I tell you this that you may know
that I did not of my own accord stay away from you. I have not had a moment to
write you a coherent letter, such as I would be willing you should read. But I hare
saved the best reports of the convention, and it shall have a good notice in the Inde-
pendent of week after next. It shall have only praise. Of course I could write a
brighter, more characteristic notice could I myself have attended. Should you stay
over next Sunday I can see you yet; but if not, remember I think of you always with
the warmest interest, and meet you always with unchanged affection.
Ever your friend, MARY CLEMMER.
May God bless and keep you, I ever pray.*
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THURSDAY, March r, 1883.
Mr. WHITE, by unanimous consent, from the Special Committee on
Woman Suffrage, reported back the joint resolution (H. Res., 255) pro-
posing an amendment to the constitution , which was referred to the
House calendar, and, with the accompanying report, ordered to be
printed.
* This was the last word from this dear friend to one of our number. I met her afterward as Mrs.
Hudson with her husband in London. We dined together one evening at the pleasant home of Mon-
cure D. Conway. She was as full as ever of plans for future usefulness and enjoyment. From Eng-
land she went for a short trip on the continent. In parting I little thought she would so soon finish
her work on earth. E. C. S.
Report of Select Committee. 263
Mr. SPRINGER: As a member of that committee I have not seen the
report, and do not know whether it meets with my concurrence.*
Mr. WHITE: I ask by unanimous consent that the minority may have
leave to submit their views, to be printed with the majority report.
The SPEAKER : The Chair hears no objection.
MR. WHITE, from the Select Committee on Woman Suffrage, submitted
the following :
The Select Committee on Woman Suffrage, to whom was referred House Resolution
No. 2jJ, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to secure
the right of suffrage to citizens of the United States withont regard to sex, having
considered the same, respectfullv report :
In attempting to comprehend the vast results that could and would be attained by
the adoption, of the proposed article to the constitution, a few considerations are pre-
sented that are claimed by the friends of woman suffrage to be worthy of the most
serious attention, among which are the following :
I. There are vast interests in property vested in women, which property is affected
by taxation and legislation, without the owners having voice or representation in
regard to it. The adoption of the proposed amendment would remove a manifest
injustice.
II. Consider the unjust discriminations made against women in industrial and edu-
cational pursuits, and against those who are compelled to earn a livelihood by work of
hand or brain. By conferring upon such the right of suffrage, their condition, it is
claimed, would be greatly improved by the enlargement of their influence.
III. The questions of social and family relations are of equal importance to and
affect as many women as men. Giving to women a voice in the enactment of laws
pertaining to divorce and the custody of children and division of property would be
merely recognizing an undeniable right.
IV. Municipal regulations in regard to houses of prostitution, of gambling, of retail
liquor traffic, and of all other abominations of modern society, might be shaped very
differently and more perfectly were women allowed the ballot.
V. If women had a voice in legislation, the momentous question of peace and war,
which may act with such fearful intensity upon women, might be settled with less
bloodshed.
VI. Finally, there is no condition, status in life, of rich or poor; no question, moral
or political; no interest, present or future; no ties, foreign or domestic; no issues, local
or national; no phase of human life, in which the mother is not equally interested with
the father, the daughter with the son, the sister with the brother. Therefore the one
should have equal voice with the other in molding the destiny of this nation.
Believing these consider.-. '.ions to be so important as to challenge the attention of all
patriotic citizens, and that the people have a right to be heard in the only authoritative
manner recognized by the constitution, we report the accompanying resolution with a
favorable recommendation in order that the people, through the legislatures of their
respective States, may express their views:
JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States:
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in congress assembled, (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That
the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amend-
ment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths
of the said legislatures, shall be valid as part of said constitution, namely :
* Mr. Springer had never been present at a single meeting of the committee, though always officially
notified. Neither did Mr. Muldrow of Mississippi ever honor the committee with his presence. How-
ever, Mr Stockslager of Indiana and Mr. Vance of North Carolina were always in their places, and the
latter, we thought, almost persuaded to consider with favor the claims of women to political equality.
264 History of Woman Suffrage.
SECTION I. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
SEC. 2. The congress shall have power, by appropriate legislation, to enforce the
provisions of this article.
Thus closed the forty-seventh congress, and although with so
little promise of any substantial good for women, yet this slight
recognition in legislation was encouraging to those who had so
long appealed in vain for the attention of their representatives.
A committee to even consider the wrongs of woman was more
than had ever been secured before, and one to propose some
measures of justice, sustained by the votes of a few statesmen
awake to the degradation of disfranchisement, gave some faint
hope of more generous action in the near future. The tone of
the debates* in these later years even, on the nature and rights
of women, is 'wholly unworthy the present type of developed
womanhood and the age in which we live.
* Reports of congressional action and the conventions of 1884-81; have been already published in
pamphlet form, and we shall print the reports hereafter once in two years, corresponding with the terms
of congress. Our plan is to bind these together once in six years, making volumes of the size of those
already published. These pamphlets, as well as the complete History in three volumes, are for sale at
the publishing house of Charles Mann, 8 Elm Park, Rochester, N. Y.
CHAPTER XXXI.
MASSACHUSETTS.
BY HARRIET H. ROBINSON.
The Woman's Hour — Lydia Maria. Child Petitions Congress — First New England
Convention — The New England, American and Massachusetts Associations —
Woman's Journal — Bishop Gilbert Haven — The Centennial Tea-party — County
Societies — Concord Convention — Thirtieth Anniversary of the Worcester Conven-
tion— School Suffrage Association — Legislative Hearing — First Petitions — The Re-
monstrants Appear — Women in Politics — Campaign of 1872 — Great Meeting in
Tremont Temple — Women at the Polls — Provisions of Former State Constitutions
— Petitions, 1853 — School-Committee Suffrage, 1879 — Women Threatened with
Arrest — Changes in the Laws — Woman Now Owns her own Clothing — Harvard
Annex — Woman in the Professions — Samuel E. Sewall and William I. Bowditch —
Supreme-Court Decisions — Sarah E. Wall — Francis Jackson — Julia Ward Howe —
Mary E. Stevens — Lucia M. Peabody — Lelia Josephine Robinson — Eliza (Jackson)
Eddy's Will.
FROM 1860 to 1866 there is no record to be found of any
public meeting on the subject of woman's rights, in Massa-
chusetts.* During these years the war of the rebellion had been
fought. Pending the great struggle the majority of the leaders,
who were also anti-slavery, had thought it to be the wiser policy
for the women to give way for a time, in order that all the work-
ing energy might be given to the slave. " It is not the woman's
but the negro's hour "; " After the slave — then the woman," said
Wendell Phillips in his stirring speeches, at this date. " Keep
quiet, work for us," said other of the anti-slavery leaders to the
women. " Wait ! help us to abolish slavery, and then we will
work for you." And the women, who had the welfare of the
country as much at heart as the men, kept quiet ; worked in
hospital and field ; sacrificed sons and husbands ; did what is
always woman's part in wars between man and man — and waited.
If anything can make the women of the State regret that they
were silent as to their own claims for six eventful years that the
freedom of the black man might be secured, it is the fact that
* For details of early history see vol. I., chap. viii. See also " Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage
Movement," Roberts Bros., Boston.
266
History of Woman Suffrage.
now in 1885 his vote is ever adverse to women's enfranchisement.
When the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitu-
tion was proposed, in which the negro's liberty and his right to
the ballot were to be established, an effort was made to secure in
it some recognition of the rights of woman. Massachusetts sent
a petition, headed with the name of Lydia Maria Child, against
the introduction of the word " male " in the proposed amend-
ment. When this petition was offered to the greatest of America's
emancipation leaders, for presentation to congress, he received
and presented it under protest. He thought the woman question
should not be forced at such a time, and the only answer from
congress this "woman-intruding" petition received was found in
the fourteenth amendment itself, in which the word " male," with
unnecessary iteration, was repeated, so that there might be no
mistake in future concerning woman's rights, under the Constitu-
tion of the United States.*
The war was over. The rights of the black man, for whom the
women had worked and waited, were secured, but under the new
amendment, by which his race had been made free, the white
women of the United States were more securely held in political
slavery. It was time, indeed, to hold conventions and agitate
anew the question of woman's rights. The lesson of the war had
been well learned. Women had been taught to understand poli-
tics, the " science of government," and to take an interest in
public events ; and some who before the war had not thought
upon the matter, began to ask themselves why thousands of
ignorant men should be made voters and they, or their sex, still
kept in bondage under the law.
In 1866, May 31, the first meeting of the American Equal
Rights Association was held at the Meionaon in Boston. f In
1868 the call for a New England convention was issued and the
meeting was held November 18, 19, at Horticultural Hall, Boston.
James Freeman Clarke presided. In this convention sat many
of the distinguished men and women of the New England States,;};
* As an original question, no friend of woman suffrage can deny that it was a mean thing to put the
word "male" into the fourteenth amendment. It was, doubtless, wise to adopt that amendment. It
was an extension of the right of suffrage, and so far in the line of .'American progress, yet it was also an
implied denial of the suffrage to women. — [Warrington in the Springfield Republican.
t See Vol. II., page 178.
\ John Neal came from Maine; Nathaniel and Armenia White from New Hampshire; Isabella
Hooker from Connecticut ; Thomas W. Higginson from Rhode Island ; and John G. Whittier, Samuel
May, jr., Gilbert Haven, John T. Sargent, Frank W. Bird, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison,
William S. Robinson, Stephen and Abby Kclley Foster, with a host of others, from Massachusetts.
Lucy Stone and Henry B. Blackwell, who then lived in New Jersey, were also among the speakers.
New England Convention. 267
old-time advocates, together with newer converts to the doctrine,
who then became identified with the cause of equal rights irre-
spective of sex. This convention was called by the Rev. Olympia
Brown.* The hall was crowded with eager listeners anxious to
hear what would be said on a subject thought to be ridiculous by
a large majority of people in the community. Some of the
teachers of Boston sent a letter to the convention, signed with
their names, expressing their interest as women. Henry Wilson
avowed his belief in the equal rights of woman, but thought the
time had not yet come for such a consummation, and said that,
for this reason, he had voted against the question in the United
States Senate ; " though," he continued, " I was afterwards
ashamed of having so voted." Like another celebrated Mas-
sachusetts politician, he believed in the principle of the thing,
but was " agin its enforcement." At this date the popular in-
terest heretofore given to the anti-slavery question was trans-
fe'rred to the woman suffrage movement.
The New England Woman Suffrage Association was formed at
this convention. Julia Ward Howe was elected its president, and
made her first address on the subject of woman's equality with
man. On its executive board were many representative names
from the six New England States, f By the formation of this
society, a great impetus was given to the suffrage cause in New
England. It held conventions and mass-meetings, printed tracts
* In giving an account of her efforts in this direction she says : " After my return from Kansas in
1867, I felt that we ought to do something for the cause in Massachusetts. There was at that time no
organization in the State, and there had been no revival of the subject in the minds of the people since
the war, which had swallowed up every other interest. In the spring of 1868, I wrote to Abby Kclley
Foster, telling her my wish to have something done in our own State, and she advised me to call to-
gether a few persons known to be in favor of suffrage, some day during anniversary week, in some
parlor in Boston. I corresponded with Adin Ballou, E. D. Draper, and others, on the subject, and
talked the matter over with Prof. T. T. Leonard, teacher of elocution, who oficrcd his hall for a place
of meeting. I wrote a notice inviting all persons interested in woman suffrage to come to Mr. Leonard's
hall, on a certain day and hour. At the time appointed the hall was full of pe«.ple. I opened the
meeting, and stated why I had called it ; others took up the theme, and we had a lively meeting. All
agreed that something should be done, and a committee of seven was appointed to call a convention for
the purpose of organizing a woman suffrage association. Caroline M. Severance, Stephen S. Foster,
Sarah Southwick and myself, were of this committee. We held a number of meetings and finally de-
cided to call a convention early in the autumn of 1868. This convention was held in Horticultural Hall,
and the result was the organization of the New England Woman Suffrage Association."
t President^ Julia Ward Howe ; Vice-presidents, William Lloyd Garrison, Boston ; Paulina W.
D.isis, Providence, R. I.; James Freeman Clarke, Boston; Sarah Shaw Russell, Boston; Neil Dow,
Me.; Lucy Goddard, Boston; Samuel E. Sewall, Melrose ; Lidian Emerson, Concord ; John Hooker,
Isabella Beccher Hooker, Hartford, Ct.; Harriot K. Hunt, Boston; James Hutchinson, jr..
West Randolph, Vt.; Armenia S. White, Concord, N. H.; Louisa M. Alcott, Concord ; L. Maria Child,
Way land; John Weiss, Watertown. Corresponding Secretary, Sara Clark, Boston. Recording Sec-
retary, Charles K. Whipple, Boston. Treasurer, }•'.. D. Draper, Boston. Executh-e Committee:
Lucy Stone, Newark, N. J.; T. W. Higginson, Newport, R. I.; Caroline M. Severance, West Newton ;
1 IMII. i, \V. liird, K;ist Walpole ; Mary E. Sargent, Boston ; Nathaniel White, Concord, N. H.; Richard
P. Hallowell, Boston ; Stephen S. Foster, Worcester; Sarah H. Southwick, Grantville ; Rowland Con-
nor, Boston ; B. F. Bowles, Cambridge ; George H. Vibbert, Rockport ; Olympia Brown, Wcymouth ;
Samuel May, jr., Leicester; Nina Moore, Hyde Park.
268 History of Woman Suffrage.
and documents, and put lecturers in the field. It set in motion
two woman suffrage bazars, and organized subscription festivals,
and other enterprises to raise money to carry on the work. It
projected the American, and Massachusetts suffrage associa-
tions ; it urged the formation of local and county suffrage
societies, and set up the Woman s Journal. The New England
Association held its first anniversary in May, 1869, and the meet-
ing was even more successful than the opening one of. the preced-
ing year. On this occasion Mrs. Livermore spoke in Boston
for the first time, and many new friends coming forward gave
vigor and freshness to the movement.* Wendell Philips, Lucy
Stone and Gilbert Haven, spoke at this convention. It was on
this occasion that the " good Bishop," as he afterward came to
be called, was met on leaving the meeting by one who did not
know his opinion on the subject. This person expressed surprise
on seeing him at a woman's rights meeting, and said ; " What !
you here? " " Yes," said he, " I am here! I believe in this reform.
I am going to start in the beginning, and ride with the proces-
sion." After this, not until his earthly journey was finished, was
his place in " the procession " found vacant. Since 1869 the New
England Association has held its annual meeting in Boston dur-
ing anniversary week, in May, when reports from various States
are offered, concerning suffrage work done during the year. The
American Woman Suffrage Association was organized in 1869
Since its formation it has held its annual conventions in some of
the chief cities of the several States, f A meeting was held in
Horticultural Hall, Boston, January 28, 1870, to organize the
Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association.*
* Ednah D. Cheney, Rev. C. A. Bartol, Rev. F. E. Abbot, Rev. Phoebe Hanafotd and Hon. George
F. Hoar.
t For report of American Association see Vol. II., p-ige 756.
J Lucy Stone, Mary A. Livermore, Stephen S. and Abby Kelley Foster, H. B. Blackwell, Rev. W. H.
Channing, Rev. J. F. Clarke, Rev. Gilbert Haven, Julia Ward Howe and Elizabeth K. Churchill made
eloquent speeches.
The first board of officers of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association was : President, Julia
Ward Howe. Vice-pretidentt : William Lloyd Garrison, Roxbury ; Anne B. Earle, Worcester; John
G. Whitticr, Amesbury ; Lidian Emerson. Concord ; Hon. Robert C. Pitman, New Bedford ; Mrs.
Richmond Kingman, Cummington ; Rev. R. B. Scratton, Worcester ; Edna D. Cheney, Jamaica Plain ;
Hon. Isaac Ames, Haverhill ; Sarah Shaw Ames, Boston ; J. Ingersoll Bowditch, West Roxbury; Lydia
Maria Child, Wayland ; Mary Dewey, Sheffield ; Hon. George F. Hoar, Worcester; Sarah Grimke,
Hyde Park; Sarah R. Hathaway, Boston ; William I. Bowditch, Boston; Harriot K. Hunt, M. D..
Boston ; Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, Melrose; A. Bronson Alcott, Concord ; Angelina G. Weld, Hyde
Park ; Hon. Henry Wilson, Natick ; Rev. James Freeman Clarke, Boston ; Charlotte A. Joy, Mendon ;
Jacob M. Manning, D. D., Lucy Sewall, M. D., Boston ; Rev. Joseph May, Newburyport ; Maria
Zakrzewska, M. D., Roxbury ; Rev. William B. Wright, Boston ; Rev. Jesse H. Jones, Natick ; Phoebe
A. Hanaford, Reading; Seth Hunt, Northampton : Maria S. Porter, Melrose. Executive Committee:
Rev. Rowland Connor, Boston ; Caroline M. Severance, West Newton ; Rev. W. H. H. Murray. Boston ;
Gordon M. Fiske, Palmer; Sarah A. Vibbert, Rock port; Rev. Gilbert Haven, Maiden; Caroline Remond
The Massachusetts Association. 269
The Massachusetts Association is the most active of the three
societies named. Its work is generally local though it has sent
help to Colorado, Michigan, and other Western States. It has
kept petitions in circulation, and has presented petitions and
memorials to the State legislatures. It has asked for hearings
and secured able speakers for them. It has held conventions,
mass-meetings, Fourth of July celebrations. It has helped or-
ganize local Woman suffrage clubs and societies, and has printed
for circulation numerous woman suffrage tracts. The amount of
work done by its lecturing agents can be seen by the statement
of Margaret W. Campbell, who alone, as agent of the American,
the New England and the Massachusetts associations, traveled in
twenty different States and two territories, organizing and speak-
ing in conventions.* As part of the latest work of this society
may be mentioned its efforts to present before the women of the
State, in clear and comprehensive form, an explanation of the
different sections of the new law " allowing women to vote for
school committees." As soon as the law passed the legislature
of 1879, a circular of instructions to women was carefully prepared
by Samuel E. Sewall, an eminent lawyer and member of the board
of the Massachusetts Association, in which all the points of law
in relation to the new right were ably presented. Thousands of
copies of this circular were sent to women all over the State.
The Centennial Tea Party was held in Boston, December 15,
1873, in response to the following call :
The women of New England who believe that "taxation without repre-
sentation is tyranny," and that our forefathers were justified in defying
despotic power by throwing the tea into Boston harbor, invite the men
and women of New England to unite with them in celebrating the one-
hundredth anniversary of that event in Fanueil Hall.t
Putman, Salem ; Frank B. Sanborn, Springfield ; Mercy B. Jackson, M. D., Boston ; Samuel May, jr.,
Leicester ; Margaret W. Campbell, Springfield ; Rev. C. M. Wines, Brookline ; Mary A. Livermorc,
Melro.-.e ; William S. Robinson, Maiden ; Henry B. Blackwell, Boston ; Lucy Stone, Boston ; S. S.
Foster, Worcester ; Mrs. Wilcox, Worcester ; Ada R. Bowles, Cambridge. Corresponding Secretary,
Nina Moore, Hyde Park. Recording Secretary^ Charles C. Whipple, Boston. Treasurer^ E. D.
Draper, Hopedale.
* Mary V. Eastman, Ada C. Bowles, Lorenza Haynes, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Hulda B. I.oud,
Matilda Hindman and other agents in the lecture field have also done a great deal of missionary
work.
t The committee of arrangements were Mrs. Isaac Ames, Harriet H. Robinson, Sarah B. Otis,
Philip Wheeler, Jane Tenney, Mrs. A. A. Fellows, Mrs. Jackson, Miss Talbot and Miss Halsey.
The speakers were : Wendell Phillips, Mary A. Livermore, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd
Garrison, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Margaret W. Campbell, Mary F. Eastman, Henry B. Blackwell,
Lucy Stone and others. Julia Ward Howe and Mr. C. P. Cranch, read original poems. Two old-time
tea-party songs, curiosities in their line, were read. One, dated Boston, 1773, entitled " Lines on
Bohea Tea," was written by Susannah Clarke, great-aunt of W. S. Robinson ; the other, copied from
Thomas' Boston Journal, of December 2, 1773, was written by Mrs. Ames, a tailorcs*.
270 History of Woman Suffrage.
Three thousand people were in attendance, and it was alto-
gether an enthusiastic occasion and one long to be remembered.
The record of conventions and meetings held by the Massa-
chusetts Association by no means includes all such gatherings
held in different towns and cities of the State. The county and
local societies have done a vast amount of work. The Hampden
society was started in 1868, with Eliphalet Trask, Frank B. San-
born and Margaret W. Campbell as leading officers. This was
the first county society formed in the State. Julia Ward Howe,
a fresh convert of the recent convention went to Salem to lecture
on woman suffrage, and the Essex county society was formed
with Mrs. Sarah G. Wilkins and Mrs. Delight R. P. Hewitt — the
only two Salem women who went to the 1850 convention at
Worcester — on its executive board. The Middlesex county
society followed, planned by Ada C. Bowles and officered by
names well known in that historic old county. The Hampshire
and Worcester societies brought up the rear; the former planned
by Seth Hunt of Northampton. Notable conventions were held
by the Middlesex society in 1876 — one in Maiden, one in Melrose
and one in Concord, organized and conducted by its president,
Harriet H. Robinson. This last celebrated town had never be-
fore been so favored. These meetings were conducted something
after the style of local church conferences. They were well adver-
tised, and many people came. A collation was provided by the
ladies of each town, and the feast of reason was so judiciously
mingled with the triumphs of cookery, that converts to the cause
were never so easily won. Many women present said to the
president: "I never before heard a woman's rights speech. If
these are the reasons why women should vote, I believe in
voting."
The Concord convention was held about a month after the
great centennial celebration of April 19, 1875 — a celebration in
which no woman belonging to that town took any official part.
Nor was there any place of honor found for the more distin-
guished women who had come long distances to share in the
festivities. Some of the women were descendents of Governor
John Hancock, Dr. Samuel Prescott, Major John Buttrick, Rev.
William Emerson and Lieutenant Emerson Cogswell. Though
no seat of honor in the big tent in which the speeches were made
was given to the women of to-day, silent memorials of those who
had taken part in the events of one hundred years ago, had found
Lucy Stones Speech. 271
a conspicuous place there — the scissors that cut the immortal
cartridges made by the women on that eventful day, and the an-
cient flag that the fingers of some of the mothers of the Revolu-
tion had made. Though the Concord women were not permitted
to share the centennial honors, they were not deprived of the
privilege of paying their part of the expenses incident to the oc-
casion. To meet these, an increased tax-rate was assessed upon
all the property owners in the town ; and, since one-fifth of the
town tax of Concord is paid by women, it will be seen what was
their share in the great centennial celebration of 1876.
The knowledge of the proceedings at Concord added new zest
to the spirit of the three conventions, and the events of the day
were used by the speakers to point the moral of the woman's
rights question. Lucy Stone made one of her most effective
and eloquent speeches upon this subject. She said :
FELLOW CITIZENS (I had almost said fellow subjects) : What we need is
that women should feel their mean position ; when that happens, they will
soon make an effort to get out of it. Everything is possible to him that
wills. All that is needed for the success of the cause of woman suffrage
is to have women know that they want to vote. Concord and Lexington
got into a fight about the centennial, and Concord voted $10,000 for the
celebration in order to eclipse Lexington. One-fifth of the tax of Con-
cord is paid by the women, yet not one of these women dared to go to the
town hall and cast her vote upon that subject. This is exactly the same
thing which took place one hundred years ago — taxation without repre-
sentation, against which the men of Concord then rebelled. If I were an
inhabitant of Concord, I would let my. house be sold over my head and
my clothes off my back and be hanged by the neck before I would pay a
cent of it ! Men of Melrose, Concord and Maiden, why persecute us ?
Would you like to be a slave? Would you like to be disfranchised?
Would you like to be bound to respect the laws which you cannot
make? There are 15,000,000 of women whom the government denies
legal rights.
It might be supposed that a spot upon which the battle for
freedom and independence was first begun would always be the
vantage ground of questions relating to personal liberty. But
such is not the fact. Concord was never an anti-slavery town,
though some of its best citizens took active part in all the aboli-
tion movements. When the time came that women were allowed
to vote for school committees, the same intolerant spirit which
ignored and shut them out of the centennial celebration was again
manifested toward them — not only by the leading magnates, but
also by the petty officials of the town. Some of them have from
272
Tistory of Woman Suffrage.
the first shown a great deal of ingenuity in inventing ways to in-
timidate and mislead the women voters.
At the annual convention of the Massachusetts Association, in
May, 1880, the following resolution was passed:
WHEREAS, We believe in keeping the land-marks and traditions of our movement ;
and
WHEREAS, It will be thirty years next October since the first woman's rights meet-
ing was held in the State, and it seems fitting that there should be some celebration of
the event; therefore,
Resolved, That we will hold a woman suffrage jubilee in Worcester, October 23
and 24 next, to commemorate the anniversary of our first convention.
A committee* of arrangements was chosen, and the meeting
was held. There were present many whose silver hairs told of
long and faithful service. The oldest ladies there were Mrs.
Lydia Brown of Lynn, Mrs. Wilbour of Worcester, and Julia E.
Smith Parker of Glastonbury, Conn. On the afternoon of the
first day there was an informal gathering of friends in the ante-
room of Horticultural Hall. Old-time memories were recalled
by those who had not seen each other for many years, and the
common salutation was : " How gray you've grown ! " Many of
them had indeed grown gray in the service, and their faces were
changed, but made beautiful by a life devoted to a noble purpose.
There were many present who had attended the convention of
thirty years ago — Abby Kelley Foster, Lucy Stone, Antoinette
Brown Blackwell, Paulina Gerry, Rev. Samuel May, Rev. W. H.
Channing, Joseph A. Howland, Adeline H. Howland, Dr. Martha
H. Mowry and many, many others. It was very pleasant indeed
to hear these veterans whose clear voices have spoken out so long
and so bravely for the cause. The speaking f at all the sessions
was excellent, and the spirit of the convention was very reverent
and hopeful.
The tone of the press concerning woman's rights meetings had
changed greatly since thirty years before. "Hen conventions"
had gone by, and a woman's meeting was now called by its proper
* Committee of Arrangements — Lucy Stone, Abby Kelley Foster, Thomas J. Lothrop, Timo-
thy K. Earle, Sarah E. Wall, Harriet H. Robinson and E. H. Church. At this public gathering,
Athol, Boston, Haverhill, Leicester, Leominster, Lowell, Maiden, Melrose, Milford, North Brook-
field, Taunton, and many other Massachusetts towns were well represented.
tThe speakers were Lucy Stone, Rev. W. H. Channing, Mary A. Livermore, Mary F. Eastman,
Kate N. Doggett, Rev. F. A. Hinckley, Ednah D. Cheney, T. Wentworth Higginson, Isabella
Beecher Hooker, Anna Garlin Spencer and Julia E. Parker. Harriet H. Robinson read a condensed
history of Massachusetts in the woman suffrage movement. Interesting letters were received from
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, F. W. Bird, H. B. Blackwell, Margaret W. Campbell, Mrs. C. I. H. Nichols
and Frances D. Gage. Two original woman suffrage songs, written by Anna Q. T. Parsons and Caro-
line A. Mason, were sung on the occasion.
- y
i^i^y
274 History of Woman Suffrage.
Convention* and published valuable leaflets.f It has rolled up
petitions to the State legislature and to congress. Its most valu-
able work has been the canvass made in certain localities in
the city and country in 1884, to ascertain the number of women
in favor of suffrage, the number opposed and the number indif-
ferent. The total result showed that there were 405 in favor, 44
opposed, 166 indifferent, 160 refusing to sign, 39 not seen; that
is, over nine who would sign themselves in favor to one who
would sign herself opposed. This canvass was made by women
who gave their time and labor to this arduous work, and the
results were duly presented to the legislature.
In 1883 this Association petitioned the legislature to pass a
resolution recommending congress to submit a proposition for a
sixteenth amendment to the national constitution. The Senate
Committee on Woman Suffrage granted a hearing March 23, and
soon after presented a favorable report ; but the resolution, when
brought to a vote, was lost by 21 to 1 1. This was the first time
that the National doctrine of congressional action was ever pre-
sented or voted upon in the Massachusetts legislature. A second
hearing:}: was granted on February 28, 1884, before the Com-
mittee on Federal Relations. They reported leave to withdraw.
The associations mentioned are not the only ones that are aid-
ing the suffrage movement. Its friends are found in all the
women's clubs, temperance associations, missionary movements,
charitable enterprises, educational and industrial unions and
church committees. These agencies form a network of motive
power which is gradually carrying the reform into all branches of
public work.
The Woman s Journal was incorporated in 1870 and is owned
by a joint stock company, shares being held by leading members
of the suffrage associations of New England. Shortly after it
was projected, the Agitator, then published in Chicago by Mary
A. Livermore, was bought by the New England Association on
•condition that she should " come to Boston for one year, at a
* Two of these, Harriet H. Robinson nnd Harriette R. Shattuck, spoke at the first hearing before
the Senate committee. It chanced that Mrs. Robinson was the first woman to speak before this Special
Committee. The other delegates were : Mary R. Brown, Emma F. Clarry, Louisa E. Brooks, Mrs.
G. W. Simonds, Sarah S. Eddy, Mr. and Mrs D. W. Forbes, Mary H. Semple, Louisa A. Morrison and
Cora B. Smart.
t The authors and compilers of these leaflets are Harriette R. Shattuck, Sara A. Underwood, Han-
nah M. Todd and Mary R. Brown.
t The speaker? at these hearings were Harriette R. Shattuck, Mary R. Brown, Sidney D. Shattuck,
Nancy W. Covell. Ur. Julia C. Smith, Mr. S. C. Fay, Louisa A. Morrison, Sara A. Underwood and
Harriet H. Robinson.
Dolly Chandler and Others. 275
reasonable compensation, to assist the cause by her editorial labor
and speaking at conventions." Lucy Stone and Henry B. Black-
well, invited by the same society to " return to the work in
Massachusetts," at once assumed the editorial charge. T. W.
Higginson, Julia Ward Howe and W. L. Garrison were assistant
editors. " Warrington," Kate N. Doggett, Samuel E. Sewall, F.
B. Sanborn, and many other good writers, lent a helping hand to
the new enterprise. The Woman s Journal has been of great
value to the cause. It has helped individual women and brought
their enterprises into public notice. It has opened its columns
to inexperienced writers and advertised young speakers. To sus-
tain the paper and furnish money for other work, two mammoth
bazars or fairs were held in Music Hall in 1870, 1871. Nearly all
the New England States and many of the towns in Massachusetts
were represented by tables in these bazars. Donations were sent
from all directions and the women worked, as they generally do
in a cause in which they are interested, to raise money to furnish
the sinews of war. The newspapers from day to day were full of
descriptions of the splendors of the tables, and the reporters spoke
well of the women who had taken this novel method to carry on
their movement. People who had never heard of woman suf-
frage before came to see what sort of women were those who
o
thus made a public exhibition of their zeal in this cause. In re-
mote places, as well as nearer the scene of action, many people
who had never thought of the significance of the woman's rights
movement, began to consider it through reading the reports of
the woman suffrage bazar.
Female opponents of the suffrage movement began to make
a stir as early as 1868. A remonstrance was sent into the
legislature, from two hundred women of Lancaster, giving the
reasons why women should not enjoy the exercise of the elective
franchise: "It would diminish the purity, the dignity and the
moral influence of woman, and bring into the family circle a dan-
gerous element of discord." In The Revolution of August 5, 1869,
Parker Pillsbury said :
Dolly Chandler and the hundred and ninety-four other women who
asked the Massachusetts legislature not to allow the right of suffrage,
were very impudent and tyrannical, too, in petitioning for any but them-
selves. They should have said : '• We, Dolly Chandler and her associates,
to the number of a hundred and ninety-five in all, do not want the right
of suffrage ; and we pray your honorable bodies to so decree and enact
that we shall never have it." So far they might go. But when they under-
History of Woman Suffrage.
take to prevent a hundred and ninety-four thousand other women who
do want the ballot and who have an acknowledged right to it, and are
laboring for it day and night, it is proper to ask, What business have Dolly
Chandler and her little coterie to interpose ? Nobody wants them to vote
unless they themselves want to. They can stay at home and see nobody
but the assessor, the tax-gatherer and the revenue collector, from Christ-
mas to Christmas, if they so prefer. Those gentlemen they will be pretty
likely to see, annually or quarterly, and to feel their power, too, if they
have pockets with anything in them, in spite of all petitions to the legis-
lature.
It did not occur to these women that by thus remonstrating
they were doing just what they were protesting against. What
is a vote? An expression of opinion or a desire as to govern-
mental affairs, in the shape of a ballot. The " aspiring blood of
Lancaster" should have mounted higher than this, since, if it
really was the opinion of these remonstrants that woman cannot
vote without becoming defiled, they should have kept themselves
out of the legislature, should have kept their hands from petition-
ing and their thoughts from agitation on either side of the
subject. Just such illogical reasoning on the woman suffrage
question is often brought forward and passes for the profoundest
wisdom and discreetest delicacy! The same arguments are used
by the remonstrants of to-day, who are now fully organized and
doing very efficient political work in opposing further political
action by women. In their carriages, with footman and driver,
they solicit names to their remonstrances. As a Boston news-
paper says :
The anti-woman suffrage women get deeper and deeper into politics
year by year in their determination to keep out of politics. By the time
they triumph they will be the most accomplished politicians of the sex,
and unable to stop writing to the papers, holding meetings, circulating
remonstrances, any more than the suffrage sisterhood.
These persons, men and women, bring their whole force to
bear before legislative committees at woman suffrage hearings,
and use arguments that might have been excusable forty years
ago. However this is merely a phase of the general movement
and will work for good in the end. It can no more stop the prog-
ress of the reform than it can stop the revolution of the globe.
Political agitation on the woman suffrage question began in
Massachusetts in 1870. A convention to discuss the feasibility of
forming a woman suffrage political party was held in Boston, at
which J ulia Ward HOWJ presided, and Rev. Augusta Chapin offered
In the Republican State Convention. 277
prayer. The question of a separate nomination for State officers
was carefully considered.* Delegates were present from the Labor
Reform and Prohibition parties, and strong efforts were made
by them to induce the convention to nominate Wendell Phillips,
who had already accepted the nomination of those two parties, as
candidate for governor. The convention at one time seemed
strongly in favor of this action, the women in particular thinking
that in Mr. Phillips they would find a staunch and well tried leader.
But more politic counsels prevailed, and it was finally concluded
to postpone a separate nomination until after the Republican and
Democratic conventions had been held. A State central com-
mittee was formed, and at once began active political agitation.
A memorial was prepared to present to each of the last-named
conventions ; and the candidates on the State tickets of the four
political parties were questioned by letter concerning their opin-
ions on the right of the women to the ballot. At the Republican
State convention held October 5, 1870, the question was fairly
launched into politics, by the admission, for the first time, of two
women, Lucy Stone and Mary A Livermore, as regularly accred-
ited delegates. Both were invited to speak, and the following
resolution drawn up by Henry B. Blackwell, was presented by
Charles W. Slack :
Resolved, That the Republican party of Massachusetts is mindful of its obligations
to the loyal women of America for their patriotic devotion to the cause of liberty; that
we rejoice in the action of the recent legislature in making women eligible as officers
of the State; that we thank Governor Claflin for having appointed women to important
political trusts; that we are heartily in favor of the enfranchisement of women, and
will hail the day when the educated, intelligent and enlightened conscience of the
women of Massachusetts has direct expression at the ballot box.
This resolution was presented to the committee, who did not
agree as to the propriety of reporting it to the convention, and
they instructed their chairman, George F. Hoar, to state the fact
and refer the resolution back to that body for its own action. A
warm debate arose, in which several members of the convention
made speeches on both sides of the question. The resolution
was finally defeated, 1 37 voting in its favor, and 196 against it.
Although lost, the large vote in the affirmative was thought to
mean a great deal as a guaranty of the good faith of the Repub-
lican party, and the women were willing to trust to its promises.
It was thought then, as it has been thought since, that most of the
* The speakers were Rev. J. T. Sargent, A. Bronson Alcott, H. B. Blackwell, Dr. Mercy B. Jack-
son, S. S. Foster, Mary A. Livermore, Rev. B. F. Bowles, F. B. Sanborn, W. S. Robinson, Gilbert
Haven and many others.
•
278 History of Woman Suffrage.
friends of woman suffrage were in the Republican party, and that
the interests of the cause could best be furthered by depending
on its action. The women were, however, mistaken, and have
learned to look upon the famous resolution in its true light. It
is now known as the coup d'ftat of the Worcester convention of
1870, which really had more votes than it was fairly entitled to.
After that, — " forewarned, forearmed," said the enemies of the
enterprise, and woman suffrage resolutions have received less
votes in Republican conventions.
When the memorial prepared by the State Central Committee
was presented to the Democratic State convention, that body, in
response, passed a resolution conceding the principle of women's
right to suffrage, but at the same time declared itself against its
being enforced, or put into practice. To finish the brief record
of the dealings of the Democratic party, with the women of the
State, it may be said that since 1870, it has never responded to
their appeals, nor taken any action of importance on the ques-
tion.
In 1871 a resolution endorsing woman suffrage was passed in
the Republican convention. In June, 1872, the national conven-
tion at Philadelphia, passed the following :
Resolved, That the Republican party is mindful of its obligations to the loyal women
of America for their noble devotion to the cause of freedom; their admission to wider
fields of usefulness is viewed with satisfaction; and the honest demand of any class of
citizens for additional rights, should be treated with respectful consideration.
The Massachusetts Republican State Convention, following this
lead, again passed a woman suffrage resolution :
Resolved, That we heartily approve the recognition of the rights of woman contained
in the fourteenth clause of the national Republican platform; that the Republican
party of Massachusetts, as the representative of liberty and progress, is in favor of
extending suffrage to all American citizens irrespective of sex, and will hail the day
when the educated intellect and enlightened conscience of woman shall find direct ex-
pression at the ballot-box.
This was during the campaign of 1872, when General Grant's
chance of reelection was thought to be somewhat uncertain, and
the Republican women in all parts of the country were called on to
rally to his support. The National Woman Suffrage Association
had issued " an appeal to the women of America," asking them to
cooperate with the Republican party and work for the election
of its candidates. In response to this appeal a ratification meet-
ing was held at Tremont Temple, in Boston, at which hundreds
stayed to a late hour listening to speeches made by women on
the political questions of the day. An address was issued from
Investment in the Republican Party. 279
the "Republican women of Massachusetts to the women of
America." In this address they announced their faith in and
willingness to " trust the Republican party and its candidates, as
saying what they mean and meaning what they say, and in view
of their honorable record we have no fear of betrayal on their
part." Mrs. Livermore, Lucy Stone and Huldah B. Loud took
part in the canvass, and agents employed by the Massachusetts
Association were instructed to speak for the Republican party.*
Women writers furnished articles for the newspapers and the
Republican women did as much effective work during the cam-
paign as if each one had been a " man and a voter." They did
everything but vote. All this agitation was a benefit to the Re-
publican party, but not to woman suffrage, because for a time it
arrayed other political parties against the movement and caused
it to be thought merely a party issue, while it is too broad a ques-
tion for such limitation.
General Grant was reflected and the campaign was over.
When the legislature met and the suffrage question came
up for discussion, that body, composed in large majority of Re-
publicans, showed the women of Massachusetts the difference
between " saying what you mean and meaning what you say,"
the Woman Suffrage bill being defeated by a large majority.
The women learned by this experience that nothing is to be ex-
pected of a political party while it is in power. To close the
subject of suffrage resolutions in the platform of the Republican
party, it may be said that they continued to be put in and seemed
to mean something until after 1875, when they became only
" glittering generalities," and were as devoid of real meaning or
intention as any that were ever passed by the old Whig party on
the subject of abolition. Yet from 1870 to 1874 the Republican
party had the power to fulfill its promises on this question. Since
then, it has been too busy trying to keep breath in its own body
to lend a helping hand to any struggling reform. At the Re-
publican convention, held in Worcester in 1880, an attempt was
made by Mr. Blackwell to introduce a resolution endorsing the
* In the records of the executive meetings of this Association I find the following votes. In October,
1871, it was voted, That any invitation to speak at Republican meetings, extended to our agents by
Republican committees in this State, be accepted by them until the coming election, their usual salaries
being paid by this Association ; that Miss Loud be notified by Lucy Stone of our arrangement in regard
to Republican meetings, and be requested, after the isth instant, to hold her meetings in that manner
as f.ir us practicable ; that the balance of expenses of the woman's meeting held at Tremont Temple
be paid by this Association. [This was a political meeting held by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage..
Association to endorse General Grant as the presidential candidate of the Republican party.]
280 History of Woman Suffrage.
right conferred upon women in' the law allowing them to
vote for school committees, passed by the legislature of 1879.
This resolution was rejected by the committee, and when offered
in convention as an amendment, it was voted down without a
single voice, except that of the mover, being raised in its support.
Yet this resolution only asked a Republican convention to endorse
an existing right, conferred on the women of the State by a Re-
publican legislature ! A political party as a party of freedom must
be very far spent when it refuses at its annual convention to
endorse an act passed by a legislature the majority of whose
members are representatives elected from its own body. Since
that time the Republican party has entirely ignored the claims
of woman. In 1884, at its annual convention, an effort was
made, as usual, by Mr. Blackwell, to introduce a resolution, but
without success, and yet some of the best of our leaders advised
the women to " stand by the Republican party." *
The question of forming a woman suffrage political party had,
since 1870, been often discussed. f In 1875 Thomas J. Lothrop
proposed the formation of a separate organization. But it was not
until 1876 that any real effort in this direction was made. The
Prohibitory (or Temperance) party sometimes holds the balance of
political power in Massachusetts, and many of the members of
that party are also strong advocates of suffrage. The feeling had
been growing for several years that if forces could be joined with
the Prohibitionists some practical result in politics might be
reached, and though there was a difference of opinion on this
subject, many were willing to see the experiment tried.
The Prohibitory party had at its convention in 1876 passed
a resolution inviting the women to take part in its primary
meetings, with an equal voice and vote in the nomination of can-
didates and transaction of business. After long and anxious
discussions, the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage State Central
Committee, in whose hands all political action rested, determined
to accept this invitation. A woman suffrage political convention
was held, at which the Prohibitory candidates were endorsed and
* The National Association of Massachusetts at its executive session, August 23, passed the following :
Resolved, That while we respect the advice of our leaders, as their private political opinion, we deem
:it worse than useless to "stand by the Republican " or any other party while we are deprived of the
.only means of enforcing a political opinion ; and that we advise all associations to concentrate their
•efforts upon securing the ballot to women, withholding all attempt at political influence until they
jxjssess the right which alone can make their influence effective.
t At the executive meeting of the New England Association, May, 1874, '' was voted that a circular
",be sent to the friends of woman suffrage, requesting them to meet in Boston, May 25, to consider the
^expediency of calling a convention to form a political party for woman suffrage.
Alliance with Prohibitionists.
281
a joint State ticket was decided on, to be headed " Prohibition
and Equal Rights." These tickets were sent to women all
over the State, and they were strongly urged to go to the polls
and distribute them on election day. Lucy Stone, Mary A.
Livermore and other leading speakers took part in the campaign,
and preparations were completed by which it was expected both
parties would act harmoniously together. Clubs were formed
at whose headquarters were seen men and women gathered
together to organize for political work. From some of these
headquarters hung transparencies with "Baker and Eddy "on
one side, and " Prohibition and Equal Rights " on the other.
Caucuses and conventions were held in Chelsea, Taunton, Mai-
den, Lynn, Concord, and other places. A Middlesex county
(first district) senatorial convention was called and organized by
women, and its proceedings were fully reported by the Boston
newspapers.*
The nominations made at these caucuses were generally unani-
mous, and it seemed at the time as if the two wings of the
so-called "Baker party" would work harmoniously together.
But, with a few honorable exceptions, the Prohibitionists, taking
advantage of the fact that the voting power of the women was
over, once outside the caucus, repudiated the nominations, or held
other caucuses and shut the doors of entrance in the faces of the
women who represented either the suffrage or the Prohibitory
party. This was the case invariably, excepting in towns where
the majority of the voting members of the Prohibitory party
were also in favor of woman suffrage. This result is what might
have been expected. Of what use was woman in the ranks of
any political party, with no vote outside the caucus?
After being thus ignored in one of their caucuses in Maiden,
Middlesex county, the suffragists in that town determined to
hold another caucus. This was accordingly done, and two
" straight " candidates were nominated as town representa-
tives to the legislature. A " Woman Suffrage ticket " f was
thereupon printed to offer to the voters on election day.
The next question was, who would distribute these ballots
* The call for this convention was signed by Harriet H. Robinson, Rev. A. D. Sargent, Rev. G. H.
Vibbert, William Johnson, Mrs. T. R. Woodman, Helen Gale and Mrs. M. Slocum. judge Robert C.
Pitman was the candidate for governor.
t This "Woman Suffrage ticket," the first ever offered to a Massachusetts voter, received 41 vote*
out of the 1,340 cast in all by the voters of the town, a larger proportion than that first cast by the old
Liberty party in Massachusetts, which began with only 307 votes in the whole State, and ended in the
Free Soil and Republican parties.
282 History of Woman Suffrage.
most effectively at the polls. Some men thought that the
women themselves should go and present in person the names
of their candidates. At first the women who had carried on the
campaign shrank from this last test of their faithfulness; but,
after carefully considering the matter, they concluded that it was
the right thing to do. The repugnance felt at that time, at the
thought of " women going to the polls" can hardly be appreciated
to-day. Since they have begun to vote in Massachusetts the
terror expressed at the idea of such a proceeding has somewhat
abated ; but in 1876 it was thought to be a rash act for a woman
to appear at the polls in company with men. Some attempt
was made to deter them from their purpose, and stories of pipes
and tobacco and probable insults were told ; but they had no
terrors for women who knew better than to believe that their
neighbors would be turned into beasts (like the man in the fairy
tale) for this one day in the year.*
It was a sight to be remembered, to behold women "crowned
with honor" standing at the polls to see the freed slave go by
and vote, and the newly-naturalized fellow-citizen, and the blind,
the paralytic, the boy of twenty-one with his newly-fledged vote,
the drunken man who did not know Hayes from Tilden, and the
man who read his ballot upside down. All these voted for the
men they wanted to represent them, but the women, being neither
colored, nor foreign, nor blind, nor paralytic, nor newly-fledged,
nor drunk, nor ignorant, but only women, could not vote for the
men they wanted to represent them.f
The women learned several things during this campaign in
Massachusetts. One was, that weak parties are no more to be
trusted than strong ones; and another, that men grant but little
until the ballot is placed in the hands of those who make the de-
mand. They learned also how political caucuses and conventions
are managed. The resolution passed by the Prohibitionists en-
abled them to do this. So th« great " open sesame " is reached.
It is but fair to state that since 1876 the Prohibitory party has
* Election day dawned and it rained hard, but the women braved the storm. There they stood from
9 o'clock A. M. till a quarter of 5 p. M. and distributed votes, only leaving their positions long enough
to get a cup of coffee and a luncheon, which was provided at the headquarters. They distributed 1,700
woman suffrage ballots and 1,000 circulars containing arguments on the rights of women. They were
treated with unexceptionable politeness and kindness by the voters.
t The first time women went to the polls in Massachusetts was in 1870, when forty-two women of
Hyde Park, led by Angelina Grimke Weld and Sarah Grimke, deposited their ballots, in solemn pro-
test " against the political ostracism of women, against leaving every vital interest of a majority of
the citizens to the monopoly of a male minority." It is hardly needful to record that these ballots
were not counted.
A ncient R ights. 283
treated the woman suffrage question with consideration. In its
annual convention it has passed resolutions endorsing woman's
claims to political equality, and has set the example to other
parties of admitting women as delegates. At the State conven-
tion in 1885 the following resolution was adopted by a good
majority :
Resolved, That women having interests to be promoted and rights to be protected,
and having ability for the discharge of political duties, should have the right to-
vote and to be voted for, as is accorded to man.
In the early history of Massachusetts, when the new colony
was governed by laws set down in the Province charter (1691,.
third year of William and Mary) women were not excluded from
voting. The clause in the charter relating to this matter says :
The great and general court shall consist of the governor and council (or assistants
for the time being) and of such freeholders as shall be from time to time elected or
deputed by the major part of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the respective
towns or places, who shall be present at such elections.
In the original constitution (1780) women were excluded from
voting except for certain State officers.* In the constitutional
convention of 1820, the word "male" was first put into the con-
stitution of the State, in an amendment to define the qualifica-
tions of voters. In this convention,,a motion was made at three
different times, during the passage of the act, to strike out the
intruding word, but the motion was voted down. Long be-
fore the second attempt was made to revise the constitution of
the State, large numbers of women began to demand suffrage.
Woman's sphere of operations and enterprise had become so
widened, that they felt they had not only the right, but also an
increasing fitness for civil life and government, of which the bal-
lot is but the sign and the symbol.
In the constitutional convention of 1853, twelve petitions were
presented, from over 2,000 adult persons, asking for the recogni-
tion of woman's right to the ballot, in the proposed amendments
to the constitution of the State. The committee reported leave
to withdraw, giving as their reason that the "consent of the gov-
erned " was shown by the small number of petitioners. Hearings
before this committee were granted.f The chairman of this
committee, in presenting the report, moved that all debate on
the subject should cease in thirty minutes, and on motion of
* 1'or summary of voting laws relating to women from 1691 to 1822, see "Massachusetts in the
Woman Suffrage Movement," by Harriet H. Robinson : Roberts Brothers, Boston.
t Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Lucy Stone, Theodore Parker, WenJell Phillips, and other
speakers of ability, presented able arguments in favor of giving women the right to vote.
284 History of Woman Suffrage.
Benjamin F. Butler of Lowell, the whole report, excepting the
last clause, was stricken out. There was then left of the whole
document (including more than two closely-printed pages of rea-
soning) only this: " It is inexpedient for this convention to take
any action."
Legislative action on the woman's rights question began in
1849, when William Lloyd Garrison presented the first petition
on the subject to the State legislature. Following him was one
from Jonathan Drake and others, " for a peaceable secession of
Massachusetts from the Union." Both these petitions were prob-
ably considered by the legislature to which they were addressed
as of equally incendiary character, since they both had " leave to
withdraw." In 1851 an order was introduced asking "whether
any legislation was necessary concerning the wills of married
women?" In 1853 a bill was enacted "to exempt certain prop-
erty of widows and unmarried women from taxation." In the
legislature of 1856 the first great and important act relating to
the property rights of women was passed. It was to t'he effect
that women could hold all property earned or acquired inde-
pendently of their husbands. This act was amended and improved
the next session.
In 1857 a hearing was held before the Committee on the
Judiciary to listen to arguments in favor of the petition of Lucy
Stone and others for equal property rights for women and for the
"right of suffrage." Another hearing was held in the same place
in February, 1858, before the Joint Special Committee on the
Qualifications of Voters. A second hearing on the right of
suffrage for women was held the following week before the same
committee. Thomas W. Higginson made an address and Caro-
line Healey Dall read an essay.
In 1858, Stephen A. Chase of 'Salem, from the same Committee
on the Qualifications of Voters, made a long report on the peti-
tions. This report closed with an order that the State Board of
Education make inquiry and report to the next legislature
"whether it is not practicable and expedient to provide bylaw
some method by which the women of this State may have a more
active part in the control and management of the schools."
There is nothing in legislative records to show that the State
Board of Education reported favorably ; but from the above state-
ment it appears that ten years before Samuel E. Sewall's petition
Legislative Action, 285
on the subject, a movement was made towards making women
" eligible to serve as members of school-committees."
The petitions for woman's rights were usually circulated by
women going from house to house. They did the drudgery,
endured the hardships and suffered the humiliations attend-
ant upon the early history of our cause ; but their names are
forgotten, and others reap the benefit of their labors. These
women were so modest and so anxious for the success of their
petitions, that they never put their own names at the head of
the list, preferring the signature of some leading man, so that
others seeing his name, might be induced to follow his example.
Among the earliest of these silent workers was Mary Upton
Ferrin. Her petitions were for a change in the laws concerning
the property rights of married women, and for the political and
legal rights of all women. In 1849 sne prepared a memorial to
the Massachusetts legislature in which are embodied many of the
demands for woman's equality before the law, which have so often
been ms^e to that body since that time.*
In 1861 the legislature debated a bill to allow a widow, "if she
have woodland as a part of her dower, the privilege of cutting
wood enough for one fire." This bill failed, and the widow, by
law, was not allowed to keep herself warm with fuel from her own
wood-lot. In 1863 a bill providing that '' a wife may be allowed
to be a witness and proceed against her husband for desertion,"
was reported inexpedient, and a bill was passed to prevent women
from forming copartnerships in business. In 1865, Gov. John A.'
Andrew, seeing the magnitude of the approaching woman ques-
tion, in his annual message to the legislature, made a -memorable
suggestion :
I know of no more useful object to which the commonwealth can lend
its aid, than that of a movement, adopted in a practical way, to open the
door of emigration to young women who are wanted for teachers and for
every appropriate, as well as domestic, employment in the remote West,
but who are leading anxious and aimless lives in New England.
By the " anxious and aimless " it was supposed the governor
meant the widowed, single or otherwise unrepresented portion of
* This memorial was printed by order of the legislature (Leg. Doc. Ho. 57) and is called " Memorial
of the Female Signers of the Several Petitions of Henry A. Hardy and Others," presented March i,
1849. The document is not signed ;md Mrs. Ferrin's name is not found with it upon the records, neither
does her name appear in the journal of the House in connection with any of the petitions and addresses
she caused to be presented to the legislature of the State. But for the loyal friendship of the few who
knew of her work and were willing to give her due credit, the name of Mary Upton Ferrin [see Vol. I..
page 208] and the memory of her labors as well as those of many another silent worker, would have
gone into the " great darkness."
286 History of Woman Suffrage.
the citizens of the State. No action was taken by the legislature
on this portion of the governor's message. But a member of
the Senate actually made the following proposition before that
body :
That the " anxious and aimless women " of the State should assemble
on the Common on a certain day of the year (to be hereafter named), and
that Western men who wanted wives, should be invited to come here and
select them.
Legislators who make such propositions, do not foresee that the
time may come, when perhaps those nearest and dearest to them,
may be classed among the superfluous or "anxious and aimless"
women !
In 1865 bills allowing married women to testify in suits at law
where their husbands are parties, and permitting them to hold
trust estates were rejected. It will be seen that though all this
legislation was adverse to woman's interest, the question had
forced itself upon the attention of the members of both House
and Senate. In 1866 a joint committee of both hous^ was ap-
pointed to consider:
If any additional legislation can be adopted, whereby the means of ob-
taining a livelihood by the women of this commonwealth may be in-
creased and a more equal and just compensation be allowed for their labor.
In 1867, Francis W. Bird presented the petition of Mehitable
Haskell of Gloucester for "an amendment to the constitution
extending suffrage to women." In 1868 Mr. King of Boston pre-
sented the same petition, and it was at this time, and in answer
thereto, that the subject first entered into the regular orders of
the day, and became a part of the official business of the House
of Representatives. Attempts to legislate on the property ques-
tion were continued in 1868, in bills " to further protect the prop-
erty of married women," "to allow married women to contract
for necessaries," and if "divorced from bed and board, to allow
them to dispose of their own property." These bills were all de-
feated. Annual legislative hearings on woman suffrage began in
1869. These were first secured through the efforts of the execu-
tive committee of the New England Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion. Eight thousand women had petitioned the legislature that
suffrage might be allowed them on the same terms as men, and
in answer, two hearings were held in the green room at the State
House.* In 1870 a joint special committee on woman suffrage
* The committee was addressed by Wendell Phillips, Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone, Rev. James
Freeman Clarke and Hon. George F. Hoar.
Action of our Governors. 287
was formed, and since that time there have been one or more
annual hearings on the question. To what extent legislative
sentiment has been created will be shown later in the improve-
ment of many laws with regard to the legal status of woman.
William Claflin was the first governor of Massachusetts to pre-
sent officially to the voters of the commonwealth the subject of
woman's rights as a citizen. In his address to the legislature of
1871, he strongly recommended a change in the laws regarding
suffrage and the property rights of woman. His attitude toward
this reform made an era in the history of the executive depart-
ment of the State. Since that time nearly every governor of the
State has, in his annual message, recommended the subject to re-
spectful consideration. In 1879 Governor Thomas Talbot pro-
posed a constitutional amendment which should secure the ballot
to women on the same terms as to men. In response to this por-
tion of the governor's message, and to the ninety-eight petitions
presented on the subject, a general suffrage bill passed the Senate
by a two-thirds majority, and an act to " give women the right to
vote for members of school committees," passed both branches of
the legislature and became a law of the State.* Governor John
D. Long, in his inaugural address before the legislature of 1880,
expressed his opinion in favor of woman suffrage perhaps more
decidedly than any who had preceded him in that high official
position. He said :
I repeat my conviction of the right of woman suffrage. If the common-
wealth is not ready to give it in full by a constitutional amendment, I ap-
prove of testing it in municipal elections.
The law allowing women to vote for school committees is one
of the last results of the legislative agitations, though it is true
that the petition, the answer to which was the passage of this
act, did not emanate from any suffrage association. It was the
outcome of a conference on the subject, held in the parlors of
the New England Women's Club.f
But the petitions of the suffragists had always been for general
and unrestricted suffrage, and they opposed any scheme for secur-
ing the ballot on a class or a restricted basis, holding that the
true ground of principle is equality of rights with man. The
* Two years before (1869), while sitting as visitor in the gallery of the House of Representatives, I
heard the whole subject of woman's rights referred to the (bogus) committee on graveyards !
t Tt was perhaps intended to serve as a means of reinstating Abby W. May and olher women who had
been defeated as candidates for reelection on the Boston school-board. The names of Isa E. Gray,
Mrs. C. B. Richmond, Elizabeth P. Peabody and John M. Forbes led the lists of petitioners.
288 History of Woman Suffrage.
practical result, so far,of voting for school committees has justified
this position ; for, as shown by the recent elections, the women
of the State have not availed themselves to any extent of their
new right to vote, and, therefore, the measure has not forwarded
the cause of general suffrage. In fact, the school-committee
question is not a vital one with either male or female voters, and
it is impossible to get up any enthusiasm on the subject. As a
test question upon which to try the desire of the women of the
State to become voters, it is a palpable sham. Our Revolutionary
fathers would not have fought, bled and died for such a figment
of a right as this ; and their daughters, or grand-daughters, inherit
the same spirit, and if they vote at all, want something worth
voting for. The result is, that the voting has been largely done
by those women who have long been in favor of suffrage, and
who have gone to the polls on election day from pure principle
and a sense of duty.*
The law allowing women to vote for school committees was
very elastic and capable of many interpretations. It reminded
one of the old school exercise in transposing the famous line in
Gray's Elegy,
"The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,"
which has been found to be capable of over twenty different
transpositions. The collectors and registrars in some towns and
cities took advantage of this obscurity of expression, and inter-
preted the law according to their individual opinion on the woman
suffrage question. In places where these officials were in sympa-
thy, a broad construction was put upon the provisions of the law,
the poll-tax payers were allowed to vote upon the payment of
one dollar (under the divided tax law of 1879), and the women
voters generally were given all necessary information, and treated
courteously both by the assessors and registrars and at the polls.
In places where leading officials were opposed to women's
voting, the case was far different. Without regarding the clause
in the law which said that a woman may vote upon paying either
State or county poll-tax, such officials have threatened the women
with arrest when they refused to pay both. In some towns they
have been treated with great indignity, as if they were doing an
unlawful act. In one town the women were actually required to
pay a poll-tax the second year, in spite of the clause in the law
* At the first annual election for school committees in cities and towns in 1879-80, about 5,000 women
became registered voters.
Taxation Without Representation. 289
that a female citizen who has paid a State or county tax within
two years shall have the right to vote. The town assessor, whose
duty it was to inform the women on this point; of the law when
asked concerning the matter, willfully withheld the desired in-
formation, saying he " did not know," though he afterwards said
that he did know, but intended to let the women " find out for
themselves." This assessor forgot that the women, as legal
voters, had a right to ask for this information, and that by
virtue of his official position he was legally obliged to answer.
In another town two ladies who were property tax-payers were
made to pay the two dollars poll-tax, and the record of this still
stands on the town books. Some ladies were frightened and
paid the tax under protest ; others ran the risk. Here is a letter
addressed to a lady 83 years of age :
MALDEN, Dec. 2, 1879.
HARRIET HANSON : There is a balance of ninety cents due on your poll-
tax of 1879, duly assessed upon you. Payment of the same is hereby de-
manded, and if not paid within fourteen days from this date, with twenty
cents for the summons, the collector is required to proceed forthwith to
collect the same in manner provided by law.
THEODORE N. FOGUE, Collector.
Mrs. Hanson paid no attention to the summons, and that was
the end of it.
In iSSi, under the amended act the poll-tax was reduced to
fifty cents, and the property tax-paying women (who are not re-
quired to pay a poll-tax) are no longer obliged to make a return
of property exempt from taxation, as was required under the
original statute. Though some of the disabilities were removed,
yet the privileges are no greater ; and it is for members of school-
committees and for nothing else, that the women of this State can
vote. This is hardly worthy to be called " school suffrage " !
It is to be regretted that a better test than that of school-com-
mittee suffrage, could not have been given to the women of the
State, so that the issue of what under the circumstances cannot
be called a fair trial of their desire to vote, might be more nearly
what the friends of reform had desired.
The first petition to the Massachusetts legislature, asking that
women might be allowed to serve on school-boards was presented
in 1866 by Samuel E. Sewall of Boston. The same petition was
again presented in 1867. About this time Ashfield and Mon-
roe, two of the smallest towns in the State, elected women as
members of the school committee. Worcester and Lynn soon
19
290 History of Woman Suffrage.
followed the good example, and in 1874, Boston, for the first time,
chose six women to serve in this capacity.* There had hitherto
been no open objection to this innovation, but the school com-
mittee of Boston not liking the idea of women co-workers, de-
clared them ineligible to hold such office. Miss Peabody applied
to the Supreme Court for its opinion upon the matter, but the
judges refused to answer, and dismissed the petition on the
ground that the school committee itself had power to decide
the question of the qualifications of members of the board.
The subject was brought before the legislature of the same year,
and that body, almost unanimously, passed "An Act to Declare
Women Eligible to Serve as Members of School Committees."
Thus the women members were reinstated.f"
This refusal on the part of the Supreme Judicial Court of Mas-
sachusetts to answer a question relating to woman's rights under
the law, was received with a knowing smile by those who remem-
bered the three adverse decisions relating to women which had
been given by that august body. The first of these was on
the case of Sarah E. Wall of Worcester. The second was con-
cerning a clause in the will of Francis Jackson of Boston, who
left $5,000 and other property to the woman's rights cause.
Its third adverse decision was given in 1871. In that year,
Julia Ward Howe and Mary E. Stevens were appointed by
Governor Claflin as justices of the peace. Some member of
the governor's council having doubted whether women could
legally hold the office, the opinion of the Supreme Court was
asked and it decided substantially that because women were
women, or because women were not men, they could not be jus-
tices of the peace ; and the appointment was not confirmed.
Changes in the common law began in 1845 with reference to
the wife's right to hold her own property. In 1846 she could
legally sign a receipt for money earned or deposited by herself.^
Before 1855 a woman could not hold her own property, either
earned or acquired by inheritance. If unmarried, she was ob-
* Lucretia P. Hale, Abby W. May, Lucia M. Peabody, Mary J. S. Blake, Kate G. Wells, Lucretia
Crocker.
t This act, so brief and so expressive, is worth)' to be remembered. 1 1 simply reads : " lie it enacted,
etc., as Jollmvs :
SEC. i. No person shall be deemed ineligible to serve upon a school committee by reason of sex.
SEC. 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved June 30, J&74.)
By force of habit, the legislature said not a word in the law about -votnen. There are now (1885) 102
women members of school-boards in Massachusetts.
$ See "Women under the law of Massachusetts," Henry H. Sprague. Boston: W. B.Clarke &
Camith.
Laws Regarding Married Women. 291
liged to place it in the hands of a trustee, to whose will she was
subject. If she contemplated marriage, and desired to call her
property her own, she was forced by law to make a contract with
her intended husband, by which she gave up all title or claim to
it. A woman, either married or unmarried, could hold no office
of trust or power. She was not a person. She was not recog-
nized as a citizen. She was not a factor in the human family.
She was not a unit; but a zero, a nothing, in the sum of civiliza-
tion.
To-day, a married woman can hold her own property, if it is
held or bought in her own name, and can make a will disposing
of it. A man is no longer the sole heir of his wife's property.
A married woman can make contracts, enter into co-partner-
ships, carry on business, invest her own earnings for her own use
and behoof, — and she is also responsible for her own debts. She
can be executor, administrator, guardian or trustee. She can
testify in the courts for or against her husband. She can release,
transfer, or convey, any interest she may have in real estate, sub-
ject only to the life interest which the husband may have at her
death. Thirty years ago, when the woman's rights movement
began, the status of a married woman was little better than that
of a domestic servant. By the English common law, her husband
was her lord and master. He had the sole custody of her person,
and of her minor children. He could "punish her with a stick
no bigger than his thumb," and she could not complain against
him.*
The common law of this State held man and wife to be one per-
son, but that person was the husband. He could by will deprive
her of every part of his property, and also of what had been her
own before marriage. He was the owner of all her real estate
and of her earnings. The wife could make no contract and no
will, nor, without her husband's consent, dispose of the legal inter-
est of her real estate. He had the income of her real estate till
she died, and if they ever had a living child his ownership of the
* The authority for this old "thumb" tradition, that "a man had a right to whip his wife with a
stick no bigger than his thumb," is found in an early edition of 1'hillips' Evidence. That book was
authority in English common law and in it Phillips is quoted as saying, that according to the law of his
<lay a husband "might lawfully chastise his wife with a reasonable weapon, as a broomstick^' adding,
li" ', c wr, " but if he use an unreasonable weapon, such as an inm bar, and death cn-uc, it would be
murder."— [Chambcrlin, p. 818.] Dut the real " thumb" story seems to have originated with a certan
Jud^e lUillcr of England, who lived about one hundred years ago. In hi* ruling on one of those cases
of wife-beating, now so common in our police courts, he said that a man had a right to punish I. is wife,
" with a stick no bigger than his thumb." That was his opinion. Shortly after this some ladies sent
tin: judge :\ letter in which they prayed him to give them the size of his thumb ! We are not told
whether he complied with their request.
292 History of Woman Suffrage.
real estate continued to his death. He could forbid her to buy a
loaf of bread or a pound of sugar, or contract for a load of wood
to keep the family warm. She did not own a rag of her own
clothing. She had no personal rights, and could hardly call her
soul her own.
Her husband could steal her children, rob her of her clothing,
and her earnings, neglect to support the family; and she had no
legal redress. If a wife earned money by her labor, the husband
could claim the pay as his share of the proceeds. There is a
clause sometimes found in old wills, to the effect that if a widow
marry again, she shall forfeit all right to her husband's property.
The most conservative judge in the commonwealth would now
rule that a widow cannot be kept from her fair share of
the property, by any such unjust restriction. In a husband's
eyes of a hundred and fifty years ago, a woman's mission was ac-
complished after she had fyeen his wife and borne his children.
What more could be desired of her, he argued, but a corner some-
where in which, respectably dressed as his relict, she could sit
down and mourn for him, for the rest of her life.*
The law no longer sanctions such a will, but provides that
the widow shall have a fair share of all personal property. If
a widow permits herself to-day to be defrauded of her legal rights
in the division of property, it is her own fault, and because she
does not study and understand for herself the general statutes of
Massachusetts, and the laws concerning the rights of married
women. The result of thirty years of property legislation for
women is well stated by Mr. Sewall in his admirable pamphlet, in
which he says, " the last thirty years have done more to improve
the law for married women than the four hundred preceding."
The legislature has, during this time, enacted laws allowing
women to vote in parishes and religious societies, declaring that
women must become members of the board of trustees of the
three State primary and reform schools, of the State workhouse,
of the State almshouse at Tewksbury, and of the board of prison
commissioners ; also, that certain officers and managers of the re-
formatory prison for women at Sherborn " shall be women."
Without legislation, women now are school supervisors, overseers
of the poor, trustees of public libraries and members of the State
* In an old will, made a hundred and fifty years ago, a husband of large means bequeathed to his
" dearly beloved wife " 850 and n new suit of clothes, with the injunction that she should return to her
original, or family home. And with this small sum, as her share of his property, he returned her to her
parents.
Legislative Ameliorations, 293
Board of Education and of the State Board of Health, Lunacy
and Charity.*
These great changes in legislation for the women of Massa-
chusetts are the result of their own labors. By conventions and
documents they have informed the people and enlightened
public sentiment. By continued agitation the question has
been kept prominently before their representatives in the legis-
lature. And, though so much has been gained, they are still
hard at work, nor will they rest until, woman's equality with
man before the law is firmly established.
Among the most important acts passed recently is one of 1879,
by which a married woman is the owner of her own clothing
to the value of $2,000, although the act granting this calls
such apparel the "gifts of her husband," not recognizing the fact
that most married women earn or help to earn their own clothes.
A law was passed, in 1881, to "mitigate the evils of divorce."
Two important acts were passed by the legislature of 1882, one
allowing women to become practising attorneys, and the other
providing, that in case of the death of a married woman intestate
and leaving children, one-half only of her personal estate shall go to
her husband, instead of the whole, as in previous years. In 1883,
a wife was given the right of burial in any lot or tomb belonging
to her husband. In 1884, the only measures were a bill providing
for the appointment of women on the board of State lunatic hos-
pitals, and another providing for the appointment of women as-
sistant physicians in the same hospitals, and an act giving women
the power to dispose of their separate estates by will or deed.
In 1885, very little was done to improve the legal status of
women.
When any vote on the Suffrage bill is taken, it is enough
to make the women who sit in the gallery weep to hear the
"O's" and the " Mc's," almost to a man, thunder forth the
emphatic " No ! "/ and to think that these men (some of whom a
few years ago were walking over their native bogs, with hardly
the right to live and breathe) should vote away so thoughtlessly
the rights of the women of the country in which they have found
a shelter and a home. When they came to this country, poor,
* The little actual gain in votes since 1874, in favor of municipal or general suffrage for women, might
cause the careless observer to draw the inference that no great progress had -been made in legisla-
tive sentiment during all these years. In 1870 the vote in the House of Representatives on the Gen-
eral Woman Suffrage Bill was 133 to 68. In 1885 the bill giving municipal suffrage was defeated in
the House by a vote of 130 to 61. But this is not a true index of the progress of public opinion.
294
History of Woman Suffrage.
and with no inheritance but the "shillalah," the ballot was freely
given to them, as the poor man's weapon for defence. Why can-
not men, who have been political serfs in their own country, see
the incongruity of voting against the enfranchisement of over
one-half of the inhabitants of the State which has made free hu-
man beings of them? It is not long since one of these adopted
citizens, in a discussion, said :
When the women show that they want to vote, I am willing to give
them all the rights they want.
Give ! I thought. Where did you get the right to give Mas-
sachusetts women the right to vote? You did not inherit it.
In what consists your prerogative over the women whose ances-
tors fought to secure the very right of suffrage of which you so
glibly talk, and which neither you, nor your father before you,
did aught to establish or maintain ?
The improvement in the social or general condition of woman
has been even greater than that in legislation. Previous to 1840,
women were employed only as teachers of summer schools, to
"spell the men" during the haying season; and this only occa-
sionally. They held no responsible position in any public school
in the State. To-day there are eight women to one man em-
ployed in all grades of this profession, and there are numerous
instances where women are head-teachers of departments, or
principals of high, normal and grammar schools. Previous to
1825, girls could attend only the primary schools of Boston.
Through the influence of Rev. John Pierpont, the first high-
school for girls was opened in that city. There \vas a great out-
cry against this innovation ; and, because of the excitement on
the subject, and the great number of girls who applied for admis-
sion, the scheme was abandoned. The public-school system, as
it is now called, was established in Boston in 1789 ; boys were ad-
mitted the whole year round ; girls, from April to October. This in-
equality in the opportunities for education roused John Pierpont's
indignation, and moved him to make strenuous efforts to secure
justice for girls. Now there are 6,246 schools, seventy-two aca-
demies, six normal schools, two colleges, Boston University and
the "Harvard Annex" all open to girls. In the town of Plym-
outh, where the Pilgrim fathers and mothers first landed, when
the question whether girls should receive any public instruc-
tion first came up in town-meeting, there was great opposition
to it. However, the majority showed a liberal spirit, and voted
The "Harvard Annex"
295
to give the girls one hour of instruction daily. This was in 1793.
In 1853 a normal school for girls was established in Boston;
in 1855 its name was changed to the Girls' High and Normal
School. In 1878 the Girls' Latin School in Boston was founded.
The establishment of this successful institution was the result of
discussions on the subject first brought before the public by
ladies of Boston. High schools in almost all the towns and
cities of the State have long been established, in which the
boys and girls are educated together. In 1880 the pupils
in the high and normal schools of Boston were about 2,000
girls to 1,000 boys. In 1867 the Lowell Institute and the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology advertised classes free to both
sexes in French, mathematics and in practical science.* Since
that time Chauncy Hail School and Boston University have been
opened to women, with the equal privileges of male students.
It might be explained here that the " Harvard Annex," or
" Private Collegiate Instruction for Women," is not an organic
part of the University itself. Under a certain arrangement, a
limited number of young women are allowed a few of the privi-
leges of the young men. They are also permitted to use all the
books belonging to the library and to attend many of the lectures.
No college-building is appropriated for this purpose, but recita-
tion-rooms are provided in private houses. A witty Cambridge
lady called this mythical college the "Harvard Annex"; the
public adopted the name, and many people suppose that there
is such a building. From the last annual report of the " Private
Collegiate Instruction for Women," it appears that in 1885 sixty-
five worrren availed themselves of the privilege of attending this
course of instruction. f Three-fourths of this number are Massa-
chusetts girls. Some of the professors say that the average of
scholarship there is higher than in the University. Fifty courses
of studies are open to women students. Miss Brown of Concord, a
graduate of 1884, astonished the faculty by her high per cent, in
the classics. Her average was higher than that reached by any
young man. These students go unattended to the lectures
and to the library of the college. A great change indeed,
* Mrs. Ellen M. Richards was the first woman who entered.
t The Harvard Annex, so called, began its seventh year with sixty-five young ladies enrolled lor
study. 'The enrollment for the proceeding six years was as follows : First year, 29 : second, 47 ; third
40 ; fourth, 39 ; fifth, 49, sixth, 55. Some of the students come from distant places, but a majority are
from the Cambridge and neighboring high-schools. The institution occupies this year for ihc first
time a building which has been conveniently arranged for its purposes. Thi endowment of the —
ciation which manages the work now amounts to $85,000.
296 History of Woman Suffrage.
since the time when women began to attend the Lowell In-
stitute lectures! Then it was thought almost disgraceful to go
to a public meeting without male protection, and they went with
veiled faces, as if ashamed to be seen of men. The "Annex " has
some advantages, but they cannot compare with Girton and
Newnham of Cambridge, England.
The treasurer of the " Harvard Annex " declares the great need
that exists for funds to provide a suitable building, etc., for the
numerous women who continue to apply there for admission ;
and he appeals to the generosity of the public for contributions
of money to be used for this purpose. The casual observer might
suggest that those women who will hereafter become the bene-
factors of this university should remember the needs of their own
sex, and leave their donations or bequests so that they can be
used for the benefit of the " Harvard Annex," which is a wholly
private enterprise, conducted by the University instructors and
supervised by a committee of ladies.
Colleges for women have also been founded. Wellesley and
Smith have long been doing good university work. Thirty years
ago there was no college in the country, except Oberlin, to
which wome,n were admitted. To-day, even conservative Harvard
begins to melt a little under this regenerating influence, and in-
vites women, through the doors of its "Annex," to come, and
enjoy some of the privileges found within its sacred halls of
learning. This was a late act of grace from a college whose in-
ception was in the mind of a woman * longing for a better oppor-
* This lady was Lucy Downing, a sister of the first governor of Massachusetts. She was the wife of
Emanuel Downing, a lawyer of the Inner Temple, a friend of Governor Winthrop and afterward a
man of mark in the infant colony. In a letter to her brother, Lucy Downing expresses the desire of
herself and husband to come to New England with their children, but laments that if they do come her
son George cannot complete his studies. She says: " You have yet noe societies nor means of that
kind for the education of youths in learning. It would make me goe far nimbler to New England, if
God should call me to it, than otherwise I should, and I believe a colledge would put noe small life into
the plantation." This letter was written early in 1636, and in October of the same year the General
Court of the Massachusetts colony agreed to give .£400 towards establishing a school or college in New-
towne (two years later called Cambridge). Soon afterwards Rev. John Harvard died and left one-half
of his estate to this "infant seminary," and in 1638 it was ordered by the General Court that the
" Colledge to be built at Cambridge shall be called Harvard Colledge."
Early in 1638 Lucy Downing and her husband arrived in New England, and the name of George
Downing stands second on the list of the first class of Harvard graduates in 1642. The Down-
ings had other sons who do not seem to have been educated at Harvard, and daughters who were put
out to service. The son for whom so much was done by his mother, was afterwards known as Sir
George Downing, and he became rich and powerful in England. Downing street in London is named
for him. In afterlife he forgot his duty to his mother, who so naturally looked to him for support;
and her last letter written from England after her husband died, when she was old and feeble, tells a
sad story cf her son's avarice and meanness, and leaves the painful impression that she suffered in her
old age for the necessaries of life.
It is hard to estimate how much influence the earnest longing of this one woman for the better edu-
tion of her son, had in the founding of this earliest college in Massachusetts. But for her thinking
and speaking at the right time the enterprise might have been delayed for half a century. It is to be
Woman 's Self -Sacrifice. 297
tunity than the new colony could give to educate her afterward
ungrateful son.
The number of young men educated by the individual efforts
of women cannot be estimated. T. W. Higginson, in the Woman s
Journal, says :
The late President Walker once told me that, in his judgment, one-
quarter of the young men in Harvard College were being carried through
by the special self-denial and sacrifices of women. I cannot answer for
the ratio, but I can testify to having been an instance of this, myself; and
to having known a never-ending series of such cases of self-devotion.
Some of these men, educated by the labor and self-sacrifice
of others, look down upon the social position in which their
women friends are still forced to remain. The result to the
recipient has often been of doubtful value, so far as the develop-
ment of the affections is concerned. Sometimes the great obliga-
tion has been forgotten. Only in rare instances, to either party
did the life-long sacrifice on the part of the women of the family
become of permanent and spiritual value !
The average woman of forty years ago was very humble in her
notions of the sphere of woman. What if she did hunger and
thirst after knowledge? She could do nothing with it, even if
she could get it. So she made a fetich of some male relative,
and gave him the mental food for which she herself was starv-
ing, and devoted all her energies towards helping him to become
what she felt, under better conditions, she herself might have
been. It was enough in those early days to be the mother or
deplored that Lucy Downing established the unwise precedent of educating one member of the family
at the expense of the rest ; an example followed by too many women since her time. Harvard College
itself has followed it as well, in that it has so long excluded from its privileges that portion of the
human family to which Lucy Downing belonged.
Although women have never been permitted to become students of this college, or of any of the
schools connected with it, yet they have always taken a great interest in its pecuniary welfare, and the
University is largely indebted to the generosity of women for its endowment and support. From the
records of Harvard College, it appears that funds have been contributed by 167 women, which amount,
in the aggregate, to $325,000. Out of these funds a proportion of the university scholarships were
founded, and at least one of its professors' chairs. In its Divinity school alone five of the ten scholar-
ships bear the names of women. Caroline A. Plummer of Salem gave $15,000 to found the Plummer
Professorship of Christian Morals. Sarah Derby bequeathed $1,000 towards founding the Hersey Pro-
fessorship of Anatomy and Physic. The Holden Chapel was built with money given for that purpose
Saltonstall, Joanna Alford, Mary P. Townsend, Ann Toppan, Eliza Farrar, Ann F. Schaeffer, I.cvina
Hoar, Rebecca A. Perkins, Caroline Merriam, Sarah Jackson, Hannah C. Andrews, Nancy Kendall.
Charlotte Harris, Mary Osgood, Lucy Osgood, Sarah Winslow, Julia Bullock, Marian Hovey, Ann.i
Richmond, Caroline Richmond, Clara J. Moore and Susan Cabot. — [H. H. R.
The question is often asked, why are women so much more desirous than men to sec their children
educated ? Because it is a right that has been denied to themselves. To them education inc. in- lil>-
erty, wealth, position, power. When the black race at the South were emancipated, they were far
more eager for education than the poor whites, and for the same reason. — [Eos.
298 History of Woman Suffrage.
sister of somebody. Women were almost as abject in this par-
ticular as the Thracian woman of old, who said:
"I am not of the noble Grecian race,
I'm poor Abrotonon, and born in Thrace;
Let the Greek women scorn me. if they please,
I was the mother of Themistocles."
There are women still left who believe their husbands, sons, or
male friends can study, read and vote for them. They are like
some frugal house-mothers, who think their is no need of a din-
ner if the good-man of the family is not coming home to share
it. Just as if the man-half of the human family can "eat, learn
and inwardly digest," to make either physical or mental strength
for the other half !
Maria Mitchell of Massachusetts became Professor of Astron-
omy and Mathematics at Vassar, in 1866, the first woman in the
country to hold such a position. Since that time women have
become members of the faculty in several of the large colleges
in the country.
In the early days of the commonwealth women practiced mid-
wifery, and were very successful. Mrs. John Eliot, Anne Hutch-
inson, Mrs. Fuller and Sarah Alcock were the first in the State.
Janet Alexander, a Scotchwoman, was a well-trained mid-
wife.* She lived in Boston, and was always recognized as a good
practitioner in her line by the leading doctors in that city. Dr.
John C. Warren of Boston invited this lady to come to this
country. His biography, recently published, contains a short
record of the matter, in which he says' "WTe determined to
recommend Mrs. Alexander. She was a Scotchwoman, regularly
educated, and having Dr. Hamilton's diploma." Quite a storm
was raised among the younger physicians of Boston by this at-
tempted innovation, because they thought Dr. Warren was trying
to deprive them of profitable practice. But Mrs. Alexander,
supported by Dr. Warren, and perhaps other physicians, con-
tinued her occupation and educated her daughter in the same
profession. Dr. Harriot K. Hunt practiced in Boston as early as
1835. She sought admission to the Harvard Medical School,
and was many times refused. She was not what is called a "reg-
ular physician." In her day there existed no schools or colleges
for the medical education of women, but she studied by herself,
* Ruth Barnaby, aged 101 in 1875, Elizabeth Phillips and Hannah Greemvay were also members of
this branch of the profession. The last was midwife tn Mrs. Judge Sewall, who was the mother of
nineteen children. Judge Samuel E. Sewall mentions this fact in his diary, recently published.
Physicians and Nurses. 299
and acquired some knowledge of diseases peculiar to women.
Her success was so great in her line of practice that she proved
the need existing for physicians of her own sex.
Dr. Hunt's tussle with the medical faculty will long be remem-
bered. She was the first woman in the State who dared assert
her right to recognition in this profession. For this, and for her
persistent efforts to secure for them a higher education, she de-
serves the gratitude of every woman who has since followed her
footsteps into a profession over which the men had long held un-
disputed control. In 1853 the degree of M. D. was conferred on
her by the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. The first
medical college for women, organized by Dr. Samuel Gregory of
Boston, was chartered in 1856, under the name of the New Eng-
land Female Medical College, and in 1874, by an act of the legis-
lature, united with the Boston University School of Medicine.
In 1868 it had graduated seventy-two women, among whom were
Dr. Lucy E. Sewall and Dr. Helen Morton (who afterwards went
to Paris and studied obstetrics at Madame Aillot's Hospital of
Maternity) and Dr. Mercy B. Jackson.* There are now 205
regular practitioners in the State.
In 1863, Dr. Zakrzewska, in cooperation with Lucy God-
dard and Ednah D. Cheney, established the New England
Hospital for Women and Children. Its avowed objects were:
(i) to provide women the medical aid of competent physicians of
their own sex; (2) to assist educated women in the practical
study of medicine ; (3) to train nurses for the care of the sick.
This was the first hospital in New England over which women
have had entire control, both as physicians and surgeons. Bos-
ton University is open to both sexes, with equal studies, duties
and privileges. This institution was incorporated in 1869, and
includes, among other schools and colleges, schools of theology,
law and medicine. The faculty consists of many distinguished
men and women. Boston University School of Medicine (home-
opathic) was organized in 1873. Of the thirty-two lecturers
and professors who constitute the faculty, five are women. In
1884 the three highest of the four prizes for the best medical
thesis were won by women. Of the 610 pupils in 1884, 155 were
women ; sixty of these were in the school of medicine. There
are women in all departments, except agriculture and theology.
* Dr. Jackson had a large practice in Boston, and filled for five years the chair of professor of dis-
eases of children in the 1'oston University School of Medicine.
300 History of Woman Stiff rage.
They do not study theology because they cannot be ordained to
preach in any of the leading churches.
The Massachusetts Medical Society in 1884, on motion of Dr.
Henry I. Bowditch, voted to admit women to membership. Dr.
Emma L. Call and Dr. Harriet L. Harrington were the first two
women admitted. January II, 1882, at the monthly meeting of
Harvard overseers, the question of admitting women to the
Medical School came before the board. An individual desiring
to contribute a fund for the medical education of women in Har-
vard University asked the president and fellows whether such a
fund would be accepted and used as designed. Majority and
minority reports were submitted by the committee in charge,
and after a long discussion it was voted, 1 1 to 6, to accept the
fund, the income to be ultimately used for the medical education
of women. At the April meeting, the Committee on the Medi-
cal Education of Women presented a report, which was adopted
by a vote of 13 to 12 :
That, in the opinion of the board, it is not advisable for the University
to hold out any encouragement that it will undertake the medical educa-
tion of women.
The Harvard Divinity School at Cambridge sometimes admits
women, but does not recognize them publicly, nor grant them
degrees ; but there are other theological schools in the State where
a complete preparation for the ministerial profession can be ob-
tained. The attitude of the churches toward women has changed
greatly within thirty years. As early as 1869, women began to
serve on committees, and to be ordained deaconesses of churches.
They also hold important offices connected with the different
church organizations. They serve on the boards of State and
national religious associations. There are also missionary associa-
tions, both home and foreign, and Christian unions, all officered
and managed exclusively by women. Even the treasurers of
these large bodies are women, and their husbands or trustees are
no longer required to give bonds for them.* At the general con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the word " male "
was stricken from the discipline, and the word " person " inserted
in its place, in all cases save those that concerned the ordination
of clergy.
* In 1840, a Massachusetts woman could not legally be treasurer of even a sewingsociety without hav-
ing some man responsible for her. In 1809, it was necessary that the subscriptions of a married woman
for a newspaper or for charities should be in the name of her husband.
Ministers and Artists. 301
Olympia Brown was the first woman settled as pastor in the
State. Her parish was at Weymouth Landing. In 1864 she
petitioned the Massachusetts legislature "that 'marriages per-
formed by a woman should be made legal." The Committee on
the Judiciary, to whom the matter was referred, reported that no
legislation was necessary, as marriages solemnized by women were
already legal.* Thus the legislature of the State established the
precedent, that "he" meant "she" under the law, in one in-
stance at least. Phebe Hanaford, Mary H. Graves and Lorenza
Haynes were the first Massachusetts women to be ordained
preachers of the gospel. Rev. Lorenza Haynes has been chaplain
of the Maine House of Representatives.
The three best-known women sculptors in this country were
born and bred in Massachusetts. They are Harriet Hosmer,
Margaret Foley and Anne Whitney. Harriet Hosmer was the
first to free herself from the traditions of her sex and follow her
profession as a sculptor. When she desired to fit herself for her
vocation there was no art school east of the Mississippi river
where she could study anatomy, or find suitable models. Mar-
garet Foley, who, amid the hum of the machinery of the Lowell
cotton mills, first conceived the idea of chiseling her thought
on the surface of a " smooth-lipped shell," was obliged to go to
Rome in order to get the necessary instruction in cameo-cutting.
There her genius developed so much that she began to model in
clay, and soon became a successful sculptor in marble. Lucy
Larcom, in her " Idyl of Work," says of Miss Foley:
" That broad-browed delicate girl will carve at Rome
Faces in marble, classic as her own."
One of her finest creations is " The Fountain," first exhibited in
Horticultural Hall at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia,
1876. A free art-school was opened to women in Boston in 1867,
and Anne Whitney was not obliged to go to Rome for instruc-
tion in the appliances of her art. Harriet Hosmer and Margaret
Foley have both made statues which adorn the public buildings
and parks of their native country ; and Anne Whitney's statues of
Samuel Adams and Harriet Martineau are the crowning works of
her genius.
302 History of Woman 'Suffrage.
No great work has yet been done by Massachusetts women
in oil painting; but in water colors, and in decorative art, many
have excelled; first prizes in superiority of design having been
taken by them over their masculine competitors. Lizzie B.
Humphrey, Jessie Curtis, Sarah W. Whitman and Fidelia
Bridges, take high rank as artists. Helen M. Knowlton, a
pupil of William M. Hunt, is a skillful artist in charcoal and has
produced some fine pictures. Women form a large proportion
of the students in the school of design recently opened in Boston.
A great deal of the ornamental painting now so fashionable on
cards and all fancy articles is done by the deft fingers of women.
The census of 1880 reports 268 artists and 1,270 musicians and
teachers of music.
Of woman as actress and public singer, it is unnecessary to
speak, since she has the right of way in both these professions.
Here, fortunately, the supply does not exceed the demand ; con-
sequently she has her full share of rights, and what is better,
equitable pay for her labor. In iSSo there were ill actresses.
Charlotte Cushman, Clara Louise Kellogg and Annie Louise Cary
were born in Massachusetts.
The drama speaks too feebly on the right side of the woman
question. No successful modern dramatist has made this
"humour" of the times the subject of his play. An effort was
made in 1879, by the executive committee of the New England
Association, to secure a woman suffrage play : but it was not
successful, and there is yet to be written a counteractive to that
popular burlesque, " The Spirit of "76." It is to be regretted that
the stage still continues to ridicule the woman's rights movement
and its leaders ; for, as Hamlet says:
" The play's the thing,
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."
In 1650, when Anne Bradstreet lived and wrote her verses, a
woman author was almost unknown in English literature. This
lady was the wife of the governor of Massachusetts, and because
of her literary tendencies was looked upon by the people of her
time as a marvel of womankind. Her contemporaries called her
the " tenth muse lately sprung up in America," and one of them,
Rev. Nathaniel Ward, was inspired to write an address to her, in
which he declares his wonder at her success as a poet, and play-
fully foretells the consequences if women are permitted to in-
trude farther into the domain of man. The closing lines express
Woman in Journalism. 303
so well the conflicting emotions which torment the minds of the
opponents of the woman suffrage movement, that I venture to
quote them :
" Good sooth," quoth the old Don, " tell ye me so?
I muse whither at length these Girls will go.
It half revives my chil, frost-bitten blood
To see a woman once do aught that's good.
And, chode by Chaucer's Boots and Homer's Furrs,
Let men look to't least Women wear the Spurrs."
In 1818, Hannah Mather Crocker, grand-daughter of Cotton
Mather, published a book, called " Observations on the Rights of
Women." In speaking of Mary Wollstonecraft, Mrs. Crocker
says, that while that celebrated woman had a very independent
mind, and her " Rights of Woman " is replete with fine sentiments,
yet, she continues, patronizingly, " we do not coincide with her
respecting the total independence of the sex." Mrs. Crocker
evidently wanted her sex to be not too independent, but just in-
dependent enough.*
In 1841, when Lydia Maria Child edited the Anti-Slavery
Standard, Margaret Fuller the Dial, and Harriot F. Curtis and
Harriet Farley the Lowell Offering, there were perhaps in New
England no other well-known women journalists or editors. Cor-
nelia Walter of the Evening Transcript was the first woman jour-
nalist in Boston. To-day, women are editors and publishers of
newspapers all over the United States ; and the woman's column
is a .part of many leading newspapers. Sallie Joy White was the
first regular reporter in Boston. She began on the Boston Post, a
Democratic newspaper, in 1870. Her first work was to report the
proceedings of a woman suffrage meeting. She is now on the
staff of the Boston Daily Advertiser. Lilian Whiting is on the
staff of the Traveller, and most of the other Boston newspapers
have women among their editors and reporters. Some of the
best magazine writing of the time is done by women ; one needs
but to look over the table of contents of the leading periodicals
to see how large a proportion of the articles is written by them.
* This little book is worthy of mention, from the fact that it is probably the first publication of its
kind in Massachusetts, if not in America. The whole title of the book is, " Observations on the Rights
of Women, with their appropriate duties agreeable to Scripture, reason and common sense." Mrs.
Crocker, in her introduction, says; " The wise authojr of Nature has endowed the female mind with
equal powers and faculties, and given them the same right of judging and acting for themselves as he
gave tlio male sex." She further argues that, "According to Scripture, worn. -.11 w; is the first to trans-
gress ami thus forfeited her original ri^ht of equality, and for a time was unilcr the yoke of bondage,
till the birih of our blessed Savior, when she was restored to her equality with n.an."
This is a very line beginning, and would seem to savor strongly of the modern woman's rights tioc-
trincj ; but, unfortunately, the author, with charming inconsistency, goes on to say, — "We shall .strictly
adhere to the principle of the impropriety of females ever trespassing on masculine grounds, as it is
morally incorrect, and physically impossible."
304 History of Woman Suffrage.
Really, the sex seems to have taken possession of what Carlyle
called the " fourth estate" — the literary profession, and they jour-
ney into unexplored regions of thought to give the omniverous
modern reader something new to feed upon. The census of 1880
reports 445 women as authors and literary persons.
The newspaper itself, that great engine "whose ambassadors
are in every quarter of the globe, whose couriers upon every
road," has slowly swung round, and is at last headed in the right
direction. Reporters for the daily press in Massachusetts no
longer write in a spirit of flippancy or contempt, and there is not
an editor in the State of any account who would permit a member
of his staff to report a woman's meeting in any other spirit than
that of courtesy. Teachers occupying high positions and presi-
dents of colleges have given pronounced opinions in favor of the
reform. Said President Hopkins of Williams College, in 1875 :
I would at this point correct my teaching in "The Law of Love," to the
effect that home is peculiarly the sphere of woman, and civil government
that of man. I now regard the home as the joint sphere of man and
woman, and the sphere of civil government more of an open question be-
tween the two.
The New England Women's Club, parent * of the modern
clubs and associations for the advancement of women, has been
one of the factors in the woman's rights movement. Its members
have, in their work and in their lives, illustrated the doctrine of
woman's equality with man. It was formed in February, i868.f
There has never been, from time immemorial, much difference
of opinion concerning woman's right to do a good share in the
driidgery of the world. But in the remunerative employments,
before 1850, she was but sparsely represented. In 1840, when
* In 1836 there was a small woman's club of Lowell factory operatives, officered and managed en-,
tirely by women. This may be a remote first cause of the origin of the New England Women's Club,
since it bears the same relation to that flourishing institution, thr.t the naiive crab does to the grafted
tree. This was the first woman's club in the State, if not in the whole country.
t A few ladies met at the house of Dr. Harriot K. Hunt to consider a plan for organization. Its
avowed object was" to supply the daily increasing need of a great central resting place, for the comfort
and convenience of those who niay wish to unite with us, and ultimately become a center for united
and organized social thought and action." Its first president was Caroline M. Severance. On the
executive board were the names of Julia Ward Howe, Ednah D. Cheney, Lucy Goddard, Harriet M •
Pitnam, Jane Alexander, Abby W. May, and many others who have since become well known. This
club held its first meetings in private houses, but it has for several years occupied spacious club rooms on
Park street in Boston. Julia Ward Howe is its president. The club has its own historian, and when thi>
official gives the result of her researches to the public, there will be seen how many projects for the
elevation of women and the improvement of social life have had their inception in the brains of those
who assemble in the parlors of the New England Woman's Club. In 1874, it projected the move-
ment by which women were first elected on the school committee of Uoston, and also prepared the
petition to be sent to the Massachusetts legislature of 1879, the result of which was the passage cf the
law allowing women to vote for school committees. In the Vi'otnatC s Journal for 1883 will be found
a sketch of this club.
Women in the Industries. 305
Harriet Martineau visited this country, she found to her surprise
that there were only seven vocations, outside home, into which
the women of the United States had entered. These were
" teaching, needlework, keeping boarders, weaving, type-set-
ting, and folding and stitching in book-bindery." In contrast,
it is only necessary to mention that in Massachusetts alone,
woman's ingenuity is now employed in nearly 300 different
branches of industry. It cannot be added that for doing the
same kind and amount of work women are paid men's wages.
The census does not include the services of the mother and
daughter among the paid vocations, though, as is well known, in
many instances they do all the housework of the family. They
get no wages, and therefore do not appear among the " useful
classes." They are not earners, but savers of money. A money-
saver is not a recognized factor, either in political economy or in
the State census. The mother, daughter or wife is put down
in its pages as "keeping house." If they were paid for their
services they would be called " housekeepers," and would have
their place among the paid employments.
Among the many rights woman has appropriated to herself
must be included the " patent right." The charge has often been
made that women never invent anything, but statistics on the
subject declare that in 1880 patents for their own inventions were
issued to eighty-seven different women in the United States. A
fair proportion of these were from Massachusetts.
This progress in the various departments encountered great
opposition from certain teachers and writers. Dr. Bushnell's
" Reform Against Nature," Dr. Fulton's talk both in and out of
the pulpit, served to show the weakness of that side of the ques-
tion. Frances Parkman, Dr. Holland, Dr. W. H. Hammond,
Rev. Morgan Dix, and even some women have added their so-
called arguments in the vain attempt to keep woman as they
think " God made her."
Much the stronger writers and speakers have been found on
the right side of this question. The names of leading speakers,
such as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and Theodore
Parker, have already been mentioned. Perhaps the most sug-
gestive articles in favor of the reform were T. W. Higginson's
" Ought Women to Learn the Alphabet," published in the At-
lantic Monthly of February, 1859, anc* Samuel Bowies' "The
20
306 History of Woman Suffrage.
Woman Question and Sex in Politics," published at a later date
in the Springfield Republican. " Warrington," in his letters to
the same newspaper, from 1868 to 1876, never failed to present a
good and favorable argument on some phase of the woman ques-
tion. Caroline Healey Ball's lectures before 1860, and her book
"The College, the Market and the Court," published in 1868,
were seed-grain sown in the field of this reform. Samuel E.
Sewall's able digest of the laws relating to the legal condition of
married women, and William I. Bowditch's admirable pamphlets,*
have done incalculable service.
Of women in the civil service, there are: 58 clerks, 266 em-
ployed and 387 officials — total, 41 1 . This includes postmasters and
clerks in bureaus. In 1880, General F. A. Walker, superintendent
of the census, instructed the supervisors of the several districts to
appoint women as enumerators when practicable. They were
accordingly so appointed in many parts of the United States.
Carroll D. Wright, supervisor of the district of Massachusetts
was in favor of General Walker's instructions, and out of the 903
enumerators appointed by him, thirty were women. This was an
exceedingly large proportion compared with the number ap-
pointed in States where supervisors were not in favor of women
.enumerators.
Thanks to the efforts of Caroline Healey Ball, the American
'Social Science Association, formed in 1865, put women on its
board of officers, as did the Boston Social Science Association,
organized the same year. These were the first large organizations
in the country to admit women on an absolute equality with men.
The result of this action vindicated at once and forever woman's
fitness to occupy positions of honor in associations that man had
hitherto claimed for himself alone. This has encouraged women
to express themselves in the presence of the wisest men, and
enabled them to present to the public the woman side of some
great questions. Women are officers as well as members of many
societies originally established exclusively for men. A national
society for political education, formed in 1880, of which women are
members, has at least one woman on its board of officers. \Vhat
would have been thought thirty years ago, if women had studied
finance, banks and banking, money, currency, sociology and politi-
cal science ?
* " Taxation of Women in Massachusetts "; " Woman Suffrage a Right, not a Privilege," and " The
Forgotten Woman in Massachusetts."
Admission to the Bar. 307
The Summer School of Philosophy at Concord was founded in
1879.* A majority of the students are women, as was not the
case in the elder schools of philosophy, and they come from far
and near to spend a few weeks of their summer vacation in the
•enjoyment of this halcyon season of rest. Day after day they sit
patiently on the aesthetic benches of the Hillside chapel and bask
in the calm light of mild philosophy. Its seed was sown forty
years ago, in what was called the Transcendental movement in
New England. The Concord school finds in Mr. Sanborn its
•executive spirit, without which it could no more have come into
existence at this time than its first seed could have been planted
forty years ago, without the conceptive thought of Mr. Emerson,
Mr. Alcott arid Margaret Fuller.
Boston University long ago offered the advantages of its law-
school to women, but they do not, much avail themselves of this
privilege. Lelia J. Robinson, in March, 1881, made her application
for admission to the bar. In presenting her claim before the court,
April 23, Mr. Charles R. Train admitted that it was a novel one ;
but in a very effective manner he went on to state the cogent
reasons why a woman who had carefully prepared herself for the
profession of the law should be permitted to practice in the courts.
At the close, Chief-Justice Gray gave the opinion, informally, that
the laws, as they now exist, preclude woman from being attorney-
at-law ; but he reserved the matter for the consideration of the
full bench. The Supreme Judicial Court rendered an adverse
•decision. Petitions were then sent to the legislature of 1882, and
that body passed an actf declaring that, "The provisions of law
relating to the qualification and admission to practice of attorneys-
at-law shall apply to women." The petition of Lelia Josephine
Robinson to the Supreme Court was as follows:
1. The best administration of justice may be most safely secured by allowing the
representation of all classes of the people in courts of justice.
2. To allow -women to practice at the bar as attorneys is only to secure to the people
the right to select their own counsel. It is to give the women of Massachusetts the
•opportunity of consulting members of their own sex for that advice and Distance
which none but authorized attorneys and counsellors are legally qualified to give.
3. To exclude women from the bar would be to do an injustice to the community,
in preventing free and wholesome competition of existing talent, and to do still greater
injustice to those women who are qualified for the profession, by shutting them out
from an honorable and remunerative means of gaining a livelihood.
* Its projectors were A. Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Professor W. T. Harris, Frank H.
Sanborn, Professor Benjamin Pierce, Dr. H. K. Jones, Elizabeth P. Peabody and Ednah D. Cheney.
t This act is almost as brief as ;x certain clause in one of the election laws of the State of Texas,
which says : " The masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter.''
308 History of Woman Suffrage.
4. To exclude women from the bar because there are certain departments of the
profession which are peculiarly ill-adapted to their sex and nature, would be to assume
arbitrarily that, with entire lack of judgment or discretion, modesty or policy, they
would seek or accept such business; and to close to them those avenues of the profes-
sion for which they are generally admitted to be eminently well adapted, for such a
reason, and upon such an assumption, would be so grossly unjust that no argument
can be based on such an impossible contingency.
Your applicant, having faithfully and diligently pursued the study of law for three
years, being a graduate of the Boston University Law School, and having complied
with the other requirements of the statute and the rules of court upon the subject, re-
spectfully prays that her petition for examination, which was duly filed, may be favor-
ably considered, and that it be included in the general notice to the Board of Exam-
iners of Suffolk county. LELIA JOSEPHINE ROBINSON.
The opinion given by the Supreme Judicial Court, so far as it
relates to the main point at issue, is as follows :
The question presented by this petition and by the report on which it has been re-
served for our determination, is whether, under the laws of the commonwealth, an
unmarried woman is entitled to be examined for admission as an attorney and counsel-
lor of this Court. This being the first application of the kind in Massachusetts, the
Court, desirous that it might be fully argued, informed the executive committee of the
Bar Association of the city of Boston of the application, and has received elaborate
briefs from the petitioner in support of her petition and from two gentlemen of the bar
as amid curitz in opposition thereto. The statute under which the application is made
is as follows: " A citizen of this State, or an alien who has made the primary declara-
tion of his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and who is an inhabitant
of this State, at the age of twenty-one years and of good moral character, may, on the
recommendation of an attorney, petition the Supreme Judicial or Superior Court to be
examined for admission as an attorney, whereupon the Court shall assign a time and
place for the examination, and if satisfied with his acquirements and qualifications he
shall be admitted." St. 1876, c. 107.
The word " citizen," when used in its most common and most comprehensive sense,
doubtless includes women ; but a woman is not, by virtue of her citizenship, vested by
the Constitution of the United States, or by the constitution of the commonwealth,
with any absolute right, independent of legislation, to take part in the government,
either as voter or as an officer, or to be admitted to practice as an attorney. Minor vs.
Happersett, 51 Wall. 162. Bradwell -vs. Illinois, 16 Wall. jjo. The rule that
"words importing the masculine gender maybe applied to females, "like all other gen-
eral rules of construction of statutes, must yield when such construction would be
either "repugnant to the context of the same statute," or " inconsistent with the mani-
fest intent of the legislature." Gen. Sts. c. 3, § 7.
The only statute making any provisions concerning attorneys, that mentions women,
is the poor-debtor act, which, after enumerating among the cases in which an arrest of
the person may be made on execution in an action of contract, that in which "the
debtor i^attorney-at-law," who has unreasonably neglected to pay to his client money
collected, enacts, in the next section but one, " that no woman shall be arrested on
any civil process except for tort." Gen. Sts. c. 124, §§ 5, 7. If these provisions do
not imply that the legislature assumed that women should not be attorneys, they cer-
tainly have no tendency to show that it intended that they should. The word " citi-
zen," in the statute under which this application is made, is but a repetition of the
word originally adopted with a view of excluding aliens, before the statute of 1852, c.
154, allowed those aliens to be admitted to the bar who had made the preliminary dec-
laration of intention to become citizens. Rev. Sts., c. 88, § 19. Gen. Sts.,c. 121, § 28.
The reenactment of the act relating to the admission of attorneys in the same words
without more so far as relates to the personal qualifications of the applicant, since
Supreme Court Decision. 309
other statutes have expressly modified the legal rights and capacity of women in other
important respects, tends rather to refute than to advance the theory that the legislature
intended that these words should comprehend women. No inference of an intention of
the legislature to include women in the statutes concerning the admission of attorneys
can be drawn from the mere omission of the word "male." The only statute to which
we have referred, in which that word is inserted, is the statute concerning the qualifi-
cations of voters in town affairs, which, following the language of the article of the
constitution that defines the qualifications of voters for governor, lieutenant-governor,
senators and representatives, speaks of " every male citizen of twenty-one years of
age," etc. Gen. Sts. c. 18, § 19. Const. Mass. Amendments, art. 3. Words which
taken by themselves would be equally applicable to women and to men are constantly
used in the constitution and statutes, in speaking of offices which it could not be con-
tended, in the present state of law, that women were capable of holding.
The Courts of the commonwealth have not assumed by their rules to admit to the
bar any class of persons not within the apparent intent of the legislature as manifested
in the statutes. The word "persons," in the latest rule of Court upon the subject,
was the word used in the rule of 1810 and in the statutes of 1785 and 1836, at times
when no one contemplated the possibility of a woman's being admitted to practice as
an attorney. 121 Mass. 600. 6. Mass. 382. St. 1785, c. 23. Rev. St. c. 18, 20.
Gen. Sts. c. 121, § 29. The United States Court of Claims, at December term, 1873,
on full consideration, denied an application of a woman to be admitted to practice
as an attorney upon the ground " that under the constitution and laws of the United
States a Court is without power to grant such an application, and that a woman is
without legal capacity to take the office of an attorney." Lock-wood's Case, g Ct. of
Claims, 346, jj6. At October terms 1876 of the Supreme Court of the United States,
the same petitioner applied to be admitted to practice as an attorney and counsellor of
that Court, and her application was denied.
The decision has not been officially reported, but upon the record of the Court, of
which we have an authentic copy, it is thus stated: "Upon the presentation of this
application, the chief-justice said that notice of this application having been previously
brought to his attention, he had been instructed by the Court to announce the follow-
ing decision upon it: By the uniform practice of the Court from its organization to the
present time, and by the fair construction of its rules, none but men are permitted to
practice before it as attorneys and counsellors. This is in accordance with immemorial
usages in England, and the law and the practice in all the States until within a recent
period, and the Court does not feel called upon to make a change until such change is
required by statute or a more extended practice in the highest Courts of the States."
The subsequent act of congress of February 15, 1879, enables only those women to be
admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States who have been
for three years members of the bar of the highest Court of a State or territory, or of
the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
The conclusion that women cannot be admitted to the bar under the existing statutes
of the commonwealth is in accordance with judgments of the highest Courts of the
States of Illinois and Wisconsin. BradiveWs Case, 55 III. ,525. Goodell's Case, 39
Wis. , 232. The suggestion in the brief of the petitioner that women have been admit-
ted in other States can have no weight here, in the absence of all evidence that (except
under clear affirmative words in a statute) they have ever been so admitted upon de-
liberate consideration of the question involved, or by a Court whose decisions are
authoritative.
It is hardly necessary to add that our duty is limited to declaring the law as it is,
and that whether any change in that law would be wise or expedient is a question for
the legislative and not for the judicial department of the government.
Petition dismissed. MARCUS MORTON, Chief-Justice,
[Signed:] CHARLES DEVENS, \\III.IAME.ENDICOTT,
WILLIAM ALI.KN, OTIS P. LOUD,
CHARLES ALLEN. WALBRIDGE A. FIELD.
310 History of Woman Suffrage.
The three preceding decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court
of Massachusetts against the rights of the women of the common-
wealth were as follows :
The first decision was in the case of Sarah E. Wall of Worces-
ter, who had refused to pay her taxes under the following protest :
Believing with the immortal Declaration of Independence that taxation and repre-
sentation are inseparable ; believing that the constitution of the State furnishes no
authority for the taxation of woman; believing also that the constitution of the higher
law of God, written on the human soul, requires us, if we would be worthy the rich
inheritance of the past and true to ourselves and the future, to yield obedience to no
statute that shall tend to fetter its aspirations, I shall henceforth pay no taxes until the
word male is stricken from the voting clauses of the constitution of Massachusetts.
Worcester Daily Spy, October 5, 1858. SARAH E. WALL.
Miss Wall was prosecuted by the city collector, and she carried
her case before the Supreme Court, where she appeared for her-
self, W. A. Williams appearing for the collector. In an account
of this matter in iSSi, Miss Wall says: "Although it was in 1858
that my resistance to taxation commenced, it was not until 1863
that the contest terminated and the decision was rendered. I
think the Supreme Court would always find some way to evade
a decision on this question."
Wheeler vs. Wall, 6 Allen, 558 : By the constitution of Massachusetts, c. I, § I,
article 4, the legislature has power to impose taxes upon all the inhabitants of and per-
sons resident, and estates lying within the said commonwealth.- By the laws passed
by the legislature in pursuance of this power and authority, the defendant is liable to
taxation, although she is not qualified to vote for the officers by whom the taxes were
assessed. The Court, acting under the constitution, and bound to support it and
maintain its provisions faithfully, cannot declare null and void a statute which has
been passed by the legislature, in pursuance of an express authority conferred by the
constitution. — [Opinion by the chief-justice, George Tyler Bigelow.
The second decision on the will of Francis Jackson is copied
verbatim from Allen s Reports :
Jackson -vs. Phillips and others, 14 Allen, Jjy : A bequest to trustees, to be ex-
pended at their discretion, * * * * "to secure the passage of laws granting
whether women, married or unmarried, the right to vote, to hold office, to hold, man-
age and devise property, and all other civil rights enjoyed by men," is not a charity.
Bill in equity by the executor of the 'will of Francis Jackson of Boston, for instruc-
tions as to the validity and effect of the following bequests and devises :
Art. 6th. " I give and bequeath to Wendell Phillips of said Boston, Lucy Stone,
formerly of Brookfield, 'Mass., now the wife of Henry Blackwell of New York, and
Susan B. Anthdny of Rochester, N. Y., their successors and assigns, $5,000, not for
their own use, but in trust, nevertheless, to be expended by them without any respon-
sibility to any one, at their discretion, in such sums, at such times and in such places
as they may deem fit, to secure the passage of laws granting women, whether married
or unmarried, the right to vote, to hold office, to hold, manage and devise property,
and all other civil rights enjoyed by men; and for the preparation and circulation of
books, the delivery of lectures, and such other means as they may judge best; and I
hereby constitute them a board of trustees for that intent and purpose, with power to
add two other persons to said board if they deem it expedient. And I hereby appoint
Women and Judicial Offices. 311
"Wendell Phillips president and treasurer, and Susan B. Anthony secretary of said
board. I direct the treasurer of said board not to loan any part of said bequest, but
to invest, and, if need be, sell and reinvest the same in bank or railroad shares, at his
discretion. I further authorize and request said board of trustees, the survivor and
survivors of them, to fill any and all vacancies that may occur from time to time by
death or resignation of any member or any officer of said board. One other bequest,
hereinafter made, will, sooner or later, revert to this board of trustees. My desire is
that they may become a permanent organization, until the rights of women shall be
established equal with those of men; and I hope and trust that said board will receive
the services and sympathy, the donations and bequests, of the friends of human rights-
And being desirous that said board should have the immediate benefit of said bequest,
without waiting for my exit, I have already paid it in advance and in full to said Phil-
lips, the treasurer of said board, whose receipt therefor is on my files."
OPINION. — Gray, J. IV. It is quite clear that the bequest in trust to be expended
" to secure the passage of laws granting women, whether married or unmarried, the
right to vote, to hold office, to hold, manage and devise property, and all other civil
rights enjoyed by men," cannot be sustained as a charity. No precedent has been
cited in its support. This bequest differs from the others, in aiming directly and ex-
clusively to change the laws; and its object cannot be accomplished without changing
the constitution also. Whether such an alteration of the existing laws and frame of
government would be wise and desirable, is a question upon which we cannot, sitting
in a judicial capacity, properly express any opinion. Our duty is limited to expound-
ing the laws as they stand. And those laws do not recognize the purpose of over-
throwing or changing them, in whole or in part, as a charitable use. This bequest,
therefore, not being for a charitable purpose, nor for the benefit of any particular per-
sons, and being unrestricted in point of time, is inoperative and void. For the same
reason, the gift to the same object, of one-third of the residue of the testator's estate
after the death of his daughter, Mrs. Eddy, and her daughter, Mrs. Bacon, is also
invalid, and will go to his heirs-at-law as a resulting trust.
Decision third was on the right of women to hold judicial
offices. To quote again from Allen s Reports :
On June 8, 1871, the following order was passed by the governor and council, and
on June 10 transmitted to the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, who, on June
29, returned the reply which is annexed. Ordered, That the opinion of the Supreme
Judicial Court be requested as to the following questions : First — Under the constitu-
tion of this commonwealth, can a woman, if duly appointed and qualified as a justice
of the peace, legally perform all acts appertaining to that office ? Second — Under the
laws of this commonwealth, would oaths and acknowledgments of deeds, taken before
a married or unmarried woman duly appointed and qualified as a justice of the peace,
be legal and valid ?
OPINION. — By the constitution of the commonwealth, the office of justice of the
peace is a judicial office, and must be exercised by the officer in person, and a woman,
whether married or unmarried, cannot be appointed to such an office. The law of
Massachusetts at the time of the adoption of the constitution, the whole frame and
purport of the instrument itself, and the universal understanding and unbroken practi-
cal construction for the greater part of a century afterwards, all support this conclu-
sion, and are inconsistent with any other. It follows that, if a woman should be for-
mally appointed and commissioned as a justice of the peace, she would have no con-
stitutional or legal authority to exercise any of the functions appertaining to that office.
Each of the questions proposed must, therefore, be respectfully answered in the nega-
tive. [Signed :] REUBEN A. CHAPMAN, HORACE GRAY, JR.,
JOHN WELLS, JAMES D. COLT,
SETH AMES, MARCUS MORTON.
Boston, June 29, 1871.
3 1 2 History of Woman Siiffrage.
It is to be remarked that the clause on which the court de-
termined its judgment was of no practical consequence, since
the money devised had already been paid to Wendell Phillips,
who had disposed of it as the bequest required, and he had given
his receipt to the testator for the amount.
Even the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has begun
to understand the trend of the woman's rights movement, and
has rendered its first favorable decision, in the famous Eddy-will
case. Wendell Phillips told me that he drew up this will, and
that its provisions were so carefully worded that even the
Supreme Court could find no flaw in it. It is in his own hand-
writing, and Chandler R. Ransom was the executor. Eliza F.
Eddy was the daughter of Francis Jackson, and just before her
death in 1882, desiring to help the suffrage cause and thus carry
out her father's intentions, she made her will in which she be-
1 queathed $40,000 for this purpose. The clause relating to this
bequest is as follows :
Whatever is left, after paying the above legacies, I direct shall be divided
into equal portions. One of said portions I leave to Susan B. Anthony
of Rochester. N. Y.; and the other portion I leave to Lucy Stone, wife of
Henry B. Blackwell, as her own absolute separate property, free from
any control by him. I request said Susan and Lucy to use said fund thus
given to further what is called the " Woman's Rights' Cause "; but neither
of them is under any legal responsibility to any one or any court to do so.
Her will was filed and the Probate Court declared its validity.
This decision was appealed from for several unimportant reasons
by relatives of Mrs. Eddy, Francis W. and Jerome A. Bacon,
minors; and the case was carried to the Supreme Judicial Court.
After many delays it was finally decided in favor of the validity
of the will, March, 1885, R. M. Morse, jr., and S. J. Elder for the
plaintiff, and B. F. Butler and F. L. Washburn for the defendants.
The court's final decision, rendered by Hon. Charles Devens, is
as follows :
ALBERT F. BACON and others, executors and others vs. CHANDLER R.
RANSOM, executor, and others.
Suffolk. March 18, 19, 1885. W. ALLEN, COLBURN and HOLMES, Js., absent.
After a bequest in trust to A. and B., to be by them expended in securing the pass-
age of la%vs granting women the right to vote, had been decreed void as not being a
<charity, a daughter of the testator bequeathed the residue pf her estate (being about
^the amount she had received from her father's estate) to A. and B. "as their absolute
-property"; and added: " I request said A. and B. to use said fund thus given to fur-
ther what is called the Woman's Rights Cause. But neither of them is under any
.legal responsibility to anyone or any court to do so." Held, that the bequest was
valid, and did not create a trust.
Eliza F. Eddys Will. 313
Bill in equity by the executors of the will of Lizzie F. Bacon, and cer-
tain legatees thereunder, against the executor of the will of Eliza F. Eddy,
Lucy Stone, wife of H. B. Blackwell, Susan B. Anthony, and other legatees
thereunder, and the attorney-general, to compel the executor of said
Eddy's will to pay over to the plaintiffs the residue of her estate. The
bill alleged the following facts:
Francis Jackson, the father of said Eliza F. Eddy, died in 1861, leaving
a will, by the sixth article of which he gave $5,000 to Wendell Phillips,
Lucy Stone Blackwell and Susan B. Anthony, in trust, "to be expended
by them without any responsibility to any one, at their discretion, in such
sums, at such times, and in such places as they may deem fit, to secure
the passage of laws granting women, whether married or unmarried, the
right to vote, to hold office, to hold, manage and devise property, and all
other civil rights enjoyed by men ; and for the preparation and circula-
tion of books, the delivery of lectures, and such other means as they may
judge best." By the eighth article he gave one-third of the residue to a
trustee, to pay the income to his daughter, Eliza F. Eddy, during her life,
and upon her death one-half of the income to the trustees and on the
trusts named in the sixth article, and the other half to Mrs. Eddy's daugh-
ter, Mrs. Lizzie F. Bacon, during her life, and, on the death of Mrs. Bacon,
the principal to the trustees and on the trusts named in the sixth article.
It was held by this court that these bequests were not a charity (see
Jackson vs. Phillips, 14 Allen, jjp).
In consequence of this decision, certain agreements, releases, and a par-
tition were made, by which one-third of the residue of Mr. Jackson's es-
tate became the property of Mrs. Eddy, subject to being held in trust for
herself for life, and thereafter, as to one-half, for her daughter, Mrs. Ba-
con, during her life. Mrs. Eddy died December 29, iSSi, leaving a will by
which she gave absolute legacies to the amount of $24,500 to various per-
sons therein named. This disposed of all her estate except what came to
her from her father's estate. Her will then provided as follows :
" What is left, after paying the above legacies, I direct shall be divided
into two equal portions; one of said portions I leave to Miss Susan B.
Anthony of Rochester, in the State of New York, as her absolute prop-
erty, and the other portion I leave to Lucy Stone, wife of H. B. Blackwell,
as her own absolute and separate property, free from any control of him.
1 request said Susan and Lucy to use said fund thus given to further what
is called the woman's rights cause ; but neither of them is under any
legal responsibility to any one or any court to do so."
The will further alleged that this residue was substantially the estate
received from Francis Jackson ; that the will was intended by the testa-
trix to defeat the decision of this court, before mentioned ; that the testa-
trix had no personal acquaintance with Lucy Stone or Susan B. Anthony;
that said gift was intended as a gift in perpetuam to the said cause, and
was, without limit of time, upon trust in favor of said cause ; and that said
cause was not a charity within the meaning of the law, and was null and
void.
314 History of Woman Suffrage.
The defendants demurred to the bill for want of equity. The case was
heard by C. Allen, J., on the bill and demurrer, and a decree was entered
sustaining the demurrer and dismissing the bill. The plaintiffs appealed
to the full court.
R. M. MORSE, Jr., and S. J. ELDER, for the plaintiffs.
B. F. BUTLER and F. L. WASHBURN, for the defendants.
Judge CHARLES DEVENS. The fact that the respective portions of the
estate bequeathed by Mrs. Eddy to Mrs. Stone and Miss Anthony were in
amount equal to or precisely the same as those which came to her by de-
scent from her father, Francis Jackson, is not of importance in the case
at bar. It had been held in Jackson vs. Phillips, 14. Allen, jjp, that a cer-
tain bequest made by Mr. Jackson in trust was not, legally speaking, a
public charity, and that it could not therefore pass to the beneficiaries
named in his will. The property which he thus attempted to bequeath
descended therefore to his legal representatives, of whom Mrs. Eddy was
one. She received it with the same right to deal with it or dispose of it
in her lifetime, or by will at her decease, that she had in any other estate
which was her lawful property.
The bill alleges "that said will was intended by the testatrix to defeat
the decision of the court, before mentioned ; that the testatrix had no
personal acquaintance with Lucy Stone or Susan B. Anthony ; that said
gift was intended as a gift in perpetuam to the said cause." But if Mrs.
Eddy has complied with the rules of law in the disposition of her prop-
erty, even if she has hoped thereby to attain the same object as that de-
sired by her father, the decision referred to is not defeated, but is recog-
nized and conformed to ; and, whatever her intention may have been, her
bequest is to be upheld.
Her gift to her beneficiaries is absolute in terms. They may do what
they will with the property bequeathed to them, as they may with any
other property which is lawfully their own. It is true that the gift is ac-
companied by a request that they will use the fund bequeathed "to fur-
ther what is called the woman's rights cause." A request made by one
who has the right to direct is often, perhaps generally, interpreted as a
command. For this reason, recommendatory or precatory words used in
a bequest are frequently treated as an express direction. Thus, if a leg-
acy were given to A., with a request that out of the sum bequeathed he
would pay to another a certain sum, or a portion thereof, it might well be
construed as a legacy, to the amount named, to such person. The ex-
pression of the desire of the testator would be the expression of his will,
and the words in form recommendatory would be held to be mandatory
and imperative. Where such words are used, it is therefore a question of
the fair construction to be attributed to them ( Whipple vs. Adams, t Met.,
444 ; Warner vs. Bates, 98 Mass., 2jj. ; Spooncr vs. Lovcjoy, JoS Mass., 529)*
But the testatrix in the case at bar has left nothing to construction.
Apparently aware that a request, where she had a right to direct, might
be treated as a command, and desirous to make it entirely clear that no
restraint or duty in any legal sense was imposed upon her legatees, and
that the request of the will was such in the limited sense of the word
Mrs. Eddys Example. 315
only, and in no respect mandatory, she adds thereto, referring to the leg-
atees, " But neither of them is under any legal responsibility to any one
or to any court to do so." Each of the legatees is therefore the sole
judge of whether she will follow, or how far or in what way she will fol-
low, the suggestion of the testatrix in the disposition of the estate abso-
lutely bequeathed to her. It is a matter in which she is to be guided only
by her judgment and conscience, and no trust is imposed upon the prop-
erty she receives.
As no trust is created, it would be superfluous to consider whether, if
the request of the testatrix were treated as a command, one would then
be indicated capable of enforcement according to the rules of law.
Bill dismissed. [Signed :] MARCUS MORTON, Chief -Justice,
WALBRIDGE ABNER FIELD, CHARLES DEVENS,
WILLIAM ALLEN, CHARLES ALLEN,
WALDO COBURN, OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, Jr.
From these decisions our daughters should learn the importance
of having some knowledge of law. Had not Mrs. Eddy learned
from experience in her father's case that property could not be
left in trust to any societies except those called religious and
charitable, and made her bequest absolutely to persons, the gift
of $56,000 would have been lost to the woman suffrage move-
ment. As it was, nearly $10,000 was swallowed up in litigation
to secure what the donees did finally obtain. Considering that
Mrs. Eddy * is the only woman who has ever had both the desire
and the power to make a large bequest to this cause, its friends
have great reason to rejoice in her wisdom as well as her
generosity.
Civilization would have been immeasurably farther advanced
than it now is, had the many rich women, who have left large
bequests to churches, and colleges for boys, concentrated their
wealth and influence on the education, elevation and enfranchise-
ment of their own sex. We trust that Mrs. Eddy's example may
not be lost on the coming generation of women. — [EDITORS.
* \\'e deeply regret that we have been unable to procure a good photograph of our generous bene-
factor, as it was our intention to make her engraving tin: frontispiece of this volume, and thus give the
honored place to her through whose liberality we have been enabled at last to complete this work. We
aie happy to state that Mrs. Eddy's will was not contested by any of the descendents of the noble
Krancis Jackson, but by Jerome Bacon, a millionaire, the widower of her eldest daughter who sur-
vived the mother but one week. When the suit was entered the daughters of Mrs. Eddy, Sarah and
Amy, her only surviving children, in a letter to the executor of the estate, Hon. C. R. Ransom, said:
" We hereby consent and agree that, in case this suit now pending in the court shall be decided against
the claims of Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony, we will give to them the net amount of any sum that
as heirs may be awarded to us, in accordance with our mother's will."
CHAPTER XXXII.
CONNECTICUT.
Prudence Crandall — Eloquent Reformers — Petitions for Suffrage — The Committee's
Report — Frances Ellen Burr — Isabella Beecher Hooker's Reminiscences — Anna
Dickinson in the Republican Campaign — State Society Formed, October 28, 29,
1869 — Enthusiastic Convention in Hartford — Governor Marshall Jewell — He
Recommends More Liberal Laws for Women — Society Formed in New Haven,
1871 — Governor Hubbard's Inaugural, 1877 — Samuel Bowles of the Springfield
Republican — Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Chaplain, 1870 — John Hooker, esq., Cham-
pions the Suffrage Movement.
WHILE Connecticut has always been celebrated for its puri-
tanical theology, political conservatism and rigid social customs,
it was nevertheless the scene of some of the most hotly con-
tested of the anti-slavery battles. While its leading clergymen
and statesmen stoutly maintained the letter of the old creeds
and constitutions, the Burleighs, the Mays, and the Crandalls
strove to illustrate the true spirit of religion and republicanism in
their daily lives by " remembering those that were in bonds as
bound with them."
The example of one glorious woman like Prudence Crandall,*
who suffered shameful persecutions in establishing a school for
colored girls at Canterbury, in 1833, should have been sufficient
to rouse every woman in Connecticut to some thought on the
basic principles of the government and religion of the country.
Yet we have no record of any woman in that State publicly sus-
taining her in that grand enterprise, though no doubt her hero-
ism gave fresh inspiration to the sermons of Samuel J. May, then
preaching in the village of Brooklyn, and the speeches and poems
of the two eloquent reformers, Charles C. and William H. Burleigh.
The words and deeds of these and other great souls, though seem-
ing to slumber for many years, gave birth at last to new demands
for another class of outraged citizens. Thus liberty is ever born
of the hateful spirit of persecution. One question of reform settled
forever by the civil war, the initiative for the next was soon
* The life of William Lloyd Garrison, Vo\. I. : The Century Company, New York.
Minority Report. 317
taken. In The Revolution of January 16, 1868, we find the fol-
lowing well-considered report on woman's enfranchisement,
presented by a minority of the Committee on Constitutional
Amendments to the legislature of Connecticut at its session of
1867:
The undersigned members of the committee believe that the prayer of the petitioners
ought to be granted. It would be much easier for us to reject the petition and silently
to acquiesce in the opinions of the majority upon the subject to which it relates, but
our attention was challenged and an investigation invited by the bold axioms upon
which the cause of suffrage for woman was claimed to rest, and the more we have ex-
amined the subject the more convinced we have become that the logic of our institu-
tions requires a concession of that right. It is claimed by some that the right to vote
is not a natural right, but that it is a prvilege which some have acquired, and which
may be granted to others at the option of the fortunate holders. But they fail to in-
form us how the possessors first acquired the privilege, and especially how they acquired
the rightful power to withhold that privilege from others, according to caprice or
notions of expediency. We hold this doctrine to be pernicious in tendency, and hos-
tile to the spirit of a republican government; and we believe that it can only be justi-
fied by the same arguments that are used to justify slavery or monarchy — for it is an
obvious deduction of logic that if one thousand persons have a right to govern another
thousand without their consent, one man has a right to govern all.
Mr. Lincoln tersely said, " If slavery is not wrong nothing is wrong." So it seems
to us that if the right to vote is not a natural right, there is no such thing as a natural
right in human relations. The right to freedom and the right to a ballot both spring
from the same source. The right to vote is only the right to a legitimate use
of freedom. It is plain that if a man is not free to govern himself, and to have
a voice in the taxation of his own property, he is not really free in any enlightened
sense. Even Edward I. of England said, " It is a most equitable rule that what con-
cerns all should be approved by all." This must rightfully apply to women the same
as to men. And Locke, in his essay on civil government, said, " Nothing is more
evident than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to the
same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal,
one with another, without subordination or subjection." Talleyrand said, as an
argument for monarchy, " The moment we reject an absolutely universal suffrage, we
admit the principle of aristocracy." The founders of this nation asserted with great
emphasis and every variety of repetition, the essential equality of human rights as a
self-evident truth. The war of the Revolution was justified by the maxim, " Taxation
without representation is tyranny "; and all republics vindicate their existence by the
claim that " Governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed."
Yet woman, in Connecticut, is governed without her consent, and taxed without repre-
sentation.
Lord Camden, one of England's ablest jurists, long ago declared, " My posi-
tion is this — taxation and representation are inseparable. The position is founded in
a law of nature — nay more, it is itself an eternal law of nature." Our forefathers held
to this principle, and fought seven years to establish it. They maintained their favor-
ite theory of government against immense odds, and transmitted to their posterity the
great work of putting it logically into practice. It is acknowledged by this legislature
that "taxation without representation is tyranny," and that " governments derive their
just power from the consent of the governed." If these phrases are anything more
than the meaningless utterances of demagogues, anything more than the hypocritical
apologies of rebellious colonies in a strait — then we submit that a primd facie case for
woman's right to vote has already been made out. To declare that a voice in the
government is the right of all, and then give it to less than half, and that to the frac-
318 History of Woman Suffrage.
tion to which the theorist himself happens to belong, is to renounce even the appear-
ance of principle.
It is plain to your committee that neither the State nor the nation can have peace on
this suffrage question until some fair standard shall be adopted which is not based on
religion, or color, or sex, or any accident of birth — a test which shall be applicable to
every adult human being. In a republic the ballot belongs to every intelligent adult
person who is innocent of crime. There is an obvious and sufficient reason for exclud-
ing minors, state-prison convicts, imbeciles and insane persons, but does the public
safety require that we shall place the women of Connecticut with infants, criminals,
idiots and lunatics ? Do they deserve the classification ? It seems to your committee
that to enfranchise woman — or rather to cease to deprive her of the ballot, which 5s of
right hers, would be reciprocally beneficial. We believe that it would elevate the
character of our office-holders; that it would purify our politics; that it would render our
laws more equitable; that it would give to woman a protection against half the perils
which now beset her; that it would put into her hands a key that would unlock the
door of every respectable occupation and profession; that it would insure a reconstruc-
tion of our statute laws on a basis of justice, so that a woman should have a right to
her own children, and a right to receive and enjoy the proceeds of her own labor.
John Neal estimates-that the ballot is worth fifty cents a day to every American laborer,
enabling each man to command that much higher wages. Does not gentlemanly
courtesy, as well as equal justice, require that that weapon of defense shall be given to
those thousands of working women among us who are going down to prostitution through
three or four half-paid, over-crowded occupations?
It is said that woman is now represented by her husband, when she has one ; but
what is this representation worth when in Connecticut, two years ago, all of the mar-
ried woman's personal property became absolutely her husband's, including even her
bridal presents, to sell or give away, as he saw fit — a statute which still prevails in
most of the States ? What is that representation worth when even now, in this State,
no married woman has the right to the use of her own property, and no woman, even
a widow, is the natural guardian of her own children? Even in Connecticut, under
man's representation, a widow whose husband dies without a will is regarded by law
as an encumbrance on the estate which she, through years of drudgery, has helped to
acquire. She can inherit none of the houses or land, but has merely the use of one-
third, while the balance goes to his relatives — rich, perhaps, and persons whom she
never saw. Does not this suggest reasons why woman should wish to represent
herself?
It is said that women do not desire the ballot. This is by no means certain. It can
be ascertained only by taking a vote. It is not proved by the fact that they have not
yet generally clamored for the right, nor by the fact that some protest against it. In
Persia, it is a law of society that virtuous women shall appear in public with their faces
covered, and instead of murmuring at the restraint, they are universal in upholding it,
and wonder at the immodesty and effrontery of English women who appear upon the
streets unveiled. Custom hardens us to any kind of degradation. When woman was
not admitted to the dinner-table as an equal with man, she undoubtedly thought the
exclusion was perfectly proper, and quite in the nature of things, and the dinner-table
became vile and obscene. When she was forbidden to enter the church, she approved
the arrangement, and the church became a scene of hilarity and bacchanalian revel.
When she was forbidden to take part in literature, she thought it was not her sphere,
and disdained the alphabet, and the consequence was that literature became unspeak-
ably impure, so that no man can now read in public some of the books that were written
before woman brought chastity and refinement into letters. The Asiatics are proba-
bly not in favor of political liberty, or the American Indians in favor of civilization;
but that does not prove that these would be bad for them, especially if thousands of
the most enlightened did desire and demand the change. It is assumed that women
are not in favor of this right; how can this be better ascertained than by submitting
to them the question to vote upon — " yes " or " no."
Frances Ellen Burr. 319
If this legislature shall be averse to trusting woman to give her opinion even on the
question of her own enfranchisement, we recommend that an amendment, striking the
word *' male " from the State constitution, be submitted to the qualified electors of the
State. Can there be any possible danger in trusting those who have trusted us ? They,
not we, are the law-makers. An assembly is elected only because it would be incon-
venient for all the citizens to vote upon every statute. But when any change in the
fundamental law is seriously asked, it should be remitted to the people without hesita-
tion, especially when that proposed change will render our logic consistent, and our
institutions harmonious; when it will enforce the democratic doctrine that, in society,
every human being has a right to do anything that does not interfere with the rights
of others, and when it will establish equality in place of partiality, and vindicate the
principle of All Rights for All. We therefore recommend the adoption of the follow-
ing resolution : [Here follows a resolution submitting to the people an amendment
of the constitution giving women the right to vote equally with men.]
The members of the committee who signed this early declara-
tion in favor of the rights of women should be remembered with
honor. They are Henry Ashley, William Steele and J. D.
Gallup, jr. The resolution recommended received 93 votes in the
House of Representatives, against 1 1 1 in opposition. So strong
an expression in favor of it at that time is a noteworthy fact in
the history of the cause.
The petitions that called out this able report were secured
through the influence of Frances Ellen Burr, who may be said to
have been the pioneer of woman suffrage in Connecticut. She
had made several attempts, through conversations with influen-
tial friends, to organize a State society many years before. From
the inauguration of the State association until the present time
Miss Burr has been one of its most efficient members, and has
done more to popularize the question of woman suffrage through-
out the State than any other person. Her accomplishments as a
writer and speaker, as a reporter and stenographer, as well as her
connection with the Hartford Times (a journal that has a very
large circulation in the State), edited by her brother, have quali-
fied her for wide and efficient influence. Her niece, Mrs. Ella
Burr McManus, edits a column in that paper, under the head of
"Social Notes." She is also an advocate of suffrage for women,
and makes telling points, from week to week, on this question.
In issuing the first numbers of The Revolution, the earliest words
of good cheer came from Frances Ellen Burr.*
The general rebellion among women against the old conditions
of society and the popular opinions as to their nature and des-
tiny, has been organized in each State in this Union by the
* She was soon followed by Mrs. Midcllebrook and Mrs. Lucy R. Elms, with warm benedictions. The
latter called some meetings in her neighborhood in the autumn of 1868, and entertained us most hos-
pitably at her beautiful home.
320 History of Woman Suffrage.
sudden awakening of some self-reliant woman, in whose soul had
long slumbered new ideas as to her rights and duties, growing
out of personal experiences or the distant echoes of onward steps
in other localities. In Connecticut this woman was Isabella
Beechcr Hooker, who had scarcely dared to think, and much less
to give shape in words, to the thoughts that, like unwelcome
ghosts, had haunted her hours of solitude from year to year.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning describes a hero as one who does
what others do but say ; who says what others do but think ; and
thinks what others do but dream. The successive steps by which
Mrs. Hooker's dreams at last took shape in thoughts, words and
actions, and brought her to the woman suffrage platform, are
well told by herself:
My mind had long been disturbed with the tangled problem of social
life, but it involved so many momentous questions that I could not see
where to begin nor what to do. I could only protest in my heart, and
leave the whole matter for God* to deal with in his wisdom. Thus mat-
ters stood until the year 1861, when Anna Dickinson, then a girl of nine-
teen, came to Hartford to speak in behalf of the Republican party, par-
ticularly on its hostility to the extension of slavery. I shall never forget
the dismay — I know not Avhat else to call it — which I felt at the announce-
ment of her first speech in one of our public halls, lest harm should come
to the political cause that enlisted my sympathies, and anxiety about the
speaker, who would have to encounter so much adverse criticism in our
conservative and prejudiced city. It was certainly a most startling occur-
rence, that here in my very home, where there had been hardly a lisp in
favor of the rights of women, this girl should speak on political subjects,
and that, too, upon the invitation of the leaders of a great political party.
Here was a stride, not a mere step ; and a stride almost to final victory
for the suppressed rights of women.
My husband and I, full of anxiety and apprehension, but full, too, of de-
termination to stand by one who so bravely shook off her trammels, went
to hear this new Joan of Arc, and in a few minutes after she began we
found ourselves, with the rest of the large audience, entranced by her
eloquence. At the close of the meeting we went with many others to be
introduced and give her the right hand of fellowship. She came home
with us for the night, and after the family retired she and I communed
together, heart to heart, as mother and daughter, and from this sweet,
grand soul, born to the freedom denied to all women except those known
as Quakers, I learned to trust as never before the teachings of the inner
light, and to know whence came to them the recognition of equal rights
with their brethren in the public assembly.
It was she who brought me to the knowledge of Mrs. John Stuart Mill,
and her remarkable paper on "The Enfranchisement of Women," in The
* Those who leave the tangled problem of life to God for solution find, sooner or later, that God
leaves it to them to settle in their own way. — [E. C. S.
Mrs. Hookers Reminiscences. 321
Westminster Review. She told me, too, of Susan B. Anthony, a fearless
defender of true liberty and woman's right of public speech ; but I allowed
an old and ignorant prejudice against her and Mrs. Stanton to remain
until the year 1864, when, going South to nurse a young soldier who was
wounded in the war, I met Mrs. Caroline Severance from Boston, who
was residing in South Carolina, where her husband was in the service of
the government, who confirmed what Miss Dickinson had told me of Miss
Anthony, and unfolded to me the whole philosophy of the woman suffrage
movement.
She afterwards invited me to her home near Boston, where I joined Mr.
Garrison and others in issuing a call for a convention, which I attended,
and aided in the formation of the New England Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion. At this meeting, which I will not attempt to describe, I met Paulina
Wright Davis, whose mere presence upon the platform, with her beautiful
white hair and her remarkable dignity and elegance, was a most potent
argument in favor of woman's participation in public affairs. I sought an
introduction to her, and confessing my prejudice against Mrs. Stanton
and Miss Anthony, whom I had never yet seen, she urged me to meet
them as guests at her home in Providence ; and a few weeks later, under
the grand old trees of her husband's almost ducal estate, we went over
the whole subject of man's supremacy and woman's subjection that had
lain so many years a burden upon my heart, and, sitting at their feet, I
said : " While I have been mourning in secret over the degradation of
woman, you have been working, through opposition and obloquy, to
raise her to self-respect and self-protection through enfranchisement,
knowing that with equal political rights come equal social and industrial
opportunities. Henceforth, I will at least share your work and your
obloquy."
In September, 1869, just one year from that time, after spending several
weeks in correspondence with friends all over the State, and making care-
ful preliminary arrangements, I issued a call for the first woman suffrage
convention that was ever held in Connecticut, at which a State society
was formed. To my surprise and satisfaction, the city press each day de-
voted several columns to reports of our proceedings, and the enthusiasm
manifested by the large audiences was as unexpected as it was gratifying.
The speakers were worthy of the reception given them, and few occasions
have gathered upon one platform so notable an assemblage of men and
women.* The resolutions which formed the basis of the discussions were
prepared and presented by Mr. Hooker:
Resolved, That there is no consideration whatever that makes the right of suffrage
valuable to men, or that makes it the duty or the interest of the nation to concede it
to men, that does not make it valuable to women, and the duty and interest of the
nation to concede it to women.
Resolved, That the ballot will bring to woman a higher education, larger industrial
opportunities, a wider field for thought and action, a sense of responsibility in her re-
* Among them were Paulina Wright Davis, Dr. Clemence Lozier, Mary A. Livermore, Julia Ward
Howe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Celia Burleigh, Caroline M. Severance, Rev.
Olympia lirown, Frances Ellen Burr, Charlotte ]!. Wilhour, William Lloyd Garrison, Henry Ward
Bcecher, Nathaniel I. Burton, John Hooker, the Hutchinsons, with Sister Abby and her husband,
Ludlow Patton.
21
322 History of Woman Suffrage.
lations to the public welfare, and, in place of mere complaisance and flattery, the
higher and truer respect of men.
Resolved, That political affairs, involving nearly all those questions that relate to the
welfare of the nation and the progress of society towards a perfect Christian civiliza-
tion, ought to interest deeply every intelligent mind and every patriotic heart; and,
while women love their country and the cause of Christian progress no less than men,
they ought to have the same opportunity with men to exert a political power in their
behalf.
Resolved, That in the alarming prevalence of public dishonesty and private immor-
ality, which the present forces on the side of public and private virtue are proving
wholly unable to control, it is our firm conviction that women, educated to the respon-
sibilities of a participation with men in political rights, would bring to the aid of vir-
tuous men a new and powerful element of good, which cannot be spared, and for
which there can be no substitute.
Resolved, That in advocating the opening to woman of this larger sphere, we do not
undervalue her relations as a wife and mother, than which none can be more worthy
of a true woman's love and pride; but it is only by a full development of her faculties
and a wide range for her thought that she can become the true companion of an intel-
ligent husband, and the wise and inspiring educator of her children; while mere do-
mestic life furnishes no occupation to the great number of women who never marry,
and a very inadequate one to those who, at middle age, with large experience and ripe
wisdom, find their children grown up around them and no longer needing their care.
Resolved, That all laws which recognize a superior right in the husband to the chil-
dren whom the wife has borne, or a right on the part of the husband to the property of
the wife, beyond the right given to her in his property, and all laws which hold that
husband and wife do not stand in all respects in the relation of equals, ought to be
abrogated, and the perfect equality of husband and wife established.
Resolved, That this equality of position and rights we believe to have been intended
by the Creator as the ultimate perfection of the social state, when he said, "Let us
make man in our image, after our likeness, and let THEM have dominion"; and to
have been a part of our Savior's plan for a perfect Christian society, in which an
Apostle says, " there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female."
The Hartford Courant, in its description of the convention, said :
After a speech by Mr. Garrison, the Hutchinsons sang some of the religious songs
of the Southern negroes with excellent taste, and then, led by them, the whole audi-
ence united in the chorus; and as the melody rose strong and clear a pathos fell upon
the assembly that brought tears to many eyes. The tableau upon the stage was strik-
ing and memorable. Tliere stood the family of singers, with the same cheerful, hope-
ful courage in their uplifted faces with which for twenty years they have sung of the
good time almost here, of every reform; there stood William Lloyd Garrison, stern
Puritan, inflexible apostle, his work gloriously done in one reform, lending the weight
of his unwearied, solid intellect to that which he believes is the last needed; there
was Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, a Roman matron in figure, her noble head covered
with clustering ringlets of white, courageous after a quarter of a century of unsullied
devotion, though she had just confessed that sometimes she was almost weary; there
was Miss Anthony, unselfish, patient, wise and practical; the graceful Mrs. Julia Ward
Howe, the poet of the movement; the tall and elegant Mrs. Celia Burleigh, the be-
nevolent Dr. Clemence Lozier; Mrs. Isabella B. Hooker, with spiritual face and firm
purpose, just taking her place in the reform that has long had her heart and deep con-
viction, and many others of fine presence and commanding beauty — matrons, with gray
hair and countenances illuminated with lives of charity; young women, flushed with
hope; and as the grand Christian song went on, many a woman, leaning against a sup-
porting pillar, gave way to the tears that would come, tears of hope deferred, tears of
weary longings, tears of willing, patient devotion — e'en though it be a cross that
Governor Jewell's Liberality. 323
raiseth me— and then the benediction, and the assembly dispersed, touched, it maybe,
into a moment's sympathy. * * *
At the closing evening session the opera house was completely filled by an audience
•whose attendance was a compliment. * * * The chairman, Rev. N. J. Burton,
said: " Has not this convention been a success? I say, emphatically, it has. We
have had the very best of audiences at every session, and we have provided speakers
as good as the audience. We have not given you even one poor speech. I thank the
audience and the speakers, one and all. I feel like thanking everybody, myself in-
cluded, as chairman. In Stewart's store in New York they told me 1,500 persons
•were employed, all guided by one brain up-stairs, and that one brain giving the store
a national reputation. This convention has been inspired and managed by one per-
son— Mrs. Hooker of this city." After speculating as to the possible oratorical power
of Mrs. H., had she received the advantages and enjoyed the practice of her brother,
who spoke the previous evening, he said: "But of course Mrs. Hooker couldn't vote,
nor be a member of the legislature, or even a justice of the peace. Insufferable non-
sense! If such women don't vote before I die — well, like Cough's obstinate deacon, I
won't die till they do."
On motion of Franklin Chamberlin, esq., the thanks of the convention were ten-
dered to Mrs. Hooker for her efforts. At her request the chairman said that she was
wholly surprised by this reference to herself. She would only say, " Thank God for
our success," to which the chairman added, "Amen and Amen." He then introduced
Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, daughter of the late Judge Cady of Albany, wife of the
Hon. Henry B. Stanton of New York, and editor of The Revolution. She is perhaps
fifty*, and in general appearance much resembles Mrs. Davis. She is apparently in
robust health, dresses in black, with just enough of white lace, and, with her gray hair
loosely gathered, and her strong, symmetrical and refined face and perfect self-posses-
sion, is a noble-looking woman. Her address, or oration, was before her, but she
was not hampered by it. Her voice is clear, her gesticulation simple, and her general
manner not surpassed by Wendell Phillips. Rough notes of an oration so finished
can only indicate the main drift of her thoughts. * * * The eloquent peroration
was heard in profound silence, followed by enthusiastic applause. * * * The
chairman read the constitution and offered it for signatures, and the officers of the
•Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association were chosen.*
In The Revolution of November u, 1869, Mrs. Stanton giving a descrip-
tion of the convention, refers to the liberality of the governor, Marshall
Jewell, and the genial hospitalities of his noble wife :t
In company with Mrs. Howe and Miss Anthony, we were entertained at the gov-
ernor's mansion, a fine brick building in the heart of the town. It has a small pond on
•one side, and eight acres of land, laid out in gardens, walks and lawns, with extensive
greenhouses and graperies. The house is spacious, elegantly and tastefully furnished,
with all the comforts and luxuries that wealth can command. With a conservatory,
library, pictures, statuary, beautiful (strong-minded) wife and charming daughters,
the noble governor is in duty bound to remain the happy, genial, handsome man he is
to-day. Though the governor, owing to his pressing executive duties, did not honor
our convention with his presence, we feel assured, in reading over his last able mes-
sage, that he feels a deep interest in the education and elevation of women. In >pc;ik-
ing of their school system, he calls attention to the low wages of female teachers, and
* J'resident) Rev. N. J. Burton, Hartford. Vice-presidents^ Brigadier-general B. S. Roberts, U. S.
A., New Haven; Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Hartford ; Rev. Dr. Joseph Cummings, Middletown ;
Rev. William L. Gage, Hartford ; Rev. Olympia Brown, Bridgeport. Secretary^ Miss Frances Kllen
Burr. Extcutivt Ctmmitteti Mrs. Isabella B. Hooker, Mrs. Lucy Elmes, Derby; Mrs. J. G. Parsons
.and MLss Emily Manning, M. D., Hartford. Treasurer, John Hooker.
t On her departure for St. Petersburg, where her husband was minister plenipotentiaryi Mrs. Jewell
left a check of $200 for the State society. She was an honored officer of the National Suffrage Axsocia-
lion until the time of her death, in 1883.
324 History of Woman Suffrage.
the injustice of excluding girls from t^ie scientific schools and polytechnic institutions
in the State. He says :
I would especially call the attention of the legislature to the importance of furnish-
ing to women such educational facilities as will better fit them for the industrial pur-
suits which the true progress of the times is opening to them.
On the rights of married women, he says :
While our laws with regard to married women have been amended from time to time
for several years past, so as to secure to them in a more ample manner their property,
held before or acquired after marriage, yet we are still considerably behind many of
our sister States, and even conservative England, «in our legislation on the subject.
I would recommend to your favorable consideration such an amendment of our laws
as will secure to a married woman all her property, with the full control of it during her
married life, and free from liability for any debts, except those contracted by herself
or for which she has voluntarily made herself responsible, with the same right on the
part of the husband to an interest in her property, on his surviving her, that she now
has, or that it may be best to give her, in his.
On the subject of divorce the governor says :
I recommend a revision of our laws with regard to divorce. According to the report
of the State librarian there were in the State last year 4,734 marriages and 478 divorces.
Discontented people come here from other States, to take advantage of what is called
our liberal legislation, to obtain divorces which would be denied them at home. As
the sacredness of the marriage relation lies at the foundation of civilized society, it
should be carefully guarded. Under our present laws the causes of divorce are too
numerous, and not sufficiently defined, and too wide a discretion is given to the courts.
I think the law of 1849 should be modified, and so much of the statute as grants
divorces for " any such misconduct as permanently destroys the happiness of the peti-
tioner, and defeats the purposes of the marriage relation," should be repealed. I
would also suggest that the law provide that no decree of divorce shall take effect till
one year after it is granted.
In conversation with the governor on this point in his message he stated the
singular fact that the majority of the applications for divorce were made by women.
If this be so. we suggested that the laws of Connecticut should stand as they are until
the women have the right of suffrage, that they may have a voice in a social arrange-
ment in which they have an equal interest with man himself. If Connecticut, with its
blue laws, disloyal Hartford convention, and Democracy, has, nevertheless, been a
Canada for fugitive wives from the yoke of matrimony, pray keep that little State, like
an oasis in the desert, sacred to sad wives, at least until the sixteenth amendment of
the federal constitution shall give the women of the republic the right to say whether
they are ready to make marriage, under all circumstances, for better or worse, an in-
dissoluble tie. We have grave doubts as to the sacredness of a relation in which the
subject-class has no voice whatever in the laws that regulate it. We shall never
know what "laws lie at the foundation of all civilized society" until woman's thought
finds expression in the State, the church and the home. It is presumption for man
longer to legislate alone on this vital question, when woman, too, should have a word
to say in the matter.
The morning after the convention we had a pleasant breakfast under Mr. and Mrs.
Hooker's hospitable roof, where Boston and New York amicably broke bread and
discussed the fifteenth amendment together All the wise and witty sayings that
passed around that social board, time fails to chronicle.
In 1877. Governor Hubbard called the attention of the legislature to the
wrongs of married women, in the iollowing words :
There has been for the last few years in this State much slip-shod and fragmentary
legislation in respect to the property rights of married women. The old common law
assumed the subjugation of the wife, and stripped her of the better part of her rights
of person and nearly all her rights of property. It is a matter of astonishment that
Christian nations should have been willing for eighteen centuries to hold the mothers
of their race in a condition of legal servitude. It has been the scandal of jurisprud-
Property Rights of Married Women. 325
ence. Some progress has been made in reforming the law in this State, but it has been
done, as I have already said, by patch-work and shreds, sometimes ill-considered, and
often so incongruous as to provoke vexatious litigation and defy the wisdom of the
courts. The property relations of husband and wife do not to-day rest on any just or
harmonious system. Not only has the husband absolute disposal of all his own prop-
erty freed from all dower rights, but he is practically the owner during coverture of all
his wife's estate not specially limited to her separate use; and after her death has, in
every case, a life use in all her personal, and in most cases in all her real property, by
a title which the wife, no matter what may have been his ill-deserts, is powerless to
impair or defeat ; whereas, on the other hand, the wife has during the husband's life
no more power of her own right to sell, convey, or manage her own estate than if she
were a lunatic or slave, and in case of his death has a life use in only one-third part of
the real estate of which he dies possessed, and no indefeasible title whatever in any of
his personal estate. As a consequence, a husband may strip his wife, by mere volun-
tary disposition to strangers, of all claim on his estate after his death, and thus add
beggary to widowhood.
I am sure this cannot seem right to any fair-minded man. Neither is it strange that
some of our countrywomen, stung by the injustice of the law towards their sex, should
be demanding, as a mode of redress, a part in the making of the laws which govern
them. I am confident there is manhood enough in our own sex to right this obvious
wrong to which I have alluded.
I therefore recommend that the law on this subject be so recast that, in all marriages
hereafter contracted, the wife shall hold her property and all her earnings for personal
services not rendered to her husband or minor children, as a sole and separate estate,
with absolute power of disposition in her own name, and that the surviving wife shall
have, by law, the same measure of estate in the property of the deceased husband, as
the surviving husband shall be allowed to have in the property of his deceased wife.
This will reduce their property relations to a principle of equality, and, in my judgment,
is demanded by the most obvious dictates of justice and equity. Those who are not
satisfied with this can make a different law for themselves by ante-nuptial settlements.
I am not unmindful that the husband alone is liable in the first instance for the sup-
port of the family; but this is much more than neutralized by the fact that, in most
cases, the wife's whole life is spent in the toilsome and unpaid service of the house-
hold, and that the whole drift of her estate, in consequence of her more unselfish and
generous nature, is towards the husband's pockets, in spite of all the guards of the
law and every consideration of prudence.
Calling attention to this stirring appeal, the Hartford Times, Demo-
cratic, used the following language :
Another notable feature of the message is its outspoken and manly call for a reforma-
tion in our laws concerning the property rights of married women. Here as in other
points it is a model message. The governor's experience as a lawyer has brought him
often face to face with this disgraceful one-sidedncss of our laws on this subject, and
in some terse sentences he shows up the injustice more effectively than has ever been
done in any of the so-called women's rights conventions.*
* Mrs. Hooker writes us that the act passed upon Governor Hubbard's recommendation was prepared
at his request by Mr. Hooker, and was essentially the same that had been unsuccessfully urged by
him upon the legislature eight years before. She then goes on to say : " What part our society had in
our bringing about so beneficent a change in legislation, cannot be better set forth than in two private
letters from Samuel Bowles of the Springfield Republican^ and Governor Hubbard. While these gen-
tlemen were friends of Mr. Hooker and myself, yet, as politically opposed to each other, their united
testimony is exceedingly valuable, and since they have both passed on to a world of more perfect adjust-
ments, I feel that nothing would give them greater satisfaction than to be put upon record here as
among the earliest defenders of the rights of women.
" SruiNGFiKi.i>, M.iss., M.irch 38, 1877.
" MY PEAK MRS. HOOKER :— I return your letters and paper as you desired. It is an interesting story,
and a most gratifying movement forward. I am more happy over the bill passed, than I am sorry over
the bill that failed. We shall move fast enough. The first great step is this successful measure in Connect!-
326 History of Woman Sit ff rage.
The following editorial from the Springfield Republican, gives a good
digest 'of the new law passed upon Governor Hubbard's recommenda-
tion :
Connecticut has taken a great leap forward in the reform of the property relations
of married persons. The law had been long neglected in that State, the obvious
right of a married woman to property acquired before marriage, which is now secured
in most States by constitutional provision, having been there denied. In Massachu-
setts, the modification of the former inequalities has gone on by piecemeal, till it is
said that in some respects the woman is now the more favored party.
The new Connecticut statute also puts the burden of the family maintenance on the
man, as under most circumstances the real bread-winner. It simply lays down the
principle of absolute equality in the rights and privileges of the husband and wife,
with the abov« exception. In all marriages hereafter contracted, neither husband nor
wife shall acquire any right to or interest in any property of the other, whether held
before the marriage or acquired after the marriage, except as provided in this law.
The separate earnings of the wife shall be her sole property. She shall have the
same right to make contracts with third persons as if she were not married, and to
convey her real and personal estate. Her property is liable for her debts and not for
his; his is not liable for her debts, except those contracted for the support of the fam-
ily. Purchases made by either party shall be presumed to be on the private account
of the party, but both shall be liable where any article purchased by either shall have
in fact gone to the support of the family, or for the joint benefit of both, or for the
reasonable apparel of the wife, or for her reasonable support while abandoned by her
husband. It shall, however, be the duty of 'the husband to support his family, and
his property, when found, shall be first applied to satisfy any such joint liability. The
wife shall be entitled to indemnity for any money of her own used to pay such claims.
We have used almost the precise language of thetfirst and second sections of the act.
On the death of either, the survivor shall be entitled to the use for life of one-third
the estate of the deceased, which right cannot be defeated by will. If the deceased
leaves no children or representatives of children, the survivor is entitled to one-half
instead of one-third. When either party gives a legacy to the other, the latter may
choose between its rights under the will, and those under the statute. Abandonment
without cause may defeat this provision, and a marriage contract may supersede it en-
has disseminated the perception of that right ; third, to you and your husband in particular ; and
fonrth, to the fact that you had in Connecticut this year a governor who was recognized as the leading
lawyer of the State, a genuine natural conservative who yet said the measure was right and ought to go.
It is this last element that has given Connecticut its chief leadership. It is a bigger thing than it seems
at first to have an eminent conservative lawyer on the side of such legislative reform. 1 hate very much
to take your husband's side against you, and yet now that I am over fifty years old, I find I more and
" Very faithfully yours, SAMUEL BOWLES.
" This letter I enclosed to Governor Hubbard and received the following reply :
" EASTER, April i, 1877.
" MY GOOD FRIEND : — It was a 'Good Friday ' indeed that brought vour friendly missive. And
what a dainty and gracious epistle Sam. Bowles does know how to write ! fie is a good fellow, upon my
word, full of 'generous instincts and ideas. He ought to beat the head of the London Times and master
of all the wealth it brings. Add to this, that the Good Physician should heal him of his ' chronic in-
validism ' and then — well what's the use of dreaming? Thank yourself, and such as you for what
there is of progress in respect of woman's rights amongst us. I do believe our bill is a 'great leap for-
ward ' as Bowles says in his editorial. 'Alas!' says my friend ,' it has destroyed the divine
conception of the unity of husband and wife.' As divine, upon my soul, as the unity of the lamb and
the devouring wolf. * * * But enough of this. I salute you my good friend, with a thousand salu-
tations of respect and admiration. I do not agree with you in all things, but I cannot tell you how
much I glorify you for your courage and devotion to womanhood. _ I am a pretty poorstick for anything
like good work in the world, but 1 am not without -respect for it in others. And so I present myself to
yourself and to your good and noble husband whom I take to be one of the best, with every assurance
of affection and esteem. Thanking you for your kind letter, I remain, dear madam,
" Yours very truly, R. D. HUBBARD."
Before the Legislature. 327
tirely. Parties already married may contract to surrender their present rights for
those secured by this statute, such contracts to be recorded in the probate court.
Thus we have a new and clear statute framed in accordance with a simple principle
of reform, for which the Republican has long done battle — the equality of married per-
sons in their rights and responsibilities of property. The adoption of the reform is
due deeply to the general agitation of the rights of women, the efforts of Mrs. Isabella
Beecher Hooker, the Smith girls' cows, and perhaps some flagrant instance of injus-
tice to rich wives by tyrant husbands near the capital. But the great occasion and
immediate cause, without which this generation might have pleaded for it in vain, was
the perception of the justice of it by Governor Hubbard, and his open advocacy of it
in his message. Lawyers have one answer for all reforms regarding property or civil
contracts — they are impossible. But here was undeniably the best lawyer in the State
who said, and threw the weight of his first State paper on the proposition, that this
thing was possible, and, if he said it was possible, there was no man who could gain-
say it. The legislature took the reform on its own sense of justice and on the assur-
ance of Richard D. Hubbard, that it would work.
On June 6, 1870, at a second hearing* before the Joint Com-
mittee on Woman Suffrage, in the capitol at New Haven, Rev.
PhebeA. Hanaford of the Universalist church, Mrs. Benchley and
Mrs. Russell were the speakers. During that session of the legis-
lature Mrs. Hanaford acted as chaplain both in the Senate and
House of Representatives, and received a check for her services
which she valued chiefly as a recognition of woman's equality in
the clerical profession.
Mrs. Hooker was ably sustained in her new position by her
husband, a prominent lawyer of the State. Being equally
familiar with civil and canon law, with Blackstone and the Bible,
he was well equipped to meet the opponents of the reform at
every point. While Mrs. Hooker held meetings in churches and
school-houses through the State, her husband in his leisure hours
sent the daily press articles on the subject. And thus their
united efforts stirred the people to thought and at last roused
a Democratic governor of the State to his duty on this
question. From the many able tracts issued and articles
published in the journals we give a few extracts. In answer to
the common objections of " free love " and " easy divorce," in
the Evening Post of January 17, 1871, Mr. Hooker said :
The persons who advocate easy divorce would advocate it just as
strongly if there was no woman suffrage movement. The two have no
necessary connection. Indeed one of the strongest arguments in favor of
woman suffrage is, that the marriage relation will be safer with women to
vote and legislate upon it than where the voting and legislation are left
wholly to the men. Women will always be wives and mothers, above all
things else. This law of nature cannot be changed, and 1 know of nobody
* At the various hearings Mrs. Anna Middlebrook, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Sheldon, Julia and Abby
Smith, Rev. Olympia Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Hooker were the speakers.
328 History of Woman Suffrage.
who desires to change it. The marriage relation will therefore always be
more to woman than to man, and we, who would give her the right to
vote, have no fear to trust to her the sanctity and purity of that relation.
It is the opponents of woman suffrage who distrust the fidelity of woman
to her divine instincts and dare not let her vote. Our little State has
been two hundred years under male legislation, and yet a long memorial
from hundreds of clergymen and other Christian men went up to our
legislature two years ago, representing our legislation on divorce as de-
moralizing and as fatal to the best interests of the marriage relation. It
really seems as if the incompetency for the management of public affairs
which by mere assumption is charged in advance upon women, has been
proved with regard to men by an actual experience of many years. The
true idea is for man and woman to share together the responsibilities and
duties of legislation, and until this is done I have no hope for any real
progress towards purity in the administration of our public affairs. We
who favor woman suffrage speak confidently on this subject because the
reform works so well wherever it has been tried, in England, Sweden,
Austria and Wyoming Territory.
No rational man can suppose for a moment that with woman suffrage
established in England and on the continent of Europe, we in this country,
which so specially stands on equal representation, are going to refuse it.
It must be set down as one of the certain things of the future. And when
it has come, and women vote, it will excite no more attention or comment
than the voting of our colored people.
Now if woman suffrage is to come, is it worth while to be making the
impression that the women of our country are not to be trusted with it,
and that the marriage relation is to be imperiled by it? Above all, is it
manly or just to be charging corrupt motives on nine-tenths of those
who advocate the reform ? The notoriety which to some extent its advo-
cates must get is almost universally painful to the women who are the
subjects of it. One noble woman, whose whole soul is in this cause, and
the purity of whose motives in this, as in everything else, I have had good
opportunity to learn, said to me, on reading Dr. Bushnell's remark in his
book on woman suffrage, that these women were only trying to make
themselves men : " Cruel, cruel words ! If so noble a man as Dr. Bush-
nell so utterly fails to comprehend a woman's nature, shall not she be
allowed to speak for herself, and no testimony be taken but hers?"*
Much might be said in regard to the most famous women of
Connecticut, the historic " Maids of Glastonbury," celebrated for
their resistance to taxation. After the death of Abby, July 23,
1878, Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes Smith, in a beautiful tribute to the
sisters, said ;
Many years ago they took a stand akin to that of the illustrious Hamp-
den, which has made his name a synonym for patriotism as well as just
and manly opposition to unconstitutional revenue exaction. " The tax
.may be a small matter for an English gentleman to pay, but it is too much
* See Appendix for Mr. Hooker's article, " Is the Family the Basis of the State? "
The Smith Sisters of Glastonbury. 329
for a British freeman to pay," was the ground of his noble resistance, and
this view precipitated that great Revolution which more than all other mod-
ern movements consolidated and strengthened the rights of the British
subject. These two women deserve to stand upon a platform side by side
with the great Hampden. Other women have paid their taxes under pro-
test, but Abby and Julia Smith have done more than protest; they have
suffered loss as well as inconvenience, their property having been seized
and sold again and again because of their honest conviction that taxation
without representation was as unjust to women as to men. Their stead-
fastness has been the more remarkable because, by their social position,
their learning and their wealth, they might be supposed to be indifferent
to the ballot-box, as so many thus situated claim to be. Abby and her
sister were no ordinary women. The family originally consisted of five
sisters, all more or less accomplished. The father was a man of learning,
a graduate of Yale and a clergyman. The mother was familiar with
French and Italian, and no mean astronomer. Thus parented, it is not
surprising that the Glastonbury sisters were of marked individualism as
well as superior scholarship. They were more or less acquainted with
Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and have made a translation of the Bible from
these sources, giving its original meaning.
The maids of Glastonbury planted themselves upon the right of the
sex to suffrage, from purely philosophic and statesman-like grounds.
They had no other disabilities of which to complain — no other grievance
— no social ostracism, as is so often charged, and most unjustly, against
other advocates of the doctrine. They were unmarried, studious, up-
right, simple-minded gentlewomen, and were much esteemed and hon-
ored in the community in which they lived. They occupied the old
homestead, doing their own work, their interests well cared for in the
person of Mr. Kellogg, an intelligent tenant of theirs, as well as friend
and neighbor.
The Hartford Post, in a tender mention of the life and death of Abby.
with a brief sketch of the family, thus bears honorable testimony to her
worthiness :
In the death of Miss Smith the cause of woman suffrage has met with a severe loss,
as her firm resistance to what she believed to be the unjust treatment of women greatly
encouraged her companions in the contest; her sister has lost her chief support, and
the community in which she lived a faithful friend and a worthy exponent of the vir-
tues of truthfulness, firmness, and adherence to the right as she understood it
The Hartford Times said :
A notable woman who died last week was Miss Abigail H. Smith, of Glastonbury,
Conn., one of the two sisters who resisted the collection of their taxes on the ground
that they had no voice in the levy. It will be remembered that their cows were seized
and some of their personal property sold two years ago. Of course there were friends
who were willing and anxious to pay the taxes, but the plucky old ladies were fighting
for a principle, and they would allow no one to stand in the way. The notoriety,
which they neither sought nor avoided, undoubtedly did a great deal to call public
attention to the anomalous condition of woman under the law. It would be very hard
for any man to argue successfully that he possessed any stronger natural claim to the
suffrage than was possessed by these shrewd, honest, energetic old ladies.
330 History of Woman Suffrage.
Many encouraging letters were written the sisters during their
many trials, of which the following is a fair specimen :
Near BOSTON, January 14, 1874.
MY DEAR MADAM : The account of your hardships is interesting, and
your action will be highly beneficial in bringing the subject to public no-
tice, and in leading to the correction of a great injustice. The taxation of
the property of women, without allowing them any representation, even
in town affairs, is so unfair that it seems only necessary to bring it to pub-
lic view to make it odious and to bring about a change. Therefore you
deserve the greater honor, not only because you have suffered in a good
cause, but because you have set an example that will be followed, and
that will lead to happy results.
Your case has its parallel in every township of New England. In the
town where this is written a widow pays into the treasury §7,830 a year,
while 600 men, a number equal to half the whole number of voters, pay
$1,200 in all. Another lady pays $5,042. Yet neither has a single vote,
not even by proxy. That is, each one of 600 men who have no property,
who pay only a poll-tax, and many of whom cannot read or write, has
the power of voting away the property of the town, while the female
owners have no power at all. We have lately spent a day in celebrating
the heroism of those who threw overboard the tea; but how trifling was
the tea-tax, and how small the injustice to individuals compared with this
one of our day ! The principle, however, was the same — that there should
be no taxation where there is no representation. And this is what we
ought to stand by. Please to accept the sympathy and respect of one
of your fellow citizens. No doubt you will have the same from all in
due time; or, at any rate, from all who love to see fair play.
Very truly yours, AMOS A. LAWRENCE.
Miss Abby H. Smith, Glastonbury, Conn.
A marked evidence of the advance of public sentiment was
manifested by a decision of the Supreme Court in 1882, by which
the women of Connecticut were held to have the right to practice
law. The opinion of Chief-Justice Park concerning the legality
of the admission of Miss Mary Hall of Hartford to the bar, giving
her the right to practice in the courts of the State, is as follows:
This is an application by a woman for admission to the bar of Hartford county.
After having completed the prescribed term of study she has passed the examination
required and has been recommended by the bar of the county to the Superior Court
for admission, subject to the opinion of the court upon the question whether, as a
woman, she can legally be admitted. The Superior Court has reserved the case for
our advice.
The statute with regard to the admission of attorneys by the court is the 2gth section
of chapter 3, title 4, of the General Statutes, and is in the following words : " The Su-
perior Court may admit and cause to be sworn as attorneys such persons as are quali-
fied therefor agreeably to the rules established by the judges of said court; and no
other person than an attorney so admitted shall plead at the bar of any court of this
State, except in his own cause."
Admission to the Bar. 331
It is not contended, in opposition to the application, that the language of this statute
is not comprehensive enough to include women, but the claim is that at the time it
was passed its application to women was not thought of, while the fact that women
have never been admitted as attorneys, either by the English courts or by any of the
courts of this country, had established a common-law disability, which could be re-
moved only by a statute intended to have that effect.
It is hardly necessary to consider how far the fact that women have never pursued
a particular profession or occupied a particular official position, to the pursuit or occu-
pancy of which some governmental license or authority was necessary, constitutes a
common-law disability for receiving such license or authority, because here the statute
is ample for removing that disability if we can construe it as applying to women; so
that we come back to the question whether we are by construction to limit the appli-
cation of the statute to men alone, by reason of the fact that in its original enactment
its application to women was not intended by the legislators that enacted it. And
upon this point we remark, in the first place, that an inquiry of this sort involves very
serious difficulties. No one would doubt that a statute passed at this time in the same
words would be sufficient to authorize the admission of women to the bar, because it
is now a common fact and presumably in the minds of legislators, that women in dif-
ferent parts of the country are, and for some time have been, following the profession
of law. But if we hold that the construction of the statute is to be determined by the
admitted fact that its application to women was not in the minds of the legislators
when it was passed, where shall we draw the line ? All progress in social matters is
gradual. We pass almost imperceptibly from a state of public opinion that utterly
condemns some course of action to one that strongly approves it. At what point, in
the history of this change, shall we regard a statute, the construction of which is to be
affected by it, as passed in contemplation of it ? When the statute we are now consid-
ering was passed, it probably never entered the mind of a single member of the legis-
lature that black men would ever be seeking for admission under it. Shall we now
hold that it cannot apply to black men ? We know of no distinction in respect to this
rule between the case of a statute and that of a constitutional provision. When our
State constitution was adopted in 1818 it was provided in it that every elector should
be "eligible to any office in the State," except where otherwise provided in the consti-
tution. It is clear that the convention that framed, and probably all the people who
voted to adopt the constitution, had no idea that black men would ever be electors,
and contemplated only white men as within any possible application of the provision,
for the same constitution provided that only white men should be electors. But now
that black men are made electors, will it do to say that they are not entitled to the
full rights of electors in respect to holding office, because an application of the pro-
vision to them was never thought of when it was adopted? Events that gave rise to
enactments may always be considered in construing them. This is little more than
the familiar rule that in construing a statute we always inquire what particular mischief
it was designed to remedy. Thus, the Supreme Court of the United States has held
that in construing the recent amendments of the federal constitution, although they
are general in their terms, it is to be considered that they were passed with reference
to the exigencies growing out of the emancipation of the slaves, and for the purpose of
benefiting the blacks {Slaughter-house Cases, 16 Wall., 67; Straudervs. West /'/>-
ginia, 100 U. S. Jteps., 306). But this statute was not passed for the purpose of ben-
efiting men as distinguished from women. It grew out of no exigency caused by the
relation of the sexes. Its object was wholly to secure the orderly trial of causes and
the better administration of justice. Indeed, the preamble to the first statute provid-
ing for the admission of attorneys, states its object to be " for the well-ordering of
proceedings and pleas at the bar."
The statute on this subject was not originally passed in its present form. The first
act with regard to the admission of attorneys was that of 1708, which was as follows:
"That no person, except in his own cause, shall be admitted to make any plea at the
bar without being first approved by the court before whom the plea is to be made, nor
33- History of Woman Suffrage.
until he shall take in the said court the following oath," etc. (Col. Records, 1706 to
1716, page 48). This act seems to have contemplated an approval by the court in each
particular case in which an attorney appeared before it. The first act with regard to
the general admission of attorneys appears in the revision of 1750, and is as follows :
" That the county courts of the respective counties in this colony shall appoint, and
they are hereby empowered to approve, nominate and appoint attorneys in their re-
spective counties, as there shall be occasion, to plead at the bar; * * and that no
person, except in his own case, shall make any plea at the bar in any court but such
as are allowed and qualified attorneys, as aforesaid." Thus the statute stood until the
revision of 1821; when, for the first time, it took essentially its present form. Up to
this time the word "person " had been used in this statute only in the clause that "no
person " should be allowed to practice before the courts except where formally admit-
ted by the court, a use of the word which, of course, could not be regarded as limited
to the male sex, as women would undoubtedly have been held to be included in the
term. The language of the statute as now adopted was as follows: " The county
courts may make such rules and regulations as to them shall seem proper relative to
the admission and practice of attorneys; and may approve of, admit and cause to be
sworn as attorneys, such persons as are qualified therefor agreeably to the rules estab-
lished; * * and no person not thus admitted, except in his own cause, shall be ad-
mitted or allowed to plead at the bar of any court." The statute in this form passed
through the compilations of 1835 and 1838, the revision of 1849 and the compilation
of 1854, and appears, with a slight modification, in the revision of 1866. The county
courts had now been abolished, and the power to admit attorneys, as well as to make
rules on the subject, had been given to the Superior Court; the expression, "such per-
sons," being preserved, and the provision that "no person" not thus admitted should
be allowed to plead, being omitted.
The statute finally took its present form in the revision of 1875. It retains the pro-
vision that the Superior Court may make rules for the admission of attorneys, and pro-
vides that the court "may admit and cause to be sworn as attorneys such persons as
are qualified therefor agreeably to the rules established," and restores the provision,
dropt in the revision of 1866, that "no person other than an attorney so admitted
shall plead at the bar of any court in this State, except in his own cause."
These changes, though not such as to affect the meaning of the statute at any point
of importance to the present question, are yet not wholly without importance. The
adoption by the legislature of the revision of the statutes becomes, both in law and in
fact, a reenactment of the whole body of statutes ; and though in determining the
meaning of a statute, we are not to regard it as then enacted for the first time, especially
if there be no change in its phraseology, yet, where there is such a change, it follows that
the attention of the revisers had been particularly directed to that statute, as of course
also that of the legislature, and that with the changes made it expresses the present
intent of both. Thus, in this case, it is clear that the revisers gave particular thought
to the phraseology of the statute we are considering, and put it in a form that seemed
to them best with reference to the present state of things, and decided to leave the words
"such persons" to stand with full knowledge that they were sufficient to include women,
and that women were already following the profession of law in different parts of the
country. The legislators must be presumed to have acted with the same considera-
tion and knowledge. It would have been perfectly easy, if either had thought best, to
insert some words of limitation or exclusion, but it was not done. Not only so, but a
clause omitted in the revision of 1866 was restored, providing that no "person" not
regularly admitted should act as an attorney — a term which necessarily included women,
and the insertion of which made it necessary, if the word ' ' persons " as used in the
first part of the statute should be held not to include women, to give two entirely dif-
ferent meanings to the same word where occurring twice in the same statute and with
regard to the same subject matter.
The object of a revision of statutes is, that there may be such changes made in
them as the changes in political and social matters may demand, and where no
Admission to the Bar. 333
changes are made it is to be presumed that the legislature is satisfied with it in its
present form. And where some changes are made in a particular statute, and other
parts of it are left unchanged, there is the more reason for the inference from this
evidence that the matter of changing the statute was especially considered, that the
parts unchanged express the legislative will of to-day, rather than that of perhaps a
hundred years ago, when it was originally enacted.
But this statute, in the revision of 1875, is placed immediately after another with
regard to the appointment of commissioners of the Superior Court, the necessary con-
struction of which, we think, throws light upon the construction of the statute in ques-
tion. That act was passed in 1855, after women had begun, with general acceptance,
to occupy a greatly enlarged field of industry and some professional and even public
positions ; and it has been held by the Superior Court, very properly we think, as ap-
plying to women, a woman having three years ago been appointed commissioner under
it. Its language is as follows : " The Superior Court in any county may appoint any
number of persons in such county to be commissioners of the Superior Court, who,
when sworn, may sign writs and subprenas, take recognizances, administer oaths and
take depositions and the acknowledgement of deeds, and shall hold office for two years
from their appointment." Here the very language is used which is used in the statute
with regard to attorneys. In one it is, " any number of persons," in the other, " such
persons as are qualified." These two statutes are placed in immediate juxtaposition in
the revision of 1875 and deal with kindred subjects, and it is reasonable to presume that
the revisers and legislature intended both to receive the same construction. It would
seem strange to any common-sense observer that an entirely different meaning should
be given to the same word in the two statutes, especially when in giving the narrower
meaning to the word in the statute with regard to attorneys, we are compelled to give
it a different meaning from that which the same word requires in the next line of the
same statute.
We are not to forget that all statutes are to be construed, as far as possible, in favor
of equality of rights. All restrictions upon human liberty, all claims for special privi-
leges, are to be regarded as having the presumption of law against them, and as
standing upon their defense, and can be sustained if at all by valid legislation, only
by the clear expression or clear implication of the law.
We have some noteworthy illustrations of the recognition of women as eligible or
appointable to office under statutes of which the language is merely general. Thus,
women are appointed in all parts of the country as postmasters. The act of congress
of 1825 was the first one conferring upon the postmaster-general the power of appoint-
ing postmasters, and it has remained essentially unchanged to the present time. The
language of the act is, that "the postmaster-general shall establish post-offices and
appoint postmasters." Here women are not included, except in the general term
" postmasters," a term which seems to imply a male person; and no legislation from
1825 down to the present time authorizes the appointment of women, nor is there any
reference in terms to women until the revision of 1874, which recognizes the fact
that women had already been appointed, in providing that " the bond of any married
woman who may be appointed postmaster shall be binding on her and her sureties."
Some of the higher grades of postmasters are appointed by the president, subject to
confirmation by the Senate, and such appointments and confirmations have repeatedly
been made. The same may be said of pension agents. The acts of congress on the
subject have simply authorized "the President, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, to appoint all pension agents, who shall hold their offices for the term of
four years, and shall give bond," etc. At the last session of congress a married
woman in Chicago was appointed for a third term pension agent for the State of
Illinois, and the public papers stated that there was not a single vote against her con-
firmation in the Senate. Public opinion is everywhere approving of such appointments.
They promote the public interest, which is benefitted by every legitimate use of indi-
vidual ability, while mere justice, which is of interest to all, requires that all have the
334 History of Woman Suffrage.
fullest opportunity for the exercise of their abilities. These cases are the more note-
worthy as being cases of public offices, to which the incumbent is appointed for a term
of years, upon a compensation provided by law, and in which he is required to give
bond. If an attorney is to be regarded as an officer, it is in a lower sense.
We have had pressed upon us by the counsel opposed to the applicant, the decisions
of the courts of Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois, and the United States Court of
Claims, adverse to such an application. While not prepared to accede to all the
general views expressed in those decisions, we do not think it necessary to go into a
discussion of them, as we regard our statute, in view of all the considerations affecting
its construction, as too clear to admit of any reasonable question as to the interpreta-
tion and effect which we ought to give it.
In this opinion Carpenter and Loomis, Js., concurred; Pardee, J., dissented.
In 1884, the State society held a spirited and successful con-
vention.* Julia Smith gave an extemporaneous talk to the
great delight of the audience, who applauded continually ; Mrs.
Crane, a fine elocutionist, gave a reading from Carlyle ; Mrs.
Hooker closed with a brief resum£ of the work the society had
accomplished.
We are also indebted to Frances Ellen Burr for many facts, as
the following letter will show :
HARTFORD, September 17, 1885.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY: I have received your letter of inquiry. As
to that petition in 1867, I was one of the signers, and, probably had some-
thing to do with getting the other signatures, though I have nothing but
my memory to depend on as to that ; but I was pretty much alone here
in those days, on the woman suffrage question. Who the other signers
were I made an attempt to find out in the secretary of state's office the
other day, but found that it would take days, instead of the few hours I had
at my command. I find in my journal a reference to Lucy Stone and Mr.
Blackwell addressing the committee in the House of Representatives, and
that was the committee that made the report afterwards published in The
Revolution, Mr. Croffut made the opening address on the day of the hear-
ing. He was always ready to aid us in whatever way he could, and I
felt grateful to him, for a helping hand was doubly appreciated in those
days. I find by the journal of the House' for that year that the vote on
the question was 93 yeas to in nays. The name of Miss Susie Hutchin-
son heads one petition, with 70 others. How many other petitions
there were that year I do not know, but I believe there have been several
every year since, besides a number of individual petitions. Since that
time the House has voted favorably on the question twice, at least, but I
believe we have never had a majority in the Senate.
* At the convention of March 17 and 18, 1884, the speakers were Mrs. Hooker, Susan B. Anthony,
the Rev. Charles Stowe, Julia Smith Parker, Mrs. Emily Collins, Abigail Scott Duniway, Miss
Leonard, Mrs. C. G. Rogers, the Rev. Dr. A. J. Sage, Mrs. Ellis, Miss Gage, the Rev. J. C-
Kimball, the Rev. Mr. Everts of Hartford, Mary Hall and F. E. Burr. The officers elected at this
meeting were : Isabella B. Hooker, President,' F. Ellen Burr, Secretary: Mary Hall, Assistant-sec-
retary; John Hooker, Treasurer. Executive Committee ; Mrs. Ellen Burr McManus,Mrs. Emily P.
Collins, Mrs. Amy A. Ellis, Mrs. J. G. Parsons Hartford ; Mrs. Susan J. Cheney, South Manchester ;
Mrs. John S. Dobson, Vernon Depot ; Judge Joseph Sheldon, Charles Atwater, James Gallagher,
New Haven.
Frances Ellen Burrs Letter. 335
You ask when I first wrote or spoke for the ballot. My first ven-
ture in that line was in 1853. I was then at the age of twenty-two,
living with my sister in Cleveland, O., and had never given any attention
to the subject of woman suffrage, and cared nothing about it any further
than the spirit of rebellion — born with me — against everything unjust,
might be said to have made me a radical by nature. In the fall of that
year a woman's rights convention met in Cleveland, and I attended it
alone, none of the rest of the family caring to go. In my old journal I
find this entry :
October 7, 1853. Attended a woman's rights convention which has met here.
Never saw anything of the kind before. A Mr. Barker spent most of the morning
trying to prove that woman's rights and the Bible cannot agree. The Rev. Antoinette
L. Brown replied in the afternoon in defense of the Bible. She says the Bible favors
woman's rights. Miss Brown is the best-looking woman in the convention. They
appear to have a number of original and pleasing characters upon their platform,
among them Miss Lucy Stone — hair short and rolled under like a man's; a tight-fitting
velvet waist and linen collar at the throat; bombazine skirt just reaching the knees,
and trousers of the same. She is independent in manner and advocates woman's
rights in the strongest terms : — scorns the idea of woman asking rights of man, but says
she must boldly assert her own rights, and take them in her own strength. Mrs.
Ernestine L. Rose, a Polish lady with black eyes and curls, and rosy cheeks, manifests
the independent spirit also. She is graceful and witty, and is ready with sharp replies
on all occasionsi Mrs. Lucretia Mott, a Philadelphia Quaker, is meek in dress but
not in spirit. She gets up and hammers away at woman's rights, politics and the
Bible, with much vigor, then quietly resumes her knitting, to which she industriously
applies herself when not speaking to the audience. She wears the plain Quaker dress
and close-fitting white cap. Mrs. Frances D. Gage, the president, is a woman of sound
sense and a good writer of prose and poetry. Mrs. Caroline Severance has an easy,
pleasing way of speaking. Mr. Charles Burleigh, a Quaker, appears to be an original
character. He has long hair, parted in the middle like a woman's, and hanging down
his back. He and Miss Stone seem to reverse the usual order of things.
My first speech in public, I find by my old journal — which serves me
better than I thought it would — was given in Music Hall in this city in
November, 1870. This meeting was held under the auspices of the State
association, and was presided over by the Rev. Olympia Brown. I find
that in the winter of 1871 I made addresses in various parts of the State.
The journal also tells of a good deal of trotting about to get signatures to
petitions, for I had more time to do that thing then than I have now.
The first woman suffrage meeting ever held in Hartford, and the first,
probably, in Connecticut, was the one )rou and Mrs. Stanton held in Allyn
Hall in December, 1867. Our State Suffrage Association was organized in
October, 1869. The signers* to the call for that convention were quite
influential persons.
* John Hooker, Isabella B. Hooker, the Rev. N. J. Burton, Rachel C. Burton, Franklin Chamber-
lin, Francis Gillette, Eliza D. Gillette, Frances Ellen Burr, Catharine E. Beecher, Esther
E. Jewell, Calvin E. Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe and others, Hartford ; Joseph Cummings,
Middletown, President of Wesleyan University ; Thomas Elmes, Lucy R. Elmes, Derby ; Charles
Atwatcr, New Haven ; Thomas T. Stone, Laura Stone, Brooklyn. The officers elected for
the Association were: President, the Rev. N. J. Burton, Hartford ; Secretary^ Frances Ellen Burr ;
l-'.\-i-cutive Coinnn'(tct\ Isabella 1'.. Hooker; Mrs. Lucy R. Elmes, Derby ; Mrs. J. G. Parsons, Miss
Emily Manning. M. C., Hartford ; Mr. Charles Atwater, New Haven ; Mr. Ward Cheney, Mrs. Susan
J. Cheney, South Manchester ; Mrs. Virginia Smith, Hartford. Treasurer, William B. Smith, Hart-
ford. There was a long list of vice-presidents, which I presume you do not care for, nor for the other
names that were added as changes had to be made in the years that followed.
336 History of Woman Suffrage.
In my hunt through the journals of the two legislative houses I found
in the House journal for 1878 that Mr. Pratt of Meriden had presented
the petition of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac C. Lewis. Mr. Clark of Enfield, pre-
sented the petition of Lucy A. Allen ; Mr. Gallagher of New Haven pre-
sented several petitions that year, one of them being headed by Mr.
Henry A. Stillman ot Wethersfield, followed by 532 names, and another by
Mrs. D. F. Connor, M. D. Mr. Broadhead of Glastonbury presented the
petition of the Smith sisters. This unique petition Miss Mary Hall, who
was with me in the secretary's office, chanced to light upon, and she copied
it. It is a document well worth handing down on the page of history, and
runs as follows :
The Petition of Julia E. Smith and Abby H. Smith, of Glastonbury, to the Senate of
the State of Connecticut :
This is the first time we have petitioned your honorable body, having twice come
before the House of Assembly, which the last time gave a majority that we should
vote in town affairs ; but it was negatived in the Senate.
We now pray the highest court in our native State that we may be relieved from the
stigma of birth. For forty years since the death of our father have we suffered in-
tensely for being born women. We cannot even stand up for the principles of our
forefathers (who fought and bled for them) without having our property seized and
sold at the sign-post, which we have suffered four times ; and have also seen eleven
acres of our meadow-land sold loan ugly neighbor for a tax of fifty dollars — land worth
more than $2,000. And a threat is given out that our house shall be ransacked and
despoiled of articles most dear to us, the work of lamented members of our family who
have gone before us, and all this is done without the least excuse of right or justice.
We are told that it is the law of the land made by the legislature and done to us,
two defenceless women, who have never broken these laws, made by not half the citi-
zens of this State. And it was said in our Declaration of Independence that " Govern-
ments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."
For being born women we are obliged to help support those who have earned noth-
ing, and who, by gambling, drinking, and the like, have come to poverty, and these same
can vote away what we have earned with our own hands. And when men meet to
take off the dollar poll-tax, the bill for the dinner comes in for the women to pay.
Neither have we husband, or brother, or son, or even nephew, or cousin, to help us.
All men will acknowledge that it is as wrong to take a woman's property without her
consent as to take a man's without his consent; and such wrong we suffer wholly for
being born women, which we are in no wise to blame for. To be sure, for our con-
solation, we are upheld by the learned, the wise and the good, from all parts of the
country, having received communications from thirty-two of our States, as well as from
over the seas, that we are in the right, and from many of the best men in our own
State. But they have no power to help us. We therefore now pray your honorable
body, who have power, with the House of Assembly, to relieve us of this stigma of
birth, and grant that we may have the same privileges before the law as though we
were born men. And this, as in duty bound, we will ever pray.
Glastonbury, Conn., January 29, j8j8. JULIA and ABBY SMITH.
The story of the Smith sisters, from 1873 and on, will be handed down
as one of the most original and unique chapters in the history of woman
suffrage. Abby Smith, with my friend Mrs. Buckingham, attended with
me the first meeting of the Woman's Congress, in New York, in October,
1873. While there, she said she should, on her return, address her town's
people on woman suffrage and taxation, as they had not been treated
fairly in the matter of their taxes. She did so on the fifth of November,
/ft.
33<
'istory of Woman Suffrage.
were published in different papers, but she made no noise about it ; hei
work was all done with her own characteristic gentleness. Generous to
a fault, winning and beautiful as the flowers she scattered on the pathway
of her friends, she passed on her way ; and one memorable Easter morn-
ing she left us so gently that none knew when the sleep of life passed
into the sleep of death ; we only knew that the glorious light of her eyes
— a light like that which " never shone on sea or land " — had gone out
forever.
" She died in beauty like the dew
Of flowers dissolved away ;
She died in beauty like a star
Lost on the brow of day."
The Hartford Equal Rights Club* was organized in March, 1885, and
holds semi-monthly meetings. Its membership is not large, but what it
lacks in numbers it makes up in earnestness. Its proceedings are re-
ported pretty fully and published in the Hartford Times, which has a
large circulation, thus gaining an audience of many thousands and making
its proceedings much more important than they would otherwise be. It
is managed as simply as possible, and is not encumbered with a long list
of officers. There are simply a president, Mrs. Emily P. Collins ;t a vice-
president, Miss Mary Hall; and a secretary, Frances Ellen Burr, who is
also the treasurer. Debate is free to all, the platform being perfectly
independent, as far as a platform can be independent within the limits of
reason. Essays are read and debated, and many interesting off-hand
speeches are made. It is an entirely separate organization from the Con-
necticut State Suffrage Association, founded in 1869. But its membership
is not confined to the city ; it invites people throughout the State, or in
other States, to become members — people of all classes and of all beliefs.
Opponents of woman suffrage are always welcome, for these furnish the
spice of debate. Among the topics discussed has been that of woman and
the church, and upon this subject Mrs. Stanton has written the club sev-
eral letters.
Last spring (1885) a number of the members of the club were given
hearings before the Committee on Woman Suffrage in the legislature in
reference to a bill then under consideration, which was exceedingly lim-
ited in its provisions. The House of Representatives improved it and
then passed it, but it was afterwards defeated in the Senate. Some of the
meetings of the club have been held in Hartford's handsome capitol, a
Toom having been allowed for its use, and a number of members of the
House of Representatives have taken part in the discussions. Mrs. Col-
lins, president of the club, is always to be depended upon for good work,
and Miss Hall, its vice-president, is active and efficient. She is in herself
an illustration of what women can become if they only have sufficient
confidence and force of will. She is a practicing lawyer, and a successful
one.
* A member of the club says : " We receive more of our life and enthusiasm from Frances Ellen
Burr than all other members combined ; indeed, the chief part of the work rests on her shoulders."
tSee Mrs. Collins's Reminiscences, chapter V., Vol. I.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
RHODE ISLAND.
Senator Anthony in North American Review — Convention in Providence — Work of
State Association — Report of Elizabeth B. Chace — Miss Ida Lewis — Letter of
Frederick A. Hinckley — Last Words from Senator Anthony.
RHODE ISLAND, though one of the smallest, is, in proportion to
the number of its inhabitants, one of the wealthiest states in the
Union. In political organization Rhode Island, in colonial times,
contrasted favorably with the other colonies, nearly all of which
required a larger property qualifiation, and some a religious test
for the suffrage. The home of Roger Williams knew nothing of
such narrowness, but was an asylum for those who suffered perse-
cution elsewhere. Nevertheless this is now, in many respects,
the most conservative of all the States.
In the November number of the North American Review for
1883, Senator Anthony, in an article on the restricted suffrage in
Rhode Island, stoutly maintains that suffrage is not a natural-
right, and that in adhering to her property qualification for
foreigners his State has wisely protected the best interests of the
people. In his whole argument on the question, he ignores the
idea of women being a part of the people, and ranks together
qualifications of sex, age, and residence. He quite unfairly at-
tributes much of Rhode Island's prosperity — the result of many
•causes — to her restricted suffrage. His position in this article,
written so late in life, is the more remarkable as he had always
spoken and voted in his place in the United States Senate (where
he had served nearly thirty years) strongly in favor of woman's
enfranchisement. And the Providence Journal, which he owned
and controlled, was invariably respectful and complimentary
towards the movement.
While such a man as Senator Anthony, one of the political
leaders in his State, regarded suffrage as a privilege which society
may concede or withhold at pleasure, we need not wonder that
34-O History of Woman Suffrage.
so little has been accomplished there in the way of legislative en-
actments and supreme-court decisions. Nevertheless that State
has shared in the general agitation and can boast many noble
men and women who have taken part in the discussion of this
subject.
The first woman suffrage association was formed in Rhode
Island in December, 1868. In describing the initiative steps,
Elizabeth B. Chace in a letter to a friend, says :
In October 1868, while in Boston attending the convention that formed
the New England society, Paulina Wright Davis* conceived the idea that
the time had come to organize the friends of suffrage in Rhode Island.
After consultation with a few of the most prominent friends of the cause,
a call was issued for a convention, to be held in Roger Williams Hall,
Providence, December nth, signed by many leading names. No sooner
did the call appear than, as usual, some clergyman publicly declared him-
self in opposition. The Rev. Mark Trafton, a Methodist minister, gave a
lecture in his vestry on "The Coming Woman," who was to be a good
housekeeper, dress simply, and not to vote. This was published in the
Providence Journal, and called out a gracefull vindication of woman's
modern demands from the pen of Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman, the poet,
and Miss Norah Perry, a popular writer of both prose and verse. The
convention was all that its most ardent friends could have desired, and
resulted in forming an association. t The audience numbered over a
thousand, at the different sessions, and among the speakers were some of
the ablest men in the State. Though the friends were comparatively few
in the early days, yet there was no lack of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice.
Weekly meetings were held, tracts and petitions circulated ; conventions \
and legislative hearings were as regular as the changing seasons, now in
Providence, and now in Newport, following the migratory government.
Mrs. Davis was president of the association for several success-
ive years in which her labors were indefatigable. Finally failing
* To Mrs. Davis, a native of the State of New York, belongs the honor of inaugurating this move-
ment in New England, as she called and managed the first convention held in Massachusetts in 1850,
and helped to arouse all these States to action in 1868. With New England reformers slavery was
always the preeminently pressing question, even after the emancipation of the slaves, while in New
York woman's civil and political rights were considered the more vital question. — [E. C. S.
t The Revolution of December 17, 1868, says : The meeting last week in Providence, was, in numbers
and ability, eminently successful. Mrs. Elizabeth B. Chace, of Valley Falls, presided, and addresses
were made by Colonel Higginson, Paulina Wright Davis, Lucy Stone, Frederick Douglass, Mrs. O.
Shepard, Rev. John Boyden, Dr. Mercy B. Jackson, Stephen S. and Abbey Kelly Foster. The officers
of the association were : President, Paulina Wright Davis. I'ice-fi residents, Elizabeth B. Chace of
Valley Falls, Col., T. W. Higginson of Newport, Mrs. George Cushing, J. W. Stillman. Mrs. Buffum
of Woonsocket and P. W. Aid rich. Recording Secretary, Martha W. Chase. Corresponding Secre-
tary, Mrs. Rhoda Fairbanks. Treasurer, Mrs. Susan B. Harris. Executive Committee, Mrs. James
Bucklin, Catharine W. Hunt, Mrs. Lewi's Doyle, Anna Aldrich, Mrs. S. B. G. Martin, Dr. Perry, Mrs.
Churchill, Arnold B. Chace.
\ Among the speakers at these annual conventions we find Rowland G. Hazard, Rev. John Boyden.
Rev. Charles Howard Malcolm, the brilliant John Neal, Portland, Maine, Hon. James M. Stillman
Gen. F. G. Lippett, Theodore Tilton, Rev. Olympia Brown. Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Elizabeth K.
Churchill. For a report of the convention held at Newport during the fashionable season, Augustas,
26, 1869, see vol. II., page 403, also The Revolution, September 2, 1869.
A Shabby Trick. 341
health compelled her to resign her position as president of the as-
sociation.* Since then her able coadjutor Elizabeth B. Chace,
has been president of the Rhode Island Suffrage Association, and
with equal faithfulness and persistence, carried on the work. She
steadily keeps up the annual conventions and makes her appeals
to the legislature. Among the names f of those who have ap-
peared from year to year before the Rhode Island legislature we
find many able men and women from other States as well as many
of their own distinguished citizens.
In this State an effort was made early to get women on the
board of managers for schools, prisons and charitable institutions.
In a letter to Mrs. Davis, John Stuart Mill says:
I am very glad to hear of the step in advance made by Rhode Island in
creating a board of women for some very important administrative pur-
pose. Your proposal that women should be empanneled on every jury
where women are to be tried seems to me very good, and calculated to
place the injustice to which women are subjected at present by the entire
legal system in a very striking light.
In 1873 an effort was made to place women on the Providence
School Board, with what success the following extracts from the
daily papers show. The Providence Press of April 25, 1873, says:
A shabby trick was perpetrated by the friends of John W. Angell, which
was certainly anything but "angelic," and which ought to consign the
parties who committed it to political infamy.
Yesterday, for the first time in the history of this city, women were
candidates for political honors — in the fifth ward, Mrs. Sarah E. H. Doyle,
and in the fourth ward, Mrs. Rhoda A. F. Peckham, were candidates for
positions on the school committee ; both, however, failed of an election.
Mrs. Doyle received the unanimous nomination of the large primary
meeting of the National Union Republican party, and Mrs. Peckham was
run as an outside candidate against the regular nominee. These ladies
would undoubtedly have made excellent members of the committee, and.
unlike a great portion of that body, would have been found in their places
at the meetings, and we should have been glad to have seen the experi-
ment tried of women in the position for which their names were pre-
sented. When the polls opened in the fifth ward, instead of Mrs. Doyle's
name being on the ballots for the place to which she had been nominated
there appeared the name of John W. Angell, esq., and until about n
* Mrs. Chacc says in a letter, speaking of Mrs. Davis : " After several years absence in Europe she
returned, a helpless invalid, unable to resume her labors. But her devotion in early years will long
remain fresh in the memory of those associated with her, who were inspired by her self-sacrifice and
enthusiasm." Forfarther details of Mrs. Davis' earlier labors, see vol., I, pages 215, 383.
t Julia Ward Howe, Celia Burleigh, William Lloyd Garrison, Aaron M. Powell, Caroline H. Dall,
Mrs. Kdnah D. Cheney, Miss Mary F. Eastman, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Rev. Augustus Woodbury
Hon. Amasa M. Eaton, Mr. Stillman, Hon. Thomas Davis, Hon. George L. Clarke, Rev. Frederick
Hinckley, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Hon. A. Payne.
342 History of Woman Suffrage.
o'clock A. M. he had the field to himself. At that hour, however, Mrs.
Doyle's friends appeared with the "regular" nomination, and from that
time to the close of the polls she received 145 votes; Mr. Angell, notwith-
standing- his several hours' start in the race, only winning by a majority
of 38. From this fact it is clear that had Mrs. Doyle's name been in its
proper place at the opening of the polls she would have beaten her oppo-
nent handsomely. Mrs. Peckham's opponent obtained but 23 majority in
a poll of 349. It is evident from the vote yesterday, that if they have but
a fair show, women will at the next election be successful as candidates-
for the school committee. Had the intelligent ladies of the fifth ward1
been allowed to vote, Mrs. Doyle would have led even the gubernatorial
vote of that ward.
The Providence Journal makes the following comment :
We are sorry to observe that the two estimable and admirably qualified"
ladies whose names were presented for school committee in this city,
failed of success. Their influence in official connection with the schools
could not have been other than salutary. The treatment accorded Mrs.-
Doyle in the fifth ward was wofully shabby. Without her solicitation,
the Republican caucus unanimously nominated her for a member of the
school committee. Being a novice in political proceedings, she naturally
enough supposed that the party that desired her services so much as to
'place her in nomination, would make provision for electing their candi-
date. There was not gallantry enough in the ward, however, for that
duty, and it was not until 11 o'clock on election day that any tickets bear-
ing the name of Mrs. Doyle were to be found. in the ward-room ; but a
ticket with the names of two men was on hand at sunrise, and the time
lost in procuring tickets for the regular nominee proved fatal to her suc-
cess. Mrs. Doyle has now learned something of the wa3*s of politicians,,
and is not likely to put her trust again in the faithfulness of ward com-
mittees.
At a meeting of the State association, held in Providence, on
Thursday, May 18, 1871, the following preamble and resolutions
were, after a full and earnest discussion, unanimously adopted :
WHEREAS, It is claimed, in opposition to the demand that the elective franchise-
shall be given to women, that they are represented in the government by men, so that
they do not need the ballot for their protection, inasmuch as all their rights are secured
to them by the interest of these men in their welfare; and, whereas, in February last,
in view of the appalling facts frequently coming to our notice, consequent upon the
mismanagement of poor-houses and asylums for the insane, this association did earn-
estly petition our State legislature to enact a law providing for the appointment of
women in all the towns in our State to act as joint commissioners with men in the care
and control of these institutions; and, whereas, in utter disregard of our request, the
Committee on State Charities, to whom it was referred, in reporting back our petition
to the House of Representatives, did recommend that the petitioners be given leave to-
withdraw, and the House, without (so far as we could learn) one word of protest from
any member thereof, did so dispose of our petition; therefore,
Resolved, That this association do most solemnly declare, that so far from being;
represented in our legislature, the rights of the women of this State were in this-
instance trampled under foot therein, and the best interests of humanity, in the per-
Report by Mrs. Chace. 343
sons of the poorest and most unfortunate classes, were not sufficiently regarded, under
this system of class legislation.
Resolved, That, despairing of obtaining for women even the privileges which would
enable them to look after the welfare of the destitute and the suffering, with any
power or authority to improve their condition, until equal rights in the government
itself are guaranteed to all without regard to sex, we will henceforth make use of this
treatment we have received as a new argument in favor of the emancipation of women
from the legal status of idiots and criminals, and, with this weapon, in our hands, we
will endeavor to arouse the women of our State to a keener sense of their degraded
condition, and we will never abate our demand until an amendment to the constitution
is submitted to the people granting suffrage to the women of Rhode Island.
Resolved, That this preamble and these resolutions be offered for publication to the
daily papers of this city. ELIZABETH B. CHACE, President.
SUSAN B. P. MARTIN, Secretary.
For several years the philanthropic women of Rhode Island
made many determined efforts to secure some official positions
in the charitable institutions of the State, with what success the
following report by Elizabeth B. Chace, at the annual meeting of
the American Association, in Philadelphia, in 1876, will show:
The Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, while holding its
monthly meetings through the year, circulating petitions to the legisla-
ture, and, in other ways, constantly endeavoring to revolutionize the en-
tire sentiment of the State on the question of woman suffrage, still has
less progress to report than its friends would have desired. Our last
annual meeting, as usual, drew together a large audience. Among our
speakers from abroad was William Lloyd Garrison, who, in a speech of
almost anti-slavery force and fervor, appeared to send conviction into
many minds. Our home speakers included a clergyman of Providence
and one of our ablest lawyers, and an ex-legislator who had never stood
on our platform before.
As usual, our petitions went into the legislature. They were referred
to the Judiciary Committee, before whom we had a hearing, at which
three Providence lawyers gave us their unqualified support and earnest
advocacy. One of these men set forth in the strongest light the injustice
of our laws in regard to the property of married women and their non-
ownership of their minor children. The committee made no report
to the legislature, and so our petitions lie over until the next session,
when we hope for some evidence of progress. In the meantime
we intend to very much increase their number. For many years
we have been begging of our law-makers to permit women to
share in the rhanagement of the penal, correctional and charita-
ble institutions of the State ; we have, however, only succeeded in obtain-
ing an advisory board of women, which has been in operation for the last
six years.
Last spring a majority of these women, having become weary of the
service in which they had no power to decide that any improvement
should be made in the management of these institutions, resigned their
positions on this board, some of them giving through the press tln-ir rea-
sons therefor. When the time came for making the new appointments;
344 History of Woman Suffrage.
for the year, the governor earnestly urged these women to permit him to
appoint them, voluntarily pledging himself to recommend at the opening
of the next session of the legislature, that a bill should be passed provid-
ing for the appointment of women on the boards of management of all
these prisons and reformatories, with the same power and authority with
which the men are invested, who now alone decide all questions concern-
ing them. On this condition these women consented to serve on the
advisory board a few months longer, with the understanding that, if the
legislature fails to make this important provision, their advice will be
withdrawn, and the men will be left to take care of thieves, criminals and
paupers until they are ready to ask for our help on terms of equality and
justice.
In the Providence Journal appeared the following:
Mrs. Doyle seems to have learned by experience that the board, as now
constituted under the law, can have no real efficiency. The ladies are re-
sponsible for the management of no part of any of the institutions which
they are permitted officially to visit. Their reports are not made to the
boards which are charged with the responsibility of managing these insti-
tutions, and, in the case of the reform school, are not made to the body
which elects and controls the board of management. The State ought
not to place ladies in such an anomalous position. The women's board
should have positive duties and direct responsibilities in its appropriate
sphere, or it should be abolished. The following is Mrs. Doyle's letter of
resignation :
To His Excellency Henry Lippitt, Governor of the State :
SIR: Please accept my resignation as member of the Board of Lady Visitors to the
Penal and Correctional Institutions of the State. The recent action of a part of the
board, in regard to the annual report made to the General Assembly, makes it impossi-
ble for me to continue longer as a member. Before the report was submitted, it was
carefully examined by the members signing it, and was acquiesced in by them, as their
signatures testify. Still further, I am confirmed in the opinion that so important a
trust as this should be coupled with some power for action; without this we are neces-
sarily confined to suggestions only to the male boards, which suggestions receive only
the attention they may consider proper. Believing that this board, as now empow-
ered, can have no efficiency except where its suggestions or criticisms meet the entire
approval of the male boards, and failing to see any good which can result from our in-
spections under such conditions, or any honor to the board thus examining, I respect-
fully tender my resignation. SARAH E. H. DOYLE.
Providence, R. I.
Three more ladies of the Women's Board of Visitors to the Penal and
Correctional Institutions of the State attest the correctness of the repeated
suggestions that the board, as organized under the existing laws, must be
Comparatively powerless for good. The question now comes, will the
J?hode Island General Assembly enact a law which shall give to women
certain definite duties and responsibilities in connection with the care and
correction of female offenders? We propose to refer to this matter
further. We are requested to publish the following communications to
his excellency, the governor:
The Womeris Board of Visitors. 345
To Henry Lippitt, Governor of Rhode Island :
My appointment on the Women's Board of Visitors to the Penal and Correctional In-
stitutions of the State, which I received from your hands for this year, I am now com-
pelled respectfully to resign. My experience in this board for nearly six years has
convinced me that this office, which confers on its holders no power to decide that any
improvement shall be made in the government or workings of these institutions, is so
nearly useless that I am forced to the conclusion that, for myself, the time spent in the
performance of its duties can be more effectively employed elsewhere. That the in-
fluence of women is indispensable to the proper management of these institutions I
was never more sure than I am at this moment; but to make it effectual, that influence
must be obtained by placing women on the boards of direct control, where their
judgment shall be expressed by argument and by vote.
A board of women, whose only duties, as defined by the law, are to visit the penal
and correctional institutions, elect its own officers and report annually to the legis-
lature, bears within itself the elements of weakness and insufficiency. And if the
annual reports contain any exposure of abuses, they are sure to give offense to the
managers, to be followed by timidity and vacillation in the board of women itself.
Our late report, written with great care and conscientious adherence to the truth,
which called the attention of the legislature to certain abuses in one of our institutions,
and to some defect in the systems established in the others, has, thus far, elicited no
official action, has brought censure upon us from the press, while great dissatisfaction
has been created in our own body by the failure of a portion of its members to sustain
the allegations to which the entire board, with the exception of one absentee, had
affixed their names.
When the State of Rhode Island shall call its best women to an equal participation
with men in the direction of its penal and reformatory institutions, I have no doubt
they will gladly assume the duties and responsibilities of such positions; and I am also
sure that the beneficent results of such cooperation will soon be manifest, both in ben-
efit to individuals and in safety to the State. But under present circumstances I most
respectfully decline to serve any longer on the advisory board of women.
Valley Falls, X. I. ELIZABETH B. CHACE.
GOVERNOR LIPPITT : Dear Sir: When I accepted an appointment on the Ladies'
Board of Visitors to the Penal and Correctional Institutions of the State, I did so with
the hope that much good might be accomplished, especially toward the young girls at
the reform school, in whose welfare I felt a deep interest. To that institution my at-
tention has been chiefly devoted during my brief experience in this office. This expe-
rience, however, has convinced me that a board of officers constituted and limited like
this can have very little influence toward improvement in an institution whose methods
are fixed, and which is under the exclusive control of another set of officers, who see
no necessity for change. Those causes render this women's board so weak in itself
that I cannot consent to retain my position therein. I therefore respectfully tender to
you my resignation. ABBY D. WEAVER.
Providence, R. I.
GOVERNOR LIPPITT : Please accept the resignation of my commission as a member
of the Ladies' Board of Visitors to the Penal and Correctional Institutions of the State,
conferred by you in June, 1875. Yours respectfully,
Westerly, R. I. ELIZA C. WEEDEN.
Early in the year 1880 the State association issued the follow-
ing address :
To the friends of Woman Suffrage throughout the State of Rhode Island:
In behalf of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, we beg
leave to call your attention to the result of our last year's work, and to
our plans for future effort. We went before the General Assembly with
346 History of Woman Suffrage,
petitions for suffrage for women on all subjects, and also with petitions
asking only for school suffrage? The former, bearing nearly 2,500 names,
was presented in the Senate and finally referred, with other unfinished
business, to the next legislature ; they will thus be subject to attention the
coming year. The latter, bearing nearly 3,500 names, was presented in
the House and referred to the Committee on Education. This committee
reported unanimously :
Resolved, That the following amendment to the constitution of the State is hereby
proposed: Article — . Women otherwise qualified are entitled to vote in the election
of school committees and in all legally organized school-district meetings.
This resolution was adopted in the House .by 48 to 11, but rejected in
the Senate by 20 to 13.* Nineteen members being required to make a
majority of a full Senate, the amendment failed by six votes. Had the
ballots in the two branches been upon a proposition to extend general
suffrage to women, they would have been the most encouraging, and, as
it is, they show signs of progress ; but a resolve to submit the question
of school suffrage to the voters of Rhode Island, ought to have been suc-
cessful this year. Why was it defeated ? Simply for the lack of political
power behind it. To gain this, our cause needs a foothold in every part
of the State. We need some person or persons in each town, to whom we
can look for hearty cooperation. If our work is to be effective, it must
not only continue as heretofore — one of petitioning — but must include
also a constant vigilance in securing senators and representatives in the
General Assembly, favorable to woman suffrage. We propose the coming
year :
First — To petition congress in behalf of the following amendment to
our national constitution, viz.:
ARTICLE XVI. Section I — The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2 — Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Second — To secure a hearing and action upon the petitions referred from
the last Assembly, for such amendment to our State constitution as shall
extend general suffrage to women.
* Ijj THE HOUSE. For the A mendment. — Davis Aldrich, North Smithfield : Thomas Arnold, War-
L
ton, Westerly ; Wm. A. Pirce, Johnston ; Clinton Puffer, Woonsocket ; Olney W. Randall, No. Provi-
dence ; John P. Sanborn, Newport ; Wm. P. Sheffield, Newport ; Israel R. Sheldon, Warwick ; Martin
S. Smith, Scituate ; Wm. H. Spooner, Bristol ; Henry A. Stearns, Lincoln ; Simon S. Steere, Smith-
field ; Joseph Tillinghast, Coventry; Wm. C. Townsend, Newport ; Stephen A. Watson, Portsmouth;
Stillman White, Providence ; Benj. F. Wilbor, Little Compton ; Andrew Winsor, Providence — 48.
IN THE SENATE. For the Amendment. — Lieut. -Gov. Howard, E. Providence; Ariel Ballou, Woon-
socket ; Cyms F. Cooke, Foster ; Edward T. DeBlois, Portsmouth ; Rodney F. Dyer, Johnston : An-
son Greene, Exeter ; Daniel W. Lyman, No. Providence; Jabez W. Mowry, Smithfield ; Dexter B.
Potter, Coventry ; Stafford W. Rizee. Cumberland ; T, Mumford Seabury, Newport ; Lewis B. Smith,
Barrington ; John F. Tobey, Providence — 13.
Before the Legislature. 347
Third— To petition the General Assembly for the necessary legislation to
secure school suffrage to women.
The arguments in the various hearings before the legislature
with the majority and minority reports, are the same as many
already published, in fact nothing new can be said on the ques-
tion. As none of the women in this State, by trying to vote, or
resisting taxation, have tested the justice of their laws, they have
no supreme-court decisions to record.
Honorable mention should be made of Dr. William F. Chan-
ning, who has stood for many years in Providence the noblest
representative of liberal thought. He is a worthy son of that
great leader of reform in New England, Rev. William Ellery
Channing. In him the advocates of woman's rights have always
found a steadfast friend. He sees that this is the fundamental
reform ; that it is the key to the problems of labor, temperance,
social purity and the cooperative home. Those who have had the
good fortune of a personal acquaintance with Dr. Channing have
felt the sense of dignity and self-respect that the delicate courtesy
and sincere reverence of a noble man must always give to woman.
Though Mrs. Channing has not been an active participant in
the popular reforms, having led a rather retired life, yet her
sympathies have been with her husband in all his endeavors to
benefit mankind. She has given the influence of her name to the
suffrage movement, and extended the most generous hospitalities
to the speakers at the annual conventions. Their charming
daughters, Mary and Grace, fully respond to the humanitarian
sentiments of their parents, constituting a happy family united
in life's purposes and ambitions.
The New York Evening Post of September, 1875, gives the fol-
lowing of one of Rhode Island's brave women, but the State has
not as yet, thought it worth while to honor her in any fitting
manner :
Yrsterday noon Miss Ida Lewis again distinguished herself by rescuing
a man who was in danger of drowning in the lower Newport harbor.
Miss Lewis first came into prominence in 1866, when she saved the life
of a soldier who had set out for a sail in a light skiff. It was one
of the coldest and most blustering days ever known in this latitude,
yet a girl but 25 years old, impelled by the noblest spirit of humanity, ven-
tured to the assistance of a man who had brought himself into a sorry
plight through sheer fool-hardiness. One day, during the autumn
* [Signed :] President, Elizabeth B. Chace ; Secretaries, Fanny P. Palmer, Elizabeth C. Hincklcy ;
Treasurer, Susan B. P. Martin : Executive Committee, Sarah E. H. Doyle, Susan Sisson, William
Barker, Francis C. Frost, Anna E. Aldrich, Frederick A. Hinckley, Susan G. Kenyon, Rachael
E. Fry, A. A. Tyn-, Arnold B. Chace.
348 History of Woman Suffrage.
of the next year, while a terrible gale was raging, two men sat
out to cross the harbor with several sheep. One of the animals
fell overboard while the boat was rocked by the heavy sea, and
its keepers, in trying to save it, were in imminent peril of swamping
their craft. Ida Lewis saw them from the window of her father's light-
house on Lime Rock, and in a few minutes was rowing them in safety
toward the shore. After landing the men, she went back again and
rescued the sheep.
These brave deeds, with others of a less striking character, made Miss
Lewis' name famous throughout the world, and won for her the title of
"the Grace Darling of America"; but in 1869 the newspapers were filled
with the story of what was perhaps her greatest exploit. On March 29 two
young soldiers set sail from Newport for Fort Adams in a small boat,
under the guidance of a boy who pretended to understand the simple
rules of navigation. Mrs. Lewis chanced to be looking out of the light-
house window, and saw a squall strike the boat and overturn it. She called
to her daughter, telling her of the casualty. Ida, though ill at the time,
rushed out of the house, launched her life-boat and sprang in, with neither
hat on her head nor shoes on her feet. By the 'time she reached the scene
of the disaster the boy had perished, and the two soldiers were clinging
desperately to the wreck, almost ready to loose their hold from exhaus-
tion. They were dragged into the life-boat, and carried to Lime Rock, and,
with careful nursing, were soon sufficiently restored to proceed to Fort
Adams.
Miss Lewis' repeated acts of philanthropy have been recognized by
gifts at various times, but no national testimonial, so far as we are aware,
has yet been offered to her. True generosity, like true virtue, is its own
reward, and we of the world are not often disposed to meddle with its
quiet enjoyment by its possessor. It seems eminently fitting, however,
that among the first to receive the new decoration to be bestowed by con-
gress for heroic deeds in saving life, should be the heroine of Newport
harbor.
Writing from Valley Falls September 9, 1885, Elizabeth B.
Chace, president of the Rhode Island Association, in summing up
the steps of progress, says :
On December 4, 1884, by unanimous consent of our General Assembly
the state-house was granted to us for the first time, for a woman suffrage
convention. A large number of our best men and women, and some of
our ablest speakers* were present. An immense audience greeted them
and listened with eager interest throughout. The occasion was one of the
most pleasant and profitable we have enjoyed in a long time. At the fol-
lowing session of our Legislature, 1885, an amendment to our State con-
stitution was proposed giving the franchise to women, on equal terms with
men. It passed both Houses by a large majority vote, but by some tech-
* The speakers were Abraham Payne, John Wyman. Matilda Hindman, Frederick A. Hinckley, Rer.
Mr. Wendt, Elizabeth B. Chace, William I. Bowditch, Mary F. Eastman, William Lloyd Garrison, jr..
Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Henry B. BlackwelL
Letter from Mr. Hinckley. 349
nicality, for which no one seemed to blame, it was not legally started on
its round to the vote of the people. Hence the proposition to submit the
amendment will be again passed upon this year, and with every promise
of success. We have strong hopes of making our little commonwealth
the banner State in this grand step of progress.
The following letter from Frederick A. Hinckley, makes a
fitting mention of some of the noble women who have represented
this movement in his State:
PROVIDENCE, R. I., Sept. 14, 1885.
DEAR FRIENDS : You ask for a few words from me concerning salient
points in the history of the woman suffrage movement in Rhode Island.
As you know, ours is a very small State — the smallest in the Union
— and has a very closely compacted population. With us the manu-
facturing interest overshadows everything else, representing large invest-
ments of capital. On the one hand we have great accumulations of wealth
by the few ; on the other hand, a large percentage of unskilled foreign
labor. For good or for ill we feel all those conservative influences which
naturally grow out of this two-fold condition. This accounts in the main,
for the Rhode Islander's extreme and exceptionally tenacious regard for
the institutions of his ancestors. This is why we have the most limited
suffrage of any State, many men being debarred from voting by reason of
the property qualification still required here of foreign-born citizens.
Such a social atmosphere is not favorable to the extension of the fran-
chise, either to men or women, and makes peculiarly necessary with us,
the educational process of a very large amount of moral agitation before
much can be expected in the way of political changes.
My own residence here dates back only to 1878, though before that from
my Massachusetts home I was somewhat familiar with Rhode-Island peo-
ple and laws. Our work has consisted of monthly meetings, made up
usually of an afternoon session for address and discussion, followed by a
social tea ; of an annual State convention in the city of Providence ; and
of petitioning the legislature each year, with the appointment of the cus-
tomary committees and hearings. For many years the centre of the
woman movement with us has been the State association, and since my
own connection with that, the leader about whom we have all rallied, has
been your beloved friend and mine, Elizabeth B. Chace. Hers is that
clear conception c»f, and untiring devotion to principles, which make in-
vincible leadership, tide over all disaster, and overcome all doubt. By her
constant appearance before legislative committees, her model newspaper
articles which never fail to command general attention even among those
who would not think of agreeing with her, and by her persistent fidelity
to her sense of duty in social life, she is the recognized head of our agita-
tion in Rhode Island. But she has not stood alone. She has been the
centre of a group of women whose names will always be associated with
our cause in this locality. Elizabeth K. Churchill lived and died a faith-
ful and successful worker. The Woman's Club in this city was her child ;
temperance, suffrage, and the interests of working-women were dear to
her heart. She was independent in her convictions, and true to herself,
350 History of Woman Suffrage.
even when it compelled dissent from the attitude of trusted leaders and
friends, but her work on the platform, in the press, and in society, made
her life a tower of strength to the woman's rights cause and her death
a lamentable loss. Another active leader in the work here, though not
a speaker, who has passed on since my residence in Providence, was
Susan B. P. Martin. I think those of us accustomed to act with her
always respected Mrs. Martin's judgment and felt sure of her fidelity.
What more can be said of any one than that ?
It is difficult to speak publicly of one's friends while living. But no
history of woman suffrage agitation in Rhode Island would be complete
which did not place among those ever to be relied on, the names of
Anna Garlin Spencer, Sarah E. H. Doyle, Anna E. Aldrich and Fanny P.
Palmer. Mrs. Spencer moved from the State just as I came into it, but
the influence of her logical mind was left behind her and the loss of her
quick womanly tact has been keenly felt. Mrs. Doyle has long been chair-
man of the executive committee of the association, Mrs. Aldrich a safe
and trusted counsellor, and Mrs. Palmer as member of the Providence
school committee, and more recently as president of the Woman's Club,
has rendered the cause eminent service.
If final victory seems farther off here than in some of the newer States,
as it certainly does, that is only the greater reason for earnest, and cease-
less work. We know we are right, and be it short or long I am sure
we have all enlisted for the war.
Always sincerely yours, FREDERIC A. HINCKLEY.
Below is the last utterance of Senator Anthony on this ques-
tion. In writing to Susan B. Anthony, he said :
UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER, WASHINGTON, March 4, 1884.
MY DEAR COUSIN: I am honored by your invitation to address the
National Woman Suffrage Association at the convention to be held in
this city. I regret that it is not in my power to comply with your com-
plimentary request. The enfranchisement of woman is one of those
great reforms which will come with the progress of civilization, and
when it comes those who witness it will wonder that it has been so long
delayed. The main argument against it is that the women themselves
do not desire it. Many men do not desire it, as is evidenced by their
omission to exercise it, but they are not therefore deprived of it. I do
not understand that you propose compulsory suffrage, although I am not
sure that that would not be for the public advantage as applied to both
sexes. A woman has a right to vote in a corporation of which she is a
stockholder, and that she does not generally exercise that right is not an
argument against the right itself. The progress that is making in the
direction of your efforts is satisfactory and encouraging.
Faithfully yours, H. B. ANTHONY.
Senator Anthony was one of the ever-to-be-remembered nine
senators who voted for woman suffrage on the floor of the
United States Senate in 1866. He also made a most logical
speech on our behalf and has ever since been true to our demands.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
MAINE.
Women on School Committees — Elvira C. Thorndyke — Suffrage Society, 1868 — Rock-
land — The Snow Sisters — Portland Meeting, 1870 — John Neal — Judge Goddard —
Colby University Open to Girls, August 12, 1871 — Mrs. Clara Hapgood Nash
Admitted to the Bar, October 26, 1872 — Tax-payers Protest — Ann F. Greeley,
1872 — March, 1872, Bill for Woman Suffrage Lost in the House, Passed in the
Senate by Seven Votes — Miss Frank Charles, Register of Deeds — Judge Redding-
ton — Mr. Randall's Motion — Moral Eminence of Maine — Convention in Granite
Hall, Augusta, January, 1873, Hon. Joshua Nye. President — Delia A. Curtis —
Opinions of the Supreme Court in Regard to Women Holding Offices — Governor
Dingley's Message, 1875 — Convention, Representatives Hall, Portland, Judge
Kingsbury, President, February 12, 1876.
THE first movement in Maine, in 1868, turned on the question
of women being eligible on school committees. Here, as in Ver-
mont, the men inaugurated the movement. The following letter,
from the Portland Press, gives the iniative steps:
HIRAM, March 15, 1868.
MR. EDITOR: A statement is going the rounds of the press that the
Democrats of Hiram supported a lady for a member of the school com-
mittee. I am unwilling that any person or party shall be ridiculed or
censured for an act of which I was the instigator, and for which I am
chiefly responsible. I am in favor of electing ladies to that office, and ac-
cordingly voted for one, without her knowledge or consent; several
Democrats as well as Republicans voted with me. I have reason to be-
lieve that scores of Democrats voted for the able and popular candidate
of the Republicans (Dr. William H. Smith), and but for my peculiar notion
I should have voted for him myself, as I always vote with the Republican
party. I am in favor, however, of laying aside politics in voting for
school committees, and the question of capability should outweigh the
question of sex. A few years ago we had a large number of boy school-
masters, but agents are learning to appreciate teachers of tact, experience
ami natural qualifications, as well as book-knowledge. Of eleven
schools under the care of the writer the past year, but one had a male
teacher, and by turning to the reports I find that of forty-nine schools
in Hiram during the past two years, forty-two were taught by
ladies. Four of these teachers of the past year have taught respectively
twenty, twenty-one, twenty-three and thirty schools. I put the question,
why should a lady who has taught thirty schools be considered less suita-
History of Woman Suffrage.
ble for the office of school committee than the undersigned, who has
taught but two, or scores of men who never taught school at all ? Slowly
and with hesitation over the ice of prejudice comes that unreasonable
reason — " O, 'cause." But regardless of pants or crinoline, the ques-
tion remains unanswered and unanswerable. It is not deemed im-
proper for the ladies of Hiram to go with their husbands to the town-
house to a cattle show and fair, and serve as committees on butter and
cheese, but it is considered unreasonable for ladies to serve as superin-
tendents of school committees.
General Washington gave a lieutenant's commission to a woman for her
skill and bravery in manning a battery at the battle of Monmouth. He
also granted her half-pay during life. It is stated in " Lincoln's Lives of
the Presidents " that " she wore an epaulette, and everybody called her
Captain Molly." And yet I do not read in history that General Washing-
ton was ever impeached. Females have more and better influence than
males, and under their instruction our schools have been improving for
some years. There is less kicking and cudgeling, and more attention is
given to that best of all rules, "The Golden Rule." If they are more effi-
cient as teachers is it not fair to presume that they would excel as com-
mittees ? Very respectfully yours,
LLEWELLYN A. WADSWORTH.
The editor of the Press adds to the above his own endorse-
ment, in these words :
We are pleased to have Mr. Wadsworth's explanation of the reform
movement in Hiram, which we had been misled into crediting to the
Democrats. * * * Go on, Mr. Wadsworth, you have our best wishes.
There is nothing in the way of the general adoption of your ideas but a
lot of antiquated and obsolete notions, sustained by the laughter of fools.
The same year we have the report of the first suffrage society
in that State, which seems to place Maine in the van of her New
England sisters, notwithstanding the great darkness our corre-
spondent deplores :
DEAR REVOLUTION : A society has just been organized here called the
Equal Rights Association of Rockland. It bids fair to live, although it
requires all the courage of heroic souls to contend against the darkness
that envelopes the people. But the foundation is laid, and many noble
women are catching the inspiration of the hour. When we are fully un-
der way, we shall send you a copy of our preamble and resolutions.
ELVIRA C. THORNDVKE, Cor. Secy.
The Hon. John Neal, .who was foremost in all good work in
Maine, in a letter to The Revolution, describes the first meeting
called in Portland, in May, 1870, to consider the subject of suf-
frage for woman. He says:
DEAR REVOLUTION : According to my promise, I sent an advertise-
ment to all three of our daily papers last Saturday, in substance like the
following, though somewhat varied in language :
John Neal's Letter. 353
ELEVATION OF WOMAN. — All who favor Woman Suffrage, the Sixteenth Amend-
ment, and the restoration of woman to her "natural agd inalienable rights," are
wanted for consultation at the audience room of the Portland Institute and Public
Library, on Wednesday evening next, at half-past seven o'clock. Per order
JOHN NEAL.
The weather was unfavorable ; nevertheless, the small room, hold-
ing from sixty to seventy-five, to which the well-disposed were
invited for consultation and organization, was crowded so that
near the close not a seat could be had ; and crowded, too, with
educated and intelligent women, and brave, thoughtful men, so far
as one might judge by appearances, and about in equal proportions.
Among the latter were Mr. Talbot, United States district-attorney, a
good lawyer and a self-convinced fellow laborer, so far as suffrage is con-
cerned ; but rather unwilling to go further at present, lest if a woman
should be sent to the legislature (against her will, of course \) she might
neglect her family, or be obliged to take her husband with her, to keep
her out of mischief; just as if Portland, with 35,000 inhabitants and four
representatives, would not be likely to find two unmarried women or
widows, or married women not disqualified by matrimonial incumbrances
or liabilities, to represent the sex ; or lest, if she should get into the post-
office, being by nature so curious and inquisitive, she might be found
peeping — as if the chief distinction between superior and inferior minds
was not this very disposition to inquire and investigate ; as if, indeed, that
which distinguishes the barbarous from the civilized, were not this very
inquisitiveness and curiosity; the savage being satisfied with himself and
averse to inquiry ; the civilized ever on the alert, in proportion to his in-
telligence, and, like the Athenians, always on the look-out for some "new
thing."
And then, too, we had Judge Goddard, of the Superior Court, one of our
boldest and clearest thinkers, who could not be persuaded to take a part
in the discussion, though declaring himself entirely opposed to the move-
ment. And yet, he is the very man who, at a Republican convention sev-
eral years ago, offered a resolution in favor of impartial suffrage, only to
find himself in a minority of two; but persevered nevertheless, year after
year, until the very same resolution, word for word, was unanimously
adopted by another Republican convention ! Of course, Judge Goddard
will not be likely to shrink from giving his reasons hereafter, if the
movement should propagate itself, as it certainly will.
We had also for consideration a synopsis of what deserves to be called
most emphatically "The Maine Law," in relation to married women, pre-
pared by Mr. Drummond, our late speaker and formerly attorney-general,
and one of our best lawyers, where it was demonstrated, both by enact-
ments and adjudications, running from March, 1844, to February, 1866,
that a married woman — to say nothing of widows and spinsters — has little
to complain of in our State, her legal rights being far ahead of the age,
and not only acknowledged, but enforced; she being mistress of herself
and of her earnings, and allowed to trade for herself, while " her contracts
for any lawful purpose are made valid and binding, and to be enforced, as
if she were sole agent of her property, but she cannot be arrested. '
23
354 History of Woman Suffrage.
Then followed Mr. S. B. Beckett, just returned from a trip to the Holy
Land, who testified, aming other things, that he had seen women both in
London and Ireland who knew "how to keep a hotel," which is reckoned
among men as the highest earthly qualification — and proved it by man-
aging some of the largest and best in the world.
And then Mr. Charles Jose, late one of our aldermen, who, half in earn-
est and half in jest, took t'other side of the question, urging, first, that
this was a political movement — as if that were any objection, supposing it
true ; our whole system of government being a political movement, and
that, by which we trampled out the last great rebellion, another, both
parties and all parties cooperating in the work ; next, that women did not
ask for suffrage — it was the men who asked for it, in their names ; that
there were no complaints and no petitions from women ! As if petitions
had not gone up and complaints, too, by thousands, from all parts of the
country, from school-teachers and office clerks and others, as well as from
the women at large, both over sea and here.
But enough. The meeting stands adjourned for a week. Probably no
organization will be attempted, lest it might serve to check free dis-
cussion. J. N.
May j, 1870.
Mr. W. W. McCann wrote to the Woman's Journal of this
suffrage meeting in Portland, in 1870:
Judge Howe's voice, when he addressed the jury of Wyoming as " Ladies
and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury," fell upon the ears of that crowded
court-room as a strange and unusual sound. Equally strange and imprac-
ticable seemed the call for a "woman suffrage meeting," at the city build-
ing, to the conservative citizens of Portland. However, notwithstanding
the suspicion and prejudice with which this movement is regarded, quite
a large and highly respectable audience assembled at an early hour to
witness the new and wonderful phenomenon of a meeting to aid in giving
the ballot to woman.
Hon. John Neal, who issued the call for the meeting, was the first to
.speak. He reviewed the history of this movement, both in this country
and in England. He gave some entertaining reminiscences of his ac-
quaintance with John Stuart Mill forty years ago. Mr. Mill was not then
in favor of universal suffrage; he advocated the enfranchisement of the
male sex only. Mr. Neal claimed the right for women also. He was
happy to learn that since then Mr. Mill has thrown all the weight of his
influence and his masterly intellect in favor of universal suffrage. He
then entered into an elaborate discussion of some of the objections
brought against woman suffrage, and, much to the surprise of many
present, showed that the rights which women demand are just and rea-
sonable, and ought to be granted. John M. Todd remarked that he was
not so much impressed by the logical arguments in favor of suffrage as
by the shallow and baseless arguments of the opposition. The friends of
woman suffrage are becoming active and earnest in their efforts, and dis-
cussion is freely going on through the daily papers.
Admission to the Bar. 355
To-day, the Eastern Argus, a leading Democratic organ of this city, de-
nounces this movement as the most " damnable heresy of this genera-
tion." We venture the prediction that its friends, if true to the pro-
gressive tendencies of the day, will realize the consummation of their
cherished heresy in the proposed sixteenth amendment, which will
abolish all distinction of class and sex.
On August 12, 1871, the announcement that Colby University
would be opened to girls gave general satisfaction to the women
of Maine. A correspondent says:
Hereafter young women will be admitted to this institution on " pre-
cisely the same terms as young men." They may take the regular course,
or such a course as they may select, taking at least two studies each term.
They will room and board in families in the village, and simply attend the re-
quired exercises at the college. The next examination for entrance will
be on Wednesday, August 30. One young lady has already signified her
purpose to enter the regular course. Four New England colleges are
now open to women — Bates, at Lewiston ; Colby, at Waterville, Me.; Ver-
mont University, at Burlington, Vt., and Wesleyan, at Middletown, Conn.
Let's have no more women's colleges established, for the next decade will
make them unnecessary, as by that time all the colleges of the country
will be opened to them.
October 26, 1872, another advance step was heralded abroad :
On motion of the Hon. James S. Milliken, Mrs. Clara Hapgood Nash, of
•Columbia Falls, was formally admitted to the bar as an attorney-at-law.
During the session of the court in the forenoon, Mrs. Nash had presented
herself before the examining committee, Messrs. Granger, Milliken and
Walker, and had passed a more than commonly creditable examination.
After the opening. of the court in the afternoon, Mr. Milliken arose and
said : " May it please the court, I hold in my hand papers showing that M re.
Hapgood Nash, of Columbia Falls, has passed the committee appointed
by the court to examine candidates for admission to the bar as attorneys-
at-law and has paid to the county treasurer the duty required by the
statute; and I now move the court that she be admitted to this bar as
an attorney-at-law. In making the motion I am not unaware that this is
a novel and unusual proceeding. It is the first instance in this county
and this State, and, so far as I am aware, the first instance in New Eng-
land, of the application of a woman to be formally admitted to the
bar as a practitioner. But knowing Mrs. Nash to be a modest and
refined lady, of literary and legal attainments, I feel safe in assuring Your
Honor that by a course of honorable practice, and by her courte-
ous intercourse with the members of the profession, she will do her full
part to conquer any prejudice that may now exist against the idea of
-women being admitted as attorneys at law." Judge Barrows, after e.x.iin-
ining the papers handed to him, said : " I am not aware of anything in the
constitution or laws of this State prohibiting the admission of a wmn.in.
possessing the proper qualifications, to the practice of the law. I have
i\o sympathy with that feeling or prejudice which would exclude women
356 History of Woman Suffrage.
from any of the occupations of life for which they may be qualified. The
papers put into my hands show that Mrs. Nash has received the unani-
mous approval of the examining committee, as possessing the qualifica-
tions requisite for an acceptable attorney, and that she has paid the legal
duty to the county treasurer, and I direct that she be admitted."
On May 10, 1873, the trustees of the Industrial School for
Girls issued the following appeal to the people of the State :
The undersigned, trustees of the Maine Industrial School for Girls, here-
by earnestly appeal to the generosity of the State, to the rich and poor
alike, for aid to this important movement. Our call is to mothers and
fathers blessed with virtuous and obedient children ; to those who have
suffered by the waywardness of some beloved daughter ; and to all who
would gladly see the neglected, exposed and erring girls in our midst re-
claimed. For six years has this subject been agitated in the State and pre-
sented to the consideration of several legislatures ; and during that time the
objects, plans and practical workings of such an institution, have become
familiar to the public mind. The project is now so near consummation
that by prompt and liberal response to this appeal, the school can be
in active operation by the first of July next.
By the terms of the resolution of the legislature granting State aid of
five thousand dollars, the sum of twenty thousand dollars must first
be secured from other sources. Of this, five thousand at least has
been contributed by two generous ladies in Hallowell. For the balance
the trustees confidentially look to the citizens of the whole State as
equally to be benefited. Let them send their contributions, whether large
or small, freely and at once, to either of the undersigned and the receipt
of the same shall be duly acknowledged.*
Some of the women tax-payers f in Ellsworth, Maine, sent the
following protest to the assessors of that city :
We the undersigned residents of the city of Ellsworth, believing in the
declaration of our forefathers, that '"governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed, " and that •' taxation without represen-
tation is tyranny," beg leave to protest against being taxed for support of
laws that we have no voice in making. By taxing us you class us with
aliens and minors, the only males who are taxed and not allowed to vote,
you make us the political inferiors of the most ignorant foreigners, ne-
groes, and men who have not intellect enough to learn to write their
names, or to read the vote given them. Our property is at the disposal
of men who have not the ability to accumulate a dollar's worth and who
pay only a poll-tax. We therefore protest against being taxed until we
are allowed the rights of citizens.
* Signed : President, Benj. Kingsbury, Portland ; Secretary, E. R. French, S. Chesterville ; Treas-
urer, William Deering Portland ; ex officio, Gov. Sidney Perham, Secretary of State Geo. G. Stacy,
Superintendent of Schools Warren Johnson ; John B. Nealley, S. Berwick ; Nelson Dingley, jr., Lewis-
ton ; J. S. Wheelright, Bangor ; H. K. Baker, Hallowell ; Mrs. C. A. L. Sampson, Bath ; Mrs. James
Fernald, Portland.
t Ann F. Greely, Sarah Jarvis, C. B. Grant, E. E. Tinker, A. IX Might, M. J. Brooks, C. W. Jarvis,
E. B. Jarvis, Rebecca M. A very.
Letter in the "Woman's Journal" 357
AUGUSTA, March i, 1872.
EDITORS WOMAN'S JOURNAL : I have never seen a letter in the Woman's
Journal written from Augusta, the capital of Maine, and as some things
have transpired lately which might interest your readers, I take the lib-
erty of writing a few lines. The bill for woman suffrage was defeated
in the House, fifty-two to forty-one. In the Senate the vote was fifteen
in favor to eight against. I think the smallness of the vote was owing
to the indifference of some of the members and the determination of a few
to kill the bill. Some politicians are afraid of this innovation just now,
lest the Republican party be more disrupted than it already is. Day after
day, when the session was drawing to a close, women went to the state-
house expecting to hear the question debated. Wednesday every available
place was filled with educated women. The day was spent — if I should
say how, my criticism might be too severe. Gentlemen from Thomaston,
Biddeford, Burlington and Waldoborough had the floor most of the time
during the afternoon. In the evening, while those same women and some
of the members of the legislature were attending a concert, the bill was
taken up and voted upon, without any discussion whatever. Now, I submit
to any fair-minded person if this was right. I have listened to discussions
upon that floor this winter for which I should have hung my head in shame
had they been conducted by women. The whole country, from Maine to
California, calls loudly for better legislation — for morality in politics.
A member of the House said to me yesterday, that he thought that
some of the members from the rural districts were not sufficiently en-
lightened upon the question of woman suffrage, and the bill ought to
have been thoroughly discussed. Yes, and perhaps treated with respect
by its friends. I saw the member from Calais while a vote was being
taken. Standing in his seat, with his hand stretched toward the rear of
the House, where it is generally supposed that members sit who are a lit-
tle slow in voting at the beck of politicians, he said : " Yes is the
way to vote, gentlemen! Yes! Yes!" When women have such poli-
ticians for champions equal suffrage is secured. But do we want such
men ? The member from Calais voted against woman's right of suffrage.
He is said to be an ambitious aspirant in the fifth congressional district.
See to it, women of the fifth district, that you do not have him as an op-
ponent of equal rights in congress. There is a throne behind a throne.
Let woman be regal in the background, where she must stand for the
present, in Maine.
But I am happy and proud to state that some very high-minded men,
and some of the best legislators in the House, did vote for the bill, viz.:
Brown of Bangor. Judge Titcomb of Augusta, General Perry of Oxford,
Porter of Burlington, Labroke of Foxcroft, and many others ; in the Sen-
ate, the president and fourteen others, the real bone and marrow of the
Senate, voted for the bill. The signs of the times are good. Thewatchman
of the night discerns the morning light in the broad eastern horizon.
[Signed:] PATIENCE COMMONSENSE.
The Portland Press, in a summary of progress in Maine for
1873, says:
358 History of Woman Suffrage.
Women certainly have no reason to complain of the year's dealings
with them, for they have been recognized in many ways which indicate
the gradual breaking down of the prejudices that have hitherto given
them a position of quasi subjection. Mrs. Mary D. Welcome has been
licensed to preach by the Methodists; Mrs. Fannie U. Roberts of Kittery
has been commissioned by the governor to solemnize marriages; Clara
H. Nash, of the famous law firm of F. C. & C. H. Nash, of Columbia Falls,
has argued a case before a jury in the Supreme Court; Miss Mary C.
Lowe of Colby University has taken a college prize for declamation.
They are the first Maine women who have ever enjoyed honors of the
kind. Miss Cameron spoke, too, at the last Congregational conference,,
and Miss Frank Charles was appointed register of deeds in Oxford county.
It is further to be noted that the legislature voted as follows on the
question of giving the ballot to women: Senate — 14 yeas, 14 nays;.
House — 62 yeas, 69 nays. Women are rapidly obtaining a recognized po-
sition in our colleges. There are now five young women at Colby, three
at Bates, and three at the Agricultural College — eleven in all. Bates has
already graduated two. In the latter college a scholarship for the benefit
of women has been endowed by Judge Reddington. Finally, the first
Woman Suffrage Association ever formed in Maine held its first meeting
at Augusta last January, and was a great success. Carmel, Monroe, Etna
and some other towns have elected women superintendents of schools,
but this has been done in other years. Fora little movement in the right
direction we must credit Messrs. Amos, Abbott & Co., woolen manufac-
turers of Dexter, who divide ten per cent, of their profits with their op-
eratives.
Clara H. Nash, the lady who, in partnership with her husband,
has recently entered upon the practice of law in Maine, says:
Scarcely a day passes but something occurs in our office to rouse my
indignation afresh by reminding me of the utter insignificance with which
the law, in its every department, regards woman, and its utter disregard
of her rights as an individual. Would that women might feel this truth;
then, indeed, would their enfranchisement be speedy.
In the Woman's Journal of January I, 1873, we find the fol-
lowing call :
The people of Maine who believe fn the extension of the elective fran-
chise to women as a beneficent power for the promotion of the virtues
and the correction of the evils of society, and all who believe in the prin-
ciples of equal justice, equal liberty and equal opportunity, upon which
republican institutions are founded, and have faith in the triumph of intel-
ligence and reason over custom and prejudice, are invited to meet at
Granite Hall, in the city of Augusta, on Wednesday, January 29, 1873, for
the purpose of organizing a State Woman Suffrage Association, and in-
augurating such measures for the advancement of the cause as the wis-
dom of the convention may suggest.*
* Signed by John Neal, S. T. Pickard, Mrs. Oliver Dennet, Mrs. Eleanor Neal, Portland; J. J. Eve-
leth, mayor, Joshua Nye, Chandler Beal, William H. Libbey, George W. Quinby, William P. White-
Moral Eminence of Maine. 359
The Portland Press, in a leading editorial on the " Moral Emi-
nence of Maine," says:
Maine has been first in many things. She has taught the world how to
struggle with intemperance, and pilgrims come hither from all quarters of
the earth to learn the theory and practice of prohibition. She was among
the first to practically abolish capital punishment and to give married
women their rights in respect to property. She is, perhaps, nearer giving
them political rights, also, than any of her sister commonwealths. If
Maine should be first among the States to give suffrage to women, she
would do more for temperance than a hundred prohibitory laws, and more
for civilization and progress than Massachusetts did when she threw the
tea into Boston harbor in 1773, or when she sent the first regiment to the
relief of Washington in 1861.
The leaders of the temperance reform in Maine are fully alive to the
necessity of woman suffrage as a means to that end. At the meeting of
the State Temperance Association of Maine, in Augusta, recently, . Mr.
Randall said that "as the woman suffrage convention has adjourned over
this afternoon in order to attend the temperance meeting, he would
move that when we adjourn it be to Thursday morning, as the work at
both conventions is intimately connected. If the women of Maine went
to the ballot-box, we should have officers to enforce the law." Mr. Ran-
dall's motion was carried, and the temperance convention adjourned.
The Woman Suffrage Association assembled Wednesday, Janu-
ary 29, in Granite Hall, Augusta. There was a very large
attendance, a considerable number of those present being mem-
bers of the legislature. Hon. Joshua Nye presided. He made a
few remarks relating to the removal of political disabilities from
women, and introduced Mrs. Agnes A. Houghton of Bath, who
spoke on the "Turning of the Tide," contending that woman
should be elevated socially, politically and morally, enjoying the
same rights as man. She was followed by Judge Benjamin
Kingsbury, jr., of Portland, who declared himself unequivocally
in favor of giving woman the right to vote, and who trusted that
she would be accorded this right by the present legislature.
More than 1,000 persons were in the audience, and great en-
house, General Selden Conner, H. H. Hamlen, H. S. Osgood, Mrs. C. A. Quinby, Mrs. W. K. Lancey,
Mrs. D. M. Waitt, Mrs. William B. Lapham, Mrs. S. M. Barton, Augusta; Mary A. Ross and fifty
others; Rev. W. L. Brown, Mrs. E. A. Dickerson, Mrs. W. H. Burrill, Mrs. N. Abbott, Mrs. Thomas
N. Marshall, Miss A. A. Hicks, Belfast; John D. Hopkins, Rev. William H. Savary, C. J. 1'cck,
mayor, A. E. Drinkwater, Mrs. Ann F. Greely, Ellsworth; Mrs. A. H. Savary and twenty others; Mrs.
M. C. Grossman, Mrs. S. D. Morison, Mrs. J. Tillson, Mrs. Sarah J. Prcntiss, Mrs. Amos Pickard,
Bangor; Miss M. Phillips and twelve others; Rev. John W. Hinds, Lewiston; Rev. T. P. Adams. Bow-
doinham ; A. H. Sweetser and twenty others, Rockland ; Rev. W. H. Bolster, Wisi .i-soi ; \V. T. C-
Runnels, Searsport; Rev. M. V. B. Stinson, Kittery; John U. Hubbard, Alfred Winslow, West Water-
ville; Mrs. M. S. Philbrick, SkowheRan; Mrs. Simeon Conner, Kail-field; George Gifford, Mrs. Mary'
W. Southwick, H. M. N. Bush, M. A. Bush, A. E. Prescott, Vassalboro; A. R. Dunham and fourteen
others; R. C. Caldwell and eight others, Gardiner; Albert Crosby, Mrs. S. G.Crosby, Albion; Noah F.
Norton, Mercy G. Norton, Penobscot.
360 History of Woman Suffrage.
thusiasm prevailed. The morning session was devoted to busi-
ness and the election of officers.* In order not to conflict with
a meeting of the State Temperance Association, no afternoon
session was held, and, in return, the State Temperance Society
gave up its evening meeting to enable its members to attend the
suffrage convention.
Speeches were made by Henry B. Blackwell of Boston, Rev.
Ellen Gustin of Mansfield, Mary Eastman of Lowell, and others.
Resolutions were passed pledging the association not to cease
its efforts until the unjust discrimination with regard to voting
is swept away ; that in the election of president, and of all offi-
cers where the qualifications of voters are not prescribed by the
State constitution, the experiment should be tried of allowing
women to vote ; that in view of the large amount of money
which has been expended in Maine for the exclusive benefit of
the Boys' Industrial School during the past twenty years, it is
the prayer of the ladies of Maine that the present legislature
vote the sum asked for the establishment of an Industrial School
for girls.
In 1874 we find notices of other onward steps:
EDITORS JOURNAL : Woman's cause works slowly here, though in one
respect we have been successful. Our county school-superintendent is a
lady. She had a large majority over our other candidate, and over two
gentlemen, and she is decidedly "the right person in the right place."
She is a graduate from the normal school, the mother of four children, q
widow for some six years past, and a lady. What more can we ask, un-
less, indeed, it be for a very conscientious idea of duty? That, too, she
has, and also energy, with which she carries it out. The sterner sex admit
that women are competent to hold office. But some say we are not intel-
ligent enough to vote. What an appalling amount of wisdom they show
in this idea ! It would be " unwomanly " in us to suggest such a word as
inconsistency. Fraternally, M. J. M.
Cairo, Me., April, 1874.
In Searsport a woman was elected one of the two school-
superintendents of the town. The following advertisement ap-
pears in the local newspaper:
SEARSPORT SCHOOL NOTICE. — The superintending school-committee of Searsport
-will meet to examine teachers at the town library, April 17 and May r, 1874, at x
o'clock P. M. DELIA A. CURTIS,
JOHN NICHOLS,
S. S. Com. of Sear sfort.
* President, Benjamin Kingsbury of Portland; Secretary, Miss Addie Quimby of Augusta; Treas-
urer, Mrs. W. K. Lancey of Augusta. Among the vice-presidents are the Hon. S. F. Hersey of Ban-
gor, and John Neal of Portland. An Executive Committee was elected, which included John P. White-
house, Hon. Joshua Nye, Neal Dow, jr., and other leading citizens.
Supreme Judicial Court Interrogated. 361
Teachers will be expected to discountenance the use of tobacco and intoxicating
liquors, and to use their best endeavors to impress on the minds of the children and
youth committed to their care and instruction a proper understanding of the evil ten-
dency of such habits; and no teacher need apply for a certificate to teach in this town,
the ensuing year, who uses either. DELIA A. CURTIS.
DEAR JOURNAL : Aroostook, though occupying the extreme north-
eastern portion of our good State of Maine, and still in the blush of
youth, is not behind her sister counties in recognition of woman's fitness
for office. The returns of town elections, so far as I have yet seen, give
three towns in the county which have elected ladies* to serve as mem-
bers of the school committee. L. J. Y. W.
Houlton, Maine.
In the autumn of 1874 the governor and council requested the
opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court on the following questions:
First — Under the constitution and laws of this State, can a woman, if duly ap-
pointed and qualified as a justice of the peace, legally perform all acts pertaining to
that office?
Second — Would it be competent for the legislature to authorize the appointment of
a married woman to the office of justice of the peace; or to administer oaths, take
acknowledgment of deeds or solemnize marriages, so that the same may be legal and
valid ?
The following responses to these inquiries were received by the
governor: the opinion of the court, drawn by Chief-Justice
Appleton, and concurred in by Justices Cutting, Peters, Danforth
and Virgin; a dissenting opinion from Justices Walton and Bar-
rows and one from Justice Dickerson. The opinion of the court
is given below:
To the questions proposed we have the honor to answer as follows :
Whether it is expedient that women should hold the office of justice of the peace is
not an inquiry proposed for our consideration. It is whether, under the existing con-
stitution, they can be appointed to such office, and can legally discharge its duties.
By the constitution of Massachusetts, of which we formerly constituted a portion,
the entire political power of that commonwealth was vested under certain conditions,
in its male inhabitants of a prescribed age. They alone, and in the exclusion of the
other sex, as determined by its highest court of law, could exercise the judicial function
as existing and established by that iustrument.
By the act relating to the separation of the district of Maine from Massachusetts, the
authority to determine upon the question of separation, and to elect delegates to meet and
form a constitution was conferred upon the " inhabitants of the several towns, districts
and plantations in the district of Maine qualified to vote for governor or senators,"
thus excluding the female sex from all participation in the formation of the constitu-
tion, and in the organization of the government under it. Whether the constitution
should or should not be adopted, was especially, by the organic law of its existence, sub-
mitted to the vote of the male inhabitants of the State.
It thus appears that the constitution of the State was the work of its male citizens.
It was ordained, established, and ratified by them, and by them alone; but by the
power of government was divided into three distinct departments : legislative, execu-
tive and judicial. By article VI., section 4, justices of the peace are recognized as judi-
cial officers.
* Miss Louisa Coffin, Dalton; Miss Annie Lincoln, Mapleton; Miss Ada DeLaite, Littleton.
362 History of Woman Suffrage.
By the constitution, the whole political power of the State is vested in its male citi-
zens. Whenever in any of its provisions, reference is made to sex, it is to duties to be
done and performed by male members of the community. Nothing in the language of
the constitution or in the debates of the convention by which it was formed, indicates
any purpose whatever of any surrender of political power by those who had previously
enjoyed it or a transfer of the same to those who had never possessed it. Had any such
design then existed, we cannot doubt that it would have been made manifest in appro-
priate language. But such intention is nowhere disclosed. Having regard then, to
the rules of the common law as to the rights of women, married and unmarried, as
then existing — to the history of the past — to the universal and unbroken practical con-
struction given to the constitution of this State and to that of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts upon which that of this State was modeled, we are led to the inevitable
conclusion that it was never in the contemplation or intention of those framing our con-
stitution that the offices thereby created should be filled by those who could take no
part in its original formation, and to whom no political power was intrusted for the or-
ganization of the government then about to be established under its provisions, or for
its continued existence and preservation when established.
The same process of reasoning which would sanction the conferring judicial power
on women under the constitution would authorize the giving them executive power by
making them sheriffs and major-generals. But while the offices enacted by the consti-
tution are to be, filled exclusively by the male members of the State, we have no doubt
that the legislature may create new ministerial offices not enumerated therein, and if it
deem expedient, may authorize the performance of the duties of the offices so created
by persons of either sex.
To the first question proposed, we answer in the negative.
To the second, we answer that it is competent for the legislature to authorize the
appointment of married or unmarried women to administer oaths, take acknowledgment
of deeds or solemnize marriages, so that the same shall be legal and valid.
JOHN APPLETON, JOHN A. PETERS,
JONAS CUTTING, WM. WIRT VIRGIN,
CHARLES DANFORTH.
The dissenting opinion was as follows:
We, the undersigned, Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, concur in so much of
the foregoing opinion as holds that it is competent for the legislature to authorize the
appointment of women to administer oaths, take the acknowledgment of deeds and
solemnize marriages. But we do not concur in the conclusion that it is not equally
competent for the legislature to authorize the appointment of women to act as justices
of the peace.
The legislature is authorized to enact any law which it deems reasonable and proper,
provided it is not repugnant to the constitution of this State, nor to that of the United
States. A law authorizing the appointment of women to act as justices of the peace
would not, in our judgment, be repugnant to either. We fail to find a single word,
or sentence, or clause of a sentence, which, fairly construed, either expressly or im-
pliedly forbids the passage of such a law. So far as the office of justice of the peace
is concerned, there is not so much as a masculine pronoun to hang an objection upon.
It is true that the right to vote is limited to males. But the right to vote and the
right to hold office are distinct matters. Either may exist without the other. And it
may be true that the framers of the constitution did not contemplate — did not affirma-
tively intend — that women should hold office. But it by no means follows that they
intended the contrary. The truth probably is that they had no intention one way or
the other ; that the matter was not even thought of. And it will be noticed that the
unconstitutionality of such a law is made to rest, not on any expressed intention of the
framers of the constitution that women should not hold office, but upon a presumed
absence of intention that they should.
Recommendation of Gov. Dingley. 363
This seems to us a dangerous doctrine. It is nothing less than holding that the
legislature cannot enact a law unless it appears affirmatively that the framers of the
constitution intended that such a law should be enacted. We cannot concur in such a
doctrine. It would put a stop to all progress. We understand the correct rule to be
the reverse of that ; namely, that the legislature may enact any law they may think
proper, unless it appears affirmatively that the framers of the constitution intended
that such a law should not be passed. And the best and only safe rule for ascertaining
the intention of the makers of any written law, is to abide by the language which they
have used. And this is especially true of written constitutions ; for in preparing such
instruments it is but reasonable to presume that every word has been carefully weighed,
and that none is inserted and none omitted without a design for so doing. Taking
this rule for our guide we can find nothing in the constitution of the United States, or
of this State, forbidding the passage of a law authorizing the appointment of women to
act as justices of the peace. We think such a law would be valid.
C. W. WALTON,
WM. G. BARROWS.
The right of women to hold office was affirmed in the message
of Governor Dingley, January, 1875 :
In response to the questions propounded by the governor and council, a
majority of the justices of the Supreme Court have given an opinion that,
under the constitution of Maine, women cannot act as justices of the peace,
nor hold any other office mentioned in that instrument ; but that it is
competent for the legislature to authorize persons of either sex to hold
any ministerial office created by statute. As there can be no valid objec-
tion to, but on the contrary great convenience in, having women who may
be acting as clerks in public or private offices authorized to administer
oaths and take acknowledgment of deeds, I recommend the passage of
an act providing for the appointment of persons of either sex, to perform
such official duties. Indeed, if further legislation be necessary to establish
that principle, I suggest the justice and expediency of an enabling act
recognizing the eligibility of women to office in the same manner as men ;
for I know of no sufficient reason why a woman, otherwise qualified,
should be excluded from any position adapted to her tastes and acquire-
ments, which the people may desire she should fill.
The legislature passed the bill recommended by the governor.
In 1875 the Constitutional Committee, by a vote of six to two,
defeated the proposition to so amend the constitution as to make
women electors under the same regulations and restrictions as men.
The Maine Woman Suffrage Association held its third annual meeting
at Augusta on January 12, 1876, in the hall of the House of Representa-
tives, the use of which had been courteously extended to the association.
The hull and galleries were crowded in every part with an intelligent audi-
ence, whose close attention through all the sessions showed an earnot
interest in the cause.
The meeting was called to order by Judge Kingsburyof Portland, presi-
dent of the association.* Prayer was offered by Miss Angell <>t" Canton,
* The following officers were elected : President, Hon. I'.cnjamin Kinj^bury of Portland; Chair-
man Executive Committee, Hon. Joshua Nye; Corresponding Secretary, Mr. C. A. Quinby. Au-
gusta; Recording Secretory, Mrs. W. D. Eaton, Dexter; Trttuurer, Mrs. W. K. Lancey, Pituficld.
364 History of Woman Siiffrage.
N. Y. Judge Kingsbury made the introductory address. Addresses were
also made by H. B. Blackwell, Miss Eastman and Lucy Stone, showing
the right and need of women in politics, and the duty of law-makers to
establish justice for them. It was especially urged that the centennial
celebration would be only a mockery if the Fourth of July, 1876, finds this
government still doing to women what the British government did to the
colonists a hundred years ago. Rev. Mr. Gage of Lewiston urged the
right of women to vote in the interest of civilization itself. In the
perilous times upon which we have fallen in the great experiment of self-
government, some new force is needed to check growing evils. The in-
fluence in the home is that which is needed in legislation, and it can only
be had by the ballot in the hand of woman. Mrs. Quinby, from the Busi-
ness Committee, reported a series of resolutions. After their adoption
Mrs. Abba G. Woolson, in an earnest and forcible speech, claimed the
right of women to vote, as the final application of the theory of the con-
sent of the governed. She had personally noticed the good effects of
the ballot conferred upon the women in Wyoming, and should be glad
to have her native State of Maine lead in this matter, and give an illustra-
tion of the true republic. Miss Lorenza Haynes, who had been the day
before ordained over the Universalist Church in Hallowell, followed with
a speech of remarkable wit and brilliancy, to which no report can do
justice.
A writer in the Woman s Journal about this time said :
During the early part of the session of our late legislature woman suf-
frage petitions were numerously signed by the leading men and women
throughout the State receiving an earnest and respectful consideration
from the people generally, even from those who were not quite ready to
sign petitions. Consequently, it seemed an easy matter to get a bill be-
fore the legislature, and we were almost certain of a majority in one
branch of the House, at least, especially as it was generally understood
that our new governor favored the cause; and it is believed yet that Gov-
ernor Dingley does sympathize with it, even though he failed to mention
it in his otherwise admirable message. The petitions were duly pre-
sented and referred to a joint committee, where the matter was al-
lowed to quietly drop.
It is neither riches, knowledge, nor culture that constitutes the electoral
qualifications, but gender and a certain implied brute force. By this stan-
dard legislative bodies have been wont to judge the exigency of this mighty
question. More influential than woman, though unacknowledged as such
by the average legislator of States and nations, even the insignificant
lobster finds earnest champions where woman's claims fail of recognition;
which assertion the following incident will substantiate : Being present in
the Representatives Hall in Augusta when the " lobster question " came up
for discussion (the suffrage question was then struggling before the com-
mittee), I was struck by the air of earnestness that pervaded the entire
House on that memorable occasion, And why not ? It was a question
that appealed directly to man's appetite, and there he is always inte-
rested. After the morning hour a dozen ready debaters sprang to their
Miss Charlotte Hill. 365
feet, eloquent in advocating the rights of this important member of the
crustacean family. The discussion waxed into something like enthusiasm,
when finally an old tar exclaimed with terrific violence : "Mr. Speaker,
I insist upon it, this question must be considered. It is a great question ;
one before which all others will sink into insignificance ; one of vastly
mo,re importance than any other that will come before this honorable
body during this session !" DIRIOO.
In closing this chapter it is fitting to mention some of our
faithful friends in Maine, whose names have not appeared in so-
cieties and conventions as leaders or speakers, but whose services
in other ways have been highly appreciated.
Rockland is the home of Lucy and Lavinia Snow, who, from
the organization of the first society in 1868, have never failed to
send good words of cheer and liberal contributions to all our Na-
tional conventions. Another branch of the worthy Snow family,
from the town of Hamlin, has given us equally generous coadju-
tors in Mrs. Spofford and her noble sisters in Washington.
As early as 1857, Mrs. Anna Greeley and Miss Charlotte Hill
of Ellsworth constituted themselves a conmittee to inaugurate a
course of lyceum lectures in that town, taking the entire finan-
cial responsibility. Miss Hill was an excellent violinist and
taught a large class of boys and girls, and also played at balls
and parties, thus gaining a livelihood. Some of her patrons
threatened that if she persisted in bringing such people* to that
town and affiliated with them, they would no longer patronize
her. " Very well " she replied, " I shall maintain my principles,
and if you break up my classes I can go back to the sea-shore and
dig clams for a living as I have done before." Tradition says the
lecture course was a success. She continued her classes and the
neighbors danced as ever to her music.
Gail Hamilton, who resides in Maine at least half her time, is
one of the most brilliant and pungent American writers. In de-
nouncing the follies and failures of her sex, her critical pen has
indirectly aided the suffrage movement by arousing thought upon
all phases of the question as to what are the rights and duties of
woman, though she, stoutly maintains that she is opposed to
woman's enfranchisement.
In Portland there has always been a circle of noble men and
women, steadfast friends alike of the anti-slavery, temperance
and woman suffrage movements. The names of Mr. and Mrs.
Oliver Dennett, Miss. Charlotte A. Thomas and Mrs. Ellen French
* Those invited were Wendell Philips, Harriet K. Hunt, Caroline H. Dall and Susan B. Anthony.
366 History of Woman Suffrage.
Foster are worthy of mention. That untiring reformer, the
Hon. Neal Dow, has clearly seen and declared in the later years
of his labors, that suffrage for women is the short path to the
advancement of prohibition.
The Hon. Thomas B. Reed has done us great service in con-
gress as leader of the Republican party in the House, and mem-
ber of the Judiciary Committee. His report,* in 1884, on the sub-
mission of the sixteenth amendment has had an extended influ-
ence. It is an able argument, and as a keen piece of irony it is
worthy the pen of a Dean Swift. In the Senate we have a fast
friend in William P. Frye, who has always voted favorably in
both houses on all questions regarding the interests of woman.
In 1878, in presenting Miss Willard's petition of 30,000 for woman's
right to vote on the temperance question, he made an able speech
recommending the measure.f
And in closing, the name of Maine's venerable statesman, Han-
nibal Hamlin, so long honored by his State in a succession of
official positions from year to year, must not be forgotten. As
chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia in 1870
he presided at the first hearing of the National Woman Suffrage
Association, listened with respect and courtesy, and at the close
introduced the ladies to each member of the committee, and said
4< he had been deeply impressed by the arguments, and was almost
persuaded to accept the new gospel of woman's equality." Mr.
Hamlin's vote has always been favorable and we have no words
of his recorded in the opposition.
Hon. James G. Elaine has generally maintained a dignified
silence on the question. Thus far in his History, a reviewer says,
" he has ignored the existence of woman "; but perhaps in his
researches he has not yet reached the garden of Eden, nor taken
cognizance of the part the daughters of Eve have played in the
rise and fall of mighty nations.
Nevertheless in our prolonged struggle of half a century for
equal rights for woman, we have found in every State the tra-
ditional ten righteous men necessary to save its people from
destruction.
* Mr. Reed's report is published in full in our annual report of 1884, which can be obtained of Susan
B. Anthony, Rochester, N. Y.
t See page 104.
CHAPTER XXXV.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Nathaniel P. Rogers — First Organized Action, 1868 — Concord Convention — William
Lloyd Garrison's Letter — Rev. S. L. Blake Opposed — Rev. Mr. Sanborn in Favor
— Concord Monitor — Armenia S. White — A Bill to Protect the Rights of Married
Men — Minority and Majority Reports — Women too Ignorant to Vote — Republican
State Convention — Women on School Committees — Voting at School-District Meet-
ings— Mrs. White's Address — Mrs. Ricker on Prison Reform — Judicial Decision
in Regard to Married Women, 1882 — Letter from Senator Blair.
A STATE that could boast four such remarkable families as the
Rogers, the Hutchinsons, the Fosters, and the Pillsburys, all
radical, outspoken reformers, furnishes abundant reason for its
prolonged battles with the natural conservatism of ordinary com-
munities. Every inch of its soil except its mountain tops, where
no man could raise a school-house for a meeting, has been over-
run by the apostles of peace, temperance, anti-slavery, and
woman's rights in succession.
To the early influence of Nathaniel P. Rogers and his revolution-
ary journal, The Herald of Freedom, we may trace the general
awakening of the true men and women of that State to new ideas
of individual liberty. But while some gladly accepted his words
as harbingers of a new and better civilization, others resisted all in-
novations of their time-honored customs and opinions. And
when the clarion voices of Foster and Pillsbury arraigned that
State for its compromises with slavery, howling mobs answered
their arguments with brickbats and curses ; mobs that nothing
could quell but the sweet voices of the Hutchinson family.
Their peans of liberty, so readily accepted when set to music,
were obstinately resisted when uttered by others, though in
most eloquent speech. Thus with music, meetings and mobs,
New Hampshire was at least awake and watching, and when the
distant echoes of woman's uprising reverberated through her
mountains she gave a ready response.
In 1868, simultaneously with other New England States, she
felt the time had come to organize for action on the question of
368 History of Woman Suffrage.
suffrage for women. A call for a convention was issued to be
held in Concord, December 22, 23, and signed by one hundred
and twenty men and women,* some of the most honored and in-
fluential classes of all callings and professions. Nathaniel P.
White, always ready to aid genuine reformatory movements, was
the first to sign the call. As a member of the legislature he had
helped to coin into law many of the liberal ideas sown broadcast
in the early daysf by the anti-slavery apostles. Galen Foster, a
brother of Stephen, used his influence also as a member of the
legislature, to vindicate the rights of women to civil and political
equality. This first convention was held in Eagle Hall, Concord,
with large and enthusiastic audiences. A long and interesting
letter was read from William Lloyd Garrison :
BOSTON, December 21, 1868.
DEAR MRS. WHITE : I must lose the gratification of being present at
the Woman Suffrage Convention at Concord and substitute an epistolary
testimony for a speech from the platform.
The two conventions recently held in furtherance of the movement for
universal and impartial suffrage — one in Boston, the other in Providence —
were eminently successful in respect to numbers, intellectual ability, moral
strength and unity of action ; and their proceedings such as to challenge
attention and elicit wide-spread commendation. I have no doubt that the
convention in Concord will exhibit the same features, be animated by the
same hopeful spirit and produce as cheering results.
The only criticism seemingly of a disparaging tone, I have seen, of the
speeches made at the conventions alluded to, is, that there was nothing
new advanced on the occasion ; as though novelty were the main thing,
and the reiteration of time-honored truths, with their latest application to
the duties of the hour, were simply tedious ! For one, I ask no more light
upon the subject ; nor am I so vain as to assume to be capable of throw-
ing any additional light upon it. One drop of water is very like another,
but it is the perpetual dropping that wears away the stone. The im-
portunate widow had nothing fresh or new to present to the unjust judge,
* Concord, Nathaniel P. White, Mrs. Sarah Pillsbury, Rev. J. F. Lovering, P. B. Cogswell, Mrs.
Eliza Morrill, Mrs. Louisa W. Wood, Col. James E. Larkin, Mrs. J. F. Lovering, Charles S. Piper,
Mrs. Armenia S. White, Mrs. M. M. Smith, Mrs. F. E. Kittredge, Mrs. Sarah Piper, Mrs. Ira Abbott,
Mrs. L. M. Bust, Dr. A. Morrill, Mrs. P. Ladd, Mrs. R. A. Smith, George W. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. J.
V. Aldrich.Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Smith, Mrs. T. H. Brown, Mrs. R. Hatch, Mrs. J. L.Crawford, Mrs.
Anna Dumas, Miss Harriet C. Edmunds, Miss Salina Stevens, Miss Mary A. Denning, Miss N. E.
Fessender, MissM. L. Noyes, Miss Clara Noyes, James H. Chase, Peter Sanborn ; Lancaster, Rev. J.
M. L. Babcock; Rochester, Mrs. Abby P. Ela ; Bradford. Mrs. L. A. T. Lane, Miss M. J. Tappan ;
Laconia. Rev. J. L. Gorman, William M. Blair; Manchester, Dr. M. O. A. Hunt ; riymvuth, Hon.
L>. R. Burnham ; Portsmouth, Hon. A. W. Haven ; Canterbury, Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Clough ; Lebanon,
A. M. Shaw ; Krene, Col. and Mrs. Wilson ; Gra/tort, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kimball ; Northfield, -Mrs.
D. E. Hill ; Franklin, Rev. Wm. T. Savage ; Canaan, William W. George ; Littleton, R. D. Runne-
ville.
tThey had their influence in the church as well as the State, as the following item in The Revolu-
tion, July 16, 1868, shows: '• The New Hampshire convention of Universalists, at their late anniversary,
adopted unanimously a resolution in favor of woman's elevation to entire equality with man in every
civil, political and religious right."
Letter Jrom Mr. Garrison. 369
but by her persistent coming she wearied him into compliance with her
petition. The end of the constant assertion of a right withheld is restitu-
tion and victory. The whole anti-slavery controversy was expressed and
included in the Golden Rule, morally, and in the Declaration of Independ-
ence, politically; nor could anything new be added to these by the wisest,
the most ingenious, or the most eloquent. " Line upon line, precept upon
precept, here a little and there a little"; that is the essential method of
reform. If there is nothing new to be said in favor of suffrage for women,
is there anything new to be urged against it? But though the objections
are exceedingly trite and shallow, it is still necessary to examine and
refute them by arguments and illustrations none the less forcible because
exhausted at an earlier period.
The first objection is positively one of the most urgent reasons for
granting suffrage to women ; for it is predicated on the concession of the
superiority of woman over man in purity of purpose and excellence of
character. Hence the cry is, that it will not only be descending, but
degrading for her to appear at the polls. But, if government is absolutely
necessary, and voting not wrong in practice, it is surely desirable that the
admittedly purest and best in the nation should find no obstacle to their
reaching the ballot-box. Nay, the way should be opened at once, by every
consideration pertaining to the public welfare, the justice of legislation,
the preservation of popular liberty. It is impossible for a portion of the
people, to be wiser and more trustworthy than the whole people, or better
qualified to decide what shall be the laws for the government of all. The
more minds consulted, the more souls included, the more interests at
stake, in determining the form and administration of government, the
more of justice and humanity, of security and repose, will be the result.
The exclusion of half the population from the polls, is not merely a gross
injustice, but an immense loss of brain and conscience, in making up the
public judgment. As a nation we have discarded absolutism, monarchy,
and hereditary aristocracy ; but we have not fully attained even to man-
hood suffrage. Men are proscribed on account of their complexion,
women because of their sex. The entire body politic suffers form this
proscription.
The second objection refutes the first ; it is based on the alleged natural
inferiority of woman to man, and the transition is thus quickly made for
her, from a semi-angelic state, to that of a menial, having no rights that men
are bound to respect beyond what they choose to allow. In the scale of
political power, therefore, one male voter, however ignorant or depraved,
outweighs all the women in America! For, no matter how intelligent, cul-
tured, refined, wealthy, intellectually vigorous, or morally great, any of
their number may be, — no matter what rank in literature, art, science, or
medical knowledge and skill they may reach, — they are political non-
entities, unrepresented, discarded, and left to such protection under the
laws, as brute force and absolute usurpation may graciously condescend
to give. Yet they are as freely taxed and held amendable to penal l.iw
as strictly as though they had their full share of representation in the
legislative hall, on the bench, in the jury-box, and at the polls. This
24
370
Tistory oj
roman Suffrage.
cry of inferiority is not peculiar in the case of woman. It was the
subterfuge and defiance of negro slavery. It has been raised in all ages
by tyrants and usurpers against the toiling, over-burdened millions, seek-
ing redress for their wrongs, and protection for their rights. It always in-
dicates intense self-conceit, and supreme selfishness. It is at war with
reason and common-sense, and is a bold denial of the oneness of the human
The third objection is, that women do not wish to vote. If this were
true, it would not follow that they should not be enfranchised, and left
free to determine the matter for themselves. It was confidently de-
clared that the slaves at the south neither wished to be free, nor would
they take their liberty if offered them by their masters. Had that asser-
tion been true, it would have furnished no justification whatever, for
making man the property of his fellow-man, or for leaving the slaves in
their fetters. But it was not true. Nor is it true that women do not wish
to vote. Tens of thousands are ready to go to the polls and assume their
share of political responsibility, as soon as they shall be legally permitted
to do so ; and they are not the ignorant and degraded of their sex, but
women remarkable for their intelligence and moral worth. The great
mass will, ere long, be sufficiently enlightened to claim what belongs to
them of right. I hope to be permitted to live to seethe day when neither
complexion nor sex shall be made a badge of degradation, but men and
women shall enjoy the same rights and privileges, and possess the same
means for their protection and defense.
Very faithfully yours, WM. LLOYD GARRISON.
Mrs. A. S. WHITE.
At the close of this convention a State association was formed
with Mrs. Armenia S. White president.* This society has been
unremitting in its efforts to rouse popular thought; holding
annual conventions, scattering tracts, rolling up petitions, and
addressing legislatures. Many of the best speakers, from time to
time, from other States f have rendered valuable aid in keeping up
the agitation.
* President, Mrs. Armenia S. White. Vice-Presidents, Rev. J. F. Levering, Concord ; Mrs. A. L.
Thomas, Laconia ; Ossian Ray, Lancaster ; Mrs. S. Pillsbury, Concord ; J. V. Aldrich, West Con-
cord ; Mrs. Mary Worcester, Nashua; Mrs. Mary Barker, Alton; Peter Kimball, Grafton ; E. J. Du-
rant, Lebanon ; Mrs. Fannie V. Roberts, Dover ; Miss A. C. Payson, Peterboro ; Mrs. E. A. Bartlett,
Kingston ; Mr. Springfield, South Wolfboro ; Galen Foster, Canterbury ; Mrs. R. M. Miller, Manches-
ter ; Mrs. Nancy Gilman, Tilton ; C. Ballou, North Weare ; D. Burnham, Plymouth. Executive Com-
mittee, Nathaniel White, Mrs. E. C. Lovering, Col. J. E. Larkin, Concord ; Mrs. J. Abby Ela, Roch-
ester ; Rev. Wm. T. Savage, Franklin ; Mrs. Eliza Morrill, Mrs. Daniel Holden, West Concord ; Miss
Caroline Foster, Canterbury ; P. B. Cogswell, Mrs. Louisa Wood, Mrs. M. M. Smith, Concord ; Dr.
M. V. A. Hunt, Manchester. Recording Secretary •, Mrs. E. C. Lovering, Concord. Corresponding
Secretary, Dr. J. Gallinger. Treasurer, Jas. H. Chase.
t Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Frederick Hinckley,
I.ucy Stone, Frances Ellen Harper, Dr. Sarah H. Hathaway, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Rev. Mr.
Connor, Rev. Ada C. Bowles, Emma Coe Still, Rev. Lorenza Hayne.-,. Mary Grew, Mary A. Liver-
more, Elizabeth K.. Churchill, Margaret W. Campbell, Anna Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Matilda Joslyn Gage, Rev. Olympia Brown, Lillie Devereux Blake, Elizabeth A. Meriwether, Eliza-
beth Lisle Saxon, Susan B. Anthony.
A Sensation in Concord. 371
The opposition of a clergyman produced a sensation in Con-
cord.
On last fast-day, 1871, Rev. S. L. Blake of the Congregational church
in Concord, preached a sermon in which he came out against the woman's
rights convention held there last January, bringing the stale charge of
•"free-love" against its advocates — a charge that always leaps to the lips
of men of prurient imagination — with much similar clap-trap of the Fulton
type. Rev. Mr. Sanborn of the Universalist church replied to him the
next Sunday evening, an immense audience being in attendance, and com-
pletely disproved the baseless allegations of the reverend maligner, to the
satisfaction of all. Rev. Mr. Blake has published his discourse in pamphlet
form, repeating his disproved charges, whereupon Rev. J. F. Lovering of
the Unitarian church came out with a reply, in which he characterized
Mr. Blake's charges as "unmitigated falsehoods " and "an insult to every
member of the convention," and demanded of the author to "unsay his
words."
Brainard Cogswell, in his journal, the Concord Monitor, of July
2, 1870, published the following letter:
Petitions for woman's enfranchisement have been pouring into the New
Hampshire legislature, until at last they have been referred to a special
committee. On Thursday week this committee gave the 'petitioners a
hearing; and on their invitation, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, Mrs. Elizabeth
K.Churchill and ourself went to Concord to give "the reasons why"
women should have the ballot. The members of the legislature came out
in force to hear, and our good, tried friends, Nathaniel and Armenia
White, learning their intention in advance, opened the spacious Eagle Hall
for their convenience, and that of the towns-people who wished to see
and to hear. Warm as the evening was, the thermometer up in the nine-
ties, the hall was packed, and great numbers went away that could not
gain admittance. Rev. Mr. Blake, a Congregationalist minister of Con-
cord, has done the cause good service by vilifying and abusing it, until
he roused quite an interest. It was partly owing to his efforts that we
had so grand an audience.
General Wilson, who twenty years ago was famed throughout New
Hampshire for his eloquence and oratory, was chairman of the commit-
tee, and presided at the meeting, and very handsomely introduced the
speakers. Mrs. Howe spoke with more pointed and pungent power than
usual, dwelling on the deterioration of American womanhood, show-
ing the cause, and suggesting the remedy. We have never been so im-
pressed by her as on this occasion. Mrs. Churchill read a letter from
Rev. Mr. Savage, a Congregationalist clergyman of the Stato. who advo-
cates woman suffrage, and who, in a late ministerial gathering, took up
the gauntlet thrown down by Mr. Blake, and defended the woman's cause
and its advocates from the slanders of his brother minister.
The president of the New Hampshire association, in writing
from Concord to the Woman s Journal, January 30, 1871, sa\
372 History of Woman Suffrage.
Our second annual meeting was a grand success, if we count by money
and numbers. The intense cold on Wednesday and Thursday made our
audiences thinner than heretofore, but they were large in spite of the
elements. Mrs. Churchill and Mrs. Emma Coe Still, who had never pre-
sented the subject here before, were well received. Rev. Dr. Savage of
Franklin made an excellent address, and encouraged us by timely sugges-
tions. Stephen S. Foster aroused us, as he always does, with his bold
declarations. The resolutions adopted look toward future work, and
embody the principles which move us to act.
Lucy Stone, in the Woman s Journal of June 14, 1871, says:
The Select Committee, Harry Bingham, chairman, to whom was referred
a bill for the further protection of the rights of married men, reported the
bill in a new draft as follows1.
Marriages shall not hereafter render the husband liable for the debts contracted by
his wife prior to their marriage : Second section — No marriage shall hereafter dis-
charge the wife from liability to pay the debts contracted by her before such marriage,
but she, and all property which she may hold in her own right, shall be held liable for
the payment of all debts, whether contracted before or after marriage; in the same
manner as if she continued sole and unmarried.
This report was signed by eight of the ten members of the committee.
The minority, through Mr. Sprague of Swanzey, made a report recom-
mending that the whole subject be postponed to the time when women
in New Hampshire have the right to vote. Mr. Sprague moved that the
minority report be substituted for the majority, but the motion was lost
by an almost unanimous vote. The majority report was sustained in re-
marks by Messrs. Wadleigh of Milford and Cogswell of Oilman. The lat-
ter, hard pushed by an interrogatory concerning his social status, admit-
ted that he was not married, but intended to be soon. The bill reported
by the majority was then ordered to a second reading.
If this action should be sustained by the legislature, we can imagine
some future suitor for a lady's hand telling her that he shall expect her
duly to keep his house and his wardrobe in order, to prepare his meals, to
entertain his visitors, to bear his children, and that she will be required
by law to pay her own bills ; that for this inestimable privilege she shall
be called Mrs. John Snooks, and may, perhaps, have the honor of being
written in the newspapers, and on her tombstone, as the relic of Mr. John
Snooks. Could any woman withstand that ?
The following statistics have been used by speakers in the
opposition, to show that women are too ignorant to vote r
A decided sensation has been produced throughout the country by the
publication in the third number of the "Transactions of the American
Social Science Association " of statistics concerning the illiteracy of
women in the United States. The subject has received very general dis-
cussion, and these are the conclusions reached :
I. That there is a large excess of female illiteracy. 2. That from 1850 to 1860
there was an increase of illiterate women to the extent of 53 per cent, in New Hamp-
shire, 27 in Vermont, 24 in Massachusetts, 33 in Rhode Island, 16 in Connecticut, 37
Mr. Briggs in the Republican Convention. 373
in the District of Columbia, 33 in Wisconsin and 32 in Minnesota. 3. That this state
of things is alarming, and ought to be remedied.
When the London Saturday Review raised the cry of alcoholic drunken-
ness among women, the conservative journals all over the world swelled
the sound and confirmed the charges. Now that that story has run itself
to death, a new assault is projected, and a general clamor concerning their
illiteracy follows. If the charges are true, there is nothing very astonish-
ing about them. The education of women has been considered a matter
of secondary importance until very recently, and with our foreign popu-
lation the education of girls has been almost wholly neglected. When
the customs and usages of the world have made ignorance largely com-
pulsory in women, it is somewhat inconsistent in men to go into spasms
about the results.
January 17, 1874, at the Republican State convention, Mayor
Briggs of Manchester, on taking the chair, made a speech, re-
hearsing the history of the party and laying out its programme
for the future, closing as follows:
The Republican party has future duties. Its mission cannot end and its
work should not, so long as any radical reform shall yet urge its demands
in behalf of humanity. The civil service reform is eminent and important.
In this regard the movement of the present administration is in the right
direction, and yet it is only a first step of many which must ultimately be
taken. To the people, not to a part of the people, belongs the sover-
eignty of this nation. Let them keep it. To this end great care should
be taken to guard against the caucus system. Nothing should be more
scrupulously avoided in the management of political parties. Anti-repub-
lican in spirit, it is sometimes exclusive in practice. The people have the
same right to nominate that they have to elect their own officers. Why
not? Ultimately, too, they will take that right, and for its own sake no
party can afford to make itself the nursery of caucus power. The polit-
ical machinery should be simplified, that nothing which mere politicians
can desire shall stand between the* people and their government. In a
genuine republic, every act of the government should be but a practical
expression of its subjects. All the subjects, too, should share equally the
power of such expression. There should be no exclusion among intelli-
gent, qualified classes. Involved in this principle is the idea of woman
suffrage, the next great moral issue, in my judgment, which this country
must meet, and a reform which no party can afford to despise. Indubita-
bly right, as I believe it to be, I regard its success as inevitable, and that
whatever party opposes it is as surely destined to defeat, as was the party
which arrayed itself in opposition to the anti-slavery cause.
The following letter in the Woman s Journal shows that some-
thing of the spirit of the Connecticut Smith-sisters has been
found in New Hampshire:
I have long felt a deep interest in the subject of woman's rights,
and some fifteen years ago I resisted taxation two successive years. The
3/4 History of IVoman Suffrage.
second year I worked out my highway tax, for which crime I brought
down upon my guilty head a severe persecution from both men and
women, from clergymen and lawyers, as well as other classes of my fellow
townsmen. The tax-collectors came into my house and attached furni-
ture and sold it at auction in order to collect my tax, one of whom made
me all the cost the laws would allow. The most incensed town officers
threatened that if I resisted taxation the next year, they would take my
house from me and sell it at auction. One of the tax-gatherers asked me
what I thought I could do alone in resisting taxation. He said he did not
believe there was another woman in the State of New Hampshire who
possessed the hardihood to take such a stand against the laws. The ed-
itor of one of our weekly journals, who professed to be an advocate of
woman's rights, and who was a candidate for representative in the State
legislature, condemned me through the columns of his paper, in order to
secure the votes of his fellow townsmen who were opposed to woman's
rights. He had nothing to fear from me, knowing that I was only a dis-
franchised slave. Such unjust treatment seemed so cruel that I some-
times felt I could willingly lay down my life, if it would deliver my sex
from such degrading oppression. I have, every year since, submissively
paid my taxes, humbly hoping and praying that I may live to see the day
that women will not be compelled to pay taxes without representation,
MARY L. HARRINGTON.
Claremont, N. H., January 17, 1874.
In 1870 a law was passed allowing women to be members of
school committees ; and eight years later a law was enacted per-
mitting women to vote at school meetings. On the evening of
August 7, 1878, the House Special Committee granted a hearing
to the friends* of the School-suffrage bill, which had already
passed the Senate by a unanimous vote ; and the next day, when
the bill came up for final action in the House, the following de-
bate occurred :
Mr. BATCHELDER of Littleton saifl : This bill is one of the greatest
importance, and before we vote upon it let us have the views of the com-
mittee.
Mr. GALEN FOSTER of Canterbury called upon Mr. Blodgett to give his
opinion as to the power of the legislature upon the question.
Mr. BLODGETT of Franklin said he had no doubt of the constitutionality
of the bill. School districts were created by statute and not by the con-
stitution ; hence the legislature had a perfect right to say who should
vote in controlling their affairs.
Mr. FOSTER said : The mothers of our children should have a voice in
their education. We have allowed women to hold certain offices in con-
nection with schools, but we have never given them a voice in the
control of the money expended upon them. The mothers take ten times
* The speakers at this hearing were Mr. Galen Foster of Canterbury, Senators Gallinger and Shaw.
Mrs. Abby Goold Woolson, H. P. Rolfe, S. B. Page, Rev. E. L. Conger and Mrs. Armenia S. White.
Debate in the House.
more interest in the education of the young than the fathers do, and
should have an equal voice in the affairs of the school districts. This is
a matter of right and justice.
Mr. SINCLAIR of Bethlehem said : There ought not to be any objection
to this bill. If there is any class that ought to have a voice in the educa-
tion of children, it is the mothers. [Applause.] Some of the best school
committees in the State are women. If they can be elected to that office,
is it proper to say they shall have no voice in the elections?
Mr. WHICHER of Strafford thought they would get a little mixed in
carrying out the provisions of this bill, in the face of the statutes relating
to school-district meetings. He would move to indefinitely postpone the
bill.
Mr. MOSHER of Dover said : There ought to be a new motion gotten
up ; to " indefinitely postpone " is getting to be stereotyped. This bill
needs no further championing. Its justice is apparent.
Mr. HOBBS of Ossippee said : If women are capable of holding office
they are also capable of saying who shall hold it. [Applause.]
Mr. PATTEN of Manchester favored the bill and hoped the motion of
Mr. Whicher would be voted down.
The SPEAKER [Mr. WOOLSON of Lisbon] said : The bill had passed the
Senate unanimously, been reported unanimously by the committee, and
he hoped it would be passed promptly by the House. [Applause.]
Mr. PATTERSON of Hanover said he would congratulate the gentleman
from Bethlehem on being orthodox on this question.
Mr. SINCLAIR congratulated his friend from Hanover on his display of
courage in waiting until the ice was broken all round before making a
forward step.
Mr. Whicher withdrew his motion to postpone and then moved
to lay the bill upon the table. This being lost, the bill was
passed, August 8, 1878. Mrs. White, the president of the State
association, in a letter to a friend, wrote as follows :
To our surprise and delight the bill allowing women to vote at school-
district meetings passed the House yesterday amid much cheering and
clapping of hands, the ladies in the gallery joining in the demonstration.
Thus conservative New Hampshire leads New England in this branch of
reform for women.
The governor, B. F. Prescott, signed the bill without delay*
and words of cheer poured into the capital city from all quarters;
especially were Mr. and Mrs. White congratulated upon this good
result of their earnest and persistent labors. The following is
from the Woman s Journal :
At the first election at the State capital of New Hampshire under the
new law allowing women to vote on school questions, the result was a
wonderfully full vote, not less than 2,160 ballots being cast, of which
over half were deposited by women. The Boston Investigator, from which
we gather these facts, says :
376
History of Woman Suffrage.
The balloting extended over three meetings and the number of women who partici-
pated was almost exactly doubled on the second and third evenings — 150, 299, 662.
Another interesting feature of this election was the fact that the sexes did not rally to
the support of opposing tickets, but men and women divided their votes very evenly.
A ticket bearing the names of two men was elected by a narrow majority over another
which bore the names of a man and woman.
Of the first evening's election the telegraphic dispatch to the Boston
Globe was headed, " Crowds of Women Voting in New Hampshire ":
CONCORD, N. H., March 22. — The occasion of the annual meeting of the Union-
school district of this city, which comprises all of the city proper, this evening, was
one of unprecedented interest. For months school matters have been sharply
agitated and the election has been looked forward to as an opportunity by all parties.
To the uncommon interest centered in the matter the right of women to vote at school
meetings, delegated by the last session of the legislature, greatly added. The new
condition of affairs had been fully canvassed and the women had determined on mak-
ing the best of their first opportunity and winning a decisive victory if possible. The
night of the meeting proved inauspicious, but notwithstanding the severe storm of
snow and sleet that was falling the newly constituted citizens were out in force. At
the hour of opening the meeting the City Hall was packed to suffocation, 500 of the
audience, at least, being ladies. The first business was the choice of a moderator,
and in this the ladies may claim a victory, as the candidate a majority of them sup-
ported was elected in the person of ex-mayor John Kimball. After this came the
reading of the report of the board of education, which was strenuously objected to by
the male supporters of the ladies. In this they were beaten by a large majority. The
reading completed, the meeting commenced to ballot for three members of the board.
The scene then became one beyond the power of the reportorial pen to describe. It
was an old-fashioned New Hampshire town-meeting, with the concomitant boisterous-
ness and profanity subdued by the presence of the ladies. A line was formed to the
polls and a struggling mass of humanity in which male and female citizens were in-
congruously and indecorously mixed, surged towards the ballot-box. The crowding,
squeezing and pushing were severe enough for the taste of the masculine voter, and
were harsh enough to make it extremely unpleasant for the dear creatures who were
undergoing so much to cast their maiden vote. To add to the delay the Hon.
Nathaniel White had planted his somewhat corpulent form directly in front of the
ballot-box and stayed the surging tide to shake hands with every woman that voted.
Having voted, the men were only too glad to leave the crowded hall and let the
anxious crowd rush in. The vote was at last all in, and the work of counting com-
pleted shortly before ii o'clock. It was found that there were some ten different
tickets in the field, and forty-two candidates voted for; but from this mass of votes
there was no choice, though the regular candidates, the outgoing members of the board,
who would have been elected had it not been for the new element in the election,
jvere ahead, having a plurality. The meeting was then adjourned till next Saturday
/evening, when the scenes of to-night will be intensified by a larger attendance and
.-still greater interest. The meeting to-night obtains importance in New Hampshire,
;as this is the center of female suffrage sentiment in this State, and the women are de-
itermined to win here if possible.
In the opening convention of November 5, 1879, Mrs. White,
the president, made the following address :
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends of the N. H. Woman Suffrage Association •'
We hold the seventh meeting of this association under circumstances
that mark an epoch in the progress of equal rights, irrespective of sex,
in this State. After more than a decade of agitation, and petitioning of
our legislature, women hold in their hand the ballot on one important
Mrs. Whites Address. 377
matter. Let us exchange congratulations on this occasion, that so
much has been gained toward the final triumph of our cause.
You will remember when this association was last in session, July, 1878,
that the bill giving the women of New Hampshire the right to vote on
the public-school questions, was pending in our legislature. At our first
hearing before that body, we hardly dared anticipate the passage of the
bill during that session. But agitation, vigilance and perseverance ever
bring their sure reward in the end, therefore we continued to press our
claim, and soon learned to our great satisfaction that our allies in behalf
of this bill, were the very cream of our legislature. We at once took
courage, and as day after day we went up to the State-house, with friends
who plead for it before the committee, who kindly gave us several
hearings ; we saw the gradual growth of interest in behalf of this bill
soon ripen into a final decision causing it to pass ; thereby enacting
a law, to which our worthy governor, B. F. Prescott, immediately gave
his willing signature, securing to the women of this State the high
privilege many of them gladly exercised last spring. Many feared this
law would be repealed ; but to show with what favor it has been re-
ceived, we have only to refer to the legislature of the present year,
which passed an additional law, giving to women not only the right
to vote for and serve on school boards, but also the power to serve
as moderator or clerk in school meetings, for which the former law did
not provide. This, it would seem must remove all fears of a repeal.
Petitions asking municipal suffrage fo* women, were sent to our last
legislature, and a bill to that effect, introduced in the House, was referred
to a special committee, who reported in its favor ; and after more or less
discussion, although the bill did not pass, about one hundred members
voted for it, and their names are registered, and with the committee,
will be kindly remembered by those women whose cause they did not
desert. From past experience we see the importance of continued labor
and proper measures for the accomplishment of our work. The present
degree of progress indicates the fact that we are not to obtain the full re-
cognition of our rights at one bound, but that they are coming step by
step. To note the growth of our principles in the various reform move-
ments, let us look at the temperance organizations throughout the length
and breadth of this country ; we find nearly all of them now discussing
the ballot for women. Why, no sooner had Massachusetts, following the
example of New Hampshire, obtained the school ballot for women, than
the Woman's Christian Temperance Unions all over the State were a
unit for the temperance ballot, and the past year have had their agents
canvassing the State in the interest of school suffrage and " home protec-
tion."
All who read the reports last winter of Frances E. Willard's labors in
Illinois in behalf of her Home Protection bill (for it originated with her),
of the list of petitioners of both sexes she secured and took to Spring-
field, of the delegation of women who accompanied her there to advocate
her bill, must acknowledge the educating force of all such untiring devo-
tion for the right to vote. Although she was not victorious, she was
378 History of Woman Suffrage.
successful beyond all expectation, for.it is said, "Success is not always a
victory, nor is victory always a success in the end." Let me say here,
Miss Willard believes in the entire enfranchisement of her sex, but in her
earnest and faithful labors makes a specialty of the temperance ballot.
At the annual meeting of the New Hampshire Woman's Christian
Temperance Union, held here one year ago, a resolution was offered by
a most worthy lady, indorsing suffrage for women on all temperance ques-
tions. It was at once vigorously opposed by some, while others, although
believing in it, feared it would divide their ranks if it passed, and felt too
timid to give it their support. The lady offering it, seeing it would be de-
feated, withdrew it, at the same time giving notice that she should present
the same, or one similar, to that body every year as long as she lived, or
until it passed. Last month the same organization held its annual
meeting in Portsmouth, and that lady, as good as her word, was there
with her resolution on temperance suffrage, and it passed unanimously,
about loo delegates being present and voting, many of whom acknowl-
edged the timidity they felt last year, but now earnestly gave it their sup-
port. Such experiences give us some idea of the different instrumentalities
by which our cause is forced upon conservative minds for consideration,
ending in honest conviction.
In closing, I know you will all unite with me in tributes to Mr. Garri-
son. Now that he has gone to join that innumerable host of philan-
thropists in the higher life, let us rejoice that he was one of the leaders
of that reform which brings u» here to-day. And now, friends, in view of
the present status of our cause, have we not much to encourage us in our
work? May we go forward in that spirit of good-will that shall bring
us a speedy victory.
Resolutions of respect to the memory of Mrs. Abby P. Ela,
William Lloyd Garrison and Angelina Grimk£ Weld were
adopted by a rising vote.
In the National Citizen of December 14, 1879, we find the fol-
lowing:
Manila M. Ricker of New Hampshire had an executive hearing before
the governor and council of that State, November 18, in regard to the
management of the State prison. Mrs. Ricker, who in winter practices
law in Washington,, and is known as "the prisoner's friend," referred to
the cruel treatment of convicts in various States, notably in New Hamp-
shire, where prisoners are not permitted to read the magazines or the
weekly newspapers which contain no record of crime, nor to receive
words from their friends, as in other States they are allowed at stated
times to do. When Mrs. Ricker desired to see a certain prisoner and let
him know he had friends who were yet mindful of his comfort, the warden
replied that he did not wish that man "to think he had a friend in the
world." Mrs. Ricker warmly protested against such brutality. The at-
torney-general agreed with Mrs. Ricker, remarking that the line between
crimes punished and those not punished, and the lines between those in
Mrs. Richer on Prison Reform. 379
prison and those outside who ought to be there, were so dim and shadowy
that great care should be exercised in order to secure just and humane
treatment for prisoners. Mrs. Kicker's remarks were earnest and digni-
fied, and were listened to with the closest attention by the governor and
his official advisers. At the close of the hearing the governor referred
the subject to the special prison committee of the council, directing its
members to procure all possible information as to the management of
penitentiaries in other States, and report at the next meeting. Through
Mrs. Kicker's influence the last legislature passed an act providing that
any convict may send sealed letters to the governor or council without
their being read by the warden.
In 1882 a judicial decision in New Hampshire recognized the
advance legislation of that State in regard to the position of mar-
ried women. This decision shows that they are no longer under
the shadow of the old common law, but now hold equal dignity
and power as individuals and joint heads in family life. The
" divinely ordained head," with absolute control in the home, to
rule according to his will and pleasure, is at last ruled out of the
courts altogether, as the following case illustrates :
Mrs. Harris and her husband sued Mrs. Webster and her husband
for slanders uttered by Mrs. Webster against Mrs. Harris. The suit
was brought on the old theory that the legal personality of the wife
is merged in that of her husband ; that she is under his control, his
chattel, his ox, and therefore he is responsible for her trespasses as
for those of his other domestic cattle. The Court held that the wife
is no longer an "ox" or "chattel," but a person responsible for her
acts, and that her innocent husband could not be held responsible for
her wrong. In rendering the decision in this case, Judge Foster further
said : " It is no longer possible to say that in New Hampshire a married
woman is a household slave or a chattel, or that in New Hampshire the
conjugal unity is represented solely by the husband. By custom and by
statute the wife is now joint master of the household, and not a slave or
a servant. The rule now is that her legal existence is not suspended. So
practically has the ancient unity become dissevered and dissolved that
the wife may not only have her separate property, contracts, debts,
wages, and causes of separate action growing out of a violation of her
personal rights, but she may enter into legal contract with her husband
and enforce it by suit against him."
The writer of the following letter is a successful farmer, re-
markable for her executive ability in all the practical affairs of
life, as well as for her broad philanthropy. One year she sent, as
a contribution to our Washington convention, a tub of butter
holding about sixty pounds, which was sold on the platform and
the proceeds put into the treasury of the National Association :
38o
History of Woman Suffrage.
Dear Friends assembled in the Washington Convention :
Last week our new town-house was dedicated. The women accompa-
nied their husbands. One man spoke in favor of woman suffrage — said it
was " surely coming." In this town, at the Corners, for several years
they tried to get a graded school, but the men voted it down. After
the women had the school-suffrage, one lady, who had a large family and
did not wish to send her children away from home, rallied all the women
of the Corners, carried the vote, and they now have a good graded school.
Our village is moving down, that the boys and girls may have the ben-
efit of the good school there. I think the women who have been indif-
ferent and not availed themselves of their small voting privilege, by
which we might have established the same class of school in our village,
will now regret their negligence, at least every time they have to send
three miles for a doctor. Thus, stupid people, blind to their own interest,
punish themselves. I regret not being able to send a fuller report of the
good that woman's use of the ballot, in a limited form, has done for us in
this State. The voting in the town-hall is the " infant school " for women
in the use of the ballot. Thanking the ladies all for meeting at the capital
of the nation, and regretting not to be counted among the number, 1 am,
Yours sincerely, MARY A. P. FILLEY.
North ffavtrill, January 5, 1884.
In closing this chapter some mention should be made of the
invaluable services of Senator Blair,* who, in his place, has ahvays
nobly defended the rights of women. He was a member of the
first special committee ever appointed to look after the interests
of women in the United States Senate. The leaders of the move-
ment in that State claim that they helped to place Senator Blair
in his present position by defeating his .predecessor, Mr. \Vad-
leigh, who was hostile to the enfranchisement of women.
UNITED STATES SENATE, WASHINGTON, D. C, March 5, 1884.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY : 1 had the honor duly to receive your invita-
tion to address the National Association during its sessions in this city,
for which I heartily thank you ; but the pressure of duties in the Senate,
service upon committees being just now specially exacting, makes it
impossible for me to accept.
I trust that I need not assure you of my full belief that woman has the
right and ought to have the privilege to vote. Whenever a fundamental
right exists both public and individual welfare are promoted by its exer-
cise and injured by its suppression. The exercise of rights is only another
name for the discharge of duties, and the denial of the suffrage to an adult
human being, not deprived of it for mental or penal disability, is an intol-
erable wrong. Such denial is not only a deprivation of right to the indi-
vidual, but it is an injury to the State, which is only well governed when
controlled by the conflicting opinions, sentiments and interests of the
whole, harmonized in the ballot-box, and, by its fiat, elevated to the func-
* Reflected to the Senate, June, 1885.
Letter from. Senator Blair. 381
tions of law. But you have no occasion for expression of theoretical
views from me.
If I may be pardoned a suggestion, it would be the specification to the
public mind of the practical uses and benefits which would result from
the exercise of the suffrage by women. Men are not conscious that
women lack the practical protection of the laws or the comforts and con-
veniences of material and social relations more than themselves. The
possession of the ballot as a practical means of securing happiness does
not appear to the masses to be necessary to women in our country. Men
say: "We do the best we can for our wives and children and relatives.
They are as well off as we." In a certain sense this appears to be true.
The other and higher truth is that woman suffrage is necessary in order
that society may advance. The natural conservatism of an existing order
of things will not give way to a new factor in the control of affairs, until
it has been shown in what way enlightened selfishness may hope for
good to society if the change be made. Here it seems to me that the
convention may now strike a blow more powerful than for many years.
Society has not so labored with the great problems which concern its
own salvation for generations.
What would woman do with the ballot if she had it? What for educa-
tion? What for sobriety? What for social purity? What for equalizing
the conditions and the rewards of labor — the labor of her own sex first —
and towards a just division of production among all members of the com-
munity ? What for the removal, or for the amelioration when removal is
impossible, of hunger, cold, disease and degradation, from the daily lives
of human beings ? What could and what would woman do with the ballot
which is not now as well done by man alone, to improve the conditions
which envelope individual existence as with bands of iron ? What good
things — state them seriatim, as the lawyers say — could woman do in New
Hampshire and in New York city, and ultimately among the savage tribes
of the earth, which she cannot do as well without as with the suffrage?
Would woman by her suffrage even help to remove illiteracy from
Louisiana, intemperance from New England, and stop society from
committing murder by the tenement-house abuses of New York ? Let
the convention specify what practical good woman will try to achieve
with her God-given rights, provided that men will permit her to
enjoy them. Show us wherein you will do us good if we will rob you no
longer. It might influence us greatly. Why should we do right for noth-
ing? In fact, unless you show that the exercise of your alleged right
will be useful, can you logically conclude that you have any? We must
have proof that the experiment will not fail before we will even try
it. You must connect the ballot with progress and reform and con-
vince men that they, as well as women, will be better off for its
possession by the whole of the adult community rather than only by a
part. Theories may be true, but they are seldom reduced to practice by
society unless it can be clearly seen that their adoption will heal some
hurt or introduce some broad and general good.
382 History of Woman Suffrage.
The increasing discussion of industrial, educational, sanitary, and social
questions generally, indicates the domain of argument and effort where
victories for the advocates of enlarged suffrage are most likely, and I
think are sure to be won. Woman should study specially what is called,
for the want of a better term, the labor problem — a problem which in-
cludes in its scope almost • everything important to everybody. 1
know this is an unnecessary suggestion, for it is just what you are
doing. I only write it because repetition of the important is better than
to recite platitudes or even to quote the declaration. I believe in your
success because I believe in justice and in the advancement of mankind-
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, HENRY W. BLAIR.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
VERMONT.
Clarina Howard Nichols — Council of Censors — Amending the Constitution — St. An-
drew's Letter — Mr. Reed's Report — Convention Called — H. B. Blackwell on the
Vermont Watchman — Mary A. Livermore in the Woman's Journal— Surah A.
Gibbs' Reply to Rev. Mr. Holmes — School Suffrage.
AFTER the miseries growing out of the civil war were in a
measure mitigated, there was a general awakening in the New
England States on the question of suffrage for women, and in
1868 one after another organized for action. What Nathaniel
P. Rogers was to New Hampshire in the anti-slavery struggle
that was Clarina Howard Nichols* to Vermont in early calling
attention to the unjust laws for woman. From 1843 to ^53 she
edited the Windham County Democrat, in which she wrote a
series of editorials on the property rights of women, and from
year to year made her appeals in person to successive legislatures.
Her patient labors for many years prepared the way for the or-
ganized action of 1868. The women of that State can never
too highly appreciate all that it cost that noble woman to stand
alone, as she did, through such bitter persecutions, vindicating
for them the great principles of republican government.
And now, after a quarter of a century, instead of that one soli-
tary voice in the district school-house and the State cafjitol, are
heard in all Vermont's towns and cities, echoing through her val-
leys and mountains, the clarion voices of a whole band of distin-
guished men and women from all the Eastern States. The re-
vival of the woman question in Vermont began with proposi-
tions to amend the constitution. We are indebted to a series
of letters, written by a citizen of Burlington, signed " St. An-
* No woman in so many varied fields of action has more steadily and faithfully labored than Mr*.
Nichols, as editor, speaker, teacher, farmer, in Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas,
and California where she spent the closing years of her life ; and though always in circumstances of
hardship and privation, yet no annual convention was held without a long letter from her pen, uni-
formly the most cheerful and able of all that were received. A great soul that seemed to rise above
the depressing influences of her surroundings! The last letter she ever wrote us was in January,
1885, a few days before she passed away. See Volume I., page 171.
Tistory of Woman Suffrage.
drew," for many of the interesting incidents and substantial
facts as to the iniative steps taken in this campaign. He said :
The only way of amending the constitution is for the people (meaning
the male voters) to elect, every seventh year, a board called the Council
of Censors, consisting of thirteen persons. This council can, within a
certain time, propose amendments to the constitution, and call a conven-
tion of one delegate from each town, elected by the freemen, to adopt
or reject the articles of amendment proposed by the council. The
Council of Censors, elected in March, 1869, proposed six amendments:
(i) In relation to the creation of corporations ; (2) in relation to biennial
sessions and elections ; (3) in relation to filling vacancies in the office of
senators and town representatives ; (4) in relation to the appointment,
terms, etc., of judges of the Supreme Court ; (5) providing that women shall
be entitled to vote, and with no other restrictions than the law shall im-
pose on men ; (6) in relation to the manner of amending the constitution.
The election of delegates occurs on Tuesday, May 10, and the con-
vention meets on the first Wednesday in June. There is no general
excitement in the State in relation to any of the proposed changes;
and now, upon the eve of the election, it is impossible for the most
sagacious political observer to predict the fate of any of the amend-
ments. The fifth is the only one in support of which public meet-
ings have been held, and those took place the early part of the
spring at the larger places in the State. The friends have never ex-
pected to obtain a majority, nor even a considerable vote in the conven-
tion, and the meetings that have been held were not expected to settle
the question, but to awaken the public mind upon the subject. These
meetings have been a decided success, attended by hundreds of in-
telligent citizens, many of whom for the first time listened to an
address upon the subject. It is true that ladies were advised to remain
away, but such advice generally resulted in a larger attendance ; and to-
day the measure has a firmer support than ever before, and its advocates
are more confident of final success. We may not have more than "ten
righteous" men elected to the convention, but that number was enough to
save the cities of the plain, and we have full faith that as small a number
can save the cities of the mountains.
The press of the State is divided on the subject. We have two
dailies — one, the Rutland Herald, the oldest paper in the State, in favor of
the movement, and the Free Press of Burlington, opposed to it. After
the coming convention, no change can be made in our constitution for
seven years, at least, and if the sixth amendment be adopted, not for
ten years. But, in the meantime, the question will assume more im-
portance by a constant agitation as to the equality of the sexes, the ad-
mission of women to the State University, the professions, and other
rights to which men are entitled. Vermont can never emulate in
wealth and population the manufacturing States of the seaboard, or the
prairie States of the West ; but she can win a nobler preeminence in the
quality of her institutions. She may be the first State, as Wyoming
Proposed Constitutional Amendment. 385
already is the first territory, to give political equality to woman, and to
show the world the model of a true republic. ST. ANDREW.
Burlington, Vt. , May i, 2870.
Mr. Reed of Washington county submitted the report in favor
of the woman suffrage amendment, from which we give the
following :
One-half of the people of our State are denied the right of suffrage.
Yet woman has all the qualifications — the capacity, the desire for the
public welfare, that man has. She is among the governed. She pays
taxes. Even-handed justice, a fair application of the principles of the
Declaration of Independence and of our State constitution, give woman
the ballot. There is no reason why woman should not be allowed to
do what she is so eminently fit to do. We know no good reason why
the most ignorant man should vote and the intelligent woman be refused.
Our present political institutions were formed and shaped when men
had their chief interests and pursuits out of doors, and women remained
the humble slaves at home. The social change has been immense.
Now woman sits by the side of man, is his companion and associate in
his amusements, and in his labors, save the one of governing the country.
And it is time that she should be in this.
The position of woman in regard to the common schools of the State is
the most unjust. She must always be the chief instructor of the young
in point of time and influence. She is their best teacher at home and
in the school. And her share in this ever-expanding work is becoming
vaster every day. Woman as mother, sister, teacher, has an intelligence,
a comprehension of the educational needs of our youth, and an interest
in their development, far in advance of the other sex. She can or-
ganize, control and teach the most difficult school in the State ; yet she
has no vote in the selection of teachers, the building, arrangements and
equipments of school-houses, nor in the method and extent of instruc-
tion. She can pay her share of the expenses of schools, but can have
no legal voice in their management. She can teach, but she can
have no vote in determining what shall be taught. She is the very
corner-stone of institutions which she has no power in shaping. Let
us have her open, avowed and public cooperation — always safer than in-
direct influence.
The submission of an amendment to the constitution necessa-
rily aroused a general agitation on the proposed changes. The
fifth amendment decided on by the board of censors seemed to
create a more general interest than either of the others, and ac-
cordingly a meeting was called for its full consideration, that
efficient steps might be taken for a thorough canvass of the
State, preparatory to the May election, and issued the follow-
ing call :
The friends of woman suffrage in Vermont are requested to meet in mass conven-
tion at Montpelier on Wednesday, February 2, at IO o'clock, for the purpose of con-
25
386 History of Woman Suffrage.
sidering and advancing the best interests of the cause in this State, in view of the
constitutional amendment proposed by the council of censors. The convention will
be addressed by several Indies and prominent gentlemen of this State, and by William
Lloyd Garrison, Julia Ward Howe and Rev. Ada C. Bowles of Massachusetts; Lucy
Stone and Henry B. Blackwell of New Jersey, and Mary A. Livermore of Illinois.
A public meeting will also be held the evening before the convention, which will be
addressed 'by some of the eminent speakers above named. The Hutchinson family
will be present and sing their woman suffrage songs. The Vermont Central,
Passumpsic, Rutland and Burlington and Bennington and Rutland lines of railroad
will extend the courtesy of free return checks, provided they shall be applied for by
twenty-five or more persons paying full fare one way over an average distance of each
of their respective roads, which will be determined by the secretary.
C. W. WILLARD, JAMES HUTCHINSON, Jr.,
GEORGE H. BIGELOW, CHARLES REED,
NEWMAN WEEKS, JONATHAN Ross,
JAMES S. PECK.
Ex. Com. Vermont Woman Suffrage Association*
Montpelier, January IO, 1870.
It is a noticeable fact that the movement for the enfranchise-
ment of woman in Vermont was inaugurated wholly by men.
Not a woman was on its official board, nor was there one to
speak in the State. Men called the first woman's rights con-
vention, and chose Hon. Charles Reed of Montpelier as its pre-
siding officer, as well as president of the State association.
However, these gentlemen invited ladies from other States,
and a series of meetings f was inaugurated through the chief
towns and cities of Vermont. The speakers:}: were heartily
welcomed at some points and rudely received at others. The
usual " free-love " cry was started by some of the opposition
papers — a cry that like "infidel" in the anti-slavery days, oft'
times frightened even the faithful from their propriety. Henry
B. Blackwell came to the rescue, and ably answered the Ver-
mont Watchman:
The Vermont Watchman evades the discussion of the question whether
women shall be entitled to vote, by raising false issues. The editor as-
serts that " many of the advocates of suffrage have thrown scorn upon
* Officers of the Vermont Woman Suffrage Association : President, Hon. Charles Reed, Mont-
pelier. Vice-presidents, Hon. John B. Hollister, Bennington ; Hon. Seneca M. Dorr, Rutland ; Rev-
Addison Brown, Brattleboro' ; Col. Lynns E. Knapp, Middlebury ; Hon. James Hutchinson, jr.. West
Randolph ; Hon. Russell S. Taft, Burlington ; Hon. A. J. Willard, St. Johnsbury ; Hon. H. Henry
Powers, Hyde Park ; Hon. Jasper Rand, St. Albans. Recording Secretary, Henry Clark, Rutland.
Corresponding Secretary, Albert Clarke, St. Albans. Treasurer, Albert D. Hager, Proctorsville-
Executive Committee, Hon. C. W. Willard, Montpelier; Hon. Charles Reed, Montpelier; George H
Bigelow, Burlington ; Newman Weeks, Rutland ; Hon. Jonathan Ross, St. Johnsbury ; Rev. Eli
Ballou, D. D., Montpelier.
t Following the convention at Montpelier, meetings were held at St. Albans, Northfield, Barre, Bur-
lington, St. Johnsbury, Brattleboro', Rutland, Fairhaven, Castleton, Springfield and Bellows Falls.
\ Among the speakers were Mr. Garrison, Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Stone, Leo Miller, Mrs. Churchill, Mrs.
Livermore, Mrs. Campbell, Dr. Sarah Hathaway, Mrs. Bowles, Mr. Blackwell, Hon. A. J. Williard-
Mr. Taft, Mr. Clark, Judge Carpenter, Mr. Ivison, the Rev. Messrs. Brigham, Eastwood, Brown and
Emerson.
Henry B. Blackwell to the Rescue. 387
*
marriage and upon the Divine Word." That assertion we denounced as
an unfounded and wicked calumny. We also objected to it as an evasion
of the main question. Thereupon the Watchman, instead of correcting
its mistake and discussing the question of suffrage, repeats the charge,
and seeks to sustain it by garbled quotations and groundless assertions,
which we stigmatized accordingly. The Watchman now calls upon us to
retract the stigma. We prefer to prove that our censure is deserved, and
proceed to do so.
The first quotation of the Watchman is from an editorial in the
Woman s Journal, entitled " Political Organization." The object of which
was to show the propriety of doing what the Watchman refuses
to do — viz. : of discussing woman suffrage upon its own merits. It showed
the unfairness of complicating the questfon with other topics upon
which friends of woman suffrage honestly differ. It regretted that
•" many well-meaning people insist on dragging in their peculiar views on
theology, temperance, marriage, race, dress, finance, labor, capital — it
matters not what." It condemned "a confusion of ideas which have no
logical connection," and protested " against loading the good ship, Woman
Suffrage, with a cargo of irrelevant opinions." The Watchman cites this
article as an admission that some of the friends of suffrage advocate free-
love. Not at all. The editor of the Watchman is himself one of the well-
meaning people alluded to. He insists on dragging in irrelevant theolog-
ical and social questions. He refuses to confine himself to the issue of
suffrage. The Watchman quotes a single sentence of the following state-
ment :
The advocates of woman's equality differ utterly upon every other topic. Some are
abolitionists, others hostile to the equality of races. Some are evangelical Christians;
•others Catholics, Unitarians, Spiritualists, or Quakers. Some hold the most rigid
theories with regard to marriage and divorce; others are latitudinarian on these ques-
tions. In short, people of the most opposite views agree in desiring to establish
woman suffrage, while they anticipate very different results from the reform, when
effected.
The above is cited as evidence against us. How so? A man may hold
" latitudinarian theories in regard to marriage and divorce " without
•"throwing scorn upon the marriage relation," or having the slightest
sympathy with free-love. For instance: The present law of Vermont is
latitudinarian is these very particulars. It grants divorce for many other
causes than adultery. Measured by the more conservative standard of
Henry Ward Beecher and Mary A. Livermore, it allows divorce upon in-
sufficient grounds. This law represents the public sentiment of a majority
•of the people of Vermont. Will the Watchman assert that the people of
Vermont "throw scorn on the marriage relation"? Or that he is in
•" low company " because he is surrounded by the citizens of a State who
•entertain views upon the marriage relation less rigid than his own ? Our
indignant protest against the injustice of the common law, which subjects
the person, property, earnings and children of married women to the irre-
sponsible control of their husbands, is not a protest against marriage. It
is a vindication of marriage, against the barbarism of the law which de-
388 History of Woman Suffrage.
grades a noble and life-long partnership of equals into a mercenary and
servile relation between superior and dependant.
The Watchman assails prominent supporters of woman suffrage, and
misquotes and misrepresents them. Because Theodore Tilton is unwill-
ing "that men or women shall be compelled to live together as husband
and wife against the inward protest of their own souls," therefore he is
charged with advocating free-love. Is it possible that the editor regards
such a relation of protest and disgust as consistent with the unity of
Christian marriage ? Is it right that a pure and noble man, the tender
husband of a happy wife, the loving father of affectionate children, should
be thus causelessly traduced for showing that the essential fact of mar-
riage is in that unity of soul which is recognized and affirmed by the out-
ward form ? When the Watchman undertakes to brand men and women
of irreproachable character for an intellectual difference, he is engaged in
a very unworthy business. When he charges immorality upon the New
York Independent and infidelity upon John Stuart Mill, he forgets that his
readers have minds of their own.
But, suppose it were true that newspapers and individuals who believe
in woman suffrage held objectionable views on other subjects, what has
this to do with the merit of the proposed reform ? There are impure and
intemperate men in the Republican party. Is the Republican party there-
fore " low company " ? There are brutal and ignorant and disloyal men
in the Democratic party. Does this prove that Dr. Lord and every other
Democrat in the State of Vermont is brutal and ignorant and disloyal ?
The Supreme Court of the United States has just decided that a divorce
obtained under the laws of Indiana is legal and binding in every other
State. In thus affirming Mrs. McFarland's right to marry Mr. Richard-
son, has the Supreme Court of the United States sanctioned free-love ?
Will the Watchman call Chief-Justice Chase and the Supreme Court free-
lovers ? We have very little hope that the Watchman will treat this ques-
tion with fairness or candor. Our cause is too strong. The argument
from reason, from revelation, from nature, from history, is on our side.
The Watchman is fighting against the Declaration of Independence, the
bill of rights of the State of Vermont, and the principles of representa-
tive government. No wonder that it raises false issues. No wonder that
it evades the question. H. B. B.
The following editorial in the Woman s Journal, from the pen
of Mary A. Livermore, does not give a very rose-colored view of
the reception of the Massachusetts missionaries on their first
advent into Vermont :
The Vermont constitutional convention has rejected a proposition to
give the ballot to woman, by a vote of 231 to i. It flouted all discus-
sion of the question, and voted it down with the utmost alacrity. No one
cognizant of the bigotry, narrowness and general ignorance that prevail
there will be surprised at this result. It is not a progressive State, but
the contrary. Great stress has been laid on the fact that " Vermont never
owned a slave " — and from this it has been argued that the Green Moun-
University of Vermont Opened to Women. 389
tain State is and has been especially liberty-loving. But during the two
brief visits we made last winter, we were told again and again, by Ver-
mont men, that the only reason for the non-introduction of slaver)' was
the impracticability of that form of labor among the Green Mountains —
that slavery could never have been made profitable there, and that this,
and not principle and heroic love of freedom, prevented Vermont from
ever being a slave State. Nowhere, not even in the roughest and remotest
West, have we met with such vulgar rudeness, ill-manners and heroic
lying as we encountered in Vermont. The lecturers who were invited
into the State by the Vermont Woman Suffrage Association, composed
wholly of men, were in many instances left unsupported by them, allowed
to meet the frequently rough audiences as best they could, to pay their
own bills, and to manage the campaign as they might. At the very first
intimation of opposition on the part of the Montpelter Argus, the Watch-
man and the Burlington Free Press — an unworthy trio of papers that ap-
pear to control the majority — many members of the State association
showed the "white feather," and either apologetically backed out of the
canvass, or ignominiously kept silent in the background. There was,
therefore, nothing like a thorough discussion of the question, no fair
meeting of truth and error, not even an attempt to canvass the State.
For, not ambitious to waste their efforts on such flinty soil, the men and
women who were invited to labor there shook off the dust (snow) of Ver-
mont from their feet, and turned to more hopeful fields of labor.
Let it not be supposed, however, that this vote of the delegates of the
constitutional convention is any indication of the sentiment of the women
on this question. The fact that 231 women of lawful age, residents of
Brattleborough, and 96 of Newfane, sent a petition for woman suf-
frage, with their reasons for asking it, to Charles K. Field, delegate
from that town to the constitutional convention; that petitions from
other hundreds of women have been forwarded to congress, praying for a
sixteenth amendment, that, by letters and personal statements, we know
the most intelligent and thoughtful women everywhere rebel against the
State laws whose heathenism, despotism and absurdity were so well shown
by Mrs. Nichols in 1845 — all these facts are proofs that the sentiment of
Vermont women is not represented by the constitutional convention now
in session at Montpelier. — [M. A. L.
August 12, 1871, our Burlington correspondent says:
While conventions, picnics and bazar meetings', In the cause of woman
suffrage, have been held in our sister States, an event has very quietly
occurred with us which we deem an important step in the right direction,
vnz. : the admission of women to the University. By an almost unanimous
vote of the corporation, a few conservatives opposing it, the matter was
referred to the faculty, who are understood to be heartily in favor of the
" new departure." The college that has thus thrown its doors wide open
to all, is the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College,
founded by the munificence of General Ira Allen in 1791. It commenced
operations in iSoo; the Federal troops used its buildings for barracks in
the war of 1812; the buildings (and library) were burned in 1824, and re-
3 go History of Woman Suffrage.
constructed in the following year, when the corner-stone was laid by
General Lafayette. It sent forth nearly all its sons to the great rebellion.
Indeed, at one time its condition served to remind one of the lines of
Holmes —
"Lord, how the Senior knocked about
That Freshman class of one. "
It has graduated such men as the late Senator Collamer, John G. Smith,
president of the Northern Pacific Railroad; William G. T. Shedd, the
learned theologian ; the late Henry J. Raymond of the New York Times -
John A. Kasson of Iowa, Frederick Billings, and a host of others, eminent
in all the walks of life. Its late president, who was an "Angell from
Providence," and has just been elected president of Michigan Univer-
sity, is heartily in favor of the movement, and the president-elect, Mat-
thew H. Buckham, is no less so. With its new president and its " new
departure " the future bids fair even to outshine the past.
It may be well to inquire the reason why a college located in a State re-
garded by outsiders " as the most conservative of the Union on the woman
suffrage question," should take a step so far in advance of what has been
deemed the prevailing sentiment. Editors who have been battling the
new reform with a zeal equaled only by that manifested against aboli-
tionism a few years since, can see no necessary connection between the
new movement and the general cause of woman's emancipation. Whether
necessary or not, there is a practical connection between them which is
being felt more and more every day. I assert, with no fear of contradic-
tion by any observing man, that Vermont is no more committed against
woman suffrage than any other State in the East, and the fact that but
one man in our late convention voted to extend the right of suffrage to-
all, can well be explained when we consider the manner of choosing dele-
gates by towns ; one town, for instance, with twelve voters, having the
same voice in the representation that this city has with 1,500. With a.
popular vote upon that question the State would give such a majority as
would fairly astonish all those who regarded the late convention as a com-
plete demolition of the "reformers." ST. ANDREW.
The following criticism of the Rev. Mr. Holmes, from the pen
of a woman, shows the growing self-assertion of a class hitherto-
held in a condition of subordination by clerical authority. Such
tergiversation in the pulpit as his has done much to emancipate
woman from the reverence she once felt for the teaching of those
supposed to be divinely ordained of heaven :
BENSON, Vt., June 20, 1871.
I have heard it stated from the pulpit within a year that the woman suf-
frage question in Vermont is dead. Well, we believe in the resurrection.
Week by week this question of the hour and of the age confronts those
who claim to have given it decent burial. The same clergyman who pro-
nounced it dead has since spoken of it as one of the "growing evils of the
times," and in this beautiful summer weather he has felt called upon to
preach another sermon, ostensibly on "marriage," really upon this "dead
Dissection of a Sermonizer. 391
question," dragging it out to daylight again, that we might see how easily
he could bury it fifty fathoms deep— with mud. It reminded me of Robert
Laird Collier's sermon, "The Folly of the Woman Movement," in its logic
and its spirit. Mr. Collier and our Mr. Holmes see but one thing in all
this struggle for truth and justice, and that is " free-love." Here are some
specimens of Mr. Holmes' assertions :
The advocates of woman's rights want, not the ballot so much as the dissolution of
the marriage tie. They propose to form a tie for the term of five, six or seven years.
Mark the men or women who are the most strenuous advocates of woman suffrage.
They are irreligious and immoral.
Who are more strenuous advocates of woman suffrage than Mrs. Julia
Ward Howe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker,
Mrs. Lucy Stone, Mrs. Lucretia Mott, Mrs. Livermore, T. W. Higginson,
Henry Ward Beecher, Bishop Simpson, Governor Claflin, Gilbert Haven,
Wendell Phillips, and scores of others whose lives are as pure and intel-
lects as fine as his who dares stand in the sacred desk and call these per-
sons " irreligious and immoral"? His argument seems to be like this:
Some advocates of woman suffrage are in favor of easy divorces. These
men and women advocate woman suffrage ; therefore these men and
women are in favor of easy divorces. Or, to make the matter still plainer,
some ministers of the Gospel are immoral. Mr. H. is a minister of the
Gospel ; therefore Mr. H. is immoral. The method of reasoning is the
same, but it don't sound quite fair and honorable, does it?
"In our land woman is a queen ; she is loved and cared for," says Mr.
Holmes. In sight from the window where I write is a sad commentary
upon this. One of these queens, so tenderly cared for, is hoeing corn,
while her five-months-old baby — the youngest of nine children — lies on
the grass while she works. Her husband is away from home, but has left
word for the "old woman " to "take care of the corn and potatoes, for he
has to support the family." When they are out of meat, she must go out
washing and earn some, for "he has to support the family," and cannot
have her idle. Not long since they were planting corn together, she do-
ing as much as he. At noon, although she had a pail of milk and another
of eggs, he brought her the two hoes to carry home, as he could not be
troubled with them. Had he ever read :
" I will be master of what is my own;
She is my goods, my chattels —
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything" ?
" No woman reaches such dignity as the New England wife and mother,"
says Mr. H. Is wi/ehood more honorable, or motherhood more sacred, in
New England than in other places? Is to be a wife and mother, and
nothing else, the sole end and aim of woman? Or is there not other
work in God's universe which some woman may possibly be called upon
to do? Is Florence Nightingale or Anna Dickinson less dignified than
Mrs. John Smith, who happens physically to be the mother of half-a-dozen
children, but mentally and morally is as much of a child as any of them ?
" Woman has just the sphere she wants. She has more privileges than
she could vote herself into," says Mr. H. Has she, indeed? I know
women, who would gladly vote themselves into the privilege of having
392 History of Woman Stiff rage.
the custody of their own children, whose husbands are notoriously
drunken and licentious. They are pure, good women, who, rather than
part with their children, live on with men whose very breath is pollution.
I know others who would like to vote themselves into the privilege of
retaining their own hard earnings instead of having them sacrificed by a
drunken husband. Widows have been literally turned out of doors after
their husbands' death, and the property they had helped to accumulate
divided among those who never earned it. Do you think such women
would not change the laws of inheritance if they had the power?
" Husband and wife are one, hence one vote is sufficient," says Mr. H.
Follow out the reasoning, if you please. " Both one," hence one dinner
is sufficient , " both one," hence if a man is a member of a church his wife
is also. In plain English, "the husband and wife are both one," and the
husband is that one. Now in case that one should die, is it fair, or just, or
fitting, that the widow — "the relict" — or, in the words of Mr. H., "the
feminine spirit that has supplemented this masculine nature," whose
hands have been tied all these years, should be called upon to pay taxes
upon the share of property the law allows her ? Taxation without repre-
sentation was the immediate cause of the famous tea-party in Boston har-
bor, and, in fact, of a good many other unpleasant things that followed.
" Woman has just the sphere she wants," says Mr. H., closing the discus-
sion. No, sir, she has not. Had those young ladies in Philadelphia who
were studying medicine, and were insulted day after day by the male med-
ical students, the sphere they wanted ? Our American girls have been to
Europe for the sake of pursuing their studies in medicine, and have met
with kindness and courtesy, while in this land, where they are called
"queens," they received only hisses. Last winter Governor Claflin of
Massachusetts — one of those "irreligious and immoral" advocates of
woman suffrage — reminded the gentlemen of that State who claim to be
woman's representatives in the legislature, "that a wife in that State is
deprived of the free control of property that was her own before marriage,
and is denied an equal right in the property accumulated during the mar-
riage partnership ; that a married mother has no legal right to her child ;
and that a widow has not equal rights with a widower." When woman
has the sphere she wants, these things will be changed.
As a majority of the men in this community are opposed to woman suf-
frage, I will relate one circumstance that will do to " point a moral or
.-adorn a tale." Of course, the voters in this or any other place always
<elect their best men to hold office , and the board of selectmen would nat-
urally be the very wisest and best, the " crhne de la creme." Now it so
happens that one selectman being away from home, there was not enough
arithmetic left with the other two to make out the tax-bills for the town,
and they hired a woman, the mother of two children, to do it for them.
It certainly took more of her time than it would for her to have walked
across the street and voted for men who could make out their own tax-
bills. Then arithmetic is not a womanly accomplishment, like tatting,
crocheting, etc. These things sink into our hearts, and will bear fruit in
due season. SARAH A. GIBBS.
Vote on School-Suffrage. 393
In 1877, July 21, Miss Thyrza F. Pangborn, for the last six
years the capable and efficient recorder in the probate office of
Burlington, was appointed and sworn as a notary public. In a
letter of December 7, 1872, our correspondent says :
In the year 1870, the world was somewhat startled by the fact that in
the constitutional convention, held that year in Vermont, but one vote
was cast for the enfranchisement of woman ; and no one wonders that the
friends of that movement exclaimed, "Can any good come out of — Ver-
mont " ? Yesterday the first bie'nnial session of the legislature closed its
session of fifty-seven days. A bill has been pending in each House, giv-
ing female tax-payers a right to vote at all school-district meetings. It
was advocated by Mr. Butterfield, one of the leading members of the
House, in an able and learned speech, and received 64 votes to 103 against.
Is not that doing well for such a staid old State as Vermont, and one
where the enemies of equal suffrage supposed, two years since, that the
measure was indefinitely postponed? But this is not all. The measure
was introduced in the Senate, composed of thirty members, who are sup-
posed to be the balance-wheel of the General Assembly. It was warmly
discussed by several Senators, and the vote taken, when there were three
members absent, resulting in, yeas 13, nays 14. Had the Senate been
full, the vote would have been, yeas 14,* nays 16. A change of one of
the "no" votes would have carried the measure, as the lieutenant-gov-
ernor, who presides in the Senate, would have given the casting vote in its
favor.
The supporters of the measure included some of the ablest members of
the Senate, among them the chairmen of the very important Committees
on Finance, Claims, Education, Agriculture, Manufactures, Railroads and
Printing.
Following the defeat of the above-mentioned bill came up a measure
granting to women the same right to vote as men have in all elections
everywhere in the State. It received the support of all who voted for
the school measure, save two, Mr. Mason and Mr. Rogers, who prefer to
see the first tried as an experiment in the school meetings. You thus
perceive that twelve out of our thirty grave and reverend Senators are
real out-and-out equal suffrage men. Verily, the world moves ! Another
year, 1874, we hope will carry off the measure. Meanwhile, \vr xiv. three
cheers for old Vermont, and glory enough for one day ! ST. ANDKKW.
Burlington, Vt.
* The fourteen who favored the bill were: Mr. Bij?elow of Burlington, one of the leading edii
the State; Mr. Butterfield of Grafton, one of the most experienced legislators in the Stale; Mr Carpen-
ter of Northneld, who is known to be right on all questions that concern humanity, Mr. Colton of Ira*-
burgh, now serving his second term in the Senate; Mr. Estey of Brattleboro', the manufacturer of the
celebrated cottage organ; Mr. Houghton of North Bennington, a leading banker and busine>« man who
IKIS just been elected one of the directors of our state-prison; Mr. King of North Miuilpelier, farmer;
Mr. Lamb of Royalton, the oldest member in the Senate, a lawyer; Mr. M.i-.-n of Richmond, a man
who would be described by a Yankee as " chock full of honesty and common— cn-c '; Mr. Roger* of
Whcelock and Mr Stiles of Montgomery, both farmers, and -as near like Mr. Mason a* two peas are
alike; Mr. Reynolds of Alburgh Springs, one of the absentees, but in favor of the bill, a prominent
merchant; Mr. Powers, one of the ablest lawyers in the State, and, finally, Mr. Sprague of Brandon, a
leading banker and manufacturer, the head and principal ownerof the Brandon Manufacturing Company
394 History of Woman Suffrage.
In 1880 the School Suffrage bill passed the Vermont House of
Representatives, with only four dissenting votes. When the bill
came to a third reading and only four men stood up for the nega-
tive, there was so marked an expression of derision that the
speaker called for " order," and reminded the House that " no
man was to be scorned for voting alone any more than with a
crowd." The action and the voting came cheerily. More than
one man, to the objection of "an entering wedge," said "he was
ready to grant the whole." The bill passed the Senate triumph-
antly and was approved by the governor, December 18, 1880:
Women shall have the same right to vote as men have, in all school-district meet-
ings and in the election of school commissioners in towns and cities, and the same
right to hold office relating to school affairs.
An item in the Woman 's Journal, from Vergennes, March 22,
1 88 1, says: ,
At the city election to-day General J. H. Lucia, a staunch friend of
woman suffrage, was elected mayor, and principally through his manage-
ment Miss Electa S. Smith has been chosen to the office of city clerk, which
office he has held for the past two years. The legislature of 1880 author-
ized the election of women to the offices of superintendent of schools and
town clerk, and some of the friends of the cause were disposed to try the
working of the law here. They selected a candidate whose ability, quali-
fications and thorough fitness all had to concede, and against whom the
only objection that could be raised was her being a woman. It took the
conservatives some time to get over their surprise at the first suggestion
of her name, but they admitted the propriety of the thing and gallantly
lent a hand, so that when the election came all the candidates who had
been talked about were conspicuous by their absence, and Miss Smith
was elected by acclamation. Surely the world does move.
SPRINGFIELD, February 7, 1884.
Miss Lydia Putnam, Brattleboro ', Vt. :
Your letter is at hand. I think but few women have, as yet, availed
themselves of the privilege of voting in school meetings in this State, and
I am not able to say what the effect upon our schools has been up to the
present time. Very respectfully, JUSTUS DARTT.
Notwithstanding the above reply from the state-superintendent
of the public schools of Vermont, the Associated Press reports of
every year since 1881 make mention of women being elected to
school offices in the various towns and counties of the State.
* In 1885 there were thirty-three women elected to the office of school superintendent in eleven of
the fourteen counties of the State, as follows : Addisoii, Miss A. L. Huntley ; Bennington* Mrs. R.
K. Wiley ; Caledonia* Miss Nellie Russell, Mrs. A. F. Stevens. Mrs. E. Bradley, Miss S. E. Rogers;
Chitienden* Mrs S. M. Benedict, Mrs. L. M. Bates, Mrs. J. C. Draper; Essex* Mrs. Henry Fuller,
Hettie W.Matthews, Jennie K. Stanley, Mrs. S. M. Day; 1'ranklin* none; Grand Isle* Miss I.
Montgomery ; La Moille* Carrie P. Carroll, Miss C. A. Parker ; Orange* Miss F. H. Graves, Miss A.
A. Clement, Miss V. L. Farnham, Miss F. Martin ; Orleans* none ; Rutland, Mrs. I. C. Adams, Miss
H. M. Bromley, Miss M. A. Mills, Lillian Tarbell, Mrs. H. M. Crowley ; Washington* none ; Wind-
ham, Mrs. J. M. Powers, Mrs. J. E. Phelps , Windsor* Mrs. E. G. White, Miss C. A. Lamb, Mrs. H.
F. VanCor, Clara E. Perkins, Mrs. E. M. Lovejoy, Mrs. L. M. Hall.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
NEW YORK— 1860-1885.
Saratoga Convention, July 13, 14, 1869 — State Society Formed, Martha C. Wright,
President — The Revolution Established, 1868 — Educational Movement — New York
City Society, 1870, Charlotte B. Wilbour, President — Presidential Campaign, 1872
— Hearings at Albany, 1873 — Constitutional Commission — An Effort to Open
Columbia College, President Barnard in Favor — Centennial Celebration, 1876 —
School Officers — Senator Emerson of Monroe, 1877 — Gov. Robinson's Veto —
School Suffrage, 1880— Gov. Cornell Recommended it in his Message — Stewart's
Home for Working Women — Women as Police — An Act to Prohibit Disfranchise-
ment — Attorney-General Russell's Adverse Opinion — The Power of the Legisla-
ture to Extend Suffrage — Great Demonstration in Chickering Hall, March 7, 1884
— Hearing at Albany, 1885 — Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Howell,
Gov. Hoyt of Wyoming.
THE New York chapter in Volume I. closes with an account
of some retrogressive legislation on the rights of married women,*
showing that until woman herself has a voice in legislation her
rights may be conceded or withheld at the option of the ruling
powers, and that her only safety is in direct representation. The
chapter on "Trials and Decisions" in Volume II., shows the
injustice women have suffered in the courts, where they have
never yet enjoyed the sacred right of trial by a jury of their own
peers.
After many years of persistent effort for the adjustment of
special grievances, many of the leaders, seeing by what an uncer-
tain tenure their civil rights were maintained by the legislative
and judicial authorities, ceased to look to the State for redress,
and turned to the general government for protection in the right
of suffrage, the fundamental right by which all minor privileges
and immunities are protected. Hence the annual meeting of
the National Association, which had been regularly held in New
York as one of the May anniversaries, was, from 1869, supple-
mented by a semi-annual convention in Washington for special
influence upon congress.
* It has recently been ascertained that the first woman's rights petition sent to the New York State
legislature was by Miss Mary Ayers, in 1834, for a change in the property laws. It wa» ten or fifteen
feet long when unrolled, and is still burled in the vaults of the capitol at Albany.
His tor v of Woman Suffrage.
Until the war the work in New York was conducted by a cen-
tral committee ; but in the summer of 1869, the following call
was issued for a convention at Saratoga Springs, to organize a
State Society:
The advocates of woman suffrage will hold a State convention at
Saratoga Springs on the thirteenth and fourteenth of July, 1869. The
specific business of this convention will be to effect a permanent
organization for the State of New York. Our friends in the several
congressional districts should at once elect their delegates, in order
that the whole State may be represented in the convention. In dis-
tricts where delegates cannot be elected, any person can constitute him-
self or herself a representative. The convention will be attended by the
ablest advocates of suffrage for woman, and addresses may be expected
from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, president of the National Association, Celia
Burleigh, president of the Brooklyn Equal Rights Association, Matilda
Joslyn Gage, advisory counsel for the State, Susan B. Anthony, of The
Revolution, Charlotte B. Wilbour of New York city, and others. Every
woman interested for her personal freedom should attend this convention,
and by her presence, influence and money, aid the movement for the
restoration of the rights of her sex.
Mrs. ELIZABETH B. PHELPS, Vice-President for the State of New York,
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Advisory Counsel.
The opening session of the convention was held in the spacious
parlors of Congress Hall the audience composed chiefly of
fashionable ladies* from all parts of the country, who listened
with evident interest and purchased the tracts intended for dis-
tribution. The remaining sessions were held in Hawthorn Hall,
Matilda Joslyn Gage presiding. A series of spirited resolutions
was adopted, also a plan of organization presented by Charlotte
B. Wilbour, for a State association. f Many able speakers \ were
present. The formation of this society was the result of a very
* Many years afterwards, lecturing in Texas, I met a party of ladies from Georgia, thoroughly awake
on all questions relating to women. Finding ourselves quite in accord, I said, " how did you get those
ideas in Georgia ?'' " Why, ' said one, " some of our friends attended a woman's convention at Sara-
toga, and told us what was said there, and gave us several tracts on all phases of the question, which
were the chief topics of discussion among us long after." Southern women have suffered so many evils
growing out of the system of slavery that they readily learn the lessons of freedom. — [E. C. S.
t The following were elected officers of the association. President, Martha C. Wright, Auburn.
Vice-1
lane
________ i _____ ^ ___ __ ______ t _ ____ ( _____ 3 ____ ^ ___________ ^ ______ ^_ ^ ____ „„„„, _________ .,
Bridge ; Ida Greeley, Chappaqua; Mary Hunt, Waterloo. Secretary, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Fayette-
ville. Executive Committee^ Lucy A. Brand, Emeline A. Morgan, Mrs. H. Stewart, Samuel J. May.
Rhoda Price, all of Syracuse. Advisory Counsel, for First Judicial District, Susan B. Anthony
New York ; Second, Sarah Schram, Newhurgh ; Third, Sarah H. Hallock, Milton ; Fourth, Caroline
Mowry Holmes, Greenwich ; Fifth, Ann T. Randall, O.>«rego ; Sixth, Mrs. Professor Sprague, Ithaca ,
Seventh, Harriet N. Austin, Dansville ; Eighth, Helen P. Jenkins, Buffalo.
J The speakers were Celia Burleigh, Susan B. Anthony, Charlotte B. Wilbour, Matilda Joslyn Gage,
Mrs. Bedortha, of Saratoga, Mrs. Strowbridge, of Cortland, Mrs. Norton, J. N. Holmes, esq., Judge
McKean, Rev. Mr. Angier, Hon. Wm. Hay. See Vol. II., page 402, for Mrs. Burleigh's letter on this
Saratoga convention.
Questions Raised. 397
general agitation in different localities on several vital ques-
tions in the preceding year:
First — On taxation. Women being large property holders, had
felt the pressure during the war, especially of the tax on incomes,
and had resolved on resistance. Accordingly, large meetings*
were tailed at various points, in 1868. While women of wealth
were organizing to resist taxation, the working women f were
uniting to defend their earnings, and secure better wages. It
seemed for a few months as if they were in a chronic condition of
rebellion. But after many vain struggles for redress in the iron
teeth of the law, and equally vain appeals to have unjust laws
amended, the women learned the hopelessness of all efforts made
by disfranchised classes.
Second — On prostitution. For the first time in the history of
the government, a bill was presented in the New York legisla-
ture, in 1868, proposing to license prostitution. This showed the
degradation of woman's position as no other act of legislation
could have done, and although the editors of The Revolution were
the only women who publicly opposed the bill (which they did
both before the committee of the legislature, and in their journal),
yet there was in the minds of many, a deep undercurrent of resist-
ance to the odious provisions of that bill. Horace Greeley, too,
in his editorials in the New York Tribune, denounced the propo-
sition in such unmeasured terms that, although pressed at three
different legislative sessions, no member of the committee could
be found with sufficient moral hardihood to present the bill.
In connection with this question, the necessity of " women as
police," was for some time a topic of discussion. They had
* The Board of Trustees of Mt. Vernon, Westchester county, called a meeting of taxpayers of that
village on July 19, 1868, to vote upon the question of levying a tax of $6,000 for the purpose of making
of the real-estate owners being women, they resolved upon asserting their right to a voice in the matter,
and issued a call for a meeting, signed by the following influential ladies: Mr-. M. J. l..i« , Mr-. H. H.
Leaver, Mrs. Olive Leaver, Mrs. J. Haggcrty, Mary H. Macdonald, Mrs. Dorothy Ferguson, Mi>. M.
J. L'arrand, Mrs. Jcanctte Oron, Mrs. Tnirza Clark, Mrs. S. J. Clark, Mrs. Nettie Morgan, Mrs. D.
Downs, Miss L. M. Hale, Miss Susie Law, Mrs. Cclia Pratt. Mrs. Sabra Talcott, Mrs. Mary Wilkic,
Mrs. Elizabeth Latham, Mrs. Mary C. Brown, Mrs. J. M. Lockwood, Mrs. May Howe, Mrs. Aduline
Bjylis, Mrs. J. Harper, Miss Elizabeth Eaton, Miss C. Fredcriska Scharft, Mrs. S. A. Hathaway,
Mrs. Margaret Hick, Mrs. Rebecca Dimmic, Mrs. Catharine Alphonse, Miss Julia Cheney, Mrs. E.
Watkins, Mrs. L. M. Pease, Mrs. Margaret Coles, Mrs. Rulh Smith, Mrs. Mary A. Douglas, Mrs.
Sarah Valentine, Mrs. H. C. Jones, Mrs. J. Tomlinson, Mrs. Amanda Carr, Mrs. Margaret Wooley,
Mrs. S. Seeber, Mrs. B. Powers, Mrs. S. A. Waterhouse, Mrs. H. M. Smith. But notwithstanding the
numbers, wealth, and social influence of the women, their demand was rejected, while hundreds of
men, who had never paid a dollar's tax into the village treasury, were permitted to deposit their votes,
though challenged by friends, and well known to the officers as not possessors of a foot of real estate.
t The Working Women's Association was organized in New York, September 17, 1868. with Mm.
Anna Tobitt, President ; Miss Augusta Lewis, Miss Susan Johns, Miss Mary Peers. / 'iif-t'rftiJrmtt ;
Miss Elizabeth C. Browne, Secretary, and Miss Julia Browne, Treasurtr. The three vice-president*
were young ladies of about twenty. Miss Lewis worked upon a newly invented type-setting machine.
398 History of Woman Suffrage.
proved so efficient in many cases, that it was seriously proposed
to have a standing force in New York and 'Brooklyn, to look
after young girls,* new to the temptations and dangers of city
life. In The Revolution of March 26, 1868, we find the following:
It is often asked, would you make women police officers ? It has already
been done. At least a society of women exists in this country, for the
discovery of crimes, conspiracies and such things. The chief of this
band was Mrs. Kate Warn, a native of this State, who lately died in Chica-
go. She was engaged in this business, fifteen years ago, by Mr. Pinker-
ton, of the National Police Agency. She did good service for many years
in watching, waylaying, exploring and detecting ; especially on the critical
occasion of President Lincoln's journey to Washington in 1861. In 1865
she was sent to New Orleans, as head of the Female Police Department
there.
There was a general movement in these years for the more
liberal education of women in various departments of art and in-
dustry, as well as in letters. First on the list stands Vassar College,
founded in 1861, richly endowed with fine grounds and spacious
buildings. We cannot estimate the civilizing influence of the
thousands of young women graduating at that institution, now, as
cultivated wives and mothers, presiding in households all over this
land. Cornell University f was opened to girls in 1872, more
richly endowed than Vassar, and in every way superior in its en-
vironments ; beautifully situated on the banks of Cayuga Lake,
with the added advantage and stimulus of the system of coedu-
cation. To Andrew D. White, its president, all women owe a
* " Sergeant Robinson, of the Twenty-sixth Precinct, made a raid on the abandoned women patrol-
ing the park last evening. At n p. m. six unfortunates were caged." Thus runs the record. Will
some one now be kind enough to tell us whether Sergeant Robinson, or any other sergeant, made a raid
upon the abandoned men who were -patrolling Broadway at the same hour? Did anyone on that
night, or, indeed, upon any other night, within the memory of the oldest Knickerbocker, make a raid
upon the gamblers, thieves, drunkards and panders that infest Houston street? By what authority
do the police call women " abandoned " and arrest them because they are patrolling any public park or
square ? If these women belonged to the class euphemistically called " unfortunate," they were doubt-
less there because men were already there before them. And if it was illegal in women and deserving
of punishment, why should men escape ? Prima facie, if crime were committed, the latter are the
greater criminals of the two. We humbly suggest to all who are endeavoring to reform this class of
women, that they turn their attention to reforming the opposite sex. If you can make men so pure
that they will not seek the society of prostitutes, you will soon have no prostitutes for them to seek ; in
other words, prostitution will cease when men become sufficiently pure to make no demand for prosti-
tutes. In any event, the police should treat both sexes alike. Making a raid, as it is called, upon
abandoned women, and shutting them up m prison, never can procure good results. The most repuls-
ive and bestial features of " the social evil " have their origin in the treatment that women receive at
the hands of the police ; and society itself would be much better if the police would keep their hands
off such women. — [P. P. in The Revolution.
t An important decision relating to the eligibility of candidates for the Cornell free scholarship has
been rendered by Judge Martin of the Supreme Court. Mary E. Wright, who stood third in the re-
cent examination here for the scholarship, contested the appointment on the ground that the candidates
who were first and second in the examination were not pupils of a school in the county. The judge
decided that candidates for the position must be residents of the county and pupils of a school therein,
to be eligible, and he awarded the scholarship to Miss Wright. This is the first contested scholarship
since the establishment of the University. — Ithaca dispatch to New York Times.
Educational Opportunities. 399
debt of gratitude for his able and persevering advocacy of the
benefits to both sexes, of coeducation. The university at Syra-
cuse, in which Lima College was incorporated, is also open alike
to boys and girls. Rochester University,* Brown, Columbia,
Union, Hamilton, and Hobart College at Geneva, still keep their
doors barred against the daughters of the State, and the three
last, in the small number of their students, and their gradual de-
cline, show the need of the very influence they exclude. Could
all the girls desiring an education in and around Rochester, Gen-
eva^ Clinton and Schenectady, enter these institutions, the added
funds and enthusiasm they would thus receive would soon bring
them renewed life and vigor.
Peter Cooper and Catharine Beecher's efforts for the working
classes of women were equally praiseworthy. Miss Beecher
formed "The American Woman's Educational Association," for
the purpose of establishing schools all over the country for train,
ing girls in the rudiments of learning and practical work. The
Cooper Institute, founded in 1854, by Peter Cooper, has been
invaluable in its benefits to the poorer classes of girls, in giving
them advantages in the arts and sciences, in evening as well as
day classes. Here both boys and girls have free admission into
all departments, including its valuable reading-room and library.
It had long been a cherished desire of Mr. Cooper to found an
institution to be devoted forever to the union of art and science
in their application to the useful purposes of life. The School
of Design is specially for women.
The Ladies Art Association of New York was founded in 1867,
now numbering over one hundred members. One of the most
important things accomplished by this society has been the
preparation of thoroughly educated teachers, many of whom are
now filling positions in Southern and Western colleges.
NEW YORK, June 3, 1869.
EDITORS OF THE REVOLUTION : Inclosed please find the report of a
meeting of New York ladies to consider the important subject of woman's
education. The within slip will show that this is a movement quite as
* Dr. Lewis H. Morgan, who died in 1882, famed in both hemisphere* as an ethnologist, left a con-
siderable estate to be devoted at the death of his wife (which has since occurred) and of his son with-
out issue, to the establishment, in connection with the University of Rochester, of a collegiate
institution for women. This makes it very probable that Rochester will ultimately offer equal oppor-
tunities to both sexes.
t At one time it was said that Hobart College had mora professor* than students, and one year had
arrived at such a point of exhaustion as to graduate but one Xoung man. When the proposition to in-
corporate Geneva Medical College with the Syracuse University was made, Hon. George F. Comslock.
a trustee of the latter institution, vigorously opposed it unless equal advantages were pledged to women.
400 History of Woman Suffrage.
earnest and pronounced as the woman suffrage agitation of the day, and
more in consonance with prevailing public opinion. We trust that you
will aid the effort by inserting the report and resolutions into your col-
umns, and add at least a brief editorial notice.
Very respectfully, MRS. MARSHALL O. ROBERTS.
IMPORTANT MEETING OF NEW YORK LADIES. — WOMAN'S EDUCATION.
— On Monday, the 31 st of May, a large number of influential ladies gath-
ered at Dr. Taylor's, corner Sixth avenue and Thirty-eighth street, in re-
sponse to the call of the secretary of The American Woman's Educational
Association. A meeting was organized, Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts presid-
ing, and after a long and interesting discussion the following resolutions
were unanimously passed. It is proper to state that the society has been
an organized and efficient power in woman's education for over twenty
years. The object of its present action is to forward a movement to se-
cure endowed institutions for the training of women to their special du-
ties and professions as men are trained for theirs, particularly the science
and duties of home-life :
Resolved, That one cause of the depressed condition of woman is the fact that the
distinctive profession of her sex, as the nurse of infancy and of the sick, as educator of
childhood, and as the chief minister of the family state, has not been duly honored,
nor such provision been made for its scientific and practical training as is accorded to
the other sex for their professions; and that it is owing to this neglect that women are
driven to seek honor and independence in the institutions and the professions of men.
Resolved, That the science of domestic economy, in its various branches, involves
more important interests than any other human science; and that the evils suffered by
women would be extensively remedied by establishing institutions for training woman
for her profession, which shall be as generously endowed as are the institutions of
men, many of which have been largely endowed by women.
Resolved, That the science of domestic economy should be made a study in all insti-
tutions for girls; and that certain practical employments of the family state should be
made a part of common school education, especially the art of sewing, which is so
needful for the poor; and that we will use our influence to secure these important
measures.
Resolved, That every young woman should be trained to some business by which
she can earn an independent livelihood in case of poverty.
Resolved, That in addition to the various in-door employments suitable for woman,
there are other out-door employments especially favorable to health and equally suita-
ble, such as raising fruits and flowers, the culture of silk and cotton, the raising of
bees and the superintendence of dairy farms and manufactures. All of these offer
avenues to wealth and independence for women as properly as men, and schools for
imparting to women the science and practice of these employments should be provided
and as liberally endowed as are the agricultural schools for men.
Resolved, That the American "Woman's Educational Association is an organiza-
tion which aims to secure to women these advantages, that its managers have our confi-
dence, and that we will cooperate in its plans as far as we have opportunity.
Resolved, That the Protestant clergy would greatly aid in these efforts by preaching
on the honor and duties of the family state. In order to this, we request their atten-
tion to a work just published by Miss Beecher and Mrs. Stowe, entitled " The Ameri-
can Woman's Home," which largely discusses many important topics of this general
subject, while the authors have devoted most of their profits from this work to pro-
mote the plans of the American Woman's Educational Association.
Lucy B. Hobbs, D. D. S. 401
Resolved, That editors of the religious and secular press will contribute impor-
tant aid to an effort they must all approve by inserting these resolutions in their col-
umns.
Among the influences that brought new thought to the question
of woman suffrage was the establishment of The Revolution in
1868. Radical and defiant in tone, it awoke friends and foes
alike to action. Some denounced it, some ridiculed it, but all
read it. It needed just such clarion notes sounded forth long
and loud each week to rouse the friends of the movement from
the apathy into which they had fallen after the war. One cannot
read its glowing pages to-day without appreciating the power it
was just at that crisis.*
Miss Lucy B. Hobbs of New York was the first woman that
ever graduated in the profession of dentistry. She matriculated
in the Cincinnati Dental College in the fall of 1864 — passing
through a full course of study, missing but two lectures, and
those at the request of the professor of anatomy. She graduated
from that institution in February, 1866. A letter from the dean
of the college testifies to her worth as follows :
She was a woman of great energy and perseverance. Studious in her
habits, modest and unassuming, she had the respect and kind regard of
every member of the class and faculty. As an operator she was not sur-
passed by her associates. Her opinion was asked and her assistance
sought in difficult cases almost daily by her fellow-students. And though
the class of which she was a member was one of the largest ever in at-
tendance, it excelled all previous ones in good order and decorum — a con-
dition largely due to the presence of a lady. In the final examination she
was second to none.
Having received her diploma, she opened an office in Iowa ;
from thence she removed to Chicago, and practiced successfully.
The following letter from Mrs. Taylor (formerly Miss Hobbs)
gives further interesting details. Writing to Matilda Joslyn
Gage, she says:
I am grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to place in history
the fact of my study of dentistry. I was born in Franklin county. N«-\v
York, in 1833. You ask my reason for entering the profession. It \\.is
to be independent. I first studied medicine, but did not like the practice.
My preceptor, Professor Cleveland, advised me to try dentistry, and I
commenced with Dr. Samuel Warde of Cincinnati, finishing my studies in
March, 1861. At that time the faculty of the Ohio Dental College would
not permit me to attend, and there was not a college in the United States
that would admit me, and no amount of persuasion could change their
* Sec Volume II., page 264.
26
402 History of Woman Suffrage.
minds. So far as I know, I was the first woman who had ever taken in-
struction of a private tutor.
I went to Iowa to commence practice, and was so successful that the
dentists of the State insisted I should be allowed to attend the college.
Their efforts prevailed, and I graduated from the Ohio Dental College at
Cincinnati in the spring of 1866 — the first woman in the world to take a
diploma from a dental college. I am a New-Yorker by birth, but I love
my adopted country — the West. To it belongs the credit of making it
possible for women to be recognized in the dental profession on equal
terms with men. Should you wish any further proof, write to Dr. Watt,
who was professor of chemistry at the time I graduated, and I know he
will take pleasure in giving you any additional information.
As early as 1866 a system of safe-deposit companies was inau-
gurated in New York, which has proved a boon to women,
enabling them to keep any private papers they may wish to pre-
serve. In 1880, we find the following in the National Citizen:
A ladies' exchange for railroad and mining stocks has been started at
71 Broadway, New York. The rooms are provided with an indicator,
desks and such other conveniences as are required for business. Mes-
senger boys drop in and out, and a telephone connects with the office of
a prominent Wall-street brokerage firm. Miss Mary E. Gage, daughter of
Frances Dana Gage, is the manager and proprietor of the business. In
reply to the inquiries of a Graphic reporter, Miss Gage said she had found
so much inconvenience and annoyance in transacting her own operations
in stocks that she concluded to establish an office. After Miss Gage was
fairly settled, other women who labored under the same disadvantages,
began to drop in, their number increasing daily. A ladies' stock exchange
also exists at No. 40 Fourth street, under charge of Mrs. Favor. The
banking houses of Henry Clews and the wealthy Russell Sage are said to
be working in union with this exchange. In January we chronicled the
formation of a woman's mining company and this month of a woman's
stock exchange, each of them an evidence of the wide range of business
women are entering.
In The Revolution of May 14, 1868, we find the following:
SOROSIS. — This is the name of a new club of literary women, who meet
once a month and lunch at Delmonico's, to discuss questions of art, sci-
ence, literature and government. Alice Carey, who is president, in her
opening speech states the object of the club, which is summed up in this
brief extract :
We have proposed the inculcation of deeper and broader ideas among women, pro-
posed to teach them to think for themselves and get their opinions at first hand, not so
much because it is their right as because it is their duty. We have also proposed to
open new avenues of employment to women — to make them less dependent and less
burdensome — to lift them out of unwomanly self-distrust and disqualifying diffidence
into womanly self-respect and self-knowledge. To teach them to make all work honor-
able, by each doing the share that falls to her, or that she may work out to herself
agreeably to her own special aptitude, cheerfully and faithfully — not going down to it,
but bringing it up to her. We have proposed to enter our protest against all idle
Miss Middie Morgan. 403
gossip, against all demoralizing and wicked waste of time, also, against the follies and
the tyrannies of fashion, against all external impositions and disabilities; in short,
against each and every thing that opposes the full development and use of the faculties
conferred upon us by our Creator.
We most heartily welcome all movements for the cultivation of indi-
vidual thought and character in woman, and would recommend the forma-
tion of such clubs throughout the country. The editors of the New York
press have made known their dissatisfaction that no gentlemen were to
be admitted into this charmed circle. After a calm and dispassionate dis-
cussion of this question, it was decided to exclude gentlemen, not because
their society was not most desirable and calculated to add brilliancy to the
•club, but from a fear lest the natural reverence of woman for man might
•embarrass her in beginning to reason and discuss ; lest she should be
awed to silence by their superior presence. It was not because they love
man less, but their own improvement more. For the comfort of these
ostracised ones, we would suggest a hope for the future. After these
ladies become familiar with parliamentary tactics, and the grave questions
that are to come before them for consideration, it is proposed to admit
gentlemen to the galleries, that they may enjoy the same privileges vouch-
safed to the fair sex in the past, to look down upon the feast, to listen to
the speeches, and to hear "the pale, thoughtful brow," -'the silken mous-
tache," "the flowing locks," "the manly gait and form " toasted in prose
and verse.
This club has met regularly ever since the day of its inaugura-
tion, and has been remarkable for the harmony maintained by its
members. Mrs. Charlotte Wilbour was president for several years,
until she went to reside in Paris, in 1874. Since that time Mrs.
Croly has been, from year to year, elected to that office. Begin-
ning with 12 members,* this club now numbers 320.
The most respected live-stock reporter in New York is a woman,
Miss Middie Morgan, pronounced the best judge of horned cattle
in this country. She can tell the weight of a beef on foot at a
glance, and reports the cattle market for the New York Times.
A correspondent says :
Her father was a cattle-dealer, and taught her to handle fearlessly the
animals he delighted in. She learned to tell at a glance the finest points
of live-stock, and to doctor bovine and equine ailments with the utmost
skill. With all this, she became a proficient in Italian and French, and a
terse and rapid writer. A few years ago, after her father's death, she
( i a\ cled in Italy with an invalid sister, having an eye to her pet passion— the
lioisc. While there she met Prince Poniatmvskv. also an ardent adiniu-r
of that animal. He mentioned her zoological accomplishments to Victor
Kinamicl, and the consequence was Miss Middie was deputed by His
*The twelve were: Mrs. H. M. Field, Mrs. Anna Lynch I: : .. -I. K M 1 icld. Mr.. Ann* B.
Allen, Miss Josephine Pollard, Mrs. ( Cli.i ilnrleigh, Mrs. Fanny Barrow, Mr». C. B. Wilbour, Mr». J.
C. Croly, Miss Ella Dietz, Alice and I'hebc Cary.
404 History of Woman Suffrage.
Majesty to purchase a hundred or so of fine horses. She had charge of
the blood-horses of King Victor Emanuel, who owns the finest stud in
Europe, and breeds horses of a superior shape, vigor and fire. He beats
Grant in his admiration for that noble animal. When she decided to come
to this country, she made known the fact to Hon. George P. Marsh, our
minister to Italy; and he gave her a letter of recommendation to Mr.
Bigelow, of the Times, who employed her. She is an expert among all
kinds of animals. Her judgment about the different breeds is sought
after and much quoted. She can discuss the nice points about cattle as
easily as Rosa Bonheur can paint them.*
From the Woman's Journal, Oct. i, 1870:
Miss Barkaloo, the lady just admitted to the St. Louis bar as a lawyer,
and who has received a license to practice as attorney-at-law from the
Supreme Court of that State, is a native of Brooklyn, N. Y., and is a
woman of more than ordinary ability. Two years ago, after having read
Blackstone and other elementary law-books, she made application for ad-
mission as a student at Columbia College, New York, and was promptly
refused. Nothing daunted, she went to St. Louis, where she was admit-
ted to the Law School. For eighteen months she assiduously devoted
her energies to the study of the science, and her fellow-students all agreed
in declaring her by far the brightest member of the class. That there
was no question of her ability was clearly shown at her examination.
Judge Knight, although overflowing with gallantry, gave the lady no
quarter. The most abstruse and erudite questions were propounded to
the applicant, but not once did the judge catch the fair student tripping.
Miss Barkaloo was about 22 years of age, of a fine figure, intelligent
face and large, expressive eyes. The St. Louis papers of last week
reported her sudden death of typhoid fever. According to custom,
a meeting of the members of the St. Louis bar was held to take
suitable action and pay respect to her memory. It was the first
meeting of the kind in the United States, and was largely attended, not
only by the young members of the bar, but by the most distinguished at-
torneys. Miss Phoebe Couzins, herself a member of the Law School, was
in attendance, attired in deep mourning for the recent death of a beloved
sister. The following resolutions were adopted :
Resolved, That in the death of Miss Helena Barkaloo we deplore the loss of the
first of her sex ever admitted to the bar of Missouri.
Resolved, That in her erudition, industry and enterprise we have to regret the loss
of one who, in the morning of her career, bade fair to reflect credit on our profession,
and a new honor upon her sex.
Resolved, That our sympathy and condolence be extended to the relatives of the de-
ceased.
Major Lucien Eaton, into whose office she had entered to seek oppor-
tunities of perfecting herself in the knowledge of her profession, said
that—
He had been requested by an accomplished lady of St. Louis to afford her that op-
pogumity, and at first had hesitated to do so ; yet he felt that she should have a trial,
* She now reports the cattle-market for four New York papers including the Tribune and Tintei.
The New York City Society. 405
and when he took her into his office his conduct met with the approbation of the legal
fraternity generally. That fraternity cordially sympathized with the efforts she was
making, and both old lawyers and young ones tried to put business into her hands,
the taking of depositions and other such work as she could perform. He testified to
finding her a true woman ; modest and retiring, carefully shunning all unnecessary
publicity, and avoiding all display. She was earnest in her studies, and being
gifted witfi a fine intellect and a good judgment, gave promise of great at-
tainments. He had never known a student more assiduous in study ; she wanted to
become mistress of her profession. Her death is a calamity, not to her friends alone,
but to all who are making an effort for the enlargement of woman's sphere.
After the closing of the doors of the Geneva Medical School
to women, the Central Medical College of Syracuse was the first
to admit them. Four were graduated in 1852. Since then the
two medical colleges in New York city have graduated hundreds
of women. Among the many in successful practice are Clemence
S. Lozier, Emily Blackwell, Mary Putnam Jacobi, New York ;
Eliza P. Mosher, Brooklyn ; Sarah R. A. Dolley, Anna H. Searing,
Fannie F. Hamilton, Rochester; Amanda B. Sanford, Auburn ;
Eveline P. Ballintine, Le Roy ; Rachel E. Gleason, Elmira.
In May, 1870, the New York City Society was formed, with
efficient officers,* and pleasant rooms, at 16 Union Square, where
meetings were regularly held on Friday afternoon of each week.
These meetings were well attended and sustained with increasing
interest from month to month. This society held its first meet-
ing November 27, 1871, which was addressed by Mrs. Julia Ward
Howe; and on January 13, 1872, another, addressed by Jennie
Collins, the indefatigable Bostonian who has done so much for
the benefit of the working girls. A series of meetings was
held under the auspices of this association in many of the chief
cities around New York and on the Hudson, the chief speakers
being the officers of the association. An active German society
was soon after formed, with Mrs. Augusta Lillienthal, president,
and Mrs. Matilda F. Wendt, secretary. The latter published a
paper, Die Neue Zeit, devoted to woman suffrage. She was also
the correspondent of several leading journals in Germany. The
society held its first public meeting March 21, 1872, in Turner
Hall, Mrs. Wendt presiding. Mrs. Lillienthal, Mrs. Clara Neyman
and Dr. Adolphe Doney were the speakers. Clara Neyman be-
came afterwards a popular speaker in many suffrage and free-
religious associations.
Petitions were rolled up by both the German and American
societies to the legislature, praying for the right of suffrage, and
* President, Charlotte H. Wilbour ; Vice-Presidents, Dr.Clemencc S. Lozier, Mrs. Devereux Blake ;
Secretary, Frances V. Hallock ; Treasurer, Miss Jeannie McAdam.
406 History of Woman Suffrage.
on April 3, 1871, the petitioners* were granted a hearing, before
the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly, Hon. L. Bradford
Prince presiding. Mrs. Wilbour's able address made a most
favorable impression. The question was referred to the Judi-
ciary Committee. The majority report was adverse, the.minority,
signed by Robert A. Strahan and C. P. Vedder, favorable.
A grand demonstration was made April 26, 1872, in Cooper
Institute, intended specially to emphasize the claims of wives and
mothers to the ballot, and to show that the City Association had
no sympathy with any theories of free-love. Five thousand cards
of invitation were distributed.
In 1871 women attempted to vote in different parts of the
State, among whom were Matilda Joslyn Gage at Fayetteville,
and Mrs. Louise Mansfield at Nyack, but were repulsed. In 1872
others did vote under the fourteenth amendment, conspicuously
Susan B. Anthony, who, as an example for the rest, was arrested,
tried, convicted and fined.f Mrs. Gage published a woman's
rights catechism to answer objections made at that time to
woman's voting, which proved a valuable campaign document.
We find the names of Mary R. Pell of Flushing, Helen M. Loder
of Poughkeepsie, and Elizabeth B. Whitneyof Harlem, frequently
mentioned at this time for their valuable services.
The following items show the varied capacity of women for
many employments:
In March, 1872, Miss Charlotte E. Ray (colored) of New York, was grad-
uated at the Howard University Law School, and admitted to practice
in the courts of the District of Columbia at Washington. The head-
quarters of the Women's National Relief Association is in New York ; its
object is supplying government stations along the coast with beds,
blankets, warm clothing and other necessaries for shipwrecked persons.
— Miss Leggett, for a long time proprietor of a book and paper store in
New York, established a home, in 1878, for women, on Clinton Square,
which is in all respects antipodal to Stewart's Hotel. It is governed by
no stringent rules or regulations. No woman is liable without cause,
at the mere caprice of the founder, to be suddenly required to leave,
as was the case in Judge Hilton's home. On the contrary, it is the object
of the founder to provide a real home for women. The house is not
only provided with a library, piano, etc., but its inmates are allowed to
bring their sewing-machines, hang pictures upon the walls, put up private
book-racks, etc. The price, too, but $4 a week, falls more nearly within.
* The petitioners were represented by Mrs. Wilbour, Mrs. Hester M. Poole, Elizabeth B. Phelps,
Elizabeth Langdon, Mrs. I. D. Hull, Mrs. Charlotte L. Coleman, Mrs. M. E. Leclover, Matilda Joslyn
Gage.
t See Vol. II. .page 628.
Some Things that Women Do. 407
the means of laboring women than the $6 to $10 of the Stewart Hotel.
The first penny lunch-room in New York was established by a woman,
who made it a source of revenue. The inventor of the submarine
telescope, a woman, has received $10,000 for her invention. Deborah
Powers, now over ninety years of age, is the head of a large oil-cloth man-
ufactory in Troy. Her sons are engaged in business with her, but she,
still bright and active, remains at the head of the firm. This is the largest
oil-cloth factory in the United States. She was left a widow with three
sons, with a heavy mortgage on her estate. She secured an extension of
time, built up the business and educated her sons to the work. She is
also president of a bank. A successful nautical school in New York is
conducted by two ladies, Mrs. Thome and her daughter, Mrs. Brownlow.
These ladies have made several voyages and studied navigation, both
theoretically and practically. During the late war they prepared for the
navy 2,000 mates and captains bringing their knowledge of navigation
up to the standard required by the strict examiners of the naval board.
Mrs. Wilson, since a New York custom-house inspector, took charge, in
1872, of her husband's ship, disabled in a terrific gale off Newfoundland
in which his collar-bone was broken and a portion of the crew badly hurt.
The main-mast having been cut down she rigged a jury-mast, and after
twenty-one days brought ship and crew safe to port.
Miss Jennie Turner, a short-hand writer of New York, is a notary
public. In a recent law-suit some of the papers were " sworn to " before
her in her official capacity, and one of the attorneys claimed that it was
not verified, inasmuch as a woman "could not legally hold public office."
The judge decided that the paper must be accepted as properly verified,
and said that the only way to oust her was in a direct action by the attor-
ney-general. The judge said :
Whether a female is capable of holding public office has never been decided by the
courts of this State, and is a question about which .legal minds may well differ. The
constitution regulates the right of suffrage and limits it to " male " citizens. Disabili-
ties are not favored, and are seldom extended by implication, from which it may be
argued that if it required the insertion of the term " male " to exclude female citizens
of lawful age from the right of suffrage, a similar limitation would be required to
disqualify them from holding office. Citizenship is a condition or status and has no
relation to age or sex. It may be contended that it was left to the good sense of the
executive and to the electors to'determine whether or not they would select femalo
to office, and that the power being lodged in safe hands was beyond the danger of
abuse. If, on the other hand, it be seriously contended that the constitution, by neces-
sary implication, disqualifies females from holding office, it must follow as a necessary
Huence that the act of the legislature permitting females to serve as school offi-
cers, and all other legislative enactments of like import removing such disqualification,
are unconstitutional and void. In this same connection it may be argued that if the
use of the personal pronoun "he " in the constitution does not exclude females from
public office, its use in the statute can have no greater effect. The statute, like
the constitution, in prescribing the qualifications for office, omits the wprd "male,"
leaving the question whether female citizens of lawful age are included or excluded, one
of construction.
Miss Anna Ballard, a reporter on the staff of the New York Sun, w.i»
elected a member of the Press Club, in 1877, by a vote of 24 to 10. Within
408 History of Woman Suffrage.
the last ten years women contributors to the press have become numerous.
The book-reviewer of the Herald is a woman ; one of the book-reviewers of
the Tribune, one of its most valued correspondents and several of its regu-
lar contributors are women ; the agricultural and market reporter of the
New York Times is a woman ; the New York Sun's fashion writer is a
woman, and also one of its most industrious and sagacious reporters.
Female correspondents flood the evening papers with news from Wash-
ington. We instance these not at all as a complete catalogue ; for there
are, we doubt not, more than a hundred women known and recognized in
and about Printing-house Square as regular contributors to the columns
of the daily and weekly press. As a rule they are modest, reputable
pains-taking servants of the press ; and it is generally conceded that if
they are willing to put up with the inconveniences attending journalistic
work, it is no part of men's duty to interfere with their attempt to earn an
honest livelihood in a profession which has so many avenues as yet un-
crowded. Miss Ellen A. Martin, formerly of Jamestown, N. Y.,a graduate
of the Law School of Ann Arbor, in 1875, was admitted to the bar by the
Supreme Court of Illinois, at the January term, and is practicing in
Chicago, occupying an office with Miss Perry, Room 39, No. 143 La Salle
street. Mrs. Martha J. Lamb was the first woman ever admitted to mem-
bership in the New York State Historical Society. Her " History of
New York City" is recognized as a standard authority, and has already
taken rank among the great histories of the world.
During the summer of 1872 the presidential campaign agitated
the country. As Horace Greeley, who was opposed to woman
suffrage, was running against Grant and Wilson, who were in
favor, and as the Republican platform contained a plank promis-
ing some consideration for the loyal women of the nation, a great
demonstration was held in Cooper Institute, New York, Oc-
tober 7. The large hall was crowded by an excited throng.
Hon. Luther R. Marsh presided. The speakers * were all un-
usually happy. Mrs. Blake's f address was applauded to a
* Isabella Beecher Hooker, Susan B. Anthony, Rev. Olympia Brown, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Dr.
Clemence Lozier, Helen M. Slocum, Lillie Devereux Blake.
t Lillie Devereux Blake was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in August, 1833. Her father, George
^Devereux, was a wealthy Southern gentleman of Irish descent. Her mother's maiden name was
:S*xah Elizabeth Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut, a descendant of William Samuel Johnson who was
•one €>l the first two senators from that State. Both her parents were descended from Jonathan Ed-
-wards. Her father died in 1837, and the widow subsequently removed to New Haven, Conn., where she
-was well known for her large and generous hospitality. Her daughter, the future favorite writer and
•lecturer, was a much admired belle, and in 1855 was married to Frank Umsted, a lawyer of Phila-
•delphia, with whom she lived two years in St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Umsted died in 1859, and his widow.
w&O liad written sketches for Harper s Magazine and published a novel called " Southwold," from
that date contributed largely to leading newspapers and magazines. She was Washington correspon-
dent of the Evening Post in the winter of 1861, published " Rockford " in 1862, and wrote many stories
for Frank Leslie's Weekly, the Philadelphia Press and other publications. In 1866 she married
Greenfill Blake of New York. In 1872 Mrs. Blake published " Fettered for Life," a novel designed to
show the legal disadvantages of women. Ever since she became interested in the suffrage movement
Mrs. Blake has been one of the most ardent advocates. She has taken several lecturing tours in dif-
ferent States of the Union. Mrs. Blake is an easy speaker and writer, and of late has contributed to
many of our popular magazines. Much of the recent work in the New York legislature is due to her
untiring zeal.
Commission on Constitutional Revision. 409
recall, when she went forward and asked the audience to give
three cheers for the woman suffrage candidates, Grant and Wilson,
which they did with hearty good will.
During the winter of 1873 a commission was sitting at Albany
to revise the constitution of New York. As it seemed fitting
that women should press their claims to the ballot, memorials
were presented and hearings requested by b6th the State and
City societies. Accordingly Mr. Silliman, the chairman, ap-
pointed February 18, to hear the memorialists. A large delega-
tion of ladies went from New York.* The commission was hold-
ing its sessions in the common-council chamber, and when the
time arrived for the hearing the room was crowded with an
attentive audience. The members of the Committee on Suffrage
were all present, Mr. Silliman presided. Matilda Joslyn Gage
represented the State association, speaking upon the origin of
government and the rights pertaining thereto. Mrs. Wilbour
and Mrs. Blake represented the New York City Society, and each
alike made a favorable impression. The Albany Evening Journal
gave a large space to a description of the occasion. The respect-
ful hearing, however, was the beginning and the end, as far as
could be seen, of all impression made on the committee, which
coolly recommended that suffrage be secured to colored men by
ratifying the fifteenth amendment, while making no recognition
whatever of the women of the State. A memorial was at once
sent to the legislature and another hearing was granted on Febru-
ary 27. Mrs. Blake f was the only speaker on that occasion. The
Hon. Bradford Prince, of Queens, presided. At the close of Mrs.
Blake's remarks James W. Husted of Westchester, in a few earnest
words, avowed himself henceforth a champion of the cause.
Shortly afterwards the Hon. George West presented a constitu-
tional amendment giving to every woman possessed of $250 the
right to vote, thus placing the women of the State in the same
position with the colored men before the passage of the fifteenth
amendment ; but even this was denied. The amendment was re-
ferred to the Judiciary Committee and there entombed. Large
* Mrs. Jennie McAdam, Mrs. Hester Poole, Charlotte Coleman, Mrs. Hull, Mrs. Morse and other>.
A month before, January 33, Miss Anthony was invited to address the commission, giving her consti-
tutional argument, showing wr man's right to vote under the fourteenth amendment. Hon. Henry R.
Seldcn was in the audience, being in the city on Miss Anthony's case. At the close of her argument
he said : " If I had heard that speech before, I could have made a stronger plea before Judge Hall
this morning."
t She was escorted to the capitol by Phoebe H. Jones and the venerable Lydia Mott, who for a quarter
of a century had entertained at their respective homes the various speakers that had come to Albany
to plead for new liberties, and had accompanied them, one after another, to the halls of legislation.
4io History of Woman Suffrage.
meetings* were held at Robinson Hall during the winter, and at
Apollo Hall in May, and in different localities about New York.
July 2, 1873, an indignation meeting was held by the City Society
to protest against the sentence pronounced by Judge Hunt in the
case of Susan B. Anthony. De Garmo Hall was crowded. The
platform was decorated with the United States flag draped with
black bunting, while on each side were banners, one bearing the
inscription, " Respectful Consideration for a Loyal Woman's Vote !
$100 Fine ! " the other, " Shall One Federal Judge Abolish Trial
by Jury?" Dr. Clemence Lozier presided, and Mrs. Devereux
Blake made a stirring speech reviewing Miss Anthony's trial and
Judge Hunt's decision.f Mr. Hamilton Wilcox made a manly
protest against Judge Hunt's high-handed act of oppression, and
Mrs. Marie Rachel made another, in behalf of the German asso-
ciation.
In October, 1873, Mrs- Devereux Blake made an effort to open
the doors of Columbia College to women. A class of four young
ladies:}: united in asking admission. Taking them with her, Mrs.
Blake went before the president and faculty, who gave her a
respectful hearing. She argued that the charter of the college
itself declared that it was founded for " the education of the
youth of the city, and that the word youtJi was defined in all
dictionaries as " young persons of both sexes," so that by its
very foundation it was intended that girls as well as boys should
enjoy the benefits of the university, and it was no more than just
that they should, seeing that the original endowment was by the
"rectors and inhabitants of the city of New York," one-half of
these inhabitants being women. Mrs. Blake's § application was
referred to "the Committee on the Course of Instruction," and
after some weeks of consideration was refused, on the ground
that " it was inexpedient," the Rev. Morgan Dix being especially
* Addressed by Mrs. Wilbour, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Lozier, Mrs. Hallock, Hamilton Wilcox and Dr.
Hallock.
t For Judge Hunt's decision, see Volume II., page 677.
\ Miss Charlotte C. Jackson, the valedictorian of the Normal College of New York ; Miss Mary Hus-
sey of Orange, New Jersey , Miss Mosher of Ann Arbor, Michigan ; Miss Emma Wendt, daughter of
Mathilde Wendt. In 1867, Mrs. Stanton had made a similar application to Theodore D. Dwight, that
the law school might be opened to young women. In the course of their conversation Professor Dwight
said : " Do you think girls know enough to study law ? '' Mrs. Stanton replied : " All the liberal laws
for women that have been passed in the last twenty years are the results of the protests of women ;
surely, if they know enough to protest against bad laws, they know enough to study our whole system
of jurisprudence."
§ It was peculiarly fitting that this application should be made by Mrs. Blake, as two of her ances-
tors had been presidents of the college. The first it ever had, when founded as King's College in 1700,
was the Rev. Samuel Johnson, D. D., her great-great-grandfather. His son, the Hon. Samuel William
Johnson, was the first president after the Revolution, when the name was changed to Columbia Col-
lege.
A Woman s Congress. 411
active in his opposition. However, soon after this, the lectures
of the college were open to ladies, and a few years later President
Barnard warmly recommended that young women should be ad-
mitted as students to all the privileges of the university.
A Woman's Congress was organized at New York, October 15,
16, 17, 1873, in the Union League Theater. Representative
women* were there from all parts of the country. Its object
was similar to the social science organizations — the discussion of
a wider range of subjects than could be tolerated on the plat-
forms of any specific reform. Mary A. Livermore presided, and
the meeting was considered a great success. The speeches and
proceedings were published in pamphlet form, and still are from
year to year. This had been an idea long brewing in many
minds, and was at last realized through the organizing talent of
Mrs. Charlotte B. Wilbour, the originator of Sorosis. From year
to year they have held regular meetings in the chief cities of the
different States.
Dr. Clemence Lozier,f president of the city society, early
opened her spacious parlors to the monthly meetings, where they
have been held for many years. This association has been active
and vigilant, taking note of and furthering every step of progress
in Church and State. Mrs. Lozier and Mrs. Blake have worked
most effectively together, the former furnishing the sinews of war,
and the latter making the attack all along the line, to the terror
of the faint-hearted.
The era of centennial celebrations was now approaching, and
it was proposed to hold a suitable commemoration on the one-
hundredth anniversary of the Boston tea-party, December 16,
1873. Union League Theater was, on the appointed evening,
filled to its utmost capacity. The platform was decorated with
* Julia Ward Howe, Elisabeth Cady Stanton, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Mary F. Eastman, Helen
Potter, Sarah Andrews Spencer. Augusta Cooper Bristol, Alice Fletcher, Maria Mitchell, professor at
, College, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Frances Ellen Burr, Abby Smith, Rossclla E. Buckingham,
and others.
t Dr. Clemence Lozier was born of a good family in New Jersey. She was married at the early age
of 16, and widowed at 27, left with a young family without means of support. But being an excellent
teacher, she soon found employment. For eleven years she was principal of a young ladies' seminary.
By natural instinct a physician and a healer, she determined to fit herself for that profc>Mi<n.
A physician of the old school assisted her in her medical studies, and in 1853 she received a diploma
from the Eclectic College of Syracuse, and shortly after established herself in New York, where her
practice steadily increased, until her professional income <vas one of the largest in the city. In 1860
she began a course of free medical lectures to women, which continued for three years, culminating in
"The New York Medical College for Women," which was chartered in 1863. The foundation and es-
tablishment of this institution was the crowning work of her life, to which she has devoted time and
money. From the first she has been dean of the faculty, and after years of struggle at last has the
satisfaction of seeing it a complete success, owning a fine building up town, with hospital and dispen-
sary attached.
4I2
^istory of Woman Suffrage.
flowers and filled with ladies, Dr. Lozier presiding. Miss An-
thony was the speaker of the evening, and made a most effective
address; Helen Potter gave a recitation ; Hannah M'L. Shepherd
read letters of sympathy; Mrs. Blake made a short closing
address, and presented a series of resolutions, couched in precisely
the same language as that adopted by our ancestors in protesting
against taxation without representation :
Resolved, That as an expression of the sentiments of the tax-paying wom£n of New
York, we reiterate, as applied to ourselves, the declaration contained in the bill of
rights put forth by our ancestors too years ago : First — That the women of the coun-
try are entitled to equal rights and privileges with the men; Second — That it is insep-
arably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted right of all men and
women, that no taxes be imposed on them but by their own consent, given in person
or by their representatives; Third — That the only representatives of these women
are persons chosen by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been or can be consti-
tutionally imposed upon them but by legislatures composed of persons so chosen.
The report of the State assessors * of 1883 brought forcibly to
view the injustice done in taxing non-voters. At their meeting
with the supervisors of Onondaga county, Mr. Pope of Fabius
said: "Mrs. Andrews is assessed too much." Mr. Hadley re-
plied : " Well, Mr. Briggs says that is the way all the women are
assessed." Mr. Briggs responded : " Yes, that is the way we
find the assessors treat the women; they can't vote, you know!
I am in favor of letting the women vote now."
Two women in the village of Batavia were assessed for more
personal property than the entire assessment of like property,
exclusive of corporations, in the city of Rochester with a popu-
lation of 70,000 ! While declaring they had found very little per-
sonal property assessed, Mr. Fowler said : " We found some cases
where town assessors had taxed the personal property of women,
* Several ladies appeared last week before the New York Supervisors' Committee to protest against
excessive taxation. The New York World informs us that Mrs. Harriet Ramsen complained that the
appraisement of lot 5 West One Hundred and Twenty-second street, was increased from $7,000 to
$Q,OOO. Mrs. P. P. Dickinson, house 48 West Fifty-sixth street, increased from $15,000 to $20,000;
Mrs. Cynthia Bunce, house 37 West Fifty-fourth street, last year's valuation $10,000; this year's, $15,
ooo. Mrs. Daly, who owns a house in Seventy-second street, informed the committee that the assess-
ment on the house (a small dwelling) was put at $2,000, an increase of $700 over last year's valua-
tion. This house stands in an unopened street. Supervisor McCafferty said that the committee would
do all in its power to have the assessment reduced, and also remarked that it was a positive outrage to
assess such a small house at so high a figure. Mrs. Louisa St. John, who is reputed to be worth
$2,000,000, complained because three lots on Fifth avenue, near Eighty-sixth street, and five lots on
the last-named street, have been assessed at much higher figures than other lots in the neighborhood.
Mrs. St. John addressed the commitlee with much eloquence and force. Said she: "I do not com-
plain of the assessments that have been laid on my property. I complain of the inequalities practiced
by the assessors, and I should like to see them set right.'1 Supervisor McCafferty assured Mrs. St.
John that everything in the power of the committee would be done to equalize assessments in future.
Mrs. St. John is a heavy speculator in real estate. She attends sales and has property " knocked
down" to her. She makes all her own searches in the register's office, and is known, in fact, among
property-owners as a very thorough real-estate lawyer. Many years ago she was the proprietor of the
Globe Hotel, now Frankfort House, corner of Frankfort and William streets.
Anti-Tax Societies. 41 3
and one case of a ward who was assessed to full value, while upon
the guardian's property there was no assessment at all." This
report not only proved a good woman suffrage document, but
the work done by the State assessors, Messrs. Hadley, Briggs
and Fowler, convinced them personally of woman's need of the
ballot for the protection of her property.
Early in the year 1874, memorials from societies in different
parts of the State were sent to the legislature, asking " that all
taxes due from women be remitted until they are allowed to
vote." The most active of these anti-tax societies was the one
formed in Rochester through the efforts of Mrs. Lewia C. Smith,
whose earnestness and fidelity in this, as in many another good
word and work, have been such as to command the admiration
even of opponents — a soul of that sweet charity that makes no
account of self. A hearing was appointed for the memorialists
on January 24, and the journals* made honorable mention of
the occasion.
The centennial was approaching and the notes of preparation
were heard on all sides. The women who understood their sta-
tus as disfranchised citizens in a republic, regarded the coming
event as one for them of humiliation rather than rejoicing, inas-
much as the close of the first century of the nation's existence
found one half the people still political slaves. At the February
meeting of the association, Mrs. Blake presented the following
resolution :
Resolved, That the members of this society do hereby pledge themselves not to aid
either by their labor, time or money, the proposed celebration of the independence of
the men of the nation, unless before July 4, 1876, the women of the land shall be
guaranteed their political freedom.
* The Albany Evening Journal of January 22 said : A hearing was granted by the Judiciary Com-
mittee to-night, on the petition of the Woman's Tax-payers Association of the City of Rochester, for
either representation or relief from taxation. The petitioners were heard in the assembly chamber,
and in addition to members of the committee, a large audience of ladies and gentlemen were drawn to-
gether, including the president of the Senate, speaker of the House, and nearly all the leading members
of both branches of the legislature. The first speaker was Mrs. Blake, the youngest of the trio, who
occupied about twenty minutes and was well received. She was followed by Miss Anthony, who made
a telling speech, frequently eliciting applause. She recounted her long service in the woman's rights
cause, and gave a brief history of the different enactments and repeals on the question for the last
thirty years. She related her experience in voting, and said she was fined $100 and costs, one cent of
which she had never paid and never meant to. She claimed Judge Waite was in favor of woman suf-
frage, and believed the present speaker of the Assembly of New York was also in favor of the move-
ment. Calls being made for General Husted, that gentleman replied that Miss Anthony was perfectly
correct in her statement. She summed up by asking the committee to report in favor of legislation ex-
empting women from taxation unless represented by the ballot, remarking that she would not ask for
the right to vote, as that was guaranteed her by the Constitution of the United States. Miss Anthony
then introduced Mrs. Joslyn Gage, who said if any member of the committee had objections to offer
or questions to ask she would like the privilege of answering ; but as none of the committee availed
themselves, she proceeded for fifteen minutes in about the same strain as her predecessors. Calls being
made for Mr. Spencer and eliciting no reply from that gentleman, Mrs. Blake said they should consider
him a convert.
414 History of Woman Suffrage.
In their own way, however, the members of the society intended
to observe such centennials as were fitting, and so preparation
was made for a suitable commemoration of the battle of Lexing-
ton. They held a meeting* in the Union League Theatre, the
evening of April 19, to protest against their disfranchisement.
The journals contained fair reports, with the exception of The
Tribune, which sent no reporter, and closed its account next day of
many observances elsewhere by saying, " there was no celebration
in New York city." Several of the papers published Mrs Blake's
speech :
Just as the first rays of dawn stole across our city this morning, the century was
complete ^ince the founders of this nation made their first great stand for liberty. The
early April sunshine a hundred years ago saw a group of men and boys gathered
together, " a few rods north of the meeting-house," in the Massachusetts village of
Lexington. Un-uniformed and undisciplined, standing in the chilly morning, that
handful of patriots represented the great Republic which on that day was to spring
from their martyrdom. The rebellious colonists had collected in the hamlets near
Boston some military stores; these the British officers in command at Boston resolved
should be seized and destroyed. Warned of their design Paul Revere made his famous
ride to arouse the country to resistance, and in the dead of night Adams and Han-
cock went out to summon their comrades to arms. As the last stars vanished before
the dawn, the drum beat to summon the patriots to action, and in response a little
band of about eighty men and boys assembled on the village green. Few as they were
in numbers, they presented a brave front as the British regulars came up the quiet
street, 2OO strong. What followed was not a battle, but a butchery. The minute-men
refused to surrender to Major Pitcairn's haughty demand, and a volley of musketry,
close and deadly, was poured on this devoted band. In response only a few random
shots were fired, which did absolutely no harm, and then, seeing the hopelessness of
resistance, the commander of the minute-men ordered them to disperse. The British,
elated with their easy victory, pushed on toward Concord, thinking that there another
speedy success awaited them. In this they soon bitterly learned their error. Although
they were reinforced on the way, when they reached that village they were met by such
a resistance as drove them back, broken and disorganized, on the road they had so
proudly followed in the morning. Concord nobly avenged the slaughter at Lexington.
So much for what men did on that day, and let us see what share the women had in
its dangers and its sorrows. Jonathan Harris was shot in front of his own house, while
his wife was watching him from a window, seeing him fall with such anguish as no
poor words of mine can describe. He struggled to his feet, the blood gushing from a
wound in his breast, staggered forward a few paces and fell again, and then crawled on
his hands and knees to his threshold only to expire just as his wife reached him. Did
not this woman bear her portion of the martyrdom ? Isaac Davis, a man in the prime
of life, went forth from his home in the morning, and before the afternoon sunlight
had grown yellow, was brought back to it dead, and was laid, pale and cold, in his
wife's bed, only three hours after he had left her with a solemn benediction of farewell.
Did not this woman also suffer? She was left a widow in the very flower of her youth,
and for seventy years she faithfully mourned his taking off ! Nor were these the only
ones; for every man who fell that day, some woman's heart was wrung. There were
others who endured actual physical hardship and suffering. Hannah Adams lay in bed
with an infant only a week old when the British reached her house in their disorderly
*The speakers were Dr. Clemence Lozier, Helen M. Siocum, Henrietta Westbrook, Mrs. Devereux
Blake. Mrs. J. E. Frobisher recited Paul Revere's ride, and Helen M. Cooke read the resolutions.
Mrs. B lakes Speech. 415
retreat to Boston ; they forced her to leave her sick room and to crawl into an adjoin-
ing corn shed, while they burned her house to ashes in her sight. Three companies of
British troops went to the house of Major Barrett and demanded food. Mrs. Barrett
served them as well as she was able, and when she was offered compensation, refused
it, saying gently, "We are commanded if our enemy hunger to feed him." So, in
toil or suffering or anguish the women endured their share of the sorrows of that day-
Do they not deserve a share of its glories also? The battles of Lexington and Con.
cord form an era in our country's history. When, driven to desperation by a long
course of oppression, the people first resolved to revolt against the mother country.
Discontent, resentment and indignation had grown stronger month by month among
the hardy settlers of the land, until they culminated in the most splendid act of audacity
that the world has ever seen. A few colonies, scattered at long intervals along the
Atlantic seaboard, dared to defy the proudest nation in Europe, and a few rustics, un-
disciplined, and almost unarmed, actually ventured to encounter in battle that army
which had boasted its conquests over the flower of European chivalry. What unheard
of oppressions drove these people to the mad attempt ? What unheard of atrocities
had the rulers of these people practiced, what unjust confiscations of property, what
cruel imprisonments and wicked murders? None of all these; the people of this land
were not starving or dying under the iron heel of an Alva or a Robespierre, but their
civil liberties had been denied, their political freedom refused, and rather than endure
the loss of these precious things, they were willing to encounter danger and to brave
death. The men and women who suffered at Concord and at Lexington loo years ago
to-day, were martyrs to the sacred cause of personal liberty ! Looking over the records
of the past we find, again and again repeated, the burden of their complaints. Not
that they were starving or dying, but that they were taxed without their consent, and
that they were denied personal representation.
The congress which assembled at Philadelphia in 1774, declared that "the founda-
tion of liberty and of all free governments is the right of the people to participate in
their legislative council"; and the House of Burgesses, assembled in Virginia in the
same year, asserted " That a determined system is formed and pressed for reducing us
to slavery, by subjecting us to the payment of taxes imposed without our consent."
Strong language this, as strong as any we women have ever employed in addressing
the men of this nation. Our ancestors called the imposition of taxes without their con-
sent, slavery, and the denial of personal representation, tyranny. Slavery and tyranny !
words which they tell us to-day are too strong for our use. We must find some mild
and lady-like phrases in which to describe these oppressions. We must employ some
safe and gentle terms to indicate the crimes which our forefathers denounced ! My
friends, what was truth a century ago is truth to-day ! Other things may have changed,
but justice has not changed in a hundred years !
In 1876 a presidential election was again approaching, and to
meet the exigencies of the campaign a woman suffrage committee
was formed to ask the legislature to grant presidential suffrage
to women, as it was strictly within their power to do without
a constitutional amendment. To this end Mrs. Gage prepared
an appeal which was widely circulated throughout the State:
Within u year the election of President and Vice-President of the
United States, will again take place. The right to votd» for these func-
tionaries is a National and not a State right; the United States has un-
questioned control of this branch of suffrage, and in its constitution has
declared to whom it has delegated this power. Article 2 of the Consti-
tution of the United States, is devoted to the president ; the manner of
choosing him, his power, his duties, etc. In regard to the method of
4i 6 History of Woman Suffrage.
choosing the president, Par. 2, Sec. i, Art. 2, reads thus: "Each State
shall appoint in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a num-
ber of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives
to which the State may be entitled in the congress." There is no other
authority for the appointment of presidential electors, either in the Con-
stitution of the United States, or in the constitution of any State. The
constitution of the State of New York is entirely silent upon the appoint-
ment of presidential electors, for the reason that the constitution of the
United States declares that they shall \>e appointed in such manner as the
legislature may direct. With the exception of South Carolina, every State
in the Union has adopted the plan of choosing presidential electors by
ballot, and it is in the power of the legislature of each State to prescribe
the qualifications of those who shall be permitted to vote for such electors.
The authority to prescribe the qualifications of those persons in the
State of New York who shall be permitted to vote for electors of Presi-
dent and Vice-President of the United States, therefore lies alone in the
legislature of this State. That body has power in this respect superior to
the State constitution; it rises above the constitution; it is invested
with its powers by the Constitution of the United States; it is under
national authority, and need in no way be governed by any representa-
tive clause which may exist in the State constitution. In prescribing the
qualifications of those persons who shall vote for electors, the legis-
lature has power to exclude all persons who cannot read and write.
It has power to say that no person unless possessing a freehold
estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, shall vote for such
electors. It has power to declare that only tax-payers shall vote for
such electors , it is even vested with authority to say that no one but
church members shall be entitled to vote for electors of President and
Vice-President of the United States. The legislature of this State at its
next session has even power to cut off the right of all white men to vote
for electors at the presidential election next fall. It matters not what
qualifications the State itself may have prescribed for electors of State
officers, the question who shall vote for president and vice-president is
on an entirely different basis, and prescribing the qualifications for such
electors lies in entirely different hands. It is a question of national im-
port, with which the State (in its constitution) has nothing to do, and over
which even congress has no power. The legislature which is to assemble
in Albany, the first Tuesday in January next, will have power, by the
passage of a simple bill, to secure to the women of this State the right to
vote for electors at the presidential election in the fall of 1876, and thus
to inaugurate the centennial year by an act of equity and justice that
will be in accordance with that part of the Declaration of Independence
which declares that "governments derive their just powers from the con-
sent of the governed." Shall it not be done ?
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE,
CLEMENCE S. LOZIER, M. D.,
N. Y. State Woman Suffrage Com.
-/'
4i 8 History of Woman Suffrage.
STATE OF NEW YORK, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, )
ALBANY, May 8, 1877. \
To the Senate:
I return without approval Senate bill No. 61, entitled "An act to author-
ize the election of women to school offices."
This bill goes too far or not far enough. It provides that women may
hold any or all of the offices connected with the department of education,
that is to say, a woman may be elected superintendent of public instruc-
tion, women may be appointed school commissioners, members of boards
of education and trustees of school districts. In some of these positions
it will become their duty to make contracts, purchase materials, build and
repair school-houses, and to supervise and effect all the transactions of
school business, involving an annual expenditure of over twelve million
dollars in this State. There can be no greater reason that women should
occupy these positions than the less responsible ones of supervisors, town
clerks, justices of the peace, commissioners of highways, overseers of the
poor, and numerous others. If women are physically and mentally fitted
for one class of these stations, they are equally so for the others.
But at this period in the history of the world such enactments as the
present hardly comport with the wisdom and dignity of legislation. The
God of nature has appointed different fields of labor, duty and usefulness
for the sexes. His decrees cannot be changed by human legislation. In
the education of our children the mother stands far above all superinten-
dents, commissioners, trustees and school teachers. Her influence in the
family, in social intercourse and enterprises, outweighs all the mere ma-
chinery of benevolence and education. To lower her from the high and
holy place given her by nature, is to degrade her power and to injure
rather than benefit the cause of education itself. In all enlightened and
Christian nations the experience and observations of ages have illustrated
and defined the relative duties of the sexes in promoting the best inter-
ests of society. Few, if any, of the intelligent and right-minded among
women desire or would be willing to accept the change which such a law
would inaugurate.
The bill is moreover a clear infraction of the spirit if not the letter of
the constitution. Under that instrument women have no right to vote,
and it cannot be supposed that it is the intention of the constitution that
persons not entitled to the right of suffrage should be eligible to some of
the most important offices in the State. L. ROBINSON.
On May 24, 25, 1877, the National and State conventions were
again held in New York, at Steinway Hall. Both conventions
passed resolutions denouncing Governor Robinson's action in his
veto. The following address was issued by the State association :
To the Voters and Legislators of New York :
The women of the State of New York, in convention assembled, do
most earnestly protest against the injustice with which they are treated
by the State, where in point of numbers they are in excess of the men :
First — They are denied the right of choosing their own rulers, but are compelled to
submit to the choice of a minority consisting of its male residents, fully one-third of
Address of the State Association. 419
-whom are of foreign birth. Second — They are held amenable to laws they have had
-no share in making and in which they are forbidden a voice — laws which touch all
their most vital interests of education, industry, children, property, life and liberty.
Third — While compelled to bear the burdens and suffer the penalties of government,
•they are debarred the honors and emoluments of civil service, and the control of offices
in the righteous discharge of whose duties their interest is equal to that of men.
.Fourth — They are taxed without their consent to sustain men in office who enact laws
-directly opposing their interests, and inasmuch as the State of New -York pays one-sixth
the taxes of the United States, its women feel the arm of oppression — like Briareus
with his hundred hands — touching and crushing tbem with its burdens. Fifth — They
.are under the power of an autocrat whose salary they must pay, but who, in opposition
to the will of the people — as recently shown in the passage of the School bill by the
legislature — has by his veto denied them all official authority in the control of the
public schools, and this despite the fact of there being 3,670 more girls of school age
than boys, and 14,819 more women than men teaching in the State. Sixth — Under
pretence of regulating public morals, women of the femme de pave class, many of
whom have been driven to this mode of life as a livelihood, are subjected to more
• oppressive laws than their partners in vice. Seventh — The laws treat married women
as criminals by taking from them all legal control of their children, while those born
-outside of marriage belong absolutely to the mothers. Eighth — They forbid the
mother's inheritance of property from her children in case the father is living, thus
making her of no consideration in the eyes of those to whom she has given birth.
Ninth — They give the husband control of the common property — allow him to spend
the whole personal estate in riotous living, or even to sell the home over 'his wife's
head, subject only to her third life-interest in case she survives him. Tenth — They
.allow the husband to imprison her at his pleasure within his own house, the court sus-
taining him in this coercion until the wife "submits herself to her husband's will."
Eleventh — They allow the husband while the common property is in his possession,
•" without even the formality of a legal complaint, the taking of an oath or the filing of
a bond for the good faith of his action," to advertise his wife through the public press
as a deserter and to forbid her credit. Twelfth — They deny the widow the right of
inheritance in the common property that they give the widower, allow her but forty
-days' residence in the family mansion before paying rent to her husband's heirs, thus
treating her as if she were an alien to her own children — set off to her a few paltry
articles of household use, close the estate through a process of law, and make the days
• of her bereavement doubly days of sorrow.
The above laws of marriage, placing irresponsible authority in the
hands of the husband, have given him a power of moral coercion over the
wife, making her virtually his slave. Without entering into fuller details
of the injustice and oppression of the laws upon all women, married and
single, we will sum the whole subject up in the language of the French
Woman's Rights League, which characterizes woman's position thus :
(i) Woman is held politically to have no existence; (2) civilly, she is a minor; (3) in
marriage she is a serf; (4) in labor she is made inferior and robbed of her earning;
(5) in public instruction she is sacrificed to man; (6) out of marriage, answers to the
faults committed by both; (7) as a mother is deprived of her right to her children; (8)
sin- U only deemed equally responsible, intelligent and answerable in taxes and crimes.
By order of the New York State Woman Suffrage Society.
May, 1877. MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE, Secretary.
In the summer of 1877 another effort was made by women of
wealth to be relieved from taxation. Several memorials to that
«ffect were sent to the legislature, one headed by Susan A.
420 History of Woman Suffrage.
King* of New York, a self-made woman who had accumulated a
large fortune and owned much real estate. Her memorial, signed
by a few others, represented $9,000,000. The committee bearing
these waited on many members of the legislature to secure
their influence when such a bill should be presented, which
was done March II, by Col. Alfred Wagstaff, with warm recom-
mendations. He was followed by Senator McCarthy of Onon-
daga, who also introduced a bill for an amendment to the consti-
tution to secure to women the right of suffrage. Both these bills
called out the determined opposition of Thomas C. Ecclesine,
senator from the eleventh district, and the ridicule of others.
The delegation of ladies, sitting there as representatives of half
the people of the State, felt insulted to have their demands thus
sneered at ; it was for them a moment of bitter humiliation. In
the evening, however, their time for retaliation came, as they
had a hearing in the Senate chamber, before the Judiciary Com-
mittee, where an immense crowd assembled at an early hour.
The chairman of the committee Hon. William H. Robertson, pre-
sided. Each of the ladies, in the course of her speech, referred
to the insulting remarks of Mr. Hughes of Washington county.
That gentleman, being present, looked as if he regretted his un-
fortunate jokes, and winced under the sarcasm of the ladies.
Soon after this, great excitement was created by the close of
Stewart's Home for Working Women. This fine building, on
the corner of Thirty-second street and Fourth avenue, had been
erected by the merchant prince for the use of working women,
who could there find a home at a moderate expense. The mil-
lionaire dead, his large fortune passed into other hands. The
* Miss King, the head of a New York tea-dealing firm composed of women, who control a capital of
$1,000,000, has recently gone to China to make purchases. Her previous business experience, as nar-
rated by a correspondent of the Chicago Tribune^ explains her fitness for her mission, while it inci-
dentally throws some light on the secrets of the tea-company business :
" Previous to the outbreak of our civil war Miss King was extensively engaged in utilizing the leaves
of the great blackberry and raspberry crops running to waste in the rich lowlands of Georgia and
Alabama, and kept in that fertile region a large levy of Northern women — smart, like herself — to
superintend the gathering of the leaves and their preparation for shipment to headquarters in New
York. These leaves were prepared for the market at their manipulating halls in one of the narrow
streets on the Hudson side of New York city. Over this stage of the tea preparations Miss King had
special supervision, and, by a generous use of the genuine imported teas, worked up our American pro-
ductions into all the accredited varieties of the black and green teas of commerce. Here the female
supervision apparently ended. In their extensive tea ware-rooms in Walker street the business was
conducted by the shrewdest representatives of Gothamite trade, with all the appliances of the great
Chinese tea-importing houses. Here were huge piles of tea-chests, assorted and unassorted, and the
high-salaried tea-taster with his row of tiny cups of hot-drawn tea, delicately sampling and classifying
the varieties and grades for market. The breaking out of the war stopped the Southern supplies and
sent Miss King's female agents to their Northern homes. But the business was made to conform to
the new order of things. Large cargoes of imported black teas were bought as they arrived and were
skillfully manipulated into those high-cost varieties of green teas so extensively purchased by the gov-
ernment for its commissary and medical departments."
Employment of Women in Insane Asylums. 421
building was completed and furnished in a style of elegance far
beyond what was appropriated to that purpose. On April 2,
with a great flourish, the immense building was thrown open for
public inspection. A large number of women applied at once
for admission, but encountered a set of rules that drove most of
them away. This gave Judge Hilton an excuse for violating his
obligation to carry out the plan of his dead benefactor, and in a
few weeks he closed the house to working women and opened it
as the Park Hotel, for which it was so admirably furnished and
fitted that it was the general opinion that it was intended for this
from the beginning. Great indignation was felt in the com-
munity, the women calling a meeting to express their dissapoint-
ment and dissatisfaction. This was held in Cooper Institute,
under the auspices of the Woman Suffrage Association.* Had
Mr. Stewart provided a permanent home for working women it
would have been but a meager return for the underpaid toil of
the thousands who had labored for half a century to build up
his princely fortune. But even the idea of such an act of justice
died with him.
In 1879 that eminent philanthropist Dr. Hervey Backus Wilbur,
superintendent of the State Idiot Asylum at Syracuse, urged the
passage of a law requiring the employment of competent women
as physicians in the female wards of the State insane asylums.
Petitions prepared by him were circulated by the officers of the
Women's Medical College, of the New York Infirmary, by Mrs.
Josephine Shaw Lowell of the State Board of Charities, and by
Drs. Willard Parker, Mary Putnam Jacobi, and other eminent
physicians of New York. The bill prepared by Dr. Wilbur was
introduced in the Assembly by Hon. Erastus Brooks, and re-
quired the trustees of each of the four State asylums for the insane,
" to employ one or more competent, well-educated female physi-
cians to have the charge of the female patients of said asylum, un-
der the direction of the medical superintendents of the several
asylums, as in the case of the other or male assistant physicians,
and to take the place of such male assistant physician or physi-
cians in the wards of the female patients." Although Dr. Wilbur
stood at the head of his profession, his authority upon everything
connected with the feeble-minded being not only recognized in
this country but in Europe also as absolute, yet this bill, which
* Mrs. Lozier presided. Addresses were made by Matilda Fletcher of Iowa, Mrs. Helen Slocum and
Mrs. Devereux Blake.
422 History of Woman Suffrage.
did not contemplate placing a woman in charge of such an insti-
tution, and which was so purely moral in its character, met with,
ridicule and opposition from the press of the State, to which Dr..
Wilbur made an exhaustive reply, showing the need of women,
as physicians in all institutions in which unfortunate women are
incarcerated.
When the fall elections of 1879 approached, a circular letter
was sent to every candidate for office in the city, asking his views-
on the question of woman suffrage, and delegations waited on
the nominees for mayor. Mr. Edward Cooper, the Republican*
candidate, declared he had no sympathy with the movement,,
while Hon. Augustus Schell, the Democratic candidate, received
the ladies with great courtesy, and avowed himself friendly at
least to the demand for equal wages and better opportunities^
for education, and in the trades and professions. From the an-
swers received, a list of candidates was prepared. On the even-
ing of October 30, a crowded mass-meeting was held in Stein-
way Hall to advocate the election of those men who were
favorable to the enfranchisement of woman. Mr. Schell was-
chosen Mayor. The re-nomination in 1879, °f Lucius Robinsoa
for governor by the Democratic convention, aroused the oppo-
sition of the women who understood the politics of the State..
He had declared that "the God of Nature did not intend women
for public life "; they resolved that the same power should retire
Mr. Robinson from public life, and held mass-meetings to that
end.* These meetings were all alike crowded and enthusiastic,,
and the speakers f felt richly paid for their efforts. A thorough,
canvass of the State was also made, and a protest \ extensively
circulated, condemning the governor for his veto of the school-bill-
* In Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, Harlem, Williamsburgh, Brighton, and in several districts in the city of
New York.
t Matilda Joslyn Gage, Helen M. Loder, Mrs. Clara Neyman, Mrs. Slocum, Mrs. Miller and Mrsr
Blake.
% To the Women of the State of New York:
The undersigned, citizens of the State of New York, who if free to do so, would express themselves
at the ballot box, but who by unjust enactments are debarred the exercise of that political freedom
whereto "the God of nature" entitles them, earnestly protest against the proposed reelection of
Lucius Robinson as governor. They say naught against his honor as a man, but they protest because
when the legislature of the Empire State had passed a bill making women eligible to school-boards.
Lucius Robinson, by his veto, kept this bill from becoming law. They therefore call on all men and
women who respect themselves and dare maintain their rights, to do all in their power to defeat the
reelection of one who has set himself against the advance made by Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Illinois,
Michigan, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, in
many of which States woman's right to vote on school questions is also recognized.
[Signed:] Matilda Joslyn Gage, President N. Y. State Woman Suffrage Association. Jennie
M. Lozier, M. D., Secretary. Lillie Devereux Blake, Vice-President National Association^
Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., President N. Y. City Association. Susan A. King, Cordelia S. Knapp,.
Helen M. Slocum, Susan B. Anthony, Amanda Deyo, Helen M. Cooke, Elizabeth B. Phelps, Charlotte
Fowler Wells, Emma S. Allen.
Defeat of Governor Robinson. 423
Mr. F. B. Thurber, and Miss Susan A. King contributed
liberally to this campaign. Handbills containing the protest and
a call for a series of mass-meetings, were distributed by the
thousands all over the State. The last meeting was held at the
seventh ward Republican wigwam, an immense structure, in
Brooklyn ; its use was given by the unanimous vote of the
club.* At every one of these meetings resolutions were passed
condemning Mr. Robinson, and electors were urged to cast their
votes against him. No doubt the enthusiasm the women aroused
for his opponent helped in a measure to defeat him.
In the meantime, women in the eleventh senatorial district were
concentrating their efforts for the defeat of Thomas H. Eccelsine.
His Republican opponent, Hon. Chas. E. Foster, was a pronounced
advocate of woman suffrage. Miss King,f who resided in this
district, exerted all her influence for his election, giving time,
money and thought to the canvass. On the morning of Novem-
ber 5, the day after election, the papers announced that Mr. Cor-
nell was chosen governor, and that Mr. Ecclesine, who two years
before had been elected by 7,000 majority, was defeated by 600,
and Mr. Foster chosen senator in his stead.
This campaign attracted much attention. The journals through-
out the country commented upon the action of the women. It
was conceded that their efforts had counted for something in in-
fluencing the election, and from this moment the leaders of the
woman suffrage movement in New York regarded themselves as
possessing some political influence.
In January, 1880, GoVernor Alonzo B. Cornell, in his first mes-
sage to the legislature, among other recommendations, embodied
the following :
The policy of making women eligible as school officers has been adopted
in several States with beneficial results, and the question is exciting much
discussion in this State. Women are equally competent with men for this
duty, and it cannot be doubted that their admission to representation
would largely increase the efficacy of our school management. The favor-
able attention of the legislature is earnestly directed to this subject.
With such words from the chief executive it was an easy mat-
ter to find friends for a measure making women eligible as school
* Chester A. Arthur, chairman of the Republican campaign committee, presented the motion.
t She threw her spacious apartments open, and gave some of the voters a free lunch, that she might
have the opportunity of adding her personal persuasions to the public protests. Miss King and Mi-<.
Helen Potter, the distinguished reader, then residing with Miss King, assisted in raising a banner for Cor-
nell and Foster, applauded by the multitude of by-standers.
424 History of Woman Suffrage.
officers. Early in the session the following bill was introduced
by Hon. Lorraine B. Sessions of Cattaraugus:
No person shall be deemed ineligible to serve as any school officer, or to vote at any
school meeting, by reason of sex, who has the voter's qualifications required by law.
Senator Edwin G. Halbert of Broome rendered efficient aid
and the bill passed at once in the Senate by a nearly unanimous
vote. Hon. G. W. Husted of Westchester introduced it at once
in the assembly and earnestly championed the measure. It passed
by a vote of 87 to 3. The bill was laid before the governor, who
promptly affixed his signature to it, and thus, at last, secured to
the women of the Empire State the right to vote on all school
matters, and to hold any school offices to which they might be
chosen. The bill was signed on February 12, and the next day
being Friday, was the last day of registration in the city of Syra-
cuse, the election there taking place on the following Tuesday.
The news did not reach there until late in the day, the evening
papers being the first to contain it. But, although so little was
known of the measure, thirteen women registered their names as
voters, and cast their ballots at the election. This was the first
time the women of New York ever voted, and Tuesday, February
1 8, 1880, is a day to be remembered.* The voting for officers,
like all other school matters, was provided for, not under the
general laws, but by the school statutes. There are two gen-
eral elections in chartered cities and universal suffrage for school
as well as all other officers ; no preparation being required of
voters but registration. In the rural districts school meetings
* Mrs. Lucy A. Brand, principal of the Genesee school of this city, a woman with abilities as good as
those of any male principal, but who, because she is a woman, receives $550 less salary a year than a
male principal, was the first woman in the State of New York to cast a vote under the new school law.
On Saturday afternoon she was at a friend's house, when the Journal was thrown in, containing the
first editorial notice of the passage of the law. Mrs. Brand saw the welcome announcement. " Let us
go and register," she at once said, her heart swelling with joy and thankfulness that even this small
quantity of justice had been done woman. " Where is my shawl ? I feel as if I should die if I don't
get there," for the hour was late, and the time for closing the registry lists was near at hand. To have
Host this opportunity would have placed her in the position of a second Tantalus, the cup withdrawn just
;as it touched her lips. But she was in time, and the important act of registering accomplished, she had
.but to possess her soul in patience until the following Tuesday. Who shall say how long the two in-
tervening days were to her ; but Tuesday morning at last arrived, when, for the first time, Mrs. Brand
was to exercise the freeman's right of self-government. A' gentleman, the owner of the block in which
:she resided, offered to accompany her to the polls, although he was a Democrat and knew Mrs. Brand
\vvQuJdvote the Republican ticket. Although not hesitating to go alone, Mrs. Brand accepted this
courtesy. As she entered the polling place the men present fell back in a semi-circle. Not a sound
was heard, not a whisper, not a breath. In silence and with a joyous solemnity well befitting the oc-
casion, Mrs. Brand cast her first vote, at five minutes past eight in the morning. The post-master of
the city, Mr. Chase, offered his congratulations. A few ordinary remarks were exchanged, and then
Mrs. Brand left the place. And that was all ; neither more nor less. No opposition, no rudeness, no
jostling crowd of men, but such behavior as is seen when Christians come together at the sacrament.
I have long known Mrs. Brand as a noble woman, but talking with her a few days since I could but
notice the added sense of self-respecting dignity that freedom gives. " I feel a constant gratitude that
even some portion of my rights have been recognized," said she, and I left her, more than ever im-
pressed, if that is possible, with the beauty and sacredness of freedom.— [M. J. G.
Efforts to Bring Ozit the New Voters. 425
are help! for elections, and there are, by the statutes, three classes
of voters described by law.
1. Every person (male or female) who is a resident of the district, of the age of
twenty-one years, entitled to hold lands in this State, who either owns or hires real es-
tate in the district liable to taxation for school purposes.
2. Every citizen of the United States (male or female) above the age of twenty-one
years, who is a resident of the district, and who owns any personal property assessed
on the last preceding assessment roll of the town exceeding $50 in value, exclusive of
such as is exempt from execution.
3. Every citizen of the United States (male or female) above the age of twenty-one
years, who is a resident of the district and who has permanently residing with him, or
her, a child or children of school age, some one or more of whom shall have attended
the school of the district for a period of at least eight weeks within the year preceding
the time at which the vote is offered.
Several of the large cities hold their elections on the first Tues-
day in March, while the majority of the rural districts hold their
school meetings on the second Tuesday in October. Prepara-
tions were at once made to call out a large vote of women in the
cities holding spring elections, but all such efforts were checked
by official action. The mayor of Rochester wrote to the gov-
ernor, asking him if the new law applied to cities. Mr. Cornell laid
the question before Attorney-General Ward, who promptly gave
an opinion that inasmuch as the words "school meeting" were
used in the law, women could only vote where such meetings
were held, but were not entitled to vote at the elections in large
cities. Meantime the New York City Association called a meeting
of congratulation on the passage of the bill on February 25,
when Robinson Hall was crowded to overflowing with the friends
of woman suffrage, some of whom addressed the vast audience.*
A mass-meeting of women was held at Albany, in Geological
Hall, Mrs. Blake presiding. It was especially announced that the
meeting was only for ladies, but several men who strayed in were
permitted to remain, to take that part in the proceedings usually
allowed to women in masculine assemblies, that is, to be silent
spectators. Resolutions were passed, urging the women to vote
at the coming election, and the names of several ladies were sug-
gested as trustees. March 19, 1880, the Albany County Woman
Suffrage Association f was formed, whose first active duty was to
rouse the women to vote in the coming school election, which they
did, in spite of the attorney-general's opinion.
* Rev. Robert Collyer, Elizabeth L. Saxon, Clara Neyman, Augusta Cooper Bristol, Helen M. Slo-
cuin, Hamilton Wilcox, Mrs. Devereux liluke, and Dr. Clemence Lozier whoipresided.
t Mary Seymour Howell, President: Miss Kate Stoneman, Secretary. . Miss Stoneman cast the first
vote at the school election in Albany.
426 History of Woman Suffrage.
Mr. Edwin G. Halbert of Broome also introduced a bill in the
Senate, for a constitutional amendment, to secure to women the
right of suffrage, which was passed by that conservative body just
before its adjournment. Meantime Mr. Wilcox urged the passage
of the bill to prohibit disfranchisement, which was brought to a
third reading in the Assembly. He prepared and circulated among
the members of the legislature a brief,* showing their power to
extend the suffrage. The argument is unanswerable, establishing
the fact that women had voted through the early days of the
Colonies, and proving, by unanswerable authorities, their right to
do so ; thus establishing the right of women to vote in 1885.
Mr. Wilcox' researches on this point will prove invaluable in the
enfranchisement of woman, as his facts are irresistible. Follow-
ing is the proposed bill :
AN ACT to Prohibit Disfranchisement.
Introduced in the Assembly by Hon. Alex. F. Andrews, March 31, 1880. Reported
by the Judiciary Committee for consideration, May 24. Ordered to third reading, May
27. Again so reported, unanimously, March 16, 1881. Again ordered to third read-
ing, May 3, 1881 ; ayes 60, noes 40. Vote on passage, May II, 1881 ; ayes 59, noes
55, majority 4. (65 necessary to pass).
Whereas, the common law entitles women to vote under the same qualifications as
men ; and
Whereas, said common law has never been abrogated in this State; and
Whereas, a practice nevertheless obtains of treating as disfranchised all persons to
whom suffrage is not secured by express words of the constitution; and
Whereas, the constitution makes no provision for this practice, but on the contrary
declares that its own object is to secure the blessings of freedom to the people, and
provides that no member of this State shall be disfranchised or deprived of any of the
privileges secured to any citizen unless by constitutional provision and judicial decision
thereunder; and
Whereas, this practice, despite the want of authority therefor, has by continuance
acquired the force of law; and
Whereas, many citizens object to this practice as a violation of the spirit and pur-
pose of the constitution, as well as against justice and public policy; and
Whereas, the legislature has corrected this practice in repeated instances, its power
to do so being in such instances fully recognized and exercised; therefore
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do en-
act as follows:
SECTION I. Every woman shall be free to vote, under the qualifications required of
men, or to refrain from voting, as she may choose; and no person shall be debarred,
by reason of sex, from voting at any election, or at any town meeting, school meet-
ing, or other choice of government functionaries whatsoever.
SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed.
SEC. 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Various memorials were sent to the legislature in behalf of this
bill, and a hearing was granted to its advocates.f The Assembly
* See appendix.
t Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Slocum, Mrs Saxon, of Louisiana.
Voting for School Officers. 427
chamber in the beautiful newcapitol was. crowded as it had never
been before. A large proportion of the senators and assembly-
men were present, many of the judges from the various courts,
while the governor and lieutenant-governor occupied prominent
places, and large crowds of fashionable ladies and leading gentle-
men filled the seats and galleries. The chairman of the commit-
tee, Hon. George L. Ferry, presided. The ladies were graciously
received by the governor, who, at their request, gave them the
pen with which he signed the bill providing " school suffrage for
women," and in return they presented him a handsome gold-
mounted pen, a gift from the City Society.
The first voting by women after the passage of the new law,
was at Syracuse, February 17, only five days after the bill
received the governor's signature, but the great body of women
had not the opportunity until October. At that time in Fayette-
ville, the home of Matilda Joslyn Gage, women voted in large
numbers ; the three who had been placed upon the ticket, trus-
tee, clerk and librarian were all elected. It was an hour of tri-
umph for Mrs. Gage who was heartily congratulated upon the
result. It was remarked that so quiet an election had seldom
been known. At Middletown, Orange county, Dr. Lydia Sayre
Hasbrook urged the women to take advantage of their new privi-
lege, and when the day of election came, although it was cold and
stormy, over 200 voted, and elected the entire ticket of women
for trustees, Mrs. Hasbrook herself being chosen as one.
There were many places, however, where no women voted, for
the reform had all the antagonisms and prejudices of custom to
overcome. Many obstacles were thrown in the way to prevent
them from exercising this right. The men of their families ob-
jecting, and misconstruing the law, kept them in doubt both as to
their rights and duties. The clergy from their pulpits warned
the women of their congregations not to vote, fathers forbade
their daughters, husbands their wives. The wonder is that against
such a pressure so many women did vote after all.
October 12, 1880, the elections took place in a large propor-
tion of the eleven thousand school districts of the State, and the
daily journals were full of items as to the result. We copy a few
of these :
LOWVILLE, Lewis County, Oct. 16, 1880. — The business meeting was held on the
evening of the I2th, and was attended by twenty ladies. On the following day at
i i1. M., the election was held. The ladies had an independent ticket opposing the in-
cumbent clerk and trustee. Seven voted. Four were challenged. They swore their
428 History of Woman Suffrage.
votes in. Boys just turned twenty-one years of age voted unchallenged. The clerk,
who is a young sprig of a lawyer, made himself conspicuous by challenging our votes.
He first read the opinion of the State superintendent of public instruction, and said that
the penalty for illegal voting was not less than six months' imprisonment. My vote
was challenged, and although my husband is an owner of much real estate and cannot
sell one foot of it without my consent, I could not vote.
From Penn Yan a woman writes : — About seventy ladies voted here, but none who
did not either own or lease real estate. The argument so often used against woman
suffrage — viz: that the first to avail themselves of the privilege would be those least
qualified to do so, is directly refuted, in this town at least, since the ladies who voted
are without doubt those who by natural ability and by culture are abundantly compe-
tent to vote intelligently as well as conscientiously.
A woman in Nunda writes : — Only six women attended the school meeting in the
first district on the I2th, but over forty went to the polls on the I3th. Two women
were on one of the tickets; the opposition ticket was made up entirely of males. We
were supported by the best men in the village. The ticket bearing the names of Mrs.
Fidelia J. M. Whitcomb, M. D., and Mrs. S. Augusta Herrick, was elected.
From Poland a woman writes : — Our school meeting was attended by about thirty
men and two women. The population of the village is between three and four hund-
red. My neighbor and I were proud of the privilege of casting our first vote. There
was nothing of special interest to call out voters, as our trustees are satisfactory to all.
If circumstances required, there would be many women voters here.
David Hopkins and Gustave Dettloff were candidates for school trustee in district
No. I of New Lots, Long Island, at the last election. Mr. Hopkins is a farmer and was
seeking reelection. Mr. Dettloff is connected with an insurance company in this city,
and is a well-known resident of the town. The friends of Mr. Hopkins about an hour
before the closing of the polls, perceived that there was danger of their candidate's
defeat. A consultation was held, and it was decided to utilize the new law giving
women the privilege of voting. Accordingly, several farm wagons were procured and
sent through the district to gather in the farmers' wives and daughters. The wagons
returned to the polls with 107 women, all of whom voted for Mr. Hopkins, thus saving
him from defeat. It was too late to use a counter poison. The total number of votes
cast was 329, Mr. Hopkins receiving eighty majority.
PORT JERVIS. Oct. 13. — The annual election of school trustees occurred to-day
and was attended with unusual excitement. Eight hundred and thirty votes were
polled, 150, for the women's ticket, the remainder being divided. Only fifty
ladies voted, a great many being kept from the polls by the crowd of loafers
standing around. The Protestant ticket, composed of three men, was elected. The
election was held in a small room, and this was crowded with men who amused them-
selves by passing remarks about the ladies until the police were called in. Every lady
who offered her vote was challenged and a great many left the polls in disgust. In
Carpenter's Point and Sparrowbush, two suburbs of the village, the ladies voted and
were not molested.
Only a few women voted on Tuesday evening at the election for school trustees in
the first district of Southfield, Staten Island. When the poll was opened Judge John G.
Vaughan, the retiring trustee, presided. A motion was made to reeled him by ac-
clamation. Amid great confusion Judge Vaughan put the motion and declared it
carried. Then Officers Fitzgerald and Leary had to take charge of the meeting to
preserve order, and Judge Vaughan's opponents withdrew, threatening proceedings
to have the election declared invalid. Abram C. Wood was elected school trustee in
the West New Brighton (S. I.) district by 69 majority, which included the votes of
eight of eleven women present. Other women promised to vote if Mr. Wood needed
their support. Mr. Robert B. Minturn presided.
SING SING, Oct. 13. — Five women voted at the school meeting last night.
Reports of the Voting. 429
MOUNT MORRIS, Oct. 13. — One hundred and twenty women voted at the school
election here last evening.
GLEN'S FALLS, Oct. 13. — I am informed that women did vote here and in the
neighborhood last evening.
PERRY, Oct. 13. — A large woman vote was cast here. Two women were elected
members of the school-board.
PEEKSKILL, Oct. 13. — Five women voted in one district.
SHELTER ISLAND, Oct. 13. — Women voted at our school meeting.
COFFIN SUMMIT, Oct. 15. — Six women voted at the school meeting here. A lady
was nominated for trustee and received many votes, but was defeated.
STAMFORD, Oct. 15. — Four ladies voted at the school meeting.
PORT RICHMOND, Oct. 15. — Six ladies attended the school meeting. The chair-
man, Mr. Sidney P. Ronason, made a speech, welcoming them, stating that an
unsuccessful effort had been made by citizens to induce a leading lady to become a
candidate for trustee; also, that Lester A. Scofield, the retiring trustee, would cheer-
fully give way if any competent lady would take his place. This Mr. Scofield con-
firmed, but, no lady being nominated, he was reelected without opposition.
BALDWINVILLE, Oct. 15. — Thirty-three ladies voted at the school election.
LOCKPORT, Oct. 15. — Two Quaker ladies voted at the school meeting of the
first district of this township. One of them, Dr. Sarah Lanb Gushing, was chosen
tax-collector by 23 votes out of 26. On the entrance of the ladies, smoking and all
disorder ceased, and the meeting was uncommonly well-conducted.
LAWTON STATION, Oct. 15. — Of the 16 votes cast at the school meeting here, 15
were given by women. A woman received the highest vote for school trustee, but
withdrew in favor of one of the male candidates. The proceedings were enlivened
with singing by the pupils under the direction of the teacher. Several improvements
in the building were ordered at the instance of the ladies.
KNOWLESVILLE, Oct. 15. — Many women meant to vote at the school meeting,
but a person went from house to house and threatened them with legal penalties
if they did. Mrs. James Kernholtz was nominated for tax-collector at the meeting,
but declined, saying the pay was too small. Miss Adelina Lockwood, being nomi-
nated for librarian, declined, but was elected by acclamation, amid great applause.
The meeting was very large, but unusually orderly.
FLUSHING, Oct. 15. — Forty women voted at the school meeting here, and in the
adjoining district.
SYRACUSE, Oct. 14, 1881. — At the Fayetteville, Onondaga county, school-dis-
trict election yesterday, a direct issue was made on the question of woman's rights.
The candidate of the women was chosen. This is the women's second victory in
that place, giving them control of the school-board.
A correspondent describing what the voters had to enconnter,
said :
Is the question asked, why have not more women voted ? I answer,
hundreds of women in this State were debarred by falsehood and
intimidation. No sooner had the school suffrage law passed than
the wildest statements about it were made. It was given out that
the Governor had recalled the bill from the Secretary of State after sign-
ing it (which he could not do), and vetoed it ; that the law was unconsti-
tutional ; that it was defective and inoperative ; that it did not apply to
cities and villages; that it had been repealed; and like untruths. Pains
was taken to hide its existence by corrupt officials, who told the women
that the law did not apply to the places where they lived, or who withheld
the fact of its passage. The State was flooded just before the elections with
430 History of Woman Suffrage.
an incorrect statement that only the rich women could vote ; that the
children's mothers could not unless they held real estate. The story was
also set afloat that the attorney-general had indorsed this statement ;
which that gentleman promply repudiated. All this we corrected as fast
and as far as we could ; but it unavoidably did much harm.
Wholesale hindrance and terrorism too, were used. A few samples are
these : In Albany, many women were threatened by their own husbands
with expulsion from house and home, imprisonment, bodily violence or
death if they dared vote ; while many others were deterred by insults and
threats of social persecution. Many persons ridiculed and abused those
who sought to vote. In some districts the inspectors refused to register
qualified women, while in others votes were refused. Statements were
widely published that the law did not apply to Alban)'. In Knowersville, the
village teacher went to every house, and threatened the women with state-
prison if they dared to vote. In Mount Morris, the president of the Board
of Education denounced the ladies who induced others to vote. In Fayette-
ville, Saratoga and elsewhere, the ladies' request for some share in making
the tickets was scornfully ignored. In Port Jervis, the Board of Education
declined a hall that was offered, and had the election in a low, dirty little
room. Smoke was puffed in the ladies' faces, challenges were frequent,
and all sorts of impudent questions were asked of the voters. In Long
Island City many ladies were challenged, and stones were thrown in the
street at Mrs. Emma Gates Conkling, the lady who was most active
in bringing out the new voters. In New Brighton, the village paper
threatened the women with jail if they voted ; and when a motion was
made in one district that the ladies be invited to attend, a large negative
vote was given, one man shouting, " We have enough of women at home ;
we don't want 'em here !" At West New Brighton it was openly an-
nounced that the meeting should be too turbulent for ladies, insomuch
that many who intended to go staid away, and the few who went were
obliged to wait till all the men had voted. In Newham a gang of low
fellows took possession of the polling place early, filled it with smoke of
the worst tobacco, and covered the floor with tobacco juice ; and through
all this the few ladies who ventured to vote had to pass. In New York a
man who claims to be a gentleman said : " If my wife undertook to vote I
would trample her under my feet." In New Rochelle the school trustee
told the women they were not entitled to vote, and tried to prevent a
meeting being held to inform them. Clergymen from the pulpit urged
women not to vote, and a mob gathered at the polls and blocked the way.
These are but samples of the difficulties under which the new law went
into operation ; and it is the truth that there was as much bulldozing of
voters in New York as ever in the South, though sometimes by other
means.
In 1880 Mrs. Blake was sent by the New York society to the
Republican and Democratic presidential conventions at Chicago
and Cincinnati, and on her return a meeting was called in Repub-
lican Hall, July 9, to hear her report as to the comparative treat-
The Bill to Prohibit D is franc his ement. 431
ment received by the delegates in the two conventions. Soon
afterwards a delegation of ladies * waited on Winfield S. Han-
cock, the Democratic nominee, who received them with much
courtesy, saying he was quite willing to interpret, in its broadest
sense, that clause of his letter of acceptance wherein he said : " It
is only by a full vote and a fair count that the people can rule in
fact, as required by the theory of our government." " I am will-
ing, ladies," said the general, "to have you say that I believe in
a free ballot for all the people of the United States, women as
well as men."
Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Slocum and Mr. Wilcox made quite an ex-
tensive canvass through many counties of the State, to rouse the
women to use their right to vote on all school matters.
The bill to prohibit disfranchisement was again introduced in
the legislature of 1881, by Joseph M. Congdon, and ordered to
a third reading May 3, by a vote of 60 to 40, and on May 1 1 came
up for final action, when the ladies, by special courtesy, were ad-
mitted to the floor of the Assembly chamber to listen to the dis-
cussion. General Francis B. Spinola and General James W.
Husted made earnest speeches in favor of the bill, and Hon.
Erastus Brooks and General George A. Sharpe in opposition.
The roll-call gave 57 ayes to 55 noes — a majority of those present,
but not the majority (65) of all the members of the Assembly,
which the constitution of New York requires for the final passage
of a bill. The vote astonished the opponents, and placed the
measure among the grave questions of the day. This substantial
success inspired the friends to renewed efforts.f
The necessity of properly qualified women in the police sta-
tions again came up for consideration. The condition of unfor-
tunate women nightly consigned to these places had long been set
forth by the leaders of the suffrage movement. In New York
there were thirty-two station-houses in which, from night to night,
from five to forty women were lodged, some on criminal charges,
some from extreme poverty. All there, young and old, were en-
tirely in the hands of men, in sickness or distress. If search was
to be made on charge of theft, it was always a male official who
performed the duty. If the most delicate and refined lady were
* Miss Helen Potter, Miss Susan A. King, Miss Helen M. Slocum, Miss Harriet K. Dolaon and Mrs.
Devcreux Blake.
t Mrs. Rogers organized a society in Lansingburg, Mrs. Loder in Poughkeepsie, Miss Stoneman held
meetings in Chautauqua county, Mrs. Howellin Livingston county, Mrs. Blake in ten other counties, and
held several parlor meetings in New York city. The annual convention of the State society was held in
Chickering Hall, February i, 2, 1882.
43 2
Tistory of Woman Suffrage.
taken ill on the street, or injured in any way, she was liable to be
taken to the nearest station, where the needful examinations to
ascertain if life yet lingered must be made by men. In view of
these facts, a resolution was again passed at the State conven-
tion, and request made to the police commissioners, to permit a
delegation of ladies to meet with them in conference. The com-
missioners deigned no reply, but gave the letter to the press,
whereupon ensued a storm of comment and ridicule.
On consultation with Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell, commis-
sioner of the State Board of Charities, a bill was drawn up and
sent to Albany, providing for the appointment of one or more
police-matrons at every station-house in cities of 50,000 inhabi-
tants and upwards, the salaries to be $600 each. Hon. J. C. Boyd
presented the bill in the Senate, where it passed April 18. In
the Assembly its passage was urged by Hon. Michael C. Murphy,
chairman of the Committee on Cities. Meantime Mayor Grace
and Comptroller Campbell entered their protest against the bill,
declaring the measure ought to originate in the city departments,
where there was full power to appoint police-matrons ; also, that
the proposed salaries would be a heavy drain upon the city
treasury. The comptroller was at once informed of the previous
application to the police commissioners, from whom no reply had
been received, which virtually compelled appeal to the legislature.
And as to salaries, it was suggested that there were now on the
pay-roll of the police of New York 2,500 men whose salaries
amounted to over $2,500,000, whereas the bill before the legisla-
ture asked for only sixty matrons, whose salaries would amount
to but $36,000. This was certainly a most reasonable demand
for the protection of one-half the people of the city, who paid
fully half the indirect taxes as well as a fair proportion of the
direct taxes. Finally, it was proposed to the comptroller that
the bill should be withdrawn if he would recommend the appoint-
ment of police-matrons in the city departments. This was not
accepted. The Committee on Cities gave a hearing to Mrs.
Blake, and reported unanimously in favor of the bill. Public sen-
timent supported the measure, the press generally advocated it,
and the Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 96 to 7 ; but it
failed to receive the signature of the governor, — a most striking
proof of the need of the ballot for women ; since, friendly as he
was to woman's enfranchisement, when he found the police de-
partment, with its thousands of attaches, all with votes in their
Need of Higher Education. 433
hands, opposed, Governor Cornell was found wanting in courage
and conscience to sign this bill for women who had no votes.*
The next year application was again made to the city authorities
for the appointment of matrons, but they refused to act. The
bill was remtroduced in the legislature, passed by a large majority
in the Assembly, but defeated in the Senate by the adverse report
of the Committee on Cities. A mass-meeting to discuss this
question of police-matrons was held in Steinway Hall, March I,
at which the speakers f all urged such appointments.
During the winter of 1882 an effort was made in New York city
to secure the enforcement of the law enacted by the previous leg-
islature, which provided that seats should be furnished for the
"shop-girls." Mrs. Emma Gates Conkling caused the arrest of
certain prominent shop-keepers on the charge of not complying
with the law, but on coming to trial the suits were withdrawn on
the promise of the delinquents to give seats to their employes.
During the winter of 1882 agitation for the higher education of
women was renewed, and a society organized by some of the
most influential ladies in the city. They rolled up a petition of
1,200, asking that Columbia College be opened to women. Presi-
dent Barnard had recommended this in his reports for three
years. The agitation culminated in a grand meeting f in the
new Union League Theater. Parke Godwin of the Evening Post
presided. The audience was chiefly composed of fashionable
ladies, whose equipages filled Thirty-eighth street blocks away,
yet not a woman sat on the platform ; not a woman's voice was
heard ; even the report of the society was read by a man, and
every inspiration of the occasion was filtered through the brain
of some man. Among other things, Mr. Godwin, son-in-law of
the poet Bryant, said :
We speak of the higher education of women. Why not also of men ?
Because they already have the opportunity for obtaining it. The idea
upon which our government is built is the idea of equal rights for all ; and
that means equal opportunities. Every society needs all the best intellect
that it can get. We have many evil influences acting upon our society
here, and we need the all-controlling influence of woman. We cannot fix
a standard for her. History shows what she has done, in a Vespasia, Vit-
* The press generally commented unfavorably. The Htrald said : " The legislature passed a bill
in the interest of decency and humanity, authorizing the appointment of matrons in the several police
stations in the city of New York to look after female prisoners who might be placed in the station-
houses. This bill was recommended by our best charitable and religious societies, but failed to receive
the sanction of the governor, although he very promptly signed a bill to increase the number of the
detective force."
t Mrs. Emma Gates Conkling, Mrs. Clara Neyman, Dr. Clcmcnce Lozier and Mrs. Blake.
28
434 History of Woman Suffrage.
toria Colonna, De Stael, Bremer, Evans, Somerville and Maria Mitchell.
She does not go out of her sphere when she is so highly educated. She
can darn her stockings just as well if she does know the word in half-a-
dozen languages. There is no longer novelty in this movement ; it has
been tried successfully here and abroad in the universities, and always
with success.
Addresses were also made by Rev. Dr. Stowe, Dr. William Dra-
per, Joseph Choate, and others eminent in one way or another.
The meeting closed by circulating a petition for presentation to
the trustees of Columbia College, asking that properly qualified
women be admitted to lectures and examinations.
The bill to prohibit disfranchisement on account of sex was
again introduced in the Assembly by Hon. J. Hampden Robb,
and referred to the Committee on Grievances, of which Major
James Haggerty was chairman, who gave to it his hearty approval
and granted t\vo hearings to the officers of the State society, on
behalf of the large number of memorialists who. had sent in their
petitions from all parts of the State. The women of Albany
were indefatigable in their personal appeals to the different mem-
bers of the Assembly, urging them to vote for the bill, while
Major Haggerty was ^fctiring in his advocacy of the measure.
On May 3 there was an animated discussion : * the bill passed to
its third reading by an overwhelming vote, which alarmed the
opponents into making a thorough canvass, that proved to them
the necessity of some decisive action for the defeat of the bill.
The Hon. Erastas Brooks presented a resolution, calling on the
attorney-general for his opinion on the constitutionality of the
proposed law, which was passed in a moment of confusion, and
when many of our friends were absent. Following is the opinion
elicited :
STATE OF NEW YORK, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, )
ALBANY, May 10, 1882. \
To the Assembly :
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the resolution of the
Assembly requesting the attorney-general to report his opinion as to the
constitutionality of Assembly bill No. 637, which provides that "every
woman shall be free to vote under the qualifications required of men, or
to refrain from voting, as she may choose ; and no person shall be de-
barred by reason of sex from voting at any election, or at any town meet-
ing, school meeting, or other choice of government functionaries whatso-
ever," and whether, without an amendment to the constitution, suffrage
* Major Haggerty, ex-Governor Thomas G. Alvord and Hon. James D. McMellan in its favor; Hon.
Erastus Brooks and General Sharpe against.
Opinion of the Attorney-General. 435
can be granted to any class of persons not named in the constitution. I
reply :
First — It has been decided so often by the judicial tribunals of the vari-
ous States of the Union, and by the Supreme Court of the United States,
that suffrage is not a natural inherent right, but one governed by the law-
making power and regulated by questions of availability and expediency,
instead of absolute, inalienable right (i, 3), that the question is no longer
open for discussion, either by the judicial forum or legislative assemblies
'(Burnham vs. Laning, i Legal Gazette Rep., 411, Supreme Court Penn. ; Mi-
nor vs. Happersett, 21 Wallace, 162 ; Day -vs. Jones, ji California, 261 ; An-
derson vs. Baker, 23 Maryland, jj>/ / Abbott -vs. Bay ley, 6 Pickering, 92 ; 2
Dallas, 471-2 ; In re Susan B. Anthony, if Blatchford, 200). At the com-
mon law women had no right to vote and no political status (2,4) (Maine's
Ancient Law, 140 ; Cooley's Const. Lim., jpp ; Blackstone's Comm., ///).
Second — Therefore the constitution of the State of New York, providing
that every male citizen of the age of 21 years who shall have certain other
qualifications, may vote, the determination of the organic law specifying
who shall have the privilege of voting, excludes all other classes (5), such
as women, persons under 21 years of age and aliens. The argument that,
because women are not expressly prohibited, they may vote, fails to give
the slightest force to the term " male " in the constitution ; and by the
same force of reasoning, the expression of the term "citizen " and the
statement of the age of 21 years would not necessarily exclude aliens and
those under 21 years of age from voting (6). Therefore, assuming that
•our organic law was properly adopted without the participation of women
either in making or adopting it (7), that organic law controls.
Third — It follows, therefore, as a logical consequence that the proposed
reform cannot be accomplished except by an amendment of the constitu-
tion ratified by two successive legislatures and the people, or by a consti-
tutional convention, whose work shall be sanctioned by a vote of the
people. LESLIE W. RUSSELL, Attorney-General*
Weak as was this document, and untenable as were its asser-
tions, it had great weight with many of the members of the legis-
lature coming as the opinion did from the attorney-general of the
State. The friends of the bill resolved to call for the vote when
the bill should be reached, and on May 16, the women were
present in large numbers, listening with intense interest to the
brief speeches of the members for and against, and watching and
•counting the vote as the roll-call proceeded, which resulted in 54
ayes and 59 noes, lacking three votes of a majority of those pres-
ent and only eleven of the requisite number, sixty-five. In view
of the official opinion against its constitutionality amounting to
a legal decision, this was a most gratifying vote.f
* Mr. Hamilton Wilcox at once prepared an able paper, refuting the attorney-general's assertion. It
•was widely circulated throughout the State.
t When the vote was announced, the ladies sent the page* with bouquets to the leading speakers in
behalf of the bill, and button-hole sprigs to the fifty-four who voted aye.
436 History of Woman Suffrage.
The presence of Leslie W. Russell in Albany, as attorney-gen-
eral, rendered it useless to remtroduce the bill to prohibit disfran-
chisement on account of sex in the legislature of 1883, but in its
stead, Dr. John G. Boyd of New York introduced a proposition
to strike " male " from the suffrage clause of the constitution,
which, however, received only fifteen votes.
To pass from the State to the Church, the winter of 1883 was
notable for the delivery of a series of Lenten lectures on woman
by the Rev. Morgan Dix, D. D., rector of Trinity Church, New
York, afterwards published in book form under the title, " The
Calling of a Christian Woman and her Training to Fulfill it."
The lectures were delivered each Friday evening during Lent, in
Trinity Chapel, and at once attracted attention from their con-
servative, reactionary, almost monastic views of woman's posi-
tion and duties.
After reading a report of one of these remarkable essays in
which women were gravely told their highest happiness should
be found in singing hymns, Mrs. Blake decided to reply to them.
She secured a hall on Fourteenth street, and on successive Sunday
evenings gave addresses in reply. Both courses of lectures were
well attended. The moderate audiences of Trinity Chapel soon
became a throng that more than filled the large building, while the
hall in which Mrs. Blake spoke was packed to suffocation, hun-
dreds going away unable to gain admittance. The press every-
where favored the broad and liberal views presented by Mrs.
Blake, and denounced the old-time narrow theories of Dr. Dix.
Mrs. Blake's lectures were also published in book form with the
title of " Woman's Place To-day " and had a large circulation.
The Republicans again nominating Mr. Russell for attorney-
general, an active campaign was organized against him and in
favor of the Democratic nominee, Mr. Dennis O'Brien. Protests*
* To the Women of the State of Ne^v York :
The undersigned urge you to exert yourselves to turn every vote possible against Leslie W. Russell's
reelection as attorney-general. His official acts prove him the unscrupulous foe of your liberties. By
informing tlie legislature that you have no right to vote at common law, he has denied your sacred
rights and misrepresented the law to your hurt. By stating that you have no natural right to vote, he
has denied your title to freedom and sought to keep your rights at the mercy of those in power. By
informing the legislature that the bill to repeal the statutes which keep you from voting was unconsti-
tutional he misled the legislature and kept you disfranchised. By thus continuing your disfranchise-
ment, he has subjected you to many misfortunes and wrongs which the repeal of your disfranchisement
would cure, and is personally responsible for these sufferings. He has also sought to rob the mothers
of this State of their votes at school elections, and thus to deprive them of the power to control their
children's education.
[Signed:] Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., New York; Mary R. Pell, Queens; Lillie Devereux Blake.
New York ; Caroline A. Bassett, Erie ; Susan A. King, New York ; Lucy Shawler, Chenango ; Mary
E. Tallman, Oneida ; Hannah M. Angel, Allegany ; Ida Louise Dildine, Broome ; Zerivah L. Watkeys.
Reception at the Capitol. 437
against Russell were circulated throughout the State ; Republi-
can tickets were printed with the name of Denis O'Brien for
attorney-general, and on election day women distributed these
tickets, and made every possible effort to ensure the defeat of
Russell ; and he was defeated by 13,000 votes.
The legislature of 1884 showed a marked gain ; Hon. Erastus
Brooks, General George A. Sharpe, and other prominent oppo-
nents had been retired, and their seats filled by active friends.
Our bill was introduced by Mr. William Rowland of Cayuga, and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. Rowland also
secured the passage of a special act, granting women the right to
vote at the charter elections of Union Springs, Cayuga county.
Under similar enactments women have the right to vote for
municipal officers in Dansville, Newport and other villages and
towns in the State.
On March n, 12, the annual meeting of the State society was
Tield in the City Hall, Albany, with a good representation* from
the National Convention at Washington, added to our own State
speakers. f On the last evening there was an overflow meet-
ing held in Geological Hall, presided over by Mrs. Matilda Joslyn
Gage.
Governor Cleveland accorded the delegates a most courteous
reception in his room in the capitol. A hearing was had before
the Judiciary Committee March 13. The assembly-chamber was
•crowded. General Rusted, chairman of the committee, presided,
and Mrs. Blake, the president of the society, introduced the
speakers.^: A few days later the same committee gave a special
Onondaga ; Asenath C. Coolidge, Jefferson ; Sarah H. Hallock, Ulster ; N. W. Cooper, Jefferson, and
•others.
To the Republican and Independent I'oters of the State of Neva York:
The undersigned earnestly ask you to cast your votes against Leslie \V. Russell, the present attorney-
general. When the legislature last year was about to repeal the election laws which prevent women
from exercising the right of suffrage, Leslie W. Russell stated to that body that women had no right at
common law to vote, and that this bill was unconstitutional. By these misstatemcnts he misled the
legislature, defeated this most righteous bill and prolonged the disfranchiscment of women. Thus he
inflicted on a majority of our adult citizens, who had committed no offense, the penalty of disfran-
•chisement and the great mischiefs which flow thence, and, like Judge Taney in the Dred-Scott de-
cision, perverted law and constitution to justify injustice and continue wrong. A vote for Leslie W.
Russell is a vote to keep these women disfranchised and to prolong these mischiefs. He who thus
blocks the way of freedom should be removed from the place which enables him to do this. You can
vote at this election for fifteen or more officers. It is but a small thing to ask, that each of you cast
•one-fifteenth part of his vote to represent women's interest at the polls.
[Signed:] Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., Bronson Murray, Susan A. King, Hamilton Wilcox, Lillie
Devcreux Blake, Albert O. Wilcox.
* Abigail Scott Duniway, editor New Northwest, Oregon ; Elizabeth Boynton Harbcrt, editor
""Woman's Kingdom," Chicago Inter-Ocean; Helen M. Cougar, editor Our Herald^ Indiana.
t On the evening of March 8 the New York city society gave a reception in honor of the delegate- t.>
the National Convention, recently held at Washington, in the elegant parlors of the Hoffman House.
\ Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Duniway and Mrs. Cougar.
438 History of Woman Suffrage.
hearing to Mrs. Gougar, who made the journey from Indiana to-
present the case. The committee reported adversely, but by the
able tactics of General Husted, after an animated debate the bill
was placed on the calendar by a vote of 66 to 62, and shortly af-
ter ordered to a third reading by a vote of 74 to 39. On May 8
the bill was reached for final action. Frederick B. Howe of New
York was the principal opponent, trying to obstruct legislation
by one and another pretext. General Husted took the floor in
an able speech on the constitutionality of the bill, and the vote
stood 57 ayes to 61 noes, lacking eight votes of the requisite 65.
While the right of suffrage is still denied, gains in personal and
property rights have been granted :
In 1880, the law requiring the private acknowledgment by a married
woman of her execution of deeds, or other written instruments, without
the " fear or compulsion " of her husband, was abolished, leaving the wife
to make, take and certify in the same manner as if she were a feme sole.
March 21, 1884, the penal code of the State was amended, raising the
age of consent from ten to sixteen years, and also providing penalties*
for inveigling or enticing any unmarried woman, under the age of twenty-
five years, into a house of ill-fame or assignation.
Under the act of May 28, 1884, a married woman may contract to the
same extent, with like effect and in the same form as if unmarried, and
she and her separate estate shall be liable thereon, whether such contract
relates to her separate business or estate, or otherwise, and in no case
shall a charge upon her separate estate be necessary.
It is by court decisions that we most readily learn the legal
status of married women, under the favorable legislation of the
period covered by this History. While referring the reader to-
Abbott's Digest of New York Laws for full knowledge upon this
point, we give a few of the more recent decisions as illustrating
general legal opinion :
TROY, March 23, 1882. — The Court of Appeals decided that married women are
the rightful owners of articles of personal adornment or convenience coming from hus-
bands, and can bequeath them to their heirs. The court held that separate and per-
sonal possession by a wife of articles specially fitted for and adapted to her personal
use, and differing in that respect from household goods kept for the common use of
husband and wife, would draw after it a presumption of the executed gift if the prop-
erty came from the husband, and of the wife's ownership, but for disabilities of the
marital relations. Now that these disabilities are removed the separate existence and
separate property of the wife are recognized, and her capacity to take and hold as her
own the gift in good faith and fairly made to her by her husband established, it seemed
to the court time to clothe her right with natural and proper attributes, and apply to>
tjhe gift to her, although made by her husband, the general rules of law unmodified
and unimpaired by the old disabilities of the marriage relations.
* Imprisonment for not more than five years, or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.
Supreme Court Decision Reversed. 439
This decision was important as further destroying the old
common-law theory of the husband's absolute ownership of his
wife's person, property, services and earnings. The same year
(1882) the Supreme Court, at its general term, rendered a deci-
sion that a married woman could sue her husband for damages
for assault and battery; that by the act of 1860 the legislature
intended to, and did, change the common-law rule, that a wife
could not sue her husband. Judge Brady rendered the opinion,
Judge Daniels concurring; Presiding Judge Noah Davis dissent-
ing. Judge Brady said :
To allow the right (to sue) in an action of this character, in accordance with the lan-
guage of the statute, would be to promote greater harmony by enlarging the rights of
married women and increasing the obligations of husbands, by affording greater pro-
tection to the former, and by enforcing greater restraint upon the latter in the indulg.-
ence of their evil passions. The declaration of such a rule is not against the policy of
the law. It is in harmony with it, and calculated to preserve peace and, in a great
measure, prevent barbarous acts, acts of cruelty, regarded'by mankind as inexcusable,
contemptible, detestable. It is neither too early nor too late to promuleate the doc-
trine that if a husband commits an assault and battery upon his wife he may be held
responsible civilly and criminally for the act, which is not only committed in violation
of the laws of God and man, but in direct antagonism to the contract of marriage, its
obligations, duties, responsibilities, and the very basis on which it rests. The rules of
the common law on this subject have been dispelled, routed, and justly so, by the acts
of 1860 and 1862. They are things of the past which have succumbed to more liberal
and just views, like many other doctrines of the common law which could not stand
the scrutiny and analysis of modern civilization.
The utter insecurity of woman without the ballot is shown in
the reversal of this decision within a few months, by the Court
of Appeals, on the ground that it would be " contrary to the
policy of the law, and destructive to the conjugal union and tran-
quility which it had always been the object of the law to guard
and protect." Could satire go farther? We record with satis-
faction the fact that Judge Danforth uttered a strong dissenting
opinion.
The friends of woman suffrage in the legislature of 1884
secured the passage of a bill empowering women to vote on all
questions of taxation submitted to a popular vote in the village of
Union Springs. Governor Cleveland was urged to veto it ; but
after hearing all the objections he signed the bill and it became
a law.
At Clinton, Oneida county, twenty-two women voted on June
21, 1884, at an election on the question of establishing water-
works. Eight voted for the tax, fourteen against it. Fifteen
other women appeared at the polls, but were excluded from vot-
ing because, though they were real-estate tax-payers, the asses-
44° History of Woman Suffrage.
sor had left their names off the tax-roll. Judge Theodore W.
Dwight, president of the Columbia Law School, pronounced
women tax-payers entitled to vote under the general water-works
act, and therefore that the election-officials violated the law in
refusing to accept the votes of the women whose names were
omitted from the assessors' tax-list.
In 1879, there was a report of the committee to allow widows
an active voice in the settlement of the family estate and to
have the sole guardianship of minor children. A petition in
favor of the bill had upon it the names of such well-known men
as Peter Cooper, George William Curtis, Henry Bergh and J. W.
Simonton.
September 13, 1879, Mrs. MacDonald of Boston argued her
own case before the United States Circuit Court in New York
city, in a patent suit. It was a marked event in court circles, she
being the first lady pleader that ever appeared in that court, and
the second woman who ever argued a case in this State. Anne
Bradstreet was for years a marked character in Albany courts,
but her claims for justice were regarded as an amusing lunacy.
In 1880, Governor Cornell appointed Miss Carpenter on the
State Board of Charities.
In the suit of Mr. Edward Jones to recover $860 which he
alleged he had loaned to the Rev. Anna Oliver for the Willoughby
Avenue Methodist Episcopal 'Church, Brooklyn, of which she
was pastor, a verdict for the defendant was rendered. Miss Oli-
ver addressed the following letter to the court :
To his Honor, the Judge, the Intelligent Jury, the Lawyers and all who are engaged in
the case of Jones vs. Oliver :
GENTLEMEN : — Thanking you for the politeness, the courtesy, the chivalry even,
that has been shown me to-day, allow me to make of you the following request: Please
sit down at your earliest leisure, and endeavor to realize in imagination how you
would feel if you were sued by a woman, and the case was brought before a court com-
posed entirely of women; the judge a woman; every member of the jury a woman;
women to read the oath to you, and hold the Bible, and every lawyer a woman. Fur-
ther, your case to be tried under laws framed entirely by women, in which neither you
•not any man had ever been allowed a voice. Somewhat as you would feel under such
.circumstances, you may be assured, on reading this, I have felt during the trial to-day.
Perhaps the women would be lenient to you (the sexes do favor each other), but would
you be satisfied ? Would you feel that such an arrangement was exactly the just and
:fair thing? If you would not, I ask you on the principle of the Golden Rule, to use
yonr influence for the enfranchisement of women.
New York, 1881.
Mrs. Roebling, wife of the engineer in charge of the construc-
tion of the marvelous Brooklyn bridge, made the patterns for
various necessary shapes of iron and steel such as no mills were
Lansingburgh Tax- Payers. 441
making, after her husband and other engineers had for weeks
puzzled their brains over the difficulties.
When Frank Leslie died, his printing-house was involved, and
Mrs. Leslie undertook to reedeem it, which she did, and in a
very short time. Speaking of it she says :
" I had the property in reach, and the assignees were ready to turn it over to me,
but to get it, it was necessary for me to raise $50,000, I borrowed it from a woman.
How happy I was when she signed the check, and how beautiful it seemed to me to
see one woman helping another. I borrowed the money in June, and was to make the
first payment of $5,000, on the 1st of November. On the 2gth of October I paid the
$50,000 with interest. From June to the agth of October, I made $50,000 clear. I
had also to pay $30,000 to the creditors who did not come under the contract. While
I was paying this $80,000 of my husband's debts, I spent but $30 for myself, except for
my board. I lived in a little attic room, without a carpet, and the window was so high
that I could not get a glimpse of the sky unless I stood on a chair and looked out.
When I had paid the debts and raised a monument to my husband, then I said to my-
self, ' now for a great big pair of diamond earrings,' and away I went to Europe, and
here are the diamonds." The diamonds are perfect matches, twenty-seven carats in
weight, and are nearly as large as nickles.
In Lansingburgh the women tax-payers offered their ballots
and were repulsed, as follows:
September 2, 1885, the special election of the taxable inhabitants of the
village of Lansingburgh took place, to vote upon a proposition to raise by
tax the sum of $i 5,000 for water-works purposes. The measure was voted
by 102 for it to 46 against. But a small amount of interest was manifested
in the election. Several women tax-payers offered their votes, but the in-
spectors would not receive them, and, the matter will be contested in the
courts. The call for the election asked for an expression from " the tax-
able inhabitants," and women tax-payers in the 'burgh claim under the law
their rights must be recognized. Lansingburgh inspectors have on num-
erous occasions refused to receive the ballots thus tendered, and the
women have lost patience. They are to employ the best of counsel and
settle the question at as early a day as possible. Women pay tax upon
$367, 394 of the property within the village boundaries, and they believe
that they, to the number of 317 at least, are entitled to votes on all ques-
tions involving a monetary expenditure. In Saratoga, Clinton, and a
number of other places in this State, where elections in relation to water-
works have taken place, it has been held by legal authority that women
property owners have a right to vote, and they have voted accordingly the
same as other tax-payers.
In regard to recent efforts to secure legislation favorable to
women, Mr. Wilcox writes:
The impression that the School Act, passed in 1880, did not apply to
cities, led to the introduction by the Hon. Charles S. Baker of Rochester,
of a bill covering cities. A test vote showed the Assembly practically unan-
imous for it, but it was referred to the Judiciary Committee to examine its
constitutionality. The chairman, Hon. Geo. L. Ferry, and other members,
442 History of Woman Suffrage.
asked me to look up the point and inform the committee, supposing a
constitutional amendment needful. When the point was made on this
bill, I for the first time closely examined the constitution, and finding
there was nought to prevent the legislature enfranchising anyone,
promptly apprised the committee of the discovery. The acting-chair-
man, Major Wm. D. Brennan, requested me to furnish the committee a
legal brief on the matter. This (Feb. 19, 1880) I did, and arranged a
public hearing before them in the assembly-chamber, which was attended
by Governor Cornell, Lieutenant-Governor Hoskins, many senators, as-
semblymen, and State officers; at which Mrs. Blake, the sainted Helen
M. Slocum and Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon were the speakers. From that
year to the present there has been a "Bill to Prohibit Disfranchisement "
before each legislature. In 1881, it was carried to a majority vote in the
Assembly. In 1883, two-thirds of the Assembly were ready to pass the bill
when the attorney-general declared it unconstitutional. In 1884, Gover-
nor Cleveland had approved two suffrage acts, and promised to sign all
the friends could carry. In 1885, growing tired of the senseless clamor
of "unconstitutionally," I resolved to show how little law the clamorers
knew. To the knowledge gained by five years' discussion, I added that
obtained by several months' research in the State Library at Albany, that
of the New York Bar Association, those of the New York Law Institute
and Columbia College, and elsewhere. The result was the publication of
"Cases of the Legislature's Power over Suffrage," wherein it was shown,
condensed from a great number of authorities, that all classes have re-
ceived suffrage, not from the constitution but from the legislature, and
that the latter has exercised the power of extending suffrage in hundreds
of cases. This document received high praise from General James W.
Husted and Major James Haggerty; who have manfully championed our
bills in the Assembly, General Husted reading from it in his speech
and it was signally sanctioned by the Assembly which, after being sup-
plied with copies, voted down by more than three to one a motion to
substitute a constitutional amendment.
But while working at this document, I was fortunate enough to make a
still greater discovery — that portions of statute law which formerly pre-
vented women's voting were repealed long since ; that the constitutiofi
and statutes in their present shape secure women the legal right to vote.
February 19, 1885, a hearing was granted to Mrs. Stanton, Mrs.
Rogers and Mrs. Blake in the assembly-chamber before the Com-
mittee on Grievances, on the " Bill to Prohibit Disfranchisement."
The splendid auditorium was crowded for two hours, and members
of the committee lingered a long time after the audience had dis-
persed to discuss the whole question still further with the speakers.
On the next day Mrs. Mary Seymour Howelland Governor John
W. Hoyt of Wyoming Territory had a second hearing. The com-
mittee reported for consideration. When the bill came up for a
Results. 443
third reading, General Martin L. Curtis of St. Lawrence moved
that it be sent to the Judiciary Committee with instructions to
substitute a constitutional amendment; lost, ayes 25, noes 75;
carried to a third reading by viva voce vote. The vote on the
final passage was, ayes 57, noes 56; the constitutional majority
in this State being 65 of the 128 members, it was lost by eight
votes. Of the 73 Republicans, 29 voted for the bill ; of the 55
Democrats, 28 voted for the bill, showing that more than half the
Democratic vote was in favor, and only two-fifths of the Repub-
lican ; thus our defeat was due to the Republican party.
Thus stands the question of woman suffrage in the Empire
State to-day, where women are in the majority.* After long
years of unremitting efforts who can read this chapter of woman's
faith and patience, under such oft-repeated disappointments, but
with pity for her humiliations and admiration for her courage
and persistence. For nearly half a century the petitions, the
appeals, the arguments of the women of New York have been
before the legislature for consideration, and the trivial conces-
sions of justice thus far wrung from our rulers bear no proportion
to the prolonged labors we have gone through to achieve them.
* The last census shows there are 72,224 more women than men in New York ; that there are 360,381
women and girls over ten years of age who support themselves by work outside their own homes, not
including the house-keepers who, from the raw material brought into the family, manufacture food
and clothing three times its original value.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
PENNSYLVANIA.
Carrie Burnham — The Canon and Civil Law the Source of Woman's Degradation —
Women Sold with Cattle in 1768 — Women Arrested in Pittsburgh — Mrs. McManus
— Opposition to Women in the Colleges and Hospitals; John W. Forney Vindi-
cates their Rights — Ann Preston — Women in Dentistry — James Truman's Letter —
Swarthmore College — Suffrage Association Formed in 1866, in Philadelphia — John
K. Wildman's Letter — Judge William S. Pierce — The Citizens' Suffrage Associa-
tion, 333 Walnut Street, Edward M. Davis, President — Petitions to the Legis-
lature— Constitutional Convention, 1873 — Bishop Simpson, Mary Grew, Sarah C.
Hallowell, Matilda Hindman, Mrs. Stanton, Address the Convention — Messrs.
Broomall and Campbell Debate Writh the Opposition — Amendment Making Women
Eligible to School Offices — Two Women Elected to Philadelphia School Board,
1874 — The Wages of Married Women Protected — J. Edgar Thomson's Will —
Literary Women as Editors — The Rev. Knox Little — Anne E. McDowell — Women
as Physicians in Insane Asylums — The Fourteenth Amendment Resolution, 1881
— Ex-Governor Hoyt's Lecture on Wyoming.
IN the demand for the right of suffrage, women are constantly
asked by the opposition if they cannot trust their own fathers,
husbands and brothers to legislate for them. The answer to this
question may be found in an able digest of the old common laws
and the Revised Statutes of Pennsylvania,* prepared by Carrie
S. Burnham f of Pennsylvania. A careful perusal of this paper
will show the relative position of man and woman to be that of
sovereign and subject.
To get at the real sentiments of a people in regard to the true
status of woman we must read the canon and civil laws that form
the basic principles of their religion and government. We must
not trust to the feelings and actions of the best men towards the
individual women whom they may chance to love and respect.
The chivalry and courtesy that the few command through their
beauty, wealth and position, are one thing; but justice, equality,
liberty for the multitude, are quite another. And when the few,
* See Appendix,
t Carrie S. Burnham after long years of preparation and persistent effort for admission to the bar of
Philadelphia, was admitted in 1884. She was thorougly qualified to enter that profession and to prac-
tice in the courts of that State, and the only reason ever offered for her rejection from time to time
was, " that she was a woman."
Past and Present. 445
through misfortune, are made to feel the iron teeth of the law,
they regret that they had not used their power to secure perma-
nent protection under just laws, rather than to have trusted the
transient favors of individuals to shield them in life's emergencies.
The law securing to married women the right to property,*
inherited by will or bequest, passed the legislature of Pennsyl-
vania, and was approved by the governor April 1 1, 1848, just five
days after a similar law had been passed in New York. Judge
Bovier was the mover for the Pennsylvania Married Women's
Property Law. His feelings had been so often outraged with
the misery caused by men marrying women for their property,
that he was bound the law should be repealed. He prevailed
on several young Quakers who had rich sisters, to run for
the legislature. They were elected and did their duty. Judge
Bovier was a descendent of the Waldenses, a society of French
Quakers who fled to the mountains from persecution. Their
descendants are still living in France.f
The disabilities and degradation that women suffer to-day grow
out of the spirit of laws that date from a time when women were
viewed in the light of beasts of burden. Scarce a century has
passed since women were sold in this country with cattle. In
the Pennsylvania Gazette for January 7, 1768, is the following*
advertisement :
To BE SEEN. — At the Crooked Billet, near the Court-house, Philadelphia (Price
Three Pence), A Two Year Old Hogg, 12 Hands high, and in length 16 Feet; thought
to be the largest of its Kind ever seen in America.
In the same paper of the following week occurs this yet more
extraordinary announcement :
To BE SOLD. — A Healthy Young Dutch Woman, fit for town or country business;
about 1 8 years old; can spin well; she speaks good English, and has about five years
to serve. Inquire at James Der Kinderen's, Strawberry alley.
In one century of growth a woman's sewing machine was
better protected than the woman herself under the old common
law :
AN ACT to exempt Sewing Machines belonging to Seamstresses in this Commonwealth
from levy and sale on execution or distress for rent :
SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania in general assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, That hereafter all sewing machines belonging to seamstresses
in this commonwealth shall be exempt from levy and sale on execution or distress for
rent, in addition to any article or money now exempt by law. Approved, April 17,
1869.
* By an oversight this law was jiot mentioned in Vol. I. in iti proper place.
t George W. Childs married Judge Bovier's grand-daughter.
446 History of Woman Stiffrage.
While the following order reflects the spirit of the seventeenth
century, the comments show the dawning of the right idea, and
are worthy the time in which the great State of Pennsylvania
could boast such women as Lucretia Mott, Anna E. Dickinson,
Jane G. Swisshelm and Sarah J. Hale:
A WOMAN ORDER IN PITTSBURGH. — The mayor of Pittsburgh has ordered the ar-
rest of every woman found on the streets alone after 9 o'clock in the evening; the
consequence of which has been that some respectable ladies have recently seen the in-
side ot the lock-up. — Exchange^ June, 1869.
Now let the mothers, wives and daughters of Pittsburgh obtain the passage, by the
city council, of an ordinance causing the arrest of every man found in the streets after
9 o'clock in the evening, and the law will then be equal in its operation. This legis-
lating upon the behavior of one sex by the other exclusively, is one-sided and despotic.
Give both sexes a chance at reforming each other.
Another step in progress was indicated by the assumption of
some women to influence civil administration, not only for their
own protection, but for that of their sires and sons :
An exchange says that women are becoming perfect nuisances, and to substantiate
the assertion adds that 1,500 women in Chester county, Pennsylvania, have petitioned
the court to grant no more liquor licenses.
Suppose wives should come reeling home, night after night,
with curses on their lips, to destroy the food, the dishes, the fur-
niture for which husbands toiled ; to abuse trembling children,
jnaking the home, from year to year, a pandemonium on earth —
would the good men properly be called " nuisances," who should
rise up and say this must end ; we must protect our firesides, our
children, ourselves, society at large? To have women even sug-
gest such beneficent laws for the men of their families is called
" a nuisance," while the whole barbarous code for women was de-
clared by Lord Coke to be the " perfection of reason."
The prejudice against sex has been as bitter and unreasonable
as against color, and far more reprehensible, because in too many
cases it has been a contest between the inferior, with law on his
side, and the superior, with law and custom against her, as the
following facts in the Sunday Dispatch, by Anne E. McDowell,
fully show :
The decision of the Court of Common Pleas in the case of Mrs. McManus, elected
principal of the Mount Vernon Boys' Grammar School, is to the effect that, no rule
being in existence prohibiting the exercise of the duties of such office by a woman, the
resolution of the controllers against the exercise of the duties of that office by the lady
was unjustifiable and illegal. Since the decision was pronounced the controllers have
come up to the boundary of the principle held by the court, and a rule has been pro-
posed that in future women shall be ineligible to be principals of boys' grammar
schools — the case of Mrs. McManus being specially excepted. That lady, therefore,
will be undisturbed. But she maybe, like the celebrated "Lady Freemason." an
exception to her sex. The controllers have not favored the public with their reasons
The Medical School Controversy. 447
for opposition to the employment of females in the higher positions of teaching.
Women are good enough for inferior service about a boys' grammar-school, it seems,
but they are not capable of superintending it. They may be, and are, teachers in all
the classes in such schools, even to the highest; but when the question arises whether
a woman, perfectly competent, shall be superintendent of all the classes — for a princi-
pal is little more — the controllers say no. If this action is influenced by a belief that
women cannot control a school of boys, we hope that the experience in the case of
Mrs. McManus will dispel the illusion, and the public can afford to await the result of
the trial. But if it is caused by a regard to tradition or precedent, or because there
never has yet been an instance of a woman being a principal of a boys' grammar-
school before this case of Mrs. McManus, we hope that the controllers will soon see
the error of their course. The complaints from the sections are to the effect that it is
very difficult to get a competent male teacher to remain principal of a boys'
grammar-school for any length of time. The salary attached to that position is
inadequate, according to the increased cost of living of the times. Gentlemen who
are competent to act as principals of the public schools find that they can make more
money by establishing private schools; and hence they are uneasy and dissatisfied
while in the public service. A woman able to take charge of a boys' grammar-school
will be paid a more liberal salary (such is the injustice of our social system in relation
to female labor) in that position than in any other connected with education that
she can command, and she will therefore be likely to be better satisfied with the duties
and to perform them more properly. That such advantage ought to be held out to
ladies competent to be teachers of the highest grade, we firmly believe. The field of
female avocations should be extended in every legitimate direction; and it seems to
us, unless some reason can be given for the exception, which has not yet been presented
in the case of Mrs. McManus, that the principalships of the boys' grammar-schools
ought to be accessible to ladies of the proper character and qualification, without the
imputation that by reason of their sex they must necessarily be unfitted for such duties.
In preparing themselves for the medical profession, for which
the most conservative people now admit that women are pecu-
liarly adapted, students have encountered years of opposi-
tion, ridicule and persecution, /^fter a college for women was
established in Philadelphia,* there was another long struggle be-
fore their right to attend the clinics in the hospitals was ac-
corded. The faculty and students alike protested against the
admission of women into mixed classes; but as there was no pro-
vision to give them the clinics alone, a protest against mixed
classes was a protest against such advantages to women alto-
gether. One would have supposed the men might have left the
delicacy of the question to the decision of the women themselves.
But in this struggle for education men have always been more
concerned about the loss of modesty than the acquirement of
knowledge and wisdom. From the opinions usually expressed
by these self-constituted guardians of the feminine character, we
might be led to infer that the virtues of women were not a part
of the essential elements of their organization, but a sort of
temporary scaffolding, erected by society to shield a naturally
weak structure that any wind could readily demolish.
History of Woman Suffrage.
At a meeting convened November 15 at the University of
Pennsylvania, to consider the subject of -clinical instruction to
mixed classes the following remonstrance was unanimously
adopted :
The undersigned, professors in the University of Pennsylvania, professors in Jeffer-
son Medical College, members of the medical staff of various hospitals of Philadel-
phia, and members of the medical profession in Philadelphia at large, out of respect
for their profession, and for the interests of the public, do feel it to be their duty, at
the present time, to express their convictions upon the subject of " clinical instruction
to mixed classes of male and female students of medicine." They are induced to pre-
sent their views on this question, which is of so grave importance to medical educa-
tion, from the fact that it is misunderstood by the public, and because an attempt is
now being made to force it before the community in a shape which they conceive to
be injurious to the progress of medical science, and to the efficiency of clinical teach-
ing. They have no hesitation in declaring that their deliberate conviction is adverse
to conducting clinical instruction in the presence of students of both sexes. The judg-
ment that has been arrived at is based upon the following considerations:
I. Clinical instruction in practical medicine demands an examination of all the or-
gans and parts of the body, as far as practicable; hence, personal exposure becomes for
this purpose often a matter of absolute necessity. It cannot be assumed, by any right-
minded person, that male patients should be subjected to inspection before a class of
females, although this inspection may, without impropriety, be submitted to before
those of their own sex. A thorough investigation, as well as demonstration, in these
cases — so necessary to render instruction complete and effective — is, by a mixed audi-
ence, precluded; while the clinical lecturer is restrained and embarrassed in his in-
quiries, and must therefore fall short in the conclusions which he may draw, and in
the instruction which he communicates.
II. In many operations upon male patients exposure of the body is inevitable, and
demonstrations must be made which are unfitted for the observation of students of the
opposite sex. These expositions, when made under the eye of such a conjoined as-
semblage, are shocking to the sense of decency, and entail the risk of unmanning the
surgeon — of distracting his mind, and endangering the life of his patient. Besides
this, a large class of surgical diseases of the male is of so delicate a nature as altogether
to forbid inspection by female students. Yet a complete understanding of this partic-
ular class of diseases is of preeminent importance to the community. Moreover, such
affections can be thoroughly studied only in the clinics of the large cities, and the op-
portunity for studying them, so far from being curtailed, should be extended to the ut-
most possible degree. To those who are familiar with such cases as are here alluded
to, it is inconceivable that females should ever be called to their treatment.
III. By the joint participation, on the part of male and female students, in the in-
struction and in the demonstrations which properly belong to the clinical lecture-room,
the barrier of respect is broken down, and that high estimation of womanly qualities,
which should always be sustained and cherished, and which has its origin in domestic
and social associations, is lost, by an inevitable and positive demoralization of the
individuals concerned, thereby entailing most serious detriment to the morals of so-
ciety. In view of the above consideratious, the undersigned * do earnestly and sol-
* University of Pennsylvania — Joseph Carson. Robert E. Rogers, Joseph Leidy, Henry H. Smith,
Francis G. Smith, R. A. T. Penrose, Alfred Stille, George B. Wood, Samuel Jackson, Hugh L. Hodge,
R. La Roche, George W. NorrL,. Jefferson Medical College — Joseph Pancoast, S. D. Gross, Samuel
Henry Dickson, Ellerslie Wallace, B. Howard Rand, John B. Biddle, James Auken Meigs. Pennsyl-
vania Hospital — J. Forsyth Meigs, James H. Hutchinson, J. M. Da Costa, Addinell He\vson, Will-
iam Hunt, D. Hayes Agnew. Philadelphia Hospital— ft*. J. Levis, William H. Pancoast. F. F.
Maury, Alfred Stille, J. L. Ludlow, Edward Rhodes, D. D. Richardson, E. L. Duer, E. Scholfield, R.
M. Girvin, John S. Parry, William Pepper, James Tyson. Medical Staff of Episcopal Hospital —
John H. Packard, John Ashhurst, jr., Samuel Ashhurst, Alfred M. Slocum, Edward A. Smith, William.
Resolutions of the Students. 44 9
emnly protest against the admixture of the sexes at clinical instruction in medicine and
surgery, and do respectfully lay these their views before the board of managers of the
hospitals in Philadelphia.
November //, 1869.
At meetings held at the University and Jefferson Medical Col-
leges, by the students, on Wednesday evening, the following pre-
ambles and resolutions were adopted :
WHEREAS, The managers of the Pennsylvania Hopsital have seen fit to admit female
students to the clinics of that establishment, thereby excluding from the lectures many
cases, medical and surgical; and
WHEREAS, We consider that in our purchase of tickets of admission there was a tacit
agreement that we should have the benefit of all cases which the medical and surgical
staff of that hospital should deem fit for our instruction:
Resolved, That a respectful request be made to the managers of the Pennsylvania
Hospital that we be informed as to whether the usual character of the clinics will be
changed.
Resolved, That pending the action of the managers on this question, we as a class
and individually absent ourselves from the clinical lectures. And
WHEREAS, The levity of a few thoughtless young men in the presence of the females
at the hospital has caused the journals of this city to assume that the whole class of
medical students are utterly devoid of all the attributes of gentlemen,
Resolved, That while we do not by any means concede that the published accounts of
the affair are correct, we deplore the fact that any demonstration should have taken
place; for although the female students may be considered by their presence at the
hospital where male students are present, to have cast aside that delicacy and modesty
which constitutes the aegis of their sex, they are women, and as such demand our for-
bearance, if not our respect.
Resolved, That these preambles and resolutions be published in some respectable
journal of this city.*
On these remonstrances of the faculty and students, The Press,
John W. Forney, editor, had many able editorials condemning the
Thomson, William S. Forbes. Wills Hospital for the Rlimi <i>ui Lame — Thomas George Morton,
A. D. Hall, Harrison Allen, George C. Harlan, R. J. Levis. St. Joseph's Hospital— William V. Keat-
ing, Alfred Stille, John J. Reese, George R. Morehouse, A. C. Bournonville, Edward A. Page, John
H. Brinton, Walter F. Atlee, C. S. Boker. St. Mary's Hospital— C.. Percy La Roche, J. Cummiskey
A. 11. 1 Msh, J. H. Grove, W. W. Keen, W. L. Wells, L. S. Bolles. German Hospital— Albert Fricke
Kniil Fischer, Joseph F. Koerper, Julius Schrotz, Julius Kamcrer, Karl Beeken, Theodore A. Dcmme
(.'liildrt-ns Hospital — Thomas Hewson Bache, D. Murray Cheston, H. Lenox Hodge, F. W. Lewi-.
Hilborn West. Charity Hospital— A. H. Fish. L. K. Baldwin, Horace Y. Kvans, John M. Mcllr.ith
H. St. Glair Ash, J. M. Boisnot, N. Hatfield, W. M. Welch, H. Lycurgus Law, H. U-ainan, J. A. M. -
Arthur. Howard Hospital— Thomas S. Harper, Laurence Turnbull, T. H. Andrew*, H<.r.uc Wil-
liams, Joseph Klapp, William B.Atkinson, S. C. Brincklee. Pkysicians-at-Lurgt of tkt City of
rhit,ntt-lp/tia—]L. Ward, George H. Beaumont, William W. Lamb, Thomas H. Reed, (.'baric* Sihatfcr,
J. Heritage, W. Stump Forwood, W. J. Phelps, Richard Maris, Frank Muhlcnbcrg, George M. \V.ud,
James Collins, William F. Norris, Samuel Lewis, Isaac Hay*, G. Emerson, W. W. ( '.cih.ir,!, (
Morris, 15. II. C'oatcs, George Strawbridge, S. Weir Mitchell, I. Minis Hays, Edward B. Van Dyke, J.
Bylvetter Ramsey, G. W. Bowman, W. H. H. Githens, T. W. Lewis, T. M. FinU-y, S. W. Butler, Rob-
ert P. Harris, C. Moehring, George L. Bomberger, Philip Leidy, D. F. Willard, James V. In^ham, F.d-
u:u -1 H.irtshorne, W. S. W. Ruschenberger, Thomas Stewanlsoti, James Darr.i. h, S. L. Il..llin^»ortli,
William Mayburry, Lewis Rodman, Casper Wi-.trr, A. NVlnn-.-r, H.ua. i: r.inm-y II. m-, !•'. 1« ar.l Ship-
pen, S. Littell, F. W. Lewis, Robert Bridges, William H. Glotiingcr, James Mnrkoc, Charles Hunter,
D. F. Woods, Herbert Norris, Harrison Allen, Charles ]!. N.m. r.vlr, W. [ <
Ki. h.ml Tli<. mas, Lewis H. Adler, G. H. Dunmire, John Neill, Wliariou Sinklcr. George Pepper, J. J.
Sowerby, Henry C. Eckstein, F.ugene P. Bernardy, Charles K. Miles, J. Soli* Cohen.
* C. L. Schlattcr, J. Wm. White, Daniel Bray, C. E. Cassady, Robert B. Burns, Albert Tronchard,
John t;. Scott, J. J. Bowen, P. Collings, E. Cullcn Brayton, joint committee of i .:>• and
Jefferson Medical Colleges.
29
450 History of Woman Suffrage.
action of the medical fraternity. The leading journals through-
out the country advocated the right of the women to enjoy the
advantages of the hospital clinics. The Press, November 22,
1869, said :
The proceedings of the meeting held by the faculties of our two leading
medical schools evince the disposition which lurks at the bottom of the
movement against women as physicians. The hospital managers are to be
browbeaten into the stand taken by the students, and now sanctioned by
the professors. If the women are to be denied the privilege of clinical
lectures, why do not learned professors, or students, or both, have the
manliness to suggest and advocate some means of solving the difficulty
so that the rights of neither sex shall be impaired? Would any professor
agree to lecture to the women separately ? Would any professor favor
the admission of women into the female wards of the hospitals ? Would
any professor agree to propose anything, or do anything that would
weaken the firm stand taken against the admission of women to pro-
fessional privileges? If so, why not do it at once? Nothing else
will make protestations of fairness appear at all genuine. Nothing else
will remove the stigma of attempting to drag the hospitals into a sup-
port of this crusade against women. * * * How absurd the solemn
declaration, " it cannot be assumed by any right-minded person that male
patients should be subjected to inspection before a class of females, al-
though this inspection may, without impropriety, be submitted to before
those of their own sex." This cuts both ways. If it be improper for fe-
male students to be present when patients of the other sex are treated, is
it proper for male students to witness the treatment of female patients ?
The practical good sense shown in the following report of a
committee of the Faculty of the Woman's Medical College of
Pennsylvania, makes a very favorable contrast with the unreason-
able remonstrances of the so-called superior sex :
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 15, 1869.
As the relation of students of medicine to public clinics, and the views
entertained by those entitled to speak for their medical education, are now
extensively discussed in the public journals, it seems necessary for us to
state our position. Considering it decided that, as practitioners of medi-
cine, the guardianship of life and health is to be placed in the keeping of
women, it becomes the interest of society and the duty of those entrusted
with their professional training to endeavor to provide for them all suit-
able means for that practical instruction which is gained at hospital
clinics.
The taunt has heretofore been frequently thrown out that ladies have
not attended the great clinical schools of the country, nor listened to its
celebrated teachers, and that, consequently, they cannot be as well pre-
pared as men for medical practice. We believe, as we have always done,
that in all special diseases of men and women, and in all operations nec-
cessarily involving embarrassing exposure of person, it is not fitting or
Voice of the Woman s Medical College. 451
expedient that students of different sexes should attend promiscuously ;
that all special diseases of men should be treated by men in the presence
of men only, and those of women, where it is practicable, by women in
the presence of women only. It was this feeling, founded on the respect
due to the delicacy of women as patients, perhaps more than any other
consideration, which led to the founding pf the Women's Hospital in
Philadelphia. There the clinical demonstration of special diseases is
made by and before women alone. As we would not permit men to enter
these clinics, neither would we be willing — out of regard to the feelings
of men as patients, if for no other considerations — that our students
should attend clinics where men are specially treated, and there has been
no time in the history of our college when -our students could intention-
ally do so, save in direct contravention of our known views. In nearly
all the great public hospitals, however, by far the larger proportion of
cases suited for clinical illustration — whether medical or surgical — is
of those which involve no necessary exposure, and are the results of dis-
eases and accidents to which man and woman are subject alike, and which
women are constantly called upon to treat. Into these clinics, women
also — often sensitive and shrinking, albeit poor — are brought as patients
to illustrate the lectures, and we maintain that wherever it is proper to
introduce women as patients, there also is it but just and in accordance
with the instincts of the truest womanhood for women to appear as
physicians and students.
We had arranged when our class was admitted to the Pennsylvania
hospital to attend on alternate clinic days only, so as to allow ample op-
portunity for the unembarrassed exhibition of special cases to the other
students by themselves. We encouraged our students to visit the hos-
pital upon this view, sustained by our confidence in the sound judgment
and high-minded courtesy of the medical ge/itlemen in charge of the
wards. All the objections that have been made to our students' admis-
sion to these clinics seem to be based upon the mistaken assumption that
they had designed to attend them indiscriminately. As we state distinct-
ly and unequivocally that this was not the fact, that they had no idea or
intention of being present except on one day of the week, and when no cases
which it would not be proper to illustrate betore both classes of students
would necessarily be brought in — it seems to us that all these objections
are destroyed, and we cannot but feel that those fair-minded professional
gentlemen, who, under this false impression as to facts, have objected to
our course, will, upon a candid reconsideration, acknowledge that our
position is just and intrinsically right. The general testimony of those
who attended the Saturday clinics last winter at the Philadelphia Hospital
at Rlockley, when about forty ladies made regular visits, was that the tone
and bearing of the students were greatly improved, while the usual cases
were brought forward and the full measure of instruction given without
any violation of refined propriety.
We maintain, in common with all medical men, that science is imper-
sonal, and that the high aim of relief to suffering humanity sanctifies all
duties : and we repel, as derogatory to the science of medicine, the asser
452 History of Woman Suffrage.
tion that the physician who has risen to the level of his high calling need
be embarrassed, in treating general diseases, by the presence of earnest
women. The movement for woman's medical education has been sus-
tained from the beginning by the most refined, intelligent, and religious
women, and by the noblest and best men in the community. It has ever
been regarded by these as the cause of humanity, calculated in its very
nature to enlarge professional experience, bless women, and refine society.
It has in our own city caused a college and a hospital not only to be
founded, but to be sustained and endowed by those who have known in-
timately the character and objects of this work, and the aims and efforts
of those connected with it. It has this year brought to this city some fifty
educated and earnest women to study medicine, women who have come to
this labor enthusiastically but reverently, as to a great life-interest and a
holy calling. These ladies purchased tickets, and entered the clinic of the
Pennsylvania Hospital, with no obtrusive spirit, and with no intention of
interfering with the legitimate advantages of other students. If they
have been forced into an unwelcome notoriety, it has not been of their
own seeking. ANN PRESTON, M. D., Dean.
EMELINE H. CLEVELAND, M. D., Secretary.
We are indebted to James Truman, D. D. S., of the Pennsyl-
vania College of Dental Surgery, for the following account of the
admission of women into that branch of the medical profession:
The general agitation of the question : What are women best qualified
for in the struggle for existence ? naturally led liberal minds to the open-
ing of new avenues for the employment of their talents, shared equally
with men. Her right to practice in medicine had been conceded after a
long and severe conflict. Even the domain of the theologian had been
invaded, but law and dentistry were as yet closed, and in the case of the
latter, unthought of as an appropriate avocation for women. The sub-
ject, however, seemed so important, presenting a field of labor peculiarly
suited to her, that one gentleman, then professor in the Pennsylvania
College of Dental Surgery, felt it his duty to call public attention to this
promising work. In a valedictory delivered by him to the class of 1866,
at Musical Fund Hall of Philadelphia, he included in his theme the pecu-
liar fitness of dentistry for women. The question was briefly stated, but
it rather startled the large audience by its novelty, and the effect was no
less surprising on the faculty, board of trustees and professional gentle-
men on the platform.
In the fall of 1868 the dean of the Pennsylvania College of Dental Sur-
gery was waited upon by a, German gentleman, who desired to introduce
a lady who had come to this country with the expectation that all col-
leges were open to women. . Although informed that this was not the
case, he still entertained the hope that she might be admitted as a student
of dentistry. She gave her name as Henrietti Hirschfeld, of Berlin. The
matter came up before the faculty, and after a free discussion of the whole
subject, she was rejected by a majority vote, but two voting in her favor.
In a subsequent interview with Professor Truman, he learned that she
had left her native land with the full assurance that she would have no
Professor James Truman s Letter. 453
difficulty in "free America" in securing a dental education. She had also
the positive sanction of her government, through the then minister of
instruction, Dr. Falk, that on condition of receiving an American diploma
she would be permitted to practice on her return. Her distress, there-
fore, at this initial failure was, naturally, very great. The excitement that
this application made was intensified when it was rumored among the
students that a woman desired to be matriculated. The opposition be-
came very bitter, and manifested itself in many petty annoyances. In the
course of a day or two one gentleman of the faculty, and he the dean, con-
cluded to change his vote, and as this decided the question, she was ad-
mitted. The opposition of the professor of anatomy, who belonged to
the old school of medical teachers, was so manifest that it was deemed
advisable to have her take anatomy in the Woman's Medical College for
that winter. The first year of this was in every way satisfactory. Al-
though the students received her and Mrs. Truman, who accompanied her
on the first visit, with a storm of hisses, they gradually learned not only
to treat her with respect, but she became a favorite with all, and while
not convinced as to the propriety of women in dentistry, they all agreed
that Mrs. Hirschfeld might do as an exception. The last year she was
permitted by the irate professor of anatomy, Dr. Forbes, to take that
subject under him.
She graduated with honor, and returned to Berlin to practice her pro-
fession. This was regarded as an exceptional case, and by no means set-
tled the status of the college in regard to women. The conservative
element was exceedingly bitter, and it was very evident that a long time
must elapse before another woman could be admitted. The great stir
made by Mrs. Hirschfeld's graduation brought several other applications
from ladies of Germany, but these were without hesitation denied. Fail-
ing to convince his colleagues of the injustice of their action, Dr. Truman
tried to secure more favorable results from other colleges, and applied
personally to Dr. Gorgas of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery.
The answer was favorable, and he accompanied the applicant and entered
her in that institution. This furnished accommodation for the few appli-
cants. The loss in money began to tell on the pockets, if not the con-
sciences, of the faculty of the Philadelphia school. They saw the stream
had flown in another direction, swelling the coffers of another institution,
when, without an effort, they could have retained the whole. They con-
cluded to try the experiment again, and accepted three ladies in 1872 and
1873 — Miss Annie D. Ramborger of Philadelphia, Fraulein Veleske Wilcke
and Dr. Jacoby of Germany. Their first year was very satisfactory, but
at its close it was very evident that there was a determination on the part
of the minority of the class to spare no effort to effect their removal from
the school. A petition was forwarded to the faculty to this effect, and
although one was presented by the majority of the students in their favor,
the faculty chose to accept the former as representing public sentiment,
and it was decided not to allow them to take another year at this college.
This outrage was not accomplished without forcible protest from the gen-
tleman previously named, and he appealed from this decision to the gov-
454 History of Woman Suffrage.
erning power, the board of trustees.* To hear this appeal a special
meeting was called for March 27, 1873, at which the communication of
Professor Truman was read and ordered filed. A similar communication,
in opposition, was received, signed by Professors T. L. Buckingham, E.
Wildman, George T. Barker, James Tyson and J. Ewing Mears. The
matter was referred to a committee consisting of Hon. Henry C. Carey,
W. S. Pierce and G. R. Morehouse, M. D. At a special meeting convened
for this purpose, March 31, 1873, this committee made their report. They
say :
Three ladies entered as students of this college at the commencement of the session,
1872-73, paid their matriculation fees, attended the course of lectures, and were in-
formed, by a resolution adopted by a majority of the faculty' at the close of the session,
that they would not be permitted to attend the second course of lectures. No other
cause was assigned for the action of the faculty than that they deemed it against the
interest of the college to permit them to do so, on account of the dissatisfaction which
it gave to certain male students, etc. * * * The goal to which all medical and
dental students look, is graduation and the diploma, which is to be the evidence of
their qualification to practice their art. To qualify themselves for this they bestow
their time, their money and their labor. To deprive them of this without just cause
is to disappoint their hopes, and to receive from them money and bestowal of time and
labor without the full equivalent which they had a- right to expect.
After discussing at length the legal aspects of the case, the summing up
is as follows :
'We, therefore, respectfully report that in our opinion it is the legal right of these
ladies to attend, and it is the legal duty of this college to give them, as students, a
seco/id course of lectures on the terms of the announcement which forms the basis'of
the contract with them.
This report was signed by all the committee, and read by W. S. Pierce,
one of the number, and judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadel-
phia. It carried with it, therefore, all the force of a judicial decision, and
was so accepted by the board, and adopted at once. This left the majority
of the faculty no choice but to accept the decision as final as far as these
ladies were concerned. This they did, and the three were invited to re-
sume their studies. Two, Misses Ramborger and Wilcke, accepted. Miss
Jacoby refused and went to Baltimore.
The most interesting feature of this matter, and that which clearly
demonstrated a marked advance in public opinion, was the stir it made in
the press. The daily and Sunday papers bristled with strong leaders, the
* As through the influence of Dr. Truman Miss Hirschfeld had first been admitted to the college, he
felt in a measure responsible for the fair treatment of her countrywomen who came to the United
States to enjoy the same educational advantages. When the discussion in regard to expelling the
young women was pending. Dr. Truman promptly and decidedly told the faculty that if such an act of
injustice was permitted he should leave the college also. Much of Dr. Truman's clearsightedness and
determination may be traced to the influence of his noble wife and no less noble mother-in-law, Mary
Ann McCliniock, who helped to inaugurate the movement in 1848 in Central New York. She lamented
in her declining years that she was able to do so little. But by way of consolation I often suggested
that her influence in many directions could never be measured ; and here is one : Her influence on Dr.
Truman opened the Dental College to women, and kept it open while Miss Hirschfeld acquired her
profession. With her success in Germany, in the royal family, every child in the palace for genera-
tions that escapes a toothache will have reason to bless a noble friend, Mary Ann McClintock, that she
helped to plant the seeds of justice to woman in the heart of young James Truman. We must also
recognize in Dr. Truman's case that he was born and trained in a liberal Quaker family, his own father
and mother having been disciples of Elias Hicks.
Women in Dentistry. 455
faculty being denounced in no measured terms for their action. To such
an extent was this carried, and so overwhelming was the indignation, that
it practically settled the question for Philadelphia, although several years
elapsed after these ladies were graduated before others were accepted.
When that time did arrive, under the present dean, Dr. C. N. Pierce, they
were accorded everything, without any reservation, and the school has
continued ever since to accept them. At the meeting of the National
Association of Dentists, held at Saratoga, 1869, Dr. Truman introduced a
resolution looking to the recognition of women in the profession. The
resolution and the remarks were kindly received, but were, of course, laid
on the table. This was expected, the object being to make the thought
familiar in every section of the country.
These efforts have borne rich fruit, and now women are being edu-
cated at a majority of the prominent dental colleges, and no complaints
are heard of coeducation in this department of work. The college
that first accepted and then rejected — the Pennsylvania of Phila-
delphia— has a yearly average of seven to eight women, nearly equally
divided between America and Germany. Of the three dental schools in
Philadelphia, two accept women, and the third — the Dental Department
of the University of Pennsylvania — would, if the faculty were not over-
ruled by the governing powers.
The learned theories that were promulgated in regard to the injury the
practice of dentistry would be to women, have all fallen to the ground.
The advocates of women in dentistry were met at the outstart with the
health question, and as it had never been tested, the most favorably
inclined looked forward with some anxiety to the result. Fifteen years
have elapsed since then, and almost every town in Germany is supplied
with a woman in this profession. Many are also established in America.
These have all the usual requisites of bodily strength, and the writer
has yet to learn of a single failure from physical deterioration.
The first lady, Miss Lucy B. Hobbs, to graduate in dentistry, was sent
out from the Cincinnati College, and she, I believe, is still in active prac-
tice in Kansas. She graduated in 1866. Mrs. Hirschfeld, before spoken
of, returned to Germany and became at once a subject for the fun of the
comic papers, and for the more serious work of the Bajan and Uberlana
und Meer, both of them containing elaborate and illustrated notices of
her. She had some friends in the higher walks of life ; notable amongst
these was President Lette of the Trauen-Verem, whose aid and powerful
influence had assisted her materially in the early stages of her effort.
The result of these combined forces soon placed her in possession of a
large practice. She was patronized by ladies in the highest circles,
including the crown princess. She subsequently married, had two boys
to rear and educate, and a large household to supervise. She has
.twisted several of her relatives into professions, two in medicine and
two in dentistry, besides aiding many worthy persons. She has estab-
lished a clinic for women in Berlin, something very badly needed
there. This is in charge of two physicians, one being her husband's sis-
ter, Dr. Fanny Tiburtius. She has also started a hospital for women..
456 History of Woman Suffrage.
These are mainly supported by her individual exertions. Notwithstand-
ing all these multifarious and trying duties, she practices daily, and is as
well physically and mentally as when she commenced. Fraulein Valeske
Wilcke of KOnigsberg has been over twelve years in a very large practice
with no evil results; Miss Annie D. Ramborger, an equal time, with an
equally large practice, and enjoys apparently far better health than most
ladies of thirty.
Dentistry is, probably, one of the most trying professions, very few
men being equal to the severe strain, and many are obliged to succumb.
No woman has as yet failed, though it would not be at all remarkable if
such were the case. The probabilities are that comparatively few will
choose it as a profession, but that another door has been opened for
employment is a cause for congratulation with all right-thinking minds.
For opening this profession to women a debt of gratitude is
due to Dr. Truman from all his countrywomen, as well as to
those noble German students, who have so ably filled the posi-
tions he secured for them. Similar struggles, both in medicine
and dentistry, were encountered in other States, but the result
was as it must be in every case, the final triumph of justice
for women. Already they are in most of the colleges and hos-
pitals, and members of many of the State and National associa-
tions.
In 1870, the Society of Friends founded Swarthmore College*
for the education of both sexes, erecting a fine building in a
beautiful locality. At the dedication of this institution, Lucretia
Mott was elected to honorary membership and invited to the
platform. With her own hands she planted the first tree, which
now adorns those spacious grounds.
The persecutions that women encountered in every onward
step soon taught them the necessity of remodeling the laws and
customs for themselves. They began to see the fallacy of the
old ideas, that men looked after the interests of women, " that
* PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 10, 1870.— The formal opening of Sv.'arthmore College took place this afternoon,
when a large number of its friends were conveyed thither in a special train on the Westchester railroad.
The audience assembled in the lecture room, where addresses were delivered by Samuel Willets and
John D. Hyoks, of New York, Edward Parnsh, president of the college, Wm. Dorsey. and Lucretia
Mott. It was stated that the amount spent in land and buildings amounted to $205,000 and contribu-
tions were solicited for $100,000 additional to fully furnish the building, and supply a library, philosoph-
ical and astronomical apparatus. The building is a massive one of five stories, constructed of Pennsyl-
vania granite, and appointed throughout, from dormitory, bathroom, recitation-hall, to parlor, kitchen
and laundry, in the most refined and substantial taste. It is 400 feet in length, by 100 deep, presenting
two wings for the dormitories of the male and female students respectively, and a central part devoted
to parlor, library, public hall, etc. Especially interesting in this division of the college is a room devoted
to Quaker antiquities, comprising portraits and writings of the founders of the sect. Among them we
notice the treaty of William Penn, a picture of the treaty assembly, a letter of George Fox, etc. The
Allege opens with 180 pupils, about equally divided between the sexes, the system of instruction being
•n jwjnt education of boys and girls, though each occupy separate wings of the building. The institution
fvas fjuilt by the Hicksitc branch of the Society of Friends, but the pupils are not confined to members
,tX that persuasion.
John K. Wildman.
457
they were their natural protectors," that they could safely trust
them to legislate on their personal and property rights; for they
found in almost every case that whatever right and privilege man
claimed for himself, he proposed exactly the opposite for women.
Hence the necessity for them to have a voice as to the laws and the
rulers under which they lived. Whatever reform they attempted
they soon found their labors valueless, because they had no power
to remedy any evils protected by law. After laboring in tem-
perance, prison-reform, coeducation, and women's rights in the
trades and professions, their hopes all alike centered at last in the
suffrage movement.
In 1866, a suffrage association was formed in Philadelphia at a
meeting of the American Equal Rights Society,* held in Frank-
lin Institute. This convention was marked by a heated debate
on the duty of the abolitionists now that the black man was
emancipated, to make the demand for the enfranchisement of
women, as well as the freedmen.
We are indebted to John K. Wildman of Philadelphia for the
following :
The Pennsylvania association was organized December 22, 1869, in
Mercantile Library Hall, Philadelphia. The meeting was called to order
by John K. Wildman, who said : "The time has arrived when it is neces-
sary for us to take some action towards promoting the cause of woman
suffrage. We desire to do our part as far as practicable, in the work of
enlightening the people of our State upon this important subject. With
this end in view we propose to organize, hoping that all friends of the
movement will cordially give us their influence." Edward M. Davis then
proposed the appointment of Judge William S. Pierce as chairman
of the meeting. This was agreed to, and Judge Pierce announced
that the meeting was ready for business, reserving for another stage
of the proceedings any remarks he might wish to make. Annie
Heacock was chosen to act as secretary. In accordance with a motion
that was adopted, the chairman appointed a committee of five persons t
to prepare a constitution, and present the same for the action of the
meeting. Mary Grew spoke at length in her earnest and impressive man-
ner, presenting forcibly those familiar yet solid arguments in favor of
woman suffrage which form the basis of the discussion, and which should
irrevocably settle the question. Dr. Henry T. Child followed with a brief
* The speakers at this convention were Lucrctia Mott. F ranees Dana Gage, Wendell Phillips, Eliza-
beth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Edward M. Davis, Robert Purvis, Aaron M. Powell. The
officers of the society were: President, Robert Purvis; / 'ice-presidents, Lucretia Mott, William
\\hippcr, Diii.ih Mendenhall ; Recording Secretary, Mary K. Lightfoot ; Corresponding Secretary,
Frances K. Jackson ; Treasurer, John K. Wildman ; Executive Committee, William Still, Ellen M.
Child, Harriet Purvis, Klisha Meaner, Octavius Catts, Sarah S. Hawkins, Sarah Pugh, Clementina
Johns, Alfred H. Love, Louisa J. Roberts. Jay Chapel.
t J. K. Wildman, Miss A. Ramborger, Clementina L. John, Ellen M. Child, and Passmore Williamson.
458 History of Woman Suffrage.
address, showing his zealous interest in the object of the meeting, and
trusting that at no distant period the ballot would be placed in the hands
of the women of the land. Judge Pierce said :
I am in favor of giving woman a chance in the world. I feel very much in regard
to woman as Diogenes did when Alexander the Great went to see him. When the
monarch arrived at the city in which Diogenes lived, he sent a request for him to come
to see him. Diogenes declined to go. The monarch then went to the place of his
residence, and found him lying in his court-yard sunning himself. lie did not even
rise when Alexander approached. Standing over him, the warrior asked, " Diogenes,
what can I do for you ?" And the philosopher answered, " Nothing, except to stand
out of my sunshine." Now, I am disposed to stand out of woman's sunshine. If she
wants the light of the sun upon her, and the breath of heaven upon her, and freedom
of action necessary to develop herself, heaven forbid that I should stand in her way. I
believe that everything goes to its own place in God's world, and woman will go to her
place if you do not impede her. We should not be afraid to trust her, or to apply
the same principles to her in regard to suffrage that we apply to ourselves. There
should be no distinction. Her claims to the ballot rest upon a just and logical founda-
tion.
The venerable Sojourner Truth spoke a few words of encouragement,
showing in her humble and fervid way a reverent faith in the final triumph
of justice. After the adoption of the constitution, the organization was
completed by the election of officers* to serve for the ensuing year.
The first thing that claimed the attention of the officers of the new" so-
ciety was the representation of the different counties on the executive
committee ; and for this purpose the chairman wrote to nearly all of the
sixty-three counties, chiefly to the postmasters of the principal towns.
The replies that were received presented a curious medley of sentiment
and opinion touching the object in view, disclosing every shade of tone
and temper between the two extremes of cold indifference and warm en-
thusiasm. It was evident that, in a large number of cases, the inquiries
promptly found their resting-place in the waste-basket. Before the close
of the year twenty-two counties were represented. Thus reinforced, the
committee took immediate steps towards distributing documents and cir-
culating petitions throughout the State. Many of the county members
cooperated earnestly in this work. Some of them, not satisfied to limit
their action to this particular form of service, aided the movement by
collecting funds and holding public meetings in their respective locali-
ties. Matilda Hindman, representing Alleghany county, evinced both
energy and enterprise in forwarding the movement through the agency
of public meetings. She did good service from the beginning, relying
almost solely upon her own determined purpose. Her deep interest in
the work and its object, and the courage that animated her at the first
impulse of duty, have continued without abatement to the present time.
Her usefulness and activity have not confined themselves within the
limits of Pennsylvania, but have extended to other States, both in the
East and West.
* President, Mary Grew ; I'tce-Prcsidcnts, Edward M. Davis, Mrs. C. A. Farrington, Mary K. Wil-
liamson ; Recording Secretary, Annie Heacock ; Corresponding Secretary, Eliza Sproat Turner ;
Treasurer, Gulielma M. S. P. Jones; Executive Committee, John K. Wildman, Ellen M. Child,
Annie Shoemaker, Charlotte L. Pierce, and Dr. Henry T. Child.
Matilda Hindman. 459
Miss Matilda Hindman, of Philadelphia, pays the following tribute to
her parents :
In 1837, my father being a member of the school committee of the Union town-
ship, Washington county, secured equal salaries for women; and in spite of steady
opposition, there was no difference made for four years. The women who taught the
schools in the summer were paid the same as the men who taught in the winter. At
the death of my father the board returned to the old system of half pay for women;
the result was "incompetent teachers," furnishing the opposition with just the plea
they desired — that women were not fit for school teachers. My mother remonstrated,
but in vain. They replied, " women never received as much as men for any work";
"it did not cost as much to keep a woman as a man," and moreover, these school mat-
ters belonged to men, and women had no right to interfere. In 1842, my mother
offered to board the teacher in her district, gratis, if the board would raise her salary
proportionally. They received her proposition with scorn. She then refused to pay
her taxes. Such was the respect for her in the community, and the sense of justice in
regard to the teachers, that the authorities suffered the tax to go unpaid, and at the end
of the year accepted the proposition, and for many years after, she boarded the teacher
in her district, making the woman's net salary equal to that of the man.
My mother lived to see her daughters employed in her township on equal salaries
with men. But in process of time, another board, for the express purpose of humiliat-
ing mother and daughters alike, passed a resolution to take two dollars a month from
each of their salaries, when all three resigned. They all honored her, by carrying into
their life-work the noble principles for which she suffered so much.
She was the grand-daughter of a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian minister, who, with his
young family, was among the earliest settlers in the wilderness of what is now known
as the prosperous and beautiful county of Washington, Pennsylvania. Her name was
Sarah Campbell. She was born in 1798. From her earliest girlhood she rebelled
against the injustice done women by the law. She felt acutely the wrong done her and
her sisters by being denied an education equal to their brothers, and denied also an
equal share of theii inheritance. While the father possessed a large estate, and pro-
vided liberally for his sons, he left his daughters a mere pittance.
In view of such facts, it is folly to say that women were ever satisfied
with the humiliating discriminations of sex they have endured in all
periods, and in all ranks in society.
The first annual report of the association was prepared by Eliza Sproat
Turner. She said :
We do not complain that man is slow to realize the injustice of his present attitude
towards woman — an attitude once, from necessity, endurable; now, from too long con-
tinuance, grown intolerable. It would not be natural for him to feel it with equal
keenness. It takes a great-minded fox to find out, what every goose knows, that
foxes' teeth are cruel. And while we do not complain of this incapacity on his part,
the advocates of this cause feel the necessity for woman to take upon herself whatever
share in the management of their mutual affairs shall be needed to right the balance;
IOIH huling that the defects in legislation which she is, by reason of her position, more
competent to understand, she should be more competent to remedy. Not these inno-
vations alone, but others involving matters beyond individual interests, she expects to
adiieve by the power she shall gain through the exercise of her right of suffrage. We
discern, in the consideration of nearly all questions of national welfare, a disposition
to press unduly the interests of trade and commerce rather than the interests of the
fireside.
Mary Grew presided, and has been elected president of the association
every year from the beginning, performing the duties of the position with
ability, earnestness and satisfaction. In the winter of 1870-71 the execu-
460 History of Woman Suffrage.
live committee recommended the passage of a law that should give mar-
ried women the control of their own earnings. The appeal to the legisla-
ture in behalf of such a law was renewed the following winter, and its
passage finally secured. Among the resolutions adopted at the annual
meeting was the following :
Resolved, That the vote of the legislature of this State for a convention to amend
the constitution, makes it our duty to work for the exclusion of the word "male"
from the provision defining the qualifications for the elective franchise, and that we
call upon all friends of justice to give their best energies to the sustaining of this
object.
Subsequently the executive committee prepared a petition with refer-
ence to the formation of the constitutional convention, asking the legis-
lature, in making the needful regulations, to frame them in such a way as
to secure the representation of the women of the State. This petition
was unavailing. At the next annual meeting, which was held at the time
the constitutional convention was in session, a resolution was adopted
containing an appeal to that body, earnestly requesting it to present to
the people of the State a constitution that should secure the right of suf-
frage to its citizens without distinction of sex, accompanied by a request
for a hearing at such time and place as the convention should decide.
The request was willingly granted, and an evening assigned for that pur-
pose. An evening was also given to the Citizens' Suffrage Society of Phil-
adelphia for a like object. These meetings were held in the hall of the
convention, and were largely attended by the members and by the people
generally. Addresses were delivered by various friends of woman suffrage,
as representatives of the two societies.* Still another evening was granted
the Pennsylvania association for a meeting to be addressed by Bishop
Matthew Simpson of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The earnest and
forcible words of the eloquent speaker, and his solid array of arguments,
made a deep impression on the attentive audience.
In the convention the question was discussed during five successive
days. Hon. John M. Broomall introduced a provision in favor of making
the ballot free to men and women alike, proposing that it be incorporated
in the new constitution. This provision was ably advocated by Mr.
Broomall and many other members of the convention. Their firm con-
victions in behalf of equal and exact justice, however well sustained by
"sound reasoning and earnest appeal, was an unequal match for the rooted
conservatism which recoiled from such a new departure. Although the
measure was defeated, its discussion had an influence. It was animated,
intelligent and exhaustive, and drew public attention more directly to the
subject than anything that had occurred since the beginning of its agita-
tion in the State.
The only act of the convention that gave hope to the friends of impar-
tial suffrage was the adoption of the third section of Article X. : " Women
twenty-one years of age and upwards shall be eligible to any office of
control or management under the school laws of this State." It was a
* Among those who addressed the members of the convention were Bishop Matthew Simpson. Rev.
Charles G. Ames, Fanny B. Ames, Mary Grew, Sarah C. Hallowell, Matilda Hindman, Elizabeth S.
Blaiien and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
The Citizens' 'Suffrage Association.
461
very faint gleam of comfort, too small to stir more than a breath of
praise. It had the merit of being a step in the right direction, though
timid and feeble, and as it has never disturbed the equilibrium of society,
it may ultimately be followed by others of more importance.
The annual meetings of the association have been held in Philadelphia,
Westchester, Bristol, Kennett Square and Media, respectively. An inter-
esting feature of the Westchester meeting was the reading of an essay,
entitled "Four quite New Reasons why you should wish your Wife to
Vote." It was written for the occasion by Eliza Sproat Turner, and was
subsequently printed and re-printed in tract form by order of the execu-
tive committee, and freely circulated among the people. It was likewise
published in the Woman s Journal. Other documents relative to the
question have been printed from time to time by authority of the com-
mittee, and large numbers of suffrage tracts have been purchased for dis-
tribution year after year, embodying the best thoughts, the soundest
arguments, and the most forcible reasoning that the question has elicited.
Frequent petitions have been sent to the legislature and to congress, all
having in view the one paramount object, and showing by their repeated
and persistent appearance the indefatigable nature of a living, breathing
reform. The executive committee at one time employed Matilda Hind-
man as State agent. Meetings were held by her chiefly in the western
part of the State. In 1874 her services extended to the State of Michigan,
where the question of woman suffrage was specially before the people.
Lelia E. Patridge also represented the association in Michigan at that
time, where she performed excellent service in addressing numerous
meetings in different parts of the State. In 1877 Miss Patridge was ap-
pointed to represent the society in Colorado. There she labored with
others to secure the adoption of a constitutional amendment providing
for suffrage without regard to sex. On several occasions the executive
committee has contributed to woman suffrage purposes in other States.
Massachusetts, Michigan, Colorado and Oregon have been recipients of
the limited resources of the association. The executive committee has
felt the cramping influence of an unfriended treasury. Its provision has
been the fruit of unwearied soliciting, and should the especial object of
the association ever be accomplished, the honors of success may be
fitly contested by the fine art of begging.
The following report was sent us by Mrs. Mary Byrnes:
March 22, 1872, the Citizens' Suffrage Association of Philadelphia was
formed, William Morris Davis, president, with fifty members. The name
i.l the society was chosen to denote the view of its members as
to the basis of the elective franchise. The amendments to the United
Stales constitution had clearly defined who were citizens, and shown
citizenship to be without sex. Woman was as indisputably a citizen
as man. Whatever rights he possessed as a citizen she possessed also.
The supreme law of the land placed her on the same plane of political
rights with him. If man held the right of suffrage as a citizen of the
United States, either by birthright within the respective States, or by
naturalization under the United States, then the right of the female ciu-
462 History of Woman Suffrage.
2en to vote was as absolute as that of the male citizen ; and woman's
disfranchisement became a wrong inflicted upon her by usurped power.
Men became voters by reason of their citizenship, having first com-
plied with certain police regulations imposed within and by the respective
States. The Citizens' Suffrage Association demanded the same political
rights for all citizens, nothing more, nothing less. It repudiated the idea
that one class of citizens should ask of another class rights which that
other class never possessed, and which those who were denied them never
had lost. This society held that the right to give implied the right to
takeaway; and further, that the right to give implied a right lodged
somewhere in society, which society had never acquired by any direct
concession from the people.
This society held also, that the theory of the right to the franchise, as
a gift, bore with it the power somewhere to restrict the male citizen's suf-
frage, and to strike at the principle of self-government. They had seen
this doctrine earnestly advanced. They knew that there was a growing
class in the country who were inimical to universal suffrage. In view of
this they chose the name of citizen suffrage, as the highest and broadest
term by which to designate their devotion to the political rights of all
citizens. They held that the political condition of the white women of the
United States was totally unlike that of the slave population in this;
that while the slaves were not considered citizens until the adoption of
the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, white women had always been
citizens, and always entitled to all the political rights of citizenship. The
colored male citizen became a voter — subject to the police regula-
tions of the different States — upon acquiring citizenship. No constitu-
tional enactment denied equal political rights to women as citizens. No
constitutional enactment was therefore required to enable them to exer-
cise the right to vote, which became the right of male slaves upon their
securing citizenship under the law. The first legal argument on the sub-
ject of woman's right to the ballot as a citizen of the United States, was
made by Jacob F. Byrnes before the Pennsylvania Society. Had it been
published as soon as written, instead of being circulated privately, surpris-
ing person after person with the position taken, it would have antedated
the report of General Benjamin F. Butler in the House of Representatives
in the winter of 1871.
Edward M. Davis, president for many years, was one of the
most active and untiring officers of this association, giving gener-
ously of his time and money not only to its -support but to
the general agitation of the suffrage question in every part of
the country. The meetings were held regularly at his office,
333 Walnut street, as were also those of the Radical Club.
This was composed largely of the same members as the suffrage
society, but in this organization they had a greater latitude in dis-
cussion, covering all questions of political, religious and social in-
terest. As the division in the National Society produced divi-
Edward M. Davis. 463
sion everywhere, some of the friends in Philadelphia made them-
selves auxiliary to the American Association, and the sympathy
of others was with the National, thus forming two rival societies,
which together kept the suffrage question before the people and
roused their attention, particularly to the fact of a pending con-
stitutional convention. Hence the necessity of holding meetings
throughout the State, and rolling up petitions asking that the
constitution be so amended as to secure to women the right to
vote. The following appeal was issued by this association :
To the Editor of the Post :
SIR : There is no political question now before the people of this commonwealth
more important than the consideration of the changes to be made in our constitution.
The citizens of the State, by an enormous majority of votes, have re-claimed the
sovereign powers of government, and evinced a determination to re-form the funda-
mental law, the constitution of this State, in the interest of a government " of the peo-
ple, by the people, and for the people." In this new adaptation of old rules of gov-
ernment to the advanced ideas of the age, it seems to us fitting and opportune that
woman in her new status as a citizen of the United States (under the fourteenth amend-
ment of the constitution), should be allowed the exercise of rights which have been
withheld under old rules of action. Therefore we respectfully ask you to give this,
with our appeal, an insertion in your paper, and to continue the appeal until further
notice. And we ask all the friends of woman suffrage to aid our association in plac-
ing this appeal in each paper of our city, as well as of the nf ighboring towns.
" There is no distinction in citizenship as has been determined by the fourteenth
amendment to the constitution of the United States. The citizens of Pennsylvania
have decided on a revision of the constitution of the commonwealth. The power of
revision is to be delegated by the citizens of the commonwealth to a convention. The
foundation of free government is based on the consent of the governed. Therefore,
the Citizens' Suffrage Association of Pennsylvania appeals to the sense of right and
justice in the hearts of the citizens of this State, to aid in securing to every citizen,
irrespective of sex, an equal voice in the selection of delegates, and an equal right, if
elected thereto, to a seat in said constitutional convention."
WM. MORRIS DAVIS, Controller.
Mr. Robert Purvis, at the request of the Citizens' Suffrage
Association of Philadelphia, waited upon Mrs. President Hayes
and presented to her an address adopted by that society. Mr.
Purvis wrote:
I have just returned from a very satisfactory and delightful interview
•with Mrs. Hayes. She received me most cordially. I read to her the
(i.Kjuent address from the Citizens' Suffrage Association. She listened
with marked attention, was grateful for the high favor conferred upon her,
and sent her best wishes for the success of the cause. I made reference
l'>the fact that the address bore the honored name of Lucretia Mott,
which she received with a ready acknowledgment of her great worth and
usefulness, and her distinguished place as a reformer and philanthropist.
Through the liberality of Edward M. Davis, this society was
able to publish and circulate an immense number of tracts cover-
ing all phases of the question. He has been one of the few
464 History of Woman Suffrage.
abolitionists who have thrown into this movement all the old-time
fervor manifested in the slavery conflict. A worthy son of the
sainted Lucretia Mott, her mantle seems to have fallen on his
shoulders.
The Hon. John M. Broomall was ever ready to champion the
cause of equality of rights for women, not only in the legislature
and in the constitutional conventions of his own State, but on the
floor of congress as well. In a letter giving us valuable informa-
tion on several points, he says:
You ask when I made my first declaration for woman suffrage. I can-
not tell. I was born in 1816, and one of the earliest settled convictions I
formed as a man was that no person should be discriminated against on
account of sect, sex, race or color, but that all should have an equal
chance in the race which the Divine Ruler has set before all ; and I never
missed an opportunity to give utterance to this conviction in conversation,
on the stump, on the platform and in legislative bodies. My views were
set out concisely in my remarks in congress, on January 30, 1869, and I
cite the commencement and conclusion, as 1 find them in The Globe of
that date :
Every person owing allegiance to the government and not under the legal con-
trol of another, should ^iave an equal voice in making and administering the
laws, unless debarred for violating those laws ; and in this I make no distinction
of wealth, intelligence, race, family or sex. If just government is founded
upon the consent of the governed, and if the established mode of consent is through
the ballot-box, then those who are denied the right of suffrage can in no sense be held
as consenting, and the government which withholds that right is as to those from whom
it is withheld no just government. * * ' The measure now before the House
is necessary to the complete fulfillment of what has gone before it. To hesitate' now
is to put in peril all we have gained. Let this, too, pass into history as an accomplished
fact. Let it be followed, in due course of time, by the last crowning act of the series
— an amendment to the constitution securing to all citizens of full age, without regard
to sex, an equal voice in making and amending the laws under which they live, to be
forfeited only for crime. Then the great mission of the party in power will be ful-
filled; then will have been demonstrated the capacity of man for self-government;
then a just nation, founded upon the full and free consent of its citizens will be no
longer a dream of the optimist.
Mrs. Virginia Barnhurst writes:
I think you should make mention of the few men who, against the
greatest opposition, stood boldly up and avowed themselves in favor of
woman's cause. When I think of some of the speeches that I heard from
the opposite side — expressions which sent the hot blood to my face, and
which showed the low estimate law-makers put upon woman, those few
men who dared to defend mothers and sisters, stand out in my mind
as worthy of having their names go down in history — and especially
in a history written by women. I had a good talk with Lawyer Campbell.
He is one of the most ardent in the cause ; he believes the ballot to be a
necessit)' to woman, as a means of self-protection, this necessity being
seen in the unequal operation of many laws relating to the guardianship
Campbell's Minority Report. 465
of children and the ownership of property. Caleb White's words have in
them the just consciousness of their own immortality : " I want my vote
to be recorded ; not to be judged of here, but to be judged of by coming
generations, who, at least, will give to woman the rights which God in-
tended she should have."
The constitutional convention to which reference has been so
frequently made in this chapter, assembled November 12, 1872,
and as early as the 22d, resolutions relative to women holding
school-offices and to the property-rights of women were presented.
Numberless petitions for these and full suffrage for women were
sent in during the entire sitting of the convention. February 3,
1873, John H. Campbell presented the minority report of the
Committee on Suffrage and Elections:
The undersigned, members of the Committee on Suffrage, Election and Represen-
tation, dissent from that part of the majority report of said committee, which limits
the right of suffrage to male electors. We recommend that the question, " Shall
woman exercise the right of suffrage," be submitted by the convention to the qualified
electors of this commonwealth, and also upon the same day therewith, to those women
of the commonwealth who upon the day of voting shall be of the age of twenty-one
years and upwards, and have been residents of the State one year, and in the district
where they offered to vote at least sixty days prior thereto; and that if the majority of
all the votes cast at said election should be in the affirmative, then the word "male " as
a qualification for an elector, contained in section , article on suffrage and
election shall be stricken out, and women in this State shall thereafter exercise the
right of suffrage, subject only to the restrictions placed upon the male voters.
JOHN H. CAMPBELL,
LEWIS C. CASSIDY.
LEVI ROOKE.
The amendment for full suffrage was lost by a vote of 75 to 25,
with 33 absent, while the amendment making women elegible for
school offices was carried by a vote of 60 to 32.* The debate by
those in favor of the amendment was so ably and eloquently con-
ducted that we would gladly reproduce it, had not all the salient
points been so often and so exhaustively presented on the floor
of congress, and by some of the members from Pennsylvania.
After the passage of the school law of 1873, it was immediately
tested all over the State, rousing opposition and conflict every-
where, but the struggle resulted favorably to women, who now
hold many offices to which they were once ineligible. At the
first election of school directors in Philadelphia the nomination
* Among the men who spoke for woman's enfranciscment were John M. Broomall, John M. Camp-
bell, Lewis C. Cassidy, Benjamin L. Temple, Levi Rooke, George F. Horton, H. W. Palmer, William
Darlington, Harry White, Frank Mantor, Thomas MacConnell, Henry Carter, Thomas E. Cochran.
In addition to those who spoke, those who voted yfs are John E. Addicks, William H. Ainey, William
D. Baker, Charles O. Bowman, Charles Brodhead, George N. Corson, David Craig, Matthew Edwards.
J. Gillingham Tell, Thomas Howard. Ed-ward C. Knight, George Lear, John S. Mann, H. W. Patter-
ion, T. H. B. Patton, Thomas Struthers, John W. F. White.
30
466 History of Woman Suffrage.
of two women was hotly contested. The Evening TelcgrapJi of
February 6, 1874, gives the following:
There is progressing in the Thirteenth ward a contest which involves so peculiar and
important an is.-,ue as to merit the widest publicity. It illustrates how the rights guar-
anteed to women under the new constitution are to be denied them, if cunning and
bold chicanery are to be tolerated, by a few ward politicians. At the Republican pri-
mary election, held January 20, Mrs. Harriet \V. Paist and Mrs. George W. Woelpper
were duly nominated as candidates for members of the board of school directors of the
ward. Both of these ladies received their certificates, that given to Mrs. Paist reading
as follows:
This is to certify that at a meeting of the judges of the different divisions of the
Thirteenth ward, held in accordance with the rules of the Republican party, on the
evening of January 20, 1874, Mrs. Harriet W. Paist was found to be elected as candi-
date upon the Republican ticket from the Thirteenth ward, for school director.
JAMKS M. STEWART, ) r, , CHARLES M. CARPK.NTER, President.
DAVID J. SMITH, f c'
No sooner was it ascertained that the ladies had actually become candidates on the
Republican ticket than a movement was inaugurated to oust them, the old war tocsin
of "Anything to beat Grant" being for this purpose amended thus : " Anything to
beat the women." This antagonism to the fair candidates was based entirely upon
the supposition that their names would so materially weaken the ticket as to place the
election of the Republican common councilman, Henry C. Dunlap, in the greatest
jeopardy. To save him, therefore, the managers of tl.c movement must sacrifice
Mesdames \Yoelpper and Paist. How was this to be accomplished ? Each was forti-
fied in her position by a genuine certificate of election, and had, furthermore, ex-
pressed her determination to run. What could not be done fairly must be accom-
plished by strategy. Mr. Ezra Lukens called upon Mrs. Paist, stating that if she did
not withdraw the Republicans who were opposed to the lady candidates would unite
•with the "other party" and defeat the Republican ward ticket. Mrs. Paist inquired
if she had not been regularly nominated, and his reply was that she had been, but that
her opponents in the party would unite with the " other party " and defeat her. Mrs.
Paist was firm, and Mr. Lukens retired foiled. A day or two after, the chairman of
the Thirteenth ward Republican executive committee received somehow this letter :
PHILADELPHIA. February 2, 1674.
DEAR SIR: Please accept this as my declination as school director on the Thirteenth
ward Republican ticket. Hoping it v. ill please those opposed to a lady director.
Respectfully yours, HARRIET \V. PAIST.
A week previous to this the husband of Mrs. Woelpper was called upon by Mr.
William B. Elliott, a member of this executive committee, and was informed by him
that Mrs. Paist had withdrawn, and that it would be unpleasant, if not inexpedient,
for Mrs. Woelpper to run alone. Mr. Woelpper expressed his belief that if such were
the case his wife would withdraw. At a meeting of the executive committee a short
time after, it was announced that both the ladies had withdrawn, and everything
looked serene for victory, when the next day the members were individually informed
that the letter of declination written above was a base forgery, and that neither of the
ladies intended to withdraw from the contest. Another meeting of the executive
committee was held on the 2d inst., at which Mr. Woelpper, jr , was present.
He declared that the statement made to his father was false, and that he was present to
say for his mother that she was still a candidate. This announcement fell like a bomb
in a peaceful camp, causing great confusion. After order was restored, William
B. Elliott, the collector, offered a resolution declaring it inexpedient to have any ladies
on the ticket at this time. This resolution was opposed by F. Theodore Walton and
a number of the members, who denied the power of the committee to change the ticket
regularly chosen at the primary election. They favored the fair candidates, for whose
election as school directors the constitution had made special provisions, and whose
Women Elected School Officers. 467
t
presence in the school-boards had been very favorably commented upon by all the
papers of the city. Besides, the ladies were as legitimately enticed to their candidacy
as Mr. Dunlap, and it would be a gross and unparalelled outrage to sacrifice them
from mere prejudice, or in the belief that their presence would injure the chances of
Mr. Dunlap. Then arose Collector Elliott, his face fairly glowing with honest indigna-
tion, and his voice sharp and stinging in his tirade against the newspapers. What did
he care what the newspapers said ? What are the newspapers but sheets sold out to the
highest bidder? The newspapers, he cried, are all in the market, to be bought and
sold the same as coal ! That was their business, and they didn't want stability so long
as there was cash to be got. Then he came down upon them in a perfect whirlwind
of wrath for daring to favor the women candidates for school directors of the Thir-
teenth ward, and sat down as though he had accomplished a noble purpose.
The question on the resolution was pressed, and resulted in its adoption by a vote
of 20 to 12.* A resolution was offered by David T. Smith that Mrs. Paist and Mrs.
Woelpper be thrown off the ticket, and this resolution was carried by the same Vote as
the preceding one. The meeting then adjourned. In consequence of this action
Mrs. Paist addressed to the citizens of the Thirteenth ward the following card, in
which she declares that she does not intend to resign:
To the Citizens of the Thirteenth Ward :
Unpleasant though it maybe to thus appear before the public, I feel that I must, in
justice to mysell, expose the fraud and deception that have been practiced to defeat
my election on the i"th of February next. I received the nomination and certificate
of election signed by James M. Stewart, David T. Smith, clerks, and Charles M. Car-
penter, president. Certainly they would not be guilty of deceiving, for are they not
"all honorable men"? John B. Green, George M. Taylor and A. W. Lyman then
(K/ra Lukens having been on a similar fruitless mission) called on the eve of January
30, 1874, wishing me to withdraw; stating that Mrs. Woelpper had done so (which was
false), and they thought it would not be pleasant forme to serve. They also placed it
•on the ground of expediency, fearing that their candidate for council (Mr. Dunlap) was
so weak that a woman on the ticket might jeopardize the election. I knew not before
that woman held the balance of power. After sending their emissaries under the
false garb of friendship to induce me to decline, without success, they were reduced
to the desperate means of producing a letter, which was read by the secretary of the
executive meeting, February 2, purporting to come from me, and withdrawing my
name. I pronounce it publicly to be a forgery. I have not withdrawn, neither do I
intend to withdraw. Would that I had the power of Brutus or a Patrick Henry, that
I might put these designing, intriguing politicians in their true light ! They deserve
in In held up to the contumely and scorn of the community.
February j, 1874. HARRIET W. PAIST.
Despite the action of the committee, these talented ladies will be run as the regular
candidates for school directors. A committee of citizens of the Republican party will
]>n •]> arc the tickets and see that they are properly distributed, and take all precautions
> I fraud at the election and against any effort that may be made to count out the
fair candidates at the meeting of the ward return judges. It is of the greatest import-
that all good citizens of the ward shall do all in their power to secure not. only
the fullest possible number of votes for the lady candidates, but a fair count when
* Ayes — William Styles, William McLain, clerks in the water department; A. W. Lyman, clerk in
loin-house ; M. C. Coppeck, clerk in the highway department, who was defeated by one of the
tor school directorship ; John 1!. Green, a member of the board of education; John Huckley,
clerk in the post-office ; Theodore Canfield, sergeant of police ; John Murray, contractor of the high-
way department ; ( Ic-orge W. Schrack, an ex-clerk, lately resigned from the tax receiver's office ; 1 >an-
inith, cx-dctectivc ; Ashcr W. Dewees, Oliver Bowler, Mr. Agnew, Ezra Lukens, clerk in the
I States a^M-tant treasurer's office, president of the Republican Invincibles, candidate last year
' Mr. Jonathan I 'ugh for commissioner of city property, and a candidate for the same office next
V\ ilhaiii 11. Klliott, collector of internal revenue ; Charles M. Carpenter, alderman, who signed
M I'.HM'?. re Ttiiu ate ; Jackson Keyser, an employe in the navy yard ; Alfred Ktihl, clerk in the cus-
tom-house; Mr. Jones, and Henry C. Dunlap, who is Republican candidate for common council
—ao. Nays— James W. Sayre, Joseph R. Ridge, Samuel Caldwell, Dr. Charles Hooker, John E. Lane,
T.. UK ]:,,^v, John Mansfield. Daniel Rieff, William Githens, Thomas Evans, George Schimpf and K.
Theodore Walton— 12. So the resolution was carried by 20 yeas to 12 nays.
468 History of Woman Suffrage.
they have been received. It remains to be seen whether the Republican citizens of
the ward will endorse the action of a committee which from mere prejudice can throw
off regularly-elected candidates from a ticket.
The ladies were elected, and Mrs. Paist served her term. Mrs.
Woelpper died immediately after the election.
Anna McDowell, in the Sunday Republic of April 8, 1877, in a
long article shows the necessity of some legal knowledge for
women, enough at least to look after their own interests, and not
be compelled through their ignorance to trust absolutely to the
protection of others. They should be trained to understand that
all pecuniary affairs should be placed on a business basis as
strictly between themselves and their fathers and brothers as men
require in their contracts with each other. After giving many
instances in which women have been grossly defrauded by their
relatives, she points to the will of the great railroad king of Penn-
sylvania :
Let us glance for a moment at the will of the late J. Edgar Thomson, than which
no more unjust testament was ever offered for probate. This gentleman, the sole
object of affection of two most worthy and self-sacrificing sisters, married late in life
without making any adequate settlement upon the relatives to whom, in a great
measure, he owed his success. He always promised to provide for them amply, saying,
repeatedly, in effect, in letters which we have seen, " As my fortune advances so also
shall yours; my prosperity will be your prosperity," etc. Oblivious to the ties of
nature and affection, however, when he came to make his will he, out of a fortune of
two millions, bequeathed to these sisters, during life, an annuity of $1,200 per annum
only, leaving the rest of the income of his estate to his wife and her niece, the latter a
young lady whom he had previously made independent by his skilful investment of a
few thousand dollars left her by her father. Not content with the will which gave her
also a large income for life out of Mr. Thomson's estate, this niece of his wife brought
suit against the executors to recover bonds found after the death of the testator in an
envelope on which her name was written, and through the ruling of Judge Thayer, a
relation by marriage to the husband of the lady, the case was decided in her favor, and
$100,000 was thus absolutely and permanently taken from the fund designed for the
asylum which it was Mr. Thomson's long-cherished desire to found for the benefit and
education of orphan girls whose fathers had been or might be killed by accidc'iit on the
Pennsylvania and other railroads. The injustice of this decision is made manifest when
we reflect that the Misses Anna and Adeline Thomson, who worked side by side with
their brother is civil engineers in their father's office, and labored, without pay, therein,
that lie might be educated and sent abroad further to perfect himself in his profession,
were cut off with a comparatively paltry stipend for life, this being still further re-
duced by the collateral-inheritance tax. As high an authority as Dr. William A.
Hammond says that, '' for a man to cut off his natural heirs in his will is priina facie
evidence of abberation of mind," and we believe this to be true.
Had these sisters* been brothers they would have been recog-
nized as partners and had their legal proportion of the accumula-
T/te Century Club. 469
tions of the business in which they labored in early years with
equal faithfulness, side by side. This is but another instance of
women's blind faith in the men of their families and of the danger
in allowing business matters to adjust themselves on the basis of
honor, courtesy and protection.
Among the literary women of the State are Sarah C. Hallowell,
on the editorial staff of the Public Ledger ; the daughters of John
W. Forney, for many years in charge of the woman's department
of Forney s Progress ; Anne McDowell, editor of the woman's
department in The Sunday Republic ; Mrs. E. A. Wade ; " Bessie
Bramble " of Pittsburg has for many years ably edited a woman's
department in the Sunday Leader ; Matilda Hindman, an ex-
cellent column in the Pittsburg Commercial Gazette. In science
Grace Anna Lewis stands foremost. Her paper read before the
Woman's Congress in Philadelphia in 1876, attracted much atten-
tion. These ladies with others organized "The Century Club "*
in 1876, for preeminently practical and benevolent work. . Its ob-
jects are various: looking after working girls, sending children
into the country for fresh air during summer, and improving the
houses of the poor and needy. The Club has a large house to
which is attached a cooking-school and lodgings for unfortunates
in great emergencies.
Woman's ambition was not confined at this period to litera-
ture and the learned professions ; she found herself capable of
practical work on a large scale in the department of agriculture.
The Philadelphia Press has the following :
The beautiful farm of Abel C. Thomas, at Tacony, near Philadelphia, is remarkable
chiefly because it is managed by a woman, Mrs. Louise H. Thomas. Her husband,
the intimate friend of Horace Greeley, and well known as an author and theologian,
in time past, has long been too feeble to take any part in managing the property. That
duty has devolved upon Mrs. Thomas. The house, two hundred yards from the
Pennsylvania railroad, is hidden from view by the trees which surround it. The
grounds are tastefully laid out, and the lawn mowed with a regularity that indicates
constant feminine attention. The plot is 20 .acres in extent. Six acres comprise the
orchard and garden. In addition to apple, apricot, pear, peach, plum and cherry,
there are specimens of all kinds of trees, from pine to poplar.
* The Executive Board of the New Century Club for 1879-1880, was : President, Mrs. Eliza S.
Turner; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. Emily W. Taylor, Mrs. S. C. F. Hallowell, Mrs. Henry C. Townsend,
Mrs. Aubrey H. Smith ; Corresponding Secretary, Miss Louise Stockton ; Recording Secretary, Miss
Anna C. Bliss; Treasurer, Mrs. Charlotte L. Pierce; Directors, Mrs. Susan I. Lesley, Mrs. Henry
Cohen, Mrs. Huldah Justice, Miss Emily Sartain, Miss Mary Grew, Mrs. S. B. F. Grcble,' Mrs. M. W.
Coggins, Miss Mary A. Burnham, Mrs. Elliston L. Perot, Mrs. Thomas Roberts. Other names found
in its annual report as contributing to the efficiency of the club are: Mrs. Fannie B. Ames, Miss
Grace Anna Lewis, Mrs. Emma J. Bartol, Mrs. E. L. Head, Miss Mary C Coxe, Mrs. Charlotte L.
Pierce, Madam Emma Seller, Miss Amanda L. Dods, Miss I.elia Patridge, Miss Lily Ray, Miss Ella
Cole, Mrs. Susan I. Lesley, Mrs. E. C. Mayer. Miss Bennett, Mile. Frasson. The work of the club hat
Us divisions of science, literature, art, music, entertainment, cooking, hospitalities, charities, employ-
ment for women, legal protection for working women, prisons and reformatory institutions.
470 History of Woman Suffrage.
A Press reporter recently walked over the premises, and Mrs. Thomas explained her
manner of doing business. "I look after everything about the farm; take my little
sample bags of wheat to the mills, and sell the crop by it; and twice I got ten cents
more a bushel than any of my neighbors. But the things I take most interest in are
my cows, chickens and bees. My cattle are from Jersey island, and pure Alderney.
They are very gentle and good milkers. From four of them I get about 800
pounds of butter a year. The price of this butter varies from 50 cents to $1.00 per
pound. There's my dog. When it's milking time, the hired man says to the dog,
' Slii'p, go after the cows,' and away he goes, and in a little while the herd come tink-
ling up. Why send a man to do a boy's work, or a boy to do that which a shepherd
dog can do just as well? The cows understand him, and readily come when they
are sent after. Well, so much for the milk department. Now, as to the garden; I
don't sell much from that. Still, if the vegetables were not grown, they would
have to be bought, and I take all that into consideration in closing accounts.
And that's one thing most farmers don't do; they don't put on the cash side of the ledger
the cost of their living, for which they have been to no expense. Now, as to the bees.
The first cost is about the only expense attached to these little workers. I have twen-
ty-five colonies, and can, and do handle them with as much safety as if they were so
much dry wheat. I sell about $100 worth of honey yearly, and consume half as much
at home. The bees are not troublesome when you know how to handle them, but
they require to be delicately handled at swarming time.
" Now, as to chickens. My stock consists exclusively of the light Brahma breed.
They come early, grow fast, sell readily, are tender, and have no disposition to forage;
they are not all the time wandering round and flying over the garden fence, and
scratching up flowajr and vegetable seeds. In fact, if you'll notice, there is a docility
about my live-stock that is very attractive. The cows and chickens only need articula-
tion to carry on conversation. You didn't see the hatching department of my chicken-
house? I modeled the building after one used by a Madame de Linas, a French lady
living near Paris, and am much pleased with it. I sometimes raise 1,000 chickens a
season. I sell them at prices all the way up from $i to $3 apiece. You must re-
member that they are full-blooded, and I always have my stock replenished. I keep
the best and sell for the highest prices. They are generally sold to private families,
who wish to get the stock, and I always sell them alive. They are not much trouble
to raise, provided you know how, and have the accommodations for doing it. I feed
them corn, milk, meal and water, and pay particular attention to their being properly
housed. The eggs of this breed are very rich, and I charge one dollar and a half
for a setting — that is, thirteen eggs.
" I have some three or four acres of wheat growing and it is heading out finely. Oh!"
said Mrs. Thomas, becoming more enthusiastic, as she reviewed the incomes from the
cereals, cows, and chickens, " I am making money, and money is a standard of suc-
cess, although there is to me a greater pleasure than the mere financial part of the
business, which comes from the passion I have for the life. I wish, indeed, that
young ladies would turn their attention to this matter. To me, it seems to open to
them an avenue for acquiring a competency in an independent way; and to one who
would pursue it earnestly, I know of no avocation scarcely worth being classed
with it."
" And you are not lonesome out here?"
"Oh ! no. I never Was lonesome an hour in my life — don't have time; I have a
great deal of work to do, and am always ready to do it. Indeed, the only people I
pity are those who do not work, or find no interest in it. No, no; I have plenty of
visitors, and last week Jennie June, Lucretia Mott, and Anna Dickinson paid me
a visit and were very much pleased while here. I have two grown-up boys, one in
New York and the other in California; and have reared thirteen children besides my
own family — colored, French, Italian, and I know not what nationalities."
Mrs. Thomas, who is certainly a remarkable womarj, is a thoroughly educated one;
has traveled extensively both in Europe and this country. Herself and husband
Anne E. McDowell, 471
have been intimate acquaintances of many eminent men, among whom were President
Lincoln and Secretary Stanton. The activity displayed in managing the estate indi-
cates the possession of marked executive ability, and the exercise she thus receives
has doubtless had its share in keeping her young, well-preserved, and good-natured.
When the Rev. Knox Little visited this country in 1880, think-
ing the women of America specially needed his ministrations, he
preached a sermon that called out the general ridicule of our liter-
ary women. In the Sunday Republic of December 12, Anne E.
M'Dowell said :
The reverend gentlemen of St. Clement's Church, of this city, with their frequent
English visiting clergymen, are not only trying their best to carry Christianity back
into the dark ages, by reinvesting it with all old-time traditions and mummeries, but
they are striving anew to forge chains for the minds, consciences, and bodies of women
whom the spirit of Christian progress has, in a measure, made free in this country. The
sermon of the Rev. Knox Little, rector of St. Alban's Church, Manchester, England,
recently delivered at St. Clement's in this city, and reported in the daily Times, is just
such an one as might be looked for from the class of thinkers whom he on that occasion
represented. These ritualistic brethren are bitterly opposed to divorce, and hold the
belief that so many Britons adhere to on their native soil, viz., that "woman is an in-
ferior animal, created only for man's use and pleasure, and designed by Providence
to be in absolute submission to her lord and master." The feeling engendered by
this belief breeds contempt for and indifference to the nobler aspirations of women
amongst men of the higher ranks, while it crops out in tyranny in the middle, and
brutality in the lower classes of society. Even the gentry and nobility of Great Britain
are not all exempt from brutal manifestations of power toward their wives. We once
sheltered in our own house for weeks the wife of an English Earl who had been forced
to leave her home and family through the brutality of her high-born husband — brutality
from which the law could not or would not protect her. She died at our house, and
when she was robed for her last rest much care had to be taken to arrange the dress
and hair so that the scars of wounds inflicted on the throat, neck and cheek by her
cruel husband might not be too apparent.
The reports of English police courts are full of disclosures of ill-treatment of women
by their husbands, and year by year our own courts are more densely thronged by
women asking safety from the brutality of men who at the altar have vowed to "love,
honor and protect" them. In nearly all these cases, the men who are brought into our
courts on the charge of maltreating women are of foreign birth who have been born and
brought up under the spiritual guidance of such clergymen as the Rev. Knox-Little,
who tell them, as he told the audience of women to whom he preached in this city;
" To her husband a wife owes the duty of unqualified obedience. There is no crime
that a man can commit which justifies his wife in leaving him or applying for that
monstrous thing, a divorce. It is her duty to submit herself to him always, and no
crime he can commit justifies her lack of obedience. If he is a bad or wicked man
she may gently remonstrate with him, but disobey him, never." Again, addressing
liis audience at St. Clement's, he says: " You may marry a bad man, but what of that ?
You had no right to marry a bad man. If you knew it, you deserved it. If you did
not know it, you must endure it all the same. You can pray for him, and perhaps he
will reform; but leave him — never. Never think of that accursed thing — divorce.
I)ivorce breaks up families — families build up the church. The Christian woman
lives to build up the church." This is the sort of sermonizing, reiterated from year to.
that makes brutes of Englishmen, of all classes, and sinks the average English
woman to the condition of a child-beaiing slave, valuable, mostly, for the number
of children she brings her husband. She is permitted to hold no opinion unaccepted
by IHT master, denied all reason and forced to frequent churches where she is forbid-
den the exercise of her common-sense, and where she is told: "Men are logical;,
472 History of Woman Suffrage.
women lack this quality, but have an intricacy of thought. There are those who think
that women can be taught logic; this is a mistake. They can never, by any process of
education, arrive at the same mental status as that enjoyed by man; but they have a
quickness of apprehension — what is usually called leaping at conclusions — that is as-
tonishing."
Divorce is a question over which woman now disputes man's
absolute control. His canon and civil laws alike have made mar-
riage for her a condition of slavery, from which she is now seek-
ing emancipation; and just in proportion as women become in-
dependent and self-supporting, they will sunder the ties that bind
them in degrading relations.
In September, 1880, Governor Hoyt was petitioned to appoint
a woman as member of the State Board of Commissioners of
Public Charities. The special business of this commission is to
examine into the condition of all charitable, reformatory and
correctional institutions within the State, to have a general over-
sight of the methods of instruction, the well-being and comfort
of the inmates, with a supervision of all those in authority in
such institutions. Dr. Susan Smith of West Philadelphia, from
the year of the cruel imprisonment of the unfortunate Hester
Vaughan, regularly for twelve years poured petitions into both
houses of the legislature, numerously signed by prominent phi-
lanthropists, setting forth the necessity of women as inspectors in
the female wards of the jails of the State, and backing them by
an array of appalling facts, and yet the legislature, from year to
year, turned a deaf ear to her appeals. Happily for the unfortu-
nate wards of the State, the law passed in 1881.
STATE HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, NORRISTOWN, Pa., Sept. 28, 1885.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY : I have referred your letter to my old friend,
Dr. Hiram Corson, of Plymouth, Pa., who can, if he will, give a much
better history of the movement in this State, than anyone else, being one
of the pioneers. I hope that you will hear from him. If, however, he
returns your letter to me, I will give you the few facts that I know. I
should be glad to have you visit our hospital and see our work.
Very respectfully yours, ALICE BENNETT.
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Oct. 2, 1885.
"MlSS SUSAN B. ANTHONY: Esteemed Friend: — Dr. Alice Bennett has
referred your letter with questions to me. Alice Bennett, M. D., Ph. D.,
is chief physician of the female department of the eastern hospital
of Pennsylvania, for the insane. She is also member of the Mont-
gomery County Medical Society, and member of the Medical Society
of the State of Pennsylvania. She is the only woman in the civilized
world, of whom I have ever heard, who has entire charge of the
female patients in an institution for the care and treatment of the
insane. We have in the Harrisburg hospital, Dr. Jane Garver, as
Dr. Alice Bennett. 473
physician for the female insane, but she is subordinate to the male
physician. She has a female physician to assist her. Dr. Bennett
was appointed and took charge in July, 1880, with Dr. Anna Kingler as
her assistant. Dr. Kingler resigned, and went to India as medical mis-
sionary; was succeeded by Dr. Rebecca S. Hunt, who, after more than a
year's service, also resigned to go to India as medical missionary. Dr.
Bennett has now two women physicians to assist her in the care of more
than six hundred patients, nearly as many as, if not more than, are in the
female departments of the Harrisburg, Danville, and Warren hospitals
all combined.
Dr. Bennett's hospital is a model one. There is a total absence of phys-
ical restraint, as used formerly under male superintendents, and, I may
say, as still used in other hospitals than that of Norristown. Her skill in
providing amusement, instruction and employment of various kinds, for
the comfort and restoration of her patients to sanity and physical health,
I feel sure has never been equaled in any hospital for the treatment of in-
sane women. It is exceedingly interesting to see the school which she
has established, and in which a large number of the insane are daily in-
structed, amused and interested. It is well known, now, that when the
mind of the insane can be drawn away from their delusions by employ-
ment, or whatever else may interest them and absorb their attention, they
are on the road to health. The public are not yet fully awake to the great
reform effected in having women physicians for the women insane. In-
sane women have been treated as though there were no diseases peculiar
to the sex. Never, so far as I have been able to learn, have they been
treated by the means used for the relief of women in their homes. An
eminent surgeon of Philadelphia informed me a few days since, that thirty
years ago he was an assistant to Dr. Kirkbride, and desired to treat a
patient for uterine troubles, but was rebuked by Dr. K., and told never to
attempt to use the appliances relied on in private practice. My inform-
ant added that he believed not a single insane woman had ever received
special treatment for affections in any of the hospitals under the care of
mule physicians. While we realize that great advantages would have
come to these poor unfortunates by proper treatment, we feel that no
male physician having due regard for his own reputation, should attempt
to treat an insane woman for uterine diseases by means used in private
practice, or even in hospitals with sane women. And this shows the im-
portance of women physicians for women insane. One of the most in-
tellectual and prominent women of this State was, 30 years ago, on
account of domestic application, an inmate of our then champion hospi-
tal for the insane, for several months, during all of which time her suffer-
ings were, to use her own words, indescribable, and yet she was not once
asked in relation to her physical condition. Let us turn aside from this,
and glance at the last annual report of Dr. Alice Bennett. She reports
180 patients examined for uterine diseases; 125 were placed under
treatment ; 67 treated for a length of time ; 60 benefited by treatment.
While Dr. Bennett does not say that their insanity was caused by the
Uterine disease, or that they were cured by curing that affection, she ob-
serves that in some cases the relief of the mind kept pace with the prog-
474 History of Woman Suffrage.
ress of cure of the uterine affections. I have, perhaps, written more
than was needed on this subject, but I am so anxious that we shall have
women doctors in every hospital for the treatment of insane women, and
know, too, what influence yourself and good Mrs. Stanton can exert by
turning your attention to it, which I am sure you will as you become in-
formed in relation to the facts, that I could not stop short of what I have
said. 1 have prepared a full account of our struggles with the State Society
during six years to obtain for women doctors their proper recognition by
the profession, and also the obstacles and opposition we encountered in
our attempt to procure the law empowering boards of trustees to appoint
women to hospitals for the insane of their sex. It will give me pleasure
to send them to you if they would be of any use to you.
Respectfully, HIRAM CORSON.
As I am within a week of my 82d birthday, and am writing while my
heart is beating one hundred and sixty times per minute, you must not
criticise me too sharply. H. C.
January 24, 1882, Miss Rachel Foster made all the arrange-
ments for a national convention, to be held in St. George's Hall,
Philadelphia.* She also inaugurated a course of lectures, of
which she took the entire financial responsibility, in the popular
hall of the Young Men's Christian Association. Ex-Governor
Hoyt of Wyoming, in his lecture, gave the good results of thir-
teen years' experience of woman's voting in that Territory. Miss
Foster employed a stenographer to report the address, had 20,-
ooo copies printed, and circulated them in the Nebraska campaign
during the following summer.
At its next session (1883) the legislature passed a resolution
recommending congress to submit a sixteenth amendment, secur-
ing to women the right to vote :
HARRISBURG, Pa., March 21, 1883. — In the House, Mr. Morrison of Alle-
ghany offered a resolution urging congress to amend the national consti-
tution so that the right of suffrage should not be denied to citizens of any
State on account of sex. It was adopted by 78 ayest to 76 noes, the
result being greeted with both applause and hisses.
The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin of November 8, 1882, men-
tions an attempt to open the University of Pennsylvania to
women :
* See Chapter 30 for an account of this Philadelphia convention.
t The yeas were as follows : Messrs. Ayers, Barnes, Blackford, Boyer, Boyle, Brooks, W. C. Brown,
I. B. Brown, J. L. Brown, Brosius, Burnite, Burchfield, Chadwick, Coburn, E. L. Davis, Deveney,
Duggan, Eckels, Ellsworth, Emery, Fetters, Gahan, Gardner, Gavitt, Gentner, Glenn, Grier, G. W.
Hall, F. Hall, A. W. Hayes, Hines, Higgins, Hoofnagle, Hulings, Hughes, Jenkins, Klein, Kava-
naugh, Landis, Latterly, Merry, B. B. Mitchell, S. N. Mitchell, Millor, Molineaux, A. H. Morgan. \V.
D. Morgan, J. W. Morrison, E. Morrison, Myton, McCabe, McCIarnn, Neill, Neeley, Nelson, Xesbit,
Nicholson, Parkinson, Powell, Romig, Schwartz, Short, Sinex, Slocum, J. Smith. Sneeringer, Snod-
grass, Stees, Sterett, Stewart, Stubbs, Sweeney, Trant, Vanderslice, Vaughn, Vojzdes, Wayne and
Ziegler— 78.
The Conservation of Modesty. 475
The trustees held several meetings to consider the applications. Beside Miss
Craddock's, there were two others which the faculty referred to the trustees, and
which appear not to have been reached in the regular course of business. Miss Flor-
ence Kelley, a post-graduate from Cornell University, daughter of Judge Kelley, who
applied for admission as a special student in Greek, and Miss Frances Henrietta
Mitchell, a junior student from Cornell, who asked to be admitted in the junior class.
Our information comes from these ladies, who were notified that their cases would be
presented. The question of coeducation, which has been seriously occupying the
minds of the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, was settled last evening, at
least for the present, by the passage of a resolution refusing the admission of girls to
the department of arts, but proposing to establish a separate collegiate department for
them, whenever the requisite cost, about $300,000, is provided. There has been an
intelligent and honest difference among both trustees and professors on this interesting
question, and the diversity has been complicated by the various grounds upon which
the pros and cons are maintained. There are those who advocate the admission of
girls to the University as a proper thing perse. Others consent to it, because the
University cannot give the desired education separately. Others hold that girls should
be admitted because of their equal rights to a university education, although their
admission is very undesirable. Others oppose coeducation in the abstract, conceding
that girls should be as well educated as boys, but insisting that they must be differently
and therefore separately educated. These draw a clear line between "equal" and
" similar" education, and hold that no university coiirse of studies can be laid out that
will not present much of classical literature and much of the mental, moral and natural
sciences, that cannot be studied and recited by boys and girls together, without serious
risk of lasting injury to both.
Would it not be better, all things considered, to abjure this
kind of classical literature, and instead of subjecting our sons to
its baneful influence, give them the refining, elevating compan-
ionship of their sisters? If we would preserve the real modesty
and purity of our daughters, it is quite as important that we
should pay some attention to the delicacy and morality of the
men with whom they are to associate.
If a girl cannot read the classics with a young man without
contamination, how can she live with him in all the intimacies of
family life without a constant shock to her refined sensibilities?
So long as society considers that any man of known wealth is a
fit husband for our daughters, all this talk of the faculties and
trustees of our colleges about protecting woman's modesty is the
sheerest nonsense and hypocrisy. It is well to remember that
these professors and students have mothers, wives and sisters,
and if man is coarse and brutal, he invariably feels free to show
his worst passions at his own fireside. To warn women against
coeducation is to warn them against association with men in any
relation whatsoever.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
NEW JERSEY.
Women Voted in the Early Days — Deprived of the Right by Legislative Enactment
in 1807 — Women Demand the Restoration of Their Rights in 1868 — At the Polls
in Vineland and Roseville Park — Lucy Stone Agitates the Question — State Suffrage
Society Organized in 1867 — Conventions — A Memorial to the Legislature — Mary
F. Davis — Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford — Political Science Club — Mrs. Cornelia C.
Hussey — Orange Club, 1870 — July 4, 1874, Mrs. Devereux Blake Gives the Ora-
tion— Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's Letter — The Laws of New Jersey in Regard to
Property and Divorce — Constitutional Commission, 1873 — Trial of Rev. Isaac M.
See — Women Preaching in His Pulpit — The Case Appealed — Mrs. Jones, Jail-
oress — Legislative Hearings.
NEW JERSEY was the only State that, in adopting her first
constitution, recognized woman's right to suffrage which she had
exercised during the colonial days, and from time immemorial in
the mother country. The fact that she was deprived of this
right from 1807 to 1840 by a legislative enactment, while the
constitution secured it,* proves that the power of the legislature,
composed of representatives from the people, was considered at
that early day to be above the State constitution. If, then, the
legislature could abridge the suffrage, it must have the power to
extend it, and all the women of this State should demand is an act
of the legislature. They need not wait for the slow process of a
constitutional amendment submitted to the popular vote. In
1868, in harmony with a general movement in many other States,
the women of New Jersey began to demand the restoration of
their ancient rights. The following is from The Revolution of
November 19, 1868, written by Elizabeth A. Kingsbury:
VINELAND, N. J., Nov. 5, 1868.
At a meeting of women, held the week before election, a unanimous vote was taken
that we would go to the polls. John Gage, chairman of the Woman Suffrage Asso-
ciation of Vineland, called a meeting, and though the day was an inclement one,
there was a good attendance. A number of earnest men as well as women addressed
* See Vol. I., page 447.
Elizabeth A. Kings bur ys Letter. 477
the audience. Among them were Colonel Moss of Missouri, and James M. Scovel
of Camden, State senator, who strengthened us by their words of earnest eloquence.
At 7:30 A. M., November 3, John and Portia Gage and myself entered Union Hall,
where the judges of election had already established themselves for the day. Instead
of occupying the center of the platform, they had taken one side of it, apparently
for the purpose of leaving us room on the other. We seated ourselves in chairs
brought for the occasion, when one gentleman placed a small table for our use. An-
other inquired if we were comfortable and the room sufficiently warm. " Truly," we
thought, "this does not look like a very terrible opposition." As time passed, there
came more men and women into the hall. Quite a number of the latter presented
their votes first at the table where those of men were received, where they were re-
jected with politeness, and then taken to the other side of the platform and deposited
in our box. Shall I describe this box, twelve inches long and six wide, and originally
a grape-box ? Very significant of Vineland. Soon there came to the aid of Mrs. Gage
and myself a blooming and beautiful young lady, Estelle Thomson, who, with much
grace and dignity, sat there throughout the day, recording the names of the voters. It
would have clone you good to have witnessed the scene. Margaret Pryor,* who is better
known to you perhaps than to many of your readers, as one whose life has been active in
the cause of freedom for the negro and for woman; a charming old lady of eighty-four
years, yet with the spirit, elasticity and strength of one of thirty-five, sat there in her
nice Quaker bonnet by the side of Miss Thomson a great part of the day. Sarah
Pearson, also advanced in years and eminent for her labors of love for the suffering
and oppressed everywhere; with her peculiarly delicate organization and placid coun-
tenance, remained with us till the last moment. There was no lack of friends and
supporters. The platform was crowded with earnest, refined, intellectual women, who
felt that it was good for them to be there. One beautiful girl said in my hearing, " I
feel so much stronger for having voted." It was pleasant to see husbands and wives
enter the hall together, only they had to separate, one turning to the right hand and
the other to the left, when no separation should have taken place.
Some women spent the day in going after their friends and bringing them to the
hall. Young ladies, after voting, went to the homes of their acquaintances, and took
care of the babies while the mothers came out to vote. \Vill this fact lessen the alarm
of some men for the safety of the babies of enfranchised women on election day ?
One lady of refinement and aristocratic birth brought her little girl of ten years with
her, and I assure you it did the men good as well as us. They said they never had so
quiet and pleasant a time at the polls before, though it is always more quiet here than
in many other towns, because the sale of ardent spirits is forbidden. John Gage —
bless his dear soul — identifies himself completely with this glorious cause, and labors
with an earnestness and uniformity of purpose that is truly charming. His team was
out all day, bringing women to vote, half-a-dozen at a time, while his personal efforts
were unremitting and eminently successful. He and his noble wife, Portia, seem to
be, indeed, one in thought and action. Some time ago he sent a pledge to the candi-
dates for office in this State. By signing it, they promise to sustain the cause of
woman suffrage by every means in their power. Nixon, candidate for the Senate,
signed it last year. House, candidate for the Assembly, signed the pledge at the
eleventh hour, and though he lost two of our votes by the delay, yet he, too, is
elected. Thus we have, at least, three public men in New Jersey pledged to sustain
* Mrs. I'ryor lived formerly in Waterloo, New York. She was present at the first convention at Sen-
eca Fall-,, and sustained the demand for woman suffrage with earnest sympathy. 1 have been indebted
to her for a splendid housekeeper, trained by her in all domestic accomplishments, who lived in my
family for thirty years, a faithful, devoted friend to me and my children. Much that I have enjoyed
and accomplished in life is due to her untiring and unselfish services. My cares were the lighter for
all the heavy burdens she willingly took on her shoulders. The name of Amelia Willard should'al-
ways be mentioned with loving praise by me and mine. Her sympathies have ever been in our reform.
When Abby Kelly was a young girl, speaking through New York in the height of the anti-slavery
mobs Margaret Pryor traveled with her for company and protection. Abby used to say she always
felt *ufe when she could see Margaret Pryor's Quaker. bonnet. — [E. C. S.
478 History of Woman Suffrage.
the woman suffrage cause. We think it is time to say to candidates for office: "You
tell us we have a good deal of influence, and ask us to exert it for your election. We
will do so, if you will promise to advocate our cause. If you do not, we will oppose
your election." The result of the ballots cast by the women of Vineland is this : For
president — Grant, 164; Seymour, 4; E. Cady Stanton, 2; Fremont, i; and Mrs. Gov-
ernor Harvey of Wisconsin, I. The president of the Historical Society of Vineland,
S. C. Campbell, has petitioned for the ballot-box and list of voters, to put into its
archives. He will probably get them.
A gentleman said to me last week : "What is the use of your doing this? Your
votes will count nothing in the election." " It will do good in two ways," I replied.
" You say there will not be five women there. We will show you that you are mis-
taken; that women do want to vote, and it will strengthen them for action in the
future." Both these ends have been accomplished; and on November 12 we are to
meet again, to consider and decide what to do about the taxation that is soon coming
upon us.
While the Vineland women expressed their opinion by voting,
other true friends of woman's enfranchisement were moved to do
the same. The Revolution of November 12, 1868, gave the fol-
lowing:
The Newark Daily Advertiser says that Mrs. Hannah Blackwell, a highly esteemed
elderly lady, long resident in Roseville, and Mrs. Lucy Stone, her daughter-in-law,
both of them property-holders and tax-payers in the county, appeared at the polls in
Roseville Park, accompanied by Messrs. Bathgate and Blackwell as witnesses, and
offered their votes. The judges of election were divided as to the propriety of receiv-
ing the votes of the ladies, one of them stating that he was in favor of doing so, the
two others objecting on the ground of their illegality. The ladies stated that they had
taken advice of eminent lawyers, and were satisfied that in New Jersey, women were
legally entitled to vote, from the fact that the old constitution of the State conferred
suffrage upon "all inhabitants" worth $250. Under that constitution women did in
fact vote until, in 1807, by an arbitrary act of the legislature, women were excluded
from the polls. The new constitution, adopted in 1844, was framed by a convention
and adopted by a constituency, from both of which women were unconstitutionally
excluded, so that they have never been allowed to vote upon the question of their own
disfranchisement. The article in the present constitution on the right of suffrage con-
fers it upon white male citizens, but docs not expressly limit it to such. It is claimed
that from the absence of any express limitation in the present constitution, and from
the compulsory exclusion of the parties interested from its adoption, the political
rights of women under the old constitution still remain. Mrs. Stone stated these
points to the judges of election with clearness and precision. After consultation, the
votes of the ladies were refused. The crowd surrounding the polls gathered about the
ballot-box and listened to the discussion with respectful attention; but every one be-
haved with the politeness which gentlemen always manifest in the presence of ladies.
The women of New Jersey may have been roused to assert
their right to vote by an earnest appeal of that veteran of equal
rights, Parker Pillsbury, in The Revolution of March 25, 1868, sug-
gested by the following:
At the recent election in Vineland, New Jersey, a unanimous vote in favor of "no
rum " was polled. The Vineland Weekly says : " Among the incidents of the late elec-
tion was the appearance of a woman at the polls. Having provided herself with a
ballot, she marched up to the rostrum and tendered it to the chairman of the
board of registry. The veteran politician, John Kandle, covered with blushes, was
obliged to inform the lady that no one could vote unless his name was registered.
Lucy Stone. 479
She acquiesced in the decision very readily, saying she only wished to test a principle,
and retired very quietly from the hall."
While thus mentioning the women with uncounted votes, it
may be well to embalm here a historical fact, published in April,
J&6S:
In the year 1824 widows were allowed to vote in New Jersey on their husbands' tax
receipts. The election officers paid great deference to the widows on these occa-
sions, and took particular care to send carriages after them, so as to get their
votes early and make sure of them. The writer of this has often heard his grand-
mother state that she voted for John'Quincy Adams for president of the United States
when he was elected to that office. Her name was Sarah Sparks, and she voted at
Barnsboro', her husband having died the year previous.
N. M. WALLINGTON, Washington, D. C.
Miss Anthony held a spirited meeting in Rahway on Christ-
mas eve, December 24, 1867. The following October, 1868,
Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony attended a two days' conven-
tion in Vineland, and helped to rouse the enthusiasm of the
people. A friend, writing from there, gives us the following :
The Unitarian church in this town is highly favored in having for its pastor a young
man of progressive and thoroughly liberal ideas. Rev. Oscar Clute is well known as an
earnest advocate in the cause of woman. Last Sunday the communion or Lord's Sup-
per was administered in his church. One of the laymen who usually assists in the dis-
tribution of the bread and wine, was absent, and Mr. Clute invited one of the women
to officiate in his stead. She did so in such a sweet and hospitable manner that it gave
new interest to the occasion. Even those who do not like innovations could not find
fault. And why should anyone be displeased? The Christ of the sacrament was the
emancipator of women. In olden time they had deaconesses, and in most of our
churches women constitute a majority of the communicants, so it seems particularly
appropriate that they should be served by women. Women vote on all matters con-
nected with this church, they are on all "standing committees," and sometimes are
chosen and act as trustees.
Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford sends us the following reports of the
progress of the movement in this State:
While Lucy Stone resided in New Jersey, she held several series of
meetings in the chief towns and cities before the formation of the State
Society.* The agitation that began in 1867 was probably due to her, more
than to any other one person in that State. The State society was or-
ganized in the autumn of 1867, and from year to year its annual meetings
have been held in Vineland, Newark, Trenton, and other cities. On
its list of officers t are some of the best men and women in the State.
* In a letter to Mary F. Davis, February 13, 1882, asking her for some facts in regard to that period,
Lucy Stone says: " I have never kept any diary or record of my work. I have been too busy with
the work itself. I could not answer your questions without a search among old letters and papers,
whii h have been packed away for years, and I have not time to make the search, and cannot be accu-
i: limit. 1 know we had many meetings in New Jersey in all the large towns, beginning in New-
ark .mil < >r.mjje, and following the line of the railroad to Trenton, Camden, and Vineland, and then
another scries that included towns reached by stage, Salem being one, but I cannot tell whether these
meetings were before or after the formation of the State Society." The records show that they were
before, says Mrs. Davis ; newspaper reports of them are in the archives of the Historcal Society.
t Fn-sidtnt* Lucy Stone, RosevilKv, I'i\ ;--/'rrsi'fentx, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Thomas B. Ped-
die, Portia Gage, Rev. Robert McMurdy, Cornelia Collins Hussey, George T. Cobb, Sarah E. Webb,
480 History of Woman Suffrage.
Several distinguished names from other States are among the speakers"
who have taken part in their conventions. County and local societies
too have been extensively organized. These associations have circu-
lated tracts and appeals, memorialized the legislature, and had various
hearings before that body. At the annual meeting held in Newark
February 15, 1871, the following memorial to the legislature, prepared
by Mary F. Davis, was unanimously adopted :
To the Honorable the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
Section 2, Article I, of the constitution of the State of New Jersey, expressly de-
clares that "All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted
for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they have the right at all
times to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it."
Throughout the entire article the words " people " and " person " are used, as if to
apply to all the inhabitants of the State. In direct contradiction to this broad and just
affirmation, section I, article 2, begins with the restrictive and unjust sentence :
" Every white male citizen of the United States, at the age of twenty-one years
* * * shall be entitled to vote," etc., and the section ends with the specifi-
cation that "no pauper, idiot, insane person, or person convicted of a crime
* * * shall enjoy the right of an elector."
Of the word " white" in this article your memorialists need not speak, as it is made
a dead letter by the limitations of the fifteenth amendment to the United States con-
stitution. To the second restriction, indicated by the word "male" we beg leave to
call the attention of the legislature, as we deem it unjust and arbitrary, as well as con-
tradictory to the spirit of the constitution, as expressed in the first article. It is also
contrary to the precedent established by the founders of political liberty in New Jersey.
On the second of July, 1776, the provincial congress of New Jersey, at Burlington,
adopted a constitution which remained in force until 1844, in which section 4 specified
as voters, " all the inhabitants of this Colony, of full age," etc. In 1790, a committee
of the legislature reported a bill regulating elections, in which the words "he and she "
are applied to voters, thus giving legislative endorsement to the alleged meaning of
the constitution.
The legislature of 1807 departed from this wise and just precedent, and passed an
arbitrary act, in direct violation of the constitutional provision, restricting the suffrage
to white male adult citizens, and this despotic ordinance was deliberately endorsed by
the framers of the State constitution which was adopted in 1844. This was plainly an
act of usurpation and injustice, as thereby a large proportion of the law-abiding citi-
zens of the State were disfranchised, without so much as the privilege of signifying
their acceptance or rejection of the barbarous fiat which was to rob them of the sacred
right of self-protection by means of a voice in the government, and to reduce them to
the political level of the "pauper, idiot, insane person, or person convicted of crime."
If this flagrant wrong, which was inflicted by one-half the citizens of a free common-
wealth on the other half, had been aimed at any other than a non-aggressive and self-
sacrificing class, there would have been fierce resistance, as in the case of the United
Colonies under the British yoke. It has long been borne in silence. " The right of
voting for representatives," says Paine, "is the primary right, by which other rights
Dr. James Brotherton, Isaac Stevens, Rev. H. A. Butler, A. J. Davis, James H. Xixon, Dr. G. H.
Haskell, I. M. Peebles, Rev. C. H. Dezanne, William Baldwin ; Corresponding Secretaries, Phebe A.
Pierson, Miss P. Fowler ; Recording Secretary, C. A. Paul ; Treasurer. S. G. Silvester ; Executive
Committee, Mary F. Davis, Mrs. E. L. Bush, H. B. Blackwell, Rev. Oscar Clute, Miss Charlotte
ite, Rowland Johnson, Mrs. Robert McMurdy, Dr. D. N. Allen, Sarah Pierson, Lizzie Prentice,
W. 1 1. Conan, John Whitehead.
* Among those who addressed the conventions and the legislature we find the names of Lucretia
Mott, F.rnestine L. Rose, Lucy Stone, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Mary F. Davis, Charlotte B. Wil-
bour, Elizabeth R. Churchill, Elizabeth A. Kingsbury, Deborah Butler, Olive F. Stevens. Rev. Phebe
A. Hanaford, Mrs. Devereux Blake, Rev. Oscar Clute, Rev. Olympia Brown, Rev. Mr. McMurdy, Mr.
Taylor, John Whitehead, Mrs. Seagrove, Henry B. Blackwell, Hon. James Scovell.
Woman 's Political Science Club. 481
are protected. To take away this right is to reduce man to a state of slavery, for
slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in
the electing of representatives is in this condition. Benjamin Franklin wrote : " They
who have no voice nor vote in the electing of representatives do not enjoy liberty, but
are absolutely enslaved to those who have votes and to their representatives; for to be
enslaved is to have governors whom other men have set over us, and be subject to laws
made by the representatives of others, without having had representatives of our own
to give consent in our behalf." This is the condition of the women of New Jersey.
It is evident to every reasonable mind that these unjustly disfranchised citizens should
be reinstated in the right of suffrage. Therefore, we, your memorialists, ask the
legislature at its present session to submit to the people of New Jersey an amendment
to the constitution, striking out the word " male "from article 2, section I, in order
that the political liberty which our forefathers so nobly bestowed on men and women
alike, may be restored to " all inhabitants " of the populous and prosperous State into
which their brave young colony has grown.
With but a slight change of officers and arguments, these conventions
were similar from year to year. There were on all occasions a certain
number of the clergy in opposition. At one of these meetings the Rev.
Mr. McMurdy condemned the ordination of women for the ministry. But
woman's fitness * for that profession was successfully vindicated by Lu-
cretia Mott and Phebe A. Hanaford. Mrs. Portia Gage writes, December
12, 1873:
There was an election held by the order of the township committee of Landis, to
vote on the subject of bonding the town to build shoe and other factories. The call
issued was for all legal voters. I went with some ten or twelve other women, all tax-
payers. We offered our votes, claiming that we were citizens of the United States,
and of the State of New Jersey, also property-holders in and residents of Landis town-
ship, and wished to express our opinion on the subject of having our property bonded.
Of course our votes were not accepted, whilst every tatterdemalion in town, either
black or white, who owned no property, stepped up and very pompously said what he
would like to have done with his property. For the first time our claim to vote
seemed to most of the voters to be a just one. They gathered together in groups and
got quite excited over the injustice of refusing our vote and accepting those of men
who paid no taxes.
In 1879, the Woman's Political Science Club t was formed in Vineland,
which held its meetings semi-monthly, and discussed a wide range of sub-
jects. Among the noble women in New Jersey who have stood for many
years steadfast representatives of the suffrage movement, Cornelia Collins
Hussey of Orange is worthy of mention. A long line of radical and brave
ancestors j made it comparatively easy for her to advocate an unpopular
* This has been well illustrated by Mrs. Hanaford in her own case, she having preached for nearly
twenty years with but three changes of place, and ten of these passed successively in the Universalist
churches in Jersey City. — [E. C. S.
t VIXEI.AXD, July 15, 1879. — Club met at the residence of Mrs. Bristol. The meeting was opened
with music by Mrs. Parkhurst, followed by a recitation by Miss Etta Taylor. Mrs. Andrew read an
excellent essay, opposing the national bank system. Mrs. Bristol gave an instructive lesson in political
economy on " Appropriation." The next lesson will be upon "Changes of Matter in Place." Appro-
l:s were made by Mrs. Neyman of New York, Mr. Broom, Mrs. Duffey and Mr. Bristol.
Several new names were added to the list of membership. Miss Etta Taylor gave another recitation,
whii h closed the exercises of the afternoon. In the evening a pleasant reception was held, and many
invited guests were present. The exercises consisted of vocal and instrumental music, social converse
and dancing. The club will meet again in two weeks. — [C. L. LADD, Secretary,
i Isaac Collins, her grandfather, died at Burlington, March 21, 1817, a man remarkable alike for his
uprightness, industry, intelligence and enterprise. He was a Quaker by birth and conviction, and a
printer, appointed by King George III. for the province of New Jersey. He printed many valuable
31
482 History of Woman Suffrage.
cause. Her father, Stacy B. Collins, identified with the anti-slavery move-
ment, was also an advocate of woman's right to do whatever she could»
even to the exercise of the suffrage. He maintained that the tax-payer
should vote regardless of sex, and as years passed on he saw clearly that
not alone the tax-payer, but every citizen of the United States governed
and punished by its laws, had a just and natural right to the ballot in a
country claiming to be republican. The following beuutiful tribute to his
memory, by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, is found in a letter to his daughter :
LONDON, July 27, 1873.
My last letter from America brought me the sad intelligence of )our dear father's
departure from amongst you; and I cannot refrain from at once writing and begging
you to accept the sincere sympathy and inevitable regret which I feel for your loss.
The disappearance of an old friend brings up the long past times vividly to my remem-
brance— the time when, impelled by irresistible spiritual necessity, I strove to lead a
useful but unusual life, and was able to face, with the energy of youth, both social
prejudice and the hindrance of poverty. I have to recall those early days to show
how precious your father's sympathy and support were to me in that difficult time; and
how highly I respected his moral courage in steadily, for so many years, encouraging
the singular woman doctor, at whom everybody looked askance, and in passing whom
so many women held their clothes aside, lest they should touch her. I know in how
many good and noble things your father took part; but, to me, this brave advocacy of
woman as physician, in that early time, seems the noblest of his actions.
Speaking of the general activity of the women of Orange, Mrs Hussey
says :
The Women's Club of Orange was started in 1871. It is a social and literary club,
and at present (1885) numbers about eighty members. Meetings are held in the rooms
of the New England Society once in two weeks, and a reception, with refreshments,
given at the house of some member once a year. Some matter of interest is discussed
at each regular meeting. This is not an equal suffrage club, yet a steady growth in
that direction is very evident. Very good work has been done by this club. An
evening school for girls was started by it, and taught by the members for awhile,
until adopted by the board of education, a boys' evening school being already
in operation. Under the arrangements of the club, a course of lectures on physiology,
by women, was recently given in Orange, and well attended. At the house of one
of the members a discussion was held on this subject: "Does the Private Charac-
ter of the Actor Concern the Public?" Although the subject was a general one, the
discussion was really upon the proper course in regard to M'lle Sarah Bernharclt, who
had recently arrived in the country. Reporters from the New York Sun attended
the meeting, so that the views of the club of Orange gained quite a wide celebrity.
Of Mrs. Hussey's remarks, the Newark Journal said :
The sentiments of the first speaker, Mrs. Cornelia C. Hussey, were generally ap-
proved, and therefore are herewith given in full: " I have so often maintained in argu-
ment that one has no right to honor those whose lives are a dishonor to virtue or
principle, that I cannot see any other side to our question than the affirmative. That
the stage wields a potent influence cannot be doubted. Let the plays be immoral, and
its influence must be disastrous to virtue. Let the known character of the actor be
what we cannot respect, the glamour which his genius or talent throws around that
bad character will tend to diminish our discrimination between virtue and vice, and
books, almanacs, Bibles, revised laws, government money, and a weekly paper. The .\'f-;i> Jersey Ga-
zette. In making his will he so divided his property that each of his six daughters received twice the
sum that he gave to each of the seven sons. This he explained by saying that the latter could go into
business and support themselves, but his daughters must have enough to live upon, if they chose to re-
main single ; he did not wish them to be forced to marry for a support.
Mrs. Cornelia Collins Hiissey. 483
our distaste for the latter. Some one says: ' Let me write the songs of a nation, and
I care not who makes the laws.' The poetry that Byron wrote, together with his well-
known contempt for a virtuous life, is said to have had a very pernicious influence on
the young men of his time, and probably, too, blinded the eyes -of the young women.
I recall being quite startled by reading the essay of Whittier on Byron, which showed
him as he was, and not with the halo of his great genius thrown around his vices. It
seemed to me that our national government dethroned virtue when it sent a homicide,
if not a murderer, to represent us at a foreign court; and again when it sent as minis-
ter to another court on the coutinent a man whose private character was well known to
be thoroughly immoral. Even to trifle with virtue, or to be a coward in the cause of
principle, is a fearful thing; but when, a person comes before the public, saying by
liis life that he prefers the pleasures of sin to the paths of virtue, it seems to me that
the way is plain — to withhold our patronage as a matter of public policy."
On the Fourth of July, 1874, Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake was invited to make the
-usual address in East Orange, which she did before a large audience in the public hall.
Says the Journal : " Mrs. Blake's speech was characterized by simplicity of style and
appropriateness of sentiment." She made mention of Molly Pitcher, Mrs. Borden
and Mrs. Hall of New Jersey, and of noted women of other States, who did good
service in Revolutionary times, when the country needed the help of her daughters as
well as her sons.
In the summer of 1876 a noteworthy meeting was held in Orange in the interest of
Tvomen. A number of ladies and gentlemen met in my parlor to listen to statements
in relation to what is called the " social evil." to be made by the Rev. J. P. Gledstone
and Mr. Henry J. Wilson, delegates from the " British, Continental and General
Federation for the Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution." It is due to
the English gentlemen to say that they gave some very strong reasons for bringing the
disagreeable subject before the meeting, and that they handled it with becoming deli-
cacy, though with great plainness.
"Ann A. Horton, who died in June, 1875, at the Old Ladies' Home, Newark, be-
queathed $2,000 to Princeton College, to found a scholarship to be called by her name."
Would not the endowment of a "free bed" in Mrs. Horton's true alma-mater, the
Old Ladies' Home, have been a far wiser bequest than the foundation of a scholarship
in Princeton — a college which, while fattening on enormous dole received from women,
offers them nothing in return ?
In relation to the law giving the mothers of New Jersey some legal
claim to their children, Mrs. Hussey writes :
I have often heard it said that Kansas is the only State where the married mother
has any legal ownership in her children; but the women of New Jersey have enjoyed
this privilege since 1871, when it was gained for them by the efforts of Mrs. Ann H.
Connelly of Rahway. She was an American woman, the mother of one daughter, and
unhappily married. She desired to be divorced from her husband, but she knew that
in such case he might legally take her child from her. Such a risk could not be
thought of for a moment; so she applied to the legislature for a change of the law.
She was assisted by many influential citizens, both men and women ; petitions
hirgely signed were presented, and the result was the amendment of the law making
the mother and father equal in the ownership of their children. When a copy of the
uc\v law appeared in our papers I wrote to Mrs. Connelly, inclosing a resolution of
thanks from the Essex County Woman Suffrage Society, of which I was then secretary.
In her reply she said: " This unexpected and distinguishing recognition of my imper-
fect, but earnest, efforts for justice is inexpressibly gratifying." Several years after, I
went with my daughter to Rahway to see Mrs. Connelly. She seemed to be well
known and much respected. She was teaching in one of the public schools, but
seemed quite feeble in health. In iSSi I saw the notice of her death. She was a
woman of much intelligence, and strongly interested in suffrage, and should certainly
be held in grateful remembrance by the mothers of New Jersey, to whom she restored
484
History of Woman Suffrage.
the right which nature gave them, but which men had taken away by mistaken legis-
lation.
This law of February 21, 1871, composed of several acts purporting to
give fathers and mothers equal rights in cases of separation and divorce,
is not so liberal as it seems in considering this provision :
Upon a decree of divorce the court may make such further decree as may be deemed
expedient concerning the custody and maintenance of minor children, and determine
with which of the parents the children shall remain.
This act, though declaring that the mother and father are equal, soon
shows by its specifications that the courts can dispose of ail woman's in-
terests and affections as they may see fit. What avails a decree of divorce
or separation for woman, if the court can give the children to the father
at its pleasure ? Here is the strong cord by which woman is held in
bondage, and the courts, all composed of men, know this, and act on it
in their decisions.
A petition was addressed to the constitutional commission of 1873, re-
questing an amendment restoring to the women of New Jersey their
original right to vote, which that body decided would be "inexpedient."
A bill introduced in the legislature by Senator Cutler, of Morris county,
making women eligible to the office of school-trustee, became a law March
25,1873:
Be it enacted, That hereafter no person shall be eligible to the office of school-
trustee, unless he or she can read and write; and women who are residents in the dis-
trict and over twenty years of age, shall also be eligible to the office of school-trustee,
and may hold such office and perform the duties of the same, when duly elected by ten
votes of the district. — [Chap. 386.
February 26, 1874, a law for the better protection of the property of
married women was passed :
I. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey,
That any married woman who now is, or may hereafter become, entitled, by gift, de-
vise or bequest, to any contingent estate, or any interest in any real or personal prop-
erty or estate, may, with the concurrence of her husband, compound and receipt for,
assign and convey the same, in all cases where she lawfully might, if a feme sole; and
every release, receipt, assignment, discharge, agreement, covenant, or contract, there-
upon entered into by her in regard to the same and to the said property, shall be as
valid and binding in every respect, upon her, her heirs, executors, administrators, and
assigns, and any and all persons claiming under her, them or either of them, as if she
were at the time of entering into the same, a feme sole, and when duly executed and
acknowledged in the manner provided by law for conveyance of real estate, may be
recorded in the surrogate's office, and whenever it relates to real estate in the clerk's
or recorder's office, of the proper county or counties, in the same manner and with like
effect as other receipts and discharges may now be recorded therein. 2. And be it
enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately.
A most remarkable trial, lately held in Newark, New Jersey, which in-
volved the question whether it was contrary to Scripture, and a violation
of the rules of the Presbyterian Church, to admit women to the pulpit, is
well reported by the New York World, January i, 1877 :
Since the time that the Rev. Theodore Cuyler was obliged by the Presbytery of Long
Island to apologize for inviting Miss Sarah Smiley, the Quaker preacher, to occupy the
pulpit of the Lafayette Avenue Church in Brooklyn, the question of the right of women
Trial of Rev. Dr. See. 485
to preach in Presbyterian churches, has come up in various parts of the country, but
has never been brought judicially before any ecclesiastical body until yesterday, when
it occupied the attention of the Newark Presbytery, under the following circumstances.
October 29, 1876, Mrs, L. S. Robinson and Mrs. C. S. Whiting, two ladies who were
much interested in the temperance movement, asked and received permission of
the Rev. Isaac M. See, of the Wickliffe Presbyterian Church at Newark, to occupy his
pulpit, morning and evening of that day. They accordingly addressed the congrega-
tion on the subject of temperance. To this the Rev. E. R. Craven, of the Third Pres-
byterian Church, of Newark, objected, and brought before the Newark Presbytery the
following charge :
" The undersigned charges the Rev. Isaac M. See, pastor of the Wickliffe Church,
of Newark, N. J., a member of your body, with disobedience to the divinely enacted
ordinance in reference to the public speaking and teaching of women in churches, as
recorded in I. Corinthians, xiv., 33 to 37, and I. Timothy, ii., 13, in that: First speci-
fication— On Sunday, October 29, 1876, in the Wickliffe Church of the city of Newark,
N. J., he did, in the pulpit of tne said church, and before the congregation there
assembled for public worship at the usual hour of the morning service, viz. , 10:30
A. M., introduce a woman, whom he permitted and encouraged then and there
publicly to preach and teach. " The second specification is couched in similar language,
except that it charges Mr. See with introducing another woman at the evening service
upon the same day. The charge was presented at the regular meeting of the Presby-
tery, a short time ago, and the hearing of the case was adjourned until yesterday. The
meeting was held in the lecture room of the Second Presbyterian Church in Wash-
ington street. Rev. John L. Wells, pastor of the Bethany Mission Chapel, presided,
and there was a fair attendance of the members of the body. Of the audience at least
nine-tenths were women.* Dr. Craven, the prosecutor, sat on the front row of seats,
near to the clerk's table, while Dr. See, who is very stout, with a double chin, and the
picture of good-nature, sat in the rear of the members of the Presbytery, and among the
front rows of spectators. Dr. Mclllvaine introduced the following resolution :
Resolved, That' this charge, by common consent of the parties, be dismissed at this
stage of the proceedings, with affectionate council to the Rev. Dr. See not to go con-
trary to the usages of the Presbyterian Church for the future.
This brought Brother See to his feet. He could not, he said, assent to Brother Mc-
Illvaine's resolution. He had not consented that the charge should be dismissed, as in
the resolution. Brother Mclllvaine expressed himself as sure that Brother See had
consented, but Brother See was again equally sure that he had not. Some member
here suggested that Dr. Craven should first have been asked if he consented to dis-
miss the charge, and this brought that gentleman to his feet. A more complete an-
tithesis to Dr. See cannot be imagined. He is tall, gaunt, with full beard and mus-
tache, short, bristling hair, that stands upright in a row from the centre of his fore-
head to the crown of his head. He said that at the request of Dr. Mclllvaine and
another respected member of the Presbytery he had said that if the party charged
would give full and free consent to the resolution, he would also assent ; "and," he
added, " such is now my position." Dr. Mclllvaine then gave at length his reasons
for desiring to arrest the case where it was. No good could come of its discussion,
and the result could not but be productive of discord. The Moderator reminded Dr.
See that they waited for an answer from him.
* In the audience were several advocates of woman suffrage, probably there to take observations of
the manner in which Christian clergymen conduct their meetings. This class of men had been so
severe in their criticisms of woman suffrage conventions that we hoped to learn lessons of wibdom from
the dignity, refinement and parliamentary order of their proceedings. Among these ladies were Rev.
Phebe A. Hanaford, Miss Arathusia Forbes, Mrs. Devereux Blake and Miss Susan King of New York,
.1 wralthy tea-merchant and extensive traveler, and myself. That day the Rev. Dr. Craven was the
principal speaker. The whole tenor of his remarks were so insulting to women that Miss King pro-
posed to send an artist tlic following Sunday to photograph the women possessing so little self-respect
as to sit under his ministrations. He punctuated his four-hours' vulgar diatribe by a series of resound-
ing whacks with the Bible on the table before him.— [M. J. G.
486 History of Woman Suffrage.
Dr. See — May we have a season of prayer, sir? The Moderator said there was no
objection. Dr. See explained that the matter at issue was not a personal one; it %vas
a question as to the meaning of the Scriptures upon a certain point, and he was there
simply to know what the Presbytery would do. Rev. Drs. Brinsmayd and Fewsmith
then prayed, Imt Dr. See's frame of mind was not in the least changed. He still in-
si-ted that his was the passive part, to sit and see what they would do with his case.
Rev. Dr. XYilxm thought that if Brother See did not desire to do anything contrary to
the usages of the church, he might say so. Brother See said it was a question of
whether God Almighty had said certain things or not, and that he could not answer.
In his formal answer to the charge the accused then said : " I believe myself to be not
guilty of the charge, but I admit the specifications." Dr. Craven, in his speech, said
it was in no spirit of animosity that he had brought the charge. He believed that the
law of God had been broken in this case; not designedly, perhaps, but really. A cus-
tom had found lodgment in a Presbyterian church that would impair its efficiency and
would also injure woman in the sphere which she was called upon by God to fill. No
judicial decision had been arrived at upon this question. The case of Dr. Cuyler was
the first that had come before a Presbytery, and that was hardly a trial of the question.
"Why should I, "he continued, " bring this charge? Because I have felt it to be wrong,
and feeling thus, resolved to take the duty upon myself, painful and agonizing as the
task may be. I deem it my duty to God to do so." Dr. See (sotto voce) — "And the
Lord will bless you for it."
Dr. Craven, continuing, read the passages of Scripture referred to in this charge. He
did not, he said, affirm that woman had no work in the church. She had a great and
glorious sphere; she had no right to teach and speak in public meetings, but she could
teach children and ignorant men in private. He would not affirm that some women
could not preach as well as, or better than some men, and he did not know but that in
the future she might occupy the platform on an equality with men; but at present she
could not, and it was expressly forbidden in the passages which he had read. " You
may run to hear another man's wife preach, or another man's daughter," said he, "but
who would have his own wife stand upon the platform, or his own daughter face the
mob ? Woman is the heart of man, but man is the head. Let woman go upon the
platform, and she loses that shrinking modesty that gives her such power over
children. What child would wish to have a public-speaking mother? I trust this evil
will not creep in upon the church. I felt bound to resist it at the outset, and unless I
am convinced of my error shall withstand it to the death." * * * *
January 2, 1877, Rev. Dr. See continued his defense of himself for letting a woman
into his pulpit. Then the roll was called for the views of the Presbytery. Dr. Mc-
Illvaine said that the two sources of light, as he understood it, were the teachings of
the Lord and his disciples. The Lord didn't select women for his twelve, and vacan-
cies were not filled by women. It wasn't a woman who was chosen to do Paul's work.
He was the chosen teacher of the church in that and all succeeding ages, and he had
said. " I suffer not women to teach, or to usurp authority in the church." Dr. Brins-
made, who was the pastor of the Wickliffe Church before Dr. See was called there, ad-
mitted that women could preach well, but thought the Presbytery had better stick by
the divine command. Dr. Canfield also agreed with Paul. He loved women and
loved their work, but it seemed from the experience of the world that God intended
that the pulpit should be the place for men. Such, at any rate, had been the principle
and the practice of the Presbyterian Church; and if Brother See could not conform to
its rules, he would say to him, " Go, brother; there are other churches in which you
can find a place." -Dr. Canfield was called to order for that addendum. Dr. Hutch-
ings, of Orange, referred to the ancient justification of slavery from the Bible, and in
view of honest differences of construction accepted by the church, thought the question
should be left to the discretion of pastors and church-sessions. Rev. Jonathan F.
Stearns, pastor of the First Church, demurred to this and stood by the Scripture text.
Nine-tenths of the ladies of the church, he said, would vote against preaching by
women.
Trial of Rev. Dr. See. 407
Rev. James E. Wilson, pastor of the South Park Church, said that in churches where
women had been permitted to preach, they had lost ground. " I have never heard a
Quaker woman, "said he, " preach a sermon worth three cents (laughter), and yet I
have heard the spirit move them to get up and speak at most improper times and on
most inopportune occasions, and have heard them say most improper and impertinent
things." In the Methodist Church he did not believe that there were over twenty-five
women preachers, so the women were losing ground, and not gaining. Even the
woman suffragists, who made so much noise a few years ago, had subsided, and he did
not believe there were a hundred agitators in the whole country now. " See," he said,
" where Brother See's argument would carry him. Any woman that has the spirit
upon her may speak, and so, by and by, two or three women may walk up into Brother
See's pulpit and say, 'Come down; it's our turn now, we are moved by the spirit.'
(Laughter). A woman's voice was against her preaching; a man's voice came out with
a ' thud," but a woman spoke soft and pleasing; however, here were the plain words of
the text, and any man that could throw it overboard could throw over the doctrine of
the atonement. If a mother should teach her son from the pulpit by preaching to him,
thus disobeying the plain words of the apostle, she must not be surprised if her son
went contrary to some other teaching of the apostle. But the fact was, the women did
not desire to preach; otherwise they would have preached long ago. H.e rejoiced
when that convention of temperance women assembled in Newark, but he could not
help pitying their husbands and families away out in Chicago and elsewhere. (Laughter).
Rev. Ferd. Smith, the pastor of the Second Church, said the president of the
Woman's Temperance Union had asked him if they could have the use of the church,
and he had said "yes"; " and," said Dr. Smith, " I am glad that I did it, and I am
sorry that I was not there to hear the address; and now, brethren, I am going to con-
fess that I have sinned a little in this matter of women preaching. Two or three
years ago I went and heard Miss Smiley preach. I had heard in the morning — I
won't mention his name — one of the most distinguished men of the country preach a
very able sermon — a very long one, too. [Laughter.] I had heard in the afternoon
a doctor of divinity; I don't see him here now, but I have seen him, and I won't men-
tion his name; and I heard Miss Smiley in the evening. It may be heresy to say it,
but I do think I was more fed that evening than I had been by both the others; but I
do not on that account say that it is good for women to go, as a regular thing, into the
pulpit. If I had heard her a dozen times, I should not have been so much moved.
Woman-preaching may do for a little time, but it won't do for a permanency. I
heard at Old Orchard, at a temperance convention, the most beautiful argument I
ever listened to, delivered with grace and modesty and power. The words fell like
dew upon the heart, enriching it, and the speaker was Miss Willard; but for all this,
brethren, I do not approve of women preaching. [Great laughter.] We must not,
for the sake of a little good, sacrifice a great principle." Dr. Pollock of Lyons Farms
wanted to shelter women, to prevent them from being talked about as ministers are
and criticised as ministers are; it was for this that he would keep them out of the pul-
pit. Rev. Drs. Findley and Prentiss de Neuve were in favor of sustaining the charge.
Rev. Dr. Haley contended that Brother 'See ought not to be condemned, because he
had not offended against any law of the church. Drs. Seibert, Ballantine and Hop-
wood spoke in favor of sustaining the charge. A vote of 16 to 12 found Rev. Dr.
See guilty of violating the Scriptures by allowing women to preach, and the case was
appealed to the General Assembly.
The General Assembly adopted the following report on this case :
The Rev. Isaac W. See, pastor of the Wickliffe Church, Newark, N. J., was
charged by Rev. Elijah R. Craven, D. D., witlulisobedience lo the divinely enacted or-
dinance in reference to the public speaking and teaching of women in the churches as-
iron-tied in i Corinthians, xiv., 33-37, nnd in I Timothy, ii., 11-13, in that twice on
a specified Sabbath, in the pulpit of his said church, at the usual time of public ser-
vice, he did introduce a woman, whom he permitted and encouraged then and there
publicly to preach and teach.
488 History of Woman Suffrage.
The Presbytery of Newark sustained the charge, and from its decision Mr. See ap-
pealed to the synod of New Jersey, which refused by a decided vote to sustain the ap-
peal, expressing its judgment in a minute of which the following is a part :
In sustaining the Presbytery of Newark as against the appeal of the Rev. I. M.
See, the synod holds that the passages of scripture referred to in the action of the
Presbytery, do prohibit the fulfilling by women of the offices of public preachers in
the regular assemblies of the church.
From this decision Mr. See has further appealed to the General Assembly, which,
having thereupon proceeded to issue the appeal, and having fully heard the original
parties and members of the inferior judicatory, decided that the said appeal from the
synod of New Jersey be not sustained by the following vote : To sustain, 85. To
sustain in part, 71. Not to sustain, 201.
From the following description by Mrs. Devereux Blake, we have con-
clusive evidence of woman's capacity to govern under most trying cir-
cumstances :
A certain little woman living in Jersey City has, from time to time, occupied a por-
tion of public consideration; this is Mrs. Ericka C. Jones, for four years and a half
warden of .the Hudson county jail, probably the only woman in the world who holds
such a position. Her history is briefly this : Some seven years ago her husband ob-
tained the appointment of jailor at this institution, and moved to it with his bride.
From the time of their incoming a marked improvement in the administration of the
jail became apparent, which continued, when, after two years, Mr. Jones was stricken
down with softening of the brain, which reduced him to a condition of idiocy for six
months before his death. When at last this occurred, by unanimous vote of the board
of freeholders the woman who had really performed the duties of jailor was appointed
warden of Hudson county jail. All this has been a matter of report in the papers, as
well as the attempt to oust her from the position, which was made last fall, when cer-
tain male politicians wanted the place for some friend and voter, and appealed to
Attorney-General Vanetta, who gave an opinion adverse to the lady's claims. Reso-
lutions on the subject were passed by various woman suffrage societies, and anxious
to see the subject of so much dispute, and hear her story from her own lips, a party of
ladies was made up to call upon her.
Hudson-county jail stands in the same inclosure with the court-house, a small,
neatly-kept park, well shaded by fine trees, and being on very high ground com-
mands a view over the North River and New York Bay. The building is a substan-
tial one of stone, with nothing of the repulsive aspect of a jail about it. Asking for
Mrs. Jones, we were at once shown into the office. We had expected to see a woman
of middle age and somewhat stern aspect. Instead, we beheld a pretty, young per-
son, apparently not more than twenty-five years old, with bright, black eyes, waving
brown hair, good features and plump figure. She was very neatly dressed and pleas-
ant in manner, making us cordially welcome. We were conducted into the parlor
and at once begged her to tell us all about her case, which she did very clearly and
Concisely. When she was left a widow with two little children she had no idea that
this place would be given her, but it was tendered to her by unanimous vote of the
board of freeholders. At that time there were in jail three desperate criminals, Proc-
tor, Demsing and Foley, bank robbers, and some persons feared that a woman could
not hold them, but they were safely transferred at the proper time from the jail to the
:state-prison. " And," she added, with a bright smile, " I never have lost a prisoner,
which is more than many men-jailors can say. Some of them tried to escape last fall,
but I had warning in time, sent for the police, and the attempt was prevented."
" And do you think there is any danger of your being turned out?" "I don't
know. I intend to remain in the place until the end of my term, if possible, since as
long as the effort to dismiss me is based solely on the ground of my sex and not of my
incompetency, it ought justly to be resisted." " But Attorney-General Vanetta gave
Mrs. Ericka C. Jones. 489
an adverse opinion as to the legality of your appointment ? " "Yes, but ex- Attorney-
General Robert Gilchrist, a very able lawyer, has given an opinion in my favor, while
Mr. Lippincott, counsel of the board when I was appointed, also held that I was eligi-
ble for the place."
She then went on to tell us some of the petty persecutions and indirect measures
which have been resorted to in order to induce her to resign, as her term of office will
not expire for two years. When her husband was given the position, the allowance
consisted of 40 cents a day for each prisoner, 50 cents for each sick person, 25 cents for
every committal, and 12^ cents for every discharge. The daily allowance has been cut
down from 40 to 25 cents, and all the other allowances have been entirely done away
with. She is, therefore, at this moment running that jail on 25 cents a day for each
prisoner. Out of this sum she must pay for all food, all salaries of assistant jailors,
etc., all wages of servants, and even the furniture of the place. She is supplied with
fuel and gas, but no stores of any description. She has also had other annoyances.
The payment of money justly due has been opposed or delayed; and whereas her hus-
band was required to give bond for only $5,000, she has been forced to give one for
$10,000. She has also been troubled by the visits of persons representing themselves
to be reporters of papers, who have wished to borrow money of her, and failing in
this, have printed disagreeable articles about her. She has, of course, no salary
whatever. "However, I do as well as I can with the money I receive," she said,
with that pleasant smile. " And now would you like to see the jail ?"****
Ex-Attorney Gilchrist's opinion on her case is an able indorsement of her position.
He says, in the first place, that as Attorney-General Vanetta's adverse view was not
given officially, it is not binding on the Board of Freeholders, and then goes on to cite
precedents. "Alice Stubbs, in 1787, was appointed overseer of the poor in the county
of Stafford, England, and the Court of King's Bench sustained her in the office. A
woman was appointed governor of the work-house at Chelmsford, England, and the
court held it to be a good appointment. Lady Brangleton was appointed keeper of
the Gate-House jail in London. Lady Russell was appointed keeper of the Castle of
Dunnington. All these cases are reported in Stranges .A'., .as clearly establishing
the right and duty of woman to hold office. The case of Ann, Countess of Pembroke,
Dorsett and Montgomery, who was sheriff of Westmoreland, is very well known." The
opinion winds up by saying: " The argument that a woman is incompetent to perform
the duties of such an office is doubly answered — first, by the array of cases in which it
is held that she is competent; second, by the resolution of the board when Mrs. Jones
was appointed, that she had for a long time prior thereto actually kept the jail while
her husband was jailor." How this whole matter would be simplified if women could
vote and hold office, so that merit and not sex should be the only qualification for any
place. — New York Record, i8j6.
The following incident shows not only what physical training will do in
giving a girl self-reliance in emergencies, but it shows the nice sense of
humor that grows out of conscious power with which a girl can always
take a presuming youth at disadvantage. No doubt Miss McCosh, as a
student in Princeton, could as easily distance her compeers in science,
philosophy and the languages, as she did the dude on the highway. Why
not open the doors of that institution and let her make the experiment?
The distinguished president of Princeton College, Dr. McCosh, has two daughters
who are great walkers. They are in the habit of going to Trenton and back, a dis-
tance of about twenty miles, where they do their shopping. One day a dude accosted
Miss Bridget on the road, and said, in the usual manner: " Beg pardon, but may I
walk with you?" She replied, "Certainly," and quickened her pace a little. After
the first half-mile the masher began to gasp, and then, as she passed on with a smile,
he sat down panting on a mile-stone, and mopped the perspiration from his brow.
490 History of Woman Suffrage.
At the sixteenth national convention, held in Washington, March, 1884,
the State was well represented : * Mrs. Hanaford gave an address on " New
Jersey as a Leader." In her letter to the convention, Mrs. Hussey wrote :
An old gentleman, Aaron Burr Harrison, a resident of East Orange, has just passed
on to his long home, full of years — eighty-eight — and with a good record. He told me
about his sister's voting in New Jersey, when he was a child — probably about 1807.
The last time I took a petition for woman suffrage to him, he signed it willingly, and
his daughter also.
February 12, 1884, a special committee of the New Jersey Assembly
granted a hearing t on the petition of Mrs. Celia B. Whitehead, and 220
other citizens of Bloomfleld, asking the restoration of woman's right to
vote ; fully one-half of the members of the Assembly were present. Mrs.
Seagrove handcrl the committee an ancient printed copy of the original
constitution of New Jersey, dated July 2, 1776. The name of James Sea-
grove, her husband's grandfather, is endorsed upon it in his own hand-
writing. In the suffrage clause of this document the words "all inhab-
itants " were substituted for those of " male freeholders " in the provincial
charter. Hence the constitution of 1 776 gave suffrage to women and men of
color. Mrs. Seagrove made an appeal on behalf of the women of the State.
Mr. Blackwell gave a resume of the unconstitutional action of the legis-
lature in its depriving women of their right to vote. Mrs. Hanaford, in
answer to a question of the committee, claimed the right for women not
only to vote but to hold office; and instanced from her own observation
the need of women as police officers, and especially as matrons in the
police stations. The result of these appeals may be seen in a paragraph
from the Boston Commonwealth, a paper in hearty sympathy :
In the lower House* of the New Jersey legislature a Democratic member recently
moved that the word "male" be stricken from the constitution of the State. After
some positive discussion a non-partisan vote of 27 to 24 defeated the motion. This
occurrence, it is to be observed, is chronicled of one of the most conservative States
in the Union. The arguments used on both sides were not new or remarkable. But
the vote was very close. If such a measure could in so conservative a State be nearly
carried, we can have reasonable hope of its favorable reception, in more radical sec-
tions. In New Jersey we did not expect success for the resolution proposed. The
favorable votes really surprised us. We do not mistake the omen. Gradually the
point of woman's responsibility is being conceded. The arbitrary lines now drawn
politically and socially are without reason. Indeed, one of the members of the New
Jersey Assembly called attention to the fact that to grant suffrage now would not be
the conferring of a new gift on women, but only a restoration of rights exercised in
colonial times.
* Rev. Phcbe A. Hanaford, Miss Ellen Miles and Mrs. Jackson of Jersey City.
* Mrs. Theresa Walling Seagrove of Keyport, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford of Jersey City and Henry B.
Blackwell cf Boston were the speakers.
CHAPTER XL.
OHIO.
The First Soldiers' Aid Society-^-Mrs. Mendenhall — Cincinnati Equal Rights Associa-
tion, 1868 — Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital — Hon. J. M. Ashley —
State Society, 1869 — Murat Halstead's Letter — Dayton Convention, 1870 — Women
Protest against Enfranchisement — Sarah Knowles Bolton — Statistics on Coeduca-
tion— Thomas Wentworth Higginson — Woman's Crusade, 1874 — Miriam M. Cole
— Ladies' Health Association — Professor Curtis — Hospital for Women and Child-
ren, 1879 — Letter from J. D. Buck, M. D. — March, iSSi, Degrees Conferred on
Women — Toledo Association, 1869 — Sarah Langdon Williams — The Sunday
Journal — The Ballot-Box — Constitutional Convention — Judge WTaite — Amend-
ment Making Women Eligible to Office — Mr. Voris, Chairman Special Committee
on Woman Suffrage — State Convention, 1873 — Rev. Robert McCune — Centen-
nial Celebration — Women Decline to Take Part — Correspondence — Newbury Asso-
ciation— Women Voting, 1871 — Sophia Ober Allen — Annual Meeting, Painesville,
1885 — State Society, Mrs. Frances M. Casement, President — Adelbert College.
EARLY in the year 1862, Cincinnati became a hospital for the
army operations under General Grant and was soon filled with
wounded heroes from Fort Donelson and Pittsburg Landing, and
the women here, as in all other cities, were absorbed in hospital
and sanitary work. To the women of Cleveland is justly due the
honor of organizing the first soldiers' aid society, a meeting being
called for this purpose five days after the fall of Fort Sumter.
Through the influence of Mrs. Mendenhall were inaugurated the
great sanitary fairs* there, and by her untiring energy and that
of the ladies who labored with her, many of our brave soldiers
were restored to health. Mrs. Annie L. Quinby writes :
In the autumn of 1867 Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony made a lecturing
tour through Ohio and roused popular thought on the question of suf-
frage. March 28, 1868, the Cincinnati Equal Rights Association t was
formed, auxiliary to the National Society, of which Lucretia Mott was
president. April 7, 1869, Mrs. Ryder called the attention of the meeting
* Among those associated with Mrs. Mendenhall were Mrs. Calvin W. Starbuck, Mrs. W. Woods,
Miss Elizabeth Morris, Miss Kllen Thomas, Mrs. Kendrick, sister to General Anderson, Mrs. Cald-
well, Mrs. Annie Ryder, Mrs. Mary Graham, Mrs. Louisa Hill, Mrs. Ho;idly.
t The officers of Cincinnati Ec[ual Rights Society were: /'»•••.»•/'./.•;;/, Mrs. H. A. Leavitt ; 1'i're-
/';,,/,/,«/, Mr. J. B. Quinby ; CorrtsfondtHg^StXrttary, Mrs. A. L. Ryder; Recording-Secretary ',
Mrs.].. H. Hlangy ; Treasurer, Mrs. Mary Mnnltnn ; /-.'.i-.rw/ir'r Committee, Mrs. J. B. Quinby,
Mr. -:- Hill. Mrs. A. L. Ryder. Mrs. Dr. Morrell, Mrs. Mary Moulton, Mrs. Mary Graham, Mrs-
Annie Laurie Quinby, Mrs. L .H. Blangy and Mrs. Dr. Gibson.
492 History of Woman Stiff rage.
to a resolution offered by Mr. Gordon in the State legislature, to amend
the constitution so as to strike out the word male, proposing that at the
October election, "in all precincts in the State, there shall be a separate
poll, at which all white women over 21 years of age shall be permitted to
vote, and if the votes cast be a majority of all .he white women, the con-
stitution shall be amended." Mrs. Ryder seemed to think the proposition
a very fair one, or intended by the mover to give the women, if they
wanted to vote, the opportunity of saying so on this amendment to the
constitution. Mrs. Blangy also concurred in this view of the subject.
Mrs. Quinby expressed her indignation at the proposition, saying she
believed its passage by the legislature would be detrimental to the cause,
both on account of its provisions and the mode of accomplishing the ob-
ject of the resolution. As it stood, it could but fail, as women were not
prepared for it at the present time, and the proposition was not that the
majority of votes cast should settle the question, but that the number cast
in favor of it should be a majority of all the women in the State 21 years
of age. She therefore thought we should express our decided disapproval
of this amendment. Mrs. Leavitt also declared her opposition to this res-
olution, believing it to have been offered for the sole purpose of stalling
the woman suffrage movement for years to come. She thought this
association should express its decided opposition to this resolution. Mrs.
Butterwood and others followed in the same strain, and it was finally
agreed unanimously that the corresponding secretary be instructed to
write to the mover of the resolution, expressing disapprobation of some
of the terms of the amendment, with the hope that it will not pass in the
form offered, and politely requesting Mr. Gordon to define his position,
as the resolution is susceptible of being construed both for and against
equal rights.
At a meeting held April 21, 1869, delegates* were elected to attend the
May anniversary of the American Equal Rights Association in New York.
Mrs. Margaret V. Longley was placed on the executive committee of
the National Association to represent Ohio. On her return from New
York she joined with the Cincinnati Equal Rights Society in a call for a
convention in Pike's Hall, September 15, 16, 1869, for the organization
of an Ohio State Society.t Mrs. Longley presided ; the audiences were
large and enthusiastic;! the press of the city gave extended reports.
Murat Halstead, editor of the Cincinnati Commercial, sent the following
reply to his invitation :
* The delegates appointed were, Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Quinby, Mrs. Mary Graham, Mrs. Charles Gra-
ham, Mrs. Mary Moulton, Mrs. Dr. Morrel, Mrs. Blangy, Mrs M. V. Longley, Mr. and Mrs. A. G. W-
Carter, and Mrs. Soula and daughter.
t The officers of the State Society were : President, Mrs. H. Tracy Cutler, M. D., Cleveland ;
Vice-President, Mrs. M. V. Longley ; Recording Secretary , Mrs. H. M. Downey, Xenia ; Correspond-
ing Secretary, Mrs. Miriam M. Cole, Sidney ; Treasurer, Mrs: L. H. Crall, Cincinnati ; Warden,
Mr. J. B. Quinby, Cincinnati ; Business Committee, A. J. Boyer, esq., Dayton ; Elias Longley, esq.,
Cincinnati; Mrs. R. L. Segur, Toledo; Mrs. Morgan K. Warwick. Cleveland; Dr. M. T. Organ,
Urbana ; Mrs. E. D. Stewart, Springfield ; Miss Rebecca S. Rice, Yellow Springs.
* The speakers at Pike's Hall were Susan B. Anthony, Mary A. Livermore, Lucy Stone. Henry B-
Blackwell, Mrs. Dr. Chase, Miriam M. Cole, Mr. A.J. Boyer, Dr. Mary Walker, J. J. Bellville, Mary
B. Hall, Mrs. Dr. Keckeler, Mrs. Longley, Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Griffin, and Elizabeth Boynton.
Dayton Mass- Meeting. 493
CINCINNATI, July 28, 1869.
Mrs. M. V. LONGLEY : Dear Madam — I cannot sign your call for a woman suffrage
convention, for I do not feel a serious interest in the subject. That there are woman's
wrongs that the law-makers should right, I believe. For instance, I think married
women should hold property independently; that they should be able to save and en-
joy the fruits of their own industry; and that they should not be absolutely in the
power of lazy, dissipated or worthless husbands. But I cannot see clearly how the
possession of the ballot would help women in the reform indicated. If, however, a
majority of the women of Ohio should signify by means proving their active interest in
the subject that they wanted to acquire the right of suffrage, I don't think I would offer
opposition. M. HALSTEAD.
Mrs. Livermore and Miss Anthony made some amusing strictures on
Mr. Halstead's letter, which called out laughter and cheers from the
audience. April 27 and 28, 1870, a mass-meeting was held in Dayton.
Describing the occasion, Miss Sallie Joy, in a letter to a Boston paper*,
says :
The west is evidently wide awake on the suffrage question. The people are work-
ing with zeal almost unknown in the East, except to the more immediately interested,
who are making a life-labor of the cause. The two days' convention at Dayton was
freighted with interest. Earnest women were there from all parts of the State. They
of the west do not think much of distances, and consequently nearly every town of
note was represented. Cleveland sent her women from the borders of the lake; Cin-
cinnati sent hers from the banks of the Ohio; Columbus, Springfield, Toledo and
Sydney were represented. Not merely the leaders were there, but those who were
comparatively new to the cause; all in earnest, — young girls in the first flush of youth,
a new light dawning on their lives and shining through their eyes, waiting, reaching
longing hands for this new gift to womanhood, — mothers on the down-hill side of life,
quietly but gladly expectant of the good that was coming so surely to crown all these
human lives. Most of the speakers were western women — Mrs. Cutler, Mrs. Cole,
Mrs. Stewart, of Ohio, and Miss Boynton, of Indiana. The East sent our own Susan
B. Anthony, and Mrs. Livermore of Boston. Like every other convention, it grew
more interesting the longer it continued, and just when the speakers were so tired that
they were glad the work for the time was done, the listeners, like a whole army of
Oliver Twists, were crying for more. They are likely to have more — a great deal
more — before the work is done completely, for it is evident the leaders don't intend to
let the thing rest where it is, but to push it forward to final success. From the list of
resolutions considered and adopted, I send the following :
Resolved, That as the Democratic party has long since abolished the political aris-
tocracy of wealth; and the Republican party has now abolished the aristocracy of race;
so the true spirit of Republican Democracy of the present, demands the abolition of the
political aristocracy of sex.
R i- solved, That as the government of the United States has, by the adoption of the
fifteenth amendment, admitted the theory that one man cannot define the rights and
duties of another man, so we demand the adoption of a sixteenth amendment on the
same principle, that one sex cannot define the rights and duties of another sex.
Resolved, That we rejoice in the noble action of the men of Wyoming, by which
the right of suffrage has been granted to the women of that territory.
Resolved, That we feel justly proud of the action of those representatives of the
General Assembly of Ohio, who have endeavored to secure an amendment to the State
constitution, striking out the word "male" from that instrument.
It is rather remarkable that in a State which so early estab-
lished two colleges admitting women — Oberlin in 1834, and An-
tioch in 1853 — any intelligent women should have been found
at so late a date as April 15, 1870, to protest against the right of
494 History of Woman Suffrages
self-government for themselves, yet such is the case, as the fol-
lowing protest shows :
We acknowledge no inferiority to men. We claim to have no less ability to perform
the duties which God has imposed upon us than they have to perform those imposed
upon them. We believe that God has wisely and well adapted each sex to the proper
performance of the duties of each. We believe our trusts to be as important and as
sacred as any that exist on earth. We feel that our present duties fill up the whole mea-
sure of our time and abilities; and that they are such as none but ourselves can perform.
Their importance requires us to protest against all efforts to compel us to assume
those obligations which cannot be separated from suffrage; but which cannot be per-
formed by us without the sacrifice of the highest interests of our families and of society.
It is our fathers, brothers, husbands and sons, who represent us at the ballot-box. Our
fathers and brothers love us. Our husbands are our choice, and one with us. Our
sons are what -we make them. We are content that they represent us in the corn-field,
the battle-field, at the ballot-box and the jury-box, and we them, in the church, the
school-room, at the fireside and at the cradle; believing our representation, even at the
ballot-box, to be thus more full and impartial than it could possibly be, were all women
allowed to vote. We do, therefore respectively protest against legislation to establish
woman suffrage in Ohio.
The above paper, signed by more than one hundred ladies of Lorain
county, was presented, March 14, 1870, to the legislature assembled at Col-
umbus. Mrs. Sarah Knowles Bolton, criticising the Oberlin protestants,
said :
That so many signed is not strange, because the non-suffrage side is the popular one
?.t present. Years hence, when it shall be customary for women to vote, it is ques-
tionable whether the lady \\ ho drew up that document would have many supporters.
If "we are not inferior to men," we must have as clear opinions and as good judg-
ment as they. To say, then, that we are not capable of judging of political questions,
is untrue. To say that we are not interested in such things is absurd, for who can be
more anxious for good laws and good law-makers than women, who, for the most part,
have sons and daughters in this whirlpool of temptation, called social and business life.
If we are too ignorant to have an opinion, the fault lies at our own door.
These ladies reason upon the premises that the duties imposed upon us as we find
them in this nineteenth century, are the duties, conditions, and relations established of
God. Two things we do certainly find in the Bible with regard to this matter; that
women are to bear children, and men to earn bread. The first duty we believe has
been confined entirely to the female sex, but the male sex have not kept the other in all
cases. If anybody has belonged for any considerable time to a benevolent institution,
he has ascertained that women sometimes are obliged to earn bread and bear children
also. A century or two ago, when women seldom thought of writing books, or being
physicians or lawyers, professors or teachers, or doing anything but housework, prob-
ably they thought, as the ladies of Lorain county do to-day, they were in the blessed,
noonday of woman's enlightenment and happiness. Their husbands, very likely,
needed something of the same companionship as the men of the present, but it was
unpopular for girls to attend school. If these ladies, after careful study and thought,
believe that woman suffrage will work evil in the land, they ought to say that, rather
than base it upon lack of time. The enfranchisement of 15,000,000 women will be a
balance of power for good or evil that will need looking after. As for our represent-
ing men at the fireside, I think it a great deal pleasanter that they be there in person.
Nothing is more blessed than the home circle, and here I think if husbands wen? not
so often represented by their wives, while they are absent evening after evening on
" important business," the condition of things would be improved. If the ladies afore-
said cannot vote without the highest interests of their families being sacrificed, they
ought to be -allowed to remain in peace. I am glad they made this protest, not only
Hon. J. M. Ashley. 495
because this is a country where honest views ought to be expressed, but because agi-
tation pushes forward reform. I am glad that nearly half of our representatives were
in favor of submitting this question to the women of the State, and that our interests
were so ably defended by a talented representative from our own district. I do not
think, however, by submitting it to the women, they would get a correct expression upon
the subject. A good many would vote for suffrage, a few against it, and thousands would
be afraid to vote. If it is granted, I do not suppose all women will vote immediately.
Many prejudices will first have to give way. If women vote what they wish to vote,
and there is no disorderly conduct at the polls in consequence, and no general disor-
der in the body politic, I do not see any objection to the voting being continued from
year to year.
When women like Miss Jones of our city, now in California, take a few more pro-
fessorships in a university over half-a-hundred competitors, write a few more libraries,
show themselves capable of solving great questions, become ornaments to their pro-
fessions, it will seem more absurd for them not to be enfranchised than it does now
for them to be so.
Hon. J. M. Ashley, of Toledo, in a speech on the floor of congress, June
i, 1868, said :
I want citizenship and suffrage to be synonymous. To put the question beyond the
power of States to withhold it, I propose the .amendment to article fourteen, now
submitted. A large number of Republicans who concede that the qualifications of
an elector ought to be the same in every State, and that it is more properly a national
than a State question, do not believe congress has the power under our present con-
stitution to enact a law conferring suffrage in the States, nevertheless they are ready
and willing to vote for such an amendment to the constitution as shall make citizen-
ship and suffrage _ uniform throughout the nation. For this purpose I have added to
the proposed amendment for the election of president a section on suffrage, to which I
invite special attention.
This is the third or fourth time I have brought forward a proposition on suffrage sub-
stantially like the one just presented to the House. I do so again because I believe the
question of citizenship suffrage one which ought to be met and settled now. Import-
ant and all-absorbing as many questions are which now press themselves upon our con-
sideration, to me no one is so vitally important as this. Tariffs, taxation, and finance
ought not to be permitted to supersede a question affecting the peace and personal
security of every citizen, and, I may add, the peace and security of the nation. No
party can be justified in withholding the ballot from any citizen of mature years, native
or foreign born, except such as are non compos or are guilty of infamous crimes; nor
can they justly confer this great privilege upon one class of citizens to the exclusion of
another class.
The Revolution of March 19, 1868, said :
Notwithstanding the most determined hostility to the demands of the age for female
physicians, institutions for their educational preparation for professional responsibili-
ties are rapidly increasing. The ball first began to move in the United States,* and
now a female medical college is in successful operation in London, where the favored
monopolizers of physic and surgery were resolved to keep out all new ideas in their line
by acts of parliament. But the ice-walls of opposition have melted away, and even in
Russia a woman has graduated with high medical honors.
* At a meeting of the corporators of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital for
\Vuiiien, the following board of trustees was appointed : Stillman \Vitt,T. S. Beckwith, Bolivar Butts*
X. Schneider, M. D., T. S. Lindsey, Mrs. D. R. Tilden, Mrs. S. F. Lester, Mrs. Peter Thatcher, .Mrs.
C. A. Seaman, M. D., Mrs. M. K. Merrick, M. D., Mrs. S. JJ. McMillan, Mrs. M. B. Ambler, Mrs.
Lemuel Crawford, Mrs. Henry Chisholm, Mrs. G. B. Bowers. At a subsequent meeting of the board of
trustees, the following officers were chosen: President, Mrs. C. A. Seaman, M. D.; Vice-President,
Mrs. S. F. Lester ; Secretary, Mrs. M. B. Ambler ; Treasurer, Mrs. S. 1). McMillan.
496
History of Woman Suffrage.
The following statistics from Thomas Wentworth Higginson settle
many popular objections to a collegiate education for women :
GRADUATES OF ANTIOCII COLLEGE. — In a paper read before the Social Science
Association in the spring of 1874 I pointed out the presumption to be, that if a desire
for knowledge was implanted in the minds of women, they had also as a class the
physical capacity to gratify it; and that therefore the burden of proof lay on those who
opposed such education, on physiological grounds, to collect facts in support of their
position. In criticising Dr. Clarke's book, "Sex in Education," I called attention to
the fact that he has made no attempt to do this, but has merely given a few detached
cases, whose scientific value is impaired by the absence of all proof whether they stand
for few or many. We need many facts and a cautious induction; not merely a few
facts and a sweeping induction. I am now glad to put on record a tabular view * of
the graduates of Antioch, with special reference to their physical health and condition;
the facts being collected and mainly arranged by Professor J. B. Weston of Antioch —
who has been connected with that institution from its foundation — with the aid of Mrs.
Weston and Rev. Olympia Brown, both graduates of the college. For the present
form of the table, however, I alone am responsible.
It appears that of the 41 graduates, ranging from the year 1857 to 1873, no fewer
than 36 are now living. Of these the health of II is reported as "very good1'; 19
1
"n
d
'— C
o
"° c
a
>~ u
J-
—
'.-
u R
°"si
't.=
~a
I
Remarks.
-_
^ 2
~^t
-
C
it
2
i
1857
Married
3
Nut living
Died, 1874.
I
i
Good
Taught eleven years ; now in Indiana.'
3
4
1858
,
2
2
Very good
Has taught ever since graduating ; now in Ohio.
Taught five years ; now in Ohio.
1
.}
'
6
Good
Has taught school ; slight bronchial trouble.
'
7
1859
.
3
3
Uncertain
Has taught school.
:
••
'
Good
Taught thirteen years, lill married, in 1872.
••
*
2 or 3
No recent intelligence ; health good so far as known.
I
1860
Single
"
Taught some years ; now in England.
XI
"
Married
2
'•
Taught three years.
:
"
Single
"
Has taught school.
i |
"
>r
Very good
Physician in Missouri.
I :
•'
Married
I
Has taught school.
! =
f*
Single
" "
Constantly a teacher, except two years in Europe.
ra
"
Married
" "
Minister in Connecticut ; lately married.
«7
1861
1
Good
Taught three years ; journalist in Ohio.
i-
**
fc
I
Has taught school.
' •
1862
'
I
Not living
Died of Hereditary consumption.
r
*
I
' *
2:
••
'
I
Good
H
••
•
2
Very good
Resides in Ohio.
•3
44
'
2
" •'
Resides tn Vermont.
"
t
2
" "
Resides in New York.
•j
"
i
Good
Lately married.
2'
•7
1863
:
3
2
Very good
Has taught school.
Taught Tour years, till married.
.-
1864
1866
i
3
Not good
Taught one year.
Troubled with scrofula, dating back earlier than her school
days; practices medicine in Missouri.
:
iG6S
Single
Married
i
Verjf good
Good
Has just returned from three years in Europe, where she
took long pedestrian journeys.
Has taught school and is teaching now.
-•-
1
18(9
Single
2
u
Taught three years.
Taught constantly and is teaching now.
-' :
1870
Married
Not living
Died, 1871.
-•'-
"
I
Good
Has taught school in Missouri.
**
44
I
41
Taught one year.
1871
Single
Unknown
Came to college in delicate health, which improved while
there: the youngest woman ever graduated at Antioch.
•
1872
'*
Not living
Died, 1873, of hereditary consumption.
•
•'
**
Fair
Teaching in Massachusetts.
4°
1873
14
Good
4:
"
"
Mr. Higginson in "The Womaris Journal" 497
"good"; making 30 in all; I is reported as "fair"; I "uncertain"; I "not good,"
and 3 "unknown." Of the 41 graduates, 30 are reported as married and 1 1 are single,
five of these last having graduated within three years. Of the 30 married, 24 have
children, numbering 48 or 49 in all. Of the 6 childless, 3 are reported as very re-
cently married; one died a few months after marriage, and the facts in the other cases
are not given. Thirty-four of the forty-one have taught since graduated, and I agree
with Professor Weston that teaching is as severe a draft on the constitution as study.
Taking these facts as a whole, I do not see how the most earnest advocate of higher
education could ask for a more encouraging exhibit; and I submit the case without
argument, so far as this pioneer experiment at coeducation is concerned. If any man
seriously believes that his non-collegiate relatives are in better physical condition than
this table shows, I advise him to question forty-one of them and tabulate the statistics
obtained.
In the following editorial in the Woman s Journal Mr. Higginson pur-
sues the opposition still more closely, and answers their frivolous objec-
tions :
I am surprised to find that Professor W. S. Tyler of Amherst College, in his paper
on " The Higher Education of Woman," in Scribner's Monthly for February, repeats
the unfair statements of President Eliot of Harvard, in regard to Oberlin College.
The fallacy and incorrectness of those statements were pointed out on the spot by sev-
eral, and were afterwards thoroughly shown by President Fairchild of Oberlin; yet
Professor Tyler repeats them all. He asserts that there has been a great falling off in
the number of students in that college; he entirely ignores the important fact
of the great multiplication of colleges which admit women; and he implies, if he does
not assert, that the separate ladies' course at Oberlin has risen as a substitute for the
regular college course. His words are these, the italics being my own :
In Oberlin, where the experiment has been tried under the most favorable circum-
stances, it has proved a failure so far as the regular college course is concerned. The
number of young women in that course, instead of increasing with the prosperity of
the institution, has diminished, so that it now averages only two or three to a class.
The rest pursue a different curriculum, live in a separate dormitory, and study by
themselves in a course of their own, reciting, indeed, with the young men, and by way
of reciprocity and in true womanly compassion, allowing some of them to sit at their
table in the clining-hall, but yet constituting substantially a female seminary, or, if
you please, a woman's college in the university. — Scribner, February, page 457.
Now, it was distinctly stated by President Fairchild last summer, that this "differ-
ent curriculum " was the course originally marked out for women, and that the regu-
lar college course was an after-thought. This disposes of the latter part of Professor
Tyler's statement. I revert, therefore, to his main statement, that "the number of
young women in the collegiate course has diminished, so that it now averages only
two or three to a class." Any reader would suppose his meaning to be that taking
one year with another, and comparing later years with the early years of Oberlin,
there has been a diminution of women. What is the fact? The Oberlin College tri-
ennial catalogue of 1872 lies before me, and I have taken the pains to count and tabu-
late the women graduated in different years, during the thirty-two years after 1841,
when they began to be graduated there. Dividing them into decennial periods, I find
the numbers to be as follows : 1841-1850, thirty-two women were graduated; 1851-1860,
seventeen women were graduated; 1861—1870, forty women were graduated. From this
it appears that during the third decennial period there was not only no diminution, but
actually a higher average than before. During the first period the classes averaged
3.2 women; during the second period 1.7 women, and during the third period 4
women. Or if, to complete the exhibit, we take in the two odd classes at the end,
and make the third period consist of twelve classes, the average will still be 3.8, and
will be larger than either of the previous periods. Or if, disregarding the even distri-
bution of periods, we take simply the last ten years, the average will be 3.1. More-
32
History of Woman Suffrage.
over, during the first period there was one class (1842) which contained no women at
all; and during the second period there were three such classes (1852-3, 7); while dur-
ing the third period every class has had at least one woman.
It certainly would not have been at all strange if there had been a great falling off
in the number of graduates of Oberlin. At the outset it had the field to itself. Now
the census gives fifty-five "colleges" for women, besides seventy-seven which admit
both sexes. Many of these are inferior to Oberlin, no doubt, but some rose rapidly to
a prestige far beyond this pioneer institution. With Cornell University on the one
side, and the University of Michigan on the other — to say nothing of minor institu-
tions— the wonder is that Oberlin could have held its own at all. Yet the largest
cla*s of women it ever graduated (thirteen) was so late as 1865, and if the classes since
then " average but two or three," so did the classes for several years before that date.
Professor Tyler knows very well that classes fluctuate in every college, and that a de-
cennial period is the least by which the working of any system can be tested. Tried
by this test, the alleged diminution assumes a very different aspect. If, however,
there were a great decline at Oberlin, it would simply show a transfer of students to
other colleges, since neither Professor Tyler nor President Eliot will deny that the
total statistics of colleges show a rapid increase in the number of women.
Moreover, I confess that my confidence in Professor Tyler's sense of accuracy is
greatly impaired by these assertions about Oberlin, and also by his statement, which I
must call reckless, at least, in regard to the inferiority in truth, purity and virtue of
those women who seek the suffrage. He asserts (page 456) that " women — women
generally — the truest, purest and best of the sex — do not wish for the right of suffrage."
Now, if the women who oppose suffrage are truest, purest and best, the women who
advocate it must plainly be inferior at all these points; and that is an assertion which
not only these women themselves, but their brothers, husbands and sons are certainly
entitled to resent. Mr. Tyler has a perfect right to argue for his own views, for or
against suffrage, but he has no right to copy the Oriental imprecation, and say to his
opponents, " May the grave of your mother be defiled !" 'He claims that he holds
official relations to one " woman's college," one " female seminary " and one "young
ladies' institute." Will it conduce to the moral training of those who enter those in-
stitutions that their officers set them the example of impugning the purity and virtue of
those who differ in opinion from themselves ?
But supposing Professor Tyler not to be bound by the usual bonds of courtesy or of
justice, he is at least bound by the consistency of his own position. Thus, he goes out
of his way to compliment Mrs. Somerville and Miss Mitchell. Both these ladies are
identified with the claim for suffrage. He lauds " Uncle Tom's Cabin," but Mrs.
Stowe has written almost as ably for the enfranchisement of woman as for the freedom
of the blacks. He praises the " sacramental host of. authoresses," who, he says, "will
move on with ever-growing power, overthrowing oppression, restraining vice and
crime, reforming morals and manners, purifying public sentiment, revolutionizing
business, society and government, till every yoke is broken and all nations are won to
the truth." But it has been again and again shown that the authoresses of America
are, with but two or three exceptions, in favor of woman suffrage, and, therefore, in-
stead of being " sacramental," do not even belong to Professor Tyler's class of " wisest,
truest and best." He thus selects for compliment on one page the very women whom
he has traduced on another. His own witnesses testify against him. It is a pity that
such phrases of discourtesy and unfairness should disfigure an essay which in many re-
spects says good words for women, recommends that they should study Greek, and
says, inclosing, that their elevation "is at once the measure and the means of the
elevation of mankind."
In the autumn of 1884 an effort was made to exclude women from Adel-
bert College. We give an account thereof from the pen of Mrs. Sarah
Knowles Bolton, published in the English Woman's Review of January,
1885:
Adelbert College. 499
DEAR EDITOR : The city of Cleveland has been stirred for weeks on this question of
•woman's higher education. Western Reserve College, founded in 1826, at Hudson,
was moved to Cleveland in 1874, because of a gift of $100,000 from Mr. Amasa Stone,
•with the change of name to Adelbert College, in memory of an only son. A few
young women had been students since 1873. In Cleveland, about twenty young ladies
availed themselves of such admirable home privileges. Their scholarship was excel-
lent— higher than that of the young men. They were absent from exercises only half
as much as the men. Their conduct was above reproach. A short time since the fac-
ulty, except the president, Dr. Carroll Cutler, petitioned the board of trustees to dis-
continue coeducation at the college, for the assumed reasons that girls require different
training from boys, never " identical " education; that it is trying to their health to re-
•cite before young men; " the strain upon the nervous system from mortifying mistakes
and serious corrections is to many young ladies a cruel additional burden laid upon
them in the course of study"; " that the provision we offer to girls is not the best, and
is even dangerous"; that "where women are admitted, the college becomes second or
third-rate, and that, worst of all, young men will be deterred from coming to this col-
lege by the presence of ladies." An "annex" was recommended, not with college
•degrees, but a subordinate arrangement with " diploma examinations, so far and so fast
.as the resources of the college shall allow."
As soon as the subject became known, the newspapers of the city took up the ques-
tiom As the public furnishes the means and the students for every college, the public
•were vitally interested. Ministers preached about it, and they, with doctors and law-
yers, wrote strong articles, showing that no "annex" was desired; that parents wished
thorough, high, self-reliant education for their daughters as for their sons; that health
was not injured by the embarrassment (?) of reciting before young men; that young
men had not been deterred from going to Ann Arbor, Oberlin, Cornell, and other in.
stitutions where there are young women; that it was unjust to make girls go hundreds
of miles away to Vassar or Smith or Wellesley, when boys were provided with the best
•education at their very doors; that, with over half the colleges of this country admit-
ting women, with the colleges of Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Holland and France
throwing open their doors to women, for Adelbert College to shut them out, would be
.a step backward in civilization.
The women of the city took up the matter, and several thousands of our best names
were obtained to a petition, asking that girls be retained members of the college;
judges and leading persons gladly signed. The trustees met November 7, 1884.
The whole city eagerly waited the result. The chairman of the committee, Hon.
I. W. Chamberlain of Columbus, who had been opposed to coeducation at first, from
the favorable reports received by him from colleges all over the country, had become
.a thorough convert, and the report was able and convincing.
President Angell of Michigan University, where there are 1,500 students, wrote :
""Women were admitted here under the pressure of public sentiment against the
wishes of most of the professors. But I think no professor now regrets it, or would
favor the exclusion of women. We made no solitary modification of our rules or re-
quirements. The women did not become hoydenish; they did not fail in their studies;
they did not break down in health; they have been graduated in all departments; they
have not been inferior in scholarship to the men. We count the experiment here suc-
cessful."
Galusha Anderson, president of Chicago University, wrote : "Our only law here is
that the students shall act as gentlemen and ladies. They mingle freely together, just
as they do in society, as I think God intended that they should, and the effect in all
respects is good. I have never had the slightest trouble from the association of the
:sexes."
Chancellor Manatt of Nebraska University, for four years engaged in university
work at Yale, in answer to the questions as to whether boys would be driven away
from the institution, replied: "This question sounds like a joke in this longitude. As
500 History of Woman Suffrage.
well sny a girl's beine born into a family turns the boys out of doors. It rather
strengthens the home attraction. So in the university. I believe there is not a pro-
fessor or student here who would not, for good and solid reasons, fight for the system."
President Warren of Boston University, lately the recipient of ,£200,000, wrote :
" The only opponents of coeducation I have ever known are persons who know noth-
ing about it practically, and whose difficulties are all speculative and imaginary. Men
are more manly and women more womanly when concerted in a wholly human society
than when educated in a half-human one."
President White of Cornell wrote : "I regard the ' annex ' for women in our colleges
as a mere make-shift and step in the progress toward the full admission of women to
all college classes, and I think that this is a very general view among men who have
given unprejudiced thought to the subject. Having now gone through one more year,
making twelve in all since women were admitted, I do not hesitate to say that I be-
lieve their presence here is good for us in every respect."
Professor Moses Coit Tyler of Cornell said : " My observation has been that under
the joint system the tone of college life has grown more earnest, more courteous and
refined, less flippant and cynical. The women are usually among the very best schol-
ars, and lead instead of drag, and their lapses from good health are rather, yes, de-
cidedly, less numerous than those alleged by the men. There is a sort of young man
who thinks it not quite the thing, you know, to be in a college where women are; and
he goes away, if he can, and I am glad to have him do so. The vacuum he causes is
not a large one, and his departure is more than made up by the arrival in his stead of
a more robust and manlier sort."
The only objectors to coeducation were from those colleges which had never tried
it; President Porter of Yale thought it a suitable method for post-graduate classes, and
President Seeley for a course of "lower grade " than Amherst.
President Cutler of Adelbert College made an able report, showing that the progress
of the age is towards coeducation. Only fifty-three Protestant colleges, founded since
1830, exclude women; while 156 coeducational institutions have been established since
that date.
Some of the trustees thought it desirable to imitate Yale,* and others felt that they
knew what studies are desirable for woman better than she knew herself ! When the
vote was taken, to their honor be it said, it was twelve to six, or two to one, in favor
of coeducation. The girls celebrated this just and manly decision by a banquet.
The inauguration of the women's crusade at this time (1874) in
Ohio created immense excitement, not only throughout that
State, but it was the topic for the pulpit and the press all over
the nation. Those identified with the woman suffrage move-
ment, while deeply interested in the question of temperance, had
no sympathy with what they felt to be a desecration of woman-
hood and of the religious element in woman. They felt that
the fitting place for petitions and appeals was in the halls of leg-
islation, to senators and congressmen, rather than rumsellers and
drunkards in the dens of vice and the public thoroughfares. It
was pitiful to see the faith of women in God's power to effect im-
possibilities. Like produces like in the universe of matter and
* But even old Yale has to succumb to the on-sweeping tide of equal chances to women, as will be
seen by the following Associated Press item in the New York Sun of October 2, 1885 : " NEW HAVEN,
Conn.. Oct. i. — Miss Alice B. Jordin. of Coldwater, Mich., a graduate of the academic and law depart-
ments of the University of Michigan, entered the Yale law school to-day. She is the first woman ever
entered in any department of Yale outside of the art school.
Miriam M. Cole. 501
mind, and so long as women consent to make licentious, drunken
men the fathers of their children, no power in earth or heaven
can save the race from these twin vices. The following letter
from Miriam M. Cole makes some good points on this question:
If the " woman's war against whisky" had been inaugurated by the woman suffrage
party, its aspect, in the eyes of newspapers, would be different from what it now is. If
Lucy Stone had set the movement on foot, it would have been so characteristic of her!
What more could one expect from such a disturber of public peace? She, who has no
instinctive scruples against miscellaneous crowds at the polls, might be expected to visit
saloons and piously serenade their owners, until patience ceases to be a virtue. But
for women who are so pressed with domestic cares that they have no time to vote; for
women who shun notoriety so much that they are unwilling to ask permission to vote;
for women who believe that men are quite capable of managing State and municipal
affairs without their interference; for them to have set on foot the present crusade, how
queer ! Their singing, though charged with amoral purpose, and their prayers, though
directed to a specific end, do not make their warfare a whit more feminine, nor their
situation more attractive. A woman knocking out the head of a whisky barrel with an
ax, to the tune of Old Hundred, is not the ideal woman sitting on a sofa, dining on
strawberries and cream, and sweetly warbling, "The Rose that All are Praising." She
is as far from it as Susan B. Anthony was when pushing her ballot into the box. And
all the difference between the musical saint spilling the precious liquid and the unmu-
sical saint offering her vote is, that the latter tried to kill several birds with one stone,
and the former aims at only one.
Intemperance, great a curse as it is, is not the only evil whose effects bear most
heavily on women. Wrong is hydra-headed, and to work so hard to cut off one head,
when there is a way by which all may be dissevered, is not a far-sighted movement; and
when you add to this the fact that the head is not really cut off, but only dazed by un-
expected melodies and supplications, there is little satisfaction in the effort. We
learn that, outside of town corporations that have been lately "rectified," the liquor
traffic still goes on, and the war is to be carried into the suburbs. What then ? Where
next? Which party can play this game the longer? Tears, prayers and songs will
soon lose their novelty — this spasmodic effort will be likely soon to spend itself; is
there any permanent good being wrought ? Liquor traffic opposes woman suffrage, and
with good reasons. It knows that votes change laws, and it also knows that the votes
of women would change the present temperance laws and make them worth the paper
on which they are printed. While this uprising of women is a hopeful sign, yet it
cannot make one law black or white. It may, for a time, mold public opinion, but
depraved passions and appetites need wholesome laws to restrain them. If women
would only see this and demand the exercise of their right of suffrage with half the
zeal and unanimity with which they storm a man's castle, it would be granted. This
is the only ax to lay at the root of the tree.
Springfield, Ohio, has just had a case in a Justice Court which attracted much at-
tention and awakened much interest. A woman whose husband had reduced his
family to utter want by drunkenness, entered a suit against the rumseller. An appeal
from the drunkard's wife to the ladies of Springfield had been circulated in the daily
papers, which so aroused them that a large delegation of the most respectable and
pious women of the city came into the court. But the case was adjourned for a
week. During this time the excitement had become so great that when the trial came
on the court-room was full of spectators, and the number of ladies within the rail was
increased three-fold. Mrs. E. D. Stewart made the plea to the jury. A verdict was
rendered against the rumseller. An appeal will be taken; but the citizens of Spring-
field will never forget the influence which the presence of women, in sympathy with
another wronged woman, had upon the court. And what added power those women
502 History of Woman Suffrage.
would have had as judges, jurors and advocates; citizens crowned with all the rights,
privileges and immunities justly theirs by law and constitution.
Of the work in Geauga county, Mrs. Sophia Ober Allen, of
South Newbury writes :
In the winter of 185 1-2, Anson Read circulated a petition praying the legis-
lature to protect married women in their property rights ; and from that
time the subject of women's rights was frequently discussed in social and
literary gatherings. In 1871, Mrs. Lima Ober proposed to be one of six
women to go to the township election and offer her vote. Nine * joined
her, but all their votes were rejected, the judges saying they feared trouble
would be the result if they received them. From that year to 1876 these
heroic women of South Newbury persisted in offering their votes at the
town, state and presidential elections ; and though always refused, they
would repair to another room with the few noble men who sustained
them, and there duly cast their ballots for justice and equality. On one
occasion the)r polled fifty votes — thirty-one women and nineteen men. In
1876 they adopted a series of stirring resolutions with a patriotic declara-
tion of principles.
In 1873, large meetings were held, and a memorial sent to the constitu-
tional convention, asking for an amendment, that " the right to vote shall
not be denied or abridged to any adult citizen except for crime, idiocy or
lunacy." On January 12, 1874, a political club was organized,! which has
been active in holding meetings and picnics, circulating petitions and
tracts. On July 4, 1874, a basket picnic was held in Ober and Allen's-
grove, at which Gen. A. C. Voris was among the speakers.! Hon. A. G.
Riddle, whose early life was spent mostly in Newbury, encouraged and
assisted the work, both by voice and pen. During the winter of 1878,
Susan B. Anthony, in company with my husband and myself, lectured ia
several towns under the auspices of the club. Miss Eva L. Pinney, a
native of Newbury, was employed by the club to canvass the county.
Her success was marked. In 1879 the treasury received a bequest of $50,
from Reuben H. Ober, who, though spending much of his time in the
East, ever sustained a live interest in the home society.!
* Mesdames Lima H. Ober, Lovina Greene, Hophni Smith, Ruth F. Munn, Perleyette M. Burnett, So-
phia L. O. Allen, Mary Hodges, Lydia Smith, Sarah A. Knox. The men who sustained and voted with
these women were Deacon Amplias Greene, Darius M. Allen, Ransom Knox, Apollos D. Greene,
Wesley Brown. Their tickets were different each year; their fin«t read, " Our Motto— Equal Rights,
for all — Taxation without Representation is Tyranny. Our .Foes — Tradition and Superstition."
Among the speakers invited to address the people at the polls were Mrs. Organ, of Yellow Springs, and
Mrs. Hope Whipple, of Clyde.
t President, Ruth F. Munn ; Vice-Presidents, Joel Walker, D M. Allen ; Recording Secretary,
Ellen Munn ; Corresponding Secretary, Julia P. Greene ; Treasurer, Mary Hodges ; Executive
Committee, William Munn, Sophia L. O. Allen, Amanda M. Greene, Apollos D. Greene, Ransom
Knox.
\ At other picnics the speakers were, Mrs. S. B. Chase, M. D., Colonel S. D. Harris, J. W. Tyler
Jane O. DeForrest, T. W. Porter.
$ The Society of South Newbury, like that of Toledo, refrained from auxiliary-ship with
the State Association from the time of its organization to June, 1885, when such relationship
was made possible by the State Society voting itself an independent organization, free to cooperate
with all national or local associations that have for their object the enfranchisement of women ; and
to Mrs. Allen may be ascribed a large share of the credit for the good work and broad platform of tht
South Newbury club.
The Toledo Society. 503
Mrs. Sarah Langdon Williams sends us the following report
from the Toledo society :
In the winter of 1869, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony returning from
an extended trip through the West, spent a few days in Toledo. In ad-
dition to public meetings, their coming was the occasion for many pleas-
ant and hospitable gatherings. A large circle of intelligent and earnest
women were longing and waiting to do something to speed the movement
for woman suffrage, when the coming of these pioneers of reform roused
them to action. It was like the match to the fire all ready for kindling, and
an organization was speedily effected.* From that time forward, the air
seemed magnetized with reform ideas, and to the loyal band who stood
true to their flag, new members were added from time to time, and from
this little band went forth an influence, a steady force which has operated
silently though continuously through both visible and invisible channels,
moulding the thought and action of the community. The meetings of
this association were regularly reported by the daily press, with more or
less justice, according as the reporter present, or the newspaper which
reported the proceedings, was more or less friendly.
A letter published in The Revolution of June 10, 1869, indicates the
practical work of our association :
The first skirmish along the line of the suffrage army in Ohio has been fought, and
the friends of reformation may well rejoice at the result. In this city there has existed
for a long time a library association to which women were admitted as members, but
in the control or management of which they had no voice. Under the pressure of in-
fluences set in motion by your visit, it was resolved that this relic of the past should be
swept away, that women should be represented in the management as well as in the
membership of the association. At the late election six directors were to be chosen
among other officers, and Miss Anna C. Mott.f Mrs. M. W. Bond and Mrs. M. J. Bar-
ker were candidates upon a ticket called the Equal Rights Ticket, headed by Mr. A.
\V. (llcason, for president. The dangerous proposition, not only of allowing women
to vote, but of giving them offices, was a bombshell in the camp of conservatism, and
every influence that could be, was brought to bear against this ticket. After an ex-
citing contest, the result showed that notwithstanding a powerful and influential op-
position, the ticket was elected by a vote of from 186 to 220 out of 327 votes. This
result has been all the more grateful, because in the opposition were to be found many
of the most wealthy and respected citizens of Toledo.
As an index of the interest the women manifested in that election, three-fourths of
them voted. It was interesting to notice the firmness with which the women walked
up to the ballot-box. No trembling was perceptible. They carried the ballot with
ease, deposited it with coolness, watched to see that no fraud was perpetrated, and then
departed as noiselessly as they came. The deed was done. Woman's honor, woman's
purity, woman's domestic felicity, woman's conjugal love, woman's fidelity to her home
duties, all these and a thousand other of the finer qualities were destroyed. No more
peace in families; no more quiet home evenings; no more refined domestic women;
* The presidents of the Toledo Society have been, Emma J. Ashley. Elizabeth R. Collins, Sarah R.
I., \\illiams, Rosa L. Segur, Julia P. Cole, Sarah S. Bissell, Ellen S. Fray, Mary J. Cravens. The,
vice-presidents, Martha Stebbins, Julia Harris, S. R. L. Williams, Sarah S. liisscll, Ellen Sully Fray,.
Mary J. Barker. Miss Charlotte Langdon Williams rendered valuable service in the business depart-,
ment of The Ballot-Box, and served for three years as secretary and treasurer of the association.
t Miss Anna ('. Mott, and her father, Richard Mott, were two strong pillars of the woman suffrage-
movement in Ohio ; their beautiful home has for many years been a harbor of rest alike to the advo-.
cates of anti-slavery, temperance and woman's rights.
504 History of Woman Suffrage.
but wrangling and discords instead. Soldiers and sailors, policemen and gravel-
shovelers had taken the place of wives and mothers. Sick at heart I went to my home
and wept for American womanhood. But the sun rose as usual, and the world still
revolved. I went to the police-court — all was quiet. I passed to the county-court,
and looked over the docket — no new divorce cases met my gaze. With unsteady hand
I have opened the morning papers for the past few days, but nothing there betrayed
the terrible results of that false step. Oh, women ! women ! In the days of Indian
warfare, the skilled hunter would tell you that after an attack, when all was quiet, and
you thought the enemy had departed, the greatest danger awaited, and the most care-
ful vigilance was required. So I still keep watching, for I know the vengeance of the
gods must fall upon this worse than Sodom, for since women have voted, surely there
be not five righteous within the city. Real estate is not falling, however, but then ! —
The evening after the election, the friends of the association and of the successful
tickets, gathered to witness the incoming of the new administration. Hearty words of
cheer for the future were spoken. The president, Mr. Gleason, delivered a beautiful
inaugural address, of which I send you a few sentences, and the meeting adjourned.
The president said: \Vhile thanking you most heartily, ladies and gentlemen, for
the distinguished honor conferred upon me in the election, I do not forget that it is
due to the great principles of equal rights and universal suffrage — not to any merits of
my own. We live in an age of progress. In my humble opinion we have taken a
great step forward in admitting ladies to the management of this association — not only
from the fact that in this particular institution they hold an equal footing with our-
selves, and of right are entitled to all its privileges, but from the more important fact
that it is a recognition here of those principles which are now claiming recognition in
the political institutions of our country. It is in the natural order of events that this
"equal rights " movement should meet with opposition. All movements of a novel
and radical character at their commencement meet with opposition. This is the
ordeal through which they must pass, but their success or failure depends upon their
intrinsic merit. Nothing is to be feared from opposition to any movement that pos-
sesses these elements. Whatsoever idea has its origin in the recesses of human nature,
will, sooner or later, become embodied in living action, and so we have this assurance
— that as here, so also in the political institutions of our country — this principle of
equal rights, both to man and woman, will at last prevail.
In 1871 the Sunday Journal offered the association half a column, which
was gratefully accepted, and Mrs. Sarah Langdon Williams appointed ed-
itor. The department increased to a full page, and the circulation of the
paper became as large as that of either of the city dailies. When there \va>
danger of its being sold to opponents of the cause, Mrs. Williams purchased
one-half interest, and by so doing kept the other half in the hands of the
friendly proprietor. In the Sunday Journal \hs association had a medium
through which it could promptly answer all unjust attacks, and thus kept
up a constant agitation. In November, 1875, the sale of the paper closed
for a while direct communication between the association and the public.
But soon becoming restive without any medium through which to express
Itself, the society started The Ballot-Box in April, 1876, raising money
among the citizens in aid of the enterprise. With this first assistance the
•paper became at once self-supporting, and continued thus until April,
1878,* when it was transferred to Matilda Joslyn Gage, and published at
Syracuse, N. Y.
* Mrs. Williams further adds that The Kallot-Rox became also a foster child of the National Associa-
tion, Miss Anthony canvassing for it after each of her lectures during the winters of 1877 and 1878, thus
largely increasing the circulation. It. on the other hand, gave full and faithful account of the work of
the National Association, so that in reality it was the organ of the National as well as of the Toledo
society.
Hon. M. R. Waite. 505
The convention for the remodeling of the constitution of the State, in
1873-74, afforded an opportunity for unflagging efforts of the members of
the association in the circulation of petitions ; and so successful were they
that when their delegates presented themselves with 1,500 signatures,
asking for an amendment securing the right of suffrage to women, a mem-
ber of the convention, on scanning the roll, exclaimed : "Why, you have
here all the solid men of Lucas county." Mr. M. R. Waite, since chief-
justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was president of the
convention, and in presenting the petition said the names on that paper
represented fifteen millions of dollars. Mr. Waite's courtesy indicated
stronger convictions regarding the rights of women than he really pos-
sessed. In an interview with our committee, appointed to secure a hear-
ing from the members-elect — Mr. Waite and Mr. Scribner — Mr. Waite de-
clared himself in favor of according equal wages to women, and believed
them entitled to all other rights, except the right to vote. He thought
women were entitled to a hearing in the convention, and would aid them
all he could to secure the privilege. Mr. Waite, with great kindness of
nature, possesses an inborn conservatism which curbs his more generous
impulses. He adhered to this position in his decision in the case of Minor
•vs. Happersett, declaring that "the constitution of the United States has
no voters." Many of the most sanguine friends were greatly disap-
pointed. They had fully believed his love of justice would lead him to
the broad interpretation of the constitution, so clearly the true one, set
forth in the first article of the fourteenth amendment. It did prevail,
however, when, after saying the constitution does not confer the right of
suffrage with citizenship, he said: "If the law is wrong, it ought to be
changed ; but the power is not with the Supreme Court."
When, in February, 1873, an irascible judge of the Court of Common
Pleas refused to ratify the appointment of a woman — Miss Mary Sibley —
to the office of deputy clerk, which she had filled for eight years with un-
usual acceptance, on the ground that not being an elector she was legally
disqualified, the association determined to dispute the decision in her be-
half, and on applying through their president to Mr. Waite to act as
counsel, he gave his unhesitating acceptance, and declared that if the
appointment was illegal, the law ought to be changed at once. True to his
promise, he defended her most ably, and engaged other counsel to act
with him. His services were given gratuitously.
Subsequently, in the constitutional convention, an amendment was
adopted making women eligible to appointive offices, and also to any office
under the school control, with the exception of State commissioner. But
when voted upon, the new constitution was lost, and with it these amend-
ments. The cause had able advocates in the convention, leading whom
was General A. C. Voris of Akron, who was made chairman of the Special
Committee on Woman Suffrage. The Standing Committee on Elective
Franchise was extremely unfriendl}', conspicuously so the chairman, Mr.
Sample. A Special Committee on Woman Suffrage was appointed, which
performed its duty faithfully, and reported unanimously in favor. Mr.
Voris worked for the measure with an enthusiasm equaled only by his
506 History of Woman Suffrage.
ability. When the report came up for discussion he made a masterly
speech of two hours, during which the attention was so close that a pin
could be heard to drop. Other able speeches were also made in favor
of the measure by some of the most talented members of the conven-
tion. It came within two votes of being carried. The defeat was
largely due to the liquor influence in the convention. The cause, how-
ever, received a new impetus through the exertions of General Voris, to
whom, second to no other person in Ohio, should the thanks of the
women be rendered. During the contest the Toledo society was con-
stantly on the alert. On three occasions it sent its delegates to the con-
vention ; but it has not limited its work to Ohio alone ; it has given freely
of its means whenever it could to aid the struggle in other States, and has
rolled up large petitions to congress asking for a sixteenth amendment.
When the State convention met in Toledo, February, 1873, the mem-
bers of the city society exerted themselves to the utmost to have all ar-
rangements for their reception and entertainment of the most satisfactory
character, and the delegates unanimously agreed they had never before
had so delightful and successful a meeting. Many lasting friendships
were formed. The opera-house was well filled at every session of the
three days' convention. At the opening session a cordial address of
welcome was given by Rev. Robert McCune, one of Toledo's most elo-
quent Republicans. The mayor of the city, Dr. W. W. Jones, a staunch
Democrat, also made a courteous speech.
The Toledo Society has always held itself an independent organization,
though its members, individually, have identified themselves as they
chose with other associations. Its attitude has been of the most uncom-
promising character. It has never been cajoled into accepting a crumb
in any way in the place of the whole loaf. Sometimes this has brought
upon it the condemnation of friends, but in the long run it has won re-
spect, even from bitter opponents. An illustration of this was given in
its action with regard to the centennial celebration. The Fourth of July,
1876, was to be observed in Toledo as a great gala day. Long before its
arrival preparations were in progress through which patriotic citizens
were to express their gratitude over the nation's prosperity on the one-
hundredth anniversary of freedom. All trades, professions and organiza-
tions were to join in one vast triumphal procession. A call was issued
for a meeting, to which all organizations were requested to send repre-
sentatives. The Woman Suffrage Association was not neglected, and a
circular of invitation was mailed to its president. This raised a delicate
question, for how could women take part in celebrating the triumphs of
their country whose laws disfranchised them ? But, having received a
courteous recognition, they must respond with equal courtesy. The let-
ter was laid before the society, and the president instructed to politely
decline the honor. The Ballot-Box of May, 1876, contains the corre-
spondence :
TOLEDO, Ohio, April 8, 1876.
At a meeting of citizens, held at White's Hall, on the evening of the 6th inst., the
undersigned were instructed to invite your organization, with others, to send a repre-
sentative to a meeting to be held at White's Hall, on the evening of Monday, April
No Centennial to Celebrate. 507
17, which will elect an executive committee, and make other arrangements for a cele-
bration by Toledo of the one-hundredth anniversary of American independence in a
manner befitting the occasion and the character of our city. It is earnestly de-
sired that every organization, of whatever nature, in Toledo, be represented at this
meeting. We would, therefore, ask of you that you lay the matter before your or-
ganization at its next regular meeting, or in case it shall hold no meeting before the
lyth, that you appear as a representative yourself. GUIDO MARX, Chairman.
D. R. LOCKE, JAMES H. EMORY, Secretaries.
This was laid before the association at a meeting which occurred the
same afternoon, and by the order of the society the invitation therein
conveyed was replied to in season to be read at the meeting at White's
Hall, April 17:
TOLEDO, Ohio, April 15, 1876.
Hon. Guido Marx, Messrs. D. R. Locke and James H. Emory:
GENTLEMEN : The printed circular, with your names attached, inclosed to my ad-
dress as president of the Toledo Woman Suffrage Association, inviting that body to
send a representative to a meeting to be held at White's Hall, Monday evening, April
17, to elect an executive committee and make other arrangements for a celebration by
Toledo of the one-hundredth anniversary of American independence, was received
just in time to lay before the meeting held April 10. It was there decided that while
the members of the association fully appreciate the generosity of the men of Toledo,
and feel grateful for the implied recognition of their citizenship, yet they manifestly
have no centennial to celebrate, as the government still holds them in a condition of
political serfdom, denying them the greatest right of citizenship — representation.
Conscious, however, of the great results which the nation's hundred years have
achieved in building up a great people, we are aware that you, as American men,
have cause for rejoicing, and we bid you God-speed in all efforts which you may make
in the approaching celebration. In an equal degree we feel it inconsistent, as a dis-
franchised class, to unite vvith you in the celebration of that liberty which is the herit-
age of but one-half the people. It is the will, therefore, of the association that I re-
spond to the above effect, thanking you for your courteous invitation, and recognizing
with pleasure among your names those who have heretofore extended to us their sym-
pathy and aid. I remain, with sincere respect, yours,
SARAH R. L. WILLIAMS, President T. W. S. A.
The letter was intended to be in all respects courteous, as the writer
and the society which she represented had naught but the kindest of feel-
ings toward those who, in so friendly a manner, recognized their citizen-
ship by inviting them to take part in the meeting, and also toward the
Toledo public, who, as a general thing, had treated their organization
with friendly consideration. It appears, however, that their attitude was
misconstrued, according to articles subsequently published in the Blade
and Commercial, which we reproduce below :
The women say they " manifestly have no centennial to celebrate." If we are not
mistaken, the women of this country have enjoyed greater progress than the men un-
der our free government, and it illy becomes them now to steadily and persistently
pout because they have not yet attained the full measure of their earthly desires — the
ballot-box. Better by far give a hearty show of appreciation of benefits received, and
thereby materially aid in further progress. Nothing can be gained by their refusing
to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of civil and religious liberty. The rights
of all are necessarily restricted wherever there is a government, and time and experi-
ence can alone demonstrate just what extension or contraction of rights and liberties
may be essential to the general good. In our judgment the women, by refusing to
participate in the coming Fourth of July celebration, have committed an error, the in-
508 History of Woman Suffrage.
fluence of which cannot but prove prejudicial to the interests of their association.
The opposite course would undoubtedly have won friends. — Blade.
A singularly uncourteous letter was the one sent by the Woman Suffrage Association
to the meeting at White's Hall. Ninety-nine-hundredths of the women of the country
will be surprised to learn that they " have no centennial to celebrate," and will be still
more surprised when they discover that it is " inconsistent " for them to unite with
their brothers, fathers, sons and husbands "in the celebration of the liberty which is
the heritage" of <z//the people. We cannot but feel that the claims set forth by the
association would command more respectful consideration with the display of a differ-
ent spirit. The maids and matrons of 1776 were of a different mold. — Commercial.
The Blade has been a good friend to woman suffrage for many years,
but we feel that the present article was written in a spirit of needless irri-
tability, such as we should think might ensue from a fit of indigestion.
The Commercial, since its change of management, has certainly not been
unfriendly, and we have thought fair. Its present comments are unjust.
The following editorial appeared in The Ballot-Box of the same date :
WHY WE CANNOT CELEBRATE THE CENTENNIAL. — The city dailies criticise the suf-
frage association somewhat severely for declining to unite in the centennial celebra-
tion. Perhaps from the outlook of masculine satisfaction it may seem astonishing that
patriotism should not inspire us with gratitude for the crumbs from the national table;
that we should not rejoice at the great banquet being prepared. But it is as impossi-
ble for us to look from their standpoint, as for them to see from ours. While appre-
ciating the kindnesses measured out to us in this city by our friends and the press, yet
laboring without visible results for the recognition of our rights as citizens of the
United States, we cannot, even through the potent incentive of sympathizing with our
"husbands, fathers, brothers and sons," lay aside our grievances and rejoice in a
triumph which more clearly marks our own humiliation.
Can our friends inform us what is our crime, that we are denied the right of repre-
sentation? Can they point to any mental or moral deficiency, to render justifiable our
being denied political rights ? If not — if there is no just cause for our disf ranchisement,
it surely should not excite surprise that we cannot rejoice with those who systematically
persist in perpetrating this great wrong. With no discredit to any of the sovereign
voters of this nation, we cannot forget that the most ignorant negro, the most degraded
foreigner, even refugees from justice, are accorded the rights which we have been de-
manding in vain; and we are conscious every day and hour these privileges are denied
us, that we are not only wronged by the American government, but insulted. Every
year that our appeals for political rights to congress and the legislature are de-
nied, insult is heaped upon injury. Women are told by those who are in the full en-
joyment of all the privileges which this government can confer, to rejoice in what little
they have, and wait patiently until more is bestowed. Wait we must, because they
have the reins of power, but to wait patiently, with the light we have to perceive our
relative condition, would be doing that for which we should despise ourselves.
We are not laboring for to-day alone, but for the fruition which must come from
the establishment of justice. If we fail in this memorial year, a brighter day must
surely come. Our failure now will be the failure of the country to improve its oppor-
tunities. All the successes which may be rejoiced over, all the triumphs of trade,
commerce and invention are secondary to the rights of citizens, to those principles
which lie at the foundation of national liberty. When women are recognized as citi-
zens of this republic, there will be some occasion for their thankfulness and rejoicing;
then they can join in the jubilee which celebrates the birthday of a mighty nation.
At the June meeting of the association, a declaration of rights, and a
series of radical resolutions were adopted. The president urged the
society to stand firm in the determination to take no part in the centen-
The Western Reserve Chid. 509
nial celebration, and the members of the suffrage association passed
the Fourth of July quietly at their own homes, but they caused a
banner, bearing the inscription, " Woman Suffrage and Equal Rights,"
to be hung across one of the principal streets, under which the whole
procession passed. Of the original members of the society,* some who
during its earlier years took an active part have removed elsewhere, and
a few have passed to the beyond. But the majority still remain, and are
earnest in their labors with the hope for a better day, undampened by the
delays and disappoinments which attend every step in progress.
There is a flourishing association at Cleveland called the
Western Reserve Club;f Mrs Sarah M. Perkins and her highly
educated daughters, graduates of Vassar College, are among the
leading members. They hold regular meetings, have a course of
lectures every winter and are exerting a wide influence. The
club consists of thirty members, paying five dollars annually into
the treasury.
The Painesville Equal Rights Society,! formed November 20, 1883, is
one of the most flourishing county associations in the State. It numbers
150 members, and it has organized many local societies in the vicinity.
The annual meeting of the State society,§ held at Painesville, May II, 12,
13, 1885, with a large representation of the most active friends present,
by a unanimous vote declared itself no longer auxilary to the American,
and thereby secured the cooperation of the Toledo, South Newbury, and
other independent local organizations of the State.
We are indebted to Annie Laurie Quinby for the following ac-
count of the founding of a hospital for women and children, and
of some of the difficulties women encountered in gaining admit-
tance into the medical colleges :
Mrs. Quinby says : In 1867, some Cincinnati ladies met at the residence
of Mrs. J. L. Roberts and organized a health association, the object of
which was to obtain and disseminate knowledge in regard to the science
of life and health. Mrs. Leavett addressed the ladies on the importance
of instituting- a medical school for women, stating a recent conversation
*Thc officers of the Toledo Society are, 1885, President, Mrs. Mary J. Cravens ; \~ice-pr esideni^
Sarah R. L. Williams ; Recording Secretary, Mrs. E. R. Collins ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs.
Sarah S. liisscll ; Treasurer, Mrs. Mary J. Barker; Executive Committee, Mrs. Rosa L. Segur, Mrs.
Julia P. Cole, Mrs. Caroline T. Morgan, Miss Anna C. Mott, Mrs. E. M. Hawley.
t President, Mrs. Judge Caldwell ; Secretary, Mrs. Bushnell ; Treasurer, Mrs. Ammon.
J The officers of the Painesville Society, 1885, are. President, Mrs. Frances Jennings Casement ;
Vict^PrtsidfHtt, Mrs. Eli/a P. Chesney, Mrs. Lydia Wilcox, Mis. Cornelia Swezey ; Recording Secre-
tary, Mrs. Martha Paine; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Lou J. Bates; Treasurer, Mrs. Adelia
J. Bates ; Trustees, Mrs. J. B. Burrows, Mrs. A. G. Smith, Mrs. C. C. Beardslee.
$The officers of the Ohio State Association for 1885 are, President, Mrs. Frances M. Casement,
Painesville ; / 'ice-Presidents, Mrs. N. Coe Stewart, Cleveland ; Mrs. C. C. Swezey, Painesville ; Hon.
Richard Mott, Toledo ; Mrs. U. R. Walker, Cincinnati ; Mrs. Dr. Warren, Elyria ; Recording Secre-
tary, Miss Mary P. Spargo, Cleveland; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Rosa L. Scgur, Toledo;
Treasurer, Mrs. Elizabeth Coit, Columbus ; /.'.rc< •«/;>•<• I'niiiniittef, Dr. N. S. Townshend, Colum-
bus ; Mrs. M. B. Haven, Cleveland ; Mrs. M. Cole, Painesville ; Mrs. W. J. Sheppard, Cleveland ; Mrs.
Elizabeth Coit, Columbus ; Mrs. Ports Wilson, Warren ; Mrs. Sarah M. Perkins, Cleveland.
510 History of Woman Suffrage.
she had with Prof. Curtis, and suggesting that he be invited to lay his
views before them. A vote to that effect was passed, and in his address
Professor Curtis touched the following points :
Women have greater need than men of the knowledge of the science of life, andean
make more profitable use of it. First:. They need this knowledge. In a practice of
thirty-six years, full seven-tenths of my services have been devoted to women who, had
they been properly instructed in the science of life, and careful to obey those instruc-
tions, would not have needed one-seventh of those services, while they would have pre-
vented six-sevenths of their sickness, suffering and loss of time, and a like proportion
of the expenses of doctoring, nursing, medicines, etc., etc. Second ' : They can make
a far better and more profitable use of this knowledge than men can, because they can
better appreciate the liabilities, sufferings and wants of their sex, which are far more
numerous and imperative than ours; and they are always with us, from infancy to boyhood
and womanhood, to watch us and protect us from injury, and to relieve us promptly
from the sufferings that may afflict us, as well as to teach us how to avoid them. Third:
Their intellectual power to learn principles is as great as ours, their perceptions
are quicker than ours, their sympathies are more tender and persistent, and their watch-
fulness and patient perseverance with the sick are untiring. I regard the teaching and
practice of the science of life as woman's peculiarly appropriate sphere. Its value to
the family of the wife and the mother, is beyond estimation in dollars and cents, by the
husband and father. No money that he can properly spend to secure it to his daugh-
ters, should be otherwise appropriated; for, should they never enter the family rela-
tion, it will be a means of escape from sickness mortification and expense to them-
selves, and of useful and honorable subsistence, not only priceless in its possession,
but totally inalienable by any reverses of fortune. The possession of this knowledge
from their infancy up, would do more to prevent their becoming poor and " friendless,"
than do all the alms houses for the former, and " homes " for the latter that society can
build, while it would cost less to each individual than does an elegant modern piano.
Forty years ago your speaker obtained from the legislature of Ohio a liberal university
charter under the title of " The Literary and Botanical Medical College of Ohio,"
which was afterwards changed to " The Cincinnati Literary and Scientific Institute
and Physio-Medical College." By the aid of able assistants he conducted this institu-
tion for the benefit of men only, till, in 1851, the students of the class were between
eighty and ninety. From that time to the present, he has received women into the
classes and demonstrated that they are not only as competent as men to learn all parts
of the science of life, but, in very many particulars, far better qualified for the prac-
tice of the art of curing disease. The last session of the college was suspended that he
might travel in the country and learn the disposition of the friends of progress to estab-
lish the institution on a permanent foundation, and is happy to say that all that seems
necessary to that glorious consummation is the prompt and concentrated effort of a few
judicious and influential ladies and their friends to secure pecuniary aid.
June ii, 1879, a dispensary for women and children was opened in Cin-
cinnati, by Drs. Ellen M. Kirk, and M. May Howells, graduates of the Xew
York College and Hospital for Women. Their undertaking proving suc-
cessful, with other ladies of wealth and ability they soon after established
a hospital. November i, 1881, the certificate of incorporation was filed
in the office of the secretary of state. The ladies labored unweariedly for
the support of these institutions. At two public entertainments they
realized nearly a thousand dollars. For the establishment of a hom-
* The incorporators were, Mrs. Davies Wilson, Mrs. John Goddard, Mrs. Jane Wendte, Mrs. William
N. Hobart, Dr. Ellen M. Kirk, Dr. M. May Howells, Miss Jennie S. Smith, and Miss Harriet M. Hins-
dale ; Resident Physician, Dr. Sarah J. Bebout ; Visiting Physicians, Drs. Ellen M. Kirk, M. May
Howells.
Pulte Medical College. 511
eopathic college they manifested equal earnestness and enthusiasm. Many
of them interested in this mode of practice, seeing the trials of Dr. Pulte
in introducing this new theory of medicine, determined to help him in
building up a college and hospital for that practice. By one fair they
raised §13,500, net profits, and the Pulte Medical College was established.
But the remarkable fact about these institutions is that after being started
through the labors of women, women appealed in vain for admission for
scholarships for a long time. For a clear understanding of the matter^
and a knowledge of the defense made in behalf of the right of women to
enter the college, I send you the following from Dr. J. D. Buck :
Pulte Medical College, of Cincinnati, was organized under the common law, and
opened in 1872, for the admission of students, with no provision, either for or against
the admission or women. From time to time, during the first seven years, the subject
of the admission of women was broached, but generally bullied out of court amid
sneers and ridicule. The faculty stood five against and four for. The opposition was
the most pronounced and bitter imaginable, the staple argument being that the ming-
ling of the sexes in medical colleges led always and necessarily to licentiousness.
Finally, in the fall of 1877, seven of the nine members of the faculty voted to admit
women. One professor voted no, and the leader of the opposition, Prof. S. R. Beck-
with — a life-long opponent of the broader culture of women — left the meeting with the
purpose of arresting all action. In this, however, he failed ; the vote was confirmed.
On the following day another meeting was held, when, the vote was re-considered
and again confirmed, each of the seven members agreeing to stand by it. Still again,
another meeting was called, at the instance of the leader of the opposition, and in the
absence of two of the staunch friends, a bare majority of the whole faculty voted to ex-
clude women, as heretofore, and notified the applicants for admission, who had been
officially informed of the previous resolution to admit them, that they would not be ad-
mitted.
Forbearance on the part of the friends of justice was no more to be thought of, and
notice was given that the wrong should be righted, at all hazards. For the next two
years war raged persistent and unflinching on the part of the friends of the rights of
women, bitter and slanderous on the part of the opposition. All the tricks of the poli-
tician were resorted to to defeat the cause of right, and more than once by misrepre-
sentation they obtained the announcement in the public press that the case was decided,
and women forever excluded. Still the cause moved on to complete triumph, and to
the disgrace and final exclusion from the college of two of the most bitter leaders of
the opposition.
In the fall of 1879 it was announced in the annual catalogue, " that students will be
admitted to the lectures of Pulte college without distinction of sex," a very simple
result indeed, as the outcome of two years' warfare. At the opening of lectures the first
of October, four female students presented themselves, and were admitted to matricula-
tion. Every prophecy of disaster had failed. The class was an increase in numbers
over that of any preceding year, and showed a marked improvement in deportment and
moral tone from the presence of ladies, who from their high character and bearing ex-
erted a restraining influence, as they always do, on those disposed to be gentlemen. At
the commencement exercises in March, 1881, three women, viz: Miss S. C. O'Keefe,
Mrs. Mary N. Street, and Mrs. M. J. Taylor, received the degree of the college, after
having attended the same lectures and been submitted to the same examination' as the
male graduates. The prize for the best examination (in writing) in physiology, was
awank-d t<> Miss Strlla Hunt, of Cincinnati. The right of women to admittance to this
college cannot again be raised except by a two-thirds vote of both faculty and trustees
— a majority which will be difficult to obtain after the record which the women have
already made as students in the institution. Yours truly, J. D. BUCK.
512 History of Woman Suffrage.
After all this educational work and this seeming triumph for
the recognition of an equal status in the colleges for women, we
find this item going the rounds of the daily journals, under date
of Cleveland, March 29, 1885 :
Considerable excitement prevails among the homeopathists of Cleveland. Com-
mencement exercises of the college are to be held next Tuesday evening, and Miss
Madge Dickson, of Chambers, Pa., was to have delivered the salutatory address. Dr.
II. If. Baxter, a prominent professor of the college, objected, saying a woman saluta-
torian would disgrace the college. Miss Dickson resigned the honor, and no address
will be delivered.
In April, 1873, Miss Nettie Cronise of Tiffin, was admitted to
the bar. In the following September, her sister Florence was
admitted, and they practiced as N. & F. Cronise, until Miss
Nettie's marriage with N. B. Lutes, with whom she has since
been associated under the firm name of Lutes & Lutes. Miss
Florence Cronise has her office in Tiffin. Soon after commenc-
ing practice Mrs. Lutes was appointed to examine applicants for
admission to the bar, the first instance of a woman serving in this
capacity in the United States, although Florence Cronise and
one or two other women have since done like duty. These ladies
and Miss Hulett were the first women to open law offices and
begin an active, energetic practice of the profession.
In 1885, Miss Mary P. Spargo of Cleveland, was admitted to
the bar.
CHAPTER XLI.
MICHIGAN.
Women's Literary Clubs and Libraries — Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone — Classes of Girls in
Europe — Ernestine L. Rose — Legislative Action, 1849-1885 — State Woman Suf-
frage Society, 1870— Annual Conventions — Northwestern Association — Wendell
Phillips' Letter — Nannette Gardner Votes — Catharine A. F. Stebbins Refused —
Legislative Action — Amendments Submitted — An Active Canvass of the State by
Women — Election Day — The Amendment Lost, 40,000 Men Voted in Favor —
University at Ann Arbor Opened to Girls, 1869 — Kalamazoo Institute — J. A. B.
Stone, Miss Madeline Stockwell and Miss Sarah Burger Applied for Admission to
the University in 1857 — Episcopal Church Bill — Local Societies — Quincy — Lansing
— St. Johns — Manistee — Grand Rapids — Sojourner Truth— Laura C, Haviland —
Sybil Lawrence.
TRAVELING through the State of Michigan, sufficiently at leis-
ure to make acquaintances, one would readily remark the unusual
intelligence and cultivation of the women. Every large town
can boast a woman's literary club, a reading-room, nicely fur-
nished, with a library containing, in many cases, one and two
thousand volumes, a choice collection of scientific, historical and
classical works. This may be attributed in part to the fact that
the population is largely from New York and New England,
partly to the many institutions of learning early opened to girls,
and partly to the extensive social influence of Mrs. Lucinda H.
Stone,* whose rare culture, foreign travels and liberal views have
fitted her, both as a woman and as a teacher, to inspire the girls of
Michigan with a desire for thorough education. Mrs. Stone has
traveled through many countries in the old world with large
classes of young ladies under her charge, superintending their
reading and studies, and giving them lectures on history and art
on classic ground, where some of the greatest tragedies of the
* Having made many lyceum trips through Michigan, I have had several opportunities of meeting
Mrs. Stone in her own quiet home, and I can readily understand the wide influence she exerted on the
women of that State, and what a benediction her presence must have been in all the reform associa-
tions in which slm took an active part. I always felt that Michigan would be a grand State in which
to make the experiment of woman suffrage, especially as in Mrs. Sti ne we had an enthusiastic coad-
jutor. In paying this well-deserved tribute to Mrs. Stone, I must not forget to mention that Mrs. Jan-
ney of Flint, a woman of great executive ability, started the first woman's reading-room and library
many years ago. — [E. C. S.
33
514 History of Woman Suffrage.
past were enacted ; in ancient palaces, temples and grand cathe-
drals; upon the very spots still rich with the memories of
kings and popes, great generals, statesmen, poets and philoso-
phers. We cannot estimate the advantages to these young trav-
elers of having one always at hand, able to point out the beauties
in painting and statuary, to interpret the symbols and mysteries
of architecture, the language of music, the facts of history, and
the philosophy of the rise and fall of mighty nations. Mrs. Stone
has also given courses of parlor lectures to large classes of ladies
in every city of the State, thus, with her rare experiences and
extensive observations, enriching every circle of society in which
she moved.
To Catharine A. F. Stebbins we are indebted for compiling
many of the facts contained in this chapter. Reviewing the last
forty years, she says :
The agitation on the question of woman suffrage began in this State in
1846, with the advent of Ernestine L. Rose,* who spoke twice in the legis-
lative hall in Detroit — once on the " Science of Government," and once
on the " Antagonisms in Society." A resolution was passed by the House
of Representatives, expressing a high sense of her ability, eloquence
and grace of delivery. Her work in Detroit, Ann Arbor and other places
was three or four years prior to the first report by the Special Committee
of the Senate in the general revision of the constitution, nine years be-
fore the House Committee's report on elections in response to women's
petitions, and a dozen years before the favorable " report of the Senate
upon the memorial of ladies praying for the privilege of the elective fran-
chise," signed by Thomas W. Ferry.
The Revolution of April 30, 1868, gives an account of the manner the
women of Sturgis voted on the question of prohibition :
"A few weeks ago, at a large meeting of the citizens of Sturgis, Michigan, the
ladies were asked to help in the coming election the cause of prohibition. They re-
plied that they would if they were allowed to vote. At a subsequent meeting the gen-
tlemen could do no less than to invite them. A committee of twelve was appointed.
They canvassed the village and invited all the ladies to come out and join in the dem-
onstration. At 2 o'clock on election day they assembled at Union School Hall and
marched to the room where the election was held, and one hundred and fourteen de-
posited their votes in favor of prohibition, and six against it. Whilst they were
inarching through the room the utmost order prevailed, and when they were retiring
three hearty cheers were given for the ladies of Sturgis. Great credit is due to Mrs.
William Kyte, chairman of the committee, as well as to all the other members, for
their management of the whole affair. • The utmost good feeling prevailed, and not a
sneer or a jeer was heard from the lords of creation, but a large majority seemed to
hail this as a precursor of what they expect in the future, when the people shall be ed-
ucated to respect the rights of all."
We find the above in the Sturgis Journal, by the way, one of the best in tone and
* A sketch of this brilliant Polish woman, who has taken such an active part in the woman suffrage
movement, both in this country and England, will be found in Volume I., page 95.
Voting in Sturgis. 515
talent of all our western exchanges. Its editor, Mr. Wait, is a prominent leader in
the State, a member of the legislature, and a believer in the equal civil and political '
rights of women. We have more than once suggested in The Revolution that the
women should appear at the polls on election days and demand their rights as citizens.
The effect could not but be beneficial wherever tried. Any considerable number of
intelligent women in almost any locality would in this way soon inaugurate a move-
ment to result in a speedy triumph. Let these noble Sturgis women persevere.
Methodist Bishop Simpson was right when he declared the vote of woman at the polls
would soon extinguish the perdition fires of intemperance. The Sturgis women have
begun the good work, a hundred and fourteen to six ! Surely, blessed are the hus-
bands and children of such wives and mothers. P. P.
In The Revolution of September 3, 1868, we find the following from the
Sturgis Star :
Last spring the ladies of Sturgis went to the polls one hundred and twenty in num-
ber, and demonstrated the propriety of the movement. Their votes did not count,
for they could only be cast in a separate box, and the movement was only good in its
moral effect. But at the school meeting the ladies have an equal right to vote with
the men. Whatever qualifications a man must possess to exercise privileges in that
meeting, any woman possessing like qualifications can exercise like privileges there.
To substantiate this, it is only necessary to read the school law. Section 145 of the
Primary School law: " The words 'qualified voter1 shall be taken and construed to
mean and include all taxable persons residing in the district of the age of twenty-one
years, and who have resided therein three months next preceding the time of voting."
Ex-State Superintendent John M. Gregory's opinion of that is, that "under this
section (145) all persons liable to be taxed in the district, and twenty-one years of age,
and having resided three months in the district, without distinction of sex, color, or
nationality, may vote in the district meetings." In districts where they elect only a
director, assessor and moderator, the women can vote on all questions except the elec-
tion of officers. In graded districts they can vote on all questions, election of trustees
included. Men having no taxable property, but who vote at town meetings and gen-
eral elections, can only vote for trustees at a school meeting. Any woman, then, hav-
ing a watch, cow, buggy, or personal property of any kind, subject to tax, or who has
real estate in her own name, or jointly with her husband, can vote. Here, then, is a
lawful right for women to vote at school meetings, and as there can be no impro-
priety in it, we advocate it. We believe that it will work good. Our Union school is
something that all should feel an active interest in. We hope, then, that those ladies
entitled to vote will exercise the rights that the law grants them. To give these sug-
gestions a practical effect, we cheerfully publish the following notice :
The undersigned respectfully request those ladies residing in District No. 3, of
the township of Sturgis, who are entitled to vote at the annual meeting, to assemble in
Mrs. Pendleton's parlor, at the Exchange Hotel, on Friday evening next, August 28,
at 7:30 o'clock, to consider the matter of exercising the privilege which the law gives
them.
This call is signed by about twenty of the best women of the borough. Last week
we called attention in The Revolution to the earnestness of the English women in
urging their claim to the right of suffrage, and appealed to American women from
their example. We hear from different sources that American women will attempt, to
some extent, to be registered this year as voters, and we hope so brave an example
will become a contagion. A boastful warrior once demanded of his foe, " Deliver up
your arms." The answer was, "Come, if you dare, and take them!" Let women
become brave enough to take their rights, and there will not be much resistance.
According to their faith and their courage, so shall it be. P. P.
The Michigan State Suffrage Society — always an independent associa-
tion— was organized at the close of the first convention held in Ham-
516 History of Woman Suffrage.
blin's Opera-house, Battle Creek,* January 20, 1870, aqd has done the
usual work of aiding in the formation of local societies, circulating tracts
and petitions, securing hearings before the legislature, and holding its
annual meetings from year to year in the different cities of the State.
The Northwestern Association held its first annual convention in the
Young Men's Hall, Detroit, November 28, 29, 1870, with large and appre-
ciative audiences.t Legislative action on the question of woman suffrage
began in Michigan in 1849, when :
The special report favorable to Senate document No. 10, for universal suffrage, was
signed by Dwight Webb, Edward H. Thompson and Rix Robinson. — House docu-
ment No. 31, legislature of 1855: "The Committee on Elections, to whom was re-
ferred the petition of Betsy P. Parker, Lucinda Knapp, Nancy Fleming, Electa Myers,
and several other 'strong-minded* ladies of Lenawee county, asking such amend-
ments to the constitution of the State as will secure to women an equal right to the
elective franchise with men," reported adversely, ridiculed the petitioners, and was
signed by A. P. Moorman. — Senate document No. 27, in the session of 1857 : On a
memorial of ladies praying the legislature to grant them the elective franchise, the
report was signed by Thomas \V. Ferry, and was favorable and respectful. — House
document No. 25, legislature of 1859 : On constitutional amendments in favor of uni-
versal suffrage, the report was favorable for extending suffrage to colored men, but
doubtful as to the wisdom of extending it to women. This was signed by Fabius
Miles, chairman. — Senate document No. 12: Upon the same constitutional amend-
ments, in the legislature of 1859, the report signed by R. E. Trowbridge, chairman of
the committee, was adverse to extending suffrage to women.
On February 13, 1873, Mr. Lamb introduced " a joint resolution granting the privi-
lege of the elective franchise to the women of the State." Mr. Bartholomew intro-
duced " a joint resolution proposing an amendment to section I, article I., of the con-
stitution, in relation to the qualifications of electors." Both were referred to the
Committee on Elections, which made the following report :
The Committee on Elections, to whom was referred the joint resolution granting
the privilege of the elective franchise to women of this State, respectfully report that
they have had the same under consideration, and have directed me to report the same
back to the House without recommendation. We think the time has not arrived for
us to decide on so important a matter. We await further developments, and are un-
der the impression that there is no popular demand for the change — at least not sum-
* The speakers at the Battle Creek convention were Miriam M. Cole, editor of The Woman's Advo-
cate, Dayton, Ohio; Mary A. Livermore, editor Woman's Journal, Boston ; Hannah Tracy Cutler,
Illinois ; Rev. J. M. McCarthy, Saginaw ; Mrs. J. C. Dexter, Ionia; Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Lucinda
H. Stone, Kalamazoo; Adelle Hazlett, Hillsdale; Rev. J. S. Loveland, D. M. Fox, Battle Creek ;
Mary T. Lathrop, Jackson. Letters of sympathy were received from B. F. Cocker and Moses
Coit Tyler, professors of the Michigan State University. The officers of the State association
were : President, Professor Moses Coit Tyler, Ann Arbor ; Vice-President, Lucinda H. Stone ; Re-
cording Secretary, Mary T. Lathrop ; Corresponding Secretary, EuphemiaCochran, Detroit ; Treas-
urer, Colin Campbell, Detroit ; Executive Committee, Dr. S. B. Thayer, Frances W. Titus, Battle
Creek ; Eliza Burt Gamble, East Saginaw ; Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Detroit ; Hon. J. G. Wait, Stur-
gis ; Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Kalamazoo ; Mrs. L. H. T. Dexter, Ionia.
t The speakers at the Northwestern convention were Mrs. Hazlett, the president ; Hon. C. B. Waite,
Professor D. C. Brooks, Chicago ; Susan B. Anthony, Celia Burleigh, New York ; Lillie Peckham,
Wisconsin ; Mrs. Lathrop, Jackson ; Giles B. Stebbins, Adam Elder, J. B. Bloss, Detroit. Letters
were reported from Henry Ward Beecher, Wendell Phillips, Rev. E. O. Haven, Professor B. F. Cocker,
Moses Coit Tyler, Mrs. Livermore, Lucy Stone, H. B. Blackwell, Mrs. Josephine Griffing, T. W. Hig-
ginson, Theodore Tilton, Phoebe Couzins, Anna E. Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Miriam M. Cole
and Rev. Robert Collyer. The officers elected were: President, Mrs. A.M. Hazlett, Michigan; Record-
ing Secretary, Mrs. Rebecca W. Mott, Chicago ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks,
Chicago; Treasurer;, Hon. Fernandol Jones, Chicago; Vice-Presidents, J B. Bloss, Michigan ; Mrs.
Myra Bradwell, Illinois ; Mrs. E. R. Collins, Ohio ; Mrs. Dr. Ferguson, Indiana ; Miss Phcebe Couzins,
Missouri ; Executive Committee,^.. B. Waite, Chicago ; Colin Campbell, Detroifc; Mrs. Francis Minor,
Missouri ; Madame Anneke, Wisconsin ; Mrs. Charles Leonard and Mrs. E. J. Loomis, Chicago.
Memorial of the State Association. 517
cient to warrant us in recommending so important a change in our form of government
at the present session of the legislature — and ask to be discharged from the further
consideration of the subject. [Signed :] A. HEWITT, Acting Chairman.
Motion carried to lay the joint resolution on the table. March 4, it was taken from
the table and referred to the Committee of the Whole, who recommended its passage,
and April 10 it was lost by a vote of 50 to 24 :
The committee have considered the matters embraced in the several resolutions re-
ferred to them relative to providing for woman's suffrage, and have instructed me to
report against adding any such provision to the constitution at present. The commit-
tee ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject.
[Signed:] E. W. MEUDAUGH, Chairman.
October 14. — A bill for separate submission to a vote of the people of an amend-
ment to the constitution relating to woman's suffrage, was lost by a tie vote — 7 for and
7 against.
At the extra session of the legislature, 1874, in the House, March 10, Mr. Hoyt in-
troduced a joint resolution for separate submission to a vote of the people of an
amendment to the constitution relating to woman suffrage. Referred to the Com-
mittee on Elections and State Affairs, jointly. On March 12 the following memorial
from the State Woman Suffrage Association * was presented in the House :
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, in Special
Session Convened:
The Executive Committee of the Michigan State Woman Suffrage Association, at
their meeting held in Kalamazoo, Februay 10, 1874, voted to memorialize your honor-
able body, at your special session now being held.
We beg leave to represent to you that the object of this association is to secure, in a
legal way, the enfranchisement of the women of the State. They are, as you well
know, already recognized as citizens of the State according to the laws of the United
States. They are now taxed for all purposes of public interest as well as the men.
But they are not represented in the legislature, nor in any brairch of the State govern-
ment, thus affording a great example, and an unjust one for women, of taxation with-
out representation, which our fathers declared to be tyranny; and which is contrary to
the genius of our republican institutions, and to the general polity of this common-
wealth. Women are also governed, while they have no direct voice in the government,
and made subject to laws affecting their property, their personal rights and liberty, in
whose enactment they have no voice.
We therefore petition your honorable body, that in preparing a new constitution, to
be submitted for adoption or rejection by the people of this State, you will strike out
the word " male" from the ariicle defining the qualifications of electors; or if deemed
best by you, will provide for the separate submission of an article for the enfranchise-
ment of the women of Michigan, giving them equal rights and privileges with the men.
By thus taking the lead of the States of the Union, to more fully secure the personal
rights of all the citizens, you will show yourselves in harmony with the spirit of the age
and worthy to be called pioneers in this cause, as you are already most honorably ac-
counted pioneers in your educational system, which affords equal and impartial ad-
vantages to the population of our State, irrespective of sex or condition in life — thus
aiming to elevate the entire people to the highest practicable plane of intelligence and
true civilization.
By order, and in the name of the Michigan Woman Suffrage Association.
LUCINDA H. STONE, Corresponding Secretary.
Mrs. A. II. WALKER, President.
On March 14, the joint committee made the following report :
The committees on State affairs and elections, to whom was referred the joint resolu-
tion proposing an amendment to section I, article vn., of the constitution, in relation
to the qualifications of electors, respectfully report that they have had the same under
consideration, and have directed us to report the same back to the House without
amendment, and recommend that it do pass and ask to be discharged from the further
consideration of the subject.
* President, Mrs. A. H. Walker ; Corresponding Secretary , T.ucinda H. Stone ; Recording Secre-
tary, Mrs. S. E. Emory ; Treasurer, Mrs. K. Mctcalf ; Kxecvtive Committee, Dr. J. A. B. Stone,
Mrs. Frances Titus, Mrs. O. A. Jeimison, Mrs. C. A. F. Stcbbins, Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Mrs. L. B
Curtiss, Dr. J. H. Bartholomew.
518 History of Woman Suffrage.
The reasons which have influenced the committee in recommending an amendment
so radical and sweeping in the changes which it will create if finally adopted by the
people, are briefly these : The question of granting the right of suffrage to women
equally with men, is one that has been seriously and widely agitated for years, and
while, like other political reforms which change in any considerable degree the old and
established order of things, it has met with strong opposition, on the other hand it has
been ably advocated by men and women distinguished alike for their intellectual
ability and their excellent judgment. Although we believe that there should be certain
necessary and proper restrictions to the exercise of the elective franchise, we are of
the opinion that there are reasonable grounds to doubt whether the distinction of sex
in the matter of voting, is not, in a large measure, a fictitious one. The interests of
women in all matters pertaining to good government are certainly identical with those
of men. In the matter of property their rights conceded by law are equal, and in
some respects superior to those of men; and if the principle of no taxation without
representation is a just one as applied among men, it would seem that it might in jus-
tice be extended to women. As the reasons given above are strongly urged by the
advocates of woman suffrage, and as several petitions, numerously signed by citizens
of the State, asking for some action on the part of the House in this matter, are in the
hands of the committee, we have deemed it advisable, although not equally agreed as
to the main question involved, to recommend the passage of the resolution by the
House, in order that the people of the State may have an opportunity of expressing
their will at the ballot-box as to the expediency of extending the right of suffrage to
women. SAML'EL H. BLACKMAN, Chairman of Committee on State Affairs.
JAMES BURNES, Chairman of Committee on Elections.
Report accepted, and joint resolution placed on the general order.
On March 18 the following joint resolution passed the House by a vote of 67 to 27,
and passed the Senate by a vote of 26 to 4,* proposing an amendment to section I of
article VII. of the constitution, in relation to the qualification of electors :
Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan,
That at the election when the amended constitution shall be submitted to the electors
of this State for adoption or rejection, there shall be submitted to such electors the
following propositions, to be substituted in case of adoption, for so much of section I,
of article VII., as precedes the proviso therein, in the present constitution of this State
as it now stands, and substituted for section I, article vn., in said amended constitu-
tion, if the latter is adopted, to wit :
SECTION I. In all elections, every person of the age of twenty-one years who shall
have resided in this State three months, and in the township or ward in which he or
she offers to vote ten days next preceding an election, belonging to either of the fol-
lowing classes, shall be an elector and entitled to vote :
First — Every citizen of the United States; Second — Every inhabitant of this State,
who shall have resided in the United States two years and six months, and declared
his or her intention to become a citizen of the United States pursuant to the laws
thereof, six months preceding an election; Third — Every inhabitant residing in this
State on the twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
Said proposition shall be separately submitted to the electors of this State for their
adoption or rejection, in form following, to wit: A separate ballot may be given by
every person having the right to vote, to be deposited in a separate box. Upon the
ballot given for said proposition shall be written, or printed, or partly written and
partly printed, the words, "Woman Suffrage, — Yes"; and upon ballots given against
the adoption thereof , in like manner, the words, " Woman Suffrage, — No." If at said
election a majority of the votes given upon said proposition shall contain the words,
" Woman Suffrage, — Yes," then said proposition shall be substituted for so much of
section I, of article vil., as includes the proviso therein in the present constitution of
* The following named representatives voted yea : Messrs. Armstrong, Bailey, Bartholomew, Black-
man, Briggs, Brown, Branson, Buell, Burns, Cady, Carter, Chamberlain, Collins, Dintruff, Drake,
Drew, Edwards, Fancher, Ferguson, Garfield, Gravelink, Gilmore, Goodrich, Gordon, Green, Haire,
Harden, Hewitt, Hosner, Howard, Hoyt, Kellogg, Knapp, Lamb, Luce, E. R. Miller, R. C. Miller,
Mitchell, Morse, O'Dell, Parker, Parsons, Pierce, Priest, Remer, Rich, Robinson, Sanderson. Scott, Ses-
sions, Shaw, Smith, Taylor, Thomas, Thompson, VanAken, VanScoy, A. Walker, F. Walker, Walton,
Warren. Welch. Welker, Wheeler, Withington, Wixon, Speaker — 67. The following named Senators
voted yea : Messrs. Anderson, Beattie, Brewer, Butterfield, Childs, Clubb, Cook, Crosby, Curry, De-
Land, Ely,Goodell, Gray, Hewitt, Isham. Lewis, Mickley, Mitchell, McGowan, Neasmith, Prutzman,
Richardson, Sparks, Sumner, Sutton, Wells — 26.
Lydia Maria Child. 5 1 9
the State as it now stands, or substituted for section I, of article vn., in said amended
constitution, if the latter is adopted.
This bill was promptly signed by Governor Bagley, and from that hour
the attention of the advocates of suffrage for women was centered on
Michigan.
The submission of this amendment to a vote of the people, gave an un-
usual interest and importance to the annual meeting held at Lansing,
May 6, 1874,* at which plans were to be made, and money raised for a vig-
orous campaign throughout the State. The large number of women ready
to do the speaking, and the equally large number of men ready to make
generous contributions, were most encouraging in starting. Women who
could not aid the cause in any other way cast their gold watches into the
treasury. From the large number of letters received at this convention
we may judge how thoroughly aroused the friends were all over the
country. Lydia Maria Child wrote :
It is urged, that if women participated in public affairs, puddings would be spoiled,
and stockings neglected. Doubtless some such cases might occur; for we have the
same human nature as men, and men are sometimes so taken up with elections as to
neglect their business for a while. But I apprehend that puddings and stockings, to
say nothing of nurseries, suffer much greater detriment from the present expenditure
of time and thought upon the heartless ostentation of parties, and the flounces and
fripperies of fashion, than can possibly accrue from the intellectual cultivation of
women, or their participation in public affairs. Voting is a mere incident in the lives
of men. It does not prevent the blacksmith from shoeing horses, or the farmer from
planting fields, or the lawyer from attending courts; so I see no reason why it need to
prevent women from attending to their domestic duties. On certain subjects, such as
intemperance, licentiousness and war, women would be almost universally sure to ex-
ert their influence in the right directions, for the simple reason that they peculiarly
suffer from the continuance of these evils. In the discharge of this new function, they
would doubtless make some mistakes, and yield to some temptations, just as men do.
But the consciousness of being an acknowledged portion of the government of the
country would excite a deeper interest in its welfare, and produce a serious sense
of responsibility, which would gradually invigorate and ennoble their characters.
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON wrote : I believe that .we fail to establish a truly
republican government, or to test the principle of universal suffrage, so long as we en-
franchise one sex only.
A. BRONSON ALCOTT wrote : * * * Where women lead — the best women — is it
unsafe for men to follow? Woman's influence cannot be confined to her household;
* Officers of the Michigan State Woman Suffrage Association : President ', Hon. Jonas H. Mc-
Gowan, Coldwater ; Vice-Presidents ; Rev. Richmond Fiske Jr., Grand Haven, Mrs. John J. Bagley,
Detroit; Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. Geddes, Lenawee ; Secretary and Treasurer, George H.
Stickney, Grand Haven ; Ejcecutiz'g Committee^ Chairman, Hon. William M. Ferry, Grand Haven;
First District— Giles B. Stebbins, Z. R. Brockway, Wayne ; Second District— Hon. Charles E. Mick-
ley, Lenawee, Mrs. M. A. Hazlett, Hillsdale ; Third District — Hon. W. H. Withington, Jackson, Mor-
Kan l';it(-s, Culhoun ; Fourth District — James H. Stone, Kalamazoo, Miss Sarah Clute, St. Joseph ;
Fifth District— Hon. B. A. Harlan, Mrs. M. C. Bliss, Kent ; Sixth District — Hon. I. H, Bartholomew,
Ingham, Mrs. A. Jenney, Gencsec ; Seventh District — Hon. J. C. Lamb, Lapeer, J. P. Hoyt, Tuscola ;
Eighth District — Hon. C. V. DcLand, Saginaw, Hon. J. D. Lewis, Bay ; Ninth District — Hon. E. L.
Gray, Newaygo, Mrs. J. G. Ramsdell, Grand Traverse; ^ice-Presidents by Congressional Districts,
First District— Mrs. Eliza Leggett, Hon. W. N. Hudson, Wayne ; Second District— Hon. W. S. Wilcox,
Lenawee, Hon. Talcott E. Wing, Monroe; Third District — Mrs. Ann E. Graves, Calhoun, Mrs. Mary
I.athrop, Jackson; Fourth District— Hon. Levi Sparks, Berrien, Rev. H. C. Peck, Kalama/oo ; Fifth
District — Hon. S. L. Withey, Hon. James Miller, Kent ; Sixth District — Hon. Randolph Strickland,
Clinton, C. F. Kimball, Oakland ; Seventh District— Hon. Ira Butterfield, Lapeer, John M. Potter,
Macomb ; Eighth District— Hon. Ralph Ely, Gratiot, Mrs. S. M. Green. Bay; Ninth District — Elvin
L. Sprague, Grand Traverse, S. W. Fowler, Manistee.
520 History of Woman Suffrage.
woman is, and will be, womanly wherever placed. No condition can unsex the sexes.
The ten commandments will not suffer in her keeping. Her vote will tell for the
virtues, against the vices all. Plato said: " Either sex alone is but half itself."
Socially, we admit his assertion, and are just beginning to suspect that our republican
institutions need to be complemented and rounded with woman's counsels, and adminis-
trationsalso. Good republicans are asking if our legislation is not unsettled, demoralized
by the debauchery of hasty politics, by private vices, and the want of manly integrity,
woman's honor. Let our courtesy to women be sincere — paid to her modesty as to her
person; her intelligence as to her housekeeping; her refining influence in political as in
social circles. Where a husband would blush to take his wife and daughters, let him
blush to be seen by his sons. " Revere no god," says Euripides, " whom men adore by
night." And Sophocles: " Seek not thy fellow-citizens to guide till thou canst order
well thine own fireside." Mrs. Alcott and Louisa join in hearty hopes for your su>
ED.NA I). CIIKNKY wrote : * * * How I long for the time when this question
being settled, we can all go forward, working together, to discuss and settle the really
great questions of political and social economy, of labor, of education, and the full
development of human life in State and society.
JOHN GREEXLKAK WHITTIER wrote : * * * I hope and trust the electors will
be wise and generous enough to decide it in your favor. Were I a citizen of the State
I should esteem it alike a duty and a privilege to vote in the affirmative.
ASA MAHAN, president of Oberlin College, wrote : The cause which has called you
together is a very plain one. It is simply this, whether " taxation without representa-
tion " is tyranny to all but one-half of the human race, and the principle that rulers
derive their authority to make and administer law from the consent of the governed,
holds true of the white man and the black man, of man native or foreign born, and
even of ihe " heathen Chinee," if he belong to the male sex, and is a lie in its applica-
tion to woman.*
Dr. Stone, of Kalamazoo, read an able report of what had been done,
and all it was necessary to do if the friends desired to carry the pending
amendment. The following extract will give some idea of the momentous
undertaking in canvassing a State :
When the governor decided to call an extra session of the legislature, so as to sub-
mit the new constitution to a popular vote next November, the committee had but little
time for the circulation of petitions; but enough was done to secure the vote in favor
of submission. This was the more easily accomplished because we have in the present
legislature so many warm and active friends, who gave that body no rest until their
point was carried. And here we find ourselves suddenly brought into a campaign al-
most as novel as momentous, with scarce a precedent to guide us. We ask the electors
of Michigan to share their civil and political power with those who have always been
denied all electoral rights — to vest the popular sovereignty not merely in themselves,
in a quarter of a million of men, as hitherto, but in half a million of men and women,
and so make our State what it is not now, a truly republican commonwealth. We have
a. great work before us, and no time should be lost in organizing a general canvass of
the entire State. Competent lecturers should be employed wherever hearers can be
.found, and money raised to defray the expenses. Printed documents too, must be cir-
culated; arguments and conclusions framed by those who have thought on these sub-
jects for men, and sometimes for women, who are too indolent to think for themselves.
And there are many other things which we must do before the November election;
ballots must be furnished for every township and polling place, especially affirmative
ballots, and placed in the hands of all the voters. The Executive Committee cannot
* Among many others were letters from Amos Dresser. Parker Pillsbury, Henry B. Blackwell, Rev.
S. Reed, of Ann Arbor, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Lucretia
Molt, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Dr. Henry B. Baker, Miriam M. Cole, Margaret V. Longley, Abby
and Julia Smith, of Glastonbury, Conn., A. C. Voris, from the Ohio constitutional convention, Hon. J.
Logan Chipman.
Attitude of the Churches. 521
be ubiquitous enough to discharge all these multifarious duties. We therefore suggest
that there be appointed during this meeting, First, a. Committee on Finance. Second,
a Committee on Printed Documents. Third, a Committee on Lecturers. Fourth, a
County Committee of perhaps three persons in each county, who shall have power also
to appoint a sub-committee in each township. Whether so many distinct committees
will be needed, or more than one class of duties can be entrusted to the same com-
mittee, the association can determine. We do not want too much, nor too complicated
machinery, but just enough to accomplish the work. We must fall into line; woman
expects every man to do his duty; surely she will not fail to be true to herself.
Representatives from the different counties gave their names* as ready
to begin the work arranged by the several committees. With this large
and enthusiastic convention the campaign may be said fairly to have
opened at Lansing early in May, a political organization being formed of
Republicans and Democrats alike, representing nearly every district in
the State. Governor Bagley having promptly signed the bill, and his wife
being an earnest advocate of the measure, the social influence of the fam-
ily was all in the right direction. The influence of the church, too, was
in a measure favorable. The Methodist denomination, in its general con-
ference, passed a resolution indorsing woman suffrage. Mrs. Stanton, in
a letter to the Golden Age, said :
During the time I spent in Michigan, speaking every night and twice on Sunday to
crowded houses, I had abundant opportunities of feeling the pulse of the people, both
in public and private, and it seemed to me that the tide of popular thought and feel-
ing was running in the right direction. The people are beginning to regard the idea
of woman's equality with man as not only a political, but a religious truth, Metho-
dist, Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist and Unitarian churches being all alike
thrown open to its consideration. Sitting Sunday after Sunday in the different pulpits
with reverend gentlemen, my discourses given in the place of the sermon, in the reg-
ular services, I could not help thinking of the distance we had come since that period
in civilization when Paul's word was law, "Let your women keep silence in
the churches." Able men and women are speaking in every part of the State, and
if our triumph should not be complete at the next election, at all events a great educa-
tional work will have been accomplished in the distribution of tracts, in the public de-
* The following persons were announced and requested to communicate at once with the Executive
Committee, George H. Stickney, Secretary, Grand Haven, Mich.: Allegan, Mrs. E. S. Nichols ;
Harry, Mrs. Goodyear; Bay, Mrs. S. M. Green, Mrs. Judge Holmes; Berrien, Hon. Levi Sparks, O.
K. Mead; Branch, Mrs. Celia Woolley, Mrs. H. J. Boutelle ; Calhoun, W. F. Neil, Mrs. Judge
(Iruvus, Morgan Hates, Dr. G. P. Jocelyn ; Cass, Mr. Rice, William L. Jaques ; Chippewa, Mrs.
Charles G. Shepherd ; Clinton, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Gole ; Eaton, J. Chance, Hon. A. K. Warren, Mrs. J.
Musgrave, Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Foote ; Gencsee, Mrs. D. Stewart; Grand Traverse, Hon. W. H. C.
Mitchell, Hon. J. G. Ramsdell ; Gratiot, Hon. Ralph Ely ; Hillsdale, Mrs. M. A. Pendill, Mrs. Dr.
Swift, Mrs. E. Samm ; Inghatn, Dr. I. H. Bartholomew, Mrs. O. A. Jcnison, A. R. Burr; Ionia,
Mrs. A. Williams, Mrs. Chaddock, Mr. J. B. Smith ; Isabella, Mrs. Douglas Nelson ; Jackson, Mrs.
Mary Lathrop, F'dus Livermore ; Kalatnazoo, J. H. Stone, Col. F. W. Curtenius, Merritt Moore. Dr.
N. Thomas ; Kent, Mrs. K. L. Briggs, E. G. D. Holden, E. P. Churchill ; Lapeer, Hon. J. C. Lamb,
Mrs. J. B. Wilson; Loitticfi; Mre. Dr. Fox, Mrs. F. A. Rowley, Hon. Charles E. Mickley ; Liv-
•n. K. P. Gregory; Macoinb, Mrs. Ambrose Campbell, Daniel B. Briggs ; Manistee, S. W.
Fowler, Hon. B. M. Cutcheon, T. J. Rumsdell ; Alarquctte, Sidney Adams, Hiram A. Burt ; Mason,
Mr. Foster; Midland, Dr. E. Jennings, Mrs. Sunnier; Missnukee, S. W. Davis; Monroe, Hon. J. J.
Stimncr ; Montcaint, Mr. J. M. Fuller ; Muskcgon, Lieutenant-Governor H. H. Holt, Mrs. O. B.
Ingersoll, Mrs. Barney ; Ke-waygo, Hon. E. L. Gray, Mrs. Lucy Utley ; Oakland, Mrs. D. B. Fox, J.
Holman, jr., Mrs. Alexander ; Occana, John Halstcd ; Osccola, B. F. Gooch ; Ottawa, Dwight Cutler,
Mrs. W. C. Sheldon ; Roscommon, Messrs. Davis & Hall ; Saginaw, Mrs. Whiting. Mrs. Gamble, J.
F. Driggs, W. P. Burdick ; Shiawassee, Mrs. Dr. Parkill, J. H. Hartwell, Hon. J. M. Goodell. Dr.
King ; St. Clair, Hon. B. W. Jenks ; St. Joseph, W. S. Moore, Mr-,. Mary Peck ; Tuscola, Mrs. J. P.
Mnyt; \'an J!:n;-n, Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Van Vechten, A. S. Dyckman, Hon. S. H. Blackman ;
ll'aslttenaiv, Mrs. Israel Hall, Mrs. Seth Reed, U. Cramer, Mary E. Foster; ll'ayne, Mrs. C. A. F.
Stebbins, Colin Campbell, G. W. Bates, Lucy L. Stout.
522 History of Woman Suffrage.
bates, and in reviewing the fundamental principles of our government and religion.
Being frequently told that women did not wish to vote, I adopted the plan of calling
for a rising vote at the close of my lectures, and on all occasions a majority of the
women would promptly rise. Knowing that the men had the responsibility of voting
before their eyes, and might be diffident about rising, I reversed the manner of expres-
sion in their case, requesting all those in favor of woman suffrage to keep their seats,
and those opposed to rise up, thus throwing the onerous duty of changing their atti-
tudes on the opposition. So few arose under such circumstances that it was somewhat
embarrassing for those who did.
Those who were engaged in the canvass * had enthusiastic meetings
everywhere. They not only filled all their regular appointments, but
spoke in the prisons, asylums; even the deaf and dumb were refreshed
with the gospel of woman suffrage. The press, too, was generally favor-
able, though the opposition magnified the occasional adverse criticisms
out of all proportion to their severity and number. Towards the last of
September Miss Anthony, by invitation of Mrs. Briggs and Mrs. Bliss of
Grand Rapids, came into the State and remained until election day. She
often brought down the house with her witty comments on the criticisms
of the press.t
Everything that could be done was done by the friends of the amend-
ment throughout the State ; meetings held and tracts on every phase of
the question scattered in all the most obscure settlements ; inspiring
songs sung, earnest prayers offered, the press vigilant in its appeals, and
on election day women everywhere at the polls, persuading voters to cast
their ballots for temperance, moral purity and good order, to be secured
only by giving the right of suffrage to their mothers, wives and daughters.
But the sun went down, the polls were closed, and in the early dawn of
the next morning the women of Michigan learned that their status as
citizens of the United States had not been advanced one iota by the lib-
eral action of their governor, their legislature, the appeals of the women
nor the votes of 40,000 of the best men of the State.
When the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the national consti-
tution were passed, many advocates of suffrage believed that the right
was conferred on women. In a letter to a State convention held at that
time, Wendell Phillips said :
The new phase of the woman movement — that claiming the right to vote under the
fourteenth amendment — is attracting great attention in Washington. Whether it ever
obtains judicial sanction or not, it certainly gives a new and most effective means of
agitation. The argument of the minority report, understood to be written by General
Butler, is most able. * * * The statement of the argument, and the array of cases
* Miss Eastman, Miss Hindman, Phoebe Couzins, Margaret \V. Campbell, Elizabeth K. Churchill,
Lelia Partridge, Mrs. Hazlett, Mrs. Samms, Miss Matilda Victor; George W. Julian of Indiana, Giles
B. Stebbins and Clinton R. Fisk, representing the Michigan Association, and the following among volun-
teer workers: B. A. Harlan of Grand Rapids, Mrs. Hathaway of Cass county, Mrs. Judge Fuller, the
Hon. J. H. McGowan and Mrs. Boutelle of Branch county ; Mrs. L. A. Pearsall of Macomb, Mrs. F.
W. Gillette of Oakland, Miss Strickland of Clinton, J. B. Stone of Kalamazoo, Mrs. Lucy L. Stout of
Wayne, and the Rev. T. H. Stewart of Indiana.
t It was in this campaign that an editor in a Kalamazoo journal said : •* That ancient daughter of
Methuselah, Susan B. Anthony, passed through our city yesterday, on her way to the Plainwell meet-
ing, with a bonnet on her head looking as if she had recently descended from Noah's ark." Miss An-
thony often referred to this description of herself, and said, " Had I represented 20.000 votes in Michi-
gan, that political editor would not have known nor cared whether I was the oldest or the youngest
daughter of Methuselah, or whether my bonnet came from the ark or from Worth's.— [E. C. S.
Nannette B. Gardner. 523
and authorities, are very striking. Nothing more cogent can be imagined or desired.
When two years ago a Western advocate of woman's rights started this theory, we
never expected to see it assume such importance.
In accordance with this opinion, certain women resolved to apply for
registration, and offer their votes. On March 25, 1871, Catherine A. F.
Stebbins and Mrs. Nannette B. Gardner of Detroit made the attempt to
have their names regularly enrolled as legally qualified voters. Mrs. Steb-
bins, accompanied by her husband, made application in the fifth ward to
have her name registered, but was refused. She then proposed to her
friend, Mrs. Gardner, to make the trial in her ward, to which she assented.
Accordingly, they went to the first district of the ninth ward, where Peter
Hill was the enrolling officer. Mrs. Gardner gave her name, saying she
was a "person " within the meaning of the fourteenth amendment, and
that she was a widow, and a tax-payer without representation. Mr. Hill,
seeing the justice of her demand, entered her name upon the register.
This action took some of the board of registration by surprise, and a
motion was made to erase her name, but was decided in the negative.*
The board was now asked for a decision in regard to Mrs. Stebbins' name,
as the question very naturally suggested itself to the inspectors, if one
woman can vote why not another. Mrs. Stebbins was notified that her
case would have a hearing. When asked to submit her reasons for de-
manding the right to vote, Mrs. S. stated that she asked it simply as the
right of a human being under the constitution of the United States. She
had paid taxes on personal and real estate, and had conformed to the laws
of the land in every respect. Since the fourteenth amendment had en-
franchised woman as well as the black man, she had the necessary quali-
fications of an elector.
A long debate followed. Inspectors Bagg, Hill and Folsom argued in
favor of the petitioner ; Allison, Brooks, Henderson and Hughes against.
The opposition confessed that the negro had voted before the word
"white "had been expunged from the State constitution; but that was
done from a "political necessity." The question of acceptance being put
to vote, was negatived — 13 to 10. This was counted a victory, and stimu-
lated the opposition to make another effort to strike Mrs. Gardner's name
from the register; but failing in that, the board adjourned. There was
how much curiosity to know if Alderman Hill would have the nerve to
stand by his initiative ; but with him the Rubicon was passed, and on
April 3, Messrs. Hill and Durfee accepted Mrs. Gardner's vote, Mr. Bond
protesting. The Detroit Post gave the following account :
Mrs. Gardner arrived at the polls of the first precinct of the ninth ward at about
half-past ten o'clock in a carriage, accompanied by her son, a lad of ten years, Mrs.
Starring and Mrs. Giles B. Stebbins. Barely a dozen by-standers were present, and
the larger part of these were laboring men. No demonstration followed the appear-
ance of the ladies, the men remaining quiet, and contenting themselves with comments
sot to rocf on this last political development, and with speculations as to how the newly
enfranchised would vote. Mrs. Gardner presented herself at the polls with a vase of
* The inspectors voting were : Yeas — Adams, Baxter, Brooks, Dullea, Henderson, Smith. Nays —
Bragg, Balch, Barclay, Barry, Bond, Christian, Hill, Hughes, Langley, Mahoney, O'Keefe, Suther-
Uutd.
524 History of Woman Suffrage.
flowers and also a prepared ballot, which she had decorated with various appropriate
devices. The inspectors asked the questions usually put to all applicants, and her
name being found duly registered, her ballot was received and deposited in the box.
There was no argument, no challenge, no variation from the routine traversed by each
masculine exerciser of the elective franchise. Mrs. Gardner voted, as we understand,
for the Republican candidates generally, with one Democrat and one lady.
At Battle Creek, Mrs. Mary Wilson voted at the election of 1871.
When she registered, she was accompanied by her lawyer.
In the fall of 1872, Peter Hill again registered Mrs. Gardner, and re-
ceived her vote. Mr. Hill had been exposed to many animadversions for
his persistence, and as an acknowledgment of her appreciation of his
course, Mrs. Gardner presented him a silk banner suitably inscribed. A
city paper gives this account of it :
Mrs. Gardner, who has for years been a recognized voter in the ninth ward of De-
troit, again voted on Tuesday. She came on foot, with Mrs. Stebbins, in a drenching
rain, as no carriage could be obtained. After voting, she presented a beautiful banner
of white satin, trimmed with gold fringe, on which was inscribed, "A Woman's
Voting Hymn." The reverse side, of blue silk, contained the dedication: " To
Peter Hill, Alderman of the Ninth Ward, Detroit. First to Register a Woman's Vote.
By recognizing civil liberty and equality for woman, he has placed the last and brightest
jewel on the brow of Michigan."
The city board now felt called upon to pass a vote of censure upon Mr.
Hill's action. The record runs thus :
Canvasser BAXTER : Resolved, That the act of the inspectors of election of the first
district of the ninth ward, in receiving the vote of Mrs. Nannette B. Gardner at the
election just passed, is emphatically disapproved by this board, on the ground that said
act is a plain violation of the election laws and constitution of the State of Michigan,
and is liable to lead to the grossest abuses and complications.
Canvasser FULDA moved to lay the resolution on the tables-lost. Adopted as fol-
lows : Yeas — Langley, Flower, House, Lichtenberg, Phelps, Parsons, Christian, Al-
lison, Buehle, Dullea, Daly, Barbier, Baxter — 13. Nays — Wooley and Fulda — 2.
CHAS. A. BORGMAN, Secretary. PHILO PARSONS, Chain/tan.
Mrs. Stebbins attempted to register at this election with the same re-
sult as before. Upon the fourth of November she provided herself with
a sworn statement that she had been "wrongfully prevented " the record
of her name, and offered her vote at the polls, calling attention to the
"enforcing act," provided for such cases. It had no terror, however, for
the valiant inspectors of the fifth ward. In the fall of 1873, there was the
following correspondence between the board and the city counselor :
Hon. D. C. Holbrook, City Counselor: DEAR SIR : — Mrs. Giles B. Stebbins has ap-
plied to this board and demands the right to register. This board has declined to
grant the request on the ground that it does not believe her to be a legal elecior. Mrs.
Stebbins would have all the required qualifications of an elector, but for the fact of
her being a woman, and we therefore respectfully request that you instruct us as to our
duty in the premises. Very respectfully, S. B. Wooi.LEY,
ALBERT BOTSFORD,
Inspectors of First Ward.
Woman cannot be enrolled or registered. Let her try it on.*
Oct. 24, ffyj. D. C. HoLBROOK, City Counselor.
* We can easily see how little the opponents who talk so much of chivalry, respect women or them-
selves, by the language they use when they are opposed on this very question.
James A. B. Stone. 525
In company with Mrs. H. J. Boutelle.Mrs. Stebbins offered her vote in
the fifth ward. Mr. Farwell was in favor of receiving it, and wished to
leave the question to a dozen responsible citizens whom he called in as
referees, but Col. Phelps woulcl not be influenced by the judgment of out-
siders, and would not agree to the proposal.*
Mrs. Gardner's name was retained on the ward voting list, and she
voted every year until she left the city for the education of her children.
Before the University at Ann Arbor was opened to girls in 1869, there
had been several attempts to establish seminaries for girls alone. t But
they were not successful for several reasons. As the State would not endow
these private institutions, it made the education of daughters very expen-
sive, and fathers with daughters, seeing their neighbors' sons in the State
University educated at the public expense, from financial considerations
were readily converted to the theory of coeducation. Again the general
drift of thought was in favor of coeducation throughout the young west-
ern States. Then institutions of learning were too expensive to build
separate establishments for girls and boys, and the number of boys able to
attend through a collegiate course could not fill the colleges ready for
their reception. Hence from all considerations it was a double advantage
both to the State and the girls, to admit them to the universities.
James A. B. Stone and Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone went to Kalamazoo in
1843, immediately after his election to take charge of the Literary Institute.
The name was afterwards changed to Kalamazoo College. It is the oldest
collegiate institute in the State, having been chartered in 1833, and was
designed from the outset for both sexes. In the beginning it did not con-
fer degrees, but was the first, after Oberlin, to give diplomas to women.
Kalamazoo was an object of derision with some of the professors of the
University, because it was, they averred, of doubtful gender. But a lib-
eral-minded public grew more and more in favor of epicene colleges.
Literary seminaries had been established for coeducation at Albion,
Olivet, Adrian and Hillsdale, but some of their charters were not exactly
of a collegiate grade, and it was doubtful whether under the new consti-
tution, new college charters would be granted, so that Kalamazoo and
Ann Arbor had the field. In January, 1845, a bill was introduced in the
legislature to organize literary institutions under a general law, no col-
legiate degrees being allowed, unless on the completion of a curriculum
equal to that of the State University. The championship of this bill fell
to Dr. Stone, for while it would have no special effect on Kalamazoo, it
concerned the cause of coeducation in the State, and the friends of the
University made it a kind of test of what the State policy should be in
reference to the higher learning for women. Dr. Tappan, then the able
president of the University, appeared at Lansing, supported by Rev. Dr.
* Mrs. I'outelle and Mrs. Stebbins were in the polling place two or three hours, while Mr. Farwell
iiiiulctliiiris tu j:nin favorable opinions enough to convert Colonel Phelps ; many excellent men were in
favor of her vote. The ladies lunched from a daintily filled basket, prepared by the wife of inspector
Farwell.
t Miss Abby Rogers, Miss Delia Rogers, Miss Emily Ward, and Miss Clapp, were all deeply inter-
ested in establishing a seminary where girls could have equal advantages with students in the university.
This seminary was in existence ten years, but without State aid the struggle was too great, and Miss
Abby Rogers, the founder, abandoned the undertaking.
526 History of Woman Suffrage.
Duffield and a force of able lawyers, to oppose it, and the far-seeing friends
of education in the legislature and in the lobby, rallied with Dr. Stone for
its support. For several weeks the contest was carried on with earnest-
ness, almost with bitterness, before the legislative committees, before
public meetings called in the capitol for discussion, and on the floor of
both houses. Dr. Tappan made frantic appeals to Michigan statesmen
not to disgrace the State by such a law, which he prophesied would result
in "preparatory schools for matrimony," and, shocking to contemplate,
young men would marry their classmates. Among the friends of the
measure present, were President Fairfield, Professor Hosford, and Hon.
Mr. Edsell, of Otsego, all graduates of Oberlin, who had married their
classmates, and " been glad ever since." They replied, " What of it ? Are
not those who have met daily in the recitation-room for four years, as
well prepared to judge of each other's fitness for life-companionship, as if
they had only met a few times at a ball, a dress party, or in private inter-
view?" The legislature was an intelligent one, and the bill passed amid
great excitement, crowds of interested spectators listening to the final
discussions in the lower House. Governor Bingham was friendly to the
bill from the first. After its passage, he sent a handsome copy signed by
himself and other officers, to Dr. and Mrs. Stone, at Kalamazoo, to be pre-
served as a record of the Thermopylae fight for coeducation in Michigan.
Rev. E. O. Havens succeeded Dr. Tappan in the presidency, and was sup-
posed to be less strong in his prejudices, but when efforts were made to
open the doors to both sexes, he reported it difficult and inexpedient, if
not impossible. But he counted without the broad-minded people of
Michigan. A growing conviction that the legislature would stop the
appropriations to the University unless justice was done to the daugh-
ters of the State, finally brought about, at Ann Arbor, a change of policy.
Under the light that broke in upon their minds, the professors found
there was really no law against the admission of women to that very lib-
eral seat of learning. "To be sure, they never had admitted women, but
none had formally applied." This, though somewhat disingenuous, was
received in good faith, and soon tested by Miss Madeline Stockwell, who
had completed half her course at Kalamazoo, and was persuaded by Mrs.
Stone to make application at Ann Arbor. Mrs. Stone knew her to be a
thorough scholar, as far as she had gone, especially in Greek, which some
had supposed that women could not master. When she presented her-
self for examination some members of the faculty were far from cordial,
but they were just, and she entered in the grade for which she applied.
She sustained herself ably in all her studies, and when examined for her
degree — the first woman graduate from the literary department — she was
commended as the peer of any of her class-mates, and took an honorable
part in the commencement exercises. Moreover, she fulfilled the doleful
prophecy of Dr. Tappan, as women in other schools had done before her,
and married her class-mate, Mr. Turner, an able lawyer.
The statement by the faculty, or regents, that " no woman had formally
applied," was untrue, as we shall see. The University was opened to them
in 1869; eleven years before, Miss Sarah Burger, now Mrs. Stearns, made
Miss Burger and the University. 527
the resolve, the preparation, and the application to enter the University
of Michigan; and young as she was, her clear-sightedness and courage
called forth our admiration. As a child, in Ann Arbor, from 1845, to 1852,
she had often attended the commencement exercises of the University,
and on those occasions had felt very unhappy, because all the culture
given to mind and heart and soul by this institution was given to young
men alone. It seemed a cruel injustice to young women that they could
not be there with their brothers, enjoying the same. In connection with
her efforts and those of her friends to enter those enchanted portals, she
bears grateful testimony to the discussions on the question of woman's
rights, as follows :
When it was my blessed privilege to attend a women's rights convention at Cleve-
land', Ohio, in 1853, — and it was a grand meeting — where dear Lucretia Mott, Ernes-
tine L. Rose, Frances D. Gage, Antoinette Brown, Lucy Stone, and others, dwelt
upon the manifold wrongs suffered by women, and called upon them to awake and use
their powers to secure justice to all, I felt their words to mean that the Michigan
University as well as all others, should be opened to girls, and that women themselves
should first move in the matter.
Thus aroused, though but sixteen years old, she resolved at once to make
application for admission to the State University. Early in the autumn
of 1856, she entered the high school at Ann Arbor, and studied Greek and
Latin two years, preparatory to taking the classical course. Four young
ladies besides herself, recited with the bo)rs who were preparing for col-
lege, and they were all declared by a university professor who had at-
tended frequent examinations, to stand head and shoulders in scholarship
above many of the young men. Miss Burger wishing as large a class as
possible to appeal for admission, wrote to a number of classical schools
for young women, asking cooperation, and secured the names of eleven*
who would gladly apply with her. In the spring of 1858, she sent a note
to the regents, saying a class of twelve young ladies would apply in June,
for admission to the University in September. A reporter said " a certain
Miss B. had sent the regents warning of the momentous event." At the
board meeting in June, the young ladies presented their promised letter
of application, and received as reply, that the board should have more time
to consider. In September their reply was, that it seemed inexpedient for
the University to admit ladies at present. In the meantime, a great deal
had been said and done on the subject ; some members of the faculty had
spoken in favor, some against. University students, and citizens of Ann
Arbor also joined in the general discussion. The subject was widely dis-
cussed in the press and on the platform ; members of the faculty and
board of regents applied to the presidents of universities east and west,
for their opinions. The people of Michigan, thus brought to consider the
injustice of the exclusion of their daughters from this State institution,
there was offered for signature during the winter of 1859, the following
petition :
To the Kegents of the University of Michigan :
The undersigned, inhabitants of , in the county of — , and State
of Michigan, respectfully request that young women may be admitted as students in
* The names of the eleven young women Mrs. Stearns is unable to recall.
528 PI 1st or v of ]\*oinan Sit jf rage.
the University, for the following among other reasons : First — It is incumbent on the
State to give equal educational advantages to both sexes. Second — All can be edu-
cated in the State University with but little more expense than is necessary to educate
young men alone. Third — It will save the State from the expenditure of half a mill-
ion of dollars, necessary to furnish young ladies in a separate institution with the ad-
vantages now enjoyed by young men. Fourth — It will admit young ladies at once to
the benefits of the highest educational privileges of the State.
Among the most active in lectures, debates, circulation of petitions and
general advocacy were James B. Gott, Judge Edwin Lawrence, Giles B.
Stebbins and O. P. Stearns, the last at that time a student, since a lawyer,
and the husband of Mrs. Sarah Burger Stearns of Minnesota.
In the spring of 1859 formal application was again made to the regents
by a class of young ladies, only to receive the same answer. But the.dis-
cussion was not dropped ; indeed, that was impossible. Some of the most
intelligent on this question believe that the final admission of women to
the University was due to a resolve on the part of the people of the State-
to place upon the board of regents, as the terms of old members expired-
men well known to be favorable. On the election of Professor Estabrook
of the State Normal School there was one more noble man " for us," who,
with other new members, made a majority in favor of justice. In the au-
tumn of that year (1869) young women were admitted to full privileges in
Michigan University, and, like political freedom in Wyoming, it has for
years been confessed to have yielded only beneficent results. As long
ago, however, as the first application was made (1858) women were per-
mitted to attend certain lectures. They could not join a class or read a
book, but it was the custom for them to go and listen to the beautiful and
highly instructive lectures by Professor Andrew D. White on history,
sculpture, and mediaeval architecture, and they highly appreciated the
privilege.
In March, i8'69, President Havens said in the House of Representatives
at Lansing, " he believed the University should be opened to those
who desired to obtain the benefit of the branches of education which
they could not obtain elsewhere." The Rev. Gilbert Haven wrote to
the American Society's meeting held in Detroit, in 1874: "I have been
identified with your cause through its evil report, and, I was going to
add, good report, but that part has not yet very largely set in. I also had
the honor to preside over the first ecclesiastical body that has, just now,
pronounced in your favor." This church assembly was the Methodist
State Association, which adopted the following in October, 1874, without
a negative vote, though several of the delegates refused to vote :
WHEREAS, The legislature of Michigan, at its recent session, has submitted to the
electors of the State a proposition to change the State constitution so as to admit the
women of Michigan to the elective franchise; therefore,
Resolved, That this convention recognizes the action of the legislature as a step
toward a higher and purer administration of the government of our country, and we
hope the provision will be adopted. '
But the above was not the strongest utterance of Bishop Gilbert Haven.
Once at an equal rights society convention in the Academy of Music,
Brooklyn, where from floor to ceiling was gathered an admirable and
immense andience, with profound respect I heard these memorable words :
Reports from Other Towns. 529
"I shall never be satisfied until a black woman is seated in the presidential
chair of the United States," than which no more advanced claim for the
complete legal recognition of woman has been made in our country.
In February, 1879, a spirited debate took place in the legislature upon
an amendment to the Episcopal Church bill, which struck out the word
"male" from the qualification of voters. The Detroit Post and Tribune
says a vigorous effort was made to defeat the measure, but without suc-
cess. The justice of allowing women to take part in church government
was recognized, and the amendment carried.
We have written persistently to leading women all over the State for
facts in regard to their local societies, and such responses as have been
received are embodied in this chapter. We give interesting reports of a
few of the county societies in which much has been accomplished.
Of the work in Quincy Mrs. Sarah Turner says :
We never organized a woman suffrage society, although our literary club has done
much for the cause in a general way. We had crowded houses on the occasions of a
very able speech from Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a most spirited one from Miss
Phoebe Couzins. For the past eight years a dozen tax-paying women of this town
have availed themselves of the privilege granted them years ago, and voted at the
school meetings; and two years ago a woman was elected member of the school-board.
Lansing reports for January, 1871, Mrs. Livermore's lecture on "The Reasons
Why" [women should be enfranchised]; the organization of a city society with sixty
members at the close of the annual meeting of the State Association held in that city
in March; a lecture from Mrs. Stanton before the Young Men's Association; the
adoption of a declaration of rights by the Ingham County Society, March, 1872,
signed by 169 of the best people of the county. In 1874, of the many meetings held
those of Mrs. Stanton and Miss Couzins are specially mentioned.
The St. Johns society, formed in 1872 with six members, reported sixty at the State
annual meeting of 1874, and also $171.71, raised by fees and sociables, mainly ex-
pended in the circulation of tracts and documents throughout the county.
From Manistee Mrs. Fannie Holden Fowler writes :
In the campaign of 1874 Hon. S. W. Fowler, one of the committee for Northern
Michigan appointed by the State Society, canvassed Manistee county and advocated
the cause through his paper, the Times and Standard. The election showed the good
of educational work, as a large vote was polled in the towns canvassed by Mr. Fowler,
two of them giving a- majority for the amendment. In an editorial, after the election,
Mr. Fowler said: " The combined forces of ignorance, vice and prejudice have blocked
the wheels of advancing civilization, and Michigan, once the proudest of the sister-
hood of States, has lost the opportunity of inaugurating a reform; now let the women
organize for a final onset." However, no active suffrage work was done until Decem-
ber 3, 1879, when Susan B. Anthony was induced to stop over on her way from Frank-
fort to Ludington and give her lecture, " Woman Wants Bread; Not the Ballot." She
was our guest, and urged the formation of a society, and through her influence a
" Woman's Department" was added to the Times and Standard, which is still a feat-
ure of the paper. In the following spring (April, 1880), Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave
her lecture, " Our Girls," with two " conversations," before the temperance women
and others, which revived the courage of the few who had been considering the ques-
tion of organization. A call was issued, to which twenty-three responded, and the
society was formed June 8, 1880,* adopting the constitution of the National and elect-
* The officers of the Manistee Society are (1885): President, Mrs. Lucy T. Stansell ; Correspond-
ing Secretary, Fannie Holden Fowler ; Recording Secretary, Miss Nellie Walker ; Treasurer, Mrs.
Susan Seymour.
34
530 History of IVoman Suffrage.
ing delegates to attend a convention to be held under the auspices of that association
the following week at Grand Rapids. The society at once made a thorough canvass
of the city, which resulted in the attendance of seventy tax-paying women at the school
election in September, when the first woman's vote was cast in Manatee county,
Each succeeding year has witnessed more women at the school election, until, in 1883.
they outnumbered the men, and would have elected their ticket but for a fraud perpe-
trated by the old school-board, which made the election void.
In August 1881, Mrs. May Wright Sewall delivered two lectures in Manistee. In
February 1882, a social, celebrating Miss Anthony's birthday, was given by the asso-
ciation at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, and was voted a success. Through
the untiring efforts of Mrs. Lucy T. Stansell, who was also a member of the Ladies'
Lever League, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert gave a Manistee audience a rich treat
in her " Homes of Representative Women," and her conversation on suffrage elicited
much interest.
During the autumn of 1882, petitions asking for municipal suffrage were circulated.
The venerable Josiah R. Holdea of Grand Rapids, father of Mrs. Fowler, then in
his 88th year, obtained the largest number of signatures to his petition of any one in
the State. A bill granting municipal suffrage to women was drawn by Mrs. Fowler,
introduced in the legislature by Hon. George J. Robinson, and afterwards tabled. At
the session of 1885 a similar bill came within a few votes of being carried.
In Grand Rapids there was no revival of systematic work until 1880, when the
National Association held a very successful two days' convention in the city. In re-
sponse to a petition from the society, the legislature in the winter of 1885 passed a
law, giving to the tax-paying women of the city the right to vote on school questions
at the charter elections. At the first meeting a hundred women were present, and
hundreds availed themselves of their new power and voted at the first election.
The State Society held its annual meeting at Grand Rapids, October 7,
8, 9, 1885, at which the address of welcome was given by Mrs. Loraine
Immen, president of the City Society,* and responded to by Mrs. Stebbins
•of Detroit. t
The only religious sect in the world, unless we except the Quakers,
that has recognized the equality of woman, is the Spiritualists. They
have always assumed that woman may be a medium of communi-
cation from heaven to earth, that the spirits of the universe may
breathe through her lips messages of loving kindness and mercy to the
children of earth. The Spiritualists in our country are not an organized
body, but they are more or less numerous in every State and Territory
from ocean to ocean. Their opinions on woman suffrage and equal
rights in all respects must be learned from the utterances of their leading
speakers and writers of books, from their weekly journals, from resolu-
tions passed at large meetings, and from their usage and methods. A re-
liable person widely familiar with Spiritualism since its beginning in 1848,
says that he has known but very few Spiritualists who were not in favor
* The officers of the Grand Rapids Society are : President, Mrs. Cordelia F. Briggs ; I'ice-Presi-
dents, Loraine Immen, Emma Wheeler; Treasurer, Mrs. Henry Spring; Secretary, Mrs. J. W.
Adams.
t Following is a complete list of all officers elected in 1885 : President. Mrs. Mary L. Doe of Car-
rollton ; Vice-President, Mrs. Loraine Immen of Grand Rapids; Recording Secretary, Mrs. H. S.
Spring of Grand Rapids ; Corresponding Secretary , Mrs. Fannie H. Fowler of Manistee ; Treasurer,
Mrs. C. A. F. Stebbins of Detroit; Advisory Committee, Mrs. E. L. Briggs of Grand Rapids, and
Mrs. S. E.V.Emery of Lansing; Executive Committee— First District, Mrs. Harriet J. Boutell of
Detroit ; Second District, Mrs. Annette B. Gardner Smith of Ann Arbor ; Fifth District, Mrs. Emily
H. Ketchum of Grand Rapids; Sixth District, Francis M. Stuart of Flint; Eighth District. Mrs.
Frances C. Stafford of Milwaukee ; Ninth District, Col. S. W. Fowler of Manistee ; Eleventh and
Twelfth Districts, Mrs. R. A. Campbell, Traverse City.
Sojoumer Triith. 531
of woman suffrage ; that all their representative men and women, and all
their journals advocate it, and have always done so ; that expressions in
its favor in public meetings meet with hearty approval, and that men and
women have spoken on their platforms, and held official places as co-
workers in their societies through all of these thirty-seven years. All this
has taken place with very little argument or discussion, but from an in-
tuitive sense of the justice and consequent benefits of such a course. A
single testimony, of many that might be given from their writings, must
suffice. In the Religio-Philosophical Journal, Chicago, 111., November 22,
1884, its editor, J. C. Bundy, says : " Although not especially published in
the interest of woman, this journal is a stalwart advocate of woman's
rights, and has for years given weekly space to 'Woman and the House-
hold,' a department under the care of Mrs. Hester M. Poole, who has
done much to encourage women to renewed and persistent effort for their
own advancement."
It has been the custom of some of our journals to ask for letters of
greeting from distinguished people for New Year's day. We find the fol-
lowing in the Inter-Ocean: " Sojourner Truth, the Miriam of the later
Exodus, sends us this remarkable letter. She is the most wonderful
woman the colored race has ever produced, and thus conveys her New
Year's greeting to our readers :
" DEAR FRIENDS : More than a hundred New Years have I seen before this one, and
I send a New Year's greeting to one and all. We talk of a beginning, but there is no
beginning but the beginning of a wrong. All else is from God, and is from everlasting
to everlasting. All that has a beginning will have an ending. God is without end,
and all that is good is without end. We shall never see God, only as we see him in
one another. He is a great ocean of love, and we live and move in Him as the fishes
in the sea, filled with His love and spirit, and His throne is in the hearts of His peo-
ple. Jesus, the Son of God, will be as we are, if we are pure^and we will be like him.
There will be no distinction. He will be like the sun and shine upon us, and we will
be like the sun and shine upon him; all filled with glory. We are the children of one
Father, and he is God; and Jesus will be one among us. God is no respecter of per-
sons, and we will be as one. If it were not so, there would be jealousy. These ideas
have come to me since I was a hundred years old, and if you, my friends, live to be a
hundred years old, too, you may have greater ideas than these. This has become a
new world. These thoughts I speak of because they come to me, and for you to con-
sider and look at. We should grow in wisdom as we grow older, and new ideas will
come to us about God and ourselves, and we will get more and more the wisdom of
God. I am glad to be remembered by you, and to be able to send, my thoughts, hop-
ing they may multiply and bear fruit. If I should live to see another New Year'a Day
I hope to be able to send more new thoughts. SOJOURNER TRUTH.
" Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec. 26, 1880."
This was accompanied by a note from her most faithful friend, Mrs.
Frances W. Titus, relating matters of interest as to her present circum-
stances. She also said : " We have recently another proof that she is
over one hundred years old. Mention of the 'dark day' May 19, 1780,
was made in her presence, when she said, ' I remember the dark day '; and
gave a description of that wonderful phenomenon. As the narrative of
Sojourner's life has long been before the public, we prefer to anything
this latest thought of hers, standing then on the verge of the life of the
spirit."
532 History of Woman Suffrage.
Sojourner was long a resident and laborer in reform in Michigan,
from which State she went out to the District of Columbia to befriend
her people, as well as to other distant fields. She went to help feed and
clothe the refugees in Kansas in 1879-80, and in reaching one locality she
rode nearly a hundred miles in a lumber wagon. She closed her eventful
life in Buttle Creek, where she passed her last days, having reached the
great age of one hundred and ten years.
Mrs. Laura C. Haviland is another noble woman worthy of mention. She has given
a busy life to mitigating the miseries of the unfortunate. She helped many a fugitive
to elude the kidnappers; she nursed the suffering soldiers, fed the starving freedmen,
following them into Kansas,* and traveled thousands of miles with orphan children
to find them places in western homes. She and her husband at an early day opened
a manual-labor school, beginning by taking nine children from the county-house, to
educate them with their own on a farm near Adrian. Out of her repeated experi-
ments, and petitions to the legislature for State aid, grew at last the State school for
homeless children at Coldwater, where for years she gave her services to train girls in
various industries.
Mrs. Sybil Lawrence, a woman of strong character, and charming social qualities,
exerted a powerful influence for many years in Ann Arbor. Being in sympathy with
the suffrage movement, and in favor of coeducation, she did all in her power to make
the experiment a success, by her aid and counsels to the girls who first entered the
University. Her mother, sister, and nieces made a charming household of earnest
women ready for every good work. Their services in the war were indispensable, and
their sympathies during the trying period of reconstruction were all on the side of lib-
erty and justice.
There are many other noble women in Michigan worthy of mention did
space permit, such as Miss Emily Ward, a woman of remarkable force of
character and great benevolence; Mrs. Lucy L. Stout, who has written
many beautiful sentiments in prose and verse : Eliza Legget and Florence
Mayhew, identified with all reform movements ; Mrs. Tenney, the State
librarian ; and Mrs. Euphemia Cochrane, a Scotch woman by birth, who
loved justice and liberty, a staunch friend alike of the slave and the un-
fortunate of her own sex. Under her roof the advocates of abolition and
woman suffrage always found a haven of rest. Henry C. Wright, Wendell
Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth, Theodore Tilton,
Frederick Douglass, Abbey Kelley and Stephen Foster could all bear
testimony to her generous and graceful hospitality. She was president of
the Detroit Woman Suffrage Association at the time she passed from
earth to a highejr life.
* Spending the summer of 1865 at Leavenworth, I frequently visited Mrs. Haviland, then busily occu-
pied in ministering to the necessities of the 10,000 refugees just then from the Southern States. On
May 29, I aided her in collecting provisions for the steamer, which was to transport over a hundred
men, women and children, for whom she was to provide places in Michigan. I shall never forget that
day nor the admiration and reverence I felt for the magnanimity and self-sacrifice of that wonderful
woman. — [S. B. A.
CHAPTER XLII.
INDIANA.
The First Woman Suffrage Convention After the War, 1869 — Amanda M. Way — An-
nual Meetings, 1870-85, in the Larger Cities — Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society,
1878 — A Course of Lectures — In May, 1880, National Convention in Indianapolis
— Zerelda G. Wallace — Social Entertainment — Governor Albert G. Porter-^Susan
B. Anthony's Birthday — Schuyler Colfax — Legislative Hearings — Temperance
Women of Indiana — Helen M. Cougar — General Assembly — Delegates to Political
Conventions — Women Address Political Meetings — Important Changes in the
Laws for Women, from 1 860 to 1884 — Colleges Open to Women — Demia Butler —
Professors — Lawyers — Doctors — Ministers — Miss Catherine Merrill — Miss Eliza-
beth Eaglesfield — Rev, Prudence Le Clerc — Dr. Mary F. Thomas — Prominent
Men nnd Women — George W. Julian — The Journals — Gertrude Garrison.
THIS was one of the first States to form a Woman Suffrage
Society * for thoroughly organized action, with a president,
secretary, treasurer, and constitution and by-laws. From October,
1851, this association held annual meetings, sent petitions and
appeals to the legislature, and had frequent hearings at the capi-
tol, diligently pressing the question of political equality for woman
for ten consecutive years. Then, although the society did not
disband, we find no record of meetings or aggressive action until
1869, for here, as elsewhere, all other interests were forgotten
in the intense excitement of a civil war. But no sooner were
the battles fought, victory achieved, and the army disbanded,
than woman's protests against her wrongs were heard throughout
the Northern States; and in Indiana the same Amanda M. Way
who took the iniative step in 1851 for the first woman's conven-
tion, summoned her coadjutors once more to action in iS69,t
and with the same platform and officers renewed the work with
added determination for a final victory.
* See Vol. I., page 306.
t The call for this convention was signed by Amanda M. Way, Mrs. M. C. Bland, Mrs. M. M. B.
Goodwin, Mrs. Henry Blanchard, Mrs. Emma B. Swank, Indianapolis ; Mrs. Isaac Kinley, Richmond i
Dr. Mary F. Thomas, Camden ; Dr. Mary H. Wilhite, Miss Lizzie Boynton, Miss Mollie Krout, Dr.
E. E. Barrett, Crawfordsville ; Mrs. Abula Pucket Nind, Fort Wayne ; Mrs. L. S. Bidell, Crown Point ;
Rev. E. P. Ingersoll, J. V. R. Miller, Rev. Henry Blanchard, Rev. William Hannaman, Professor A.
C. Shortridge, Professor R. T. Brown, Professor Thomas Rhodes, Dr. T. A. Bland, Indianapolis;
Hon. Isaac Kinley, Isaac H. Julian, Richmond ; Hon. L. M. Nind, Fort Wayne ; Hon. S. T. Mont-
gomery, Kokomo ; D. R. Pershing and Rev. T. Sells, Warsaw.
534 History of Woman Suffrage,
For this interesting chapter we are indebted to Mrs. May
Wright Sewall, who has patiently gathered and arranged this
material, and laid it, as a free gift, at our feet. Those who have
ever attempted to unearth the most trivial incidents of history,
will appreciate the difficulties she must have encountered in this
work, as well as in condensing all she desired to say within the
very limited space allowed to this chapter. Mrs. Sewall writes:
The first convention after the war, June 8, 9, 1869, was held in Masonic
Hall, and continued two days. The Indianapolis Journal devoted several
columns daily to the proceedings, closing with the following compli-
mentary editorial :
As a deliberative assembly it compared favorably with the best that have ever been
conducted by our own sex. To say that there was as much order, propriety and dig-
nity as usually characterizes male conventions of a political character is but to put the
matter in a very mild shape. Whatever was said, was said with earnestness and for a
purpose, and while several times the debate wasjxmsiderably spiced, the ladies never
fell below their brothers in sound sense. We have yet to see any sensible man
who attended the convention whose esteem for woman has been lowered, while very
many have been converted by the captivating speeches of Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Swank and
Mrs. Livermore.
In the Sentinel of June n, 1869, an editorial appeared whose evident ob-
ject was to reassure the public mind and to restore to peace and confi-
dence any souls that might have been agitated during the convention by
so unusual and novel an exercise as thought. The nature of the sedative
potion thus editorially administered to an alarmed public may be inferred
from this sample :
No amount of human ingenuity can change the arrangement of nature. The history
of the race furnishes the evidence that the species of man and woman are opposite.
The distinctions that now exist have existed from the time that the " Lord God caused
a deep sleep to fall upon Adam," and said: "Thy desire shall be to thy husband; he
shall rule over thee." This brief story comprises the history of man and woman, and
defines the relations which shall ever exist between them. When woman ceases to be
womanly, woman's rights associations become her fitting province.
The editor of the Journal at that time was Colonel W. R. Holloway, the
present very liberal manager of the Times. The editor of the Sentinel was
Joseph J. Bingham. The State was then Republican, and as the organ of
that party the Journal probably had the larger number of readers.
The State Woman Suffrage Association convened in Indianapolis, June
8, 1870, and held a two days' meeting. The Journal contains, as usual, a
full report. The Sentinel's tone is quite different from that which distin-
guished its utterances the preceding year. Its reports tore full and per-
fectly respectful. This convention is memorable as that at which the
Indiana Society became auxiliary to the American Association. The
records show that this union was accomplished by a majority of one, the
ballot on the proposition standing 15 for and 14 against. As soon as the
union was thus effected the following was adopted :
Resolved, That this association is in favor of the union of the National and Ameri-
can Associations as soon as practicable.
A Secret Conclave. 535
On the same day Judge Bradwell of Chicago submitted a resolution
favoring the union of the two national societies, which was laid on the
table. Of the annual meetings from 1871 to 1878 the Indianapolis papers
contain no reports, save the briefest mention of those of 1873-4. From
1878 to 1885 short but fair reports may be found. Since 1870, the conven-
tions of this society* have been held in different towns throughout the
State. t The minutes show that the propriety of withdrawing from the
American Association and remaining independent was brought before the
convention of 1871, under the head of special business ; that it was decided
to postpone action until the next annual meeting, and to make the matter
of withdrawal a special order of business, but it does not appear that from
that time the subject has ever been broached. At the annual meeting of
1875, held at a time when preparations for celebrating our national cen-
tennial were in progress, the following resolution was passed :
Resolved, That we congratulate the voters of the United States on their enjoyment
of the right of suffrage, and commend them for the great centenary celebration of the
establishment of that right, which they are about to have. But we do earnestly pro-
test against the action of the Indiana legislature by which it made appropriations for
that purpose of moneys collected by taxing women's property.
In November, 1878, the ninth annual meeting of the American Associa-
tion was held in Indianapolis, by invitation from the State Society. \
In the month of March, 1878, some very mysterious whisperings adver-
tised the fact that there was to be a meeting of the ladies of Indianapolis
known to have " advanced ideas " concerning their sex. In response to
a secretly circulated summons, there met at No. 18 Circle Hall nine
women and one man, who, though not mutually acquainted, were the
most courageous of those to whom the call had come. Probably each of
the ten often thinks with amusement of the suspicious glances with which
they regarded one another. As a participant, I may say that the company
had the air of a band of conspirators. Had we convened consciously to
plot the ruin of our domestic life, which opponents predict as the result
of woman's enfranchisement, we could not have looked more guilty or
have moved about with more unnatural stealth. That demeanor I explain
as an unconscious tribute to what " Madam Grundy " would have thought
had she known of our conclave.
At that meeting one point only was definitely settled ; which was,
whether the new society should take a name which would conceal from
the public its primary object, or one which would clearly advertise it.
The honesty of the incipient organization was vindicated by its deciding
* The officers of the State Association in 1883 were : President, Dr. Mary F. Thomas : I'ice-Presi-
dents, Mrs. Helen V. Austin, Mrs. S. S. McCain, Mrs. M. V. Berg, Mrs. G. Gifford, Mrs. M. P. Lind-
sey, Mrs. C. A. P. Smith and Mrs. F. G. Scofield ; Secretary, Mrs. M. E. M. Price ; Corresponding
Secretary, Mrs. F. M. Adkinson ; Treasurer, Miss Mary 1). Naylor; State Central Committee, Mrs.
Mary K. Haggart, Mrs. Z. G. Wallace and May Wright Sewall.
t Annual — 1871, June 21, 22, Bloomington ; 1872, June 5, 6, Dublin ; 1873, June n, 12, Terre Haute ;
Semi-Annual, November 19, Richmond. Annual — 1874, May 28, 29, Fort Wayne ; 1875, May 25, 26,
l.iixrty; Semi-Annual, November 23, 24, Winchester. Annual — 1876, May 30, 31, Anderson; 1877,
September 4, 5, Knightstown ; 1878, June n, 12, Richmond : 1879, May 14, 15, Kokomo ; 1880, April
27, 28, Crawfordsville ; 1881, June 15, 16, Kokomo ; Semi-Annual, October 29, Dublin. Annual— 1882,
May, Columbus ; 1883, June, Logansport ; 1884, Kokomo ; 1885, November 22, 23, War>:iw.
t See Vol. II., page 851.
536 History of Woman Suffrage.
upon the latter. I do not record in detail the initiative steps of this flour-
ishing society in order to awaken in its members any humiliating memo-
ries, but because the fact that ten conscientious, upright persons could
thus secretly convene in an obscure room, and that such a question could
agitate them for more than two hours, is the best indication that could
be given of the conservative atmosphere which enveloped Indianapolis,
even as late as 1878. The next meeting was appointed for April 2, at the
residence of Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace. Notices were inserted in the pa-
pers, and in the meantime some pains was taken to secure not only the
presence of persons who had not previously been identified with any re-
form movement, but also that of some well-known friends. It was at-
tended by twenty-six men and women, representing various religious and
political parties, most of whom enjoyed the advantages of education and
social position, and resulted in a permanent organization under a consti-
tution whose first article is as follows :
This organization shall be known as the Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society, and
shall consist of such men and women as are willing to labor for the attainment of equal
rights at the ballot-box for all citizens on the same conditions.
On the principle that that which has some restrictions is most desired,
membership was at first hedged about with certain formalities. While
most reform organizations welcome as members all who will pay their
annual fee and subscribe to the constitution, this society requires that the
names of candidates be presented at one meeting and formally balloted
on at the next, thus providing a month for consideration. Since 1878 this
society * has held forty-three public meetings, and distributed through-
out the city several thousand tracts. At intervals the society has engaged
speakers from abroad. Miss Anthony gave her " Bread and Ballot" to a
large audience in Masonic Hall, and many date their conversion from that
evening. Mrs. Stanton has appeared twice under the auspices of the so-
ciety. On the first occasion it secured for her the court-room in which
the upper house of the general assembly was then sitting. Tickets of
admission were sent to all the members of both houses. Her lecture on
"The Education of Girls," made a profound impression. On her second
appearance she spoke in the First Christian Church, on " Boys." For
Miss Frances E. Willard, Robert's Park Church was obtained, and thus
suffrage principles were presented to a new class of minds. Mrs. J. Ellen
Foster spoke on " Women before the Law," in the Criminal-court room.
The society made every effort to secure the general attendance of mem-
bers of the bar. Before one of its regular meetings in the Christian
chapel, Mrs. Louise V. Boyd read a very bright paper on "A Cheerful
Outlook for Women." At its present parlors, Mrs. Harbert delivered an
address for the benefit of the suffrage campaign in Oregon.
* The Equal Suffrage Society has now, 1885, a membership of 175, including many representatives
of whatever in Indianapolis is best in character, culture and social place. The society has lately dis-
tricted the city for local work, assuming the boundaries of the school districts as its own for this pur-
pose ; its present plan is to place each of these twenty-six districts under the especial care of a commit-
tee whose business shall be to hold meetings, distribute literature and circulate petitions. The society
thus hopes to create a stimulating suffrage atmosphere at the capital which shall inspire the legislators
with courage to do good work for women at their next session.
An Open Letter. 537
In May, 1880, this society invited the National Association to hold its
annual convention in Indianapolis. Entertainment was provided for
eighty-seven delegates, besides the friends who came from different parts
of the State. In Park Theatre, the largest auditorium of the city, eloquent
voices for two days pleaded the cause of freedom. The reports in the city
press were full and fair, and the editorials commendatory. The fact that
the Sentinel contained a long editorial advocating the doctrines of equal
suffrage, shows the progress since 1869. The evening after the conven-
tion a reception was given to the members and friends of the National
Association in the spacious parlors of Mrs. John C. New.
From its origin the Indianapolis society has held aloof from all formal
alliances. Thus it has been free to work with individuals and organiza-
tions that have woman suffrage for their aim. It habitually sends dele-
gates to the State annual conventions, and in those of the American and
National it is usually represented.
In December, 1880, the society issued a letter, secured its publication in
the leading papers of the State, and addressed a cop)' to each member of
the General Assembly, in order to advise that body that there were women
ready to watch their official careers and to demand from them the con-
sideration of just claims :
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 22, 1880.
DEAR SIR: The Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis, in behalf of citizens of
Indiana who believe that liberty to exercise the right of suffrage should neither be
granted nor denied on the ground of sex, would respectfully notify you that during the
next session of the State legislature it will invite the attention of that body to the con-
sideration of what is popularly called "The Suffrage Question." The society will
petition the legislature to devote a day to hearing, from representative advocates of
woman suffrage, appeals and arguments for such legislation as may be necessary to
abolish the present unjust restriction of the elective franchise to one sex, and to secure
to women the free exercise of the ballot, under the same conditions and such only, as
are imposed upon men. To this matter we ask your unprejudiced attention, that
when our cause shall be brought before the legislature its advocates may have your
cooperation. Very respectfully yours, ZERELDA G. WALLACE, President.
MAY WRIGHT SEWALL, Secretary.
By order of the Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis.
The society has lately taken a new departure, giving lunches, parties
and literary entertainments, to which invitations* are issued, by the
officers, thus becoming a factor in the social life of the city. The invita-
tion, programme, and press comments of its last entertainment indicate
the character of these reunions, and the esteem in which they are held.
These occasions have been the means of securing for the society greater
popular favor than it has hitherto enjoyed. At the conclusion of the
* INVITATION. — The Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society requests the pleasure of your company at a
literary and social entertainment to be given in the Bates House parlors, Friday evening, November 4,
1881. (.'omniittee—^xy Wright Sewall, Mary C. Raridan, Mrs. H. G. Carey, Mrs. Charles Kregelo,
and Miss Lydia Halley. Please present invitation at the door.
PROGRAMME.-— i. Music, piano solo, Miss Dietrich ; 2. Toast, Yorktown, Henry D. Pierce ; 3. Toast,
The True Republic, Mrs. Z. G. Wallace ; 4. Music, solo (vocal), Mrs. J. J. Cole ; 5. Toast, Women
in Indiana, Gen. John Coburn ; 6. Toast, Women in the " Revised Version," Arthur \V. Tyler; 7.
Music, solo (vocal), Arthur Miller: 8. Toast. The Literary Women of Indiana. Q. Toast, Women in
the U. S. School System, Horace S. Tarbell ; 10. Recitation, Lida Hood Talbott ; n. Toast, Our
Forefathers, Rev. Myron \V. Reed ; 12. A Reply, Mary C. Raridan ; 13. Music, solo (vocal), Mrs. J.
C. New. Music In charge of Mrs. John C. New. W. B. Stone, accompanist.
538 History of Woman Suffrage.
formal toasts, the president called upon Gov. Albert G. Porter, who had
come in a few minutes before. He thanked the meeting for its reference
to what he had done for the cause of equal suffrage, and announced that
while he remained governor of Indiana he would do all he could for the
rights of women.* He referred to the progress made, and to the refining
influence that women would have on political matters. Of all the social
entertainments given, none has secured more converts than the celebra-
tion of Susan B. Anthony's sixty-second birthday. The arrangements for
this event were placed in the hands of Mrs. Mary E. N. Carey and Mrs.
May Wright Sewall. The following account, prepared by the author of
this chapter for the Indianapolis Times of February 18, 1882, will suf-
ficiently indicate the spirit of the occasion :
The anniversary was a unique event. A number of invitations were issued to citi-
zens interested in suffrage who were not formally connected with the association. As
a result, on the evening of February 15, there were gathered in the spacious parlors of
Dr. Carey's hospitable home, one hundred and fifty persons representing the best cir-
cles of Indianapolis society. A portrait of Miss Anthony rested upon an easel, con-
spicuously placed, that all might see the serene face of the woman who for thirty years
has preached the gospel of political freedom, and expounded the constitution of the
United States in favor of justice to all. The programme was somewhat informal, all
but two of the speeches f being spontaneous expressions of admiration for Miss Anthony
and her fidelity to principle. There were two regrets connected with the programme.
These were caused by the absence of Gov. Porter and Hon. Schuyler Colfax ; but the
gracious presence of Mrs. Colfax was a reminder of her husband's fidelity to our cause,
and Mrs. Porter's sympathetic face was a scarcely less potent support than would have
been a speech from the governor. Just before the close of the meeting the following
telegram was sent to Miss Anthony :
Susan B. Anthony, Tenafly, New Jersey.
The Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society, in meeting assembled with many friends
sends you greeting on this anniversary occasion, in recognition of your devotion to the
cause of women. MAY WRIGHT SEWALL, Secretary.
To report the details of this social gathering would be wearisome, but some reflec-
tions to which the occasion gave rise may be permitted. One lady upon seeing the in-
vitation to the meeting exclaimed: "This little bit of paper is an indication of a
higher civilization than I supposed we had yet entered upon. Until recently it has
been like the betrayal of a secret for a woman, particularly for an unmarried woman,
to have a birthday." This exclamation but expresses a historical fact and a prophetic
truth. So long as woman's only value depended upon physical charms, the years which
destroyed them were deemed enemies. The fact that an unmarried woman's sixty-
second birthday can be celebrated, shows the dawning of the idea that the loss of youth
and its fresh beauty may be more than compensated by the higher charms of intellect-
ual attainments. The time will never come when women, or men either, will delight
in the possession of crows-feet, gray hairs and wrinkles; but the time will come, aye,
and now is, when they will view these blemishes as but a petty price to pay for the joy
of new knowledge, for the deeper joy of closer contact with humanity, and for the
deepest joy of worthy work well done.
The first legislative hearing since 1860, was that granted January, 1871,
to Miss Amanda Way and Mrs. Emma B. Swank. The two houses re-
ceived them in joint session, the lieutenant-governor and speaker of the
* The speakers were Helen M. Gouger, Florence M. Adkinson, Mary A. Haggart, Ex-Gov. Baker,
Judge Martindale, Mrs. Wallace, Messrs. Walker and Dooley, editors of ihe Times and Herald, Mr.
Tarbell, superintendent of the city schools, and May Wright Sewall.
t See Indiana Appendix, note A.
Constituents versus Consciences. 539
house occupying the speaker's desk. Mr. William Cumback introduced
Miss Way, who read the following memorial :
Mr. President and Gentlemen — We come before you as a committee appointed by
the Woman Suffrage Association to memorialize your honorable body in behalf of the
women of Indiana. We ask you to take the necessary steps to 'so amend the State
constitution as to secure to women the right of suffrage. We believe the extension of
the full rights of citizenship to all the people of the State, is in accordance with the
fundamental principles of a just government. We believe that as woman has an
equal interest with man in all public questions, she should therefore have an equal
voice in their decision. We believe that as woman's life, prosperity and happiness
are equally dependent upon the order and morality of society, she should have an equal
voice in the laws regulating her surroundings. We believe that as woman is human,
she has human needs and rights, and as she is held responsible to law, she should have
an equal voice in electing her law-makers.
We believe that the interests of man and woman are equally improved in securing
to both equal education, a place in the trades and professions, equal honor and dig-
nity everywhere; and as the first step to this end is equality before the law, we, your
petitioners, ask that you extend to the women of Indiana the right of suffrage, and
thus enable one-half the citizens of the State to protect themselves in their most
sacred rights.
Miss Way spoke briefly to the points in the memorial, urging the legis-
lators to give to women the same chances for improvement, the same
means for defense, and the same weapons for protection that they have
secured to themselves. Mrs. Swank also made a logical and eloquent
speech. No action was taken by the legislature.
On January 22, 1875, the two houses of the General Assembly convened
in joint session, to receive petitions from the "Temperance Women of
Indiana," who were on this occasion represented by Mrs. Zerelda G. Wal-
lace, Mrs. Avaline and Mrs. Robinson, who had been appointed by the
State Temperance Association. Mrs. Wallace read a memorial and stated
that it was signed by 10,000 women, and then argued its various points and
pleaded for the action of the " Honorable Body." Mrs. Avaline and Mrs.
Robinson followed In briefer, but not less earnest appeals. The only
answer elicited by these ladies was the assurance made by Dr. Thompson,
a member of the Senate, that he and his colleagues were there, " not to
represent their consciences, but to represent their constituents," whose will
was directly opposed to the petition offered.
On January 3, 1877, a resolution to the effect that the fourteenth and
fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States give the
ballot to women, came to its third reading in the lower House. On that
occasion, Mrs. Wallace and Dr. Mary F. Thomas represented the women
of Indiana, and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore was present to lend the assistance
of her oratory. The speeches created a profound impression, but neither
native nor foreign eloquence was able to secure the requisite vote.
When the ayes and nays were called, the resolution was lost — 51 to 22. "
On February 24, 1879, once again in joint session, the General Assembly
received a committee appointed by the State Association and the Equal
Suffrage Society of Indianapolis, to support woman's claim to the ballot.
Mrs. Wallace, Dr. Mary F. Thomas, Mary E. Haggart and Amy E. Dunn,
each spoke at length on the points clearly set forth in the memorial.
Whatever arguments could reach the intellect, whatever could touch the
54° History of Woman Suffrage.
sensibilities, were urged by these ladies on that occasion, and the gentle-
men did not fail to compliment their abilities, although the exercise of
them had no palpable effect upon legislation.
Before the General Assembly of 1880-81, had convened, it was known
by its members-elect that the women of the State would be a constant
factor in their deliberations. They had been notified of this intention by
the circular letter from the City Society, and by the published fact that the
State Association had already appointed representatives, whose duty it
should be to secure a hearing for such an amendment to the constitution
of the State as should enable women to vote. As soon as the legislature
assembled, committees on women's claims were appointed in both
branches ; Simeon P. Yancey being the chairman of the Senate, and J. M.
Furnas of the House, committee. Two points had been determined upon.
These were to try to secure the passage of a bill which should immediately
authorize women to vote for presidential electors, and such an amendment
to the constitution of the State as should enable women to exercise the
right of suffrage on all questions.
In connection with the first of these points the name of Helen M. Gou-
gar deserves especial mention. At the Washington convention of the
American Association, Mr. Blackwell suggested that the States try to se-
cure the electoral ballot for women, and as soon as Mrs. Gougar returned
she urged the members of the legislature to take the matter up. At her
suggestion, Dr. Mary F. Thomas addressed a letter to W. D. Wallace, esq.,
a prominent lawj^er of Lafayette, asking him if, in his opinion, the exten-
sion of the electoral ballot to women would be incompatible with the
present constitution of the State ; in reply to this Mr. Wallace set forth
an exhaustive argument,* proving the entire constitutionality of such an
act. Five thousand were printed and gratuitously distributed throughout
the State.
The Committee on Women's Claims in both Houses met at sundry
times with members of the Suffrage Association to discuss the merits of
these bills and to become familiar with the arguments. During the regu-
lar session Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Gougar spent two consecutive weeks
in attendance at the legislature, watching the attitude of the different
members and lobbying, in the good sense of that word. The immediate
object was to secure the passage of the electoral bill, for that once gained,
and women by act of the legislature made voters upon the most import-
ant question, it was reasonably thought that the passage of the amend-
ment would be thereby facilitated. A hearing was granted on February
16, 1881, and the House took a recess to listen to the speeches of the
women appointed by the State Association, Mrs. Haggart and Mrs. Gou-
gar. The next day, February 17, the Senate afforded a similar opportu-
nity, and the same ladies addressed that body.
In addition to the faithful exertions of Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Gougar,
and the public hearing granted by both houses, much quiet but most
effective work was done with individual members. To no one is more due
than to Paulina T. Merritt, whose reputation for intelligent charity is
* See Appendix to Indiana, note B.
Efforts for Constitutional Amendment. 541
widely known. Mrs. Merritt was a frequent attendant upon the sessions of
the legislature and her untiring efforts in private conversations with mem-
bers were invaluable. In spite of all these influences, when the electoral
bill was brought to a vote upon its third reading, it was lost on the ground
that it was unconstitutional.
At the special session all efforts centered upon the bill for amending
section 2, of article II., of the State constitution, so as to give women the
right to vote in all elections. Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Gougar gave an-
other week to the work, and on April 7 the bill was brought to a vote in
the House, and passed — ayes 62, nays 24; in the Senate, on April 8, it also
passed — ayes 25, nays 18 ; and so the first entrenchment was won.
No one believed that the bill to amend the constitution would have
passed had it not been preceded by the battle over the electoral bill and
the consequent education of the General Assembly in regard to this great
question of political rights. Immediately a conference was held as to the
proper manner of expressing our gratitude to the committees on women's
political claims. It was at first thought the recognition should come
from the Equal Suffrage Society, but it was finally considered wiser to
have a reception given the honorable body by a voluntary committee of
women who should act quite independently of any society.*
The passage of the amendment by the legislature of 1881 gave the advo-
cates of our cause a common objective point, and the efforts of all during
the two years immediately succeeding were directed toward securing the
election of such a legislature as might be relied upon to repass the bill in
1883. The State society at its annual meeting enlarged its central com-
mittee and instructed it to arrange meetings in various parts of the State,
to send out speakers, and to organize local societies.! This committee
prepared a letter, for general distribution, indicating to the women of
the State their duty in the premises, and suggesting various lines of work.
Blanks for a special petition to the General Assembly were sent to every
township, which were industriously circulated and numerously signed.
In the spring of 1882 the officers of the State society issued a call for a
mass-meeting, to which "all women within the boundaries of the State
who believed in equal suffrage, or were interested in the fate of the pend-
ing amendment," were invited. The meeting was held on May 19, at the
* The following invitation was sent to every member of the legislature who had voted for the amend-
ment, and also to all the leading people of the city : The pleasure of your company is requested at the
parlors of the New-Denison, Friday evening, April 15, from 8 to 12, where a social entertainment will
be given in honor of the passage of the suffrage amendment by our State legislature. [Signed :] Mrs.
Zerelda G. Wallace, Miss Catherine Merrill, Mrs. Harvey G. Carey, Mrs. Charles Kregelo, Mrs. Henry
D. Pierce, Mrs. Thomas A. Hendricks, May Wright Sewall, Mrs. George Merritt, Mrs. John C. New
and Mrs. John M. Judah. The programme was as follows: i. Music, Solo (vocal), Zelda Seguin Wal-
lace. 2. Toast, Our Legislature, Senator Spann. 3. Toast, Our Opponents, Colonel DeWitt Wallace.
4. Toast, The Press and Progress, Laura Ream. 5. Toast, The Indiana Woman under the Law, William
Wallace. 6. Music, Solo (vocal), Mrs. John C. New. 7. Toast, The Ideal Man, Mrs. J. M. Judah.
8. Toast, The Ideal Woman, Mr. A. S. Caldwell. o. Toast, The Home of the Future, May Wright
Sewall. 10. Music, German Song, Professor John Fiskc. n. Toast, The Woman who " Don't want
to Vote," Gertrude Garrison. 12. Recitation, Lida Hood Talbot. 13. Toast, The Attitude of the Pul-
pit toward Reform, Rev. Myron W. Reed. 14. Music, Solo (vocal), Zelda Seguin Wallace.
t The persons thus authorized by the central committee to hold meetings and organize societies were
I>r. Mary F. Thomas, Mary E. Haggart, Zerelda G. Wallace, Helen M. Gougar, May Wright Sewall
and L. May Wheeler.
542 History of Woman Suffrage.
Grand Opera House, and the attendance exceeded the most extravagant
hopes of those who had called it. If any came to scoff, they remained to
participate with pride in this remarkable convention, which is yet fre-
quently referred to as the largest and most impressive meeting ever held
in the Hoosier capital. The call had invited those who could not attend
the meeting to manifest their sympathy by sending postal-cards to the
corresponding secretary. These were received in such numbers for sev-
eral days that Mrs. Adkinson and the half-dozen clerks appointed to as-
sist her in counting them, unable to bring in a full report, announced at
the close of the evening session, that having reached 5,000, they desisted
from further enumeration.
No effort was spared to make the demonstration truly representative of
the suffrage interest throughout the State. All the sessions were presided
over by Mrs. Sewall, who called the roll by congressional districts, some
one of whose representatives responded. The ease and dignity with
which women, many of whom had never spoken before any audience save
their own neighbors gathered in Sunday-school or prayer-meeting, re-
ported the status of their respective communities on the suffrage ques-
tion, was matter of astonishment as well as of admiration.* So excep-
tional in all regards was the conduct of the meeting that the papers
united in expressing surprise at the strength of the suffrage sentiment in
the State as indicated by the mass-convention.
This meeting of May 19, 1882, struck the key on which the friends in
the State spoke during the summer and fall of that year. Large numbers
of societies were organized and numerous meetings held, the immediate
object being to secure the election of a legislature that should vote to
submit the amendment passed by the General Assembly of 1881 to the
decision of what is mis-named " a popular vote." The degree to which
this action influenced the politicians of the State cannot be accurately
known, but we are compelled to believe that it was one of the causes
which induced the Republicans in convention assembled to declare for
the " submission of the pending amendments." The Republican State
convention was held August 8, 1882, and the first plank in the platform
reads thus :
Resolved, First — That reposing trust in the people as the fountain of power, we de-
mand that the pending amendments to the constitution shall be agreed to and submitted
by the next legislature to the voters of the State for their decision thereon. These
amendments were not partisan in their origin, and are not so in character, and should
not be made so in voting upon them. Recognizing the fact that the people are divided
in sentiment in regard to the propriety of their adoption or rejection, and cherishing
the right of private judgment, we favor the submission of these amendments at a spe-
cial election, so that there may be an intelligent decision thereon, uninfluenced by
partisan issues.
At the mass-meeting of May 19, Mrs. P. T. Merritt of Indianapolis, Mrs.
M. E. M. Price of Kokomo, and Mrs. J. C. Ridpath of Greencastle were
* Besides these five-minute reports, addresses were delivered by Rev. Myron W. Reed, pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis ; Captain DeWitt Wallace of Lafayette, Dr. Ridpath of De-
Paun University, Colonel Maynard, chief editorial writer on the Sentinel : Mrs. Haggart, Mrs. Gou-
gar, Mrs. Josephine R. Nichols, and other men and women of less prominence, but on that occasion of
hardly less interest.
Campaign of 1882. 543
appointed as delegates to the different political State conventions. As a
Republican, Mrs. Merritt was received with great courtesy and accorded
time to speak. Her address was characterizeH by sound logic and dignity
of expression, and was reported in full with the rest of the proceedings of
the Republican convention. As a prohibition amendment had also been
passed by the legislature of 1881, the interests of suffrage and prohibition
in the campaign of 1882 were identical. The Woman's Christian Temper-
ance Union of Indiana sent Mrs. Helen M. Gougar to the Republican
State convention, by which she was respectfully received and which she
ably addressed.
The advocates of suffrage did not content themselves during the
summer of 1882 by merely holding suffrage meetings proper, and address-
ing political bodies, but they sought every opportunity to reach the ears
of the people for whatever purpose convened. The Equal Suffrage
Society received from the managers of the Acton camp-meeting a place
on their programme; accordingly Mrs. Haggart and Mrs. Gougar, as del-
egates, addressed immense audiences. Both of these ladies labored inde-
fatigably, discussing the question of submission of the amendments be-
fore Sunday-school conventions, teachers' associations, agricultural fairs,
picnics and assemblies of every name. Others rendered less conspicuous,
but not less earnest or constant service ; and when the political campaign
proper opened, it was evident that every candidate would firmly and un-
reservedly answer the challenge : " Submission, or non-submission ? "
For the first time in the history of Indiana, women were employed by
party managers to address political meetings and advocate the election
of candidates. Mrs. Gougar addressed Republican rallies at various
points ; she and Mrs. Haggart together made a canvass of Tippecanoe
county on behalf of the Republican candidate for representative in the
General Assembly, Captain W. De Witt Wallace, who was committed not
only to the submission of the amendments, but also to the advocacy of
both woman suffrage and prohibition. The animosity of the liquor league
was aroused, and this powerful association threw itself against submission.
The result was the election of a legislature containing so large a Demo-
cratic majority that there was no ground for hoping that the amendments
would be re-passed and sent to the voters of the State for final adoption
or rejection.
Though the submission of the amendments was one of the chief issues
in the campaign, many candidates who pledged themselves on the ground
that they involved questions which it was the privilege of the voters to
decide, reserved their own opinions upon their merits. There were, how-
ever, candidates who openly espoused woman suffrage per se* Knowing
that a majority of the members of the General Assembly were pledged to
vote down the pending amendments, the friends tacitly agreed to main-
tain a dignified silence toward that body concerning them. The Suffrage
Society at the capital, however, appointed a committee t to watch the in-
* Among these the names of William Dudley Foulke of Richmond, W. DeWitt Wallace of Lafayette,
G. H. Thomas of Huntington, and S. J*. Yancey, merit honorable mention,
t Mrs. Sewall, Mrs. Merritt and Mrs. Mary E. Newman Carey.
544 History of Woman Suffrage.
terests of woman in the legislature; and through its influence, special
committees on women's claims were obtained in both Houses. Disap-
pointed by the result in the legislature of 1883, but not discouraged, the
society continued to labor with undiminished zeal, and sought every
legitimate opportunity to prove woman a factor in State politics.
Several weeks prior to the Republican nominating convention at Chi-
cago, June 3, 1884, this society appointed committees to correspond with
each of the gentlemen prominently named as candidates for nomination
to the office of president, and also appointed committees* to press upon
the attention of the different parties the political claims of women. The
society instructed each committee to carry on its work according to the
united judgment of its members and continue it until the close of the
legislative session of 1885. The committee appointed to communicate
with the Republicans addressed a letter to each of the thirty delegates
sent by Indiana to the nominating convention at Chicago. They also ad-
dressed letters to the Republican State central committee, and through
the courtesy of Mr. John Overmeyer, chairman, they were given an op-
portunity to appear before the committee on resolutions. Mrs. Sewall
presented a resolution, and in a brief speech urged its adoption and incor-
poration into the platform of the Republican party. Mrs. Merritt and
Mrs. Sewall were offered an opportunity to speak before the convention,
which they declined in the belief that it was a greater gain to the cause to
appear before the resolution and platform committee than before the
convention itself.
To what an appalling degree women were discriminated against by the
law prior to 1860, may be inferred from subsequent legislative enactments.
At almost every sitting of the biennial legislature, since 1860, some im-
portant change will be observed. In 1861 was passed the following:
AN ACT to enlarge the Legal Capacity of Married Women whose Husbands are Insane,
and to enable them to Contract as if they -were Unmarried.
SECTION I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana : That
all married women, or those who may hereafter be married, whose husbands are or may
be insane, are, during the continuance of such insanity, hereby enabled and authorized
to make and to execute all such contracts, and to be contracted with in relation to
their separate property, as they could if they were unmarried, and they may sue and
be sued as if they were sole.
The legislature of 1863 was undisturbed by any question concerning
women. In 1865 the legislature discriminated against women by the
passage of a very long act, prescribing the manner in which enumerations
of white male citizens shall be made; thus implying that a -white male citi-
zen is an honorable and important person, whose existence is to be noted
with due care; with a care that distinguishes him equally above the white
female and the black male citizen, and in effect places these two unenu-
merated divisions of human beings into one class.
Another act of 1865 reaffirmed an act of 1852 which prescribed the
classes of persons capable of making a will, from which married women
were excluded.
* Republican. May Wright Sewall and Paulina T. Merritt ; Democratic, Mary E. Haggart and
Florence M. Adkinson.
Some Ameliorating Enactments. 545
The legislature of 1867 passed an act in regard to conveyance of lands
by wives of persons of unsound mind, which read as follows :
SECTION i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana : That in cases where
the guardian of any person of unsound mind, under the direction of any court of com-
petent jurisdiction has made, or may hereafter make, sale of any lands of such person
of unsound mind, the wife of such person of unsound mind may by her separate deed
release and convey all her interest in and title to such land, and her deed so made shall
thereafter debar her from all claim to such land, and shall have the same effect on her
rights as if her husband had been of sound mind and she had joined with such husband
in the execution of such conveyance.
In 1869, an act passed by the legislature of 1852, providing for the settle-
ment of a decedent's estate, was so amended as to provide that the widow
might select articles to the value of $500, or receive the first §500 derived
from the sale, or in case it was worth no more than $500, might hold it.
In 1871 the amendment of 1869 was further amended so that in case the
personal property was less than $500 the deficit could be a lien on the real
estate, to be settled with other judgments and mortgages.
In 1873 the possible ability of women to serve the State officially was
recognized by the passage of the following bill :
SECTION i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana: That women are
hereby declared to be eligible to any office, the election to which is or shall be vested
in the General Assembly of this State; or the appointment to which is or shall be vested
in the governor thereof.
SEC. 2. The foregoing shall not include women who shall labor under any disability
which may prevent them from binding themselves by an official bond.
The legislature of 1873 also passed an act regulating the liquor traffic,
in which it is formally provided that a wife shall have the same right to
sue, to control the suit, and to control the sum recovered by the suit, as a
feme sole.
In 1875 an act passed the General Assembly making it impossible to
sell real property in which a woman has, by virtue of her marriage, an
inchoate right, for less than four-ninths of its appraised value: and also
providing that upon the sale of any piece or aggregate of pieces of real
property not exceeding $2,000, the wife has her absolute right ; and more-
over providing that in case of a judicial sale, the wife's inchoate interests
become absolute, and she may demand a partition.
In 1877 the General Assembly passed an act enabling married women
whose husbands are insane to sell and to convey real-estate belonging to
such married women, in the same way as if femes soles.
When the act for establishing a female prison passed the legislature of
1860, it provided that the board managing its affairs should consist of
three men, who should be assisted by an advisory board composed of
one man and two women. By the legislature of 1877 this section was so
amended as to make the managing board consist of women exclusively,
and the advisory board was abolished.*
Of all the changes effected in the statutory law of Indiana since 1860,
the following is the most important and may be regarded, so far as women
* For an account of this prison, see Appendix to Indiana chapter, note C.
35
546 History of Woman Suffrage.
are concerned, the measure of the highest legislative justice thus far at-
tained in any State. This bill was prepared by Addison C. Harris, then
representing Indianapolis in the State Senate, and was approved March
25, 1879:
AN ACT concerning Married Women — Approved March 25, i8jg:
SEC. I. — Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana: A married
woman may bargain, sell, assign and transfer her separate personal property the same
as if she were sole.
SEC. 2. — A married woman may carry on any trade or business, and perform any
labor or service on her sole and separate account. The earnings and profits of any
married woman accruing from her trade, business, services or labor, other than labor
for her husband or family, shall be her sole and separate property.
SEC. 3. — A married woman may enter into any contract in reference to her personal
estate, trade, business, labor or service, and the management and improvement of her
separate real property, the same as if she were sole; and her separate estate, real and
personal, shall be liable therefor on execution or other judicial process.
SEC. 4. — No conveyance or contract made by a married woman for the sale of her
lands or any interest therein, other than leases for a term not exceeding three years,
and mortgages on lands to secure the purchase money of such lands, shall be valid,
unless her husband shall join therein. Provided, however, that if she shall have
attempted to convey her real estate or shall have agreed to convey the same, and shall
have received the whole or any part of the consideration therefor, the person paying
such consideration, or the person for whose benefit the same was paid, shall have the
right to sue and recover judgment therefor, and the same may be enforced against the
property of such married woman.
SEC. 5. — A married woman shall be bound by the covenants of the title in a deed of
conveyance of her real property.
SEC. 6. — A married woman may bring and maintain an action in her own name
against any person or body corporate for damages for any injury to her person or char-
acter, the same as if she were sole; and the money recovered shall be her separate prop-
erty, and her husband in such case shall not be liable for costs.
SEC. 7. — Whenever the husband causes repairs or improvements to be made on the
real property of the wife, with her knowledge and consent thereto in writing, delivered
to the contractor or person performing the labor or furnishing the material, she shall
alone be liable for material furnished or labor done.
SEC. 8. — A husband shall not be liable for any debts contracted by the wife in car-
rying on any trade, labor or business on her sole and separate account, nor for im-
provements made by her authority on her separate real property.
SEC. 9. — Whenever a judgment is recovered against a married woman, her separate
property may be sold on execution to satisfy the same, as in other cases. Provided,
however, that her wearing apparel and articles of personal adornment purchased by
her, not exceeding two hundred dollars in value, and all such jewelry, ornaments,
books, works of art and virtu, and other such effects for personal or household use as
may have been given to her as presents, gifts and keep-sakes, shall not be subject to
execution. And provided further, that she shall hold as exempt, except for the pur-
chase money therefor, other property to the amount of three hundred dollars to be set
apart and appraised in the manner provided by law for exemption of property.
SEC. 10. — A married woman shall not mortgage or in any manner encumber her
separate property acquired by descent, devise or gift, as a security for the debt or
liability of her husband or any other person.
The legislature of 1881 enacted the following, which is really a sequence
of the property-rights statute of 1879:
A married woman may sue alone when : First — The action concerns her own prop-
erty. Second — When the action is between herself and her husband. But in no case
Women in the Schools. 547
shall she be required to sue or defend by guardian or next friend, unless she be under
twenty-one years.
It further enacted, making it section 28, to act 38, that : When a husband or father
has deserted his family, or is imprisoned, the wife or mother may prosecute or defend
in his name any action which he might have prosecuted or defended, and shall have
the same powers and rights therein as he might have had.
The legislature of 1881 also passed the following:
AN ACT to Authorize the Election of Women to School Offices:
SEC. i. — Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana, that any woman, mar-
ried or single, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, and possessing the qualifi-
cations prescribed for men, shall be eligible to any office under the general or special
school laws of the State.
SEC. 2. — That any woman elected or appointed to any office under the provisions of
this act, before she enters upon the discharge of the duties of her office, shall qualify
and give bond as required by law; and such bond shall be binding upon her and her
securities.
The following, enacted by this same legislature of 1881, would indicate
that fidelity to his domestic obligations is not even yet esteemed in man
as a virtue of high order; the value attached to the fidelity can be meas-
ured by the penalty incurred by infidelity, which is thus stated :
Whoever without cause deserts his wife or children, and leaves wife and child or
children as a charge upon any county of this State, shall be fined not more than $100
nor less than $10.
As has been indicated in another connection, it was the legislature of
1881 which distinguished itself by passing a bill for amending section 2 of
article II. of the State constitution so as to give women the right to vote in
all elections. The legislature of 1883 did nothing to further ameliorate
the legal condition of women ; and the highest legal rights enjoyed by
women of Indiana are indicated in the foregoing recital of legislative
action upon the subject from 1860 to 1884 inclusive.
For some years after public schools were established in Indiana, women
had no recognition. I am told by a reliable gentleman, Dr. R. T. Brown,
who served from 1833 to 1840 as examiner in one of the most advanced
counties of the commonwealth, that during that period no woman ever
applied to him for a license to teach, and that up to 1850 very few were
employed in the public schools. At that time it was permitted women
to teach •' subscription " schools during the vacations, for which purpose
the use of the district school-house was frequently granted. It was by
demonstrating their capacity in this unobtrusive use of holidays, that
women obtained employment in the regular schools. The tables show
that in 1861 there were 6,421 men and 1,905 women employed in the pri-
mary schools, and 128 men and 72 women in the high schools. From that
time up to 1866, owing to the war, the number of men decreased while
that of women rapidly increased. The tables for that year show 5,330
men and 4,163 women in the schools. The number of men employed in
1880 was 7,802, of women, 5,776. While the very best places are held by
men, the niajority of the second-rate places are filled by women, and men
fill a majority of the lowest places. The average daily wages received by
men engaged in the public schools in 1880 was $1.86, while the average
daily wages of women was $1.76.
548 History of Woman Suffrage.
Of the twenty-six academies, colleges and universities, all are, with
two notable exceptions — Hanover and Wabash — open to women. Of
these, Butler, at Irvington, formerly known as the Northwestern Christian
University, was the first to admit women to a "female course," which
its managers arranged to meet the needs of the female mind. In its laud-
able endeavor- to adapt its requirements to this intermediate class of
beings, the university substituted music for mathematics, and French for
Greek. Few, however, availed themselves of this course, and it was ut-
terly rejected by Demia Butler, a daughter of the founder of the institu-
tion, who entered it in 1860, and graduated from what was then known as
the male course, in 1864, thus winning the right to be remembered as the
first woman in Indiana to demonstrate the capacity of her sex to cope with
the clsssics and higher mathematics. From that time the " female course "
became gradually less popular, until it was discarded. One after another,
private and denominational schools have fallen into line, until nearly all
of them are open to women without humiliating conditions.
Up to 1867 the Indiana University exhibited the anomaly of a great in-
stitution of learning supported by the State, and regarding itself as the
crown of the public-school system, free to but one-half of the children of
the commonwealth. Since that date it has been open equally to both
sexes in all three of its departments — the State Normal School, located at
Terre Haute, the Agricultural College, located at Lafayette and commonly
known as Purdue University, and the State University proper, including
literary and scientific departments located at Bloomington. Of this last
branch, 30 per cent, are women. That there is no longer any discrimina-
tion in these higher institutions of learning is not true. Girls must always
feel that they are regarded as belonging to a subordinate class, wherever
women are not found in the faculty and board of managers. The de-
pressing influence of their absence in superior positions cannot be mea-
sured.
Very few women are found in college faculties in Indiana, and none on
boards of trustees. Those most conspicuous in ability are Mrs. Sarah A.
Oren,* who, having served two successive terms as State librarian, was
called from that position to fill a chair at Purdue University, where she re-
mained several years ; Miss Catharine Merrill, professor of English litera-
ture in Butler University, who throughout her term of service from 1869
to 1883 enjoyed the deserved reputation of being one of the strongest
members of the faculty ;t and Miss Rebecca I. Thompson, who is professor
of mathematics at Franklin College, the leading Baptist school in the
State. The women occupying these conspicuous positions are all identi-
fied with the suffrage movement ; Professor Thompson, of Franklin, is the
president of the Johnson County Suffrage Association. Miss N. Cropsey
has served the cause of public education in Indianapolis in some capacity
for twenty years, and has for several years been superintendent of the
primary schools, a place which she fills with acknowledged ability. Miss
* See Appendix to Indiana chapter, note G.
t Miss Merrill resigned in the autumn of 1883, and was immediately succeeded by Miss Harriet
Noble of Vincennes, a graduate of Vassar, and a lady of most admirable qualities, whose success is
assured by the record of her first year in this responsible position.
In Medicine.
549
Cropsey is another living denial of the common assertion, that only half-
cultured and ill-paid women want the ballot.
Of the four medical colleges in Indianapolis, two admit women and two
exclude them. No theological school in the State receives women, nor
does the only law school, which is located at Indianapolis ; but its former
president, Hon. James B. Black, told me that it was ready to receive them
upon application.
Formerly, many questions now decided by the board of trustees of each
school district, were directly settled by the people themselves at the an-
nual school meeting. For instance, the teacher for the coming term was
elected from among the candidates for that place ; the salary to be paid,
the length of term, the location of the school-house, were all ques-
tions to be decided by ballot. I have reliable authority for the assertion
that in some parts of the State, as early as 1860, widows, and wives whose
husbands were necessarily absent from the school meetings, voted upon
these questions. During the years of the war this practice became very
common, but fell into disuse upon the return of peace.
There are many physicians in Indiana enjoying the merited esteem of
their respective communities and having a lucrative practice. The most
notable example of success in this profession is Dr. Mary F. Thomas of
Richmond.* Another living testimony to woman's right in the medical
profession is Dr. Rachel Swain of Indianapolis, whose patrons are among
the first families of the city. By zealous devotion to her profession she
has secured the respect and social recognition of the community in which
she moves. As an avowed friend of suffrage, whose word in season is
never lacking, Dr. Swain carries a knowledge of our principles into circles
where it would otherwise slowly penetrate. Dr. Mary Wilhite of Craw-
fordsville ranks with the best physicians of that city. In her practice
she has gained a competence for herself and disseminated among her
patients a knowledge of hygienic laws that has improved the health
and the morals of the community to which she has ministered. She, too,
advocates political equality for woman. Dr. Sarah Stockton of Lafayette
settled in Indianapolis in the autumn of 1883, and was soon, on the peti-
tion of leading citizens, including both men and women, appointed as
physician to the Woman's Department of the Hospital for the Insane.
Her professional labors at the hospital and in general practice indicate
both learning and skill. In November, Dr. Marie Haslep was elected
attendant physician at the Woman's Reformatory, a State institution
having some four hundred inmates, where her services have been charac-
terized by faithfulness and caution.
Elizabeth Eaglesfield, a graduate of the law department of Michigan
University, was admitted to the bar of Marion county in the spring of
1885, and is the first woman to open an independent law-office in this
State.
Very few women have served in the ministry, The only one who ever
secured any prominence in this profession was Miss Prudence LeClerc,
who \v;is pastor of the Universalist church in Madison in 1870-71, and
* See sketch of Dr. Thomas, Vol. I., page 324.
550 History of Woman Suffrage.
served parishes at different points in south-eastern Indiana until her
death in 1878. Miss LeClerc frequently spoke at suffrage conventions,
and called meetings wherever she preached, instructing the people in the
philosophy of this reform.
To obtain accurate statistics as to the professions and industries is ex-
tremely difficult, as the year 1881 was the first in which the State con-
sidered women at all. That year the head of the bureau of statistics sent
to each town and county commissioner certain sets of questions relative
to women's occupations. The grace with which they were received, the
seriousness with which they were considered, the consequent accuracy
with which they were answered, may be inferred from the fact that one
trustee replied, "The women in our county are mostly engaged in baby-
tending," and that his response was generally copied by the press as a
manifestation of brilliant wit. Although some commissioners felt tr^eir
time too valuable to spend in gathering information relative to the work
of women, from the reports of those who seriously undertook to canvass
this matter, a table has been arranged and published, which, though in-
complete, must be regarded, both in variety of occupations and in the
numbers of women registered, as a most favorable showing for this
Western State. The total number of women engaged outside of home, in
non-domestic and money-making industries, is 15,122; the number of in-
dustries represented by them is 51. Add to these the number of teachers,
and we have over 20,000 women in the trades and professions denied the
ballot, that sole weapon pledged by a republic to every citizen for the
protection of person and property.
Of the men and women prominent in this movement since 1860, whose
names are not mentioned in the first volume, the one meriting the first
place is beyond doubt Dr. R. T. Brown of Indianapolis. He has the long-
est record as an advocate of suffrage to be found in the State. As a
speaker in the first Harrison campaign (1836) he advocated suffrage
without regard to sex. Engaged as a teacher or inspector in the public
schools in the early years, Dr. Brown argued the adaptation of women to
the teacher's profession, and insisted that salaries should be independent
of sex ; and in many individual cases where he had authority, women se-
cured this recognition before it was generally admitted even in theory to
be just.
When, in 1855, the Northwestern Christian (now Butler) University was
founded, Dr. Brown, as one of the trustees, advocated coeducation ; in
1858 he took the chair of natural science, and in that branch taught
classes of both sexes until 1871. In 1868 he was active in organizing the
Indiana Medical College on the basis of equal rights to women, and filled
the chair of chemistry until 1872 ; in 1873 he was appointed to the chair
of physiology, which he held until 1877, and then resigned because the
board of trustees determined to exclude women. This proves that Dr.
Brown's devotion to the doctrine of equal rights is of that rare degree
which will bear the crucial test of official and pecuniary sacrifice. He has
been an active member of the State and city suffrage associations from the
beginning.
Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace. 551
The name of Mary E. Haggart first appears as a member of the State
Association at the convention held in Indianapolis in 1869. In 1870, Mr.
Hadley made a speech in the State Senate against woman suffrage, to
which Mrs. Haggart wrote an able reply which was published and widely
commented on by the press of the State. Her next notable effort was in
a discussion through several numbers of the Ladies' Own Magazine, pub-
lished by Mrs. Cora Bland, where she completely refuted the objections
urged by her opponent, a literary gentleman of some note. Mrs. Haggart
has addressed the legislatures of her own State, of Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and Kentucky, as well as the Judiciary Committee of the House of
Representatives at the hearing granted the National Association. She
seldom speaks without the most careful preparation, and never without
manifesting abilities of the highest order. Perhaps no woman in the
State, as a speaker, has won higher encomiums from the press or has
better deserved them.
The first active step taken in suffrage by Mrs. Florence M. Adkinson
(then Miss Burlingame) was to call a convention in Lawrenceburg. In
1871, 1872, she gave several lectures on suffrage and temperance in Ohio,
and held a series of meetings in southeastern Indiana. Though an ac-
ceptable speaker, it is as a writer that Mrs. Adkinson is best known ; she
is an officer in both the State and the city organizations, and in every
capacity serves the cause with rare fidelity.
The name of Lizzie Boynton of Crawfordsville frequently occurs in
suffrage reports between 1865 and 1870. She was a member of the State
Association and a frequent speaker at its conventions. Besides working
in that body, she assisted in the organization of the local society at Craw-
fordsville, wrote poems, stories, essays, and won high rank in the State in
literature and reform. From mature womanhood her record as Mrs. Har-
bert belongs to Illinois rather than Indiana.
The first time I met Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace she was circulating a tem-
perance petition to present to the legislature. One day while busy on the
third floor of the high-school building a fellow-teacher sent up word that
a lady wished to see me. Descending, I was introduced to Mrs. Wallace,
who, in a bland way, requested me to sign the paper which she ex-
tended. Never doubting that I might do so, I. had taken my pen when
my eye caught the words : " While we do not clamor for any additional
civil or political rights." " But I do clamor," I exclaimed, and threw
down the paper and pen and went back to my work, vexed in soul that I
should have been dragged down three flights of stairs to see one more
proof of the degree to which honorable women love to humiliate them-
selves before men for sweet favor's sake. Mrs. Wallace went forward
with her work of solicitation, thinking me, no doubt, to be a very impetu-
ous, if not impertinent, young woman.
When, however, upon the presentation of her petition, whose framers
had taken such care to disclaim any desire " for additional civil and polit-
ical rights," Mrs. Wallace was startled by Dr. Thompson's avowal (having-
known the doctor, as she naively says, "as a Christian gentleman "), that
he was not there "to represent his conscience, but to obey his constitu-
552 History of Woman Suffrage.
ents," in her aroused soul there was that instant born the determination
to become a "constituent." As soon as the hearing was at an end, Mrs.
Wallace confessed this determination to Dr. Thompson, thanking him for
unintentionally awakening her to a sense of woman's proper position in
the republic. This change in Mrs. Wallace's attitude was not generally
known until the following May, when the annual State Temperance con-
vention was held in Indianapolis ; then, in her address before that body,
she avowed her conviction that it was woman's duty to seek the ballot as
a means of exerting her will upon legislation. From that time Mrs.
Wallace has neglected no opportunity to propagate suffrage doctrines,
and has been most potent in influencing her temperance coadjutors to
embrace these principles. Earnestness and logic are Mrs. Wallace's abid-
ing forces. Her literary work is chiefly confined to correspondence, in
which she is so faithful that it is doubtful if any man in public life in In-
diana can plead ignorance of the arguments in favor of suffrage. Mrs.
Wallace has been an officer in the National, the American and the State
suffrage societies, and has served the Equal Suffrage Society of Indian-
apolis as president most of the time since its formation. Having lived in
this city more than half a century, related to many men who have held
high official positions, she has had an opportunity to exert a wide influ-
ence, and it may be safe to say that, by virtue of her own consecrated life,
she exerts more moral power in this community than any other woman
in Indiana.
Mrs. Helen M. Gougar has addressed the legislatures of New York,
Kansas and Wisconsin, besides that of her own State. As an extempore
speaker she has no peer among her co-workers ; her first suffrage speech
was made at Delphi, May, 1877. In July, iSSi, Mrs. Gougar became the
editor of Our Herald, a weekly which she conducted with great ability and
success in the interest of the two constitutional amendments then pend-
ing. In 1884, in an extensive lecturing tour, she addressed large audiences
in Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Albany. In the year 1883,
Mrs. Josephine R. Nichols of Illinois, and Mrs. L. May Wheeler of Massa-
chusetts, came to reside in Indianapolis. Both these ladies have lectured
frequently and with marked effect in various parts of the State.
I cannot close without a mention of those public men who have hon-
ored this State by their adherence to the principle of woman suffrage and
thereby earned a title to the fame which will belong to the advocates of
this cause in the hour of its triumph. Among these Hon. George W.
Julian is most conspicuous. Referring to his services in congress, Mr.
Julian once wrote:
My opinions about woman suffrage, however, date much further back. The sub-
ject was first brought to my attention in a brief chapter on the " Political Non-exist-
ence of Women," in Miss Martineau's book on "Society in America," which I read in
1847. She there pithily stated the substance of all that has since been said respecting
the logic of woman's right to the ballot; and finding myself unable to answer, I ac-
cepted it. On recently referring to this chapter I find myself more impressed by its
force than when I first read it. * * * My interest in anti-slavery was
awakened about the same time, and I regarded it as the previous question, and as less
abstract and far more important and absorbing than that of suffrage for women. For
A Roll of Honor. 553
the sake of the negro I accepted Mr. Lincoln's philosophy of " one war at a time,"
though always ready to own and defend my position as to woman's right to the ballot.
The sincerity of Mr. Julian's belief in woman suffrage is proved by his
repeated efforts to further the cause in the United States congress. On
December 8, 1868, he submitted an amendment to the constitution, guar-
anteeing suffrage to al? United States citizens, which, as the negro had
not then been enfranchised, he numbered article fifteen. On March 15,
1869, he submitted the same amendment, with the exception that the
words " race " and "color" were omitted ; on the same day Mr. Julian of-
fered a bill providing for the immediate enfranchisement of women in all
the territories of the United States, thus doubling on one day his claim to
the gratitude of American women. On April 4, 1870, he offered another
amendment, numbered article sixteen, which followed the exact form and
phraseology of the fifteenth. On January 20, 1871, he offered an amend-
ment to the bill, providing a government for the District of Columbia,
striking out the word "male" in the section defining the right of
suffrage. It is interesting to note that even so long ago that amend-
ment received 55 yeas against 117 nays.* The bills which Mr. Julian thus
submitted to congress when he was a member of that body prove his con-
stancy to a cause early espoused, his conversion to which was due to that
remarkable English woman whose claims to the gratitude of her Ameri-
can sisters are thus enhanced. Mr. Julian has not worked much with the
suffrage societies of his own State, but he has never failed in his repeated
canvasses to utter the seasonable word. His conviction that it is the
duty of the national government to take the initiative in defining the
political rights of its citizens has naturally led him to present this ques-
tion to the nation as represented in its congress, rather than to agitate it
in the State.
Oliver P. Morton and Joseph E. McDonald are two other names con-
spicuous in Indiana history which occur frequently in connection with
"aye" in the records which have preserved the action of every member
of congress on the various amendments brought before it involving
woman's political equality.
Albert G. Porter, ex-governor of Indiana, has on more than one public
occasion avowed his belief in woman's equality as a citizen, and has assented
to the proposition that under a republic the only sign of such equality is
the ballot. Ardent advocates have often thought him inexcusably reti-
cent in expressing his convictions upon this subject, but such have
learned that it is given to but few mortals to " remember those in bonds
as bound with them," and no other governor of Indiana has ever taken
occasion to remind the General Assembly of its duties to women, as
Governor Porter habitually did. In his address of 1881 he called the
attention of the legislature to the improved condition of women under
the laws, pointed out disabilities still continuing, and bespoke the respect-
ful attention of the General Assembly to the women who proposed to
come before it with their claims. In his biennial message, 1883, the gov-
ernor recommended the enactment of a statute which should require that
* For these bills and amendments, see Vol. II., pages 325, 333.
554 History of Woman Suffrage.
at least one of the physicians appointed to attend in the department for
women in the hospital for the insane should be a woman. The whole
tone of Governor Porter's administration was liberal toward women ; he
invariably implied his belief in their equality, and on one or two occasions
has evinced his respect for their ability by conferring on them responsible
offices. Many of the leading men in the Republican part}', and a few in
the Democratic, are favorable, and while they do not labor for the en-
franchisement of their sisters with the same enthusiasm which personal
bondage excites, their constant influence is on the side of woman's
emancipation.
As to .the charities conducted by Indiana women, for a condensed nar-
rative of the efficient service of Mrs. L. B. Wishard and Miss Susan Fus-
sell, I must refer readers to the account kindly prepared for me by Mrs.
Paulina T. Merritt.*
Whether or not justified by the facts, the feeling is current that those
whom the masses favor hold themselves aloof from those whom personal
experience, or a sense of justice, compels to walk the stony path of reform.
The litterateurs often form a sort of pseudo-intellectual aristocracy, and
do not willingly affiliate with reformers, whom they are ready to assume
to be less cultivated than themselves. Of this weakness our literary
women have not been guilty. Most of them are members of the suffrage
society.t
A system is now developing which will not only stimulate women
to engage in competitive industries and secure justice in rewarding
such labor, but will greatly facilitate the work of ascertaining what part
women do take in the general industries of the State. Indiana, being
mainly agricultural, is divided into sixteen districts, each of which has
organized an agricultural society. Besides these there are also county
societies. These organizations are composed of men and women, the lat-
ter having nominally the same powers and privileges as the former. An-
nually the State Agricultural Association holds a meeting at Indianapolis.
This is a delegate body, consisting of representatives from the dis-
trict and county societies. There is no constitutional check against
sending women as delegates, though it has not hitherto been done. One
chief duty of the primary convention is to elect a State board of agricul-
ture. This board consists of sixteen members, one for each agricultural
district. The managers of the Woman's State Fair Association have
called an industrial convention, whose sessions will be held at the same
time that the Agricultural Association holds its annual meeting.!
If the press reflects the public, it also moulds it ; and its conservative
* See Appendix, Indiana chapter, notes E and F.
t Mrs. Sarah T. Bolton, Laura Ream, Mrs. Lew Wallace, Mary H. Korut, Mary Dean, Margaret
Holmes (Mrs. M. V. Bates), Mrs. M. E. Banta, Mrs. Louise V. Boyd, Mrs. Helen V. Austin, Mrs.
Hettie A. Morrison, Mrs. E. S. L. Thompson, Mrs. Amy E. Dunn, Mrs. A. D Hawkins, Miss Rena L.
Miner, Miss Edna C. Jackson and Mrs. D. M. Jordan are all literary women who sympathize with and
aid this reform.
} The woman's department has constantly grown in extent and value, until it has become one of the
most important features of the State fair, and this year, 1885, the managers have allowed to it
twice the space hitherto occupied. It is worthy of note that suffrage papers, tracts and books are
always to be found among the exhibits.
Newspapers. 555
attitude is doubtless to a very considerable degree responsible for the
tone of opinion which prevailed here up to recent years. Papers
throughout the State naturally take their cue from the party organs pub-
lished at the capital, while the few papers identified with no party are
wont to adapt themselves even more carefully to popular opinion upon
general subjects.
The citations made in the earlier part of this chapter from the Sentinel
and the Journal clearly show the spirit of their management in 1869. But
it must not be inferred that the Journal has through all these years main-
tained the position occupied by it at that time. Had it done so, one may
reasonably believe that the women of Indiana would before to-day have
been enfranchised. On the contrary, that sheet has been very vacillating,
speaking for or against the cause according to the principles of its man-
agers, the paper having frequently changed hands; and until recently the
principles of the same managers upon this question have been shifting;
but for the last five or six years the Journal has been a consistent, though
somewhat mild, supporter of woman suffrage.
On the contrary, the .&#//#*/ had been constant in its opposition, until,
about eight years since, Mr. Shoemaker becoming the manager, it an-
nounced a Sunday issue devoted to the interests of women. The pledge
then made has been nobly kept, and although for a few months the Sen-
tinel seemed to edit its week-day issues with a view to counteracting the
possible good effect of its Sunday utterances, the better spirit gradually
triumphed, until at last, so far as the woman question is concerned, the
paper is from Sunday to Saturday in harmony with itself. For some time
it gave one column in each Sunday issue to the control of the State Cen-
tral Suffrage Committee, and printed two hundred copies of the column
for special distribution among the country papers.
The Saturday Herald, established in 1873, under the editorial manage-
ment of George C. Harding, deserves mention. From the outset, this
paper was the advocate of woman's right to be paid for work done accord-
ing to its market value, and to protect herself and her property by the
ballot. Perhaps the best service rendered to women by Mr. Harding, was
that of securing in 1874 Gertrude Garrison as assistant editor. of the
Herald. Mrs. Garrison is, beyond question, one of the ablest journalists
Indiana can boast, and the influence of her pen in modifying the popular
estimate of woman's capabilities has been incalculable. From 1874 she
did half the work, editorial articles, locals, sketches, and all the varieties
of writing required upon a weekly paper, but at her own request her name
was not announced as associate editor until 1876. In this capacity she
remained upon the Herald until January I, 1880, when the paper passed
from Mr. Harding's into other hands. During her connection with the
Herald, if there was anything particularly strong in the paper, her associate
received the credit. The public will not permit itself to believe a woman
capable of humor, though I think Mrs. Garrison did as much to sustain
the paper's reputation for wit as even Mr. Harding. A. H. Dooley suc-
ceeded Mr. Harding as editor of the Saturday Herald, and it remained
under his management a sturdy advocate of woman's enfranchisement.
556 History of Woman Suffrage.
The Saturday Review was established by Mr. Harding in October, 1880,
with Mrs. Garrison associate editor. Upon the death of Mr. Harding, May
8, 1881, Mr. Charles Dennis became chief editor, Mrs. Garrison* remaining
on the staff as his assistant.
The Times was founded in June, 1881. From the first it devoted a col-
umn to notes on women's work. From September of that year there ap-
peared in each Saturday issue a department devoted to the interests of
women, particularly to woman suffrage, under the editorial management
of May Wright Sewall. This department reappeared in the weekly and
was thus widely circulated among country readers. The Times is under
the management of Colonel W. R. Holloway. Although from the first
fair in its discussions of all reform questions, it did not avow itself to be
an advocate of woman suffrage until the week after the public entertain-
ment of the Equal Suffrage Society, 1881, when there appeared an editorial
nearly one column in length, setting forth its views upon the whole sub-
ject. This editorial contained the following paragraph :
As the question is likely to become a prominent theme of discussion during the next
few years, the Times will now say that it is decidedly and unequivocally in favor of
woman suffrage. We believe that women have the same right to vote that men have,
that it is impolitic and unjust to deprive them of the right, and that its free and full
bestowal would conserve the welfare of society and the good of government.
In the daily Evening News, Mr. J. H. Holliday, with his editorial aids,
has set himself to stem the tide of progress which he evidently thinks
will, unless a manful endeavor on his part shall prevent it, bear all things
down to ruin. The character of his efforts may be inferred from the fol-
lowing extracts which appeared in January and December of 1881 :
We wish our legislators would go home and ponder this thing. Read the Bible and
understand the scheme of creation. Read the New Testament, and appreciate the
creation of the Christian home, and the headship of things. Reflect upon what rests
the future of this .government we have reared, and ask what would become of it if the
Christian homes in which it is founded were broken up ; then reflect upon what would
become of the Christian homes if men and women were to attend to the same duties in
life. To get a realistic notion, let every man who has a wife ask himself how he would
relish being told by her, " I have an engagement with John Smith to-night to see
about fixing up a slate to get Mrs. Jones nominated for sheriff," and being left to go his
own way while she goes with Smith. If that wouldn't make hell in the household in one
act we don't know what would, yet this is merely one little trivial episode of what this
anti-christian woman suffrage scheme means.
To what straits must the advocates of suffrage for women be driven when they needs
must seek to show that the ballot is not degrading. What becomes of all our fine talk
of the ballot as an educator if they who seek to secure it for women must advocate as a
reason why it should not be withheld that it is not degrading ! But what better can
one expect from those who, when it is suggested that there are duties attaching to the
ballot as well as rights, solemnly say that the few moments necessary to deposit a bal-
lot will not interfere with women's duties of sweeping and dusting and baby-tending.
When one hears talk of this sort, there is indeed a grave doubt as to whether the bal-
lot really is an educator after all.
The first of the above citations is from what might be called an article
of instruction addressed to the legislature then in session, and considering
* Mrs. Garrison left Indianapolis for New York in May of 1882. Success followed her to the metrop-
olis and she now has, 1885, the entire editorial management of the literary department of the American
Press Association, and her work goes into more than fifty of the best weekly papers in the country.
Mrs. May Wright Sewall. 557
the question of woman suffrage. The occasion which inspired the second
paragraph may be readily inferred. It seems "profitable for the instruc-
tion " of the future to preserve a few extracts like the above, that it may
be seen how weak and wild, strength itself becomes, when the ally of
prejudice and precedent.
The Indiana Farmer, exceptionally well edited, having a wide circula-
tion in the agricultural sections of the State, and enjoying there a power-
ful influence, is an outspoken advocate of equal suffrage. From statistics
regarding papers published outside of Indianapolis, it may be safe to say
that two hundred of them favor, with varying degrees of constancy,
giving the ballot to women. On the staff of nearly all the papers whose
status is above given, are women, who in their respective departments
faithfully serve the common cause. During the last few years, efforts
have been directed to the capture of the local press, and many of the
county papers now have a department edited by women. In most
instances this work is done gratuituously, and their success in this
new line, entering upon it as they have without previous training, illus-
trates the versatility of woman's powers. Mrs. M. E. Price of Kokomo,
Mrs. Sarah P. Franklin of Anderson, Mrs. Laura Sandafur of Franklin,
and Mrs. Ida M. Harper of Terre Haute, deserve especial mention for
their admirable work in the papers of their respective towns. Mrs.
Laura C. Arnold is the chief editor of the Columbus Democrat, and is the
only woman in the State having editorial charge of a political party paper.
Our Herald, under the ^ble editorial management of Mrs. Helen M.
Cougar, was a weekly published at Lafayette. It was devoted to securing
the re-passage and adoption of the woman suffrage and prohibition
amendments. It was a strong, aggressive sheet, and deserved its almost
unparalleled success.*
In closing this able report for Indiana a few facts in regard to
the author may interest the general reader as well as the student
of history.
Mrs. May Wright Sewall has been well known for many years
in Indianapolis in the higher departments of education, and has
recently crowned her efforts as a teacher by establishing a model
classical school for girls, in which she is not only training their
minds to vigorous thought, but taking the initiative steps to se-
cure for them an equally vigorous physical development. Her
pupils are required to wear a comfortable gymnastic costume, all
their garments loosely resting on their shoulders ; corsets, tight
waists and high-heeled boots forbidden, for deep thinking re-
quires deep breathing. The whole upper floor of her new
building is a spacious gymnasium, where her pupils exercise every
addit
by p
uy puDiisning a scries ol biographical sketches ot tne most prominent, in tne winter ot i<
Gougar sold Our Herald to Mrs. Harbert, who published it in Chicago as the The New Era.
558 History of Woman Suffrage.
day under the instruction of a skillful German ; and on every
Saturday morning they take lessons from the best dancing mas-
ter in the city. The result is, she has no dull scholars complain-
ing of headaches. All are alike happy in their studies and amuse-
ments.
Mrs. Sewall is a preeminently common-sense woman, believing
that sound theories can be put into practice. Although her
tastes are decidedly literary and aesthetic, she is a radical re-
former. Hence her services in the literary club and suffrage
society are alike invaluable. And as chairman of the executive
committee of the National Association, she is without her peer
in planning and executing the work.
As her husband, Mr. Theodore L. Sewall, is also at the head of
a classical school, and equally successful in training boys, it may
be said that both institutions have the advantage of the united
thought of man and woman. As educators, Mr. and Mrs. Sewall
have reaped much practical wisdom from their mutual consulta-
tions and suggestions, the results of which have been of incalcu-
lable benefit to their pupils.
Peering into the homes of the young w^men in the suffrage
movement, one cannot but remark the deference and respect with
which these intelligent, self-reliant wives are uniformly treated by
their husbands, and the unbounded confidence and affection they
give in return. For happiness in domestic life, men and women
must meet as equals. A position of inferiority and dependence
for even the best organized women, will either wither all thei*
powers and reduce them to apathetic machines, going the round
of life's duties with a kind of hopeless dissatisfaction, or it will
rouse a bitter antagonism, an active resistance, an offensive self-
assertion, poisoning the very sources of domestic happiness. The
true ideal of family life can never be realized until woman is re-
stored to her rightful throne. Tennyson, in his " Princess," gives
us the prophetic vision when he says :
" Everywhere
Two heads in council, two beside the hearth,
Two in the tangled business of the world,
Two in the liberal offices of life, .
Two plummets dropped for one, to sound the abyss
Of science, and the secrets of the mind."
CHAPTER XLIII.
ILLINOIS.
Chicago a Great Commercial Center — First Woman Suffrage Agitation, 1855 — A. J.
Grover — Society at Earlville — Prudence Crandall — Sanitary Movement — Woman in
Journalism — Myra Bradwell — Excitement in Elmwood Church, 1868 — Mrs. Hul-
dah Joy — Pulpit Utterances — Convention, 1869, Library Hall, Chicago — Anna
Dickinson — Robert Laird Collier Debate — Manhood Suffrage Denounced by
Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony — Judge Charles B. Waite on the Constitutional
Convention — Hearing Before the Legislature — Western Suffrage Convention, Mrs.
Livermore, President — Annual Meeting at Bloomington — Women Eligible to
School Offices — Evanston College — Miss Alta Hulett — Medical Association — Dr.
Sarah Hackett Stephenson — "Woman's Kingdom," in the Inter-Ocean — Mrs.
Harbert — Centennial Celebration at Evanston — Temperance Petition, 180,000 —
Frances E. Willard — Social Science Association — Art Union — International Con-
gress at Paris — Jane Graham Jones — Moline Association.
ILLINOIS, one of the Centra] States in our vast country, stretch-
ing over five and a half degrees of latitude, was admitted to the
Union in 1818. Its chief city, Chicago, extending for miles
round the southern shores of Lake Michigan, is the great com-
mercial center of the boundless West. We may get some idea of
the magnitude of her commerce from the fact that the receipts
and shipment of flour, grain and cattle from that port alone in
1872 were valued at $370,000,000.
When the battles with the Indians were finally ended, the pop-
ulation of the State rapidly increased, and in 1880 the census
gave 1,586,523 males and 1,491,348 females. In the school statis-
tics we find about the same proportionate number of women and
girls as teachers and scholars, in the public schools and in all the
honest walks of life ; while men and boys in the criminal ranks
are out of all proportion. For example, in the state-prison at
Joliet there were, in 1873, 1,321 criminals; fifteen only were
women. And yet the more virtuous, educated, self-governed
part of the population, that shared equally the hardships of the
early days, and by industry and self-sacrifice helped to build
up that great State, is still denied the civil and political rights
560 History of Woman Suffrage.
declared by the constitution to belong to every citizen of the
commonwealth. The trials and triumphs of the women of Illinois
are vividly portrayed in the following records sent us by Eliza-
beth Boynton Harbert,Ph. D.:
His biographer asserts that Bernini, the celebrated Florentine artist,
architect, painter and poet, once gave a public opera in Rome, for which
he painted the scenes, composed the music, wrote the poem, carved the
statues, invented the engines, and built the theater. Because of his ver-
satile talents the man Bernini has passed into history. Of almost equal
versatility were the women of the equal-rights movement, since in many
instances their names appear and reappear in the records we have con-
sulted as authors, editors, journalists, lecturers, teachers, physicians, law-
yers, ordained ministers and home-makers ; and in many localities a
woman, to be eligible for the lyceum, was expected to be statesmanlike
as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, executive as Susan B. Anthony, spiritual as
Lucretia Mott, eloquent as Anna Dickinson, graceful as Celia Burleigh,
fascinating as Paulina Wright Davis ; a social queen, very domestic, a
skillful musician, an excellent cook, very young, and the mother of at
least six children ; even then she was not entitled to the rights, privileges
and immunities of an American citizen. So "the divine rights of the
people '' became the watchword of thoughtful men and women of the
Prairie State, and at the dawn of the second half of the present century
many caught the echoes of that historic convention at Seneca Falls and
insisted that the fundamental principles of our government should be
applied to all the citizens of the United States.
In view of the fearless heroism and steady adherence to principle of
many comparatively unknown lives, the historian is painfully conscious of
the meagerness of the record, as compared with the amount of labor that
must necessarily have been performed. In almost every city, village
and school district some earnest man or woman has been quietly waging
the great moral battle that will eventually make us free ; and while it
would be a labor of love to recognize every one who has wrought for
freedom, doubtless many names worthy of mention may unintentionally
be omitted.
The earliest account of specific work that we have been able to trace is
an address delivered in Earlviile by A. J. Grover, esq., in 1855, -who from
that time until the present has been an able champion of the constitu-
tional rights of women. As a result of his efforts, and the discussion that
followed, a societ)' was formed, of which Mrs. Susan Hoxie Richardson (a
cousin of Susan B. Anthony) was elected president, and Mrs. Octavia
Grover secretary. This, we believe, was the first suffrage society in Illi-
nois. Its influence was increased by the fact that, during two years of
Mr. Grover's editorial control, the Earlviile Transcript was a fearless
champion of equal rights. While that band of pioneers was actively at
work, Prudence Crandall, who was mobbed and imprisoned in Connecti-
cut for teaching a school for colored girls, was actively engaged in Men-
The Voice of the Fair. 561
dota, in the same county. A few years later, lectures were delivered* on
the subject of equal rights for women in different parts of the State.
Copies of two of the early appeals have been secured. One by A. J.
Grover, published in pamphlet form, was extensively circulated ; the other
by Mrs. Catharine V. Waite, appeared in the Earlville Transcript. Both
of these documents are yellowed with age, but the arguments presented
are as logical as the more recent utterances of our most radical cham-
pions. There is a tradition of a convention at Galesburg some years later,
but we have failed to find any accurate data. During the interim between
these dates and that never-to-be-forgotten April day in 1861, but little agi-
tation of this great subject can be traced, and during the six years subse-
quent to that time we witness all previously defined boundaries of spheres
brushed away like cobwebs, when women, north and south, were obliged
to fill the places made vacant by our civil war. An adequate record
of the work accomplished during those eventful years by Illinois women,
notably among them being Mary A. Livermore and Jane C. Hoge, lies
before us in a bound volume of the paper published under the auspices
of the Northwestern Sanitary Fair, edited by the Hon. Andrew Shuman.
This little journal was called the Voice of the Fair, a prophetic name, as
really through the medium of these sanitary fairs were the voices of the
/rt/rall potent, and through their patriotic services to our soldiery did the
women of the United States first discover their talent for managing and
administering great enterprises. In his first editorial Lieutenant-Governor
Shuman says :
On motion of Mrs. Elizabeth A. Loomis, it was decided to open the fair on Feb-
ruary 22, 1865, Washington's birthday, and to continue it till March 4, the presidential
inauguration day. A committee, consisting of Mrs. H. H. Hoge, Mrs. D. P. Liver-
more and Mrs. E. \V. Blatchford for the commission, and Mrs. O. E. Hosmer, Mrs.
C. P. Dickinson and Mr. L. B. Bryan for the Home, was appointed as executive.
This was the little cloud, scarcely larger than a man's hand, which grew till it almost
encircled the heavens, spreading into every corner of our broad land, and including
every department of industry in its ample details.
The undertaking was herculean, and on the grand occasion of the open-
ing of the fair, although we do not find any account of women sharing in
the honors of the day, yet they were vouchsafed honorable mention in
the following terms by the governor of the State : " I do not know how
to praise women, but I can say nothing so good as our late president once
said on a similar occasion, ' God bless the women of America.' They have
been our faithful allies during this fearful war. They have toiled steadily
by our side, with the most eViduring constancy through the frightful con-
test." Amid the first impulses of genuine gratitude men recognized what
at present they seem to forget, that by inheritance and patriotic service
woman has an equal right with man to a share in the rights and privileges
of this government.
In the winter of 1860 Hannah Tracy Cutler, M. D., and Mrs. Frances D.
Gage made a canvass of the interior and western parts of the State, pro-
* Judge and Mrs. Catharine V. Waite, Mrs. Hannah M. Tracy Cutler, Amelia Bloomer, Dr. Ellen
B. Ferguson, Mrs. E. O. G. Willard, the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison of Earlville ; Professor and Mrs.
1 1. 1 1 '.rooks, Mrs. M. E. De Gcer, Mrs. Frances D. Gage.
36
562 History of Woman Suffrage.
curing signatures to petitions asking for equality before the law, and es-
pecially for the right of married women to earn and hold and dispose of
property the same as a feme sole. Also, that property acquired before
marriage, or that may afterward accrue to a married woman by gift, de-
vise, descent or deed, may be held, controlled and disposed of by herself
where it had not been intentionally converted to common property by
her consent. In response to a request for data on this point, Mrs. Cutler
writes :
At the close of our campaign we were summoned to Ohio to assist in the canvass in
that State. Returning to Illinois, I learned that no action had been taken on our pe-
titions. The member to whom we had consigned them, and who had promised to act
in our behalf, had found no convenient opportunity. I at once repaired to Spring-
field, and, on inquiry, was told that it was now too late in the session — that members
were so busy that no one could be induced to draft a bill for an act granting such laws
as we desired. I found one member ready to assist to the full measure of his ability —
Mr. Pickett of Rock Island. By his encouragement I went to the State library and
there drew up a bill giving women, during coverture, certain personal and property
rights. Mr. Pickett presented our petitions, got a special committee, took my bill be-
fore it, got a favorable report, and a law was passed to that effect. Some decisions
occurred under this law. I think, however, that in a codification a year or two after,
this law was left out, I know not by what authority, and some years later Mrs. Liver-
more, Mrs. Bradwell and others presented the matter afresh, and succeeded in pro-
curing again a similar enactment. The winter following I presented petitions for the^
right of guardianship; also, I asked that for estates not exceeding $5*000 the widow
should not be required to take out letters of administration, but should be permitted to
continue in possession, the same as the husband on the decease of the wife, the prop-
erty subject to the same liabilities for the payment of debts and the maintenance of
children as before the decease of the husband. I made this small claim for the relief
-of many wives whose husbands had gone into the army, leaving them with all the re-
sponsibility; and there seemed no sufficient reason for disturbing and distributing
either the family or the estate, when the husband exchanged the battle-field for the
" sleep that knows no waking." "This petition, asking for these reasonable and right-
•eous laws, was, by motion of Colonel Mack, in a spirit of burlesque, referred to the
Committee on Internal Navigation, and a burlesque report was made in open Senate,
too indecent to be entered on the records. The grave and reverend seigniors, on
this, indulged in a hearty guffaw, hugely enjoyed by his honor Lieutenant-Governor
Hoffman, and, to this day, no further action has been taken to give the wife and
mother this small modicum of justice, though many of the senators at that time prom-
ised the question an early consideration.
On Saturday, October 3, 1868, a genuine sensation was produced by the
appearance of the Chicago Legal News, edited by Mrs. Myra Bradwell.
At this day it is impossible to realize with what supreme astonishment
this journal was received. Neither can we estimate its influence upon
the subsequent legislation of the State. Looking through its files we
find that no opportunity was lost for exposing all laws unjust to
woman, or for noting each indication of progress throughout the
world. Under date of October 31, 1868, a short article in regard to the
" Citizenship of Women " reads thus :
The act of congress provides that any alien, being a free white person, may become
a citizen of the United States. While congress was very careful to limit this great
privilege of citizenship to the free white person, it made no distinction or limitation
whatever on account of sex. Under this statute it has been held that a married woman
Queer Church Proceedings. 563
:may be naturalized and become a citizen of the United States, and that, too, without
the consent of her husband. A woman may be a citizen of the United States, be sub-
ject to the laws, own property, and be compelled to pay taxes to support a government
.•she has no voice in administering or vote in electing its officers.
In the same issue of the News we meet with an earnest appeal for the
prompt passage of a law conferring upon woman a right to her earnings.
AVhen we realize that one of the Supreme Judges soon after this assured
Mrs. Bradwell that she was editing a paper that no lawyer could afford to
-do without, we shall understand how important a part this journal has
played in the courts. In the sixth number of the Newsvtt find the atten-
tion of the legal fraternity called to the fact that in the reign of James I.
it was held in the cases of Coats vs. Zy«//and Holt -vs, Lyall, tried in West-
minster Hall, that a single woman, if a freeholder, had the right to vote
for a parliament man; and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Lady Pack-
ington, in right of property held by her, did actually vote for a return of
two burgesses to parliament for the borough of Aylesburg; and in the
time of Charles I., Mrs. Copley voted, in right of her property, for the re-
turn of a burgess for Gratton. The subject of their return was brought
before parliament, and amended by joining other persons with Mrs.
Copley in the right of returning burgesses for Gratton. Women have
actually sat and voted in the English parliament.
In 1868, Sorosis, a woman's club, was organized in Chicago, with Mrs.
Delia Waterman president, and soon after several periodicals were estab-
lished ; The Chicago Sorosis, with Mrs. Mary L. Walker, Cynthia Leonard
and Agnes L. Knowlton, editors ; The Inland Monthly, Mrs. Charlotte
Clark, editor and publisher; and The Agitator, with Mary A. Livermore
and Mary L. Walker editors. Though all were short-lived, they serve to
show woman's ambition in the direction of journalism.
In 1868 there was a decided "awakening" on the question of woman
suffrage in central Illinois. In the town of Elmwood, Peoria county, the
question drew large audiences to lyceum discussions, and was argued in
school, church and caucus. The conservatives became alarmed, and an-
nounced their determination to "nip the innovation in the bud." A
spirited editorial in the New York Independent was based upon the follow-
ing facts, given by request of some of the disfranchised women :
Rev. \V. G. Pierce was the pastor of the Elmwood Congregational Church. A large
majority of the members were women, and there was no discrimination against them in
the church manual. The pastor and two or three members decided that a change of
rules was needed. A church meeting was held in March, 1868, at which the number
in attendance was very small, owing to some irregularities in issuing the call. The
>uffrage question was brought up by the pastor, and the talk soon became so insulting
that the women present felt compelled to leave the house. The manual was then
-amended so as to exclude women from voting " in matters pertaining to the welfare of
the church," and making a two-thirds vote of adult males necessary to any change
thereafter. This was carried by five yeas to one nay — only six votes out of a mem-
bership of 210 ! The church was taken by surprise, and there was no little excitement
wlirn the fact became known next day. A vigorous protest and a call for reconsidera-
tion was quickly signed by nearly a hundred members and sent to the pastor. The
meeting was not called for weeks, and when at last it was secured, he, as moderator,
ruled reconsideration out, on the ground that there was an error in the announcement
564 History of Woman Suffrage.
of the business (by himself !) from the pulpit. At a later meeting a vote on reconsidera-
tion was reached, and enough of the male adult minority were in attendance to
make the vote stand 19 to 17, not two-thirds of the male adult element voting for re-
consideration.
The contention now became bitter, and twenty-eight of the more intelligent and
earnest members withdrew and asked for letters to other churches. Such of the
" adult males " as " tarried by the altar," refused to give the outgoing members the
usual letters, to join in a mutual council on an equal footing, or to discipline the se-
ceders. The latter called an ex-parte council, composed of such men as Dr. Bascom,
of Princeton; Dr. Edward Beecher, of Galesburg; Dr. Haven, of Evanston; Dr. C.
D. Helmer, of Chicago, and others. This council gave the desired letters, but advised
reconciliation. Among the seceders, Mrs. Huldah Joy, an educated, and intensely
religious woman, was one of the most active and earnest, her husband, F. R. Joy, and
her daughters, also doing good service. Mrs. H. E. Sunderland,* another woman of
culture, and Mrs. Mary Ann Cone and Mrs. S. R. Murray were faithful, brave and
earnest. The church, which previous to the secession, was strong and flourishing, be-
came an inharmonious organization, and has never rallied from the effects of that un-
just action.
At a meeting held in Chicago, in the autumn of 1868, a resolution was
offered to the effect that " a State association be formed, having for its ob-
ject the advocacy of universal suffrage." Among the many interesting
facts connected with the " rise and progress " of the equal-rights move-
ment is the large number of representative men and women who have
from the first been identified with it.t January 25, 1860 we find among
the most progressive utterances from the pulpit, a sermon by the Rev.
Sumner Ellis of Chicago, while Rev. Charles Fowler and Dr. H. W.
Thomas were ever fearless and earnest in their advocacy of this measure.
In February, 1869, the Legal News said :
* Mrs. Sunderland was one of the many New England girls who in the early days went West to teach.
Speaking of the large number of women elected to the office of county superintendent (one of them her
own daughter), she told me that thirty years ago when she arrived at the settlement where she had been
engaged as teacher, the trustees being unable to make the " examination " deputed one of their num-
ber to take her to an adjoining county, where another New England girl was teaching. The excursion
was made in a lumber wagon with an ox-team. All the ordinary questions asked and promptly an-
swered, the trustee rather hesitatingly said, " Now, while you're about it, wouldn't you just as lief
write out the certificate ?" This was readily done, and the man affixing his cross thereto, triumphantly
carried the applicant back to his district, announcing her duly qualified to teach ; and that trio of un-
lettered men installed the cultivated New England girl in their log school-house, probably without the
thought entering the heads of trustees or teacher, that woman, when better educated, should hold the
superior position. — [S. B. A.
t Dr. Mary Safford, Mrs. A. M. Freeman, Hon. and Mrs. Sharon Tyndale, Hon. E. Haines, Fer-
nando Jones, Jane Graham Jones, Professor Bailey, Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Prince, Mr. and Mrs. R. M.
Fell, Mrs. Belle S. Candee. General J. M. Thompson, Mrs. Professor Noyes of Evanston, Charles B.
Waite, Catharine V. Waite, Susan Bronson, E. S. Williams, Kate N. Doggett, C. B. Farwell,
L. Z. Leiter, J. L. Pickard, Henry M. Smith, Frank Gilbert, Ann Telford, Mrs. L. C. Levanway,
Myra Bradwell, Mary E. Haven, Mrs. A. L. Taylor, Elizabeth Eggleston, P. D. Livermore, James B.
Bradwell, Joseph Haven, J. H. Bayliss, D. Blakely, R. E. Hoyt, C. D. Helmer, Alfred L.
Sewell, George D. Willigton, H. Allen, R. N. Foster, W. W. Smith, M. B. Smith, Amos G.
Throop, Robert Collyer, L. I. Colburn, G. Percy English, Arthur Edwards, A. Reed and Sons, S. M.
Booth, Sumner Ellis, George B. Marsh, Sarah Marsh, Ruth Graham, John Nutt, J. W. Butler, Mrs. J.
Butler. Mrs. S. A. Richards, Mrs. S. W. Roe, F. W. Hall, Mrs. Fanny Blake, Mary S. Waite, J. F.
Temple, A. W. Kellogg, W. H. Thomson, J. W. Loomis, James E. Curtis, Elizabeth Johnston, E. F.
Hurlbut, E. E. Pratt, Mrs. E. M. Warren, William Doggett, Edward Beecher, James P.
Weston, E. R. Allen, J. E. Forrester, Mrs. J. F. Temple, Mrs. F. W. Adams, L. Walker,
Mary A. Whitaker, Elvira W. Ruggles, W. W. Corbett, H. B. Norton, W. H. Davis, I. S. Dennis, G.
T. Flanders, Mrs. H. B. Ma,nford, Edward Eggleston, Sarah G. Cleveland, G. G. Lyon, E. Manford,
William D. Babbitt, Elizabeth Holt Babbitt, I. S. Page, W. O. Carpenter, Mrs. W. O. Carpenter, Mrs.
H. W. Cobb, T. D. Fitch, Harriet Fitch, Mary A. Livermore, T. W. Eddy, A. G. Brackett, Andrew
Shuman, John A. Jameson, John V. Farwell, B. W. Raymond, E. G. Taylor, Mems Root and lady,
Rev. John McLean, Mrs. Owen Lovejoy, Mrs. Noyes Kendall.
Chicago Convention. 565
A call has been issued, inviting all persons in favor of woman suffrage to meet in
convention in Library Hall, Chicago. There are many hundred names appended, in-
cluding the judges of all the courts of Cook county, leading members of the bar
throughout the State, representatives of the press, ministers of the gospel, from all
denominations, and representatives from every profession and business. Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and the Rev. Olympia Brown have been invited and
are expected to attend.
Pursuant to the foregoing " call," a notable convention was held.* The
Tribune devoted nine columns to an account of the proceedings, respect-
ful in tone and fair in statement. During its two days' session, Library
Hall was packed to its utmost capacity with the beauty and fashion of the
city. Able lawyers, eloquent and distinguished divines and gallant gen-
erals occupied seats upon the platform and took part in the deliberations.
The special importance of this convention at this time, was the consider-
ation of the immediate duty of securing a recognition of the rights of
women in the new constitution, for the framing of which a convention
had been called.
All the speakers had strong convictions and showed broad diffetences,
continually making sharp points against each other. Several clergymen
v/ere present, some in favor of woman suffrage, some opposed, some in
doubt. Among these were the two Collyers — one, the Rev. Robert, the
English blacksmith of former days, liberal, progressive, of large physical
proportions; the other, the Rev. Robert Laird, a much smaller man, and
of conservative tendencies.
The Rev. Robert Collyer dissented so entirely from what the preceding speaker,
Dr. Hammond, had said, that he was determined to run the risk of attempting to re-
ply. He thought that a majority of men who began by being reformers, ended by
being old fogies, and he thought that might be the case with Mr. Hammond. He felt
no doubt that the whole movement of women's rights was to be established in
America. He had seen the effects of woman's presence in associations upon men, and
he was sure that this same agency would have the effect of bringing politics to such a
condition as that decent people of either sex might take part in it. As to the Bible
declaring that man shall rule over woman, he found a similar case where it used
to be quoted in support of the institution of slavery, but when the grander and more
beautiful principles of the Bible came to be applied the contrary was clearly established.
So it was with the question of woman's rights. To him the Bible seemed like an
immense pasture wherein any and every species of animal might find its own peculiar
fond. In regard to what Mr. Hammond said as to the rights of infants, he wished he
had conferred with his wife and got her approval before he said it. The speaker was
sure his own wife would not have advised him to say it. He believed that when ma-
ternal and home duties conflicted, the children and the home relations would take the
preference invariably, and the remarks of Mr. Hammond seemed to imply a terrible
want of confidence in woman. He believed that woman would always do her duty to
her children and her home. Then, too, he had been surprised, that Mr. Hammond,
in speaking of preventing children from coming into the world, had failed to speak of
* The officers were : President^ Mrs. M. Livermore ; Vice-Presidents ^ the Rev. Dr. Goodspeed,
Mi •. Helen M. Beveridge, Judge Bradwell, the Rev. Edward Beecher, the Rev. D. Eggleston, Miss
Eliza Bowman, the Rev. Dr. Fowler, Mrs. Elizabeth Loomis, Mrs. M. Hawley, Mrs. M. Wheeler, Mrs.
Myra Bradwell ; Secretaries, Mrs. Jeanne Fowler Willing, of Rockford, Mrs. Elizabeth Babbitt, and
George Graham, Esq.; Committee on Finance^ Judge Bradwell, General Beveridge and the Hon. S.
M. I'.ooth. The speakers were Anna Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Susan B. Anthony, Rev.
Robert Collyer, Rev. Mr. Hammond, Rev. Robert Laird Collier, Kate N. Doggett, and many of the
officers of the convention.
566 History of Woman Suffrage.
the complicity of man, in reality the greatest criminal, in that matter. As to the ex-
citement attendant upon political issues, was it worse, viewed as mere excitement, than
that which is so earnestly sought to be aroused at religious meetings? Elizabeth,
Anne, and Victoria were, with the exception, perhaps, of Cromwell, the best rulers-
Enyland ever had, and, when the administration of Andrew Johnson was remembered,
he thought we might do worse than to have a woman for president, after Grant's term
shall have expired. [Applause.] In conclusion, Mr. Collyer said that, even if the
fearful picture drawn by Mr. Hammond, of 70,000 immoral women marching to the
polls in New York, were realized, he could draw another picture — that of 75,000 good,
and pure women marching to the polls to vote the others down. [Applause.]
Rev. Edward Beecher, of Galesburg, said: Exclusive class legislation was not safe~
it was oppressive and degrading. Female influence has procured the repeal of some-
obnoxious laws, and that proved it was a powerful element. He thought the Bible,
as regards man being the head, had been misinterpreted. When man took the atti-
tude in relation to women which Christ sustains to the church, that of love, of service,
of helpfulness and sacrifice, he would be an example of true headship. * He read an
extract from an editorial in the Tribune, of February II, in regard to the giving way
of moral integrity in the affairs of the nation, and commended the question to the con-
sideration of all. The country was never in greater danger than now of having the
whole political system destroyed. Some great moral influence ought to be brought to>
eradicate the corruption so prevalent among public men. There were two great
vices in existence — drunkenness and licentiousness — and in both, woman was the vic-
tim of man in the majority of cases. The legislation which pressed down women was
wrong, and should be remedied. He admitted it was an experiment to introduce the-
female element into legislation, but the success of the male element had thus far been
such that, according to his judgment, things could not be much worse than they are.
Women were always deeply interested in all public questions. If responsibilities were
put upon them they would become greater intellectually, morally and socially.
Several able lawyers also took part in the convention, who brought
their legal learning to bear on the question. Mrs. Stanton and Miss An-
thony, hostile to the action of the Republican part)r as manifested in the
fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, were present with their stern criti-
cisms and scathing resolutions on " manhood suffrage," submitting the
following to the convention :
Resolved, That a man's government is worse than a white man's government, be-
cause in proportion as you increase the rulers you make the condition of the ostracised
more hopeless and degraded.
Resolved, That as the Democratic cry of "a white man's government " created an
antagonism between the Irish and the negro, culminating in the New York riots of '63,
so the Republican cry of "manhood suffrage" creates an antagonism between the
black man and all women, and will culminate in fearful outrages on womanhood, es-
pecially in the Southern States.
Resolved, That by the establishment of an aristocracy of sex in the District of Co-
lumbia, by the introduction of the word " male " into the federal constitution in article
xiv., section 2, and by the proposition to enforce manhood suffrage in all the States of
the Union, the Republican party has been guilty of three successive arbitrary acts,
three retrogressive steps in legislation, alike invidious and insulting to women and
suicidal to the nation.
After a long and earnest discussion, the resolutions were voted down.
Mrs. Stanton's speech setting forth six reasons against a "male aristoc-
racy "* was pronounced able and eloquent, though directly in opposition
to the general sentiment of the convention, which was mainly Republi-
* For this speech see Vol. II., page 348.
Anna Dickinsons Sp'eech. 567
can. Miss Anna Dickinson, having a lyceum engagement in Chicago,
was present at one of the sessions, and had quite a spirited encounter
with Robert Laird Collier. As she appeared on the platform at the close
of some remarks by that gentleman, loud calls were made for her, when
she came forward and spoke as follows :
MRS. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : It is impossible forme to continue in
my seat after so kind and cordial a call from this house, and I thank you for the pleas-
ant and friendly feeling you have shown. I have but a word to say. I had gone out
of the room, not because of the discussion, but because it was too warm and the atmos-
phere so stifling, when I was recalled by hearing something to this effect: " That there
had not been a single logical argument used on this platform in behalf of woman suf-
frage; that woman is abundantly represented by some man of her family; that when a
woman lifts herself up in opposition against her husband, she lifts herself up, if I
properly and rightly understood the declaration, against God; that the inspired asser-
tion is that the husband is the head of the wife." Oh! but Mr. Collier forgot to say
the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. In my obser-
vation, and it has not been a limited one, though I confess I am not an unprejudiced
observer, I have never yet discovered a man who is the head of the wife as Christ is
the head of the church. Furthermore, he announces that these women, being repre-
sented by men, if they lift themselves up in opposition to their husbands, lose that
womanly and feminine element which is so admirable and pure and beautiful, and
nothing can preserve them from the contamination of politics. Woman is to lift her-
self against God if she lifts herself against her husband, and woman is abundantly
represented by this same husband, or by some man in her own family. There are
a multitude of women who have no husbands [laughter]. There are a multitude of
women who never will have any husbands [renewed laughter]. There are a great
many women who have no men in their own households to represent them, either for
their wrongs or their rights. Mr. Collier, I suppose, however, is talking about women
who have husbands.
He says the woman loses her purity, her delicacy, her feminine attributes when she
lifts her voice and sentiments against the man whose name she bears. We will say,
then, look across these western prairies to Utah. If the women there dare to say to
the congress of the United States, "Amend this constitution that we women of Utah
can have one husband, and that the husband can take but one wife"; if these
women demand decency in the marriage relation, demand justice for themselves, de-
mand purity, they are lifting themselves against the laws of womanhood and the
laws of God. Every woman represented by her husband is to lose her purity, her
delicacy, her refinement, if she dares to lift her hand against him and his will. You
have here, within the limits of your State of Illinois, 100,000 drunkards. Every
woman who dares to lift her hand, cry out with her voice, "Give me the ballot that
may offset the votes of these drunkards at the polls and save my children from starva-
tion and myself from being put into the workhouse " — this woman is lifting herself
against the laws of God and womanhood. That is not all ! Last summer this question of
prohibition was being tested in Massachusetts by votes. I went from town to town — my
engagements taking me all over the State at that time — and said my say upon this ques-
tion of woman suffrage. In whatever city or town I went, women, bowed down with
grief, who desired to preserve their womanhood, their persons from blows and abuse,
their sons from going to gambling hells and rum shops, their girls from being sent to,
hou>es of abomination, came to me and said: " Anna Dickinson, if you are a woman,
speak and use your influence for our cause. " Women who have drunken husband>y
whether they lived in Beacon street or at the North End.^whether they lived in luxury
or poverty, saiil : " For the sake of womanhood, for the sake of motherhood, for the
s.ike of all things good and true in the world, lift up our hands and voices, through
yourself, to protest against these men whose names we bear." Ah! that Mr. Collier
could have seen these drunkards' wives, standing with tears streaming down their
568 History of Woman Suffrage.
cheeks, and begging for power, begging for the ballot to save their homes, and them-
selves, and their children. Do you tell this audience — do you tell any mother or
daughter here this afternoon, that she protests against the purity of womanhood, and
lifts her powers against the laws of God ? Pardon me for taking this much of your
time. I will simply add a thought. This is the cause of purity. This is the cause
which is to strengthen young girls, which is to give them self-reliance and self-respect-
This is the thing that is to put these girls on their feet; say to them " you are an in-
dependent being; you are to earn the clothes that cover you," and this will allow them to
walk with steady feet through rough places. This thing which is to give these women
such power, certainly will be strengthening to them by making them independent and
self-reliant. The ballot is to save womanhood and save purity, which he says is in
danger — the feminine element of dependence and weakness and tenderness, of clinging
helplessness, which he so much adores. Let justice be done. Give us the ballot.
Here is the power to defend yourself when your rights are assailed; when your
home is entered. Here is the authority to tell the spoiler to stand back; when our
sons are being brought up to wickedness and our daughters to lives of shame, here is
the power in the mother's hand which says these children shall be taken from the
wrong place and put in the right one. For the rights of mothers I plead. Let us
allow, from one end of this country to the other, every man and woman, black and
white, to go to the polls to defend their own rights and the rights of their homes.
The Rev. R. L. COLLIER said he would to God that every woman in America had
such a heart and such a voice for woman's rights. But sympathy was one thing and
logic was another. If he thought the ballot in the hand of woman would cure the
wrongs she speaks of, he would favor female suffrage, but he was firmly convinced
that it would only aggravate their wrongs. He could not fight Anna Dickinson.
ANNA DICKINSON : I certainly do not intend to fight Mr. Collier. I believe I have
the name of not being a belligerent woman. Mr. Collier says sympathy is one thing
and logic is another. Very true! I did not speak of the 40,000 women in the State
of Massachusetts who are wives of drunkards, as a matter which shall appeal to your
sympathies, or move your tears. Mr. Collier says that these women are to, find their
rights by influence at home.
Mr. COLLIER : That is what I mean.
Miss DICKINSON : That they are to do it by womanly and feminine love, and I tell
him that is the duty of this same feminine element which is so admirable and adora-
ble. I have seen men on your street corners, as I have seen men on the street corners
of every city of America, with bloated faces, with mangled forms, and eyes blackened
by the horrible vice and orgies carried on in their dens of iniquity and drunkenness
and sin. I have seen men with not a semblance of humanity in their form or in their
face, and not a sentiment of manhood in their scTuls. I have seen these men made
absolute masters of wives and children; men who reel to their homes night after night
to beat some helpless child; to beat some helpless woman. A woman was beaten here
in Chicago the other day until there was scarcely a trace of the woman's face left, and
scarcely a trace of the woman's form remaining. Mr. Collier tells me, then, that these
"women whose husbands reel home at 12, I, 2, 3 o'clock at night, to demolish the fur-
niture, beat the children, and destroy their wives' peace and lives — that these women
:are to find their rights by influence, by argument, by tenderness. These brutes who
deserve the gallo\vs if any human being can deserve anything so atrocious in these
days — are these women, their wives, to find their safety, their security for themselves
and their children, by influence, through argument and tenderness, or love, when
nothing can influence save drink ? The law gives man the power to say, " I will have
drink; I will put this into my mouth." If the ballot were given to women they would
vote against drunkenness. It is not sentiment, it is logic, if there be any logic in
votes and in a home saved.
The Rev. R. L. COLLIER, in reply to Miss Dickinson, quoted a story from an
English author of a drunkard who was reclaimed by a daughter's love and devotion.
He never wanted to hear a woman say that law could accomplish what love could not.
Rev. R. L. Collier Set Right. 569
Miss DICKINSON : I only want to ask Mr. Collier a question, and it is this: Whether
he does not think that man would have been a great deal better off if this woman's
vote could have offset his vote, and the rum thereby prevented from being sold at the
outset?
Mr. COLLIER : I wish to say that law never yet cured crime; that men are not our
only drunkards. Women are drunkards as well as men.
Miss DICKINSON (excitedly) : It is not so, in anything like the same proportion; a
drunken woman is a rare sight.
Mr. COLLIER : I wish to say that intemperance can never be cured by law.
Miss DICKINSON : Very well. You tell me that there are woman in the land who
are drunkards. Doubtless there are. Then I stand here as a woman to entreat, to
beseech, to pray against this sin. For the sake of these drunken woman, I ask the
ballot to drag them back from the rum-shops and shut their doors [applause]. God
forbid that I should underrate the power of love; that I should discard tenderness.
Let us have entreaty, let us have prayers, and let us have the ballot, to eradicate this
evil. Mr. Collier says he is full of sympathy, and intimates that women should stand
here and elevate love above law. So long as a man can be influenced by love, well
and good. When a man has sunk to the point where he beats his wife and children,
and burns the house over them, reduces his family to starvation to get this accursed
drink; when a man has sunk to such a level, is woman to stand still and entreat? Is
this all woman is to do ? No ! She is to have the power added that will drag the fire-
brand out of his hand, and when sense and reason return, when the fire is extinguished,
then, I say, let us have the power of love to interfere. I think keeping a man out of
sin is better than trying to drag him out afterward by love.
Mr. COLLIER said he was placed in a false position of prominence because, unfor-
tunately, he was the only gentleman on the platform who entertained serious convic-
tions on the negative side of the subject. The only question was, would the ballot
cure these wrongs ? If so, he would like to hear the reasons, philosophical and log-
ical, set forth. The appeals that had been made to the convention were illogical and
sympathetic. He believed the persecutors of women were women. Fashion and the
prejudice in the minds of women had been the barriers to their own elevation. That
the ballot in the hands of women would cure these evils he denied.
Miss DICKINSON: Mr. Collier says, "The worst enemies of women are women";
that the worst opponents of this measure are fashion, dress and idleness. I confess
there are no bitterer opponents or enemies of this measure than women. On that very
ground I assert that the ballot will prove woman's best friend. If woman has some-
thing else to think about than simply to please men, something else than the splendor
of her diamonds, or the magnificence of her carriage, you may be sure, with broader
fields to survey, it would be a good thing for her. If women could earn their bread and
buy the houses over their heads, in honorable and lucrative avocations; if they stood
in the eye of the law men's equals, there would be better work, more hopeful hearts,
more Christian magnanimity, and less petty selfishness and meanness than, I confess
with sorrow and tears, are found among women to-day.
One of the ablest speeches of the convention was made by Judge Chas.
B. Waite, on woman's position before the law. Immediately after this en-
thusiastic convention* the Illinois State Suffrage Association was formed,
a committee t appointed to visit Springfield and request the legislature to
so "change the laws that the earnings of a married woman may be se-
* The officers of the convention were : President, Mary A. Livermore ; J'ice-Prfsi<ifnts,\}\c Rev.
Robert Collyer, Professor Haven ; Recording Secretary ; Jeanne Willing, of Rockford ; Corresponding
0ty, Myr.i liradwcll ; Executive Committee, Professor Haven, chairman ; the Rev. Dr. Edward
'•r, Elizabeth J. Loomis, Hannah B. Manford, the Rev. E. Eggleston, the Rev. C. H. Fowler
the Rev. E. J. Goodspeed, Rlbecca Mott, Charlotte L. Levanway.
t The committee to visit Springfield were Hon. James B. Bradwell, Mrs. Myra Bradwell, Mrs. Kate
N. Doggett, the Rev. E. Goodspeed, the Hon. C. 13. Waite, and Mrs. Rebecca Mott.
570 History of Woman Suffrage.
cured to her own use; that married women may have the same right to
their own property that married men have; and that the mother may
have an equal right with the father to the custody of the children." The
need of such a committee existed in that year of 1869, and they seemed to
have wrought effective service, since on March 24 the married woman's
earnings act was approved.
AN ACT in Relation to the Earnings of Married Women.
SKC. i. — Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the
General Assembly, That a married woman shall be entitled to receive, use and pos-
sess her own earnings, and sue for the same in her own name, free from the interfer-
ence of her husband or his creditors : Provided^ This act shall not be construed to
give to the wife any compensation for any labor performed for her minor children or
husband.
Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Stanton, Judge Waite, Judge and Mrs. Bradwell,
had an enthusiastic meeting in the Opera House, Springfield, most of the
members of the legislature being present.
September 9, 10, 1869, the Western Convention was held in Library
Hall, Chicago ; Mrs. Livermore presided. This influential gathering was
largely attended by leading friends from other States.* Mrs. Kate Dog-
gett and Dr. Mary Safford were appointed to attend the Woman's Indus-
trial Congress at Berlin. Letters were read from Wm. Lloyd Garrison
and others. t
February 8, 9, 1870, the first annual meeting of the State Association
was held at Springfield in the Opera House, Hon. James B. Bradwell in
the chair. Many members of the legislature were present during the
various sessions and a hearing f before the House was granted next
day. Resolutions were discussed and adopted, declaring that women
were enlranchised under the fourteenth amendment. As a constitutional
convention was in session, and there was an effort being made to have an
amendment for woman suffrage submitted to a vote of the people, greater
interest was felt in all that was said at this convention.
The strange inconsistency of the opponents of woman suffrage was per-
haps never more fully illustrated than by the following occurrence :
While the patriotic and earnest women of Illinois were quietly acting upon
the advice of their representatives, and relying upon their "quiet, moral
influence " to secure a just recognition of their rights in the constitutional
convention, a conservative woman of Michigan, who, afraid that the
women of Illinois were about to lose their womanliness by asking for the
right to have their opinions counted, deserted her home in the Peninsular
State, went to Springfield, secured the hall of the convention, and gave
two lectures against woman suffrage. A meeting was called at the close
* Indiana — Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Dr. Mary Wilhite, Kmma Mallory, and Amanda Way ;
Missouri — Rebecca N. Hazzard ; Wisconsin — Lelia Peckham ; fa-fa — Man- Newbury Adams. Matilda
Fletcher; Minnesota — Mrs. Bishop ; Kansas — Mrs. Henry ; Ohio — Margaret V. Longley ; Michigan
— Professor Stone ; Massachusetts — Henry B. Blackwell, and Lucy Stone ; A'ew York — Susan B. An-
thony, most of whom took part in the discussions.
t Letters were alsc received from Paulina Wright Davis, Frederick Douglass, Hon. Sharon Tyndale,
Rev. D. H. X. Powers, Mrs. Arabella Mansfield, Rev. Willis Lord.
J The speakers were Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Stone, Hon. Sharon Tyndale, Hon. E. Haines, and Judge
Bradwell.
Sorosis. 571
of the second lecture, and in a resolution moved by a member of the con-
vention, as Mrs. Bradwell pertinently says, " the people of the State, were
told that one woman had proved herself competent and well qualified to en-
lighten the constitutional convention upon the evils of woman suffrage." *
Such was the effect of this self-appointed obtruder from another State that
the members of the convention, without giving a woman of their own
State opportunity for reply, not only struck out the clause submitting the
question to the people in a separate article, but actually incorporated in
the body of the constitution a clause which would not allow a woman to
hold any office, public position, place of trust or emolument in the State.
Through the efforts of such staunch friends as Judge Bradwell, Judge
Waite and others, this latter clause was stricken out, and one inserted
which, under a fair construction, will allow a woman to hold almost any
office, provided she receives a sufficient number of votes.
By the accidental insertion of another clause in the constitution under
consideration, Section i, of Article vn., any foreign born woman, natural-
ized previous to January, 1870, was given the right to vote. So that
Illinois was the first State in the Union, since the time when the women
of New Jersey were disfranchised, to give to foreign-born women the
elective franchise. This mistake of the wise Solons was guarded as a
State secret.
Previous to the great fire of 1871, the most popular and influential
woman's club in Chicago was the organization known as Sorosis. This
club, by the generous aid of many prominent gentlemen of the city, es-
tablished pleasant headquarters, where, in addition to bright carpets and
artistic decorations, were books, flowers, birds, and other refined access-
ories. Mrs. Elizabeth Loomis says of the meetings held in those delight-
ful parlors : " At every successive session we could see that we were
gaining ground and receiving influential members. I well remember how
it encouraged us to number the Rev. Dr. Thomas among our friends ; and
how gladly I made the motion to have him appointed temporary chair-
man in the absence of the president — a position which he cheerfully ac-
cepted." One of the most brilliant reunions ever enjoyed by the club,
was a reception given to Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony, as they were
en route to California, early in June, 1871. Of this reception, Miss An-
thony, in a letter from Des Moines, Iowa, to The Revolution, said : " Mrs.
Stanton and I were in Chicago the evening the Illinois State and Cook
County Association held their opening reception at their new central
bureau, a suite of fine rooms handsomly carpeted and furnished by
prominent merchants of the city, where, with music, conversation,
speeches, etc., the hours passed delightfully away," forming, as Miss
Anthony might have added, a delightful oasis amid the many discom-
forts of a continuous appeal to the people to deal justly.
In November, 1871, Mrs. Catharine V. Waite, of Hyde Park, made a
written application to the board of registration, asking them to place her
* ( ine thousand three hundred and eighty women of Peoria also prayed that the constitution might
not be so amended as to enfranchise women ; another evidence of the demoralizing influence of any
form of slavery upon the human mind. Had not these women been lacking in a proper self-respect
they would not have protested against the right to govern themselves. — [E. C. S.
572 History of Woman Suffrage.
name upon the register as a voter, which they refused to do on the ground
that she was a woman, whereupon Mrs. Waite filed a petition in the
Supreme Court of Cook county, stating the facts, and praying that the
board be compelled by mandamus to place her name upon the register.
Chief-Justice Jameson granted an alternative writ, returnable on the fol-
lowing Monday, commanding the board *o show cause, if any they have,
why Mrs. Waite's name should not be placed upon the register. Judge
Charles B. Waite, the husband of the plaintiff, made an exhaustive and
unanswerable argument before Judge Jameson, but to no purpose as far
as the result of that case was concerned, as the opinion of the court de-
livered January 12, 1872, which was very lengthy,* denied the relator with
costs.
In 1872, Norman T. Cassette, esq., clerk of the Circuit Court of
Cook county, and recorder of deeds, remembering the limited number of
industrial occupations open to women, and seeing no reason why they
could not perform the work of that office, resolved to try the ex-
periment. A room was fitted up for the special use of women, a number
of whom gladly accepted the proffered positions and received the same
pay per folio as that earned by men. The experiment proved entirely
satisfactory, Major Brockway having officially testified in regard to
woman's especial fitness for the work.
There was an attempt this year to get a law licensing houses of ill-fame
in Chicago, and an immense petition was rolled up and presented to the
legislature by ladies who desired to defeat the proposed enactment.
They carried their point by as neat a flank movement as Sherman ever
executed. A quiet move to Springfield with a petition signed by thous-
ands of the best men and women of the city, and our enemies found them-
selves checkmated before the game had fairly begun.
February 13, 14, 1872, the State Association held its annual meeting at
Bloomington, with large and interested audiences. t March 28 Mrs. Jane
Graham Jones secured a hearing before the legislature for Miss Anthony,
who made one of her most convincing arguments, and had in her audi-
ence nearly every member of that body who voted for what was termed
the Alta Hulett bill.
To Myra Bradwell and Alta C. Hulett belongs the credit of a long and
persevering struggle to open the legal profession to women. The latter
succeeded at last in slipping the bolt which had barred woman from her
right to practice law. We take the following statement in regard to Miss
Hulett's experience from the " Women of the Century ":
At the age of seventeen. Miss Alta Hulett entered the law office of Mr. Lathrop, of
Rockford, as a student, and after a few months' study passed the required examina-
tion, and sent her credentials to the Supreme Court, which, instead of granting or re-
fusing her plea for admission, ignored it altogether. Myra Bradwell, the successful
editor of the Legal News, had just been denied admission. Her case, stated in brief,
* Our limited space prevents the publication of Judge Waite's argument and Judge Jameson's de-
cision.
t Jane Graham Jones and Elizabeth Loomis represented the Cook County Association. Delegates
from several other districts were present. The speakers were A. J. Grover, Mrs. Jane Graham Jones,
Miss Anthony, Mrs. Adelle Hazlett of Michigan, Dr. Ellen B. Furguson of Indiana, Mr. and Mrs.
Fell, Mr. and Mrs. Prince.
Miss Alfa C. Hulett. 573
is this : Mrs. Bradwell made application for a license to practice law. The court re-
fused it on the ground of her being a married woman. She immediately brought a suit
to test the legality of this decision. This interesting case was carried to the Supreme
Court of the United States, which sustained the decision of the lower courts.* Mi.ss
Hulett had reason to expect that since she was unmarried, this decision would not
prejudice her case. Just on the threshold of her chosen profession, the rewards of
youthful aspirations and earnest study apparently within her grasp, her dismay may be
imagined when no response whatever was vouchsafed her petition. A fainter heart
would have accepted the situation. To battle successfully with old prejudices, en-
trenched in the strongholds of the law, required not only marked ability, but also a
courage which could not surrender. Miss Hulett took a country school for four
months, and bravely went to work again. While teaching and "boarding round,"
she prepared a lecture, " Justice vs. The Supreme Court," in which she vigorously and
eloquently stated her case. This lecture was delivered in Rockford, Freeport, and
many other towns, enlisting everywhere sympathy and admiration in her behalf. After
taking counsel with Lieutenant-Governor Early and other prominent members of the
legislature, she drafted a bill, the provisions of which are :
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly,
That no person shall be precluded or debarred from any occupation, profession, or
employment (except military), on account of sex. Provided this act shall not be con-
'struecl to affect the eligibility of any person to an elective office.
Nothing in this act shall be construed as requiring any female to work on streets or
roads, or serve on juries. All laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.
Friends obtained for this bill a very favorable introduction into the legislature,
where it passed and received the Governor's signature. Passing up the steps to
her home one rainy day, the telegram announcing that the bill had become
a law was placed in her hands, and in referring to the incident, Miss Hulett
said : :< I shall never again know a moment of such supreme happiness." We can
only add in this connection that after a most vigorous examination she stood at the
head of a class of twenty-eight, all the other members being gentlemen. This time
the Supreme Court made the amende honorable, courteously and cordially welcoming
her into the ranks of the profession on her'birthday, June 4, 1873, and at the age of
nineteen Miss Hulett commenced the practice of law.
But Miss Hulett's career, so full of promise, was soon ended. The an-
nouncement of her untimely death, which occurred at San Diego, Cal.,
March 26, 1877, sent a pang to the hearts of those who knew her person-
ally, and of thousands who regarded her with pride as a representative
woman. A Chicago correspondent says :
The daily press of the city have already borne ample testimony to her professional
talents and success and to the esteem and admiration accorded her by the bar of Chi-
cago and by the general public; for her somewhat exceptional position as well as her
ability had made her one of the marked characters of the city. Her short life, so
successful and brilliant to the public eye, was not without its dark and thorny places.
Unusual responsibilities of a domestic nature, opposition of various kinds and keen
disappointment! only nerved her to greater persistency, and her courage was upheld by
the generous and abundant recognition which she received on every hand from leading
members of the bar — a recognition for which she never failed, when opportunity of-
fered, to express her sense of profound obligation — and she was accustomed to say that
the law was the most liberal of the professions. Much as Miss Hulett had accom-
plished hitherto, it was felt that she had only crossed the threshold of a career of sur-
passing usefulness; all things seemed possible to one so richly endowed; her mental
vigor seemed matched by a physique, the apparent type of blooming health; but the
seeds of disease were inherited and only awaited a combination of circumstances to as-
* For Mrs. Bradwell's case see Vol. II., page 601.
574 History of Woman Suffrage.
sert their fatal power. Absorbing enthusiasm for her profession, and the cares of a
rapidly increasing practice, made her overlook the insidious danger lurking in a cold,
and not until her alarmed physician ordered her to the soft climate of Southern Cali-
fornia did she comprehend her danger. This peremptory order was a terrible shock,
and the forced exile from the field of her hopes and ambitions, more bitter than death.
She never rallied, but continued rapidly to fail until the end came. At a meeting of
the bar of Chicago, held to take action in commemoration of the death of Miss Aha
M. llulett, attorney-at-law, the following was one of the resolutions adopted :
Resolved, That although the legal profession has hitherto been almost, if not alto-
gether, considered as exclusively for men to practice, yet we freely recognize Miss Hu-
lett's right to adopt it as her pursuit in life, and cheerfully bear testimony to the fact
that in her practice she never demeaned herself in any way unbecoming a woman.
She was always true to her clients and their interests, but she was equally true to her
sex and her duty; and if women who now are, or hereafter shall become, members of
our profession shall be equally true, its honor will never be tarnished, nor the respect,
good-will and esteem which it is the duty and pride of man to accord to woman be in
the least diminished by their membership.
Which, translated, means that men are not only ready to welcome into one of their
own professions women having the requisite intellectual qualifications, but that the
welcome will be the warmer if the women entering shall not leave behind the more
feminine attributes of the sex. Portia did deliver judgment, but the counselor's cap
became the pretty locks it could not hide, and the jurist's cloak lent additional grace
to the symmetry and litheness of female youth.
M. Fredrica Perry began the study of law in the office of Shipman &
Loveridge, Coldwater, Michigan, in the winter of 1870-71. She spent
two years in the law-office and then two years in the law-school of Michi-
gan University. On graduating from the law-school in March, 1875, she
was admitted to the Michigan bar. She located in Chicago in August,
and in September Avas admitted to the Illinois bar and began practice.
A few weeks later she was, on motion of Miss Hulett, admitted to the
U. S. Circuit and District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois.
She was in partnership with Ellen A. Martin under the name of Perry &
Martin. Her death occured June 3, 1883, and was the result of pneu-
monia. Miss Perry was a successful lawyer and combined in an eminent
degree the qualities which distinguish able barristers and jurists ; her
mind was broad and catholic, clear, quick, logical and profound; her in-
formation on legal and general matters was extensive. She was an excel-
lent advocate, a skillful examiner of witnesses, and understood as few do,
save practitioners who have grown old in experience, the nice discrimina-
tions of common-law pleading and the rules of evidence. She was en-
grossed in the study and practice of law, and gained steadily in efficiency
and power year by year. She had the genius and ability for the highest
attainment in all branches of civil practice, and joined with these the
power of close application and hard work. She belonged to the Strong
family which has furnished a good deal of the legal talent of the United
States. Judge Tuley, a chancery judge of Chicago before whom she
often appeared, said of her at the bar meeting called to take action upon
her death ; " I was surprised at the extent of her legal knowledge and
the great legal acumen she displayed." And of her manner and method
of conducting a certain bitterly-contested casein his court: "I became
satisfied that the influence of woman would be highly beneficial in pre-
Report of Mary Allen West. 575
serving and sustaining that high standard of professional courtesy which
should always exist among the members of our profession." Ellen A.
Martin, of Perry & Martin. Chicago, spent two years in a law-office and
two years in Michigan University law-school, and was graduated and ad-
mitted to practice in Michigan at the same time with Miss Perry. She
was admitted in Illinois in January, 1876, and since then to the U. S. Cir-
cuit Court. In the summer of 1879, Mrs. M. B. R. Shay, Streator, grad-
uating from the Bloomington law-school, was admitted to the bar. She
has published a book entitled, " Students Guide to Common-Law Plead-
ing." In 1880, Cora A. Benneson, Quincy, was graduated from the
Michigan University law-school and admitted to the Michigan and Illinois
bar. Ada H. Kepley, in practice with her husband at Effingham, was
graduated from the Chicago law-school in June, 1870, but was refused
admission to the bar. In November of that year, a motion was made in
the Court at Effingham that she should be allowed to act as attorney in a
case at that bar, and Judge Decius said that though the Supreme Court
had refused to license a woman, he yet thought the motion was proper
and in accord with the spirit of the age and granted the motion. Mrs.
Kepley was finally admitted, January, 1881. Miss Bessie Bradwell, grad-
uated from the Union College of Law of Chicago and admitted to the bar
in 1882, is associated with her parents, Judge and Mrs. Bradwell, on the
Legal News and in the preparation of Bradwell's Appellate Court Reports.
July i, 1873, the bill making women eligible as school officers became a
law, and in the fall elections of the same year the people gave unmistaka-
ble indorsement of the champions of the bill, by electing women as super-
intendent of schools in ten counties, while in sixteen others women were
nominated. Many of these,earnest women have been in the service ever
since. As the practical results of woman's controlling influence as super-
intendents of schools seems to epitomize her work in all official positions,
we submit a report compiled by Miss Mary Allen West, made at the re-
quest of the Illinois Social Science Association, regretting that we have
not space for one of the model reports of Miss Sarah Raymond, also for
ten years superintendent of the schools of Bloomington :
During the session of 1872-3, Judge Bradwell introduced into the legislature the
following bill, which became a law April 3, 1873 : "Be it enacted by the people of
Illinois, represented in General Assembly, that any woman, married or single, of the
age of twenty-one years and upwards, and possessing the qualifications prescribed for
men, shall be eligible to any office under the general school laws of this State." A sec-
ond section provides for her giving bonds.
. At the next election, November, 1873, ten ladies were elected to the office of county
superintendent of schools for a term of four years. As this term has now expired, it
is a favorable time to inquire how women have succeeded in this new line of labor.
That the work that devolves upon county superintendents may be understood, I give
a part of the synopsis of the duties pertaining to the office, as enumerated by Dr.
Newton Bateman :
First — She must carefully inspect and pass upon the bonds of all township treasur-
ers, and upon the securities given in each ca*e, and is personally liable as well upon
her official bond for any loss to the school funds sustained through her neglect or care-
le>s performance of duty.
Second — She must keep herself fully and carefully informed as to what townships
5/6 History of Woman Suffrage.
have and what have not complied with the provisions of the law in respect to mainte-
nance of schools; so that no funds may in ignorance be paid to townships having no
legal claim to them.
Third — She must collect, transcribe, classify, verify, tabulate, and transmit annu-
ally to the State superintendent the school statistics of her county, together with a de-
tailed written report of the condition of the common schools therein.
Fourth — She must arrange, classify, file and preserve all books, papers, bonds, offi-
cial correspondence and other documents belonging to her office.
Fifth — She must impart instruction and give directions to inexperienced teachers in
the science, art and method of teaching, and must be ready, at all times, to counsel,
advise and assist the school officers of her county.
Sixth — She must take an active part in the management of County Teachers' Insti-
tutes, and labor in every way to improve the quality of teaching in her county.
Seventh — She must hear, examine, and determine all questions and controversies
under school law, which may be referred to her, and must carefully prepare, to the
best of her knowledge and ability, such replies to all letters from school officers and
teachers as each case demands.
Eighth — She must examine all candidates desiring to teach in her county, and grant
certificates to such, and such only, as she honestly thinks are of good moral character
and sufficient scholastic attainments. As no one can teach in a public school without
such certificate, this gives her the veto power over all teachers. Dr. Bateman, com-
menting on fourteen specifications, of which the foregoing constitute but eight, says
these are some of the many duties made obligatory upon the county superintendent by
law. Besides all these, is the visitation of schools, which every true superintendent
considers a very important part of the work.
For convenience we will group these duties in three classes : I. Those concerning
finance. 2. Legal duties. 3. Duties to teachers and schools.
I. To give an idea of the financial interests intrusted to the hands of these women,
we find by reference to the State superintendent's report for last year that the total
receipts for school purposes in these ten counties which they superintend was $1,009,-
441. So far as can be learned from the records, not one cent of the large sums over
which they had supervision has been lost through their dishonesty, or, what was more
to be feared, their ignorance of business. Unlike those of Dora Copperfield, their ac-
counts will "add up." In the county (Knox) where the receipts are greatest, aggre.
gating $182,423.22, the greatest difference between receipts and expenditures, as
shown by the superintendent's books, is ten cents. In many of these counties the
financial affairs were in the greatest confusion when the ladies came into office. In
one, perhaps more, the preceding superintendent was a defaulter, in another he was
engaged in a law-suit with the county board, and in still others strange irregularities
were discovered. In every instance, so far as we can ascertain, these crookednesses
have been straightened out, the finances put upon a surer basis, hundreds, we believe
thousands, of dollars of bad debts have been collected, treasurers and directors hav-
been induced to keep their books with greater care and in better shape, reckless ex-
penditure of school funds has been discouraged, and directors encouraged to expend
the money for things which will permanently benefit the schools. So much for finance.
II. Legal Duties. — Rightly to discharge the duties imposed by specification 7, the
county superintendent needs to be a very good lawyer, for school law in its ramifica-
tions reaches many other departments of law. Especially is it inextricably mixed up
with election laws, and all know that cases arising under election laws are among the
most complex and difficult to handle. Probably a school election never occurrs in
which some such cases are not referred to the county superintendent. In the settle-
ment of these and other cases arising under school law, these women have been pecu-
liarly successful, and some of them have earned the blessing bestowed upon the peace-
makers. We know of one county where, after last spring's election, five contested
cases were referred to the superintendent for settlement ; these were all satisfactorily
adjusted by her. During her four years' administration, scores of controversies were
School Super intendency. 577
referred to her, and there has never been a single appeal from her decisions. Another
most complicated case involving a defaulting treasurer, was conducted entirely by the
county superintendent until it became necessary to employ a lawyer to argue the case
in court. What she had done was then submitted to one of the leading lawyers of the
State, and he sanctioned and approved each step. Numerous other instances might
be cited to show that woman has not failed in the legal part of her work as superin-
tendent of schools.
III. Her Work "with Teachers and Schools. — Here our superintendents were per-
fectly at home. Each of the ten had taught successfully for years, and so knew the
wants of the school-room. This knowledge was invaluable, both in the examination
of teachers and in the supervision of schools. Fears were expressed lest in the exam-
ination of candidates, womanly sympathy would lead them to grant certificates to
needy applicants who were not altogether qualified. But the motherliness which is in
every true woman's heart, warded off this danger. As one remarked, " I have a
great deal of the milk of human kindness in my nature, but its streams flow toward
the rbomful of children to be injured by an incompetent teacher, rather than toward
that teacher, however needy he may be. If his claims rest on his needs rather than
his merits, let the poormaster attend to his wants, not the superintendent. School
money is not a pauper fund." This motherliness comes in good play in school visita-
tion. It draws the children to the superintendent; keeps them from being afraid of
her, and hence leads them to work naturally during her visit; thus she can obtain a
true idea of the status of the school, and know just how to advise and direct the
teacher. The same thing holds true in regard to teachers; the majority of them are
ladies, and they will come to a lady for the solution of their doubts and difficulties
much more freely than to a gentleman. This gives her better opportunity to " impart
instruction and give directions to inexperienced teachers." Woman's power to lift up
the teachers under her control to a higher plane, both intellectually and morally, has
been signally demonstrated by the experience of the past four years.
In looking after the details of official work, those tiresome minutiae so often left at
"loose ends," producing endless confusion, woman has shown great aptitude. You
say, "this is but the clean sweeping of a new broom." Maybe so, in part; but in
part it comes from the womanly instinct to " look well to the ways of her household,"
whether that household be the occupants of a cottage or the schools of a county. In
the work of the State Association of County Superintendents, the ladies have well sus-
tained their part. When placed on the programme, they have come prepared with
carefully written papers, showing their desire to give the Association the benefit of
their best thoughts, and not put off upon it such crudely digested ideas as may spring
up at the moment. At the last meeting at Springfield, four out of the nine superin-
tendents now in office were present, 44 per cent.; out of the 93 gentlemen in the same
office, 1 8 were present, 19 per cent. The ratio of attendance has been about the same
for the four years.
How has woman's work as county superintendent impressed other educators ? State-
Superintendent Etter, who confesses that he was not in favor of the plan, said at the
State Teachers' Association, above referred to : " The ladies compare very favorably
with their gentlemen co-laborers." Mr. E. L. Wells, for twelve years county superin-
tendent of Ogle county, and thoroughly conversant with the work throughout the State,
concurs in this opinion. President Newton Bateman, than whom no man in the State
is better fitted to speak on this subject, in his political-economy class in Knox college,
took occasion to commend the efficiency of women as county superintendents of our
State. A gentleman who travels extensively, and looks into school affairs closely, says
he is convinced that in every county where a woman was elected four years ago, the
efficiency of the office had been doubled and in some cases increased four or even ten
fold. If this be not an exaggeration, an explanation may be found in the fact that in
most of these counties the best ladies were put in the place of gentlemen most poorly
fitted for the place. The office had become a political foot-ball, kicked about as party
exigencies demanded, and often came into possession of political hacks who "must be
37
578 History of Woman Suffrage.
provided for," and for whom no other place could be found. They had no qualifica-
tions for the office, and, of course, could not perform its duties. The people, dis-
gusted, turned to the women for relief, and took good care to elect the ones best fitted
to do the work. Had equal care been used in the selection of their predecessors, they
might have done equally good work. In quoting opinions, I have purposely confined
myself to those given by gentlemen.
The limits of this paper have restricted this discussion to the work of woman as a
county superintendent; but in other school offices she is doing efficient work. All over
the State we have examples of her efficiency as school director. Miss Sarah E. Ray-
mond, in Bloomington, and Miss Ludlow, in Davenport (by the way, the Iowa State
Teachers' Association last year honored itself by electing her president), abundantly
proves woman's ability to superintend the schools of large cities. M. A. W.
In Zioris Herald 1873, on the origin of the Woman's College ii. Evans-
ton, Miss Frances E. Willard writes :
In 1866, when we were all tugging away to build Heck Hall for ministers, I heard
several thoughtful women say, "We ought to be doing this for our own sex. Men
have help from every side, while no one thinks of women." In the summer of 1868
Mrs. Mary F. Haskins, who had been treasurer of the American Methodist Ladies'
Centenary Association, which built Heck Hall, raising for the purpose $50,000, in-
vited the ladies of Evanston to her home to talk over the subject of founding a
Woman's College, which should secure to young women the highest educational ad-
vantages. Mrs. Haskin originated the thought — with her own hands assisted in laying
the corner-stone, and in her first address as president she said : "I have often thought
that to the successful teacher the words must be full of hope and promise, which a
great writer uses of education : ' It is a companion which no misfortune can dis-
tress, no crime destroy, no enemy alienate, no despot enslave; at home a friend,
abroad an introduction; in solitude a solace, in society an ornament. It chastens vice,
it guides virtue, it adds a grace to genius. Without it what is man ?' — and I would
.add with emphasis, Without an education, what is woman?"
This Woman's College at Evanston is the first on record to which a
charter, granting full collegiate powers, was ever given by legislative act,
including only names of women in its board of trustees. This board,
elected Miss Frances E. Willard president, who presided over the institu-
tion for two years, during which term a class of young women was grad-
uated, the first in history to whom diplomas were voted and conferred
by women. The degree of A. M. was given Mrs. Jennie Fowler Willing,
of Chicago, who preached the baccalaureate sermon at the unique com-
mencement exercises. Mrs. Mary F. Haskin, and Mrs. Elizabeth Green-
leaf were respectively presidents of the board of trustees.
Later on, as a higher evolution of the central thought, an arrangement
was made between the Woman's College and the Northwestern Univer-
sity, by which the former became the woman's department of the latter,
on condition that in its board of trustees, faculty of instruction, and all its
departments of culture, women should be admitted on an equality with
men, as to opportunities, positions and salaries. Miss Willard was then
chosen dean of the Woman's College, and professor of aesthetics in the
University. Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller was placed on the executive
committee of the board, and Mrs. R. F. Oueal, Mrs. Jennie Fowler Wil-
ling, Mrs. Mary Bannister Willard, and Mrs. L. L. Greenleaf were elected
trustees. One year later, Miss Willard entered the temperance work
Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson. 579
since which time Miss Ellen M. Soule and Miss Jane Bancroft have suc-
cessively served in the position of dean.
The young women have led in scholarship, taken prizes in composition
and oratory, while upon one occasion the delighted students dragged
forth the only artillery in the village to voice their enthusiasm over the
fact that to Miss Lizzie R. Hunt had been awarded at the great interna-
tional contest the first prize for the best English essay.
In 1873, while filling the duties of professor in Wesleyan University,
Mrs. Jennie Fowler Willing was licensed as a local preacher in the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, the first woman engaged as evangelist in Illinois.
The Monticello Ladies' Seminary at Godfrey is worthy of mention.
Miss Harriet N. Haskell, its president, has done a noble work there in
making possible for many girls, by labor under her roof to pay in part
for a liberal education. She has been at the head of this institution for
thirty years. Mrs. F. A. Shiner at Mt. Carroll, is another grand woman
worthy of mention. She, too, gives poor girls an opportunity in her
household to pay in part for their education. In this way many are be-
ing trained in domestic accomplishments as well as the higher branches
of education. There is no distinction made between those who work a
certain number of hours each day and those who pay in full for their ad-
vantages ; and in many cases the best scholars have been found from year
to year among those who had the stimulus of labor. As Miss Haskell
and Mrs. Shiner have uniformly entertained all the lyceum lecturers* at
their beautiful homes, many have had the pleasure of seeing and talking
with these bright girls, and the worthy presidents of the institutions.
We believe to Illinois belongs the distinction of being the birthplace of
the first woman admitted to the American Medical Association — Dr. Sarah
Hackett Stevenson, born at Buffalo Grove, Ogle county. Dr. Stevenson
was admitted to this time-honored association June, 1876. The Philadel-
phia Evening Bulletin thus refers to the innovation :
The doctors have combined millennial with centennial glories. The largest assem-
blage of the medical profession ever held in America yesterday honored itself by burst-
ing the bonds of ancient prejudice, and admitting a woman to its membership by a
vote that proved the battle won, and that henceforth professional qualification, and
not sex, is to be the test of standing in the medical world. Looking over the past
fierce resistance by which every advance of woman into the field of medical life was
met, yesterday's action seems like the opening of a scientific millennium. It was a
most appropriate time and place for the beginning of this new era of medical right-
eousness and peace. Here, in the centennial year, in the "City of Brotherly Love,"
where the first organized effort for the medical education of women was made, where
the oldest medical college for women in the world is located, and where the fight
against woman's entry into the medical profession was most hotly waged, was the place
to take the manly new departure, which, so far as the National Association is con-
* Those who have traveled and lectured through the West and spent many rainy Sundays in dreary
hotels, know how to appreciate a few days rest in the delightful homes scattered over the country as
well as in the towns and cities. How many of these memory recalls in the State of Illinois 1 What a
hospitable reception we had in the cozy farm-house of Mrs. Owen Lovejoy at Princeton, and in the
stately residence of Mrs. Jsoyes Kendall at I.a Moile, in the home of Judge Lawrence at Galesburg,
Mrs. Judge Joslyn at Woodstock, Mrs. R. M. Patrick, Marengc ; Mrs. A. W. Bray ton, Mt. Morris;
Mrs. Eldridge Norwood, Olney ; Rev. i)r. Moffatt, Monticello; Col. E. B. Loop, Bclvidcre ; Mrs.
Judge Grecr, Decatur ; Mr. and Mrs. Prince, Bloomington ; Col. and Mrs. Latham, Lincoln, and
others too numerous to mention in all the Western States. — IS. B. A.
580 History of Woman Suffrage.
cernecl, began yesterday in the election of Dr. Sarah Ilackett Stevenson as a member
in full standing from the State of Illinois.
Dr. Mary H. Thompson, who was graduated at boston in 1863, and who,
removing to Chicago, succeeded in establishing a woman's hospital, is in-
cluded in a short list of notable alumnae of the Boston Medical School.
Dr. Lelia G. 'Bedell, Dr. E. G. Cook, Dr. Julia Holmes Smith, Dr. Alice B.
Stockham, and many others have won honorable distinction in this pro-
fession.
One of the marked crises in the history of the reform we trace was the
centennial Fourth of July. The daughters of the Pilgrims realized as
never before the cruel injustice by which they were deprived of their
birthright, and from the Western prairies and Eastern hills their earnest
protest was given to the nation. As early as May 2, 1876, at a special con-
vention of the Illinois Woman Suffrage Association, two vigorous
protests were read as the official utterances of State and National Associa-
tions. The convention was called to order by Mrs. Alma Van Winkle,
who stated that Mrs. Jane Graham Jones,* the beloved and efficient presi-
dent of the association, having determined upon a European sojourn, had
sent her resignation to the executive committee, and that Mrs. Elizabeth
Boynton Harbert, recently removed to the State, had been elected to fill
her place. This action being ratified, Susan B. Anthony was introduced,
and although she had just concluded an intensely vigorous lyceum tour,
extending through many months, she spoke with unusual power. Just
here I wish to emphasize the great loss to women in the fact that as Miss
Anthony's speeches were never written, but came with thrilling effect
from her patriotic soul, scarce any record of them remains, other than the
intangible memories of her grateful countrywomen. At this convention,
the following address was read and adopted :
To the Women of the United States of America, greeting :
While the centennial clock is striking the hour of opportunity for the Pilgrims'
daughters to prove themselves regenerate children of a worthy ancestry, while the air
reverberates to the watchwords of the statesmen of the Revolution, let the daughters of
the nation, in clear, steady and womanly voices, chorus through the States: " Taxa-
tion without representation is tyranny," and " all governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed."
Womanly hands, firm, capable and loving, have been steadily, persistently and un-
ceasingly knocking, knocking at the doors of judicial, ecclesiastical and legislative
halls, until at last the rusty bars are yielding and the persistent knocking is beginning
to tell upon iron nerves and all kinds of masculine constitutions. Just now, in the
centennial year, another door has opened, preparing the way for the Pilgrims' daugh-
ters to present their claim before the assembled nation on the " Fourth of July, 1876."
A joint resolution of congress, signed by the president of the United States, and
made the subject of proclamation by the governor of the State, reads as follows:
* At her beautiful home, 910 Prairie avenue, her social influence was even more than her public work.
An unfriendly report in any journal was uniformly followed by an invitation to dinner to the editur or
some one of his staff, to meet the lady criticised, or discuss the point of attack. Miss Emily Faithful,
Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony and Miss Couzins have all in turn shared these dinners and discussions.
If the Methodist Episcopal conference sent an opponent to preach in their church, and a little social
attention did not convert him, two persons left the church. Neither Mrs. Jones nor her husband would
listen to the Rev. Dr. Hatfield, for Fernando Jones was always as staunch an advocate of the suffrage
for women as his wife, and had no faith in a religion that did not teach human equality. — [S. B. A.
Mrs. Harbert's Oration. 50!
Be it resolved by the Senate and Hottse of Representatives of the United States of
America, That it be, and is hereby, recommended by the Senate and the House of
Representatives to the people of the several States, that they assemble in the several
counties and towns on the approaching centennial anniversary of our national indepen-
dence, and that they cause to have delivered on such day an historical sketch of said
county or town from its foundation, and that a copy of said sketch may be filed, in
print or manuscript, in the clerk's office of said county, and an additional copy be filed
in the office of the librarian of congress at the city of Washington, to the intent that a
complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the
first centennial of thefr existence.
The governor of this State earnestly recommends that prompt measures be taken in
each county and town for the selection of one or more persons who shall prepare com-
plete, thorough and accurate historical sketches of each county, city, town or village,
from the date of the settlement to the present time.
In view of the fact that since our civil war thousands of charitable, scientific, phil-
anthropic, religious and political associations have been organized among women, of
which but few accurate records are now accessible to the general public, and in view
of the fact that the Supreme Court and many of our legislators construe "persons" to
indicate only men (except when persons are to be taxed, fined or executed), we respect-
fully suggest that in all cases one member of the committee shall be a woman, to the
end that there may be submitted to future historians accurate data of the extent and
scope of the work of American women; that this historian of woman shall carefully
and impartially record the literary, educational, journalistic, industrial, charitable and
political work of woman as expressed in temperance, missionary and woman suffrage
organization.
Let a meeting of every woman suffrage organization throughout the State, or, where
none exists, let any friend of the cause call a meeting, at which a committee shall be
appointed to present this suggestion to the people as they may meet in the different
cities, villages and towns, to perfect arrangements for their local celebration.
As American citizens we salute the tri-color, emblem of the rights obtained and lib-
erties won by husbands, fathers and sons, meanwhile pledging, if need be, another
century of toil and effort to the sacred cause of human rights, and the establishment
of a genuine republic. ELIZABETH BOYNTON HARBERT,
Pres. III. Woman Suffrage Society.
It was decided at this convention to celebrate the Fourth of July in
some appropriate manner. Under the auspices of Mrs. Harbert this was
done at Evanston. The occasion was heralded as " The Woman's Fourth,"
and programmes* were scattered through the village.
The auditorium of the large Methodist Church was tastefully decorated
with exquisite flowers ; flags were gracefully festooned about the pulpit.
and all the appointments were pronounced artistic by the most critical,
and Mrs. Harbert's oration, of which we give a few extracts, aimed to be
in keeping with her surroundings :
If possessed of artistic genius, I would seize the pencil and imprison in rich and
gorgeous coloring two pictures for the woman's pavilion of our centennial; for the first
I would reproduce that prophetically symbolic scene at the dawn of our history, when
•with a faith and generosity worthy of honorable mention, Isabella of Castile placed
her jewels in the almost discouraged mariner's hands, and bade Columbus give to the
world Columbia. The second scene would be the antithesis of the first, as to-day,
the women of the United States make haste to lay at the feet of our statesmen and
* " Due it Amor Patrite" \ "1876." — Centennial Commemoration, Evanston, 111. Music, prayer,
muiic; recitation, Miss M. E. Brown; music, "Battle Hymn"; salutatory, "Woman and
Philanthropy," Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert ; " Historical Record of the Educational Work of
Our Women," Mrs. Mary Bannister Willard ; music, " Whittier's Hymn; recitation, Miss M. E.
Urown ; Missionary Roll of Honor, Miss Jessie Brown ; oration, Rev. F. L. Chapell ; benediction.
582 History of Woman Suffrage.
prophets their jewels of thought and influence, bidding them, in the name of woman,
give to the world a perfected government, a genuine republic, a purer civilization.
Now, as then, there are many ready with mocking jeers; but, turning not to the right
nor the left, the faith of woman and the courage of man move on apace to sure suc-
cess. That historic " first gun " not only jarred loose every rivet in the manacles of
4,000,000 slaves, but when the smoke of the cannonading had lifted, the erttire horizon
of woman was broadened, illuminated, glorified. On that April day when a nation of
citizens were suddenly transformed into an army of warriors, American women, with
a patriotism as intense as theirs, a consecration as true, quietly assumed their vacated
places and became citizens. Out from market-place and forum, counting-house and farm
— keeping time to the chime of the music of the Union — marched father, husband and
son; into office, store and farm, called there by no ambitious desire to wander out of
their sphere, but by the same dire military necessity that called our men to the front
stepped orphaned daughter and widowed wife. Anna Dickinson captured the lyceum
and platform. The almost classic scene of "Corinne at the Capitol" is not more re-
markable than that historic scene of the Quaker girl at Washington, called there to
receive the plaudits of the highest officials of our nation, for services rendered in the
then vital political campaigns of Ne\\% Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and
New York.
The cruel, scarlet days of war dragged wearily on. Up from* the Southern battle-
fields, borne northward in the lull of the war tempest, came a wailing appeal from
"the boys," who hitherto had never appealed to "mother" in vain: "We are
wounded, sick and starving." Instantly the mother-heart responded — waiting not for
"orders," snapping official red-tape, as though it had been woven of cob-webs, two
women started southward with the needed supplies, and this great, anxious, agonized
North gave a sob of relief when the message thrilled through the land that Jane C.
Hoge and Mary A. Livermore had arrived at the front with the needed supplies.
Idle, helpless, dependent queens were not then in demand, but women fitted to be
wives of heroes. Because our lake-bordered, tree-fringed village was once her home,
I lovingly trace first on Evanston's scroll of honor the name of Jane C. Hoge,
while just underneath it I write that of our venerable philanthropist, who was the first
woman in these United States to receive the badge of the Christian commission, Mrs.
Arza Brown.
And now, standing here upon the border-land of two centuries, over-shadowed by
the dear old flag, re-baptized with the blood of my beloved as of yours — standing here,
a native-born citizen, as a woman to whom the honor, purity, peace and freedom of
native land is dear as life; as a wife vitally interested in the interests of manhood; as
a mother responsible for the best development of her children ; as a human being, re-
sponsible to her Creator for the highest possible usefulness, I claim equality before
the law.
Mrs. Mary Bannister Willard gave some surprising facts in regard to
woman's work in connection with the North Western University, and re-
minded us that foremost among the women of the dawning century
was Eliza Garret of Chicago, who secured to the Garret Biblical Institute
its endowment of a quarter of a million of dollars, with the proviso that a
certain increase of income from the same after the wants of the young
theologues had been met, should be applied to the erection and endow-
ment of a seminary for young ladies. But alas ! the theological appetite
has been insatiate, even unto this last, and deliverance has come to our
girls from another quarter. And this was the throwing down of university
gates and bars, and a free extension of all educational privileges to
"Woman's Kingdom" 583
women. Upon the roll of honor connected with this work we gratefully
place the names of many brave, self-sacrificing women.*
The Rev. Mr. Chappell, pastor of the Baptist church, then gave a most
eloquent, liberal oration. In closing, he said : " But what think you, sis-
ters, of the dangers that threaten the republic? Do they lie on your
hearts ? Are they in your prayers ? Do they enter into your plans ? All
compliments and gallantries aside, it makes a vast difference in the des-
tiny of the republic whether you understand and feel its dangers. The
scale has turned. No longer need we dread oppression, disability, power;
but on the other hand, license, luxury, listlessness, forgetfulness of God
and the wholesome truth. This watch-night of the republic augurs well.
This gathering of the sisterhood has its meaning. You are the power
behind the throne ; with you and with God lies the destiny of the repub-
lic." After the benediction the audience dispersed, all expressing of the
entire programme the most enthusiastic approval.
About the close of the year 1876, a noticeable change in the direction
of thought and effort was very apparent in the State of Illinois. As a re-
sult of the ravages of the fire and the severe mental strain to which busi-
ness men were subjected, women sprang to the rescue, and actively en-
gaged in business. These additional burdens assumed by the many,
the few were left to bear the weight of religious, philanthropic and social
duties. Women had tested their powers sufficiently to realize their
strength, and were impatient for immediate results, hence many of the
active friends of woman suffrage, believing that the temperance ballot
could be more speedily secured than entire political equality, joined the
home-protection movement, while through the broadening and helpful in-
fluence of the Grange in the farm-homes of the northwest, requests for aids
to organization came from all quarters. In order that the earnest thoughts
of the one class and the practical methods of the other, might be ren-
dered mutually beneficial, I one day entered the sanctum of the progress-
ive editor of the Inter-Ocean, and asked for a ten-minute audience. The
request was granted, and Wm. Penn Nixon, esq., courteously listened to
the following questions : " As a progressive journalist, and one who
must recognize the philanthropic activity of the women of the Northwest,
has it ever occurred to you that there is nowhere in journalism a special
recognition of their interests ? We have special fashion departments,
special cooking departments, but no niche or corner devoted to the moral,
industrial, educational, philanthropic and political interests of women ;
and does not your judgment assure you that such a department could be
rendered popular?" As a result of this conversation a special corner
of the Inter-Ocean was yielded to woman's interests, designated by the
editors, "Woman's Kingdom," and on January 6, 1877, the following an-
nouncement appeared :
Congratulations to women that we have at last found a home in journalism ; that
amid the clashing of sabers of our modern press tournament, the knights of the quill
* M.iry !•'. Haskin. Melincla Hamline, Caroline Bishop, Elizabeth M. Greenlcaf, Harriet S. Kiddeiy
M:irv T. Willarcl. Mary I. K. Huse, Cornelia Lunt, Harriet N. Noyes, Maria Cook, Margaret l\
K\ .ins, Sarah I. Hurd, Annie H. Thornton, Abby L. Drown, and Virginia S. Kent.
584 History of Woman Suffrage.
recognize that women have some rights that journalists are bound to respect. These
columns are in the interest of no class, clique, sect, or section, and we earnestly re-
quest accurate data of woman's work. All missionary, literary, temperance and
woman suffrage organizations, will be accorded space for announcing their aims.
With an occasional review of new books, we will confer in regard to what woman has
written ; wandering through studios and sanctums, we will record what she is painting
and preaching. Pleading an intense and loving interest in the splendid opportunities
now opening to American women, we shall hope that some truth may be evolved that
may enrich their lives.
Notwithstanding this was the first special department of the kind, much
of the best journalistic work of the State was being done by women,* who
seemed to have received a new baptism to serve the higher interests of
humanity. From the desire for cooperation expressed by many con-
tributors to " Woman's Kingdom," the following little item was set afloat
in May, 1877:
Many facts recently arresting attention, in connection with the industrial, political,
and moral interests of women, seem to render a conference of their representatives
in regard to business aims, expedient. There is need of a bureau through which the
industrial interests of women can be promoted and some practical answer given to the
question everywhere heard, " How can we earn a living?" There is a demand for an
educational bureau of correspondence and also a lyceum bureau through whose agency
good lectures upon practical subjects can be secured in every city and village. All
interested in such a conference are requested to send their names to Mrs. Elizabeth
Boynton Harbert, Evanston. 111., or Mrs. Louise Rockwood Wardner, Cairo, 111.
Hon. Frank Sanborn, in his annual report to the American Social Sci-
ence Association, mentioned the formation of a branch society t in this
State. He said :
Like the State Charities Aid Association of New York, which was organized and is
directed by women, the Illinois Association devotes itself chiefly to practical applica-
tions of social science, though in a somewhat different direction. It was formed in
October, 1877, with a membership of some two hundred women; it publishes a
monthly newspaper, The Illinois Social Science Journal, full of interesting communi-
cations, and it has organized in its first seven months' existence eight smaller associa-
tions in other States.
The enthusiasm in this society branching out in so many practical direc-
tions, absorbed for a time the energies of the Illinois women. Our mem-
bership reached 400. This may account for the apparent lethargy of the
Suffrage Association during the years of 1877-78. Caroline F. Corbin
* Prominent among these journalists were Margaret Buchanan Sullivan and Mrs. Annie Kerr of
the Chicago Times, Mrs. Hubbard of the Tribune, Miss Farrand of the Advance, Virginia Fitzgerald
and Alice Hobbins of the Inter-Ocean, Mrs. Myra Bradwell, editor of the Legal News, Mrs. Cath-
arine V. Waite and Mrs. DeGeer of the Crusader, Mrs. Louisa White of the Moline Dispa.Uk, Mrs.
C. B. Bostwick of the Mattoon Gazette, Mrs. J. Oberly of the Cairo Bulletin, Miss Mary West of
the Galesburg Republican, Mrs. Celia Wooley, Miss Eliza Bowman, Mrs. Clara Lyon Peters of
the Watseka Times, Jane Grey Swisshelm, Elizabeth Holt Babbitt, and many others.
t The officers of the Illinois Social Science Association were: President, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton
Harbert, Evanston ; Recording Secretary, Miss Sarah A. Richards, Chicago ; Corresponding Secre-
tary, Mrs. W. E. Clifford, Evanston ; Treasurer, Mrs. H. H. Candee, Cairo ; Directors, Mrs. Helen
M. Beveredge, Evanston ; Mrs. Frank Denman, Quincy ; Mrs. C. A. Beck, Centralia ; Mrs. R. Me.
Loughrey, Joliet ; Mrs. W. O. Carpenter, Chicago ; Miss M. Fredricka Perry, Chicago ; Vice-Presi-
dents, First Congressional District, Mrs. Eliza R. Sunderland, Chicago ; Second, Mrs. W. D. Babbitt.
Chicago ; Third, Mrs. Chas. E. Brown. Evanston ; Fourth, Mrs. Carrie A. Potter, Rockford ; Fifth,
Mrs. F. A. W. Shimer, Mt. Carroll ; Sixth, Mrs. Sarah C. Mclntosh, Joliet ; Thirteenth. Mrs. B. M.
Prince, Bloomington ; Fourteenth, Mrs. C. B. Bostwick, Mattoon ; Sixteenth, Mrs. J. W. Seymour,
Centralia; Nineteenth, Mrs. J. H. Oberly, Cairo.
Mrs. Jane Graham Jones. 585
dealt an effective blow in her novel, entitled " Rebecca ; or, A Woman's
Secret." Jane Grey Swisshelm, with trenchant pen, wrote earnest stric-
tures against the shams of society. Elizabeth Holt Babbitt wrote earnestly
for all reform movements. Myra Bradwell persistently held up to the
view of the legislators of the State the injustice of the laws for woman.
Mrs. Julia Mills Dunn and Mrs. Hannah J. Coffee were doing quiet but
most effective work in Henry county. Miss Eliza Bowman was con-
secrating her young womanhood to the care of the Foundlings'
Home. Mrs. Wardner, Mrs. Candee, Mrs. George, and other women
in the southern part of the State, were founding the library at Cairo,
while in every village and hamlet clubs for study or philanthropic
work were being organized. Mrs. Kate N. Doggett, as president of the
Association for the advancement of Women, was lending her influence to
the formation of art clubs. And all this in addition to the vast army of
faithful teachers, represented by Sarah B. Raymond, Professor Louisa
Allen Gregory and Mary C. Lamed. Mrs. Louise Rockwood Wardner,
president of the Illinois Industrial School for Girls, and the noble band
of women associated with her, were earnestly at work in the endeavor to
secure to the vagrant girls of the State an industrial education. Miss
Frances E. Willard and the dauntless army of temperance workers were
petitioning for the right to vote on all questions pertaining to the liquor
traffic.
Meanwhile many of the members of the Illinois Social Science Associa-
tion were beginning to realize that every measure proposed for progress-
ive action was thwarted because of woman's inability to crystallize her
opinions into law. This has been the uniform experience in every depart-
ment of reform, and sooner or later all thinking women see plainly that
the direct influence secured by political power gives weight and dignity
to their words and wishes. Mrs. Jane Graham Jones, ex-president of the
State Association, continued her effective work in Europe, and, as a dele-
gate from the National Association, prepared the following address of
welcome to the International Congress, convened in Paris, July 5, 1878:
Friends, compatriots, and confreres of the International Congress assembled to dis-
cuss the rights of women : Allow me to extend to you the congratulations of the
National Woman Suffrage Association of America, which I have the honor to repre-
sent. I congratulate you upon this important, this sublime moment, this auspicious
place for the meeting of a woman's congress. Paris, gorgeous under the grand mon-
arch who surrounded his royal person with a splendid galaxy of beauty, genius, and
chivalry; attractive and influential under the great emperor whose meteoric genius
held spell-bound the wondering gaze of a world ; to-day, with neither king nor court,
nor man of destiny, is grander, more gorgeous, more beautiful and more influential
than ever before. To-day this is the shrine toward which the pilgrims from every land
turn their impatient steps.
Each balmy breeze comes to us heavily laden with the dialects of all nations. Not
only are the different parts represented in their economic and industrial products, but
each thought, idea, motive and need is brought before the world in the various con-
gresses assembled during this great union festival of liberty, peace and labor. Litera-
ture, science, religion, education, philosophy, and labor, each has had its eloquent
advocates. At this time, when the great ones of the earth are met together in earnest
thought and honest discussion, when each mind and conscience is attuned to the high-
est motive, how appropriate that woman, whose labor, wealth and brain have cemented
586 History of Woman Suffrage.
the stones in every monument that man has reared to himself; -that woman, the op-
pressed, woman, the hater of wars, the faithful, quiet drudge of the centuries, watch-
ing while others slept, working while others plundered and murdered; woman, who
has died in prison and on the scaffold for liberty, should here and now have her
audience and her advocates.
As a child of America I love and venerate France. We cannot forget LaFayette,
although a hundred years have passed since generous France sent him to our aid in our
great struggle for freedom. But as a woman I glory in her. [Great and deafening
applause.] All true women love and honor France. [At this point the reader was in-
terrupted with wild cries of "Bravo! bravo!" "Live America!" "True, true."]
France, in whose prolific soil great and progressive ideas generate and take root, in
spite of king, emperor, priest or tyrant; France, the protectress of science, art, and
philosophy; France, the home of the scholar and thinker; France, the asylum which
generously received the women who came hither seeking those intellectual advantages
and privileges cruelly denied them at home; France, that compelled republican
America and civilized England to open their educational institutions to women;
France, the birth-place of a host of women whose splendid genius, devoted lives, and
heroic deaths have encouraged and inspired women of other lands in their struggles to
strike off the ignominious shackles which the ages have riveted upon them ! [Loud ap-
plause.] How apropos it is, then, that the women from all nations meet on the free
soil of France to give to the world their declaration of rights. To-day we clasp hands
and pledge hearts to the sacred cause of woman's emancipation. To-day we meet to
thank France for the grand women whose lofty utterances come echoing and reechoing
to us through the corridors of time, and to thank her for her great men who have been
the beacon lights to guide the world to higher civilization and greater hatred of oppres-
sion. In the name of my great countrywomen, inaugurators and leaders of the
woman's rights movement in America, the eloquent and ardent advocates of liberty for
men and women alike, both black and white; in the name of the officers of the National
Woman Suffrage Association; in the name of those grand women, Lucretia Mott,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, I salute the women of France and of
the world assembled in this congress, and bid them god-speed. When we call to
mind what has been accomplished by noble women everywhere, we are encouraged
to renewed effort.
In America we have accomplished wonders, and yet we demand more ; and shall con-
tinue to demand until we are equal in the state, in the church, and in the home. Twenty
years ago woman entered our courts of law only as a criminal to be tried; now she enters
as an advocate to plead the cause of justice, and invoke the spirit of mercy.
Twenty years ago woman entered the sick room only as the poorly-paid nurse; now
she is the trusted medical adviser, friend and counsellor. To-day she is in many re-
spects the peer of man, to-morrow she will be in all respects his acknowledged equal.
[Great and continued applause.]
Who can measure the influence this congress may have on woman's advancement
toward that perfect equality which justice and humanity demand. Women of France
and of the world, be of good cheer, and continue to agitate for the right, for in the
elevation of woman lies the progress of the world. [Deafening applause, and cries of
hear, hear.]
A letter to the Chicago Times commenting upon the above address says :
Mrs. Jones being indisposed, was replaced momentarily by her daughter, a beautiful
young lady of about sixteen summers, who read the opening address of her mother;
her rich voice pronouncing with such distinctness and beauty, the earnest words,
translated into French, won all hearts, and gave to the opening of the congress such
a prestige as it would otherwise never have had. After its close, Miss Jones regained
her seat amidst the hearty congratulations of the throng assembled in that great hall,
and I was proud of our little American. Her beauty and courage, coupled with her
extreme youth, were the principal topics discussed during the day by outsiders. I was
Scene in the State-Hoiise. 587
thankful that our nation was so well represented at the very first meeting, and the
Parisian journals were all loud in their praise of Mrs. Jones' welcoming address, as
well as the charming apparition of her young and accomplished daughter.
As indicating the numerous lines along which woman's aroused energies
have found expression, we would call attention to the Art Union of cen-
tral Illinois. It is composed of nine societies, "The Historical," and
"The Palladium," of Bloomington ; the art class at Decatur; "Art So-
ciety," of Lincoln ; "Art Association, "of Jacksonville ; "Art Society," of
Peoria; "Art Society," of Springfield, and "Art Club," of Champagne.
Mrs. Lavilla Wyatt Latham, wife of Col. Robert G. Latham, of Lincoln,
was the originator of the Art Union. Their spacious home, built with
large piazzas in true southern style, is a museum of curiosities. Its library,
cabinet, pictures, and statuary, make it a most attractive harbor of rest to
the wandering band of lecturers, especially as the cultivated host and
hostess are in warm sympathy with all reform movements. Mr. Latham
was a warm friend of Abraham Lincoln, and entertained him many times
under his roof.
The Woman 's Journal of March 24, 1877, said:
Seventy women of Illinois, appointed by the Woman's State Temperance Union,
went to the legislature, bearing a petition signed by 7,000 persons, asking that no
licenses to sell liquor be granted, which are not asked for by a majority of the citizens
of the place.
Mr. SHERMAN moved a suspension of the rules to admit of the presentation of the
petition.
Mr. MERRITT objected, but, by a decided vote, the rules were suspended, and the
petition was received and read.
Mr. SHERMAN moved that Mrs. Prof. S. M. D. Fry of Wesleyan University of
Bloomington, be invited to address the House upon the subject of the petition.
Mr. HERRINGTON objected to the obtrusion of such trifling matter upon the House,
which had business to do. It was well enough to let the petition be received, but he
wanted nobody to be allowed to interfere with the business of the House. Referring
to some forty or fifty ladies of the Union who had been admitted to the floor of the
House, he wanted to know by what authority persons not entitled to the privilege of
the floor had been admitted. He insisted on his prerogative as a member, and askad
that the floor and lobbies be cleared of all persons not entitled to the privilege of the
House.
According to the Chicago Tribune, this speech of Herrington created a slight sen-
sation, among the ladies especially, but Mr. Herrington's demand was ignored, and a
recess of thirty minutes was taken to allow Mrs. Fry to address the House in support
of the petition, which she did in a speech put in very telling phrases. At its conclu-
sion, some of the members opposed to temperance legislation, signalized their ill-
breeding, to say the least, by derisive yells for Mr. Herrington and others to answer
Mrs. Fry. Presently the hall was resonant with yells and cheers, converting it into a
a very babel, and the hubbub was kept up until, at the expiration of the half-hour
recess, Speaker Shaw called " order'" and the House immediately adjourned.
If any body of men bearing a petition of 7,000 voting men, had gone to the same
let^lature, and by courtesy been admitted to speak for their petition, no member
would have dared to insult them. It is because they had no recognized political rights
that these women were insulted. Claim your right, ladies, to be equal members of
the legislature, then you can enact temperance laws, and have an unquestioned right
" to the privilege of the floor."
In 1879, under the lead of their president, Frances E. Willard, the
women of Illinois rolled up a mammoth petition of 180,000, asking the
588 History of Woman Suffrage.
right to vote on the question of license. This prayer, like that of the
7,000, met the fate of all attempts of disfranchised classes to influence
legislation. Following this repulse, in some ten or fifteen of the smaller
cities of the State, boards of common council were prevailed upon to
pass ordinances giving the women the right to vote on the question.
Without an exception, the result was overwhelming majorities for " No
License." In the cities where officers were elected at the same time,
almost without exception, the majority of them were in favor of license,
while in those in which the old board of officers held over, no licenses
were granted, until the new board elected only by the votes of the men
of the city, was installed. Dr. Alice B. Stockham, in her report at the
Washington convention of 1885, said :
After the city ordinance of Keithsburg allowed women to vote, the hardest work
was to convert the women themselves. Committees were appointed who visited from
house to house to persuade women to go to the polls for the suppression of the rule of
liquor. On the morning of election they met in a church for conference and prayer.
At 10 o'clock forty brave women marched to the polls and cast their first ballot for
home protection. Carriages were running to and fro all day to bring the invalid and
the aged. For once they were induced to leave the making of ruffles and crazy quilts,
to give their silent voice for the suppression of vice. Three weeks later not a woman
could be found in the town opposed to suffrage, and for one year not a glass of liquor
could be bought in Keithsburg.
Under the act of 1872, the women of Illinois thought their right to pur-
sue every avocation, except the military, secure. But in 1880, a judicial
decision proved the contrary. We quote from the National Citizen :
In June, 1879, the Circuit Court of Union County, Judge John Dougherty presiding,
appointed Helen A. Schuchardt, resident of the county, to the office of Master in
Chancery. Mrs. Schuchardt gave bond with security approved by the court, taking
and subscribing the required oath of office. Since that day, she has been the acting
Master of Chancery of that county, taking proofs, making judicial rules, and perform-
ing the other various duties incident to such office. At the last term of the court the
State attorney, at the instance of Mr. Frank Hall, relator, filed an information in the
nature of a quo warranto charging that Mrs. Schuchardt had usurped and was unlaw-
fully holding and- exercising the office. Mrs. Schuchardt filed pleas setting forth the
order of the court appointing her, her bonds with the order of approval, and the oath
of office filed by her. To these pleas a general demurrer was interposed and argued.
The questions presented by the demurrer were: First — Is the defendant eligible to
this office, she being neither a practicing nor a learned lawyer? Second — Is the de-
fendant eligible to this office, she being a female? The court dismissed the first ques-
tion on the ground that the statute does not require admission to the bar as a qualifica-
tion. Of the eleven Masters in Chancery in that Judicial Circuit, it was shown that
only five had been admitted to the bar. As to the second objection, i. e., that Mrs.
•Schuchardt was a female (!) it was decided that the common law never contemplated
the admittance of a woman to the office of Master in Chancery, and that doubtless
it was the first instance in which a woman had been admitted to the office. It was also
decided that the act of March 22, 1872, did not make women eligible to this office;
Master in Chancery — for woman — did not mean "occupation, profession, or employ-
ment," and that "persons do not select an office, but are selected for the office."
Judge Harker, in delivering this opinion, said: " It is due to Mrs. Schuchardt to
say in conclusion, that while I am constrained to sustain this demurrer and hold that
under the law she cannot retain this office, there is not one of the Masters in Chan-
cery in the four counties where I preside, who has been more faithful or attentive in
the discharge of his duties, and none who has exhibited higher qualifications to dis-
Moline Association. 589
charge well those duties. And it is my sincere hope that at its next session the legis-
lature will make this office accessible to females."
One of the most influential local associations has been that of Chicago,
or Cook county.* From 1870 to 1876 Mrs. Jane Graham Jones was its
president, as well as the leading spirit in the State Society.t She was the
one to plan and execute the attacks upon the board of education, the com-
mon council, and the legislature, holding many meetings in Chicago,
and at Springfield, the seat of government. Another flourishing asso-
ciation is that of Moline. We give the following from its secretary :
In May, 1877, Mrs. Eunice G. Sayles, and Mrs. Julia Mills Dunn, secured Mrs.
Stanton to give a lecture on woman suffrage in Moline, and at a reception given to
her by Mrs. Sayles, a society with 22 members was organized, which has held
meetings regularly since that time, with the reading of papers on topics previously ar-
ranged by the president. It is a matter of pride that not a failure has .ever occurred,
each member always cheerfully performing the duty assigned her. An evening re-
ception is held annually to celebrate the organization of the society, to which two
hundred or more guests are invited, each member being entitled to bring several
outside of her own family. The meetings have been valuable, not only in promoting
friendly relations between the members, but also in the mental stimulus thev have af-
forded. Much of the success of this society is due to the literary culture and earnest-
ness of Mrs. Anne M. J. Dow, who was our president for three years. We have sus-
tained a great loss in the death of Mrs. Sarah D. Nourse, who for thirty-five years was
an earnest friend of all reforms.
Soon after its organization, our society became auxiliary to the National Associa-
tion. We have circulated petitions and forwarded them to Springfield and Washing-
ton, where they have met the fate common to all prayers of the disfranchised; we have
circulated tracts, placed on file in the public reading room all the suffrage journals,
and secured the best lecturers on the question. \Ve are organizing an afternoon read-
ing society, to have read aloud "The History of Woman Suffrage," and shall soon
place it on the shelves of the public library of the village. While we cannot point to
any wonderful revolution in public sentiment because of our work, we are neverthe-
less full of courage, and under the leadership of our State president, Elizabeth Boyn-
ton Harbert, we shall go forward in faith and good works, hoping for the end of
woman's political slavery.}:
In concluding this meager record of the methods of earnest men and
women of Illinois in their brave work for liberty, we are painfully con-
* President. Mrs Fernando Jones ; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. Robert ColJyer, Mrs. Richard Somers,
Rev. C. D. Helmer Corresponding-Secretary, Mrs. C. B. Waite ; Recording-Secretary, Mrs. S. H.
Pierce; Treasurer Mrs. J. W. Loomis ; Executive Committee, Mrs. Rebecca Mott, Mrs. H. W.
Fuller, Mrs. Dr. C D. R. Levanway, Fernando Jones, Miss Thayer, Rev. J. M. Reid, Mrs. Jno.
Jones, Mrs. Wm. Coker, Dr. S. C. Blake.
t The officers of the Illinois State Association are now, 1885 ; President, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton
Harbert, Evanston ; Vice-President-at-large, Mrs. M. E. Holmes, Galva ; Secretary, Rev. Florence
Kollock, Englewood ; Treasurer, Dr. L. C. Bedell, 354 N. La Salle street, Chicago ; ExecutiT't
Committee, Hon. M. B. Castle, Sandwich: Mrs. E. J. Loomis, 2,939 Wabash avenue, Chicago; Mrs.
Clara L. Peters, Watseka ; Mrs. L. R. Wardner, Anna ; Mrs. Julia Mills Dunn, Moline ; Mrs. Helen
E. Starrett, Lake Side Building, Chicago ; Capt. W. S. Harbert, Evanston ; Rev. C. C. Harrah, Galva.
\ From time to time we have had for president, Mrs. Eunice G. Sayles, Mrs. Anna M. J. Dow, Mrs.
Flora N. Candee, Mrs. Julia Mills Dunn, Mrs. Nettie H. Wheelock ; for secretaries, Mrs. C. W.
Heald, Mrs. Lucy Anderson, Mrs. Kate Anderson ; among those who have been active members of
the society from its formation are, Harriet B. G. Lester, Ida Peyton, L. F. M'Clennan, Catharine H.
Calkins, Dr. Jane H. Miller, Margaret Osborne, Harriet M. Gillette, Laoti Gates, Mary F. Barnes,
Mary Wright, M. M. Hubbard, Emma Jones, Mary A. Stewart, Kate S. Holt, Mary A. Stephens, Ab-
bie A. Gould, Mrs. M'Cord, Lydia Wheelock, Mrs. E. P. Reynolds, J. A. Tallman, Ann Eliza Reator,
Dr. S. E. Bailey, Dr. E. A. Taylor, Lucy Ainsworth, Jerome B. Wheelock, M. A. Young, Mary
Knowles, M. E. Abbot, Lois Forward, Mrs. Young.
590 History of Woman Suffrage.
scious of a vast aggregate of personal toil and self sacrifice which can
never be reported. We write of petitions presented to State and National
legislative assemblies, but it is impossible to record the personal sacri-
fice and moral heroism of the women who went from house to house
in the cities and villages, or traveled long distances across the broad
prairies to secure the signatures. Only those who have carried a
petition from door to door can know the fatigue and humiliation of spirit
it involves. Though these earnest women ask only the influence of the
names of persons to help on our reform, they are often treated with less
courtesy than the dreaded book-agent and peddler.
WATSEKA, 111.
I send you petitions, the one circulated by me has 270 names — the other by Clara
L. Peters, 139.* We are interested heart and soul in the movement, and our efforts
here have made many friends for the cause. Have been an ardent worker since I was
a child, and well remember that grand hero of moral reforms, Samuel J. May of
Syracuse, N. Y., at a Woman's Temperance Convention held in Rochester in 1852,
when I was eight years old. VIOLA HAWKS ARCHIBALD.!
The following letter from Mary L. Davis, gives some idea of the toils of
circulating petitions:
DAVIS, Stephenson Co., 111., May 28, 1877.
EDITOR Ballot-Box: — The question of suffrage for woman has been thoroughly dis-
cussed in our society, and last week I started out with my petition. I could work
but a short time each day, but I systematically canvassed our beautiful little village,
taking it by streets, and although I have been over but a small portion, I have ninety
signatures. I met with but little opposition, and with kind wishes in abundance;
with some amusing, some provoking, some pathetic, and some disgusting phases of
human nature— with very agreeable disappointments, and very disagreeable ones.
Very often some person would say to me, there is no use in calling at such a
house; the man will not, and the woman dare not, sign. I went to such a place
last week, was met with all the courtesy one could ask. The man looked over the
petition thoughtfully, affixed his own name, and asked his wife if she did not wish to
do so, and called in a beautiful sister who was out playing ball with the children, tell-
ing her as it was for the especial benefit of women, she ought to sign it too. I write
these things to encourage our young girls, who will take up the work. Take every
house, ask every person; " No," will not hurt or Jail you. Be prepared to meet every
argument that can possibly be advanced. The one which I meet oftenest, is that
woman cannot fight, and therefore she shall not vote; and strange to relate, it is al-
most always advanced by a person who was never a soldier, through physical disability,
cowardice, or over or under age.
The shortest " No," without the slightest shadow of courtesy, was shot from the lips
of a man who is doing business on capital furnished by his wife, and who lives in a
house purchased with his wife's money. Graceful return for her devotion, wasn't it?
I suppose he prefers to keep her in her present state of serfdom, as, if she should ever
* Mrs. Clara Lyon Peters of Watseka, furnished the largest petition ever sent from Illinois; W. B.
Wright of Greenview, Mrs. S. Eliza Lyon of Toulon, Mrs. Hannah J. Coffee of Orion, Mrs. Eva
Edwards of Plymouth, Mrs. C. E. Lamed of Champaign, Mrs. Barbara M. Prince of Bloomington,
Mrs. F. B. Rowe of Freedom, Mrs. Jane Barnett, Mrs. E. H. Blacfan, and Mrs. E. T. Lippincott of
Orion, Mrs. Julia Dunn of Moline, Mrs. Clara P. Bourland of Peoria, Sybilla Leek Browne of Odell,
Mrs. Jacob Martin, Cairo, Mary E. Higbee, Kirkland Grove, Mary Thompson, LaSalle, Emily Z. Hall
of Savoy, Elizabeth J. Loomis of Chicago, have all done worthy work in circulating petitions, both to
congress and the State legislature.
t Mrs. Archibald is the daughter of Betsey Hawks, of Genesee county, N. Y. I well remember the
brave-hearted mother in the early days of the movement, when in 1852 I made my first stammering
speech in the town-hall at Batavia. She arranged the meeting, and entertained the speakers, and was
indeed " the cause " in that conservative village. — [S. B. A.
Letter from A. J. Graver. 591
find out that she was of any importance in the world, except as his housekeeper, cook,
washerwoman, and waiter-in-general, she might possibly inquire into the stewardship
of her lord and master. And it seemed to me if that ever came to pass, a man who
could say" no" so cavelierly, •without even a " thank you, ma'am, "or, "you're quite wel-
come," both could and would manage to make surroundings rather disagreeeble to the
party of the second part. So far no person who has thought much, read much, or
suffered much, has refused to sign, and in the few hours which I have devoted to the
work, three grandmothers nearly ninety years of age, wished to have their names re-
corded on the right side of the question, and in two of those instances the grandmother,
daughter, and grandfather affixed their signatures, one after another.*
We have been permitted to copy the following private letter from A. J.
Grover to Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who is now at her home in Ten-
afly, N. J., busily at work with Miss Anthony and Mrs. Gage on the sec-
ond volume of the " History of Woman Suffrage." The first volume
should be on the center-table of every family in the land as a complete
text-book on the woman suffrage question, which is to be one of the great
issues, social and political, in the coming years. These three women
have grown old and won their crowns of white hair in the cause of not
only their sex, but of mankind :
CHICAGO, November 29, 1881.
MY DEAR FRIEND : You represent a movement of more importance to mankind
than any that ever before claimed attention in the whole history of the race, viz. : the
freedom of one-half of it. You have enforced this claim by half a century of heroic
discussion — of persistent, unanswerable logic and appeal against the theory and prac-
tice of all nations, against all governments, codes and creeds. You proclaimed fifty
years ago the novel doctrine that woman by nature is, and by law and usage should be,
the absolute equal of man. A claim so self-evident should only have to be stated to
be recognized by all civilized nations; and yet to this hour the highest civilization,
equally with the lowest, is built on the slavery of woman. In the darkest corners of
the earth and on the sunlit heights of civilization, the mothers of the race are by law,
religion and custom doomed to degradation. And if the seal of their bondage is never
to be broken, they themselves as well as the lords and masters they serve, are equally
unconscious of the servitude. No religion, no civil government, has ever taught or
recognized any other condition for woman than that of subjection. Against the accu-
mulated precedents of all the ages, you and your noble coadjutors have rebelled
in the face of derision for fifty long, weary years. Was ever such sublime
womanly heroism and self-sacrifice before known ? Was ever such worth of
culture, such wealth of womanhood, laid on the altar of country and humanity?
And all this comparatively unrecognized and unrewarded. Where is the boasted
chivalry of the English-speaking nations? It is a virtue we boast of, but do not pos-
it never, in fact, had any real existence based on genuine respect for woman.
It is a bitter sarcasm in the mouth of an American male citizen. A few men like
Tln-ndore Parker, Joshua R. Giddings, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips,
• .rrrit Smith, Samuel J. May and Parker Pillsbury have measurably redeemed this
nation, recognizing your claim for woman as self-evidently just and righteous, andcobp-
c rat ing with you in maintaining it. There are only a score or two of such men in a
generation with sufficient chivalry or perception of justice to publicly claim for women
the rights they themselves possess.
* When at Durand. near Davis, in 1877, Mrs. Davis and her husband drove over, and at the close of
my In.turc, she gave me her maiden name and said, " Do you not remember me ? I sat by your side
and fairly pushed you up in that teachers' convention at Rochester, in 1853, when you made that first
speech you told about ; and I have been most earnestly hoping and working for the enfranchisement of
women ever since." — [S. B. A.
592 History of Woman Suffrage.
Science has demonstrated that men to be manly must be well born, must have noble
mothers. How can a mother give birth to a noble soul while herself a slave? How
can she impart a free spirit when her own is servile ? A stream cannot rise higher
than its fountain.
We have thought to bring about a high order of civilization by freeing our sons,
while chaining our daughters, by sending sons to college and daughters to menial ser-
vice for a mere pittance as wages, or selling them in marriage to the highest bidder —
by robbing them on the very threshold of life of all noble ambition. By the degrada-
tion of our women we take from the inherited qualities of the race as much as is added
by culture. We take from the metal before casting as much as we restore by polish
afterwards, and thus we curse and stultify both sexes.
The law and religion of man can be no better than man himself. If religion, law,
justice and social order are to improve, man must first be improved. Religion and
law are effects, not causes. They are fruits, not the tree — the products of the human
mind. If these are to be improved, mankind must first be improved. This will be
impossible until freedom and culture shall become the inalienable rights of woman.
It would be a thousand times better, if either must be a slave to the other, that man
should be a slave to woman. The History of Woman Suffrage, on which you are en-
gaged, if the second volume shall prove equal to the first, will be the richest legacy
this age will bequeath to the future. It is a revelation from God, in which, if men
believe, they shall be saved. Religion itself, without this great salvation, will con-
tinue to remain little else than " a wretched record of inspired crime" against woman.
Woman must be free ! Protection as an underling from man, savage or civilized, she
in reality never had and never will have. Protection she does not want. What she
needs is equal rights, when she can protect herself — rights of person, rights of labor,
rights of property, rights of culture, rights of leisure, rights to participate in the making
and administering of the laws. Give her equality in exchange for protection ; give her
her earnings in exchange for support; give her justice in exchange for charity. Let
man trust woman as woman trusts man, with entire liberty of action, and she will
show the world that liberty is her highest good.
In conclusion, let me confess that I read your first volume with a feeling of inex-
pressible shame and mortification for my sex. Yours faithfully,
A. J. GROVER.
Mrs. Boynton Harbert, to whom we are indebted for this
chapter, has from girlhood been an enthusiastic advocate of
the rights of women. Growing up in Crawfordsville, Indiana,
under the very shadow of a collegiate institution into which girls
were not permitted to enter, she early learned the humiliation of
sex. After vain attempts to slip the bolts riveted with precedent
and prejudice that barred the daughters of the State outside, she
tried with pen and voice to rouse those whose stronger hands
could open wide the doors to the justice of her appeals. Her
youthful peans to liberty in prose and verse early found their
way into our Eastern journals, and later in arguments before
conventions and legislative assemblies in Illinois, Iowa and other
Western States. As editor for seven years of the " Woman's
Kingdom " in the Chicago Inter-Ocean — one of the most pop-
ular journals in the nation — she has exerted a widespread in-
fluence over the lives of women, bringing new hope and am-
Elizabeth Boynton Harbert. 593
bition into many prairie homes. As editor-in-chief of the New
Era, in which she is free to utter her deepest convictions; as
wife and mother, with life's multiplied experiences, a wider
outlook now opens before her, with added wisdom for the re-
sponsibilities involved in public life. In all her endeavors she
has been nobly sustained by her husband, Mr. William Har-
bert, a successful lawyer, many years in practice in Chicago,
whose clear judgment and generous sympathies have made his
services invaluable in the reform movements of the day.
38
CHAPTER XLIV.
MISSOURI.
Missouri the First State to Open Colleges of Law and Medicine to Woman — Lib-
eral Legislation — Eight Causes for Divorce — Harriet Hosmer — Wayman Crow —
Works of Art — Women in the War — Adeline Couzins — Virginia L. Minor — Peti-
tions— Woman Suffrage Association, May 8, 1867 — First Woman Suffrage Conven-
tion, Oct. 6, 1869 — Able Resolutions by Francis Minor — Action Asked for in the
Methodist Church — Constitutional Convention — Mrs. Hazard's Report — National
Suffrage Association, 1879 — Virginia L. Minor Before the Committee on Constitu-
tional Amendments — Mrs. Minor Tries to Vote — Her Case in the Supreme Court
— Miss Phoebe Couzins Graduated from the Law School, 1871 — Reception by Mem-
bers of the Bar — Speeches — Dr. Walker — Judge Krum — Hon. Albert Todd — Ex-
Governor E. O. Stanard — Ex-Senator Henderson — Judge Reber — George M.
Stewart — Mrs. Minor — Miss Couzins— Mrs. Annie R. Irvine — " Oregon Woman's
Union."
IT has often been a subject for speculation why it was that a
slave State like Missouri should have been the first to open her
medical and law schools to women, and why the suffrage move-
ment from the beginning should there have enlisted so large a
number of men* and women of wealth and position, who
promptly took an active interest in the inauguration of the
work. A little research into history shows that there must have
been some liberal statesmen, some men endowed with wisdom
and a sense of justice, who influenced the early legislation in Mis-
souri.
By the constitution, imprisonment for debt is forbidden, except
for fines and penalties imposed for violation of law. A home-
stead not exceeding $3,000 in value in cities of 40,000 inhabitants
"or more, and not exceeding $1,500 in smaller cities and in the
country, is exempt from levy on execution. The real estate of a
married woman is not liable for the debts of her husband. There
* Among them were Isaac H. Sturgeon, Francis Minor, James E. Ycatman, Judge John M. Krum.
Judge Arnold Krekel, Hon. Thomas Noel, Ernest Decker, Dr. G. A. Walker, John E. Orrick, J.
B. Roberts, Rev. G. W. Eliot, Bishop Bowman, Albert Todd. Rev. John Snyder, John JJatro, J. B.
Case, H. E. Merille, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor, Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard, Mrs. Adeline Couzins, Miss
Phoebe Couzins, Mrs. Beverly Allen, Miss Mary Beedy, Miss Arathusa Forbes, Mrs. Isaac Sturgeon,
Mrs. Hall, and many others.
Harriet Hosmer. 595
are eight causes for divorce, so many doors of escape for unfor-
tunate wives from the bondage of a joyless union.
The memory of the unjust treatment of Miss Hosmer will
always be a reproach to Massachusetts. That she enjoyed the
privileges of education in Missouri denied her in Massachusetts
was due in no small measure to the generosity and public spirit
of Wayman Crow. Speaking of the gifted sculptor, a corre-
spondent says :
Harriet Hosmer was born in 1830. She studied sculpture in the studio
of Mr. Stephenson, in Boston, and also with her father. In 1830, after be-
ing denied admission to anatomical lectures in Harvard and many other
colleges at the East, she went to St. Louis, where, through the spirited
determination of Wayman Crow, a most liberal benefactor of Washington
University, she was admitted to the Missouri Medical College through
the kindness and courtesy of Dr. Joseph N. McDowell, its founder and
head. Here for a whole winter she pursued her studies under the in-
struction of Dr. McDowell and Dr. Louis T. Pim, the able demonstrator
of anatomy of the college, who gave her the benefit of their constant and
unremitting aid; also Dr. B. Gratz Moses and Dr. J. B.Johnson were
particularly kind in inviting her to be present when important cases were
before them. The names of these men are gratefully mentioned, now that
the doors of hundreds of colleges have opened to women. While in St.
Louis Miss Hosmer had a constant companion and friend in Miss Jane
Peck, a lady well known in society circles, and together they daily at-
tended at the college ; indeed, Miss Peck informed the writer, that on no
occasion did Miss Hosmer go to the college without her. So quietly was
this done, it was not until the month of February that the students be-
came aware of their attending, and when informed of it the entire class,
numbering about one hundred and thirty, gave them a most cordial and
hearty endorsement, and from that time on until the day of graduation
they were treated by the young gentlemen with marked attention. The
students were not aware of their attending in the earlier part of the
course, because it had been the custom for the ladies to attend in the
amphitheater after the class had left to go to the various hospitals. On
one occasion while on their way to the college, a number of the students
being behind them, they heard the gentlemen say to some men they met,
"These ladies are under our charge, and if you offer them an insult we
will shoot you down." They did not hear the language of the men, only
the reply of the students. At the close of the session the students gave
a ball and not only were Miss Hosmer and Miss Peck invited, but a car-
riage was specially sent to take them to it.
In March, 1869, Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony again visited
St. Louis. In a letter to The Revolution the former said :
We went to the Mercantile Library to see Miss Hosmer's works of
art, and there read the following letter to Wayman Crow, who had been
a generous friend to her through all those early days of trial and disap-
596 History of Woman Suffrage.
pointment. One of the best of her productions is an admirable bust of
her noble benefactor:
BOSTON, October 18, 1857.
DEAR MR. CROW : Will you allow me to convey through you to the Mercantile
Library Association " The Beatrice Cenci." This statue is in execution of a commis-
sion I received three years ago from a friend who requested me not only to make a
piece of statuary for that institution, but to present it in my own name. I have
finished the work, but cannot offer it as my own gift — but of one who. with a most
liberal hand, has largely ministered to the growth of the arts and sciences in your
beautiful city. For your sake, and for mine, I would have made a better statue if I
could. The will was not wanting, but the power — but such as it is, I rejoice sincerely
that it is destined for St. Louis, a city I love, not only because it was there I first be-
gan my studies, but because of the many generous and indulgent friends who dwell
therein — of whom I number you most generous and indulgent of all, whose increasing
kindness I can only repay by striving to become more and more worthy of all your
friendship and confidence, and so I am ever affectionately and gratefully yours,
Wayman Crow, Esq. H. G. HOSMER.
The very active part that the women of Missouri had taken in
the civil war, in the hospitals and sanitary department, had
aroused their enthusiasm in the preservation of the Union and
their sense of responsibility in national affairs. The great mass-
meetings of the Loyal Women's Leagues, too, did an immense
educational work in broadening their sympathies and the horizon
of their sphere of action. So wholly absorbed had they been in
the intense excitement of that period, that when peace came
their hands and hearts, unoccupied, naturally turned to new fields
of achievement. While in some States it was the temperance
question, in St. Louis it was specifically woman suffrage.
We are indebted for the main facts of this chapter to Mr.
Francis Minor, Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard, Miss Couzins and Miss
Arathusa Forbes, who have kindly sent us what information they
had or could hastily glean from the journals of the time or the
imperfect records of the association.
The labors of Mrs. Minor and Mrs. Couzins were exceptionally pro-
tracted and severe. The latter offered her services as nurse at the very
opening of the war. The letters received from men in authority show
how highly their services were appreciated. Dr. Pope who writes the
following, was the leading surgeon in St. Louis :
ST. Louis, April 26, 1861.
Mrs. J. E. D. COUZINS — Dear Madam : Your note in which, in case of collision
here, you generously offer your services in the capacity of nurse, is just received.
Should so dire a calamity befall us (which. God forbid), I shall, in case of need, most
assuredly remember your noble offer. With high regard and sincere thanks, I am,
Yours very truly, CHAS. A. POPE.
HEADQUARTERS 20 BRIG., Mo. VOL., ST. Louis, Mo., Aug. 23, 1861.
Mrs. J. E. D. COUZINS, present — Madam : I received your kind letter, dated Aug.
17. Accept my heartfelt thanks for your generous offer. I regard the nursing of
our wounded soldiers by the tender hands of patriotic ladies as a most effectual means
Sanitary Service. 597
of easing their condition and encouraging them to new efforts in defense of our glori-
ous cause. You will please confer with Mrs. von Wackerbarth, corner Seventh and
Elm streets, in regard to the steps to be taken in this matter.
Your obedient servant, F. SIGEL, Brig.-Gen. Com.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, February i8th, 1862.
The commanding officers at Cairo, Paducah, or vicinity, are hereby requested to
grant any facilities consistent with the public interests that may be desired by the
bearers of this note. They are Mrs. Couzins and Crawshaw, of the Ladies' Union Aid
Society, who wish to administer relief to our sick and wounded. By order of
J. T. PRICE, A. D. C. Maj.-Gen'l HALLECK.
ROOMS WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION, ST. Louis, Oct. 6th, 1862.
MY DEAR MRS. COUZINS : The surgeon-general has notified me that he may want
me to send nurses and surgeons to Columbus and Corinth. I look to you, my dear
madam, as one ever ready to volunteer when you can be of real service. In case it
should become necessary, may I rely on your valuable services ? Such other names as
you may suggest I would be pleased to have. Very respectfully,
JAS. E. YEATMAN.
OFFICE OF WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION, )
SAINT Louis, Mo., Oct. 8th, 1862. f
Mrs. Couzins has been detailed to service in the hospital steamer T. L. McGill, as
volunteer nurse.
N. B. — If the place of service is changed, a new certificate will be issued.
JAMES E. YEATMAN, President of Sanitary Commission.
CORINTH, Oct. 13, 1862.
• Pass Mrs. Couzins from Corinth to Columbus.
W. S. ROSECRANZ, Maj.-Gen'l U. S. A.
HEADQUARTERS DEP'T OF THE TENNESSEE, |
BEFORE VICKSBURG, Feb'y 2ist, 1863. f
The quartermaster in charge of transportation at Memphis, Tenn., will furnish
transportation on any chartered steamer plying between Memphis, Tenn., and St.
Louis, to Mrs. Couzins and five other ladies, members of the Western Sanitary Com-
mission, and who have been with this fleet distributing sanitary goods for the benefit
of sick soldiers. U. S. GRANT, Maj.-Gen. Com.
Capt. J. B. LEWIS, A. Q. M. and Master of Transportation, Memphis, Tenn.
While Mrs. Couzins thus gave herself to mitigating the* sufferings of
the " boys in blue," in camp and hospital, Mrs. Minor was no less active
and energetic in the equally important department of preserving supplies
for the sanitary commission. Although Mrs. Minor resided too far from
the city to attend the evening meetings, and her name does not appear in
the accounts of such gatherings, she was one of the first members of the
Ladies' Union Aid Society of St. Louis, and took part in the meeting of
loyal women called and presided over by Gen. Curtis. Having an orchard
and dairy on her place, she furnished the hospital with milk and fruit,
and for more than two years, sent a supply every day to the soldiers
in carnp at Benton barracks. When the news came that the army
around Vicksburg was suffering with scurvy, she took her carriage
and drove through the country soliciting fruit, and in one week she
canned with her own hands, a wagon-load of cherries, the sanitary com-
mission finding the cans and sugar, and from time to time she continued
the work until the end of the war. When the great fair was held under
the auspices of the Western Sanitary Commission, she was a member of
598 History of Woman Suffrage.
the floral department, and worked with her accustomed energy. The
sanitary commission, feeling that she had done so much, wrote her a let-
ter of thanks, and enclosed her a check for a liberal amount ; but she re-
turned the check, saying that hers was a work of love, and not for money.
Although the official letter of the commission thanking Mrs. Minor for
her most valuable services, is lost, the following to Mr. Minor may
fairly be considered as including her also :
ROOMS WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION, St. Louis, Oct. 7, 1863.
FRANCIS MINOR, Esq. — My Dear Sir: I am directed by our board to return you
their thanks in behalf of the soldiers in the hospitals, for your long-continued remem-
brance of them, and for the daily supply of fresh fruits, vegetables and milk, which
you have furnished for the sick, now more than two years. Your garner and sympathy
have been like the widow's cruse, and may they ever continue to be so. What you
have done has been in the most quiet and unobtrusive way. The sick soldier has had
no more constant, uniform and untiring friend, and it is with pleasure that I convey
the thanks of the board, both to yourself and wife, who have been as indefatiga-
ble at home in preparing canned fruits and other delicacies for the sick soldiers in the
field, as you have been in providing for those in the hospitals. With grateful feelings
and many thanks and best wishes, I remain, Very respectfully yours,
JAMES E. YEATMAN,
President Western Sanitary Commission.
The submission of a constitutional amendment in Kansas, and the prep-
arations for a thorough canvass of that State, had its influence in height-
ening the enthusiasm and increasing the agitation in Missouri, as most of
the speakers going to Kansas held meetings at various points. Mrs.
Stanton and Miss Anthony stopped at St. Louis both going and return-
ing, held large meetings in Library Hall, and had a pleasant reception in
the parlors of the Southern Hotel, where many warm friendships that
have lasted ever since, were formed.
The subject of woman's enfranchisement had doubtless often occurred
to the thoughtful men and women of Missouri, long before the movement
in its behalf assumed anything like a practical shape. The manifest ab-
surdity and injustice of declaring, as the constitution of the State did,
"that all political power is vested in, and derived from the people; that
all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their
will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole," and at the
same time, denying to one-half of the people any voice whatever in fram-
ing their government or making their laws, could not fail to strike the
attention of any one who gave the subject the slightest consideration.
But no attempt was made towards an organization in behalf of woman
suffrage until the winter of 1866-7 ; and the movement then had its origin
from the following circumstance : During the debate in the Senate of the
United States, on the district suffrage bill, December 12, 1866, Senator
Brown, of Missouri, in the course of his remarks said :
I have to say then, sir, here on the floor of the American Senate, I stand for univer-
sal suffrage, and as a matter of fundamental principle do not recognize the right of
society to limit it on any ground of race, color, or sex. I will go further, and say
that I recognize the right of franchise as being intrinsically a natural right; and I do
not believe that society is authorized to impose any limitation upon it that does not
spring out of the necessities of the social state itself.
Address to the Voters. 599
When Mrs. Francis Minor, of St. Louis, who had given the subject
much thought, read the report of Senator Brown's speech, she considered
that it was due to him from the women of the State that he should re-
ceive a letter of thanks for his bold and out-spoken utterances in their
behalf. She accordingly wrote him such a letter, obtaining to it all the
signatures she could, and it was presented to Senator Brown on his re-
turn home. But although first an advocate of the measure, he soon re-
canted, and gave his influence against it.
It was next determined to petition the legislature of the State then in
session, January, 1867, to propose an amendment to the constitution,
striking out the word " male," in the article on suffrage. Such a petition
was presented, and attracted much attention, as it was the first instance
of the kind in the history of the State. This move was followed by a
formal organization of the friends of the cause, and on May 8, 1867, the
"Missouri Woman Suffrage Association" was organized, and officers
elected.*
We find the following letter from Mr. Minor in The Revolution of Jan-
uary 22, 1868:
Editors of The Revolution: In order to show the steady progress that the grand
idea of equal rights is slowly but surely making among the people of these United
States, \ think it would be well, in the beginning, at least, to make a record in The
Revolution of the fact of each successive State organization ; and for that purpose I
send you the list of officers for the association in Missouri not yet a year old; as also
their petition to the legislature for a change in the organic law, and a brief address to
the voters of the State, in support of the movement :
To the Voters of Missouri:
The women of this State, having organized for the purpose of agitating their claims
to the ballot, it becomes every intelligent and reflecting mind to consider the question
fairly and dispassionately. If it has merits, it will eventually succeed; if not, it will
fail. I am of the number of those who believe that claim to be just and right, for the
following, among other reasons :
Taxation and Representation should go hand in hand. This is the very corner-
stone of our government. Its founders declared, and the declaration cannot be too
often repeated, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that
among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure those
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed." The man who believes in that declaration, cannot justly
deny to women the right of suffrage. They are citizens, they are tax-payers; they
bear the burdens of government — why should they be denied the rights of citizens?
We boast about liberty and equality before the law, when the truth is, our government
is controlled by one-half only of the population. The others have no more voice in the
making of their laws, or the selection of their rulers, than the criminals who are in our
penitentiaries; nay, in one respect, their condition is not as good as that of the felon,
for he may be pardoned and restored to a right which woman can never obtain. And
this, not because she has committed any crime, or violated any law, but simply be-
cause she is, what God made her — a woman ! Possessed of the same intelligence —
* President, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor ; Vice-President, Mrs. Beverly Allen ; Secretaries, Mrs. Re-
becca N. Hazard, and Mrs. George D. Hall ; Treasurer, Mrs. George W. Banker. There were pres-
ent, besides the officers, Mrs. Anna L. Clapp, Miss Penelope Allen, Mrs. Frank Fletcher, Miss Arathu-
Korbes, Mrs. Nannie C. Sturgeon, Mrs. Harriet B. Roberts, Mrs. N. Stevens, Mrs. Joseph
Hodgman, Miss A. Greenman, etc. Among the men who aided the movement were Francis Minor,
Isaac W. Sturgeon, James E. Yeatman, Judge John M. Krum, Judge Arnold Krekel. Hon. Thomas
N» 1. who gave the society its first twenty-five dollars. Ernest Decker, Dr. G. A. Walker, John C.
O'Neill, J. B. Roberts, Wayman Crow, Rev. Dr. Wm. G. Eliot, Bishop Bowman, Albert Todd, Rev..
John Snyder, John Datro, J. B. Case, H. C. Leville.
6oo History of Woman Suffrage.
formed in the same mold — having the same attributes, parts and passions — held by her
Maker to the same measure of responsibility here and hereafter, her actual position in
society to-day is that of an inferior. No matter what her qualifications may be, every
avenue of success is virtually closed against her. Even when she succeeds in obtain-
ing employment, she gets only half the pay that a man does for the same work. But,
it is said, woman's sphere is at home. Would giving her the right to vote interfere
with her home duties any more than it does with a man's business? Again it is said,
that for her to vote would be unfeminine. Is it at all more indelicate for a woman
to go to the polls, than it is for her to go to the court -house and pay her taxes? The truth
is, woman occupies just the position that man has placed her in, and it ill becomes him
to urge such objections. Give her a chance — give her the opportunity of proving
whether these objections are well founded or not. Her influence for good is great,
notwithstanding all the disadvantages under which she at present labors; and my firm
belief is, that that influence would be greatly enhanced and extended by the exercise
of this new right. It would be felt at the ballot-box and in the halls of legislation.
Better men, as a general rule, would be elected to office, and society in all its ramifi-
cations, would feel and rejoice at the change. A VOTER.
To the General Assembly of the State of Missouri:
GENTLEMEN: The undersigned women of Missouri, believing that all citizens who
are taxed for the support of the government and subject to its laws, should have a voice
in the making of those laws, and the selection of their rulers; that, as the possession of
the ballot ennobles and elevates the character of man, so, in like manner, it would en-
noble and elevate that of woman by giving her a direct and personal interest in the
affairs of government; and further, believing that the spirit of the age, as well as every
consideration of justice and equity, requires that the ballot should be extended to our
sex, do unite in praying that an amendment to the constitution may be p^posed,
striking out the word " male " and extending to women the right of suffrage.
And, as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
On behalf of the Missouri Woman Suffrage Association.
[Signed :] President, Mrs. Francis Minor; Vice-President, Mrs. Beverly Allen; Cor-
responding Secretary, Mrs. Wm. T. Hazard; Recording Secretary, Mrs. Geo. D. Hall;
Treasurer, Mrs. N. Stevens, St. Louis, Missouri.
Copies of the petition, and information furnished upon addressing either of above
named officers. Formation of auxiliary associations in every county requested. Peti-
tions when completely signed, to be returned to the head office.
These papers will serve to show that the idea has taken root in other States beyond
the Mississippi besides Kansas; and may also be somewhat of a guide to others, who
may desire to accomplish the same purpose elsewhere. A work of such magnitude re-
quires, of course, time for development ; but the leaven is working. The fountains of
the great deep of public thought have been broken up. The errors and prejudices of
six thousand years are yielding to the sunlight of truth. In spite of pulpits and politi-
cians, the great idea is making its way to the hearts of the people; and woman may re-
joice in believing that the dawn of her deliverance, so long hoped for and prayed for,
is at last approaching. F. M.
St. Louis, January, 1868.
The following from The Revolution shows that the women of
St. Louis were awake on the question of taxation :
The women here have endeavored to find out to what extent taxation
•without representation, because of sex, obtains in this city, and as the re-
sult of their inquiries they are enabled to place on their records the fol-
lowing very suggestive document .
ASSESSOR'S OFFICE, ST. Louis, January 30, 1869.
To Mrs. Couzins and Emma Finkelnburg, Committee of the Ladies' Suffrage Associa-
tion :
In reply to your request to report to your association the amount of property listed
jn the city of St. Louis in the name of ladies, permit me to state that the property in
Storming the Capitol. 60 1
question is represented by over 2,000 tax-paying ladies, and assessed at the value of
$14,490,199. Yours very respectfully,
ROBT. J. ROMBAUER, Assessor.
This exhibit has opened the eyes of a good many people. "Two thou-
sand on 'em," exclaimed a male friend of mine, "and over fourteen millions
of property ! Whew ! What business have these women with so much
money ? " Well, they have it, and now they ask us, " Shall 2,000 men, not
worth a dollar, just because they wear pantaloons go to the polls and
vote taxes on us, while we are excluded from the ballot-box for no other
reason than sex ? " What shall we say to them ? They ask us if the
American Revolution did not turn on this hinge, No taxation withotit rep-
resentation. Who can answer?
The advocates of suffrage in St. Louis made their attacks at once in
both Church * and State, and left no means of agitation untried. There
has never been an association in any State that comprised so many able
men and women who gave their best thoughts to every phase of this
question, and who did so grand a work, until the unfortunate division in
1871, which seemed to chill the enthusiasm of many friends of the move-
ment.
In the winter of 1869 the association sent a large delegation of ladies to
the legislature with a petition containing about 2,000 signatures. A cor-
respondent in The Revolution, February 6, 1869, said :
It will not be feminine to say, yet I fear I must say, the women of Missouri have
stormed their capitol, and if it is not yet taken, the outworks are in our hands, and I
believe with a few more well-directed blows the victory will be ours. On February 3
a large delegation of ladies, representing the Suffrage Association of Missouri, visited
Jefferson City for the purpose of laying before the legislature a large and influentially
signed petition, asking the ballot for women; and we were gratified to see the great
respect and deference shown to the women of Missouri by the wisest and best of her
legislators in their respectful and cordial reception of the delegates. Both Houses
adjourned, and gave the use of the house for the afternoon, when eloquent addresses
were made by Mrs. J. G. Phelps of Springfield, Dr. Ada Greunan of St. Louis, and
the future orator of Missouri, Miss Phcebe Couzins, whose able and effective address
the press has given in full. Of the brave men who stood up for us, it is more difficult
to speak. To give a list would be impossible; for every name would require a eulogy
too lengthy for the pages of The Revolution. We will, therefore, record them on the
tablets of our memory with a hand so firm that they shall stand out brightly till time
shall be no more. Of the small majority who oppose us we will say nothing, but
throw over them the pall of merciful oblivion.
The first woman suffrage convention ever held in the city of St. Louis,
or the State of Missouri, assembled in Mercantile Library, October 6, 7,
* The following we find in the St. Louis papers. It is significant of the sentiment of the Methodist
women of the West : " We, the undersigned, join in a call for a mass-meeting of the M% E. Church in
St. Louis, to meet at Union Church on the isth inst., at 3 o'clock p. M., to consider a plan for memo-
riali/ing the General Conference to permit the ordination of women as ministers. All women of the M. E.
Churth are requested to attend. Mrs. Henry Kennedy, Mrs. T. C. Fletcher, Mrs. E. O. Stanard, Mrs.
A. C. George, Mrs. Lucy Prescott, Mrs. U. 13. Wilson, Mrs. L. Jones, Mrs. E. L. Case, Mrs. W. F.
Brink, Mrs. S. C. Cummins, Mrs. R. N. Hazard, Mrs. Dutro, Mrs. M. H. Himebaugh." The result of
this meeting of the ladies of the Methodist churches to discuss a plan for admitting women into the pul-
pit as preachers was the appointment of a committee to draft a memorial to the General Conference to
meet at Brooklyn, N. Y., asking that body to sanction and provide for the ordination of women as
ministers of the Methodist Church.
602 History of Woman Suffrage.
1869. Many distinguished people were on the platform.* At this con-
vention Mr. Francis Minor introduced a very able series of resolutions, on
which Mrs. Minor made a remarkably logical address. t The following
letter from Mr. Minor shows the careful research he gave to the consid-
eration of this question :
ST. Louis, December 30, 1869.
DEAR REVOLUTION : So thoroughly am I satisfied that the surest and most direct
course to pursue to obtain a recognition of woman's claim to the ballot, lies through
the. courts of the country, that I am induced to ask you to republish the resolutions
that I drafted, and which were unanimously adopted by the St. Louis convention.
And I will here add, that to accomplish this end, and to carry these resolutions into
practical effect, it is intended by Mrs. Minor, the president of the State Association,
to make a test case in her instance at our next election ; take it through the courts of
Missouri, and thence to the Supreme Court of the United States at Washington. I
think it will be admitted that these resolutions place the cause of woman upon higher
ground than ever before asserted, in the fact that for the first time suffrage is claimed
as a privilege based upon citizenship, and secured by the Constitution of the United
States. It will be seen that the position taken is, that the States have the right to reg-
ulate, but not to prohibit, the elective franchise to citizens of the United States. Thus
the States may determine the qualifications of electors. They may require the elector
to be of a certain age, to have had a fixed residence, to be of a sane mind, and uncon-
victed of crime, etc., because these are qualifications or conditions that all citizens,
sooner or later, may attain ; but to go beyond this, and say to one-half the citizens of
the State, notwithstanding you possess all these qualifications you shall never vote, is
of the very essence of despotism. It is a bill of attainder of the most odious character.
A further investigation of the subject will show that the language of the constitu-
tions of all the States, with the exception of those of Massachusetts and Virginia, on
the subject of suffrage is peculiar. They almost all read substantially alike : " White
male citizens, etc., shall be entitled to vote," and this is supposed to exclude all other
citizens. There is no direct exclusion, except in the two States above named. Now
the error lies in supposing that an enabling clause is necessary at all. The right of
the people of a State to participate in a government of their own creation requires no
enabling clause; neither can it be taken from them by implication. To hold other-
wise would be to interpolate in the constitution a prohibition that does not exist. In
framing a constitution the people are assembled in their sovereign capacity; and being
possessed of all rights and all powers, what is not surrendered is retained. Nothing
short of a direct prohibition can work a disseizin of rights that are fundamental. In
the language of John Jay to the people of New York, urging the adoption of the Con-
stitution of the United States, "silence and blank paper neither give nor take away
anything," and Alexander Hamilton says (Federalist, No. 83), " Everyman of discern-
ment must at once perceive the wide difference between silence and abolition."
The mode and manner in which the people shall take part in the government of
their creation may be prescribed by the constitution, but the right itself is antecedent
to all constitutions. It is inalienable, and can neither be bought, nor sold, nor given
away. But even if it should be held that this view is untenable, and that women are
disfranchised by the several State constitutions directly, or by implication, then I say
that such prohibitions are clearly in conflict with the Constitution of the United States,
and yield thereto. The language of that instrument is clear aud emphatic : "All per-
*On the platform were Julia Ward Howe, Massachusetts ; Lillie Peckham, Wisconsin ; Miriam M.
Cole, Ohio ; Mary A. Livermore, Hon. Sharon Tyndale, Judge Waite and Rev. Mr. Harrison, Illinois ;
Susan B. Anthony, New York. The officers of the Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri : Presi-
dent^ Mrs. F'rancis Minor; I'ice-President, Mrs. Beverly Allen ; Secretary, Mrs. William T. Hazard;
Treasurer, Mrs. George B. Hall ; Miss Mary Beady, Miss Phcebe Couzins, Mrs. E. Titunan, Mrs. Al-
fred Clapp, Miss A. L. Forbes, Isaac H. Sturgeon, Mrs. J. C. Orrick, Mrs. R. J. Lackland, Francis
Minor, and many others.
t For speech and resolutions, see Vol. II., page 408.
"National" or "American" 603
sons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,
are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside." " No State
shall make or enforce any law that shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citi-
zens of the United States." It would be impossible to add to the force or effect of
such language, and equally impossible to attempt to explain it away.
Very respectfully, FRANCIS MINOR.
The St. Louis Democrat spoke of the convention as follows :
Readers of our report have doubtless been interested to observe the fair spirit and
dignified manner of the woman suffrage convention, and the ability displayed in some
of the addresses. It is but due to the managers to say that they extended most cour-
teous invitations to gentlemen not identified with the movement to address the con-
vention, and state freely their objections to the extension of the franchise. Of those
invited some were prevented by duties elsewhere from attending. Others, it may be,
felt that it would scarcely be a gracious thing, in spite of the liberality of the invita-
tion, to occupy the time of a convention in favor of the extension of the franchise with
arguments against it. But the objections which, after all, probably have most weight
with candid men are those which it is not easy to discuss in public, namely : " Will not
extension of suffrage to women have an injurious effect upon the family and sexual re-
lations?" "Will not the ballot be used rather by that class who would not use it
wisely than by those who are most competent?" We do not argue these questions,
but are sure that some frank discussion of them, however delicate the subject may be,
is necessary to convince the great majority of those who are still doubting or opposed.
Meanwhile the reports are of interest, and reflect no little credit upon the women of
this city who have taken so prominent a part in the movement.
The officers of the Missouri Society were annually reflected for several
years, and the work proceeded harmoniously until the division in the
National Association. The members of the Missouri Society took sides
in this division as preference dictated. Mr. and Mrs. Minor, Miss Forbes,
Miss Couzins and others were already members of the National Associa-
tion, and sympathized with its views and modes of pushing the question.
In order that there might be no division in the Missouri Association, a
resolution was introduced by Mr. Minor and unanimously adopted, de-
claring that each member of the society should be free to join the Na-
tional body of his or her choice, and that the Missouri Association, as a
society, should not become auxiliary to either the " National " or the
"American." The good faith of the association was thus pledged to re-
spect the feelings and wishes of each member, and as long as this course
was observed all went well. But, at the annual meeting in 1871, just after
Mrs. Minor had for the fifth time been unanimously reflected president,
in violation of the previous action of the association a resolution was in-
troduced and passed, declaring that the association should henceforth
become auxiliary to the American. This gross disregard of the wishes
and feelings of those who were members of the National Association left
them no alternative, with any feeling of self-respect, but to withdraw ;
and accordingly Mrs. Minor at once tendered her resignation as president
and her withdrawal as a member of the association. She was followed in
this course by Mr. Minor, Miss Couzins, Miss Forbes and others.* How-
ever, the work went steadily on. Meetings were held regularly from
* Dissension and division were the effect in every State, except where the associations wisely re-
mained independent and all continued to work together, and the forces otherwise expended in rivalry
were directed against the common enemy.
604 History of Woman Suffrage.
week to week, with occasional grand conventions, tracts and petitions
were circulated, and constant agitation in some way kept up.
In answer to an earnest solicitation for facts and incidents of
the suffrage movement in Missouri, Mrs. Rebecca N. Hazard,
one of the earliest and most active friends in that State, sends us
the following :
I think the cruel war had much to do in educating the women of Mis-
souri into a sense of their responsibilities and duties as citizens ; at least
all who first took part in the suffrage movement had been active on the
Union side during the war, and that having ended in the preservation of
the government, they naturally began to inquire as to their own rights
and privileges in the restored Union. My own feelings were first fully
awakened by the hanging of Mrs. Surrat; for, although a Unionist and
an abolitionist, I could but regard her execution by the government, con-
sidering her helpless position, as judicial murder. I wrote on the subject
to the editor of the New York Independent. The letter was handed to
Miss Anthony, and resulted in an invitation to the next meeting of the
Equal Rights Society. This almost frightened me, for I had hitherto
looked askance at the woman's rights movement.
Meeting an old friend and neighbor not long after, the talk turned upon
negro suffrage. I expressed myself in favor of that measure, and timidly
added, "And go farther — I think women also should vote." She grasped
my hand cordially, saying, "And so do I!" This was Mrs. Virginia L.
Minor. We had each cherished this opinion, supposing that no other
woman in the community held it ; and this we afterwards found to have
been the experience of many others. This was in 1866; and in the fol-
lowing autumn Mrs. Minor prepared and circulated for signatures a card
of thanks to Hon. B. Gratz Brown for the recognition of woman's politi-
cal rights he had given in the United States Senate in a speech upon ex-
tending the suffrage to the women of the District of Columbia.* This
card received enough names to justify another step — that of a petition to
the Missouri General Assembly. This was headed by Mrs. Minor, and
circulated with untiring energy by her, receiving several hundred signa-
tures, and was sent to the legislature during the winter, where it received
some degree of favor.
But as yet no effort had been made toward an organization. The first
step in that direction was in May, 1867, by Mrs. Lucretia P. Hall and her
sister, Miss Penelope Allen, daughters of Mrs. Beverly Allen, and nieces
of General Pope, in the parlors of Mrs. Anna L. Clapp, the president of
the Union Aid Society during the war. Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Clapp and my-
self called a public meeting on May 8, when the Woman Suffrage Society
of Missouri was organized, with Mrs. Minor president.
In the winter of 1868 the association sent a large delegation of ladies to
Jefferson with a petition containing about 2,000 names, to present to the
legislature. The Republicans were then in the ascendency, and the ladies
having many professed friends among the members, were received with
* For this speech of B. Gratz Brown see Vol. II., page 136.
Facts and Incidents. 605
every demonstration of respect. Addresses were made by Miss Phoebe
Couzins and Dr. Ada Greunan. The petition was respectfully considered
and a fair vote given for the submission of an amendment.
Subsequent sessions of the legislature have been besieged, as was also
the constitutional convention in 1875 ; but beyond the passage of several
laws improving the general status of women, we have not made much im-
pression upon the law-making power of our State ; not so much since the
State passed into the hands of the Democrats, as while the Republicans
were in the majority.
But the public meetings and social influence of our association have
done much for the cause of woman suffrage. Strangers are surprised to
find so little prejudice existing against a movement so decidedly unpopu-
lar in many places. The convention held in St. Louis in October, 1869,
was one of the very best I have ever known, and its influence was long
felt for good. In the spring of 1871 out association became auxiliary to
the American, and in consequence several of our active members seceded,
viz. : Mr. and Mrs. Minor, Miss Couzins, Dr. Greunan and others. In the
autumn of 1872 the American Association held its annual meeting in St.
Louis.
The law school of Washington University has always been open to
women. Miss Couzins was the first to avail herself of its advantages in
1869, though Miss Barkaloo of Brooklyn, denied admission to Columbia
Law School, soon joined her, and was admitted to the bar in 1870. While
Miss Barkaloo was not the first woman admitted to the bar in the United
States, she doubtless was the first to try a case in court. She died after a
few months of most promising practice.* Miss Couzins was admitted to
the bar in May, 1871.
The St. Louis School of Design, which has done much for woman, was
originated by members of our association; principally by Mrs. Mary F.
Henderson, who has given untiring effort in that direction. Our mem-
bers were also instrumental in opening to women the St. Louis Homeo-
pathic Medical College, and active in opposing what was known as the
St. Louis "Social Evil Law." They aided Dr. Eliot in his valiant struggle
against that iniquity. Mrs. E. Patrick and myself called the first public
meeting to protest against the law. It was repealed March 27, 1874.
You are probably familiar with Mrs. Minor's suit to obtain suffrage un-
der the fourteenth amendment. We all admired her courageous efforts
for that object. Previous to that attempt our society had earnestly ad-
vocated a sixteenth amendment for the protection of woman's right to
vote, but held the matter in abeyance pending the suit. After its failure,
we again renewed our efforts for a sixteenth amendment, circulating and
sending to Washington our petitions. Our association holds monthly
meetings and proposes to continue the agitation. t I ought to say, per-
* For full account of Miss Barkaloo see New York chapter, page 404.
t Besides those already named, there arc many other women worthy of mention — Mrs. Hannah
Stagg, Mrs. George H. Rha, Mrs. S. F. Gruff, Miss N. M. Lavclle, Mrs. Helen E. Starrett, Mrs. A. K.
Dickinson, Mrs. E. R. Case, Miss S. Sharman, Mrs. Mary S. Phclps, Miss Mary E. Beedy, Mrs. Fanny
O'Haly, Mrs. J. C. Orrick, Miss Henrietta Moore. Mrs. Stephen RidReley, Mrs. M. K. Bedford. Mrs.
M. Jackson ; and among our German friends are Mrs. Rosa Tinman, Mrs. Dr. Fiala, Mrs. Lena Hildc-
brand, Mrs. G. G. Fenkelnberg, Mrs. Rombauer, Miss Lidergerber.
606 History of Woman Suffrage.
haps, that our society lends all the help possible to other States. It gave
$520 to Michigan in 1874, and $200 to Colorado in 1877. R. N. H.
To bring the question of woman's right as a citizen of the United States
to vote for United States officers before the judiciary, Mrs. Minor at-
tempted to register in order to vote at the national election in November,
1872, and being refused on account of her sex, brought the matter before
the courts in the shape of a suit against the registering officer.* The
point was decided adversely to her in all the courts, being finally reported
in Vol. 21 of Wallace's U. S. Supreme Court Reports. The import-
ance of this decision cannot be over-estimated. It affects every citizen
of the United States, male as well as female, if, as there pronounced, the
United States has no voters of its own creation. The Dred-Scott decision
is insignificant in comparison. Mrs. Minor made the following points in
her petition : \
1. As a citizen of the United States, the plaintiff is entitled to any and all the
"privileges and immunities" that belong to such position however defined; and as are
held, exercised and enjoyed by other citizens of the United States.
2. The elective franchise is a " privilege " of citizenship, in the highest sense of the
word. It is the privilege preservative of all rights and privileges; and especially of
the right of the citizen to participate in his or her government.
3. The denfal or abridgment of this privilege, if it exist at all, must be sought only
in the fundamental charter of government — the Constitution of the United States. If
not found there, no inferior power or jurisdiction can legally claim the right to exer-
cise it.
4. But the Constitution of the United States, so far from recognizing or permitting
any denial or abridgment of the privileges of citizens, expressly declares that "no
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities
of citizens of the United States."
5. It follows that the provisions of the Missouri constitution and registry law before
recited are in conflict with, and must yield to the paramount authority of, the Consti-
tution of the United States.
At a mass meeting held in St. Louis January 25, 1875, a committee t was
appointed to prepare an address to the people of the State, setting forth
the necessity of such action by the constitutional convention, soon to as-
semble, as would insure to all citizens the right of choice in their law-
makers and in the officers whose duty it should be to execute the laws.
The address was prepared and widely circulated over the State. In June,
the convention being in session at Jefferson, Mrs. Minor, Miss Couzins,
and Mrs. Dickinson went to the capitol and were granted a gracious hear-
ing, but no action was conceded.
In May, 1879, the National Woman Suffrage Association held its annual
meeting at St. Louis, holding its session through the day, morning, after-
noon and evening, and so much interest was aroused that on May 13 a
local society was organized under the head of the National Woman Suf-
frage Association for St. Louis, f with Mrs. Minor president, which has con-
* For a full report of Mrs. Minor's trial, see History of Woman Sufirage, Vol. II., page 715.
t The committee were : J. B. Merwin, Virginia L. Minor, John Snyder, Lydia F. Dickinson, Maria
E. F. Jackson.
+ The officers were: President, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. Eliza J. Patrick,
Mrs. Caroline J. Todd, Miss Phoebe W. Couzins ; Executiz'e Committee, Mrs. E. P. Johnson, Mrs.
W. W. Polk; Secretary, Miss Eliza B. Buckley ; Treasurer, Miss Maggie Baumgartner.
Virginia L. Minor. 607
tinued to do most efficient service to the present. During the summer
of 1879, Mrs. Minor refused to pay the tax assessed against her:
ST. Louis, Mo., August 26, 1879.
Hon. DAVID POWERS, President Board of Assessors: I honestly believe and con-
scientiously make oath that I have not one dollars' worth of property subject to taxa-
tion. The principle upon which this government rests is representation before taxa-
tion. My property is denied representation, and therefore can not be taxable. The
law which you quote as applicable to me in your notice to make my tax return is in
direct conflict with section 30 of the bill of rights of the constitution of the
State which declares, " No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without
due process of law," And that surely cannot be due process of law wherein oue of the
parties only is law-maker, judge, jury and executioner, and the other stands silenced,
denied the power either of assent or dissent, a condition of " involuntary slavery" so
clearly prohibited in section 31 of the same article, as well as in the Constitution
of the United States, that no legislation or judicial prejudice can ignore it. I trust
you will believe it is from no disrespect to you that I continue to refuse to become a
party to this injustice by making a return of property to your honorable body, as
clearly the duties of a citizen can only be exacted where rights and privileges are
equally accorded. Respectfully, VIRGINIA L. MINOR.
Again, in February, 1881, Mrs. Minor made an able argument before
the legislative committee on constitutional amendments in support of
the petition for the enfranchisement of the women of the State. Her
pivotal point was, " By whatever tenure you, as one-half of the people,
hold it, we, the other half, claim it by the same." And again in Decem-
ber of the same year at a meeting of the Knights and Ladies of the
Father Matthew Debating Club, at which the subject was, " Is the
woman's rights movement to be encouraged ?" Patrick Long, Daniel
O'Connel Tracy, Richard D. Kerwen, spoke in the affirmative; several
gentlemen and two ladies in opposition, when Mrs. Minor, who was in the
audience, was called out amid great applause, to which she responded in
an able speech, showing that the best temperance weapon in the hands
of woman is the ballot.
Of the initial steps taken for the elevation of women in the lit-
tle village of Oregon, Mrs. Annie R. Irvine writes:
The Woman's Union, an independent literary club, designed to im-
prove the mental, moral, and physical condition of women, held
its first meeting in Oregon, Holt county, on the evening of January 6,
1872, at the residence of Dr. Asher Goslin. Temporary officers were
elected, and a committee appointed to prepare by-laws for the govern-
ment of the club. Six ladies* were present. The succeeding meetings
grew in interest, and took strong hold upon the minds of all classes, from
the fact that hitherto no outlet had been found for the energies of our
women outside the circle of home and church. During the first two years
of its existence, the Woman's Union had to bear in a small way, many of
the sneers and taunts attending more pretentious organizations, but luck-
ily, when the novelty wore off, we were allowed to pursue the quiet tenor
of our way, with an occasional slur at the " strong-minded " tendency of
* They were, Mrs. S. L. Goslin, Mrs. A. E. Goslin, Mrs. M. M. Soper, Annie E. Batcheller, Mary
Curry, Annie R. Irvine.
608 History of Woman Suffrage.
the organization. During nearly fourteen years we have held regular
meetings in a hall rented for the purpose, and paid for by earnings of the
society. An excellent organ is owned by the club ; they have a library of
several hundred volumes, book-cases, carpet, curtains, pictures, tables,
chairs, stove, etc., and the members take great pride in their cosy head-
quarters. At this writing, interesting meetings are held on each Wednes-
day evening at the homes of the different members of the society.* In
the course of so long a time, this organization has had many changes.
Members have removed to all parts of the United States, and many sim-
ilar clubs elsewhere trace their origin to our society.
Several years ago an open letter from here to " Woman's King-
dom," in the Chicago Inter-Ocean called attention to our plan of work
for small towns; as a result fifteen similar Unions were organized,
some of them still flourishing. In northwest Missouri the same kind
of clubs were formed in Maryville, Nodaway county, and Savannah,
Andrew county, but neither of them became permanent. In the course
of twelve years many of the best speakers on the American plat-
form have addressed Oregon audiences, brought here by the deter-
mined efforts of a few women. To-day, public opinion in this part
of Missouri is in advance of other sections on all questions relating
to the great interests of humanity. In March, 1879, a call signed by
prominent citizens t brought together a large assembly of men and women
in the court-house. An address in favor of woman suffrage was delivered
by Rev. John Wayman of the M. E. Church of St. Joseph. Mr. James
L. Allen acted as chairman of the meeting, and a society was then organ-
ized, to bear the name of the Holt County Woman Suffrage Society. At
the National Woman Suffrage Convention held at St. Louis later in the
same year, Jas. L. Allen acted as delegate from this association and re-
ported our progress. The best organized woman's society in the State is
probably the Women's Christian Temperance Union. In its different de-
partments, although hampered by too much theological red tape, it is
reaching thousands of ignorant, prejudiced, good sectarian women who
would expect the "heavens to fall " if they accidentally got into a meeting
where "woman's rights" was mentioned even in a whisper. Mrs. Clara
Hoffman, of Kansas City, is State president, and a woman of great force.
She, as well as other leading lights in the Women's Christian Tem-
perance Union, is strongly advocating woman suffrage as a sine qua non in
the temperance work. The women of this part of the State have been
given quite a prominent place among organizations mentioned in a late
" History of Missouri, by Counties." The Woman's Union has taken the
* President, Emma G. Dobyns ; Vice-President, Kate Evans Thatcher ; Secretary, Matilda C.
Shutts ; Treasurer, Lucy S. Rancher ; Corresponding Secretary, Annie R. Irvine.
t Believing that the best interests of society, as well as government, would be best served by admit-
ting all citizens to the full rights of citizenship, we, the undersigned, hereby give notice that a meeting
will be held at the court-house, Oregon, on Saturday, March i, 1879, at 2 p. m., for the purpose of or-
ganizing a Woman Suffrage Association. Those interested are urged to attend. Clarke Irvine, C. W.
Lukens, James L. Allen, S. B. Lukens, Samuel Stuckey, Sudia Johnson, D. J. Lukens, Elvira Broed-
beck, Mary Curry, Jas. B. Curry, Annie R. Irvine.
The Womaris Union. 609
place of honor.* From the very outset we have had the most bitter and
persistent opposition from the churches, more particularly the Presby-
terian, although some of our most capable members were of that faith.
Exceptions should be made in favor of the Christian, or Campbellite, and
as a general thing, the M. E. churches. The greatest shock we have had
to resist, however, came a few months since in the shape of a division
among our own members, and has really discouraged the more independ-
ent among us more than anything else. The W. C. T. U. sent their Mas-
catine organizer here, to wake up the women in the interests of the State
society. Although ignorant and prejudiced, he created a fanatical stam-
pede, and in the goodness of their hearts and the weakness of their heads,
our church women in the Woman's Union proposed to give to the three
temperance clubs, numbering perhaps 150, the free use 'of our rooms and
property, and suspend our own club, claiming that our mission was ended,
and that a field of greater usefulness was opened in the W. C. T. U. line
of work. The liberal element refused to abandon the old organization,
although many joined in the W. C. T. U. work and attended both clubs.
However, in a small community, where the consciences of many good
women are not free, we have met with serious drawbacks. We have
had to submit to a sort of boycotting process, for some time, the ortho-
dox, goody-goody people evidently trying to freeze us out ; although I
must claim that nearly every member of the Woman's Union is strongly
interested in the temperance cause, and as the different departments in
the W. C. T. U. fail to cover the ground we occupy, quite a respectable
number seem determined to hold on in their own way, trying little by little
to better the condition of all, and particularly to increase and strengthen
the feeble germ of independent thought in women, so often smothered
and destroyed by too much theology. What we need for women is not
more spirituality but more hard common-sense, applied to reform^s
well as religion. One thing connected with our organization is a matter
of pride to all women, namely, that no pecuniary obligation has ever
been repudiated by the Woman's Union. Besides paying our debts we
have given hundreds of dollars to works of charity and education, and
keep a standing fund of $100, to be used in case of emergency, when, as
often happens, we fail to make expenses on lectures, entertainments, etc.
It would not be claiming too much if the Woman's Union of Oregon was
* In 1875 I made my first visit to Oregon, and remember my surprise at meeting so large a circle of
bright, intelligent women. After taking an old stage at Travesty city, and lumbering along two miles
or more over bad roads on a dull day in March into a very unpropitious looking town, my heart sank
at the prospect of the small audience I should inevitably have in such a spot. Wondering as to the
character of the people I should find, we jolted round the town to the home of the editor and his
charming wife, Mrs. Lucy S. Rancher. Their cordial welcome and generous hospitalities soon made
the old stage, the rough roads, and the dull town but dim memories of the past. One after another the
members of the Union club came to greet me, and I saw in that organization of strong, noble women,
wisdom enough to redeem the whole State of Missouri from its apathy on the question of woman's
rights. One of the promising features of the efforts of the immortal six women who took the initiative,
was the full sympathy shonrn by their husbands in their attempts to improve themselves and the com-
munity. MissCouzins and Miss Anthony soon followed me, and were alike surprised and delighted
with the Literary Club of Oregon. I was there again in '77, and was entertained by Mrs. R. A. Nor-
ni. in, now living in St. Joseph, and in '70, I stayed in a large, old-fashioned brick house near the public
square with Mrs. Montgomery, then " fat, fair and forty," and all three visits, with the teas and din-
ners at the homes of different members of the club, I thoroughly enjoyed.— [E. C. S.
39
6io History of Woman Suffrage.
to go upon the historic page as the only free, independent woman's club
ever successfully carried on for any length of time, in the great State of
Missouri.*
Missouri has always felt a becoming pride in the gifted daugh-
ter, Miss Phoebe Couzins, who was the first woman to enter the
law school, go through the entire course, and graduate with
honor to herself and her native State. Hence, a reception to
her, to mark such an event, was preeminently fitting. This com-
pliment was paid to her by Dr. and Mrs. G. A. Walker, and a
large gathering of the elite of St. Louis honored her with their
presence.f The drawing-rooms were festooned with garlands of
, evergreens and brilliant forest leaves and hanging-baskets of
roses ; the bountiful tables were elaborately decorated with fruits
and flowers and statuettes, while pictures of distinguished women
looked down from the wall on every side. After the feast came
letters, toasts and speeches, a brilliant address of welcome was
given by Dr. Walker, and an equally brilliant reply by Miss
Couzins. Witty and complimentary speeches were made by
Judge Krum, Hon. Albert Todd, Mrs. Francis Minor, ex-Gov-
ernor Stanard, Judge Reber, Professor Riley, I. E. Meeker, Mrs.
Henrietta Noa. Congratulatory letters were received from several
ladies and gentlemen of national reputation, and the following
regrets :
Rev. W. G. Eliot, chancellor of the University, with "compliments and thanks to
Dr. and Mrs. Walker. I regret that engagements this evening prevent me from en-
joywg the pleasure of meeting Miss Couzins and welcoming her to her new and well-
deserved honors, as I had expected to do until an hour ago."
James E. Yeatman sent regrets accompanied with "his warmest congratulations to
Miss Couzins, with best wishes for her success in the noble profession of the law."
George Partridge regrets, "hoping every encouragement will be given to those who
aspire to high honors by their intellectual and moral attainments."
General J. H. Hammond, Kansas City, Mo.: " I would feel honored in being al-
lowed the privilege of congratulating this lady who so practically honors her sex."
In addition to the many congratulations showered upon Miss
Couzins, she was the recipient of testimonials of a more enduring
* Among progressive women in this part of Missouri, Mrs. Adela M. Kelly, of Savannah, wife of Cir-
cuit Judge Henry S. Kelly, is prominent ; in Mound City, Mrs. Emma K. Hershberger, Mrs. Mary L.
Mamcher, Mrs. Mary C. Tracy, Mrs. Fanny Smith, and others, are leading women, and were once resi-
dents here, and members of the Woman's Union. Among those actively interested here now, I shall
only mention a few, Mrs. Nancy Hershberger, Mary Curry, Elvira Broedbeck, Lucy A. Christian,
Ella O. Fallen, Mary Stirrell, and many others.
t Among those present were the following ladies and gentlemen : Dr. and Mrs. Walker, Phoebe
Couzins, esq., Hon. and Mrs. John B. Henderson, Gov. and Mrs. E. O. Stanard, Mr. and Mrs. Ches-
ter H. Krum, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Minor, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Patrick, Major and Mrs. J. E. D.
Couzins, Major and Mrs. J. R. Meeker, Major and Mrs. W. S. Pope, Mr. and Mrs. Lippmann, Mr.
and Mrs. Leopold Noa, Miss Noa, Miss A. L. Forbes, Judge Krum, Judge Reber, Judge Todd, Geo.
M. Stuart (dean), Prof. Riley, State Entomologist; Prof. Hager, State Geologist; J. R. Stuart, artist,
and others.
Phoebe W. Couzins. 6 1 1
and equally flattering character. Among many valuable presents
were twelve volumes of Edmund Burke from Miss A. L. Forbes,
who wished to testify her appreciation of the event by deeds
rather than words. Mrs. E. O. Stanard presented a hand-
somely-bound set of " Erskine's Speeches," in five volumes.
There were other gifts of great intrinsic worth. These tokens of
regard were sent from admiring friends scattered all over the
country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Although Miss Couzins has never practiced in her chosen profes-
sion, yet the knowledge and discipline acquired in the study of our
American system of jurisprudence and constitutional law have
been of essential service to her in the prolonged arguments on
the enfranchisement of woman, in which she has so ably and elo-
quently advocated the case of the great plaintiff of the nineteenth
century, in that famous law-suit begun by Margaret Fuller in
1840, " Woman versus Man." Our junior advocate has taken the
case into the highest courts and made her appeals to a jury of
the sovereign people and "the judgment of a candid world."
On all principles of precedent and importance our case now
stands first on the calendar. When will the verdict be rendered
and what will it be ?
CHAPTER XLV.
IOWA.
Beautiful Scenery — Liberal in Politics and Reforms — Legislation for Women — No
Right yet to Joint Earnings — Early Agitation — Frances Dana Gage, 1854 — Mrs.
Bloomer Before the Territorial Legislature, 1856 — Mrs. Martha H. Brinkerhoff —
Mrs. Annie Savery, 1868 — County Associations Formed in 1869 — State So-
ciety Organized at Mt. Pleasant, 1870, Henry O'Connor, President — Mrs. Cutler
Answers Judge Palmer — First Annual Meeting, Des Moines — Letter from Bishop
Simpson — The State Register Complimentary — Mass-Meeting at the Capitol — Mrs.
Savery and Mrs. Harbert — Legislative Action — Methodist and Universalist
Churches Indorse Woman Suffrage — Republican Plank, 1874 — Governor Carpen-
ter's Message, 1876 — Annual Meeting, 1882, Many Clergymen Present — Five
Hundred Editors Interviewed — Miss Hindman and Mrs. Campbell — Mrs. Callanan
Interviews Governor Sherman, 1884 — Lawyers — Governor Kirkwood Appoints
Women to Office — County Superintendents — Elizabeth S. Cook — Journalism —
Literature — Medicine — Ministry — Inventions — President of a National Bank —
The Heroic Kate Shelly — Temperance — Improvement in the Laws.
THE euphonious Indian name, Iowa, signifying "the beautiful
land," is peculiarly appropriate to those gently undulating prai-
ries, decorated in the season of flowers with a brilliant garniture
of honey-suckles, jassamines, wild roses and violets, watered with
a chain of picturesque lakes and rivers, chasing each other into
the bosom of the boundless Mississippi. The motto on the great
seal of the State, " Our liberties we prize and our rights we will
maintain," is the key-note to the successive struggles made there
to build up a community of moral, virtuous, intelligent people,
securing justice, liberty and equality to all. Iowa has been the
State to give large Republican majorities ; to prohibit the manu-
facture and sale of intoxicating liquors by a constitutional amend-
ment; and to present propositions before her legislature for eight
successive sessions to give the right of suffrage to woman. In the
article on Iowa, in the American Cyclopaedia, the writer says : " No
distinction is made in law between the husband and the wife in re-
gard to property. One-third in value of all the real estate of either,
upon the death of the other, goes to the survivor in fee simple.
Neither is liable for the separate debts of the other. The wife
may make contracts and incur liabilities which may be enforced
Mrs. Amelia Bloomer. 613
by or against her in the same manner as if she was unmarried ;
and so a married woman may sue and be sued without the hus-
band being joined in the action." Many women living in Iowa
often quote these laws with pride, showing the liberality of their
rulers as far as they go. But in new countries the number
of women that inherit property is very small compared to the
number that work all their days to help pay for their humble
homes. It is in the right to these joint earnings where the
wife is most cruelly defrauded, because the mother of a large
family, who washes, irons, cooks, bakes, patches and darns,
takes care of the children, labors from early dawn to midnight in
her own home, is not supposed to earn anything, hence owns
nothing, and all the labors of a long life, the results of her thrift
and economy, belong absolutely to the husband, so that when he
dies they call it liberality for the husband to make his partner an
heir, and give her one-third of their joint earnings.
For this chapter we are indebted to Mrs. Amelia Bloomer,
who moved into this State from New York in the spring of 1855
with her husband, who commenced the practice of law in Council
Bluffs, where they have resided ever since. Mrs. Bloomer had
been the editor for several years of a weekly paper called the
Lily, which advocated both temperance and woman's rights, and
for the six years of its publication was of inestimable value
alike to both reforms. She was one of the earliest champions of
the woman's rights movement, and as writer, editor and lecturer,
did much to forward the cause in its infancy.*
The first agitation of the question of woman suffrage in Iowa was in the
summer of 1854, when Frances Dana Gage of Ohio gave a series of lec-
tures in the southeastern section of the State on temperance and woman's
rights. Letters written to Lily at the time show that large audiences
congregated to see and hear a woman publicly proclaiming the wrongs of
her sex, and demanding equal rights before the law. During the year
1855 the writer gave several lectures at Council Bluffs, and in January,
* In 1849 her husband was appointed post-master, she became his deputy, was duly sworn in, and
during the administration of Taylor and Fillmore served in that capacity. When she assumed her
ditties the improvement in the appearance and conduct of the office was generally acknowledged. A
neat little room adjoining became a kind of ladies' exchange where those coming from different parts of
the town could meet to talk over the contents of the last Lily and the progress of the woman suffrage
movement in general. Those who enjoyed the brief interregnum of a woman in the post-office, can
readily testify to the loss to the ladies of the village and the void felt by all when Mrs. Ulnomcr and
the Lily left for the West and men again reigned supreme.
Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer removed to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1853, and the publication of the Lily was
continued ; she was also the associate editor of the Western Home Visitor. Mrs Bloomer lectured in
the principal cities of Ohio and throughout the north-went, and was one of a committee of five appointed
to memorialize the legislature of Ohio for a prohibitory law, and assisted in the formation of several
lodges of Good Templars,
614 History of Woman Suffrage.
1856, by invitation, addressed the second territorial legislature of Ne-
braska, in Representative Hall, Omaha ; and in the year following lectured
in Council Bluffs, Omaha, Nebraska City, Glenwood and other towns.
In 1868 Mrs. Martha H. Brinkerhoff made a very successful lecture-tour
through the northern counties of Iowa. She roused great interest and
organized many societies, canvassing meanwhile for subscribers to The
Revolution. In the same year Mrs. Annie C. Savery gave a lecture for the
benefit of a blind editor at Des Moines. In February, 1870, by invitation,
she responded to a toast at a Masonic festival in that city; and during
that and the year following she lectured in several places on woman suf-
frage, and wrote many able articles for the press.
On April 17, 1869, the " Northern Woman Suffrage Association " was
organized at Dubuque.* This was the first society in Iowa, though about
the same time others were being organized in different localities. J. L.
McCreery, in his editorial position, advocated the enfranchisement of
woman, and wrote an able paper in favor of the object of the organiza-
tion. Mrs. Mary N. Adams opened a correspondence with friends of the
movement in other parts of the State ; Henry O'Connor, Mary A. Liver-
more and others lectured before the society, thus educating the people
into a better understanding of woman's rights and needs. Mrs. Adams
not only addressed the home society, but gave lectures before lyceums
and educational institutions.
Des Moines has always maintained the most successful organization^
having a band of earnest women enlisted in the work, and being the capi-
tal of the State, where every opportunity was afforded to facilitate their
efforts. The liberality of the press, too, aided vastly in moulding public
sentiment in favor of the cause. About the earliest work done in that
city was in June, 1870, when Hannah Tracy Cutler and Amelia Bloomer
(immediately on returning from the formation of the State Society at
Mt, Pleasant) held two meetings there — one in the open air on .the
grounds where the new capitol now stands, on the question of temper-
ance, Sunday afternoon, presided over by Governor Merrill ; the other in
the Baptist Church, on woman suffrage, the following evening, Mrs. Annie
C. Savery presiding.
The Polk County Woman Suffrage Society was formed October 25, and
has never failed to hold its meetings regularly each month since that
time. Every congress and every legislature have been appealed to by
petitions signed by thousands of the best citizens, and it is on record that
the senators and representatives of Polk county, with one exception, t
have always voted in favor of submitting the question of woman's enfran-
chisement to the electors of the State. When men are talked of for leg-
islative honors they are interviewed by a committee from the society, and
pledges secured that they will vote " aye " on any woman suffrage bill
that may come before them.
This society has from time to time engaged the services of prominent
* The officers were: President, Mrs. D. S. Wilson ; I'ice-President, Mrs. W. P. Sage ; Secretary,
Mrs. J. S. McCreery ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Mary N. Adams,
t Frank Allen.
Societies Organized. 615
lecturers,* and nearly all of the ministers and lawyers of the city have
given addresses in favor of the cause. Only one minister has openly and
bitterly opposed the measure, and his sermon on the " Subordination of
Woman," published in the Register, called out spirited replies from Mrs.
Savery and Mrs. Bloomer in the same journal, which completely demol-
ished the flimsy fancies of the gentleman.
About 1874 Mrs. Maria Orwig edited a column in the Record, and Mary
A. Work a column in the Repitblican. Since 1880, Mesdames Hunter, Or-
wig, Woods and Work have filled two columns in The Prohibitionist, of
which Laura A. Berry is one of the editors. Mrs. M. J. Coggeshall has for
several years served the society as reporter for the Register, proving her-
self a very ready and interesting writer. All of these ladies are efficient
and untiring in whatever pertains to woman's interest.! The Register
says :
The field of labor in Des Moines is pretty well occupied by the ladies. You will
find them at the desks in the county and United States court-houses, in the pension
office, in the insurance office, in the State offices, behind the counters in stores, in at-
torneys' offices — aud there is one woman who assists her husband at the blacksmith's
trade, and she can strike as hard a blow with a sledge as the brawniest workman in
the shop.
In the autumn of 1870 a society was organized at Burlington, with
fifty members. One of the earliest advocates of the cause in this place
was Mary A. P. Darwin, president of the association, who lectured through
the southern tier of counties during the summer of 1870. She was an
earnest and forcible speaker.
At Oskaloosa the opening work was done in 1854 by Frances D. Gage,
who gave four lectures there, and roused the people to thought and dis-
cussion. Mattie Griffith Davenport has long filled a prominent place in
the woman suffrage movement in that city. She commenced lecturing in
1868, and during that and the two succeeding years traveled over much
of the State, speaking upon temperance and woman's rights. During
1879 she edited a column of the Davenport News in the interest of suf-
frage. In the summer of 1870 Mrs. Cutler and Mrs. Bloomer held two
meetings in Oskaloosa, in one of which a gentleman engaged in the dis-
cussions, and as is usual in such encounters, the women having right and
justice on their side, came out the victors ; at least so said the listeners.
Following this a Woman's Suffrage Society was organized.} Many
prominent speakers lectured here in turn, and helped to keep up the
interest.
Council Bluffs also organized a society § in 1870, holding frequent meet-
ings and sociables. There is here a large element in favor of the ballot
* Lucy Stone, Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Cutler, Mrs. Livermore, Anna Dickinson, Phabc
Couzins, Mrs. Swisshelm, Miss Hindman and Mrs. Campbell, from abroad; Mesdames Savery, Cal la-
nan. Gray, Pittman, Boynton Harbert, Brown, and Messrs. Fuller, Pomcroy, Rutkay, Cole and Max-
well, of the city, have each in turn come to the aid and encouragement of the society's work.
t For information regarding Des Moines I am indebted to Mary A. Work, one of the most able ad-
vocates of woman suffrage in the State.
\ President. Porte Welch ; Secretary ', Mattie Griffith Davenport.
$ President, Amelia Bloomer; Vice-Presidents, C. Munger and Mary McPherson ; Recording Stc~ .
retary, Ada McPherson ; Corresponding Secretary, Will Shoemaker ; Treasurer, E. S. Barnett.
616 History of Woman Suffrage.
for woman ; and though we are unfortunate in not having an advocate in
the press, still Council Bluffs will give a good report of itself when the
question of woman's enfranchisement shall come before the electors for
action. The trustees of the public library of this city are women ; the
librarian is a woman : the post-office is in the hands of a woman ; the
teachers in the public schools, with one or two exceptions, are women;
the principal of the high school is a woman ; and a large number of the
clerks in the dry goods stores are women. Miss Ingelletta Smith received
the nomination of the Republican party for school superintendent in the
fall of 1881, but was defeated by her Democratic competitor.
Marshalltown had a suffrage organization as early as July, 1870.* Nettie
Sanford lectured in several of the central counties of the State during
that and the previous year. Josephine Guthrie, professor of Belles-Lettres
at Le Grand College, in a series of able articles in the Marshalltown Times
in 1869, claimed for women equality of rights before the law. In 1873,
Abbie Gifford, a woman of high culture and an experienced teacher, was
elected to the office of county superintendent of the public schools of
Marshall county, by a handsome majority ; she was reflected, serving, in
all, four years.
At Algona a society t was formed in 1871. At the annual meeting of
the State Society at Des Moines, in 1873, Lizzie B. Read delivered an ad-
dress entitled, " Coming Up Out of the Wilderness," and in July, 1875, at a
mass-meeting at Clear Lake, one on "The Bible in Favor of Woman Suf-
frage." Mrs. Read, formerly as Miss Bunnel, published a paper called the
Mayflower, at Peru, Indiana, and in 1865 a county paper in this State
called the Upper Des Moines.
Since 1875 Jackson county has had an efficient Equal Rights Society.*
On July 4, 1876, Nancy R. Allen, at the general celebration at Maquoketa,
the county-seat, read the " Protest and Declaration of Rights," issued by
the National Association from its Centennial Parlors in Philadelphia.
It was well received by the majority of the people assembled ; but, as
usual, there were some objectors. The Presbyterian minister published
a series of articles in the Sentinel, to each of which Mrs. Allen replied
ably defending the principles of the Woman Suffrage party. The Maquo-
keta Equal Rights Society celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the
woman's rights movement July 19, 1878, by holding a public meeting in
Dr. Allen's grounds, in the shade of the grand old trees. It was a large
gathering, and many prominent gentlemen of the city, by their presence
and words of cheer, gave dignity to the occasion. Jackson county has
long honored women with positions of trust. The deputy recorder is a
woman; Mrs. Allen was notary public ; Mrs. Patton was nominated for
auditor by the Greenback party in 1880, but was defeated with the rest of
* Its officers were : President \ Nettie Sanford ; Secretary, Mrs. Fred. Baum ; Treasurer, Mrs. Dr.
Whealen.
t President, M. W. Stough ; Secretary, Lizzie B. Read. Mrs. Read was president of the State
society in 1873, and Mrs. C. A. Ingham in 1881.
$ President, Hon. John E. Goodenow ; Vice-Presidents, Nancy R. Allen, Mrs. M. J. Stephens,
Mrs. A. B. Wilbur ; Secretary, Mrs. E. D. Stewart ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Julia Dunham ;
Treasurer, Mrs. T. P. Connell ; Executive Committee, Mrs. S. Stephens, Mrs. Julia Doe, Mrs. Polly
Hamley, Dr. J. H. Allen, W. S. Belden.
Mt. Pleasant Convention. 617
the ticket. Women are book-keepers, merchants, clerks, teachers ; and,
in fact, almost every avenue is open to them.
Of Fort Dodge, Mrs. Haviland writes: "The subject has never been
much agitated here. I have stood almost alone these long years, watch-
ing the work done by my sisters in other parts of the State, and hoping
the time would soon come when some move could be made in this place.
Last spring the annual- meeting of our State Society was held here, but it
was with difficulty that I found places where the few who came could be
entertained, people were so afraid of woman's rights. After the refusal
of the other churches, the Baptists opened theirs ; the crowd of curious
ones looked on and seemed surprised when they failed to discover the
' horns.' " Mrs. A. M. Swain also writes : " Miss Anthony came here first
in June, 1871, and has been here twice since. Mrs. Swisshelm was here
in 1874. Both were my guests when no other doors were open to the ad-
vocates of woman suffrage. The late convention of the State Society
held here was a decided success ; the best class of ladies attended ; the
dignity and ability shown in the management, and the many interesting
and logical papers read disarmed all criticism and awakened genuine in-
terest. I have handed in my ballot for several years, but it has never
been received or counted."
Societies were organized in 1869 and 1870, in Independence and Mon-
ticello. Humboldt, Nevada, West Union, Corning, Osceola, Muscatine,
Sigourney, Garden Grove, Decorah, Hamburg, and scores of other towns
have their local societies. At West Liberty Mrs. Mary V. Cowgill and
her good husband are liberal contributors to the work, both State and
National.
At a convention held at Mt. Pleasant, June 17, 18, 1870, different sec-
tions of the State being well represented, the Iowa Woman Suffrage So-
ciety* was formed. Belle Mansfield, president, Frank Hatton.t editor of
the Mt. Pleasant Journal, secretary. W. R. Cole opened the convention
with prayer. After many able addresses from various speakers.^ in re-
sponse to an invitation from the president, Judge Palmer in a somewhat
excited manner stated his objections to woman's voting. He wanted
some guarantee that good would result from giving her the ballot. He
thought "she did not understand driving, and would upset the sleigh.
Men had always rowed the boat, and therefore always should. Men had
more force and muscle than women, and therefore should have all the
power in their hands." He spoke of himself as the guardian of his wife,
and said she did not want to vote. After talking an hour in this style, he
took his seat, greatly to the relief of his hearers. Mrs. Cutler, in her
* President, Henry O'Connor ; Vice-Presidents, Amelia Bloomer, Nettie Sanford, Mrs. Frank
Palmer, Joseph Dugdale, John P. Irish ; Secretary, Belle Mansfield ; Corresponding Secretary,
Annie C. Savery ; Executive Committee, Mary A. P. Darwin, Mattie Griffith Davenport, Mrs. J. L.
McCreery, Rev. Augusta Chapin, Hon. Charles Beardsley.
t Assistant postmaster-general under President Arthur.
t Mary A. P. Darwin, professor of the college, and Hon. Charles Beardsley, editor of the Hawktyt*
liiirlington ; Hon. Henry O'Connor, Muscatine; Mary N. Adams, Dubuque ; Annie C. Savery, DCS
M»in<:s ; Amelia Bloomer, Council Bluffs ; A. P. Lowrie, Marshalltown ; Mr*. Beavers, Valiv;i. H.m-
n ili Tracy Cutler of Illinois, was the leading speaker ; Edwin A. Studwell of New York represent,
ing The Revolution, Col. George Corkhill, Joseph Dugdale, Rev. Mr. Cooper, Mt. Pleasant, were aUc
in attendance.
618 History of Woman Suffrage.
calm, dignified, deliberate manner, answered his arguments. She proved
conclusively that muscular force was not the power most needed in our
government. If it were, all the little, weak men and women, no matter
how intellectual must stand aside, and let only the strong, muscular do
the voting and governing. In clearness of perception, and readiness of
debate, she distanced her opponent altogether in the opinion of the con-
vention.
The first annual meeting of the State Society was held at Des Moines,
October 19, 1871. Mrs. Bloomer presided* in the absence of the presi-
dent, Gen. O'Connor, Speakers had been engaged for this convention,
a good representation secured, and every arrangement made for a success-
ful meeting. And such it was, barring a difference of opinion among the
friends of the movement as to what questions should properly come be-
fore a society whose only object, as declared in its constitution, was to
secure suffrage for women. The following letters were received :
IOWA CITY, October n, 1871.
Mrs. ANNIE SAVERY — Dear Madam: Your kind and very flattering invitation to
address the Woman's State Suffrage Convention, in Des Moines, reached me just prior
to my departure for this city, and I avail myself of my first leisure to respond. It
would not only give me great pleasure, but I should esteem it among my higher du-
ties to accept your invitation, and give my emphatic endorsement to the great reform
movement represented by the woman suffrage convention, were it at all practicable.
But I have just reached my new charge, and can not dispose of immediate pressing
claims upon my time and effort here. Please accept my apology for declining, and
believe me, ever yours for woman's enfranchisement. C. R. POMEROY.
INDIANOLA, Sept. 30, 1871.
Mrs. ANNIE SAVERY — Madam: I am in receipt of your letter, asking me to take
part in your annual convention. I thank you for the honor, as I expect from such a
convention results the most salutary, not only to the condition of woman, but also to
the progress of our young and vigorous commonwealth. I have read carefully the cir-
cular enclosed in your letter, and consider the logic irrefutable, and its suggestions
well worthy the attention of all who desire the complete enfranchisement of woman.
I fear that I shall not be able to attend, but if I am, I shall be with you, should I do
no more than say " Amen " to the words of my eloquent countryman, O'Connor, whom
I learn you have honored with the presidency of your association. Wishing for your
cause the fullest success, I subscribe myself — one for the enfranchisement of woman.
ALEXANDER BURNS.
A letter was also received from Bishop Matthew Simpson, of the Meth-
odist church, who was always ready to declare his adherence to this great
reform :
OWATOMA, Oct. 2, 1871.
Hon. J. HARLAN — Dear Senator: Yours, inclosing Mrs. Savery's kind invitation,
was received before I left Mankota. I would be pleased to comply with her invita-
tion, joined as it is with your earnest solicitation. But I am under bonds — if not to
keep the peace, at least to keep silence — so far as either sermons or public addresses
are concerned, until the full restoration of my health. I am glad to say my health is im-
proving. I have presided at five conferences this fall — two still await me. But I have
not ventured any extra labor, nor dare I for some time to come. Please convey to
* The speakers were Mr. Rutkay, Mrs. Sanford, Mrs. Bloomer, Mrs. Spaulding, Mrs. Savery. En-
couraging letters were read from Joseph A. Dugdale, and Hon. Henry O'Connor, president of the as-
sociation. The officers for 1871 were : President, Mrs. Amelia Bloomer ; Recording Secretary, Mrs.
Belle Mansfield; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Annie Savery ; Treasurer, Mrs. M. Callanan.
Des Moines Convention. 619
Mrs. Savery my thanks for her kind invitation, and say to her that I sympathize fully
with the suffrage association in its desire to attain for women the ballot.
A series of resolutions was discussed, other letters read, and a large num-
ber of new converts joined the association. The State Register spoke in
a very complimentary manner of the deliberations of this convention :
It is but just, perhaps, that we should say, in general terms, of the State woman suf-
frage convention, in session in Des Moines the past week, that its proceedings were
characterized with good sense, dignity, and the best of order. The world has had an
impression for five or six thousand years that women cannot talk without wrangling,
counsel without confusion. Again, many are so unjust as to imagine that a convention
composed of ladies, assembled to discuss serious subjects, can be nothing more than a
quilting party or tattlers' club enlarged and let loose.
We have never seen a convention conducted with more decorum, or a greater degree
of intelligent accord exhibited in the routine of proceedings, than was noticeable in
this first annual gathering of the friends of suffrage in Iowa. A majority of the mem-
bers were women. They opened the convention and conducted the discussions with a
spirit and in a manner after which men might well pattern. In some respects, the
ladies who took the lead, showed themselves better posted in general information,
in all matters of deliberation, than men.
We would not endorse all that was done at the convention, but we would be fair
enough to give to it the meed of having been, in all respects, well conducted. The
convention strengthened those in whose name it met, not only among themselves, but
with the public. All who attended it were impressed with the conviction that its
members were earnest and honest, and could see that they were intelligent and well
armed. Whatever it may have done directly, and that we know was much, it accom-
plished more good for its cause by impressing the public mind that its adherents in
Iowa are banded together in union, and bound to make every honorable effort for
success.
In January, 1872, I received a letter from a very prominent member of
the legislature, from which the following is an extract :
After consultation I believe the House would resolve itself into committee of the
whole (when senators would be likely also to come in), and hear you on the question
of woman suffrage. Should you desire to press it to vote this session, I should advise
that course. As to the time of your hearing, it should be in the day, and appointed
soon after the recess. We meet again on February 13. I think it could be arranged
for Friday, the i6th, if agreeable to you. With kind regards, JOHN A. KASSON.
Notwithstanding this kind proposal of Mr. Kasson, I did not act upon
his suggestion. But Mrs. Harbert and Mrs. Savery, feeling that something
must be done, had the courage and the conscience, on their individual re-
sponsibility, to call a mass-meeting at the capitol on the evening previous
to the day appointed for the vote on the amendment in the House. Mrs.
Harbert presided and opened the meeting with an earnest appeal ; Mrs.
Savery, Mr. C. P. Holmes, Senator Converse, and Governor Carpenter,
made eloquent speeches. The governor, in opening his address said he
vuh-d to strike "black "'from the constitution sixteen years ago, and
would then, as now, had the opportunity been presented, have voted to
strike out " male."
( >n the following day when the amendment came up in the House for
the final vote, it was carried by 58 to 39, In the Senate there was a spir-
ited discussion, Hon. Charles Beardslcy making an earnest speech in
favor of the resolution. The vote on engrossing the bill for the third
620 History of Woman Suffrage.
reading stood 26 ayes to 20 nays. Hope ran high with the friends ; but
alas! on a final vote, taken but a few minutes later, the bill was lost by 24
nays to 22 ayes.* The general sentiment was well stated by the Iowa
State Register :
The Senate disposed of the woman suffrage question yesterday by voting it down.
AVe think it made a mistake. Certainly there was, at the lowest count, thirty out of
every hundred voters in the State who desired to have this legislature ratify the action
of the last Assembly, and submit the question at the polls this fall. The Republican
party has its own record to meet here. The first time the negro suffrage question was
submitted to the people of Iowa, it was submitted by a Republican legislature, and
the submission was made when not over one voter in a hundred desired it done. This
latter thing was a plain proposition, a most justly preferred petition. The people who
were anxious to have the question submitted, are, it is confidently claimed, in majority.
We think their wishes might well and fitly have been granted. Even those who were
opposed to them must see that the advocates of the reform will now have a chance to
claim that the opponents of it are afraid to go with them to the people. This is not
merely a defeat for the present year, but practically for four years. Our State consti-
tution can be amended only after two legislatures have acted upon the amendment,
and the people have voted upon it. The legislature of two years ago passed the
resolution voted down yesterday. Now, we presume, it will have to take another
start. Four years of waiting and working before the friends of the reform can be
given a chance to get a verdict from the people, is a long and painful ordeal. It
will not be endured with patience. It would be asking too much of human nature to
expect that.
At the annual convention of 1874, at Des Moines, Bishop Gilbert Haven
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a clear and liberal thinker, made a
very impressive speech on the power woman could wield with the ballot
in her own hand in making our towns and cities safe for our sons and
daughters to live in. This year, the Des Moines annual conference of the
M. E. Church passed resolutions advocating woman suffrage as a great
moral reform ; while the State convention of the Universalist Association
in its resolution said : "This convention recognizes that women are en-
titled to all the social, religious, and political rights which men enjoy."
At the Diocesan Convention held at Davenport May 1881, the Episco-
pal Church took a step forward by striking the word male out of a canon,
thus enabling women to vote for vestrymen, a right hitherto withheld.
It is but a straw in the right direction, but " straws show which way the
wind blows," and we may hope for more good things to follow.
The Republican party, in convention assembled, at Des Moines, July i,
1874, inserted the following, as the tenth plank of its platform :
Resolved, That since the people may be entrusted with all questions of governmental
reform, we favor the final submission to them of the question of amending the
constitution so as to extend the right of suffrage to women, pursuant to the action of
the fifteenth General Assembly.
* yeas. Senators Beardsley, Bemis, Burke, Campbell, Chambers, Converse, Dague, Dashiell, Dysart,
Rowland, Hurley, Kephart, Maxwell, McCold, McKcan, McNutt, Read, Shane, Smith, Vale, West,
Young — 22. Nays, Senators Allen, Boomer, Clausscn, Crary, Fairall, Fitch, Gault, Havens, Ireland,
Ketcham, Kinne, Larrabee, Leavitt, Lowry, McCoIlough, Merrill, Miles, Murray, Russell, Stone,
Stewart, Taylor, Willett, Wonn — 24. Senator Murray had voted in the affirmative in the first instance,
but changed his vote in order to be able to move a reconsideration of the vote, by which the resolution
was lost.
Letter from Gov. Carpenter. 621
The reading of the resolution called forth cheers of approval, and was
adopted without a dissenting vote, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert is
entitled to great credit for this " woman's plank," she having gone before
the committee on resolutions and made an earnest appeal for woman's
recognition by the Republican party. The State Record said :
When the Republicans, in national convention, recognized woman, and gave her a
plank in the platform of .the party, it reflected back a spirit of justice and progress
which is looked for in vain in the party opposing, of whatever name. But when the
Republicans of Iowa gave to a woman the privilege of bringing in a plank of her own
production, and that plank was added to the State platform without a dissenting
voice, it placed Iowa, men and women alike, in the vanguard of the world's onward
march to a more rational life, more even justice, and purer government.
In the Republican State platform of Iowa is the first real and purely woman's plank
that ever entered into any political platform — because it originated in the brain of
woman. It was by a woman carried to the committee, and in response to an able,
dignified, and true womanly appeal, it was accepted, and by the convention incorpor-
ated into the platform of the party. It may seem to be a small plank, but it has
strength and durability. It is the live oak of a living principle, that will remain sound
while other planks of greater bulk around it will have served their purpose and wasted
away.
It argues thus: if woman is competent to present a political issue, clothed in
her own language, with a dignity and modesty that silence opposition, is she not
competent to exercise with prudence and intelligence the elective franchise ? and would
she not, if entrusted with it, exercise it for the elevation of a common humanity? The
Record tenders hearty congratulations not only to Mrs. Harbert, who we know will
bear the honors modestly, but also to those who by their presence in the convention
gave encouragement to greater respect for woman's wishes, and by whose work is
demonstrated woman's fitness to be in truth a helpmeet for man. We had a mother,
and have sisters, wife, and daughter, and that is why we would have woman enjoy
every privilege and opportunity to be useful to herself and her country that we claim
for ourself>
At the annual meeting of 1875, held at Oskaloosa, the following letter
from the governor of the State was received :
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Des Moines, Iowa.
Mrs. R. G. ORWIG, Cor. Sec. I. W. S. S. — Dear Madam: I have your letter in-
viting me to be present at your annual meeting. Thanking you and the association
for the consideration implied, I have to express my regrets that business of an official
character will prevent me from coming. I hope your proceedings may be character-
ized by such wisdom, moderation, and sincerity as to advance the cause to which your
efforts are given. I have never been able to discover any argument to sustain my own
right to vote that does not equally apply to woman. Whether my right is founded
upon the interest I have, in common with my fellows, in the preservation of the free
institutions of my country; or upon the protection of my personal interests as a citizen;
or upon my right to a voice in the creation of laws to which I am held amenable; or
upon my right to influence by a vote the direction given to revenues which I am taxed
to help supply; or upon any other right, personal, political or moral, I have never been
able to see why the reasons which make the vote valuable to me do not apply with
equal force to woman. You doubtless think your efforts are comparatively fruitless;
but I need not tell you that while your agitation has failed, so far, to bring you the bal-
lot, it has ameliorated the condition of woman in very many particulars. Her prop-
erty rights are better protected; her sphere of activity has been enlarged, and her in-
fluence for good is more widely recognized. So I wish you well. Yonrs truly,
C. C. CARPENTER.
622 History of Woman Suffrage.
This year women were members of a lay delegation in the Methodist con-
ference, and also lay delegates to the Presbyterian synod. And in two or
three instances women have been invited to address these bodies, and
have received a vote of thanks. Many of the orthodox clergy are openly
advocating our cause, and in some instances women have been invited
by them to occupy their desks on Sunday to preach the Gospel to the
people. This is a wonderful advance in sentiment since 1852, when in
New York the clergy would not permit women to speak, even on temper-
ance in a public hall.
In 1876 the society secured the services of Matilda Hindman, of Pitts-
burg, Pa., who traveled over the greater part of the State, lecturing and
organizing societies, and was everywhere spoken of as an eloquent and
logical speaker. She was followed by Margaret W. Campbell, and those
who know her feel that the State gained in her a valuable friend in every-
thing pertaining to the interests of woman. What is said of Miss Hind-
man as a speaker may also be said of Mrs. Campbell.
The first governor of Iowa to officially recognize woman's right to the
ballot was the Hon. C. C. Carpenter, who in his message to the General
Assembly of 1876, said:
The proposed amendment to the constitution, adopted by your predecessors, and
which requires your sanction before being submitted to the voters of the State, will
come before you. I venture to suggest, that the uniform expression in Wyoming Ter-
ritory, where woman suffrage is a fact, is favorable to its continuance, and that wher-
ever in Europe and America women have voted for school or minor officers the influ-
ence of their suffrage has been beneficent; and in view o/ the peculiar appropriateness
of submitting this question in this year, 1876, when all America is celebrating achieve-
ments which were inspired by the doctrine that taxation and representation are of
right inseparable, it is recommended that you give the people of Iowa an opportunity
to express their judgment upon the proposed amendment at the ballot-box. .
At the request of the State Association, Miss Matilda Hindman was
granted a hearing before the legislature, and most respectful attention
was accorded to her able address. Miss Anthony was also invited, and, at
the suggestion of Mrs. Savery, she engaged the opera-house. The seats
reserved for the members were all filled, and every part of the house oc-
cupied. The day following, the vote in the House was taken, and carried
by 54 to 40. After a careful canvass of the Senate, it was found that there
were ten votes to spare ; but alas ! when the day for final action came the
amendment was lost by one vote.*
* The names of the representatives voting on the Woman Suffrage amendment are as fol
lows (Republicans in Roman, Democrats in Italics): YEAS — Allen, Baker, Bolter, Brooks, Brush,
Calvin, Campbell, Case, Chapman, Clark of Johnson, Cleveland, Colvin, Graver, Deweese, Giltner,
Given, Glendenning, Glover, Hall, Hoag, Homer, Horton, Hotchkiss, Hunt, Irwin of Warren, Jaqua,
Jordan, Johnson of Benton, Kauffman, Lane, Lathrop, Lynch, McCartney, McHugh, McNeill,
Madden of Polk, Madison, Maris, Mills, Moffit, Morse of Wright, Norris, Palmer, Prcudfoot, Rae,
Reed of Howard, Robinson, Said, Scott, Smith, Tice, Underwood, Ure, Wilson— 54. NAYS — Auld,
Benton, Birchard, Brown, Bush, Christy, Clark of Marion, Crawford of Dubuque, Danforth,
Dixon, Elliot, Evans, Fuller, Gibbons, Gilliland, Cray, Harned, Hemenway, Hobbs, Horstman,
Johnston of Dubuque, Johnson of Winneshiek, McCune, Madden of Taylor, Manning, Mentzel,
Morse of Adams, Mueller, Reed of Jackson, Rees, Shaw, Simmons. Stone, Stuart, Stuckey, Thayer,
ll'hite, Williams, Young, Mr. Speaker (John W. Gear)— 40. ABSENT— Shepardson, Graves, Irwin of
Lee, Seevers, McElderry, Crawford of Scott.
The vote in the Senate was: YEAS— Arnold, Bailey, Campbell. Conaway, Dashiell, Dwelle,
Gallup, Gilmore, Graham, Harmon, Hersey, Jessup, McCoid, Miller of Appanoose, Miller of
Annual Meeting of 1882. 623
In 1880 Senator Gaylord of Floyd county made a speech, giving twenty-
one reasons why he voted against the submission of the proposition for
the enfranchisement of women, which was published in full in the Des
Moines Register, and thus sent broadcast over the State. Mrs. Bloomer
replied to Mr. Floyd through the same paper, meeting and refuting every
objection, thus in a measure antidoting the poisonous influence of the
senator's pronunciamenio.
In the spring of this year Dr. Harriette Bottsford and Mrs. Jane C. Mc-
Kinney were appointed by a caucus of Republican women, to the Powe-
sheik county convention, to choose delegates to the State convention.
They presented their credentials to the committee, and the chairman re-
ported them as delegates. On motion, they were accepted — but some
men soon bethought them that this was establishing a bad precedent, and
began maneuvering to get rid of them. This was finally done by declar-
ing the delegation full without them — two men having been quietly ap-
pointed to fill vacancies after the ladies had presented their credentials.
Mrs. McKinney made a spicy speech, saying they did not expect to be
received as delegates, but wished to remind the men that women were
citizens, tax-payers and Republicans, but unrepresented.
At the Greenback State convention of 1881, Mrs. Mary E. Nash was
nominated as the candidate of that party for State superintendent of
schools. Mrs. Nash declined the honor intended, and said that her politi-
cal flag, if it were to float at all, would be found in another camp. She
would not desert her colors for office. In 1884 Mrs. H. J. Bellangee and
Mrs. A. M. Swain were regularly accredited delegates to the National
Greenback convention, held at Indianapolis, Ind., to nominate a candidate
for the presidency, where they were received with the greatest courtesy.
The annual meeting of 1882, at Des Moines, was remarkable for the
number of clergymen, representing nearly all the different denominations,
who took part in its proceedings, each of the nine seeming to vie with the
others in expressing his belief that the ballot for woman, as for man, was
a right, not a privilege. Bishop Hurst of the M. E. Church, made an able
speech. The executive committee sent a memorial to the Republican
convention, held in June for the nomination of State officers, asking a
plank in their platform favoring the submission of the woman suffrage
amendment. The request was not granted. Leading politicians who pro-
fessed to believe in equality of rights for women feared that to do so
would make too heavy a weight for the party to carry, it having already
incorporated a prohibition plank in its platform. The committee also
interviewed 500 editors, asking them to open the columns of their papers
to the advocacy of woman suffrage. One hundred and twenty replied
favorably, while many were courteous and others brusque in their re-
fusals.
A committee on legislation (Mrs. Narcissa T. Bemis, chairman) did good
Blackhuwk, Mitchell, Newton, Nichols, Perkins, Thornburg, Wood, Woolson— aa. NAYS — Bestow,
Carr, Clark, Cooley, Dows, Hartshorn, Hebard, Kinne, Larrabee, Lovell, .'/. ('<>/•/«, i<-X-, Maginnis,
Merrelt of Clinton, Merrill of Wapello, Peast\ Rothert, Rumple, Tealc, Willett, Williams, H'ilson,
Wann, Wright— 33. ABSENT — Hitchcock (who was sick and died in a few days), yea ; Murphy \ nay;
Shane (resigned on account of being appointed district judge), yea ; StantAartt, nay ; Young, nay.
624 History of Woman Suffrage.
work during this session of the legislature, and also published a tract
composed of contributions from twelve leading ministers of the State,
called "The Clergymen's Tract." This was sent broadcast. Xine hun-
dred of the clergy were favored with a copy. The Ministerial Associa-
tion, held in Des Moines, passed the following :
Resolved, That we are heartily in favor of woman suffrage as advocated by your
association, and regard the same as a proper subject for pulpit-teaching, and, as oppor-
tunity offers of furthering said cause in our pulpit ministry, we will avail ourselves of
the same.
During this year the State Society contributed liberally to the Nebraska
campaign. Mrs. Nancy R. Allen and Mrs. Mary B. Lee each left a small
legacy to the association.
Of the annual meeting of 1883,* held at Ottumwa, the local papers gave
full and fair reports ; while 200 papers of the State published a condensed
statement prepared by the secretary. Miss Hindman and Mrs. Campbell
were again invited to the State. No grander work than theirs was ever
done in Iowa. There is scarcely a county which they have not canvassed ;
holding meetings, forming associations, circulating petitions, distributing
tracts, preaching on Sundays in the churches, traveling, often for months
at a time, without a pledge of pecuniary aid, depending for their expenses
wholly on funds contributed at their meetings.
The State convention of 1884 met at the Christian Church at Des
Moines; Mrs. Nacissa T. Bemis presided. Mrs. Helen M. Gougar of In-
diana was one of the speakers. A committee, of which Mrs. Martha C.
Callanan was chairman, interviewed the governor, asking a recognition
of woman's right of suffrage, and were told it should receive considera-
tion. Accordingly, in his message to the legislature, Governor Sherman
said :
Your attention is respectfully directed to the question of impartial suffrage, in re-
spect to which the nineteenth General Assembly proposed an amendment to the consti-
tution. Should this meet your approval, as preliminary to taking the judgment of the
voters, I recommend that it be submitted at a special election, in order that it may be
freed from the influence of partisan politics, and thus receive an unprejudiced vote of
our citizens. Not caring to here express an opinion upon the question itself, it is suf-
ficient to say that now, as heretofore, I am in favor of the submission of any question
which is of importance and general interest.
Governor Sherman also gave it as his opinion that a good woman should
be placed on the board of trustees of every public institution. This was
the second time that an Iowa governor had referred to this great political
question in his message to the General Assembly, Governor Carpenter
having heartily indorsed the measure in 1876. It is said, however, that
Governor Newbold had written a clause on the subject in his message in
1878, but that it was suppressed by the careful counsel of some guardian
angel of his party.
Previous to the assembling of this legislature, petitions had been widely
* Narcissa T. Bemis of Independence was reelected president, and Mary A. Work chairman of the
executive committee, with headquarters at Des Moines ; Mrs. Margaret W. Campbell was made State
lecturer and organizer, and Mariana T. Folsom financial secretary of the association.
Summitry of Votes in the Legislature. 625
circulated,* praying for the submission of the amendment. Over 6,000
signatures were obtained. Each petition was placed in the hands of a
senator or member from the county in which the names were gathered,
for presentation in the respective Houses.
For fifteen consecutive years the State Society has met annually,
made reports, passed resolutions, elected officers, listened to speeches
and transacted what other business has come before it. Though its anni-
versaries have usually been held at Des Moines, its influence through the
press has pervaded the whole State. Since 1875, the annual meetings
have been held in different cities t outside the capital, thus giving the
people of all sections of the State an opportunity to participate in the
deliberations. Petitions to the legislature and to congress have been cir-
culated by the society, delegates sent to the conventions of the National
and American Suffrage Associations, \ and letters addressed to the dele-
gates of the State and National nominating conventions of the political
parties, asking for a recognition of woman's right to the ballot in their
platforms.
A brief recital of the proceedings of the Iowa legislature will show that
a large majority of the Representatives have been in favor of submitting
the question of woman suffrage to a direct vote of the men of the State.
The proposition was first presented in the House by Hon. John P. Irish,
in 1870. The resolution passed both Houses with very little debate, was
approved by the governor, and submitted to the next General Assembly.
In the session of 1872 it was discussed in both Houses at considerable
length, and again passed in the Lower House by the strong vote of 58
ayes to 39 nays ; while in the Senate it was lost by only two majority.
The House has never failed at any session since that time, until 1884, to
give a majority in its favor ; but the Senate has not made for itself so
good a record. In 1872 the vote in the Senate stood : ayes, 22 ; nays, 24.
In 1876 it was lost by one vote; and in 1880 lost on engrossment. In
1884 the tables were turned ; when the amendment came up in the twen-
tieth General Assembly for ratification, the Senate passed the bill, while
the House, for the first time, defeated it by a small majority.
* Mrs. M. A. Darwin, Mrs. Martha Callanan, Mrs. Judith Ellen Foster, superintendents of the
franchise department of the W. C. T. U, of the State, rolled up petitions in their respective districts;
and Mrs. Campbell and Miss Hindman aided largely in gathering the signatures.
t In August, 1875, at Oskalooba; October, 1880, Fort Dodge ; 1881, Marshalltown ; 1883, Ottumwa;
1885, Cedar Rapids ; all of the intervening anniversaries have been held at Des Moines. The presi-
dents of the State society since its organization have been Attorney-General Henry O'Connor, Amelia
Bloomer, Lizzie B. Read, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Mrs. Dr. Porter, James Callanan, Martha C.
Callanan, Mrs. Caroline A. Ingham, Narcissa T. Bcmis, Margaret W. CampbeU. When the society
was organized, in 1870, it declared itself independent and remained thus until 1879, when, by a small
vote, it was made auxiliary to the American Association. The officers for 1885 are: President, Mrs.
M. W. Campbell, Des Moines; Treasurer, Mrs. Eliza H. Hunter, Des Moines; Recording Secre-
tary, Mrs. Jennie Wilson, Cedar Rapids ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Martha C. Callanan, Des
Moines; Executive Committee, Mary J. Coggeshall, Chairman: R. Amanda Stewart, Harriet G.
Bellangcr. Des Moines; Orilla M. James, Knoxvillc ; Florence English, Grinnell ; Ellen Armstrong,
Ottumwa; Narcissa T. Bemis, Independence; Angeline Allison, Cedar Rapids; Elizabeth P. Gue,
l>cs Mdinus.
t At the State Fair held September, 1885, at Des Moines, the women had a very handsomely
decorated booth where they received many hundred calls, distributed an immense amount of suffrage
literature, obtained a thousand signatures to a petition to the legislature and wrote notes of the fair
for various newspapers, in all of which woman suffrage was freely discussed.
40
626 History of ]Voniau Suffrage.
By the constitution of Iowa an amendment must be approved by two
consecutive legislatures, convened in regular session. When so approved
it is then submitted to the popular vote of the electors. As in this State
the legislature meets but once in two years, the reader can see how easily
a bill passed at one session may, two years later, be defeated by the
election of new members who are opposed to it. And thus through all
these years those who claim the ballot for woman in this State have been
elated or depressed by the action of each succeeding legislature.
The thirteenth General Assembly not only earned a good name for en-
lightened statesmanship by passing the constitutional amendment in favor
of woman suffrage, but it also, by chapter 21, approved March 8, 1870,
passed an act admitting women to the practice of law. It was under this
that Judith Ellen Foster — so widely known as an eloquent lecturer and
able lawyer — Annie C. Savery, Mrs. Emma Haddock, Louisa H. Albert,
Jessie M. Johnson, and several others have passed the necessary examina-
tion and been admitted to practice as attorneys and counselors in all the
courts of the State. Mrs. Arabella Mansfield was admitted to the bar in
1869, just a year previous to the enactment of the law.
Miss Linda M. Ramsey, now Mrs. Hartzell, was employed as a clerk by
Adjutant-General Baker in 1864, and held the office for some time after
the war closed. The Record says she was the first woman regularly em-
ployed and paid by the State for clerical services. Miss Augusta
Matthews served as military secretary for Governor Stone during the war
under pay of the State.
It was the thirteenth General Assembly, 1870, that first elected a
woman, Miss Mary E. Spencer, to the office of engrossing clerk ; and upon
her it devolved to convey the message from the House to the Senate, an-
nouncing the passage of the woman suffrage amendment. In 1872 each
House elected one woman among its officers ; and each succeeding Gen-
eral Assembly since that time has elected from three to six women. The
office of postmaster has been filled by women for the last ten years, and
is now held by the venerable widow of General N. A. Baker, for many
years the popular adjutant-general of the State. The office of State libra-
rian was filled by Mrs. Ada North for seven years, and is now held by
Mrs. S. B. Maxwell. Mrs. North is (1885) librarian of the State University
at Iowa City.
The State insane hospitals are inspected by a visiting commission, one
of whom is a woman. Several of the city hospitals are managed by
•women of the Catholic orders. The reform schools have a woman on
their board of trustees, of whom Governor Sherman was graciously
pleased to say that " she discovered more of the true inwardness of the
institution in three days than her honorable colleague had done in three
years."
In 1876 Governor Kirkwood appointed Mrs. Nancy R. Allen notary
public. He also appointed Mrs. Merrill as teacher and chaplain at the
State penitentiary, Miss McCowen as physician of the State insane
asylum, and Dr. Sara A. Pangborn, one of the staff of physicians of the in-
sane hospital at Independence.
Attorney-General's Opinion. 627
In 1874 Governor Carpenter appointed Mrs. Deborah Cattell a commis-
sioner to investigate the alleged cruelty in the State Reform School at
Eldora ; and for this service she was paid the same as men who served on
the same commission. Governor Gear appointed Dr. Abbie M. Cleaves
delegate from Iowa to the National Conference of Charities and Correc-
tion, and to the National Association for the Protection of the Insane and
the Prevention of Insanity, which was held in Cleveland, Ohio, July, 1880.
Mrs. Mary Wright and Dr. Abbie Cleaves were commissioned to the con-
ference of the same associations at Louisville, Ky., in 1883. The legisla-
ture of 1880 appointed Jane C. McKinney one of the trustees of the Hos-
pital for the Insane, at Independence.
The eighteenth General Assembly, 1880, passed an act to extend to
women the right to hold the office of county recorder. A bill giving
them the right to hold the office of county auditor passed the House, but
was lost in the Senate. Under the above law Miss Addie Hayden was
elected recorder of Warren county by a majority of 397 votes. She ran
on an independent ticket. Mrs. C. J. Hill was chosen recorder of Osceola
county at the same election.
The instruction of the youth of Iowa has fallen largely into the hands
of women. During the year 1879 the number of women employed as
teachers was 13,579, while the number of men was 7,573. In the larger towns
and cities women are almost exclusively engaged as teachers. Miss Phebe
Ludlow, after having for several years acceptably discharged the duties
of city superintendent of schools at Davenport, was elected professor of
English language and literature in the State University at Iowa City.
The chair is still occupied by a woman, as is that of instructor of mathe-
matics and several other branches in that institution, which, to the honor
of Iowa be it said, always opened its doors to both sexes alike.
The question of the eligibility of women to the office of county superin-
tendent of public schools having arisen by the election of Miss Julia C.
Addington in the autumn of 1869, the matter was referred to the attorney-
general by the State superintendent of public instruction, and the follow-
ing was his reply :
Hon. A. S. Kissell, Superintendent of Public Instruction :
DEAR SIR: Rights and privileges of persons (citizens) are frequently extended but
never abridged by implication. The soundness and wisdom of this rule of construc-
tion is, I believe, universally conceded. Two clauses of the constitution, only, con-
tain express provisions excluding women from the rights and privileges in said pro-
visions. Section I, of Article I., as to the right of suffrage, and Section 4, of Article
III., which provides that members of the legislature must be free white male citizens.
•' Free" and "white" have lost their meaning (if the words in that use ever had any suit-
able or good meaning), but the word "male" still retains its full force and effect. If this
express restriction exists in the constitution as to any other office, it has escaped my
notice. It is true that the words "person " and " citizen " frequently occur in other
l>;irts of the constitution in connection with eligibility and qualification for office, and
I fully admit that by usage — " time-honored usage," if you will — these phrases have in
common acceptation been taken to mean man in the masculine gender only, and to
exclude woman. But a recent decision in the Court Exchequer, England, holding
that the generic term " man " includes woman also, indicates our progress from a crude
barbarism to a better civilization.
628 History of Woman Suffrage.
The office of county superintendent was created by chapter 52 of the acts of the
seventh General Assembly, laws of 1868, pages 52-72. Neither in that act, nor in
any subsequent legislation on the subject, have I been able to find any express pro-
visions making male citizenship a test of eligibility for the place, or excluding women;
and when I look over the duties to be performed by that officer — as 'I have with some
care, and, I trust, not without interest — I deem it exceedingly fortunate for the cause
of education in Iowa that there is no provision in the law preventing women from
holding the office of county superintendent of common schools. I know that the pro-
noun " he " is frequently used in different sections of the act, and referring to the offi-
cer; but, as stated above, this privilege of the citizen cannot be taken away or denied
by intendment or implication; and women are citizens as well and as much as men.
I need scarcely add that, in my opinion, Miss Addington is eligible to the office to
which she has been elected; that she will be entitled to her pay when she qualifies and
discharges the duties of the office, and that her decisions on appeal, as well as all her
official acts, will be legal and binding. It is perhaps proper to state that an opinion
on this question, substantially in agreement with the present one, was sent from this
office to a gentleman writing from Osage, in Mitchell county, several weeks ago, which
for some reason unknown to me, seems not to have been made public in the county.
I have the honor to be, etc., HENRY O'CONNOR, Attorney-General.
Miss Addington, in her short letter of inquiry to the superintendent,
has the following modest conclusion : "The position is not one I should
have chosen for myself, but since my friends have shown so much confi-
dence in me, and many of them are desirous that I should accept the
office, I feel inclined to gratify them, if it be found there is nothing in-
compatible in my doing so."
The question of the eligibility of women to hold school offices was
again raised at the October election of 1875. Miss Elizabeth S. Cooke
was elected to the office of superintendent of common schools in
Warren county. The question of her right to hold the office was carried
by her opponent, Mr. Huff, to the District Court of that county, by ap-
peal ; and that court decided that the defendant, Miss Cooke, " being a
woman, was ineligible to the office." It was then carried to the Supreme
Court of the State, which held that "there is no constitutional inhibition
upon the rights of women to hold the office of county superintendent."
In the meantime, however, and immediately following the decision of the
Warren county judge, the General Assembly, March 2, 1876, promptly
came to the rescue and passed the following act, almost unanimously:
SECTION I. No person shall be deemed ineligible, by reason of sex, to any school
office in the State of Iowa.
SEC. 2. No person who may have been, or shall be, elected or appointed to the
office of county superintendent of common schools, or director, in the State of Iowa,
shall be deprived of office by reason of sex.
Under the provisions of this law, and the above-cited decision of the
Supreme Court, Miss Cooke was allowed to serve out her term of office
without hindrance. Since that time women have been elected, and dis-
charged the duties of county superintendent with great credit to them-
selves and advantage to the public. Women have also been elected to
other school offices in different parts of the State. Mrs. Mary A. Work
was unanimously elected sub-director in district No. 6, Delaware town-
ship, Polk county, in the spring of 1880; and soon alter was made presi-
School Officers and Journalists. 629
dent of the board — the first woman, so far as known, to fill the position
of president of a school board.
In 1877, in Frederica, Bremer county, Mrs. Mary Fisher attended the
school meeting, and was elected as one of the three directors. The two
others were men, one of whom immediately resigned, saying he would not
hold office with a woman. His resignation was at once accepted. He
further remarked that "woman's place was to hum; she was out of her
spear to school meet ins, holdin' office," etc. Mrs. Fisher had been a
teacher for six years. Mrs. Shirley, another successful teacher, accom-
panied Mrs. Fisher to the next school meeting, and both ladies voted on
all questions that came up for action, and nothing was said against their
doing so.
This year (1885) the school board of Des Moines elected Mrs. Lou. M.
Wilson to the office of city superintendent of public schools, with a salary
of $i,'8oo a year. She has in charge eighty teachers, among whom are
two men in the position of principals. At the woman's congress, held at
Des Moines in October, 1885, Dr. Jennie McCowen, in her report for this
State, said :
An increasing number of women have been elected on school-boards, and are serv-
ing as officers and county superintendents of schools. Last year six women served as
presidents, thirty-five as secretaries, and fifty as treasurers of school-boards. Of the
superintendents and principals of graded schools about one in five is a woman; of county
superintendents, one in nine; of teachers in normal institutes, one in three; of princi-
pals of secondary institutions of learning, one in three; of tutors and instructors in
colleges, one in two; and in the twenty-three higher institutions of learning, thirteen
young women are officiating as professors, and in three of these colleges the secretary
of the faculty is a woman. The State board of examiners has one woman — Miss
Ella A. Hamilton of Des Moines — and the State superintendent of public instruction
has for a number of years availed himself of the valued services of a woman for private
secretary. The Northwestern Educational Journal is edited by a woman. At the
last meeting of the State Teachers' Association a committee was appointed to prepare
a regular course of reading for teachers. This course is mainly professional and liter-
ary, with a leaning toward the latter. A large number of these reading circles have
already been organized, and much interest, and even enthusiasm, is being manifested
by teachers in all parts of the State. The school of Domestic Economy, in connection
with the Agricultural College, is in charge of a woman as dean, and, although but a
year old, has made an auspicious beginning. A number of young ladies, graduates of
the State University and other literary schools, have gone to the School of Domestic
Economy to finish their education.
Iowa has many women engaged as journalists. Prominent among these
is Miss Maggie VanPelt, city editor of the Dubuque Times. She
conducts her department very ably, and acceptably to her readers.
Whether an advocate for suffrage or not, she is certainly a practical
woman's rights woman. Independent and fearless, she goes about day
and night where she pleases, and wherever her business calls her. A re-
volver, which she is known to carry, makes it safe for her to walk the
street at all hours. Mrs. Will Hollingsworth, of the Sigourney Review,
does a large part of the writing for that paper, and assists in the manage-
ment of the establishment. Woman's Hour, edited by Mary J. Coggeshall,
was published by women at Des Moines two seasons, during the exposi-
tion. Ten thousand copies were printed for free distribution, and a hand-
630 History of Woman Suffrage.
somely decorated department granted the society in the exposition for
their work. Mrs. E. H. Hunter and Mrs. Woods represented the society.
Mrs. Pauline Swaim is noted for her journalistic ability. Besides working
on her husband's paper, the Oskaloosa Herald, she has done much for the
State Register, reporting for it the proceedings of the Senate. In October,
1875, Nettie Sanford started a paper at Marshalltown, called The Woman's
Bureau, which she published for two years. During 1878 she published
the San Gabriel Valley News, in California. Mrs. L. M. Latham for many
years conducted a suffrage column in the Cedar Rapids Times; since 1884
she has been associated with Mrs. J. L. Wilson on the Transcript, an eight
column paper devoted to general news, temperance and woman suffrage.
The paper is owned by Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. Nettie P. Fox edits the
Spiritual Offering at Ottumwa ; Mrs. Hattie Campbell, a suffrage depart-
ment in The Advance, at Des Moines; Mary Osborne edits the Osceola
Sentinel, and is superintendent of the public schools of Clark county ;
Mrs. Lafayette Young is engaged on the Atlantic Telegraph. Very many
papers in the State have women in charge of one or more columns.
In the humbler walks of literature Iowa can boast quite a number of
women who have made successful attempts at authorship.* In sculpture
Mrs. Harriet A. Ketcham, of Mt. Pleasant, deserves mention. She has
the exclusive contract to model the prominent men of Iowa for the new
capitol. Mrs. Estelle E. Vore, Mrs. Cora R. Fracker, and Miss Emma G.
Holt, are known as musical composers.
Among the lecturers of Iowa, Mrs. Matilda Fletcher is worthy of men-
tion. Though she has never made woman suffrage a specialty, she is
sound on that question, and frequently introduces it incidentally in her
lectures. In 1869 she was living in obscurity in Council Bluffs, her hus-
band being employed as a teacher in one of the suburban schools. Young,
girlish-looking, no one seeing her would have dreamed of her possessing
the capabilities she has since displayed. She started out under many dis-
couragements, but has shown a perseverance, a self-reliance, and an in-
domitable will that few women manifest in the same direction. Mrs.
Fletcher has been employed by the Republican party during some
of the most important and exciting campaigns, speaking through-
out the State, in halls, tents, and in the open air. Every such effort on
the part of woman is an advantage to the cause we advocate, bringing it
nearer to final success. But it is to Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, Anna
Dickinson, Mrs. Livermore, and other lyceum lecturers f that our State is
especially indebted for a knowledge of the true principles upon which
* In literature there is "Europe through a Woman's Eye," by Mrs. Cutler of Burlington; "The
Waverly Dictionary," by Miss May Rogers, Dubuque ; "Common-School Compendium," by Mrs.
Lamphere, Des Moines ; "Hospital Life," by Mrs. Sarah Young, Des Moines; "Wee Folks of No
Man's Land," by Mrs. Wetmore, Dubuque; " Two of L's," by Calista Patchin, Des Moines; " For
Girls," by Mrs. E. R. Shepherd, Marshalltown; "Autumn Leaves," by Mrs. Scott, Greencastle;
" Phonetic Pronunciation," by Mrs. Henderson, Salem; "Her Lovers," by Miss Claggett, Keokuk ;
"Practical Ethics," by Matilda Fletcher. There are several writers of cook-books, of medical and
sanitary papers, of poems, of legal papers and of musical compositions. Miss Adeline M. Payne of
Nevada has compiled catalogues of stock.
t Miss Anthony has given her lecture, entitled "Woman Wants Bread, not the Ballot," in over one
hundred of the cities and villages of the State ; and Mrs. Slanton and the others have doubtless lec-
tured in fully as many places.
A Damsel in Arms. 631
woman founds her claim to equal civil and political rights with man. In
all sections of our land their voices have been heard by interested and de-
lighted audiences.
There are about one hnndred and fifty women in the medical profession
in the different cities of the State. Mrs. Yeomans, of Clinton, is a suc-
cessful practitioner. Mrs. King, allopathist, and Mrs. Hortz, homeopath-
ist, are regular graduates in good practice at Des Moines. Dr. Harding,
electrician, and Dr. Hilton, allopathist, also graduates, have all the practice
they can attend to in Council Bluffs. In 1883, Dr. Jennie McCowen was
elected president of the Scott County Medical Society. This was the first
time a woman was ever elected to that office in this State, if not in the
United States.
It is quite sure that Iowa may justly claim the first woman in the pro-
fession of dentistry — Mrs. Lucy B. Hobbs, as early as 1863.* At Cresco
there is the firm of Dr. L. F. & Mrs. M. E. Abbott, dental surgeons. At
Mt. Pleasant, Mrs. M. E. Hildreth is a licensed dentist in successful
practice.
Rev. Augusta Chapin was, I think, the first woman to enter the sacred
office in this State. Miss Safford, Algona ; Mrs. Gillette, Knoxville ; Mrs.
M. A. Folsom, Marshalltown ; Florence E. Kollock, Waverly ; Mrs. M. J.
Janes, Spencer ; Mrs. Hartsough, Ft. Dodge, are regularly ordained
preachers of the Universalist and Unitarian faiths. There are several
licensed preachers of the M. E. Church, but none have received regular
ordination.
Iowa furnished the following women who went to the front as nurses
during the war : Mrs. Harlan, wife of Senator Harlan ; Mrs. Almira Fales,
Mrs. Anne Wittenmeyer, Miss Phebe Allen, Mrs. Jerusha R. Small, Miss
Melcena Elliott, Mrs. Arabella Tannehill. These all did good service in
hospital and on the field, and some of them laid down their lives as a sac-
rifice. We copy the following as one of the many facts of the war:
Some years ago Adjutant-General Baker of Des Moines received a letter of inquiry
asking about a certain soldier in the Twenty-fourth Iowa infantry. The tone of the
letter was so peculiar as to attract considerable attention and create much comment in
the office. In reply the general stated that the records of the regiment and the record
of the soldier (whom, for the sake of convenience, we will call Smith, although that
is far from the real name) were in his office. A few days afterwards a gentleman
from Northern Iowa appeared, inquired for General Baker, and was closeted with him
long enough to divulge the following singular tale:
When the war broke out Miss Mary Smith, daughter of the general's visitor, was re-
siding in Ohio, working for a farmer. Her father's family had moved to Iowa the fall
preceding the attack on Sumter, leaving Mary behind to follow in the spring. Vari-
ous causes conspired to delay her departure for her Iowa home until autumn, and it
was September before she landed at Muscatine, from which place she expected to
travel by land to her father's house. She was a large-sized, hearty-looking girl,
eighteen years of age. Arriving at Muscatine, some strange freak induced her to as-
sume man's apparel and enlist in the Twenty-fourth infantry, then in rendezvous at
that city. She did this without exciting any suspicion, burned all her feminine gar-
ments and papers, neglected to inform her friends of her arrival, and became a sol-
dier. Some comment was elicited by her beardless face and girlish appearance, but as
* Sec New York chapter, page 401.
632 History of Woman Suffrage.
she did her duty promptly and was particularly handy in cooking and taking care of the
sick, the young warrior speedily became a general favorite alike with officers and men.
She passed through all the campaigns in which the regiment was engaged without a
scratch, except a close call from a minie ball at Sabine's Cross Roads, which took the
skin off the back of her left hand, voted with the other members of the regiment for
president in 1864, and was finally mustered out with her comrades at the close of the
war. When she was discharged she procured female apparel — although in doing so
she was obliged to make a confidant of one of her own sex — and procured work in
Illinois, not far from Rock Island. Six months elapsed before the tan of five sum.
mers wore off, and when she had again become "white," and had re-learned the
almost forgotten customs of womanhood, she presented herself at her father's house,
where she was received with open arms.
To all the questions which were asked by the various members of the family she re-
plied that she had been honestly employed, and had never forsaken the right way.
She had been economical in the army, and invested several hundred dollars in land in
Northern Iowa, which rapidly appreciated in value, and to-day she is well off. \\ii\\
the remainder of her money she attended school. Last January a worthy man, who
had been in the same regiment, but in a different company, made her an offer of mar-
riage. Like a true woman she was unwilling to bestow her hand when any part of her
former life was unknown, and before accepting the offer she made to him a full reve-
lation of her soldier-days. At first he could not believe it, but when she proceeded to
narrate events and incidents which could be known only to active participants in them,
told of marches, camps, skirmishes, battles, and the thousand and one things which
never appear in print, but which ever remain living pictures with "old soldiers," he
was obliged to accept the strange tale as true. The story, however, did not lessen his
regard for her, and about the first of February they were married.
The lady's father, after hearing the tale of her life, was still incredulous, and only
satisfied himself of its truth by a visit to the adjutant-general's office and an inspection
of the records. By comparing dates furnished him by his daughter with the original
rolls there on file he became fully convinced that it was all true.
A few of the inventions patented by women of Iowa are the following :
Fly-screen door-attachment, by Phcebe R. Lamborne, West Liberty; photograph-
album, Viola J. Angie, Spencer; step-ladder, Mrs. Mary J. Gartrell, Des Moines;
baking-powder can with measure combined, Mrs. Lillie Raymond, Osceola; egg-
stand, Mrs. M. E. Tisdale, Cedar Rapids; egg-beater, and self-feeding griddle-
greaser, Mrs. Eugenia Kilborn, Cedar Rapids; tooth-pick holder, Mrs. Avers, Clinton;
thermometer to regulate oven heat, Mrs. F. Grace, Perry; the excelsior ironing-table,
Mrs. S. L. Avery, Marion; neck-yoke and pole-attachment, by which horses can be
instantly detached from the vehicle, Maria Dunham, Dunlap; invalid bed, Mrs. Anna
P. Forbes, Dubuque.
In the various business avocations I find the following :
Mrs. T. Nodles is the largest fancy grocer In the State, doing a yearly business of
$80,000. Mrs. C. F. Barren, Cedar Rapids, designs and manufactures perforated
embroidery patterns. Statistics show there are nine hundred and fifty-five Iowa women
who own and direct farms; eighteen manage farms; six own and direct stock-farms;
twenty manage dairy-farms; five own green-houses; nine manage market-gardens;
thirty-seven manage high institutions of learning; one hundred and twenty-five are
physicians; five attorn eys-at-law; ten ministers; three dentists; one hundred and ten
professional nurses, and one civil engineer.
In the summer of 1884, the Fort Dodge Messenger had this paragraph
about a Des Moines family :
Miss Kate Tupper, of Des Moines, has been in town, visiting at Mr. Bassett's for
a few days. Kate comes of a family which is remarkable for intelligent womanly
effort and success. Her mother is Mrs. Ellen S. Tupper, the Bee-queen of Iowa,
Kate Shelly. 633
whose work on bee-culture is a recognized authority everywhere; her eldest sister is a
very eloquent preacher at Colorado Springs; Miss Kate is studying medicine, having
taken herself through a full course at the Agricultural College by her own work; and
Miss Madge, who is only sixteen, is a famous poultry raiser, and an officer of the
State Poultry Association, who has made money enough in this business to defray her
entire expenses through a full collegiate course. Mrs. Tupper's family is a sufficient
answer to the question of woman's work, if there were no other. Let any mother in
Iowa show three boys who can beat this.
In this year Mrs. Louisa B. Stevens was elected president of the First
National Bank at Marion, Linn county. The important position women
are taking in the business world is illustrated by the presence of two
delegates at the meeting of the American Street Railway Association held
in St. Louis in the autumn of 1885 — Mrs. L. V. Gredenburg, proprietor
and treasurer of the New Albany Street Railway of New Albany, Ind.,
and Mrs. M. A. Turner, secretary and treasurer of the Des Moines Rail-
way, Des Moines, la. One of the gentlemen expressed the belief that
fully $25,000,000 of street-railway stock in this country ist>wned by women.
As to the distribution of the cardinal virtues between men and women it
is generally claimed that the former possess courage, the latter fortitude.
Although the pages of history are gilded with innumerable instances of
the remarkable courage of women of all ages and conditions, and oftimes
dimmed with the records of cowardice in men of all classes, yet what has
been said for generations will probably be repeated, even in the face of so
remarkable a fact as the following :
On March i, 1882, the Iowa House of Representatives, on motion of Hon. A. J.
Holmes, suspended the rules and passed a bill introduced by that gentleman providing
for the presentation of a gold medal and the thanks of the General Assembly of the
State of Iowa to Miss Kate Shelly, to which was added a money appropriation of two
hundred dollars, which passed both Houses and became a law.
In support of the bill, Mr. Holmes spoke as follows:
Mr. Speaker: No apology is required for the introduction of this bill, and I shall
make no explanation in regard to it, save a brief rtsumt of the facts upon which the
bill is based. Miss Kate Shelly, with her widowed mother and little sisters and
brother, lives in a humble home on the hill-side, in a rugged country skirting the Des
M nines River. Her father had died years ago in the service of the great railway
company whose line for some distance is overlooked by her home, while her mother, by
economy, severe toil, and the assistance of Kate, was able to support her little family.
On the night of July 6, 1881, about 8 o'clock, there commenced one of the most
memorable storms that ever visited Central Iowa; nothing like it had ever been wit-
nessed by the oldest inhabitants. The Des Moines river rose over six feet in one hour
— little rills that were dry almost the year round, suddenly developed into minatuie
rivers — massive railway bridges and lines of track were swept away as if they had been
cobwebs. It was while looking out of her window toward the high railroad bridge
over Honey creek, that Kate Shelley saw the advancing head-light of a locomotive de-
scend into an abyss and become extinguished, carrying with it the light of two lives.
It was then she realized in all its force that a terrible catastrophe had occurred, and
another more terrible, if not averted, would soon follow to the east-bound express train,
heavily laden with passengers from the Pacific. She announced to her mother, sisters
and brother, that she must go to the scene of the accident, and render assistance if
possible, and also warn the oncoming passenger train.
It was in vain they tried to dissunde her. Although she was obliged to almost im-
provise a lantern in many of its parts, it was but a few minutes before she was ready
to set out. Realizing then that her mission was one of peril, and that she might not
634 History of Woman Suffrage.
again look upon those dear faces, she kissed each of them affectionately, and amid
their sobs, hurried out into the gloom, into the descending floods, toward the rushing
torrents — drenched to the skin, on she passed toward the railroad to the well remem-
bered foot-log, only to find the waters rushing along high above and beyond the place
where it had been. Then she thought of the great bluff rising to the west of her
home and extending southward toward the railroad track, and she determined to
ascend it and reach the bridge over this barrier to the waters. Need I recount how
she struggled on and up through the thick oak undergrowth, that, being storm-laden
drooped and made more difficult her passage; how with clothing torn, and hands and
face bleeding she arrived at the end of the bridge, and standing out upon the last tie
she peered down into the abyss of waters with her dim light, and called to know if
any one was there alive. In answer to her repeated calls came the answer of the en-
gineer, who had caught hold of and made a lodgment in a tree-top, and around whom
the waters were still rapidly rising, sending floating logs, trees, and driftwood against
his frail support, and threatening momentarily to dislodge and engulf him.
It took but a moment to be assured that he was the survivor of four men who went
down with the engine, and after a moment's hurried consultation, she started for
Moingona, a mile distant, to secure assistance and to warn the eastward-bound passen-
ger train then nearly due. As she passed along the high grade it seemed as if she
must be blown over the embankment, and still the heavens seemed to give not rain but
a deluge. As she approached the railway bridge over the Des Moines river the light
in her lantern, her only guide and protection, went out. It was then that the heroic
soul of this child of only sixteen years became most fully apparent; facing the storm
which almost took away her breath, and enveloped in darkness that rendered every ob-
ject in nature invisible, she felt her way to the railroad bridge. Here she must pass
for a distance of four or five hundred feet over the rushing river beneath on the naked
ties. As the wind swept the bridge she felt how unsafe it would be to attempt walk-
ing over it, and getting down upon her hands and knees, clutching the timbers with an
almost despairing energy, she painfully and at length successfully made the passage.
She reached the station, and having told of the catastrophe at the bridge, and requested
the stoppage of the passenger train then about due, she fainted and fell upon the plat-
form. This very briefly, wanting in much that is meritorious in it, is the story of Kate
Shelly and the 6th of July. Her parents were countrymen of Sarsfield, of Emmett,
and O'Connell — of the land that has given heroes to every other and dishonored none.
It was an act well worthy to rank her with that other heorine, who, launching her frail
craft from the long stone pier, braved the terrible seas on that Northumberland coast
to save the lives of others at the risk of her own.
Mr. Holmes then produced a copy of the State Register, and requested the clerk to
read the article therein contained, giving the details of the heroic girl's action, written
at the time of its occurrence, and after the clerk had read the article, concluded by say-
ing: " I hope, Mr. Speaker, that this bill may pass, believing that it is right, and fu:
ther believing that the State of Iowa will do itself as much honor as the young lady
named in the bill, in thus recognizing the greatest debt in our power to pay — that 10
humanity." Mr. Pickler moved to amend by instructing the gentleman from Boone
(Mr. Holmes) to make the presentation. Carried, and the bill was amended accord-
ingly, as above. On motion of Mr. Holmes, the rules were suspended, and the bill
passed by a vote of 90 to I. The governor of the State, Hon. A. J. Holmes, and
Hon.J. D. Gillett were authorized to procure a medal of design and inscription to be
approved by them, and present the same to the donee with the thanks of the General
Assembly of the State of Iowa.
The medal, which is of elegant design and workmanship, was executed by Messrs
Tiffany & Co., of New York, and was presented to Miss Shelly during the holidays of
1883. It is round in form, about three inches in diameter and weighs four ounces
five and a half pennyweights. On both sides it is sunken below the circular edges
and the figures and decorations are then displayed in bold relief. On the face is a
Friendly Associations. 635
figure emblematic of Kate Shelly's daring exploit. It represents a young girl with a
lantern in her left hand and her right thrown far out in warning, her hair streaming
in the wind and her wet drapery clinging to her form, making her way over the ties of
a high railroad bridge, in storm and tempest, with the lightning playing about her.
In a semi-circle over the figure are the words : " Heroism, Youth, Humanity." On
the reverse is the following inscription :
" Presented by the State of Iowa to Kate Shelly, with the thanks of the General
Assembly, in recognition of the courage and devotion of a child of fifteen years, whom
neither the terror of the elements nor the fear of death could appal in her efforts to
save human life during the terrible storm and flood in the Des Moines valley on the
night of July 6, 1881."
Surrounding the inscription is a wreath of leaves and beneath it the great seal of
Iowa.
The presentation was made at Ogden in the presence of 3,000 people. It was
given in the name of the State of Iowa by Mr. Welker Given, secretary to Governor
Sherman, July 4, 1884, who represented the governor in his necessary absence. Hon.
J. A. T. Hull, Secretary of State, introduced Miss Shelly and recounted her heroic
deed of that fearful night, after which Mr. Given made the presentation speech. The
response on behalf of Miss Shelly was made by Professor J. D. Curran, an old friend
and teacher.
All very well, but how much better to have placed Kate Shelly (bear-
ing the name of one of England's great poets) in the University at Des
Moines, and given her a thorough education, from the primary through
the whole collegiate course, and the school for law, medicine, or theology.
A girl capable of such heroism and self-sacrifice must possess capacities
and powers worthy the highest opportunities for development. Kate
Shell)', with the scientific training of a civil engineer, might shed far
more honor on her native State than sitting in ignorance and poverty on
the banks of the Des Moines river with a gold medal round her neck.
The Patrons of Husbandry, having at one time as many as 1,998
Granges in the State, admit women to equal membership and equal rights.
They have the same privileges in debate as men, and an equal vote in all
matters concerning the Grange. The Grangers do not seem to fear that
the children will suffer, or home interests be neglected, on account of this
liberty given to women. Miss Garretson is State agent and lecturer for
this order, and has accomplished much good by her labors among the
people of the rural districts. She claims equal rights for woman even to
the ballot. The Independent Order of Good Templars passed resolutions
unqualifiedly committing the grand lodge of the State in favor of grant-
ing suffrage to woman, and pledging themselves to labor for the further-
ance of that object. Temperance women who have heretofore opposed
the enfranchisement of their sex, and objected to mixing the two ques-
tions, are coming to see that a powerless, disfranchised class can do little
toward removing the great evil that is filling the land with pauperism
and crime, and sending sixty thousand victims annually to a drunkard's
grave. They have prayed and plead with the liquor-seller; they have
petitioned electors and law-makers, but all in vain ; and now they begin
to see that work must accompany prayer, and that if they would save
their sons from destruction they must strike a blow in their defense that
will be felt by the enemy. Hence the Christian Temperance Union,
which at the outset declared itself opposed to woman suffrage, has now
636 History of Woman Suffrage.
resolved in favor of that measure as a necessity for the furtherance of
their cause.
On March 31, 1880, Judith Ellen Foster, of Clinton, made an able and
eloquent argument before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor,
at Washington, on Senator Logan's proposition to constitute the revenue
on .alcoholic liquors a national educational fund. At a meeting of the
State Union held in 1883, resolutions were passed, declaring woman's
efforts in temperance of no avail, until with ballots in their own hands,
they could coin their ideas and sympathies into law, and that henceforward
they would labor to secure that power, that would speedily make their
prayers and tears of some avail. This action gave a new impetus to the
suffrage movement. At the State convention, Mrs. Jane Amy M'Kinney
was appointed Superintendent of Franchise. Circulars were issued advis-
ing the Unions to make suffrage a part of their local work, and the advice
was promptly followed in many sections of the State. At the election on
the prohibitory amendment, June 29, 1882, women rallied at the polls, and
furnished tickets to all whom they could persuade to take them, and this
helped to roll up a large vote in favor of -the amendment.
The laws of Iowa have been comparatively liberal to woman, and with
each successive codification have been somewhat improved. By the code
of 1857, the old right of dower, or life interest in one-third of the real es-
tate of a deceased husband, was made an absolute interest ; and this is
the law at the present time. Of the personal property, the wife takes one-
third if there are children, and one-half if there are no children to inherit.
The same rule applies to the husband of a deceased wife. The codes of
1857 and r86o each provided that the husband could not remove the wife,
nor their children, from their homestead without the consent of the wife ;
and the code of 1875, now in force, changed this only so as to provide that
neither shall the wife remove the husband without his consent. Deeds
of real estate must be signed by both husband and wife, but no private ex-
amination of either has ever been required in Iowa. A husband and wife
may deed property directly to each other.
By the code of 1851 the personal property of the wife did not vest at
once in the husband, but if left within his control it became liable for his
debts, unless she filed a notice with the recorder of deeds, setting forth
her claim to the property, with an exact description. And the same rule
applied to specific articles of personal property. Married women aband-
oned by their husbands could be authorized, on proper application to the
District Court, to transact business in their own name. The same pro-
visions were substantially reenacted in the code of 1860. Under both
codes the husband was entitled to the wages and earnings of his wife, and
could sue for them in the courts.
But the code of 1873 made a great advance in recognizing the rights of
married women ; and it is said the revisers sought, as far as possible, to
place the husband and wife on an entire equality as to property rights.
By its provisions, a married woman may own, in her own right, real and
personal property acquired by descent, gift or purchase ; and she may
manage, sell, convey, and devise the same by will, to the same extent,
Exact Justice Not Yet. 637
and in the same manner, that the husband can property belonging to him.
And this provision is followed by others which fully confer on the mar-
ried woman the control of her own property. Among other things it is
enacted, that a wife may receive the wages of her personal labor, and
maintain an action therefor in her own name, and hold the same in her
own right ; and she may prosecute and defend all actions at law, or in
equity, for the preservation and protection of her rights and property.
Contracts may be made by a wife, and liabilities incurred, and the same
may be enforced by, or against her, to the same extent as though she
were unmarried. The property of both husband and wife is equally liable
for the expenses of the family and the education of their children, and
neither is liable for the debts of the other contracted before marriage.
By the code of 1873, now in force, it is declared that the parents are the
natural guardians of their children, and are equally entitled to their care
and custody ; and either parent dying before the other, the survivor be-
comes the guardian.
But notwithstanding the seemingly equal provisions of our code, there
is still a great disparity in the laws relating to the joint property of hus-
band and wife — or property accumulated during marriage by their joint
earnings and savings. Such property, whether real or personal, is gener-
ally held in the name of the husband — no matter how much his wife may
have helped to accumulate it. If the wife dies, the husband still holds it
all, and neither law nor lawyers can molest him, or question his right to
it. But if the husband dies, the case is very different. Instead of being
left in quiet possession c(. what is rightfully her own, to use and guard
with all a mother's care and watchfulness for the benefit of her children,
the law comes in and claims the right to appoint administrators and
guardians — to require bonds and a strict accountability from her, and to
set off to her a certain share of what should be as wholly hers as it is the
husband's when the wife dies.
This is the old common law, that has come down to us from barbarous
times, and the light of the nineteenth century has not yet been sufficient
to so illumine the minds of Iowa legislators as to enable them to render
exact justice to woman.
CHAPTER XLVI.
WISCONSIN.
Progressive Legislation — The Rights of Married Women — The Constitution Shows
Four Classes Having the Right to Vote — Woman Suffrage Agitation — C. L.
Sholes' Minority Report, 1856 — Judge David Noggle and J. T. Mills' Minority
Report, 1859 — State Association Formed, 1869 — Milwaukee Convention — Dr.
Laura Ross — Hearing Before the Legislature — Convention in Janesville, 1870 —
State University — Elizabeth R. Wentworth — Suffrage Amendment, 1880, '81, '82
— Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine, 1877 — Madame Anneke — Judge Ryan — Three
Days' Convention at Racine, 1883 — Eveleen L. Mason — Dr. Sarah Munro — Rev.
Dr. Corwin — Lavinia Goodell, Lawyer — Angie King — Kate Kane.
FOR this digest of facts in regard to the progress of woman in
Wisconsin we are indebted to Dr. Laura Ross Wolcott,* who was
probably the first woman to practice medicine in a Western
State. She was in Philadelphia during all the contest about the
admission of women to hospitals and mixed classes, maintained
her dignity and self-respect in the midst of most aggravating per-
secutions, and was graduated with high honors in 1856 from the
Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, of which Ann Pres-
ton^ M. D., was professor for nineteen years, six years dean of
the faculty, and four years member of the board of incorporators.
After graduation Laura Ross spent two years in study abroad,
and, returning, commenced practice in Milwaukee, where she has
been ever since.
By an act of congress approved May 29, 1848, Wisconsin was admitted
to the Union. Its diversity of soil and timber, the healthfulness of its
climate and the purity of its waters, attracted people from the New
England and Middle States, who brought with them fixed notions as to
moral conduct and political action, and no little repugnance to many of the
features of the old common law. Hence in Wisconsin's territorial con-
ventions and legislative assemblies many of the progressive ideas of the
* Mrs. Wolcott is a remarkable woman, of rare intelligence, keen moral perceptions and most impos-
ing presence. Much of her success in life is due no doubt to her gracious manners. Her graceful
figure, classic face, rich voice and choice language make her attractive in the best social circles, as well
as in the laboratory and lecture-room. She is a perfect housekeeper and a most hospitable hostess.
Having enjoyed many visits at her beautiful home I can speak alike of her public and domestic virtues.
— [E. C. S.
t See Vol. I., page 389.
Modification of Statutes. 639
East were incorporated into her statutes. Failing to lift married women
into any solid position of independence, the laws yet gave them
certain protective rights concerning the redemption of lands sold for
taxes, and the right to dispose of any estate less than a fee without the
husband's consent. In case of divorce the wife was entitled to her per-
sonal estate, dower and alimony, and with the consent of her husband she
could devise her real estate. She was entitled to dower in any lands of
which the husband was seized during marriage. Gen. A. W. Randall was
active in making the first digest and compilation of the laws of Wisconsin.
The legislature of 1850 was composed of notably intelligent men. Nel-
son Dewey was governor, Moses M. Strong, a leading lawyer, speaker of
the Assembly, and the late Col. Samuel W. Beal, lieutenant-governor.
Early in the session a bill was introduced, entitled "An act to provide for
the protection of married women in the enjoyment of their own property,"
which provoked a stormy debate. Some saw the dissolution of marriage
ties in the destruction of the old common-law doctrine that "husband and
wife are one, and that one the husband "; while arguments were made
in its favor by Hon. David Noggle. George Crasey, and others. Con-
servative judges held that the right to own property did not entitle mar-
ried women to convey it; therefore in 1858 the law was amended, giving
further security to the wife to transact business in her own name, if her
husband was profligate and failed to support her; but not until 1872 did
the law protect a married woman in her right to transact business, make
contracts, possess her separate earnings, and sue and be sued in her own
name. The legislature of 1878 reenacted all the former laws; and mar-
ried women may now hold, convey and devise real estate ; make contracts
and transact business in their own names; and join with their husbands
in a deed, without being personally liable in the covenants. In the mat-
ter of homesteads, the husband cannot convey or encumber without the
signature of the wife, and thus a liberal provision is always secure for her
and the children.
By the law of 1878, if the husband dies leaving no children and no will,
his entire estate descends to his widow.* If the owner of a homestead
dies intestate and without children, the homestead descends, free of judg-
ments and claims — except mortgages and mechanics' liens — to his widow;
if he leaves children, the widow retains a life interest in the homestead,
continuing until her marriage or death.
Thus from the organization of the State, Wisconsin has steadily ad-
vanced in relieving married women from the disabilities of the old com-
mon law. The same liberal spirit which has animated her legislators has
admitted women to equality of opportunities in the State University at
Madison; elected them as county superintendents of public schools; ap-
pointed them on the State board of charities, and as State commissioners
* During a visit with my school-friend, Mrs. Elizabeth Ford Proudfit, at Madison, in 1879, I heard a
great deal said of the injustice of this law as illustrated in two notable cases of widows in the enjoy-
ment ef their husbands' entire estates, while the dead men's relatives, many of them, were living in
poverty. This was most shocking! though widowers, from time immemorial, have possessed the
life-earnings and inheritance of their wives, while the dead women's mothers and sisters were starving
;unl freezing within sight of the luxurious homes that rightfully belonged to them ! It makes a mighty
odds whose ox is gored — the widower's or the widow's ! — [S. B. A.
640 History of Woman Suffrage.
to a foreign exposition ;* and welcomed them to the professions of medi-
cine, law and the ministry.
By the constitution of Wisconsin the right of suffrage was awarded to
four classes of citizens, twenty-one years and over, who have resided in
the State for one year next preceding an election.
First — Citizens of the United States.
Second — Persons of foreign birth who have declared their intention to
become citizens of the United States.
Third — Persons of Indian blood who have already been declared by act
of congress citizens of the United States.
Fourth — Civilized persons of Indian descent who are not members of
any tribe.
While thus careful to provide for all males, savage and civilized, down
to one thousand Indians outside their tribe, the constitution in no way
recognizes the women of the State, one-half its civilized citizens. How-
ever, the question of woman suffrage was early agitated in this State, and
its advocates were able men. In 1856 there was an able minority report
published, from C. L. Sholes, of the Committee on Expiration and Reenact-
ment of Laws, to whom were referred sundry petitions praying that steps
might be taken to confer upon women the right of suffrage. In 1857, there
was another favorable minority report by Judge David Noggle, and J. T.
Mills. It has been twice considered by the legislatures of 1868-69, and
1880-81, failing each time by a small majority. A constitutional amend-
ment is supposed by some to be necessary to effect this needed reform,
but the legislature is competent to pass a bill declaring women pos-
sessed of the right to vote, without any constitutional amendment. The
legislature of New York all through the century has extended the right
of suffrage to certain classes and deprived others of its exercise, without
changing the constitution. The power of the legislature which repre-
sents the people is anterior to the constitution, as the people through their
representatives make the constitution.
The women, both German and American, awoke to action and organized
a local suffrage society at Janesville in 1868. The Revolution said :
From the report of a recent convention held in Janesville, we find the leading men
and women of that city have formed an Impartial Suffrage organization, and are re-
solved to make all their citizens equal before the law. Able addresses were made by
the Rev. S. Farrington, Rev. Sumner Ellis, and a stirring appeal issued to the
people of the State, signed by Hon. J. T. Dow, G. B. Hickox, Mrs. J. H. Stillman,
Joseph Baker and Mrs. F. Harris Reed. Mrs. Paulina J. Roberts of Racine, a
practical farmer in a very large sense, delivered an address which was justly compli-
mented.
The first popular convention held in Wisconsin, with national speakers,
convened in Milwaukee February 15, 16, 1869.1 The bill then pending in
* In 1867 the governor, General Lucius Fairchild, appointed Laura J. Ross, M. D., as commissioner
to the World's Exposition in Park. In 1871 Mrs. Mary E. Lynde was appointed on the State Board
of Charities and Corrections by Governor Fairchild.
t The committee on resolutions were; Dr. Laura J. Ross, N. S. Murphey, Mrs. Livermore, Madame
Annecke, Geo. N\* Peckham and Rev. Mr. Gannett. ' The officers of the convention were : President,
Rev. Miss Augusta J. Chapin ; Vice-Presidents, O. P. Wolcott, M. D., Laura J. Ross, M. D., and
Madame Matilde F. Annecke ; Secretary, Miss Lilia Peckham.
Convention at Milwaukee. 641
the legislature to submit the question of woman suffrage to the electors
of the State added interest to this occasion. Parker Pillsbury, in The
Revolution, said :
The Wisconsin convention seems to have been quite equal in all respects to its pred-
ecessors at Chicago and other places. Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony were accom-
panied to Milwaukee by Mrs. Livermore, a new Western star of "bright particular
effulgence," and the proceedings throughout were characterized by argument, eloquence
and interest beyond anything of the kind ever witnessed there before. The Milwau-
kee papers teem with accounts of it, most of them of very friendly tone and spirit,
even if opposed to the objects under consideration. The Evening Wisconsin said, if
any one supposed for an instant that the call fora Woman's Suffrage convention would
draw out only that class known as strong-minded, such a one was never more deceived
in his or her life. At the opening of the convention* yesterday, the City Hall was
crowded with as highly intelligent an audience of ladies and gentlemen as ever
gathered there before.
Mrs. Stanton spoke at the evening session to an immense andience on
the following resolutions :
Resolved, That a man's government is worse than a white man's government,
because in proportion as you increase the rulers you make the condition of the ostra-
cised more hopeless and degraded.
Resolved, That, as the cry of a " white man's government " created an antagonism
between the Irish and the negro, culminatirig in the New York riots of '63, so the Re-
publican cry of " Manhood Suffrage " creates an antagonism between the black man
and all women, and will culminate in fearful outrages on womanhood, especially in the
Southern States.
Resolved, That by the establishment of an aristocracy of sex in the District of Col-
umbia, by the introduction of the word "male" into the Federal Constitution in
Article 14, Section 2, and by the proposition now pending to enforce manhood suf-
frage in all the States of the Union, the Republican party has been guilty of three
excessively arbitrary acts, three retrogressive steps in legislation, alike invidious and
insulting to woman, and suicidal to the nation.
Miss Anthony followed showing that every advance step in manhood
suffrage added to woman's degradation. Quite a number of ladies and
gentlemen t of Wisconsin spoke well of the various sessions of the con-
vention. Altogether it was a most enthusiastic meeting, and the press
and the pulpit did their part to keep up the discussion for many weeks
after.
These resolutions, readily passed in the Milwaukee convention, had
been rejected at all others held in the West during this campaign,
although Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony had earnestly advocated them
everywhere. They early foresaw exactly what has come to pass, and did
their uttermost to rouse women to the danger of having their enfranchise-
ment indefinitely postponed. They warned them that the debate once
closed on negro suffrage, and the amendments passed, the question would
not be opened ag;iin for a generation. But their warnings were unheeded.
The fair promises of Republicans and Abolitionists that, the negro ques-
tion settled, they would devote themselves to woman's enfranchisement,
* For a further description of this convention see Mrs. Stanton's letters from Tkt Revolution, Vol.
I. .page 873.
t Miss Lilia Peckham, G. W. Peckham, esq.. Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Madam Matilde Annecke,
Rev. Augusta J. Chapin, Rev. Mr. Eddy, Rev. Mr. English, Rev. Mr. Fallows.
41
642 History of Woman Suffrage.
deceived and silenced the majority. How well they have kept their
promises is fully shown in the fact that although twenty years have
passed, the political status of woman remains unchanged. The Abolition-
ists have drifted into other reforms, and the Republicans devote them-
selves to more conservative measures. The Milwaukee convention was
adjourned to Madison, where Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Stanton and Miss
Anthony addressed the legislature, Gov. Fairchild presiding.
In 1870, March 16, 17, a large and enthusiastic convention was held at
Janesville, in Lappin's Hall. Rev. Dr. Maxon, Lilia Peckham and
Mrs. Stanton were among the speakers. After this, the latter being on a
lyceum trip, spoke in many of the chief cities of the State and drew
general attention to the question.
The following clear statement of the petty ways in which girls can be
defrauded of their rights to a thorough education by narrow, bigoted men
entrusted with a little brief authority, is from the pen of Lilia Peckham,
a young girl of great promise, who devoted her rare talents to the suf-
frage movement. Her early death was an irreparable loss to the women
of Wisconsin :*
ED. NEWS : — We find proofs at every step that one class cannot legislate for
another, the rich for the poor, nor men for women.
The State University, supported by the taxes of the people and for the benefit
of the people, should offer equal advantages to men and women. By amendment of
the Constitution in 1867, it was declared that the University shall be open to female
as well as male students, under such regulations and restrictions as the board of
regents may deem proper. At first the students recited together, but Mr. Chadbourne
made it a condition of accepting the presidency that they should be separated. I do not
speak of the separation of the sexes to find fault. I conceive that if equal advantages be
given women by the State, whether in connection with or apart from men, they have
no ground for complaint. My object is to compare the advantages given to the sexes
and see the practical effect of legislation by men alone in this department. From all
the facts that are now pressed upon us, confused, contradictory and obscure, we begin
to obtain a glimpse of the general law that informs them. The University has a college
of arts (including the department of agriculture, of engraving a*id military tactics), a
college of letters, preparatory department, law department, post-graduate course, last
and certainly least, a female college. The faculty and board of instructors number
twenty-one. The college of arts has nine professors, one of natural philosophy, one each
of mental philosophy, modern languages, rhetoric, chemistry, mathematics, agriculture,
* Miss Lilia Peckham died in Milwaukee, the city of her residence. She had been ill but
a few weeks, her physicians considering her recovery certain up to within an hour of her death ; but
•a sudden and unlooked-for change took place. One of the truest, purest and best spirits we have ever
met has thus passed from earth to heaven. All who met her soon came to appreciate her gifted nature
her rare talent and spiritual insight. But only those who knew her well can bear witness to her won-
derful unselfishness, her remorseless honesty of speech and deed, the loftiness of her ideal and the
beauty of her womanly soul. The Milwaukee Sentinel closes a brief obituary notice of our friend and
co-worker as follows :
" This talented young woman is well known throughout the country as an earnest advocate of the
woman's rights movement. Only a few weeks since she made a successful tour through the West,
speaking in various city pulpits. Fearlessly she spoke all that she had come to feel was truth, though
it shook the very foundations of old creeds and ideas. Many efforts from her scholarly pen attest to
her devotion to every onward movement of the hour. She was to have entered the Cambridge Divinity
School early in the present autumn, having chosen the ministry for her life-work. That a life so full
of promise of usefulness should be so suddenly stopped is irreconcilable with our finite judgment.
It is hard to say, 'it is well,' though God's fact may be that this young life, with its beauty
of character, its sisterly affection, its still larger sisterly sympathy with a suffering humanity, its long-
ings and aspirations, its zealous strivings after the true and good, is full and complete now; still we
shall mourn her loss, her brief though beautiful career."
Miss Peckham on the State University. 643
and comparative anatomy, and a tutor. In the department of engineering is an officer of
the United States Army. In the college of letters is the same faculty, with the addi-
tion of William F. Allen, professor of ancient languages and history, one coming from
a family of scholarly teachers and thoroughly fitted for his post. In the law depart-
ment are such names as L. S. Dixon and Byron Paine.
Read now the names composing the faculty of the female college, Paul A. Chad-
bourne, M. D. , president; T. N. Haskell, professor of rhetoric and English lit-
erature ; Miss Elizabeth Earle, preceptress ; Miss Brown, teacher of music ; Miss
Eliza Brewster, teacher of drawing and painting. Compare these faculties and note
what provision is made here for the sciences and languages. Look at the
•course of instruction in the college of arts. During the first year the men
study higher algebra, conic sections, plane trigonometry, German (Otto's) botany,
Gibbon's Rome. In the college of letters the course is similar, but more atten-
tion is given to classical studies ; to Livy, Xenophon and Horace. During
the same years in the female college, they are studying higher arithmetic, ele- .
mentary algebra, United States history, grammar, geography and map drawing. Truly
a high standard! The studies in the first term of the preparatory department (to which
none can be admitted under twelve years of age) are identical with those in the
female college at the same time, except the Latin. Indeed, I cannot see why it
would not be an advantage to the students of the female college to go into the pre-
paratory department during their first college year, since they can get their own course
with geometry added, and if they stay three years a proportional amount of Latin and
Greek. I could compare the whole course in the same way, but my time and the
reader's patience would fail. There is no hint either of any thorough prescribed
•course in any of the languages. In the first and fourth year no foreign language is
put down. In each term of the second year French and Latin are written as elective,
the same for Latin or German in the third. This is a wretched course at the
best. I have no faith in a course set down so loosely as "Latin" instead of
being defined as to what course of Latin, and what authors are read. In that
case we know exactly how much is required and expected, and what the standard
of scholarship. In the college of letters we know that they go from Livy to Cicero
on Old Age, then to Horace and Tacitus. Similar definiteness would be encouraging
in the female catalogue. Its absence gives us every reason to believe that the course
does not amount to enough to add any reputation to the college by being known.
Under the head of special information we are told that in addition to this prescribed
course of "thorough education young ladies will be instructed in any optional study
taught in the college of letters or arts, for which they are prepared." By optional I
understand any of the studies marked elective, since they are the only optional studies.
In the college of letters there is but one, and that is the calculus. In the college of
arts the optional studies are generally, not always, those that they could not be pre-
pared for in the course prescribed by their own college. Under the head of degrees
we find a long account of the A. B., A. M., P. B., S. B., S. M., L. B., Ph.D., to
which the fortunate gentlemen are entitled after so much study. Lastly, the students
of the female college may receive " such appropriate degrees as the regents may deter-
mine." I wonder how often that solemn body deliberates as to whether a girl shall be
A. B., P. B., or A. M., or whether they ever give them any degree at all. It makes
little difference. With such a college course a degree means nothing, and only serves
to cheapen what may be well earned by the young men of the college.
In 1870, the stockholders of the Milwaukee Female College elected
three women on their board of trustees: Mrs. Wm. P. Lynde, Mrs. Wm.
Delos Love and Mrs. John Nazro. This is the first time in the history of
the institution that women have been represented in the board of trustees.
Elizabeth R. Wentworth was an earnest and excellent writer and kept
up a healthy agitation through the columns of her husband's paper at
Racine.
644 History of Woman Suffrage.
RACINE, August 4, 1875.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY : Would it not be well for us women to accept the hint
afforded by these Englishmen, and bind ourselves together by a constitution and by-
laws. By so doing we might sooner be enabled to secure the rights which men seem
so persistently determined to withhold from us. Very respectfully yours,
E. R. WENTWORTH.
The growing strength of woman suffrage in England has caused con-
siderable commotion in that country, among officials and others. Its
growth has led the men to form a club in opposition to it, composed
of such men as Mr. Bouverie, a noted member of Parliament; Sir Henry
James, late attorney-general ; Mr. Childers, late first lord of the admiralty.
The formation of this club calls out a few words from Mrs. Stanton,
who sarcastically says :
Is not this the first organized resistance in the history of the race, against the
encroachment of women ; the first manly confession by those high in authority — by
lords, attorney-generals, sirs, and gentlemen — of fear at the progressive steps of the
daughters of men ? These conservative gentlemen had no doubt found Lady Am-
berly, Lydia Becker, and Mrs. Fawcett too much for them in debate ; they had prob-
ably winced under the satire of Frances Power Cobbe, and trembled before the annu-
ally swelling lists of suffrage petitions. Single-handed they sa\v they were helpless
against this incoming tide of feminine persuasiveness, and so it seems they called a
meeting of faint-hearted men, and bound themselves together by a constitution and
by-laws to protect the franchise from the encroachment of women.
In the legislature of 1880, the proposition to submit an amendment for
woman suffrage to a vote of the people, passed both Houses. In 1881 it
passed one branch and was lost in the other. Senator Simpson introducd
another bill in 1882* which was lost. These successive defeats discour-
aged the women and they instructed their friends in the legislature to
make no further attempts for a constitutional amendment, because they
had not the slightest hope of its passage.
The growing interest in the temperance question at this time produced
some divisions in the suffrage ranks. Some thought it had been one of
the greatest obstacles to the success of the suffrage cause, rousing the op-
position of a very large and influential class. Millions of dollars are in-
vested in this State in breweries and distilleries, and members are
elected to the legislature to watch these interests. Knowing the
terrible sufferings of women and children through intemperance, they
naturally infer that the ballot in the hands of women would be
inimical to their interests, hence the opposition of this "wealthy and
powerful class to the suffrage movement. Others thought the agitation
was an advantage, especially in bringing the women in the temperance
movement to a sense of their helplessness to effect any reform without a
voice in the laws. They thought, too, that the power behind the liquor
interests was readily outweighed by the moral influence of the best men
* The members of the Wisconsin Senate who voted against the woman suffrage amendment
were: Ackley, Adams, Burrows, Chase, Coleman. Delaney, Flinkelberg, Flint, Kusel, Palmetier,
Pingel, Rankin, Ryland, Smith and Van Schaick— 15. No better work can be done by Wisconsin suf-
fragists than to try to defeat every one of them at the next election. The following voted for the
measure: Bennett, Crosby, Ellis, Hamilton, Hill, Hudd, Kingston. Meffert, Phillfpps, Scott,
Simpson, Wiley, Randall — 13. Senators Wing and McKeeby were paired, and Senators Erwin and
Richardson were absent.
The State Association. 645
and women in the State, especially as the church began to feel some re-
sponsibility in the question. The Milwaukee Wisconsin of June 4, 1883,
gives this interesting item :
The Rev. Father Mahoney, of St. John's Cathedral, preached a temperance sermon
to a large concourse of people yesterday morning, in which he heartily indorsed the
action of Mayor Stowell in his war against the ordinary saloon, and declared that he
should be reelected. He also said that the men who opposed him were covering
themselves with infamy, and that he could not conscientiously administer the sacra-
ments to any saloon-keeper who refused to obey the commands of the Church or the
laws of the State concerning the good order and welfare of the city. The sermon
caused quite a stir, and was much discussed in secular as well as religious circles.
The State Association* has maintained an unswerving course, between
fanatacism and ultra-conservatism. Since 1869 it has stood as on the
watch-tower, quick to see opportunities, and ever ready to cooperate with
the legislative bodies, in the State, and well may we be proud of our
achievements when we remember that by the census of 1870 Wisconsin
is the first foreign and the second Roman Catholic State in the Union,
and that at our centennial exposition in 1876 our public schools stood
number one.
Rev. Olympia Brown Willis moved into the State of Wisconsin in 1877,
and became pastor of the church of the Good Shepherd, in Racine, and
exerted a wide influence, not only as a liberal theologian, but as an earn-
est advocate of suffrage for woman. As a result of her efforts a most
successful Woman's Council was held in Racine, March 26, 1883, alternat-
ing in the church of the Good Shepherd and Blake's Opera House. One
of the chief speakers t was Dr. Corwin, pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church, who was also on the managing committee. The cordiality
of many of the western clergy, in strong contrast with those in the east,
makes their favorable action worthy of comment, though the liberality of
the few is of little avail until in their ecclesiastical assemblies, as organ-
izations, they declare the equality of woman not only before the law, but
in all the offices of the church. Mrs. Katharine R. Doud was chosen
president of the convention ; Mrs. Olin gave the address of welcome, to
which Mrs. Sewall responded. Mrs. Doud, in the Advocate, thus sums up
the three days' meetings :
During the past week a woman's council has been held in Racine, the success of
which has been most noticeable. The different sessions have been attended by large
audiences of intelligent men and women, who have very thoughtfully and carefully
weighed and discussed the various questions under consideration.
From the beginning to the end there has never been a hitch or jar; the myriad
wheels of the machinery required to make smooth the workings of such large assem-
blies have moved so quietly, and have been so well oiled and in such perfect order
* The officers of the Wisconsin State society for 1885 were : Prtsident, Harriet T. Griswold.
Columbus ; Vice-Presidents, Laura Ross Wolcott, Milwaukee ; Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine ; Emma
C. Bascom, Madison ; F. A. Delagise, Antigo ; Laura James, Kichland Center; Recording Secretary,
Helen R. Olin, Madison ; Corresponding Secretary, M. W. Bentley, Schofield ; Treasurer, Dr. Sarah
K. Munro, Milwaukee ; Chairntirn Executive Committee, Amelia B. Gray, Schofield. Among others
active in the movement are Eliza T. Wilson, Menominee ; Alura Collins, Muckwonago ; Mrs. S. C.
Burnham, Bear Valley ; Sarah H. Richards, Milwaukee; Mrs. W. Trippe. Whitewater.
t F.veleen Mason, May Wright Sewall, Mary A. Livermore, Dr. Sarah Munro. Mrs. Haggart, Mrs.
K. R. Doud, Miss Comstock, the Grand Worthy Vice-Templar from Milwaukee, Mrs. Le Page, and
Mrs. Amy Talbot Dunn, as Zekel's wife, made a deep impression.
646 History of Woman Suffrage.
as to be absolutely unnoticed; really, one might have been tempted to feel that the
machine had no master, no controlling hand.
But now that the council is over; now that we can pause and begin to estimate the
good that has been done; now that the seed is sown, from which, please God, a grand
harvest shall be reaped — now we can look back and see how one brain has planned
it all. One clear-eyed, far-seeing will gathered together these women of genius, who
have been with us; one practical, mathematical brain made all estimates of expense,
and accepted all risks of failure; one hospitable heart received a house full of guests,
and induced others to be hospitable likewise; and one earnest, prayerful soul — and
this the best of all — besought and entreated God's blessing upon the work. Need we
tell you where to find this master-hand which has planned so wisely ? the strong will,
the clear brain, the \varm heart, the pure soul? We all know her; she is indeed a
noble woman, and her name — let us whisper lest she hear — is Olympia Brown \Villis.
The following sketch of the leading events of her life, shows how active
and useful she has been in al-1 her public and private relations :
Olympia Brown was born in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, January 5, 1835. At
the age of fifteen she began to teach school during the winter months, attending
school herself in the summer. At eighteen she entered Holyoke seminary, but finding
the advantages there inadequate for a thorough education, her parents removed, for
her benefit, to Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she entered Antioch college, Horace
Mann, one of the best educators of his day, being president. There her ambition
was thoroughly satisfied, and she was graduated with honor in 1860. She then entered
Canton Theological school, was graduated in 1863, and, duly ordained as a Univers-
alist minister, commenced preaching in Marshfield and Montpelier, Vermont,
often walking fifteen miles to fill her appointments. In 1864 she was regularly in-
stalled over her first parish at Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her energy and fidelity
soon raised that feeble society into one of numbers and influence.
In 1869, she accepted a call to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she remained seven
years. In 1878, with her husband, John Henry Willis, and two children she removed
to Racine, Wisconsin, where she became pastor of the church of the Good Shepherd,
without the promise of a dollar. The church had been given up as hopeless by sev-
eral men in succession, because of the influence of the Orthodox theological seminary.
But she soon gathered large audiences and earnest members about her; established a
Sunday school, had courses of lectures in her church during the winter, which she made
quite profitable financially for the church, beside educating the people. Out-
side her profession she has also done a grand work, in temperance and woman
suffrage.* She is rarely out of her own pulpit; has generally been superin-
tendent of her own Sunday school, and head of the young ladies' club, doing at all
times more varied duties than any man would deem possible, and with all this she is z
pattern wife, mother and housekeeper, and her noble husband, while carrying on a
successful business of his own, stands ever ready to second her endeavors with generous
aid and wise counsel, another instance of the happy homes among the "strong
minded."
Among the estimable women who have been identified with the cause
of woman suffrage in this country, Mathilde Franziska Anneke, a German
lad}-, is worthy of mention :
She was born in Westphalia, April 3, 1817. Her childhood was passed in
happy conditions in a home of luxury, where she received a liberal education, yet her
married life was encompassed with trials and disappointments. From her own ex-
periences she learned the injustice of the laws for married women and early devoted
her pen to the redress of their wrongs. Her articles appeared in leading journals of
Germany and awoke many minds to the consideration of the social and civil condition
of woman.
* See vol. II. page 259.
Letter front Mrs. B as com. 647
•
She was identified with the liberal movement of '48, her home being the resort for
many of the leaders of the revolution. She published a liberal paper which freely dis-
cussed all the abuses of the government, a whole edition of which was destroyed. At
length denounced by the government, she secretly made here escape from Cologne,
and joined her husband at the head of his command in active preparation for a struggle
against the Prussians.
She immediately declared her determination to share the toils of the expedition.
Accordingly Col. Anneke appointed her Tolpfofsort, the duties of which she con-
tinued to discharge to the end of the campaign. In one of her works published in
1853, she has given a graphic description of the disastrous termination of the revo-
lution, of their flight into France, of their expulsion from France and Switzerland,
and of their final determination to come to the United States.
They reached New York in the fall of 1849. Madame Anneke lectured in most of
the Eastern cities on the social and civil condition of women, claiming for them the
right of suffrage and more liberal education. She also published a woman's journal
in New York, and was soon recognized as one of the earnest representative women
in America. For many years she made her home in Milwaukee, where she taught
a successful school for young ladies. Madame Anneke, a widow with one son and two
daughters, lived quietly the closing years of her life, and in death found the peace and
rest she had never known in her busy life on earth.
Prof. G. S. Albee, president of the State Normal School at Oshkosh, is
a firm friend and outspoken advocate of equal right of the sexes to all
the privileges of education, not excepting the education of the ballot-box.
John Bascom, president of the Wisconsin University, has been an advo-
cate of suffrage for women many years. While connected with Williams
College he worked to secure the admission of women thereto. As one of
a committee of five to whom the matter was referred, he, together with
David Dudley Field, presented a minority report favoring their admission.
Since he has been at the head of our State University he has been in per-
fect sympathy with its liberal coeducational policy, and has insured to the
young women equal advantages in every respect with the young men. To
his wise management may be attributed the success of higher coeducation
in Wisconsin. He gave an able and scholarly address before our conven-
tion at Madison in '82, and is always found ready to speak for woman suf-
frage, both in public and private. His influence has done much for the
:ulv;uicement of the cause in our State. A cordial letter was received
from Mrs. Bascom at the last Washington convention, which was listened
to with interest and prized by the officers of the National Association :
MADISON, Wis., January 16, 1885.
MY DEAR Miss ANTHONY : I am sorry I cannot be present and meet the many
wise and great women who will respond to your call for the Seventeenth Annual Con-
vention.
What a glorious record these words reveal of unwavering faith in the right, and
heroic persistency in its pursuit on one side, and what blindness of prejudice and
M-lli.^hness of power on the other. The struggle has indeed been a long one, and yet
no other moral movement involving so many and so great social changes ever made
more rapid progress. You and your fellow-laborers are truly to be congratulated on
the full and abundant harvest your faithful seed-sowing has brought to humanity.
The irrational sentiment, based upon the methods and customs of barbarous tim<">, is
rapidly yielding to reason. The world is learning — women are learning — that char-
acter, even womanly character, does not suffer from too much breadth of thought, or
from too active a sympathy in human interests and human affairs, but is ever enriched
by a larger circle of ideas, larger experience, and more extended activities.
648 History of Woman Suffrage.
•
The advance of women in position and influence has been especially great during
the past year, and in directions especially cheering and hopeful to the heart of every
woman. In national political conventions, as your call so justly says, she has
"actively participated in the discussion of candidates, platforms and principles."
The last mile-stone before the goal has been reached and passed !
Your convention will offer the final opportunity to the Republican party. Will it
be wise enough to seize it for self preservation, if not from principle? Will there lie
found in this party enough of spiritual life to lay hold of the help now proffered it,
and once more renew its strength thereby ? Or will it, as so repeatedly in the past,
turn a deaf ear to reason, and still continue to deny the rights of half the human fam-
ily ? If so, if it continue deaf, dumb and blind, then the Republican party has no
longer any function, and the power of government will pass forever from its hands.
The sixteenth amendment to the national constitution is coming, but it will be the
crown of blessing and of fame of another party that will inaugurate this era in social
life ! I take the liberty to send loving greetings to you and the convention in the name
of our Wisconsin Equal Suffrage society. I hope our bright, eloquent Rev. Olympia
Brown will be with you. Of Wisconsin's eleven representatives in congress, I am
happy to make honorable mention, as broad-minded advocates of our cause, of three,
Cameron, Price and Stephenson. In earnest sympathy with the object and method
of the convention, and with high regard for yourself, I remain yours truly,
EMMA C. BASCOM.
In this, as in many other States there was a prolonged struggle over
the equal rights of women in the courts. The first woman to practice
law in Wisconsin was Lavinia Goodell. She was admitted in the First
Judicial Circuit Court, June 17, 1874, Judge H. S. Conger, presiding. She
commenced practicing in Janesville. The following year she had a case
which was appealed to the Supreme Court. When the appeal was made,
Miss Goodell applied to the Supreme Court for the right to go with her
case. She argued her own case and based her claim upon a statute which
provides, " That words of the masculine gender may be applied to females ;
unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest inten-
tion of the legislature." After she had shown clearly that she had an equal
right in the courts in an able and unanswerable argument, Judge Ryan con-
sidered her application for two months and rendered an adverse decision.
As a result of the agitation induced by this case, the legislature of 1877
passed a law that "no person shall be refused admission to the bar of this
State on account of sex," thus showing the power of the legislative branch
of the government to over-ride all judicial decisions. Miss Goodell im-
mediately commenced practice in the Supreme Court. She reviewed the
judicial decision with keen satire,* and ably illustrated the comparative
capacity of an educated man and woman to reason logically on American
jurisprudence and constitutional law.
In the early part of 1879 Kate Kane and Angie J. King were admitted
to the bar. Miss Kane studied in a law office and in the law school of
Michigan University. She practiced in Milwaukee until 1883, when she
located in Chicago. Miss King practices in Janesville and was at first
associated with Miss Goodell, under the name of Goodell & King. Cora
Hurtz, Oshkosh, was admitted and began practice in 1882.
* For her argument see Woman's Journal, April, 1876.
CHAPTER XLVII.
MINNESOTA.
Girls in State University— Sarah Burger Stearns— Harriet E. Bishop the First Teacher
in St. Paul— Mary J. Colburn Won the Prize— Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm, St.
Cloud— Fourth of July Oration, 1866— First Legislative Hearing, 1867— Governor
Austin's Veto — First Society at Rochester — Kasson — Almira W. Anthony — Mary
P. Wheeler— Harriet M. White— The W. C. T. U.— Harriet A. Hobart—
Literary and Art Clubs— School Suffrage, 1876 — Charlotte O. Van Cleve and Mrs.
C. S. Winchell Elected to School Board — Mrs. Governor Pillsbury — Temperance
Vote, 1877 — Property Rights of Married Women — Women as Officers, Teachers,
Editors, Ministers, Doctors, Lawyers.
MINNESOTA was formally admitted to the Union May 1 1, 1858.
Owing to its high situation and dry atmosphere the State is a
great resort for invalids, and nowhere in the world is the sun so
bright, the sky so blue, or the moon and stars so clearly defined.
Its early settlers were from New England; hence, the church and
the school-house — monuments of civilization — were the first ob-
jects in the landscape to adorn those boundless prairies, as the
red man was pushed still westward, and the white man seized his
hunting-ground.
This State is also remarkable for its admirable system of free
schools, in which it is said there is a larger proportion of pupils
to the population than in any other of the Western States. All
institutions of learning have from the beginning been open alike
to boys and girls.
Mrs. Sarah Burger Stearns, to whom we are indebted for this
chapter, was one of the first young women to apply for admission
to the Michigan University.* Being denied, she finished her
studies at the State Normal School, and in 1863 married Mr. O.
P. Stearns, a graduate of the institution that barred its doors to
her. Mr. Stearns, at the call of his country, went to the front,
while his no less patriotic bride remained at home, teaching in
* The names of the young women who applied for admission to the classical course of the Michigan
State University, in 1858, were Sarah Burger, Clara Norton, Ellen F. Thompson, Ada A. Alvord,
Rose Anderson, Helen White, Amanda Kieff, Lizzie Baker, Nellie Baker, Anna Lathrop, Carrie
Fekh, Mary Becker, Adeline Ladd and Harriet Patton.
650 History of Woman Suffrage.
the Young Ladies' Seminary at Monroe and lecturing for the
benefit of the Soldiers' Aid Societies.
The war over, they removed to Minnesota in 1866, where by
lectures, newspaper articles, petitions and appeals to the legisla-
ture, Mrs. Stearns has done very much to stir the women of the
State to thought and action upon the question of woman's en-
franchisement. She has been the leading spirit of the State Suf-
frage Association, as well as of the local societies of Rochester
and Duluth, the two cities in which she has resided, and also vice-
president of the National Association since 1876. As a member
of the school-board, she has wrought beneficent changes in the
schools of Duluth. She is now at the head of a movement for
the establishment of a home for women needing a place of rest
and training for self-help and self-protection. Mrs. Stearns has
the full sympathy of her husband and family, as she had that of
her mother, Mrs. Susan C. Burger, whose last years were passed
in the home of her daughter at Duluth. Mrs. Stearns writes:
The advocates of suffrage in Minnesota were so few in the early days,*
and their homes so remote from each other, that there was little chance
for cooperation, hence the history of the movement in this State consists
more of personal efforts than of conventions, legislative hearings and
judicial decisions. The first name worthy of note is that of Harriet E.
Bishop. She was invited by Rev. Thomas Williamson, M. D., a missionary
among the Dakotas, to come to his mission home and share in his labors
in 1847, where she was introduced to the leading citizens of St. Paul.
She was the first teacher of a public school in that settlement. She lec-
tured on temperance, wrote for the daily papers, and preached as a regular
pastor in a Baptist pulpit. She published several books, was one of the
organizers of the State Suffrage Association in 1881, and in 1883 rested
from her labors on earth.
The first lecture in the State on the " Rights and Wrongs of Woman,"
was by Mrs. Mary J. Colburn, in the village of Champlin, in 1858, the
same year that Minnesota was admitted to the Union. In 1864, the State
officers promised two prizes for the first and second best essays on
" Minnesota as a Home for Emigrants," reserving to the examining com-
mittee the right to reject all manuscripts offered if found unworthy. The
first prize was accorded to Mrs. Colburn. . Most of the other competitors
were men, some of them members of the learned professions. Mrs. Col-
burn says, in writing to a friend, " I am doing but little now on the suf-
frage question, for I will not stoop longer to ask of any congress or legis-
lature for that which I know to be mine by the divine law of nature."
In 1857, Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm settled at St. Cloud, where she lived
until 1863, editing the St. Cloud Democrat, the organ of the Republican
party, and making a heroic fight for freedom and equality. In 1860 she
* See Appendix, Chapter XLVIL, note A.
Bill to Amend the Constitution. 651
spoke in the Hall of Representatives, on Anti-slavery; in 1862 she was
invited io speak before the Senate on woman's rights, and was listened to
with great respect.*
In 1866, at a Fourth of July celebration, Mrs. Stearns accepted an invita-
tion to respond to the sentiment, " Our young and growing State ; may
she ever be an honor to her citizens." This offered her an opportunity
for an off-hand woman suffrage speech, which elicited hearty cheers, and
gave, as an old gentleman present said, " something fresh to think of
and act upon." About this time the friends of equality began petitioning
the legislature for an amendment to the constitution, striking out the
word " male." Through the efforts of Mr. A. G. Spaulding — the editor of
the Anoka Star — and others, these petitions were referred to a special com-
mittee which granted a hearing to Mrs. Colburn and Mrs. Stearns in 1867.
Mrs. Colburn read a carefully prepared argument, and Mrs, Stearns sent a
letter, both of which were ordered to be printed. In 1868 a bill was intro-
duced proposing to submit the desired amendment, but when brought to
a vote it was defeated by a majority of one.
In March, 1869, The Revolution copied from the Martin County Atlas the
following :
Show us the man who from the bottom of his heart, laying aside his prejudices and
speaking the unbiased truth, will not say that women should have the same rights that
he himself enjoys, and we will show you a narrow-minded sycophant, a cruel, selfish
tyrant, or one that has not the moral courage to battle for a principle he knows to be
just. Equal rights before the law is justice to all. and the more education we give our
children and ourselves, as a people, the sooner shall we have equal rights. May the
glorious cause speed on.
In 1869, a suffrage society was organized in the city of Rochester, with
fifty members, and another at Champlin ; the homes of Mrs. Stearns and
Mrs. Colburn. Petitions were again circulated and presented to the leg-
islature early in the session of 1870. It had not then been demonstrated
by Kansas, Michigan, Colorado, Nebraska and Oregon, that the votes of
the ignorant classes on this question would greatly outnumber those of
the intelligent. The legislature granted the prayer of the petitioners and
passed a bill for the submission of an amendment, providing that the
women of the State, possessing the requisite qualifications, should also
be allowed to vote upon the proposition, and that their votes should be
counted as legal. The governor, Hon. Horace Austin, vetoed the bill,
saying it was not passed in good faith, and that the submission of the
question at that time would be premature. In a private letter to Mrs.
Stearns, the governor said : " Had the bill provided for the voting of the
\v< mien, simply to get an expression of their wishes upon the question,
without requiring their votes to be counted as legal in the adoption or
rejection of it, the act would not have been vetoed, notwithstanding my
second objection that it was premature."
In 1871, petitions to congress were circulated in Minnesota, asking a
declaratory act to protect the women of the nation in the exercise of "the
* For further account of Mrs. Swisshelm's patriotic work in Minnesota sec her " Reminiscences of
Half a Century": Janson, McClurg & Co., Chicago, 111.
652 History of Woman Suffrage.
citizen's right to vote" under the new guarantees of the fourteenth and
fifteenth amendments. During that year the National Woman Suffrage
Association appointed Mrs. Addie Ballou its vice-president for Minnesota.
In 1872 a suffrage club was formed at Kasson. Its three originators*
entered into a solemn compact with each other that while they lived in
that city there should always be an active suffrage society until the ballot
for women should be obtained. Their secretary, Mrs. H. M. White,
writes :
Although our club was at first called a ladies' literary society, the suspicion that its
members wished to vote was soon whispered about. Our working members were for
some years few in number, and our meetings far between. But our zeal never abating,
we tried in later years many plans for making a weekly meeting interesting. The
most successful was, that every one should bring something that had come to her
notice during the week, which she should read aloud, thus furnishing topics of conver-
sation in which all could join. This never failed to make an interesting and profit-
able meeting. And still later we invited speakers from other States. In our various
courses of lectures, Kasson audiences have enjoyed the brave utterances of Anna Dick-
inson, Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony, and others. The pulpit of Kasson we
have found about evenly balanced for and against us ; but those claiming to be
friendly generally maintained a ' ' masterly inactivity. " Our editors have always shown
us much kindness by gratuitously advertising our meetings and publishing our articles.
Our members were all at the first meeting after school suffrage was granted to women,
and one lady was elected director for a term of three years. The next year another
lady was elected. While they were members of the board, a new and beautiful school
house was erected, though some men said, " nothing in the line of building could be
safely done until after the women's term of office had expired." Our co-workers have
always treated us with great courtesy. In this respect our labors were as pleasant as
in any church work.
At a temperance convention in 1874, a woman suffrage resolution was
ably defended by Mrs. Julia Ballard Nelson and Mrs. Harriet A. Hobart ;
Mrs. Asa Hutchinson, of beloved memory, also spoke at this meeting.
As the women in several of the States voted on educational matters,
the legislature of 1875 wished to confer the same privilege upon the
women of Minnesota. But instead of doing so by direct legislation, as the
other States had done, they passed a resolution submitting a proposition
for an amendment to the constitution to the electors of the State, as fol-
lows:
An amendment to the State constitution giving the legislature power to provide by
law that any woman of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, may vote at any
election held for the purpose of choosing any officers of schools; or upon any measure
relating to schools; and also that any such woman shall be eligible to hold any office
pertaining solely to the management of schools.
No effort was made to agitate the question, lest more should be effected
in rousing the opposition than in educating the masses in the few months
intervening between the passage of the bill and the election in November.
Mrs. Stearns, however, as the day for the decision of the question ap-
proached, wishing to make sure of the votes of the intelligent men of the
State, wrote to the editor of the Pioneer Press, the leading paper of Minne-
sota, begging him to urge his readers to do all in their power to secure
* The three women were, Mrs. Almira \V. Anthony (whose husband was a cousin of Susan B.
Anthony), Mrs. Mary Powell Wheeler and Mrs. Hattie M. White.
Voting J or School Officers. 653
the adoption of the amendment. The request was complied with, and the
editor in a private letter, thanking Mrs. Stearns, said he "had quite for-
gotten such an amendment had been proposed."
At this last moment the question was, what could be done to secure
the largest favorable vote. Finding that it would be legal, the friends
throughout the State appealed to the committees of both political parties
to have " For the amendment of Article VII. relating to electors — Yes,"
printed upon all their tickets. This was very generally done, and thereby
the most ignorant men were led to vote as they should, with the intelli-
gent, in favor of giving women a voice in the education of the children of
the State, while all who were really opposed could scratch the " yes," and
substitute a "no." When election day came, November 5, 1875, the
amendment was carried by a vote of 24,340 for, to 19,468 against. The fol-
lowing legislature passed the necessary law, and at the spring election of
1876, the women of Minnesota voted for school officers, and in several
cases women were elected as directors.
I have given these details because the great wonder has been how the
combined forces of ignorance and vice failed to vote down this amend-
ment, as they always have done every other proposition for the extension
of suffrage to women in this and every other State where the question
has been submitted to a popular vote. I believe our success was largely,
if not wholly, attributable to our studied failure to agitate the question,
and the affirmative wording of all the tickets of both parties, by which
our bitterest opponents forgot the question was to be voted upon, and the
ignorant classes who could not, or did not read their ballots, voted un-
thinkingly for the measure.
In the cities the school officers are elected at the regular municipal
elections usually held in the spring, while in the rural districts and
smaller villages they are chosen at school meetings in the autumn. In
East Minneapolis, Hon. Richard Chute, chairman of the Republican nom-
inating convention, having, without their knowledge, secured the nomina-
tion of Mrs. Charlotte O. VanCleve* and Mrs. Charlotte S. Winchellt as
* In a volume of Minnesota biography, Mrs. VanCleve is reported as a woman of great force of char-
acter, strong in her convictions of what is right, and fearless in following the dictates of her conscience.
She was one of the original founders of the Sisterhood of Bethany, a society for the reformation of un-
fortunate women, and has held the position of president since its formation. Through the medium of
lectures and social influence, she has enlisted the sympathy of a large number of the community. She
has served faithfully as a member of the East Minneapolis board of education, and has always im-
proved every opportunity to advocate the right of suffrage for women. She is a member of the State
Suffrage Society, and has been for many years honorary vice-president for this State, of the National
Suffrage Association. The following interesting fact is told of her, on the authority of Major-General
R. W. Johnson. It was given in an address delivered by that gentleman before the old settlers' asso-
ciation of Hennepin county, at a reunion in the city of Minneapolis : Many years ago a soldier at Fort
Snelling received an injury to his feet, and mortification ensued. Amputation became necessary and the
case could not be postponed until a surgeon could be sent for, because there was none nearer than the
post-surgeon at Prairie du Chien. No gentleman in the garrison was willing to undertake so difficult an
operation. Equal to any emergency, Mrs. VanCleve, on hearing of the case, resolved to make the at-
tempt. She performed the operation skillfully, and saved the soldier's life.
t Mrs. Charlotte S. Winchell was a graduate of Albion College, Michigan, and came to this State in
1873, with her husband, Prof. Newton H. Winchell, widely known as Minnesota's State geologist. Mrs.
Winchell has always been an advocate of suffrage for woman, and cheerfully accepted the position on
the school board, serving as clerk. She took an active part in the nominations and elections of school
officers. She was chairman of the commiittee for introducing temperance text books into the schools,
secretary of the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, a member of the State and City Suffrage Socie-
ties, and of the Association for the Advancement of Women.
654 History of Woman Suffrage.
school directors, called a meeting of the women of the city to aid in their
election. It was a large and enthusiastic gathering. Mrs. Mary C. Peck-
ham presided, Mrs. Stearns of Duluth, and Mrs. Pillsbury, wife of the
governor, made stirring speeches, after which the candidates were called
upon, and responded most acceptably. When election day came, the
names of Mrs. VanCleve and Mrs. Winchell received a handsome ma-
jority of the votes of their districts. A correspondent in the Ballot-Box
said:
The women of Minnesota are rejoicing in the measure of justice vouchsafed them,
— the right to vote and hold office in school matters. Two hundred and seventy
women voted in Minneapolis, the governor's wife among others. Although it rained
all day they went to the polls in great numbers.
Including both East and West Minneapolis, fully 1,000 women voted;
and while the numbers in other cities and villages were not so great, they
were composed of the more intelligent. In St. Charles, where Dr. Adaline
Williams was elected to the school-board, some of the gentlemen re-
quested her to resign, on the ground that she had not been properly
elected. Her reply was, " If I have not been elected, I have no need to
resign ; and if I have been elected, I do not choose to resign." But to
satisfy those who doubted, she proposed that another election should be
held, which resulted in an overwhelming majority for the Doctor.
As the law says women are "eligible to any office pertaining solely to
the management of schools," one might be elected as State superin-
dent of public instruction. There have been many women elected to the
office of county superintendent, and in several counties they have been
twice reflected,* and wherever women have held school offices, they have
been reported as doing efficient service. Although the law provided
that women might "vote at any election for the purpose of choosing any
officers of schools," the attorney-general gave an opinion that it did not
entitle them to vote for county superintendent ; hence '• an act to entitle
women to vote for county superintendent of schools," was passed by the
legislature of 1885.
The ladies' city school committee, Miss A. M. Henderson, chairman, se-
cured the appointment of a committee of seven women in Minneapolis,
to meet with a like number of men from each of the political parties, to
select such members of the school-board as all could agree upon. Hav-
ing thus aided in .the nominations, women were interested in their elec-
tion. In 1881 Mrs. Merrill and Miss Henderson stood at the polls all day
and electioneered for their candidates. It was said that their efforts not
only decided the choice of school officers, but elected a temperance alder-
man. In many cities of the State the temperance women exert a great
influence at the polls in persuading men to vote for the best town-officers.
At the special election held in Duluth for choosing school officers, one
of the judges of election, and the clerks at each of the polling places
have for the last two years been women who were teachers in our public
schools.
* For names of women elected as school directors and county superintendents, see Appendix to Minne-
sota, Chapter XLVII., Note B.
Efforts for Constitutional Amendment. 655
The early homestead law of Minnesota illustrates how easily men forget
to bestow the same rights upon women that they carefully secure to
themselves. In 1869, the " protectors of women " enacted a law which
exempted a homestead from being sold for the payment of debts so long
as the man who held it might live, while it allowed his widow and children
to be turned out penniless and homeless. It was not until 1875 that this
law was so amended that the exemption extended to the widow and fath-
erless children.
In 1877, a law was passed which gave the widow an absolute title — or
the same title her husband had — to one-third of all the real estate, exclu-
sive of the homestead, and of that, it gave her the use, during her lifetime.
So that now the widow has the absolute ownership, instead of the life use
of one-third of whatever she and her husband may have together earned
and saved. That is, should there be any real estate left, over and
above the homestead, after paying all the husband's debts, she now has,
not merely the difference, as heretofore, between the amount of the tax
and the income on one-third, but she may avoid the tax and other costs
of keeping it, by selling her third, if she prefers, and putting the money
at interest. The law still puts whatever may be left of the other two-
thirds, after payment of debts, into the hands of the probate judge and
others, and the interest thereof, or even the principal, may go to reward
them for their services, or, if falling into honest hands, it may be left for
the support and education of the children.
The legislature of 1877 submitted a constitutional amendment giving
women a vote on the temperance question. This seemed likely to be
carried by default of agitation, as was that of school suffrage, until within
a few weeks of the election, when the liquor interest combined all its
forces of men and money and defeated it by a large majority. The next
year the temperance people made a strong effort to get the proposition
re-submitted, but to no purpose.
In 1879, acting upon the plan proposed to all the States by the National
Association, we petitioned for the adoption of a joint resolution asking
congress to submit to the several State legislatures an amendment to the
National constitution, prohibiting the disfranchisement of woman. Mrs.
Stearns and others followed up the petitions with letters to the most in-
fluential members, in which they argued that the legislatures of the States,
not the rank and file of the electors, ought to decide this question; and
further, that the same congress that had granted woman the privilege of
pleading a case before the Supreme Court of the United States would
doubtless pass a resolution submitting to the legislatures the decision of
the question of her right to have her opinion on all questions counted
at the ballot-box. The result was a majority of six in the Senate in
favor of the resolution, while in the House there was a majority of five
against it.
Since 1879, our legislature has met biennially. In 1881 the temperance
women of the State again petitioned for the right to vote on the question
of licensing the sale of liquor. Failing to get that, or a prohibitory law,
they became more than ever convinced of the necessity of full suffrage.
656 History of Woman Suffrage.
The annual meetings of the State Union* have ever since been spoken
of by the press as " suffrage conventions," because they always pass reso-
lutions making the demand.
Mr. L. Bixby, editor of the State Temperance Review, gives several col-
umns to the temperance and suffrage societies. Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger,
the editor of these departments, is a lady of great ability and earnestness.
Mr. Charles H. Dubois, editor of The Spectator, gives ample space in his
columns to notes of women. Miss Mary C. Le Due is connected with The
Spectator. Other journals have aided our cause, though not in so pro-
nounced a way. Mrs. C. F. Bancroft, editor of the Mantorville Express,
and Mrs. Bella French, of a county paper at Spring Valley, Mrs. Annie
Mitchell, the wife of one editor and the mother of another, for many
years their business associate, have all given valuable services to our
cause, while pecuniarily benefiting themselves. The necessity of finding
a voice when something needed to be said, and of using a pen when some-
thing needed to be written, has developed considerable talent for public
speaking and writing among the women of this State.t
All our State institutions are favorable to coeducation, and give equal
privileges to all. The Minnesota University has been open to women
since its foundation, and from 1875 to 1885 fifty-six young women were
graduated with high honor to themselves and their sex.J Miss Maria L.
Sanford has been professor of rhetoric and elocution for many years.
The faculties of the State Normal Schools are largely composed of
women. Hamline University and Carlton College are conducted on prin-
ciples of true equality. At Carlton Miss Margaret Evans is preceptress
and teacher of modern languages. Of the Rochester High School, Miss
Josephine Hegeman is principal ; of Wasioga, Miss C. T. Atwood ; of
Eyota Union School, Miss Adell M'Kinley.§
For many years Mrs. M. R. Smith was employed as State Librarian.
Mrs. H. J. M'Caine for the past ten years has been librarian at St. Paul, with
Miss Grace A. Spaulding as assistant. Among the engrossing and en-
rolling clerks of our legislature, Miss Alice Weber is the only lady's name
we find, though the men holding those offices usually employ a half dozen
women to assist them in copying, allowing each two-thirds of the price
paid by the State, or ten cents per folio.
In this State the suffrage cause has had the sympathy of not a few noble
women in the successful practice of the healing art ; thus lending their
influence for the political emancipation of their sex, while blessing the
community with their medical skill. To Doctors Hood and Whetstone is
due the credit of establishing the Northwestern Hospital for Women and
Children, and training school for nurses, of which they are now the attend-
* The officers of the Minnesota State W. C. T. U. are : President, Mrs. H. A. Hobart ; Vice-Presi-
dents, Mrs. Mary A. Shepardson, Mrs. E. J. Holley, Mrs. R. C. C. Gale, Mrs. H. C. May, Mrs. L. M.
Wylie ; Recording Secretary, Mrs. D. S. Haywood ; Corresponding Secretaries, Mrs. E. S. Wright,
MUs M. E. Mclntyre ; Treasurer, Miss A. M. Henderson. Editor W. C. T. U. department of Tem-
perance Review, Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger.
t See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note C.
$ During the same decade 138 young men were graduated from the different departments of the
University.
§ For names of graduates and professors, see Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note D.
The State Association. 657
ing physicians ; and Dr. Hood also attends the Bethany Home, founded
by the sisterhood of Bethany, for the benefit of friendless girls and women.
In the town of Detroit may be seen a drug store neatly fitted up, with
"Ogden's Pharmacy" over the door, and upon it, in gilt letters, "Emma
K. Ogden, M. D." While the doctor practices her profession, she em-
ploys a young woman as prescription clerk. The Minnesota State Medical
Society has admitted nine women to membership.*
Conspicuous among evangelists in this State are Mrs. Mary C. Nind,
Minneapolis, Mrs. Mary A. Shepardson, Wasioga, Mrs. Ruth Cogswell
Rowell, Winona, and Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes, Rochester.
Thus far this chapter has been given mainly to individuals in the State,
and to the home influences that have aided in creating sentiment in favor
of full suffrage for woman. United with these have been other influences
coming like the rays of the morning sun directly from the East where so
many noble women are at work for the freedom of their sex. Among
them are some of the most popular lecturers in the country.!
In September, 1881, representative women from various localities met
at Hastings and organized a State Woman Suffrage Association \ auxiliary
to the National. During the first year one hundred and twenty-four
members were enrolled. During the second the membership more than
doubled. In October, 1882, the association held its first annual meeting.
The audiences were large, and the speakers § most heartily applauded.
Mrs. Nelson presided. In her letter of greeting to this meeting, from
which ill-health obliged her to be absent, the president urged the associa-
tion to firmly adhere to the principles of the National Association. Let us
not ask for an amendment to the State constitution, and thus put it in
the power of ignorance and prejudice to deny the boon we seek ; while we
are auxiliary to the National let us work according to its plans. Mrs.
Stearns was unanimously reflected president, and her views heartily en-
dorsed.
In the spring of '83, at the request of the State society, and with the
generous consent of Mr. Bixby, the editor of the State Temperance Review,
Mrs. Helen E. Gallinger commenced editing a woman suffrage column in
that paper. This has been a very convenient medium of communication
between the State society and the local auxiliaries which have since been
organized by Mrs. L. May Wheeler, who was employed as lecturer and
* See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note F.
t Miss Anna Dickinson, Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Howe, Miss Alice Fletcher, Miss Frances Willard,
Mrs. Wittenmeyer, Mrs. Sarah B. Chase, M. D. In the years 1875-6, Mr*. Stanton favored our State
with a series of lectures that awakened much interest. In 1878-9, Miss Anthony came, and spoke in
the principal cities. From Iowa came Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Matilda Fletcher, and Marianna Folsom,
and from Missouri, Miss Phoebe Couzins.
\ President, Sarah Burger Stearns ; Vice-President, Julia Rullard Nelson; Recording Stc ret*ry^
Mrs. C. Smith ; Treasurer. Mrs. H. j. Moffit ; Executive Committee, Mrs. Minnie Reed, Mrs. L. H.
Clark, Mrs. R. Coons ; Corresponding Sec'jr, Mrs. Laura Howe Carpenter. The following were the
charter members : Mrs. Harriet E. Bishop, Mrs. Martha Luly, St. Paul ; Mrs. A. T. Anderson.
H. J. Moffit, Mrs. C. Smith, Minneapolis; Mrs. Harriet A. Hobart, Julia Bullard NcUon, Mrs. R.
Coons, Red Wing; Sarah Burger Stearns, Duluth ; Mrs. L. C. Clarke, Worthington ; Mrs. L. G.
Finen, Albert Lea ; Mrs. K. E. Webster, Mrs. Minnie Reed, Mrs. M. A. VanHoesen, Hastings.
i Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Hobart, Mr. Satterlee, Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve, Mrs. Laura Howe Carpen-
ter, Mrs. Viola Fuller Miner.
42
658 History of Woman Suffrage.
organizer,* in the summer and fall of 1883. Auxiliary societies had pre-
viously been organized by Mrs. Stearns, in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The
Kasson society, formed in 1872, also became auxiliary to the State.
During the Northwestern Industrial Exhibition, held in Minneapolis
August, 1883, a woman suffrage headquarters was fitted up on the fair-
grounds, in a fine large tent, made attractive by flags, banners and mot-
toes. The State and local societies were represented, officers and mem-
bers being there to receive all who were in sympathy, to talk suffrage to
opposers, to pass out good leaflets, and to exhibit copies of the Woman
Suffrage History. At the annual convention this year we were honored
by the presence of Julia Ward Howe and Mrs. Marianna Folsom of Iowa,
and many of the clergymen t of Minneapolis. Rev. E. S. Williams gave
the address of welcome, and paid a beautiful tribute to the self-sacrificing
leaders in this holy crusade. Mrs. Howe not only encouraged us with her
able words of cheer, but she presided at the piano while her Battle Hymn
of the Republic was sung, and seemed to give it new inspiration. In the
course of her remarks the president said :
Should congress finally adopt that long-pending amendment in the winter of 1883-4
enfranchising women, we should still have work to do in 1885 to secure the ratifica-
tion of this amendment by our State legislature. But should congress still refuse, let
us be thankful that the way is opening for women to secure their freedom by the
power of the legislature independent of all constitutional amendments, as there is
nothing in ordinary State constitutions to prevent legislators from extending suffrage
to women by legislative enactment. The constitution of the State of Minnesota sim-
ply enfranchises men, and does not even mention women; we have clearly nothing to
do but to convince our legislators that they are free to give educated women full suf-
frage.
With this view the society adopted the following resolution :
Resolved, That we accept with joy the argument that comes to us from the east and
from the west declaring suffrage amendments to State constitutions unnecessary, be-
cause the word " male," occurring as it does in most State constitutions, in no wise
restrains legislatures from extending full suffrage to women, should they feel inclined
to do so. Be it also
Resolved, That it therefore becomes our duty to talk with all men and women who
are friendly to our cause, and ask them to examine the argument, and if it commends
itself to their judgment, to give us the benefit of their convictions.
Though passing the above resolutions at that time, the State Associa-
tion of course waits to see what may be done, in view of this new idea,
by older and stronger States whose constitutions are similar to ours.
Although failing health induced Mrs. Stearns, in the fall of 1883, to re-
sign her suffrage work into other hands, and ask to be excused from any
office whatever, she has, with improving health lately accepted the presi-
dency of an Equal Rights League in Duluth. Dr. Ripley was not present
ng pla
Lake, and Wabashaw.
t Rev. W. W. Satterlee, Rev. H. M. Simmons, Rev. F. J. Wagner, whose church we occupied, and
others. The speakers at this convention were Mr. and Mrs. Dubois, Mrs. Wheeler, Mrs. Elliott, Mrs.
Hobart, Mrs. Carpenter, Miss Harriman. Letters were received from Mrs. Devereux Blake, L>r.
Clemence Lozier, Rev. J. B. Tuttle, H. B. Blackwell, Lucy Stone and Col. T. W. Higginson.
Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. 659
herself at the convention* which chose her for president for the ensuing
year, being then at the East, but immediately after returning, she entered
upon her new duties with enthusiasm. As there was to be no legislature
in 1884, there could be no petitioning, except to continue the work com-
menced as long ago as 1871, of petitioning congress for a sixteenth
amendment. The work was carried on with vigor, and many hundreds of
names obtained in a short time. Early in 1884 Mrs. L. May Wheeler con-
tinued to lecture in the interests of the suffrage cause. While so engaged
she issued her "Collection of Temperance and Suffrage Melodies."
In 1884 a woman suffrage headquarters was again fitted up in News-
paper Row, on the grounds of the Northwestern Industrial Exhibition.
The large tent was shared by the State W. C. T. U.f and appropriately
decked within and without to represent both of the State organizations
and their auxiliaries. A large amount of suffrage and temperance litera-
ture was distributed among the many who were attracted by the novelty
of the sight and sentiments displayed on banners and flags.
As Minneapolis had already become headquarters for the suffrage work
of the State, it was thought best to again hold the annual meeting in that
city. This was in October, continuing two days, and was both interesting
and encouraging. Dr. Martha G. Ripley presided. Many interesting let-
ters were read, and cheering telegrams received.! Miss Marion Lowell
recited "The Legend," by Mary Agnes Ticknor, and "Was he Hen-
pecked?" by Phebe Gary, Mrs. A. M. Tyng of Austin, made a good
speech, also recited a poem entitled " Jane Conquest." Mr. Lars Oure of
Norway, spoke well upon the " Claims of Woman." Dr. L. W. Denton
of Minneapolis, gave a very good address. Dr. Martha G. Ripley spoke
on suffrage as a natural right, and in support of this view read extracts
from a pamphlet entitled, •' Woman Suffrage a Right, and not a Privilege,"
by Wm. I. Bowditch; Eliza Burt Gamble of St. Paul, read a very able
paper on "Woman and the Church"; Mrs. Stearns spoke upon the new
era to be inaugurated when women have the ballot. Miss Emma Harri-
man read a bright and entertaining paper. The fine address of the occa-
sion was given by Rev. W. W. Satterlee, showing the nation's need of
woman's vote. Judge and Mrs. Hemiup, of Minneapolis, just returned
from a visit to Wyoming Territory, were present. The judge made sev-
eral speeches, and was enthusiastic in his praise of the workings of woman
suffrage there. He and his wife are now active members of the State and
city (Minneapolis) suffrage societies. The judge is also a memberof the
State executive committee.
Wishing to give honor to whom honor is due, we would mention the
brave young women who have formed the Christian Temperance Unions,
* The officers elected at this convention were: /Vrr/./i-w/, Martha G. Ripley, M. D., Minneapolis;
I'i<f-J'rtji,/ent, Mrs. Lizzie Manson, Shakopee ; Rtcording Secretary, Mary T. Emery, M. D., St.
I'. >'il ; Corrttponding Secretary, Emma Harriman, Minneapolis ; Treasurer, Mrs. Helen E. Gallin-
ger, Minneapolis; Executive Committee* Mrs. S. K. Crawford, Anoka; Mrs. M. A. Warner, Ham-
line ; Mrs. F. G. Gould, Excelsior ; Rev. E. S. Williams, Prof. W. A. Carpenter, Mrs. A. T. Ander-
son and Mrs. Laura Howe Carpenter, Minneapolis.
t From John G. Whittier, Mrs. Julia D. Nelson (teaching school in Tennessee) and Henry B. Black-
well.
66o History of Woman Suffrage.
the leading spirits* in this grand movement in Minneapolis, St. Panl, \Yin-
ona and St. Cloud. Their names will be usually found as delegates to the
annual meetings of all the State Unions. The small army of noble girls
who have helped to make the Good Templars' lodges attractive and wor-
thy resorts for their brothers and friends, have done an inestimable work
in elevating the moral tone of the community all over the State. They
have also done their full share in petitioning congress for a sixteenth
amendment, in which they have received most untiring help from the
young men of the lodges. In 1884 Miss Frances Willard again visited the
State, advocating the ballot as well as the Bible as an aid to temperance
work. Her eloquent voice here as elsewhere woke many to serious
thought on the danger of this national vice to the safety and stability oi
our republican institutions. It was through Miss Willard's influence, no
doubt, that the friends of temperance established a department of fran-
chise for the State, and made Mrs. E. L. Crockett its superintendent.
The women of Minnesota seem thus far to have no special calling to
the legal profession. Mrs. Martha Angle Dorsett is the only woman as
yet admitted to the bar. She was graduated from the law school at Des
Moines, and admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Iowa in
June, 1876. She was refused admission at first in Minnesota, whereupon
she appealed to the legislature, which in 1877 enacted a law securing the
right to women by a vote of 63 to 30 in the House, and 26 to 6 in the
Senate.
In some of the larger cities and towns the literary, musical and dram-
atic taste of our women t is evidenced by societies and clubs for mutual
improvement. Many are attending classes for the study of natural his-
tory, classic literature, social science, etc. There is an art club in Minne-
apolis, composed wholly of artists, both ladies and gentlemen, which
meets every week, the members making sketches from life. Miss Julie
C. Gauthier had on exhibition at the New Orleans Exposition, a full-
length portrait, true to life, of a colored man, "Pony," a veteran wood-
sawer of St. Paul, which received very complimentary notices from art
critics of that city, as well as from the press generally.
In the Business Colleges of Mr. Curtis at St. Paul and Minneapolis,
many women are teachers, and many more are educated as shorthand re-
porters, telegraphers, and book-keepers. These have no difficulty in find-
ing places after completing their college course. Nearly fifty young
women are employed in the principal towns of the State as telegraphers
alone. Miss Mary M. Cary has been employed for seyen years as operator
and station agent at Wayzata, for the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
R. R. Her services are highly valued, as well they may be, for during
her absence from the station two men are required to do her work. By
her talents and industry she has acquired a thorough education for herself,
besides educating her two younger sisters. Mrs. Anna B. Underwood of
Lake City, has for many years been secretary of a firm conducting a large
nursery of fruit trees, plants and flowers. Her husband being one of the
* Miss Carrie Holbrook, Miss Eva Mclntyre, Miss Harriman.
t See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note F.
Gain of Self-Reliance. 66 1
partners, she has taken a large share of the general management. The
orchard yields a profit of over $1,000 a year.
From the list of names to be found in the Appendix, we see that Minne-
sota is remarkable for its galaxy of superior women actively engaged as
speakers and writers* in many reforms, as well as in the trades and pro-
fessions, and in varied employments. One of the great advantages of
pioneer life is the necessity to man of woman's help in all the emergen-
cies of these new conditions in which their forces and capacities are called
into requisition. She thus acquires a degree of self-reliance, courage and
independence, that would never be called out in older civilizations, and
commands a degree of respect from the men at her side that can only be
learned in their mutual dependence.
* See Appendix, Chapter XLVII., Note G.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
DAKOTA.
Influences of Climate and Scenery — Legislative Action, 1872 — Mrs. Marietta Bones —
In February, 1879, School Suffrage Granted Women — Constitutional Convention,
1883 — Matilda Joslyn Gage Addressed a Letter to the Convention and an Appeal
to the Women of the State — Mrs. Bones Addressed the Convention in Person —
The Effort to Get the Word " Male" Out of the Constitution Failed — Legislature
of 1885 — Major Pickler Presents the Bill — Carried Through Both Houses — Gov-
ernor Pierce's Veto — Major Pickler's Letter.
PHILOSOPHERS have had much to say of the effect of climate
and scenery upon the human family — the inspiring influence of the
grand and the boundless in broadening the thought of the people
and stimulating them to generous action. Hence, one might
naturally look for liberal ideas among a people surrounded with
such vast possessions as are in the territory of Dakota. But
alas! there seems to be no correspondence in this republic be-
tween areas and constitutions. Although Dakota comprises 96,-
595,840 acres, yet one-half her citizens are defrauded of their
rights precisely as they are in the little States of Delaware and
Rhode Island. The inhabitants denied the right of suffrage by
their territorial constitution are, the Indians not taxed (a hint
that those who pay taxes vote), idiots, convicts and women. But
from records sent us by Mrs. Marietta Bones, to whom we are
indebted for this chapter, there seem to have been some spas-
modic climatic influences at work, though not sufficiently strong
as yet to get that odious word "male" out of the constitution.
Our Dakota historian says:
The territorial legislature, in the year 1872, came within one vote of
enfranchising women. That vote was cast by Hon. W. W. Moody, who,
•let it be said to his credit, most earnestly espoused the cause in our con-
stitutional convention in 1883, and said in the course of his remarks:
"Are not my wife and daughter as competent to vote as I am to hold
office?" which question caused prolonged laughter among the most ig-
norant of the delegates, and cries of, " You're right, Judge ! " Although
it is deeply to be regretted that through one vote twelve years ago our
Letter to the Women of Dakota. 663
women were deprived of freedom, yet we must forgive Judge Moody on
the ground that " it is never too late to mend."
In February, 1879, the legislature revised the school law, and provided
that women should vote at school meetings. That law was repealed in
March, 1883, by the school township law, which requires regular polls and
a private ballot, so, of course, excluding women from the small privi-
lege given them in 1879. That act, however, excepted fifteen counties* —
the oldest and most populous — which had districts fully established, and
therein women still vote at school meetings.
In townships which are large and have many schools under one board
and no districts, the people select which school they desire their children
to attend. The persons who may so select are parents: first, the father;
next, the mother, if there be no father living ; guardians (women or men),
and "persons having in charge children of school age." These persons
hold a meeting annually of their "school," and such women vote there,
and one of them may be chosen moderator for the school, to hold one
year. This office is a sort of responsible agency for the school, and be-
tween it and the township board.
Since the legislation upon the subject of school suffrage there has not
been much work done for the promotion of the cause. The wide distances
between towns and the sparsely settled country make our people compara-
tive strangers to each other. We lack organization ; the country is too
new ; in fact, the most and only work for woman suffrage has been done
by Matilda Joslyn Gage and myself, and, owing to disadvantages men-
tioned, that has been but little. Mrs. Gage reached Dakota just at the
close of the Huron convention, held in June, 1883, to discuss the question
of territorial division. The resolutions of the convention declared that
just governments derived their powers from the consent of the governed ;
that Dakota possessed a population of 200,000, women included ; that the
people of a territory have the right, in their sovereign capacity, to adopt
a constitution and form a State government. Accordingly, a convention
was called for the purpose of enabling those residing in that part of Da-
kota south of the forty-sixth parallel to organize a State. Mrs. Gage at
once addressed a letter to the women of the territory and to the consti-
tutional convention assembled at Sioux Falls :
To the Women of Dakota :
A convention of men will assemble at Sioux Falls, September 4, for the purpose of
framing a constitution and pressing upon congress the formation of a State of the
southern half of the territory. This is the moment for women to act; it is the decisive
moment. There can never again come to the women of Dakota an hour like the pres-
ent. A constitution is the fundamental law of the State; upon it all statute laws
an- based, and upon the fact whether woman is inside or outside the pale of the con-
stitution, her rights in the State depend.
The code of Dakota, under the head of " Personal Relations," says: " The husband
is the head of the family. He may choose any reasonable place, or mode of living, and
the wife must conform thereto." Under this class legislation, which was framed by man
entirely in his own interests, the husband may, and in many cases docs, file a preilmp-
* These counties arc Union, Lincoln, Clay, Minnchnha, Moody, Deucl, Codington, Cass, Wal«h,
lir.iinl I. rk^, lYiiil.in.i, K.irncs, Lawrence and Hutchinson.
664 History of l]roinaii Suffrage.
tion claim, build a shanty, and place his wife upon the ground as "a reasonable place
and mode of living," while he remains in town in pursuit of business or pleasure.
Let us examine this condition of affairs a little closer. If the wife is not pleased
with this "place and mode of living," but should leave it, she is, under this lasv of
class legislation, liable to be advertised as having left the husband's bed and board,
wherefore tye will pay no debts of her contracting. And how is it if she remains
on this until her continued residence upon it has enabled her husband to prove
up ? Does she then share in its benefits? Is she then half owner of the land ?
l>y no means. Chapter 3, section 83, article V. of the Code, says : " No estate is al-
lowed the husband or tenant by courtesy upon the death of his wife, nor is any estate
in dower allowed to the wife upon the death of the husband."
This article carries a specious fairness on its face, but it is a bundle of wrongs to
woman. By the United States law, only "the head of the family" is allowed to enter
lands — either a preemption, homestead or tree claim. In unison with the United
States, the law of Dakota (see chapter 3, section 76) recognizes the husband as the
head of the family, and then declares that no estate in dower is allowed to the wife
upon the death of her husband. Neither has she any claim upon any portion of this
land the husband, as head of the family, may take, except the homestead, in which
she is recognized as joint owner. The preemption claim upon which, in a comfortless
claim-shanty, she may have lived for six months, or longer, if upon unsurveyed land,
as " the reasonable place and mode- of living" her husband has selected for her, does
not belong to her at all. She has no part nor share in it. Upon proving, her hus-
band may at once sell, or deed it away as a gift, and she has no redress. It was not
hers. The law so declares; but she is her husband's, to the extent that she can be
thus used to secure 160 acres of land for him, over which she has no right, title, claim
or interest. I have not space to pursue this subject farther, but will assure the women
of Dakota that reading the code, and the session laws of the territory will be more in-
teresting to them than any novel. If they wish to still farther know their wrongs, let
them look in the code under the heads of "Parent and Child," "Crimes Defined,"
" Probate Court," etc., etc.
Every woman in Dakota should be immediately at work. Inasmuch as the consti-
tution is the fundamental law of the State, it should be the effort of the women of
Dakota to prevent the introduction of the restrictive word " male." The delegates to
the Sioux Falls convention have now largely been elected. Address letters of protest
to them against making the constitution an organ of class legislation. In as far as
possible have personal interviews with these delegates, and by speech make known
your wishes on this point. These are your only methods of representation. You
have in no way signified your desire for a constitution. You have not been permitted
to help make these laws which rob you of property, and many other things more val-
uable. Many women are settling in Dakota. Unmarried women and widows in
large numbers are taking up claims here, and their property is taxed to help support
the government and the men who make these iniquitous laws.
I have not mentioned a thousandth part of the wrongs done woman by her being
•deprived of the right of self-government. Every injustice under which she suffers, as
"wife, mother, woman, child, in property and person, is due to the fact that she is not
recognized as man's political equal — and her only power is that of protest. Lose not
a. moment, then, women of Dakota, in objecting to the introduction of the word
"male " into the proposed new constitution. Besides seeing and writing to delegates,
make effort to be present at Sioux Falls during the time of the convention, to labor with
delegates from distant points, and to go before committees, and the convention itself,
with your protests. Above all, remember that now is the decisive hour.
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
Vice-President-at-Large, Xational Woman Suffrage Association.
Mrs. Gage also addressed the following to the constitutional conven-
tion :
Mrs. Bones' Address. 665
Gentlemen of the Convention : The work upon which you are now engaged is an
important one in the interests of liberty, that of framing a constitution for a proposed
new State, As a constitution is the fundamental law, its provisions should be general
in their character, equally recognizing the rights of all its citizens by its protective
powers. Our National principle, that governments derive their just powers from the
consent of the governed, is becoming more and more widely recognized.
At an early day suffrage was restricted byxjualifications of property and education
in many of the States, and the removal of such restrictions has been left entirely to the
States, except in the one instance of color. Within the last two decades, by amend-
ments to the national constitution, all States are forbidden to exclude citizens from the
ballot upon that account
As "sex "is now the only remaining disqualification, on behalf of the National
Woman Suffrage Association I ask you to omit the word "male" from your pro-
posed constitution, and leave the women of Dakota free to exercise the right of suf-
frage. We simply ask you to make your State a true republic, in which all your citi-
zens may stand equal before the law. While foreign men of every nation are wel-
comed to your magnificent prairies as equals, it is humiliating to the women of the
territory, who are helping you to develop its resources, who have endured with you all
the hardships of pioneer life, to be treated as inferiors, outside the pale of political
consideration. It should be the pride of Dakota to take the initiative step in the legis-
lation of the period, now steadily growing more liberal, and by one generous and
graceful act accord to the women of this territory all the rights, privileges and immu-
nities that men claim for themselves. MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE,
Vice-President-at-Large, N. W. S. A.
Aberdeen, Dakota, Sept. j, 1883.
It is to be regretted that the argument presented by Mrs. Gage could
not convince that honorable body of the injustice of laws towards
woman. To me was given the privilege of addressing the convention.
I said :
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: The honor conferred on me, of
being allowed to address you on this important occasion is fully appreciated.
I am here in behalf of the women of our territory, who are opposed to being
left in the State organization with no more authority in the government than paupers,
lunatics and idiots. We are willing to do one-half of the manual labor in this coun-
try, and will promptly pay our portion of the taxes. As sober and peaceful citizens,
we compare favorably with the other sex. I have the honor to present to you a peti-
tion signed by hundreds of Day county voters, praying your honorable body not to
allow the word " male " to be incorporated within our State constitution. There is
no doubt that this petition speaks the honest sentiment of the people throughout the
territory. In but a single instance was I refused a name, and in a second case a man
hesitated, saying, "Well, now, if it's as many rights you're wantin* es I hev got fur
meself, you'll be after signin' my name fur me — fur I niver do any writin* at all fur
meself." And yet that man whose name I had to write has more rights in this, his
adopted country, than I and all other women have in this our native land. The right
of franchise, which has heretofore been regarded as a privilege, should more
properly be considered a right — a right to be exercised by every citizen for the
public good. If there is not another woman in Dakota who wants to vote, I do!
There is no doubt that many women are indifferent upon this subject, but when once
given the ballot you will see that their progress will equal, if not exceed, that of
the emancipated slaves in the South. Look at Wyoming Territory, where woman
suffrage has a fair test; no one will deny it has proved a marked success. Elec-
tions there now are quiet and more orderly than they are elsewhere. Before the
enfranchisement of the women of Wyoming, election days were a terror gener-
ally, being both boisterous and riotous. It is really true that Dakota men arc the most
666 History of Woman Suffrage.
energetic and enterprising anywhere to be found, and in number they largely exceed
our women. Gentlemen, make this the most advantageous State for women, and they
will soon be wending their way hither. Women have been granted select committees
in both Houses of congress, and better still, each of those committees has given us a
majority report in favor of a sixteenth amendment to the constitution of the United
States, prohibiting the disfranchisement of citizens on account, of sex. Gentlemen,
delegates of this State constitutional convention, I now appeal to your highest sense of
honor and justice to give us the right to vote — give it to us, not because we possess
any particular merit, but give it to us because it is our right ! Then Dakota will in
fact be " a home of the free" — honored by all nations, and the Banner State of the
Union [applause].
But, after all our work and pleading, they turned a deaf ear — infinitely
worse, they were dishonest ; at least this was true of the committee on
elections. I was present at every meeting of that committee. At their
last, I was with them three hours (the entire session) to answer objections.
One member made the motion, "that the word 'male' be not incor-
porated within our State constitution." The vote on the motion was a
tie, when the chairman cast his vote in the affirmative. After weeks of
hard work I had reached the goal ! and with eyes brim full of tears,
thanked that committee. They then adjourned, to report in open conven-
tion the next morning to my utter surprise, that "Women may vote at
school elections and for school officers." No words of mine can express
the disappointment and humiliation this defeat of justice caused me.
Among the hundreds of questions asked me by that committee were
these : " Do you want a prohibitory plank in our State constitution ? "
Answer : " No ; prohibition should be settled by the people ; it cannot be
with one-half our citizens disfranchised, and that half its most earnest
advocates." " Do you think prohibition prohibits?" "No; man's pro-
hibitory laws are good enough, but he does not enforce them ; women
have not the authority to do so ; but if you will give us the power, we
will soon have prohibition that will prohibit." A voice : "I believe it ! "
" Do you think the majority of women want to vote ? " " I do not ; but is
that any reason why you should deprive the one who does ? You do not
force men to vote ; women, as a rule, have not given this subject the at-
tention they should ; many of them are as ignorant of the advantages the
ballot would secure as were the negroes when John Brown raised the in-
surrection at Harper's Ferry."
There is a trite saying : "The darkest hour is just before the dawn."
The day cannot be far distant when Dakota's women will be free ; for the
most intelligent men, and those occupying the most prominent positions
in our territory, are avowed friends of suffrage. Chief-Justice of the Su-
preme Court for Dakota, Hon. A. J. Edgerton, said in his Fourth of July
oration here : " How necessary it is for us to elect only good and honest
men to office ! To do this, woman likewise must act her part in the
labor of arresting the advance of crime and corruption, although through
timidity the politician is slow to invest her with the higher duties and
obligations of American citizenship."
This same just judge has appointed a woman (Mrs. Washburn of Cham-
berlain) stenographer of his judicial district — the best salaried office in
The Governors Veto. 66 /
his gift.* With the assistance of this grand man (occupying the highest
position in our territory), and many others equally efficient, it is not to be
supposed that our most intelligent women will be obliged to wait for the
education of the most ignorant men to consent to their enfranchisement.
In the last legislature (1885) Major John A. Pickler introduced a bill
enfranchising the women of the territory, which, after full discussion,
passed the House by 29 to i8,t and the Council by 14 to 10. The hopes
of the friends were soon disappointed by the governor's veto :
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, BISMARCK, D. T., March 13, 1885.
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives :
I herewith return House file No. 71, with my objections to its becoming a law. A
measure of this kind demands careful and candid consideration, both because of its
importance and because of the acknowledged sincerity and high character of those who
favor it. There are certain reasons, however, why I cannot approve such a measure
at this time, and other reasons why I cannot approve this particular bill. It is desira-
ble, in my judgment, that we act, so far as possible, as if we were governed, restrained
and guided by a constitution adopted by ourselves, If we had a constitution modeled
after those of the States, an extraordinary proposition like this would be submitted to the
people. If congress thinks woman suffrage wise, it has the power to establish it. It is
unfair to shift the responsibility on the territory and then hold it responsible for
alleged imprudent legislation. I am assured the enactment of this law will delay our
claims to statehood, and in so critical a period it is better that no pretext what-
ever be given for such postponement. It is doubted by many if a majority of the
women of Dakota want the franchise. The point is made, and a very good one, that
the fact that one woman does not want a right is not a justifiable reason for refusing
it to another who does, yet it must not be forgotten that the enfranchisement of women
confers not only a privilege but a grave burden and responsibility. We condemn the
man who neglects to vote as recreant to his duty. If women are enfranchised, the
right conferred becomes an obligation as imperious to them as to men; on those op-
posed as on those who favor the act. I think the women of Dakota should have a
voice in determining whether they should assume this burden or not. So much for
the general proposition. There are two other features of this bill which I can scarcely
think satisfactory to the advocates of woman suffrage themselves. I am satisfied that
they should appear in a measure claiming to advance the rights of women. If the
vote of a woman is needed anywhere, it is in our cities. In many existing city char-
ters a distinct clause appears, providing that males alone shall possess the qualifica-
tions of electors. In this bill the word " male " is only stricken out of one chapter of
the code, leaving the disability still standing against hundreds of women equally enti-
tled to recognition. The women of Sioux Falls, the women of Mitchell, the women
of Brookings, the women of Chamberlain, of Watertown and a great many of the more
important cities in southern Dakota, would be disqualified from voting under these
special enactments, even though this bill became a law at this very session. Charters
have been created with that provision retained, and they would make this bill abortive
and largely inoperative. A still more objectionable feature, and one deliberately in-
serted, is the clause debarring women from the right to hold office. If the word
* Since 1882 Mrs. Bones has held the office of deputy-clerk of the District Court of Day county:
Mrs. Washburn was appointed to her office in 1884 ; Miss Elizabeth M. Cochrane, appointed by Judge
Seward Smith, is clerk of the District Court of Falk county ; Mrs. Virginia A. Wilkins is deputy-clerk
of the District Court of Hand county ; Mrs. Dutton, deputy county-clerk, and Mrs. Hanson deputy-
sheriff of Day county ; and Mrs. Pease is deputy-receiver of the Watertown Land-office.
t j -fas— Barnes, Blackmore, Coe, Bayard, Clark, Dermody, Greng, Hutson, Johnson, Miller, Mc-
Call, Par>hall, Pierce, Roach, Southwick, Smith, Stebbins, J. P. Ward, Huntington, Hutchinson, l.an-
gan, Martin, Morgan, Pickler, Riddell, Steele, Stevens, SpraRue, Stewart— ag. fCays— Davi-on.
Hobart, Larson, McCumber, Oliver, Pugh.Ruger, Strong Eldridge, Helvig. Myron, McHugh, Runkle»
Swanton, Van Osdcll, Williams, Mark Ward, Mr. Speaker— 18.
668 History of Woman Suffrage.
"male" had been stricken out of the code, and no other action taken, they would
have been eligible, and I believe there is a wide feeling that many offices, particularly
those connected with penal and benevolent institutions, could be most appropriately
filled with women, but this clause practically forbids their appointment. If women
are good enough to vote they are good enough to be voted for. If they are qualified
to choose officials, they are qualified to be chosen. I don't say that I would approve
this measure were it otherwise worded, but I certainly would not indorse a bill which
thus keeps the word of promise to the ear and breaks it to the hope, which deliberately
and avowedly debars and disqualifies women while assuming to exalt and honor them.
These objections are apart from the abstract right of women to the ballot, but they
show how necessary it is to approach such a subject with deliberation. If women are
to be enfranchised, let it be done, not as a thirty days' wonder, but as a merited re-
form resulting from mature reflection, approved by the public conscience and sanc-
tioned by the enlightened judgment of the people.
[Signed:] GILBERT A. PIERCE, Governor.
An effort was promptly made to carry the measure over the governor's
veto, which failed by a vote of 18 to 26.
During the last session of the legislature a large public meeting was
held in Bismarck, at which many of the members spoke strongly in favor
of the woman suffrage amendment, the chief-justice and a majority of his
associates advocating the measure. Mrs. Gage, in a letter from Dakota,
said :
An acquaintance of mine, the owner of a green-house, sent each of the members
•voting " aye " a buttonhole bouquet, a badge of honor which marked our friends for a
few hours at least. It is a pertinent fact that, while the opposition insist that women
do not want to vote, in a single county of this sparsely settled territory 222 women did
vote in the midst of a severe storm. In a series of articles signed "Justice," pub-
lished in the Bismarck Tribune, we find the following :
The women of Dakota do desire the power to vote. One year ago a majority of
the commissioners of Kingsbury county signed a request that at an election to be held
March 4, 1884, the women should, with the men, express their wishes by vote upon a
specified question of local policy. The women immediately responded, prepared
their separate ballot-boxes, placed them in charge of the election officers by the side
of the men's boxes upon the same table at De Smet and other towns, and voted all
day side by side with the men, casting throughout the county 222 votes. A more or-
derly election was never known. No self-respect was lost and no woman was lowered
in public esteem. Clergymen, lawyers, merchants, farmers, all voted with their wives,
the ballots going into different boxes. One thousand men voted in the county. The
day was stormy and snow deep on the ground. If 222 women in one county would
without previous experience spring forward to vote on a week's notice, is it to be sup-
posed they do not appreciate the right? JUSTICE.
Mr. Pickler, who had taken an active part in the discussion on the
amendment, received many letters of thanks from the friends of woman
suffrage throughout the nation, and made his acknowledgments in the
following cordial letter to Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage :
FAULKTON, D. T., April 20, 1885.
Matilda Joslyn Gage, Syracuse, N. Y. :
DEAR MADAM: Your kind letter addressed to me on the Woman Suffrage bill, at
Bismarck, would have been earlier acknowledged had it not been that I suffered quite
a severe illness upon my return from the legislature. I beg to assure you that words
of encouragement from such able and distinguished personages as yourself have been
highly appreciated in my effort to secure suffrage for women in Dakota. I am half
inclined to think that your indication as to a coming political party, with woman
suffrage as one plank in its platform, may not be without foundation.
Letter from Hon. J. A. Pickler. 669
I introduced the bill in the Dakota legislature, having previously supported a like
measure in the Iowa legislature, really without consultation with any one, or without
knowledge as to the sentiment of the members upon the question. I have had my
convictions since my college days that simple justice demands that woman should
have the ballot, and in this opinion I am warmly seconded by my wife, who desires to
vote, as I think all sensible women should. I was pleased with the favor the bill re-
ceived, and after a week or two believed it possible to have it pass the House, with
constant exertion and watchfulness. Those who at first laughed at the idea, learning
I was very much in earnest, stopped to consider and to discuss, and finally came to
vote for it.
It passed the House, and after considerable difficulty in getting it out of the hands
of an adverse committee in the Council, who insisted on having it referred to them, it
passed with an amendment " to submit to a vote of the people." I managed to have
the House refuse to concur in this amendment, which resulted in a conference com-
mittee, five out of six of whom reported in favor of the Council receding from their
amendment, which they did, and yet, after all, and when we thought it safe, it was
vetoed. Few, if any, supposed that Governor Pierce, a governor only appointed over
us less than six months, would place himself a barrier in the way of the will of the
people, and opposed to the advancement of human rights. I deeply regret that he did
not rise to the grandest opportunity of his life, but he failed to do so.
Your words were particularly encouraging, being personally interested in Dakota as
you are, and I dare say you will bear witness that we have an intelligent people, and
a great many good women, land-owners and property-holders, who should have a
voice in the taxation of their property, real and personal. We shall not give it up;
we shall continue in the work, not doubting that success will finally crown our efforts.
Our constitution is not yet formed, and if ever the political parties cease to exercise
their tyranny over us, by allowing us to be admitted as a State, we shall endeavor at
least to secure it so the legislature may grant or prescribe the qualifications of voters
without requiring a change in the constitution.
Will you visit Dakota again ? In another contest we would be much aided by your
presence and assistance, confidently believing that " Heaven will one day free us from
this slavery." If your children* reside in this section of the territory, I should be
pleased to form their acquaintance. Again thanking you for your kind words, I am,
Yours truly, J. A. PlCKLER.
As Dakota has thus deliberately trampled upon the rights of
one-half her people, it is to be hoped that congress will not admit
her into the Union until that odious word "male" is stricken
from her constitution.
* Mrs. (lage has a son and daughter residing in Dakota, both well educated, superior young people,
whose influence will, no doubt, be felt in every progressive movement in that State. Mrs. Gage's chil-
dren sympathize with their mother in her broad, liberal views on all questions. — [E. C. S.
CHAPTER XLIX.
NEBRASKA.
Clara Bewick Colby — Nebraska Came into the Possession of the United States, 1803
— The Home of the Dakotas — Organized as a Territory, 1854 — Territorial Leg-
islature— Mrs. Amelia Bloomer Addresses the House — Gen. Wm. Larimer, 1856—
A Bill to Confer Suffrage on Woman — Passed the House — Lost in the Senate —
Constitution Harmonized with the Fourteenth Amendment — Admitted as a State
March I, 1867 — Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony Lecture in the State, 1867 — Mrs.
Tracy Cutler, 1870 — Mrs. Esther L. Warner's Letter — Constitutional Conven-
tion, 1871 — Woman Suffrage Amendment Submitted — Lost by 12,676 against,
3,502 for — Prolonged Discussion — Constitutional Convention, 1875 — Grasshoppers
Devastate the Country — Inter-Ocean, Mrs. Harbert — Omaha Republican, 1876 —
Woman's Column Edited by Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks — "Woman's Kingdom" —
State Society formed, January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks President — Mrs. Dinsmoore,
Mrs. Colby, Mrs. Brooks, before the Legislature — Amendment again Submitted —
Active Canvass of the State, 1882 — First Convention of the State Association —
Charles F. Manderson — Unreliable Petitions — An Unfair Count of Votes for
Woman Suffrage — Amendment Defeated — Conventions in Omaha — Notable
Women in the State— Conventions — Woman's Tribune Established in 1883.
CLARA BEWICK COLBY, the historian for Nebraska, is of Eng-
lish parentage, and came to Wisconsin when eight years of age.
In her country home, as one of a large family, she had but scant
opportunities for attending the district school, but her father
encouraged and assisted his children to study in the winter even-
ings, and in this way she fitted herself to teach in country schools.
After a few terms she entered the State University at Madison,
and while there made a constant effort to secure equal privileges
and opportunities for the students of her sex. She was gradu-
ated with honors in 1869, and at once became a teacher of his-
tory and Latin in the institution. She was married to Leonard
W. Colby, a graduate of the same university, and moved to
Beatrice, Nebraska, in 1872. Amidst the hardships of pioneer life
in a new country, the young wife for a season found her family
cares all-absorbing, but her taste for study, her love of literature
and her natural desire to improve the conditions about her,
soon led her to work up an interest in the establishment of a
library and course of lectures. She afterwards edited a depart-
ment in the Beatrice Express called " Woman's Work," and in
Life on the Frontier. 671
1883 she started The Woman s Tribune, a paper whose columns
show that Mrs. Colby has the true editorial instinct. For several
years she has been deeply interested in the movement for woman's
enfranchisement, devoting her journal to the advocacy of this
great reform. In addition to her cares as housekeeper* and
editor, Mrs. Colby has also lectured extensively in many States,
east and west, not only to popular audiences, but before legisla-
tive and congressional committees.
In her description of Nebraska and the steps of progress in
woman's civil and political rights, Mrs. Colby says :
Nebraska makes its first appearance in history as part of Louisiana and
belonging to Spain. Seized by France in 1683, ceded to Spain in 1762;
again the property of France in 1800, and sold to the United States in
1803; the shifting ownership yet left no trace on that interior and inac-
cessible portion of Louisiana now known as Nebraska. It was the home
of the Dakotas, who had come down from the north pushing the earlier
Indian races before them. Every autumn when Heyokah, the Spirit of the
North, puffed from his huge pipe the purpling smoke "enwrapping all the
land in mellow haze," the Dakotas gathered at the Great Red Pipestone
Ouarry for their annual feast and council. These yearly excursions
brought them in contact with the fur traders, who in turn roamed the
wild and beautiful country of the Niobrara, returning thence to Quebec
laden with pelts. With the exception of a few military posts, the first
established in 1820 where the town of FortCalhoun now stands, Nebraska
was uninhabited by white people until the gold hunters of 1849 passed
through what seemed to them an arid desert, as they sought their Eldo-
rado in the mountains beyond. Disappointed and homesick, many of
the emigrants retraced their steps, and found their former trail through
Nebraska marked by sunflowers, the luxuriance of which evidenced the
fertility of the soil, and encouraged the travelers to settle within its bor-
ders.
Nebraska became an organized territory by the Kansas-Nebraska bill
in 1854, including at first Dakota, Idaho and Colorado, from which it was
separated in 1863. The early settlers were courageous, keeping heart
amid attacks of savages, and devastations of the fire-demon and the locust.
Published history is silent concerning the part that women took in this
frontier life, but the tales told by the fireside are full of the endurance and
heroism of wives whose very isolation kept them hand to hand, shoulder
to shoulder, and thought to thought with their husbands. It is not
strange then that the men of those early days inclined readily to the idea
of sharing the rights of self-government with women who had with them
left home and kindred and the comforts of the older States. But it is re-
* I laving visited P.catrice twice to speak in different courses of lectures arranged by Mrs. Colby, I
can testify to her executive ability alike in her domestic and public work. She can get up a meeting,
.m.uiiM- the platform, with desk and lights, and introduce a speaker with as much skill and grace as
she can spread a table with dainty china and appetizing food, and enliven a dinner with witty and
f;mi<:>.t conversation.— [E. C. S.
672 History of Woman Suffrage.
markable, and proof that the thought belongs to the age, that, thirty years
ago, when the discussion of woman's status was still new in Massachu-
setts and New York, and only seven years after the first woman-suffrage
convention ever held, here — half way across a continent, in a country
almost unheard of, and with but scant communication with the older
parts of the Republic — this instinctive justice should have crystalized into
legislative action.
In December, 1855, an invitation was extended by the territorial legis-
lature to Mrs. Amelia Bloomer of Council Bluffs, to deliver an address on
woman's rights, in the Hall of the House of Representatives. This in-
vitation was signed by twenty-five members of the legislature and was
accepted by Mrs. Bloomer for January 8. The following pleasing account
of this address and its reception was written by an Omaha correspondent
of the Council Bluffs Chronotype of that date :
Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, who had been formally invited by members of the legislature
and others, arrived at the door of the state-house at 7 o'clock, P. M., and by the gal-
lantry of Gen. Larimer, a passage was made for her to the platform. The house had
been crowded for some time with eager expectants to see the lady and listen to the
arguments which were to be adduced as the fruitage of female thought and research.
When all had been packed into the house who could possibly find a place for the sole
of the foot, Mrs. Bloomer arose, amid cheers. We watched her closely, and saw that
she was perfectly self-possessed — not a nerve seemed to be moved by excitement, and
the voice did not tremble. She arose in the dignity of a true woman, as if the import-
ance of her mission so absorbed her thoughts that timidity or bashfulness were too
mean to entangle the mental powers. She delivered her lecture in a pleasing, able,
and I may say, eloquent manner that enchained the attention of her audience for an
hour and a half. A man could not have beaten it.
In mingling with the people next day, we found that her argument had met with
much favor. As far as property rights are concerned, all seemed to agree with the
lady that the laws of our country are wrong, and that woman should receive the same
protection as man. All we have time to say now is, that Mrs. Bloomer's arguments
on woman's rights are unanswerable. We may doubt it is policy for women to vote,
but who can draw the line and say that naturally she has not a right to do so? Mrs.
Bloomer, though a little body, is among the great women of the United States; and
her keen, intellectual eye seems to flash fire from a fountain that will consume the
stubble of old theories until woman is placed in her true position in the enjoyment of
equal rights and privileges. Her only danger is in asking too much. ONEIDA.
Eight days after Mrs. Bloomer's address, Hon. Jerome Hoover, member
for the counties of Nemaha and Richardson, introduced in the House a
bill to confer suffrage equally upon women. The bill was put upon its
third reading, January 25, and was earnestly championed by General
William Larimer of Douglas county, formerly of Pittsburgh, Pa. It
passed by a vote of 14 to n.* The result of the passage of the bill by
the House was graphically described by the Chronotype of January 30 :
On Friday afternoon and evening quite an excitement took place, which resulted in
offering an insult to one of the ablest members of the legislature, but which, while it
reflected no dishonor upon the person against whom it was aimed, should cover the
* Yeas — Messrs. Boulwere, Buck, Campbell, Chambers, Clancy, Davis, Decker, Hail, Haygood,
Hoover, Kirk, Larimer, Rose, Sullivan — 14.
Nays — Messrs. Beck, Bowen, Gibson, Harsh, Laird, Miller, Moore, Morton, McDonald, Riden,
Salisbury — n.
Bill in the Territorial Legislature. 673
perpetrators with lasting shame. We will state briefly the facts as we have heard
them.
The bill giving woman the right to vote came up at II o'clock, by a special order of
the House. A number of ladies entered the hall to listen to the proceedings. Gen-
eral Larimer spoke eloquently and ably in favor of the bill, making, perhaps, the best
speech that could be made on that side of the question. On the vote being taken, it
stood — ayes 14, nays II. The bill was then sent to the Council, where it was referred
to the Committee on Elections. Its passage by the House of Representatives created
a great deal of talk, and several members threatened to resign. At the evening ses-
sion J. S. Morton, W. E. Moore, A. F. Salisbury and L. L. Bowen came into the
House and proposed to present General Larimer with a petticoat, which did not tend
much to allay the excitement. The General, of course, was justly indignant at such
treatment, as were also the other members. The proposal was characteristic of the
prime mover in it, and we are astonished that the other gentlemen named should have
been willing to associate themselves with him in offering this indignity to the oldest
and most respected member of the body — a man who was elected to the station he has
so ably filled by the unanimous vote of the people of Douglas county. General Lari-
mer had a perfect right to advocate or oppose the bill according to his own sense of
duty, and any man, or set of men, who would attempt to cast insult or ridicule upon
him for so doing, is worthy only of the contempt of decent people. In saying this we,
of course, express no opinion on the merits of the bill itself.
The bill was taken up in the Council, read twice, and referred to the
Committee on Elections, whose chairman, Mr. Cowles, reported it back
without amendment, and recommended its passage. This being the last
day of the session, the bill could not come up again. The Chronotype,
after the adjournment, commented as follows :
The bill granting women the right to vote, which had passed the House, was read
the first and second time in the Council and referred to the Committee on Elections,
where it now remains for want of time to bring it up again. A gentleman who was
opposed to the passage of a bill to locate the seat of justice of Washington county, ob-
tained the floor, and delivered a speech of many hours on some unimportant bill then
under consideration, in order to " kill time" and prevent the Washington county bill
from coming up. The hour for adjournment sine die arrived before he concluded,
and the Woman Suffrage bill, and many others of great importance, remained upon
the clerk's table without being acted upon. It is admitted by every one that want of
time only defeated the passage of the bill through the Council. The citizens of Ne-
braska are ready to make a trial of its provisions, which speaks volumes for the intel-
ligence of the free and independent squatters of this beautiful territory.
Mrs. Bloomer says that assurance was given by members of the Coun-
cil that the bill would have passed that body triumphantly had more time
been allowed, or had it been introduced earlier in the session. The gen-
eral sentiment was in favor of it, and the gentlemen who talked the last
hours away to kill other bills were alone responsible for its defeat. Mrs.
Bloomer followed up her work by lectures in Omaha and Nebraska City
two years later.
The exigencies attending the settlement of the territory and the ab-
sorbing interests of the civil war occupied the next decade. The charac-
ter of the settlers may be inferred from the fact that, with only about
5,000 voters, Nebraska gave over 3,000 soldiers for the defense of the
Union and of their home borders, where the Indians had seized the occa-
sion to break out into active hostilities. The war over, Nebraska sought
to be admitted as a State, and a constitution was prepared on the old
43
674 History of Woman S^^ffrage.
basis of white male suffrage. Congress admitted Nebraska, but provided
that the act should not take effect until the constitution should be
changed to harmonize with the fourteenth amendment. After some dis-
cussion the condition was accepted, and Nebraska was thus the first State
to recognize in its constitution the sovereignty of all male persons.
Some of the debates of this time indicate that the appreciation of human
rights was growing, nor were allusions wanting making a direct applica-
tion of the principle to women. The debates and resolutions connected
with the ratification of the fourteenth amendment are historically and
logically connected with the growth of the idea of woman's political
equality. The man who, from regard for justice and civil liberties, advo-
cates the right of franchise for additional classes of men, easily extends
the thought until it embraces woman. On the other hand the man who
sees men enfranchised whom he deems unworthy to use the ballot, thinks
it a disgrace to withhold it from intelligent women. Gov. Alvin Saun-
ders,* in his message urging the ratification of the fourteenth amend-
ment said :
The day, in my opinion, is not far distant when property qualifications, educational
qualifications, and color qualifications, as precedent to the privilege of voting, will be
known no more by the American people, but that intelligence and manhood will be
the only qualifications necessary to entitle an American citizen to the privilege of an
elector.
Later, Acting-governor A. S. Paddock* in his message said :
I should hail with joy a radical change in the rule of suffrage which would give the
franchise to intelligence and patriotism wherever found, regardless of the color of the
possessor.
The majority report of the committee to whom was referred that por-
tion of the governor's message which related to rights of suffrage, was as
follows :
We hold that the dogma of partial suffrage is a dangerous doctrine, and contrary to
the laws of nature and the letter and spirit of the Declaration of Independence.
[Signed:] ISAAC WILES, WILLIAM DAILEY, GEORGE CROW.
A minority report was brought in by S. M. Curran and Aug. F. Harvey. On its
rejection Mr. Harvey introduced this resolution :
Resolved, That we, the members of the House of Representatives, of the legislature
of Nebraska, are in favor of impartial and universal suffrage, and believe fully in the
equality of all races, colors and sexes at the ballot-box.
This was not intended to advance the rights of women, but simply to
slay the advocates of the enlargement of the franchise with their own
weapons. A. B. Fuller moved to amend by striking out the word "uni-
versal," and all after the word " suffrage," which was carried by a vote of
22 to 9. The Committee on Federal Relations reported :
The constitution recognizes all persons born within the United States, or naturalized
in pursuance of the law, to be citizens, and entitled to the rights of citizenship ; and a
recent act of congress amends the organization acts of the several territories so as to
* It is a pleasure to record that both these gentlemen have reached the logical result of their former
views, and now advocate giving the franchise to intelligence and patriotism regardless of the sex of the
possessor. Governor Saunders, in the capacity of United States Senator, cast a favorable ballot on
measures in any manner referring to woman's civil rights, and in 1882 spoke on the platform of the
National Association, at its Washington convention.
"The False Theory." 675
confer the rights of suffrage upon all citizens except such as are disqualified by reason
of crime. Consequently, when congress decrees that we shall not, as a State, de-
prive citizens of rights already guaranteed to them, it does not transcend its powers, or
impose upon us conditions from which we are now exempt.
With these discussions of fundamental principles which, although
couched in the most comprehensive terms, strangely enough conserved
the rights of only half the citizens, the fourteenth amendment was rati-
fied, and Nebraska became a State on March i, 1867.
The early legislation of Nebraska was favorable to woman, and much
ahead of that passed in the same period by most of the older States, The
records show that a few legislators treated any matter that referred to
the rights of woman as a jest, but the majority were liberal or respectful,
and the honored names of Dailey, Reavis, Majors, Porter, Kelley, and
others, constantly recur in the records of the earlier sessions as pushing
favorable legislation for women. At almost every session, too, the actual
question of the ballot for woman was broached. The legislature of
1869 bestowed school suffrage on women ;* and a joint resolution and
a memorial to congress relative to female suffrage were introduced. The
journals show that :
Hon. Isham Reavis of Falls City, introduced in the Senate January 30, a memorial
and joint resolution to congress, on the subject of female suffrage. After the second
reading, on motion of Mr. Majors, it was referred to a select committee of bachelors,
consisting of Senators Gere, Majors, Porter, and Goodwill, who reported it back with-
out recommendation. It was afterwards considered in committee of the whole, then
taken up by the Senate. Reavis moved it be taken up for third reading on the follow-
ing day. The yeas and nays being demanded the motion was lost by a vote of 6 to 7.
On motion of Mr. Stevenson the matter was referred to the Judiciary Committee, with
the usual result of neglect and oblivion.
In the autumn of 1867 Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony lectured in
Omaha and sowed seed which bore fruit in the large number of petitions
sent later from that city. In December 1870, Mrs. Tracy Cutler gave sev-
eral addresses in Lincoln. Miss Anthony lectured January 28, 1871, on
" The False Theory," and before leaving the city looked in on the legisla-
ture, which promptly extended to her the privilege of the floor. A number
of ladies met Miss Anthony for consultation, and took the initiatory steps
for forming a State association. A meeting was appointed for the following
Friday, when it was decided to memorialize the legislature. The me-
morial was headed by Mrs. Lydia Butler, wife of the governor of the State,
who spent some days in securing signatures. A lively pen-picture of
those times is furnished by private correspondence of Mrs. Esther L.
Warner of Roca :
The first work done for woman suffrage in Lincoln was in December, 1870. Mrs.
Tracy Cutler stopped when on her way to California, and gave several addresses in
Lincoln, Her womanliness and logic won and convinced her hearers, and had a
* The legislature of 1875 repealed this law except so far as it referred to unmarried adult women and
widows. In the legislature of 1881, Senator C. H. Gere introduced a bill revising the laws relating to
schools. One of the provisions of the bill conferred the school ballot on women on the same terms ;,s
on men— viz : Any person having children of school age, or having paid taxes on personal property,
or being assessed on real estate, within such a period, is entitled to vote at all elections pertaining to
schools. This, however, docs not include the power to vote for State or county superintendents. The
women of the State now vote so largely that it is no longer a matter of comment or record.
676 History of Woman Suffrage.
marked effect upon public sentiment. There are men and women to-day in Nebraska
who date their conversion to the cause of equal rights from those lectures. Some steps
were taken towards organization, but the matter was dropped in its incipient stages.
During the same winter Miss Susan B. Anthony lectured in Lincoln, and presented a
petition to be signed by women, asking to be allowed to vote under the fourteenth
amendment. She also called a meeting of ladies in a hotel parlor and aided in organ-
izing a State suffrage society. Her rare executive ability accomplished what other
hands would have failed to do, for the difficulties in the way of such a movement at
that early day were great. Lydia Butler, wife of Governor Butler, was elected presi-
dent, and other representative women filled the various offices, but after a short time
it was deemed wise to disband, as circumstances made it impossible to keep up an
efficient organization. Time and money were not plentiful with western women, but
we did what we could, and sent a petition to the legislature that winter asking a reso-
lution recommending to the coming State convention to omit the word " male" from
the constitution. The petition was signed by about 1,000 women, and received
respectful attention from the legislature, and speeches were made in its favor by
several members. Among others the speaker of the House, F. M. McDougal, favored
the resolution. Governor Butler sent a special message with the petition, recommend-
ing the passage of the resolution, for which Nebraska women will always honor him.
Next it was thought best to call a convention in the interest of woman suffrage, to
be held while the constitutional convention should be in session the coming summer.
Two women were commissioned to prepare the call and present it for the signatures
of members of the legislature who favored the measure. It was thought this course
would give dignity and importance to the call which would secure attention through-
out the State. The session of the legislature was very exciting. Intrigue accomplished
the impeachment of a high State official, and others were being dragged down. As it
neared its close the political cauldron boiled and bubbled with redoubled violence. It
was more than any woman dared do to approach it. Were not the political fortunes
and the sacred honor (?) of men in jeopardy ? Woman's rights sunk into insignificance.
We subsided. Our hour had not yet come.
Mrs. Butler says of the part she took at this time : " I entertained the
speakers because requested to, and found them so pleasant and persuasive
that I soon became a convert to their views. The active and intelligent
leaders at that time were Mesdames Cropsey, Galey, Warner, Monell,
Coda, and many others whose names I cannot recall." As the result
of the effort thus made the legislature of 1871 memorialized the constitu-
tional convention relative to submitting the question to the electors. The
proceedings given in the journals are as follows :
February 4, 1871, Mr. J. C. Myers announced that ladies were in the gallery, and
desired to present a petition. A committee was appointed to wait on them. D. J.
Quimby introduced a resolution asking an opinion of the attorney-general as to whether
in accepting the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments we grant the right of suffrage
to women. It was carried, and the memorial, the opinion, and the governor's mes-
sage were referred to the judiciary committee, which reported through Mr. Galey as
follows :
Whereas, The constitution of the State of Nebraska prohibits the women of said
State from exercising the right of the elective franchise; and
Whereas, Taxation without representation is repugnant to a republican form of
government, and applies to women as well as all other citizens of this State; and
Whereas, All laws which make any distinction between the political rights and
privileges of males and females are unbecoming to the people of this State in the year
1871 of the world's progress, and tend only to deprive the latter of the means necessary
for their own protection in the various pursuits and callings of life. Therefore be it
Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the State of Nebraska, that the con-
stitutional convention to be begun and holden on the — day of May, 1871, for the
Before the Legislature. 677
purpose of revising and amending the constitution of said State, is hereby most re-
spectfully and earnestly requested to draft such amendment to the constitution of this
State as will allow the women thereof to exercise the right of the elective franchise
and afford to them such other and further relief as to that honorable body may be
deemed wise, expedient and proper; and be it further
Resolved, That said convention is hereby most respectfully and earnestly requested
to make such provision (when said amendment shall be submitted to a vote of the peo-
ple of said State) as will enable the women of Nebraska to vote at said election for the
adoption or rejection of the same.
Resolved, Further, that the Secretary of State is hereby instructed to present a copy
of this resolution to said convention as soon as the same shall be convened.
Mr. Porter moved the adoption of the report, which was carried by a vote of 19
to 16.* In the Senate, March 22, E. C. Cunningham offered the following amend-
ment to the bill providing for calling a constitutional convention :
That the electors of the State be and are hereby authorized and recommended to
vote for and against female suffrage at the election for members of the constitutional
convention. Provided, That at such election all women above the age of 21 years,
possessing the qualifications required of male electors are hereby authorized and re-
quested to vote upon said proposition, and for the purpose of receiving their votes a
separate polling place shall be provided.
The amendment was lost by a vote of 6 to 6.f
In accordance with the memorial of the legislature, the constitutional
convention that met in the following summer by a vote of 30 to 13 \ sub-
mitted a clause relative to the right of suffrage. The constitution itself
was rejected by the voters ; and on this clause the ballot stood, for, 3,502 ;
against, 12,676. Had it been carried at the polls, it would only have con-
ferred upon the legislature the right to submit amendments, and it was
therefore no special object to the adherents of impartial suffrage to make
efforts for its adoption, while the fact that it was the outgrowth of the dis-
cussion of that principle brought upon it all the opposition that a clause
actually conferring the ballot would have insured. The right of woman
to the elective franchise was championed by the ablest men in the con-
vention. Night after night the question was argued pro and con. Peti-
tions from Lincoln and Omaha were numerously presented. The galler-
ies were filled with women eagerly watching the result. The proposition
finally adopted did not touch the point at issue, but was accepted as all
that could be obtained on that occasion. As the constitution was not
adopted, the succeeding legislature felt no interest in the proceedings of
the convention, and the journals were not printed ; and the records of this
battle for justice and civil liberty were hidden in the dusty archives of the
state-house until brought out to tell their story for these pages. As this
is the only discussion of the question by Nebraska statesmen which has
been officially preserved, and as the debaters were among the most promi-
* The following named representatives voted "yea": Messrs. Ahmanson, Cannon, Doone, Galey,
Goodin, Hall, Jenkins, Kipp, Majors, Myers, Nims, Patterson, Porter, Quimby, Rhode*, Ryan,
Wirkham, Riordan, Roberts— 19. Voting " nay ": Messrs. Briggs, Bcall, E. Clark, J. Clark, Dillon,
Duby, Grencll, Hudson, Munn, Overton, Reed, Rosewater, Rouse, Schock, Shook, Sommerlad — 16.
t Voting in the affirmative : Messrs. Gerrard, Hascall, Kennedy, Tucker, Tcnnant, and Mr. Presi-
dent—6. Voting in the negative : Messrs. Brown, Hawke, Hillon, Meu, Sheldon, and Thomas — 6.
t Voting "yea": Messrs. Ballard, Boyd, Campbell, Cassell, Estabrook, Gibbs, Gray, Hascall, Ken-
aston, Kilburn, Kirkpatrick, Lake, Lyon, Majors, Mason, Manderson, Maxwell, Neligh, Newsome,
Philpott, Price, Robinson, Stewart Spiece, Shaft*, Thomas, Tisdel, Towlc, Wakeley, President Strick-
land—30. Voting "nay": Messrs. Abbott, Eaton, Granger, Griggs, Moore, Myers, Parchin, Rey-
nolds, Sprague, Stevenson, Hummel, Vifquain, Weaver — 13.
678 History of Woman Suffrage.
nent men of the State, and many of them retain that position to-day, a
few extracts will be of interest :
The discussion began with the motion of Mr. I. S. Hascall to strike out "men1*
and insert "persons" in the clause " All men are by nature free and 'independent."
The motion was lost. General E. Estabrook moved to add " Every human being of
full age, and resident for a proper length of time on the soil of the Nation and State,
who is required to obey the law, is entitled to a voice in its enactment; and every such
person whose property is taxed for the support of the government is entitled to a direct
representation in such government." Mr. Hascall moved that " man " be inserted in
place of "human being." Mr. E. S. Towle desired to put "male" in the place of
" man." General Estabrook, on being asked if his amendment was intended to cover
"woman's rights," replied:
I take pleasure in making the amendment because it is a step in the right direction.
Justice to woman is the keystone in the arch of the temple of liberty we are now build-
ing. That no citizen should be taxed without representation is an underlying principle
of a republic and no free government can exist without it.
General Estabrook seems to have stood alone in considering that the principle of
impartial suffrage properly belonged to the Bill of Rights. The amendments were
lost. When the article on extension of suffrage was under discussion, General Esta-
brook opened the subject in a comprehensive speech, lasting all one evening and
part of the next. He proved that women were citizens, citing the petitions to con-
gress relative to woman's right to vote under the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments,
and the reports of the committee thereupon — one in favor and one opposed, but both
agreeing that women are citizens. Then he showed what rights they were entitled to
as citizens, quoting the Federal Constitution, Bouvier's Institutes and Law Dictionary,
James Madison, Paine's Dissertation on the Principles of Government, Otis' Rights of
the Colonies, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and others. Commenting upon
these, he set forth that women vote in corporations, administer estates, manage hospi-
tals and rule empires without harm to themselves and with benefit to everybody else.
He made a special argument to the Democrats, reviewing the position of some of their
leading men, and closed with saying, " This is the most important measure yet con-
sidered, because it contains a fundamental principle."
General Strickland then introduced a resolution that an article for woman suffrage
should be submitted to the people, that the women should vote separately, and that if
a majority of both men and women should be in favor, it should become a law. The
member did not move this because he favored the principle, but because he felt sure
the women would not vote for it. He could not understand what a woman could pos-
sibly want more than she had, having the privileges while man has the drudgery. He
closed with the prophecy that in two years not a woman would vote in Wyoming.
General Charles F. Manderson followed. Taking the ground that the members
were not in convention to look after the rights of the males only, he said: " Did we
recognize the right of all the people to be represented, we should have to-day on this
floor some persons sent here to represent the women of our State. Men do not rep-
resent women because they are not and cannot be held responsible by them. We
have no more right to represent the women here than a man in Iowa has to go to con-
gress and presume to represent Nebraska there." To illustrate the principle General
Manderson instanced that in the New York Constitutional Conventions of 1801 and
1821, persons voted for delegates who had not the property qualifications to vote at
ordinary elections. Even the black man was represented by delegates for whom he
had voted. In presenting a petition from Lincoln with seventy names of women who
desired to vote, General Manderson said he had made inquiries, and these were the
names of the respectable, influential ladies of Lincoln, sixty-three of whom were mar-
ried. He then reviewed the history and workings of woman suffrage in Wyoming,
furnishing the highest testimony in its favor, and closed as follows :
Mr. Chairman, I envy not the heart or the head of the man, let him occupy what
place he may, let him sit in a legislative body or wield the editorial pen, who is so
Debate in Constitutional Convention. 670
base as to denounce the advocates of this measure as demagogues, and to sav that if
the right is extended to woman, the low, the miserable, will outnumber at the polls
the thousands of virtuous wives throughout this land who advocate this measure ; the
lie is thrown in his teeth by that noble woman, Mrs. Livermore, who did more service
in time of war as a soldier battling for the right than did even my gallant friend, and
did far more than myself. She inaugurated and carried in her mighty hand and
guided by her mighty brain that Western Ladies' Aid Society, and helped by some
means the Western Sanitary Association that did more than 10,000 armed men to sup-
press the late rebellion. The lie is hurled in the teeth of the vile slanderer by this
petition from the honest, virtuous ladies of the city of Lincoln. If we have planted
one seed, that will bring forth good fruit, God be thanked for that result.
Mr. Kenaston spoke in favor of the measure, and Judge Moore opposed it in a very
witty speech, of which the principal points were that the members were to decide ac-
cording to expediency, not right; that women had always consented to the government
— never trampled the flag in the dust, but always rallied to its support. Judge O. P.
Mason followed in opposition, also J. C. Myers, the latter claiming that for twenty
years the advocates of woman suffrage have made little, if any, impression on the public
mind. E. F. Gray had begun speaking in favor when Victor Vifquain moved the pre-
vious question. A lively debate followed this, but it did not prevail. Mr. Mason
said: " If we hold the right on this question let us challenge discussion and meet
the opposition. It is not a wasted time that sows the seed of truth in the brain." Mr.
Manderson urged the number of petitions that had been sent in as a reason for full
discussion. R. F. Stevenson said he was opposed to it in every form. A. L. Sprague
was against submitting this question at any time, that neither by the laws of God nor
of man were women entitled to vote. Seth Robinson would like to hear the social
aspects of the question discussed. He said: "I would like, gentlemen, to show
whether it would not have a tendency to regenerate our social system and make women
as a class more efficient than they are. " The motion for the previous question being lost
a motion was made to strike out this section. While this was pending General Esta-
brook insisted that it should be re-committed, saying : " It is the only politica^ques-
tion that has essential principle in it. There are not brains enough in this convention
to show the justic« of taxation without representation. Judge George B. Lake warmly
seconded Mr. Estabrook's motion. O. P. Mason wanted the proposition to be sub-
mitted to both sexes separately. J. E. Philpott advocated woman suffrage in a com-
prehensive argument, In closing, he said :
I demand that suffrage shall be extended to females for the reason that they have
not adequate representation in the electoral department. As evidence of this I cite
the undeniable facts that in this State woman has not fair wages for her work — has
not a fair field to work in. The law, with all its freedom, does not place her on the
same footing as to property that it does males. She has no voice as an elector in
the making of the laws which regulate her marital union, no voice in the laws which
sever those ties. The motto of the State is " Equality Before the Law." This can
no more be among us with women disfranchised than in our nation all men could be
free and equal while there were more than 3,000,000 slaves.
A. J. Weaver spoke in opposition and was followed by Hon. I. S. Hascall, who
based his advocacy of the principle on the rights that woman has as an individual :
Because we have started upon the wrong track, because women in the dark ages
were in bondage, is no reason, when we have advanced to a higher civilization, that
we should continue this barbarous practice. There is a higher point to reach and I
want to see the people reach that point. I think that the American people are old
enough in experience to bring order out of disorder, and that when the question arises
they will meet it in such a way as will be satisfactory to all.
Mr. Stevenson spoke in opposition basing his argument on man's superiority to
woman and closed with this remarkable prediction which has probably never been sur-
1 as a specimen of " spread eagle ":
Finally, Mr. President, I really think that if the ballot were placed in the hands of
woman the old American eagle that stands with one foot upon the Alleghanies and
the other upon the Rockies, whetting his beak upon the ice-capped mountains of.
68o History of Woman Suffrage.
Alaska, and covering half the Southern gulf with his tail, will cease to scream and sink
into the pits of blackness of darkness amidst the shrieks of lost spirits that will forever
echo and reecho through cavernous depths unknown.
S. P. Majors advocated the measure, and in the course of the discussion, B. I.
Hinman offered a burlesque resolution, proposing to change the duties and functions
of the sexes by law, and John IX Neligh said :
The gentleman from Otoe (Mr. Mason) will get the commission of the Christian
mothers, not against the right of female suffrage, but for universal suffrage. That
will be a happy day — a day when we shall shine out as a nation more brightly than
any other nation under the sun.*
The constitution of 1871 not having been adopted, it became necessary
to present another to the people. Accordingly in the summer of 1875
delegates of the male citizens met in the capital city. No outside press-
ure was brought to bear upon them to influence their consideration of this
subject. The grasshoppers had ravaged the State the previous year, cut-
ting off entirely the principal crop of the country. Again in the spring of
1875, in some of the river counties, the young had hatched in myriads,
and devoured the growing crops ere winging their way to their mountain
home. Gloom overspread the people at the prospect of renewed disaster,
and the dismal forebodings were realized even as the delegates sat in
council, for at this time occurred the final appearance of the locust. As
the people gazed into the sky and watched the silver cloud floating in the
sunshine resolve itself into a miniature army clad in burnished steel,
women forgot to be concerned for their rights, and the delegates thought
only of completing their work with the utmost economy and speed.
The new constitution, however, was formed on a more liberal basis.
Hon* R. B. Harrington, of Beatrice, in the Committee on Bill of Rights,
substituted the word " people " for " men," and it passed without comment.
An article on amendments was embodied in the constitution, the same in
substance as the one defeated in 1871, under which, as was actually done
in 1881, the legislature could present amendments relating to suffrage.
The question of adopting the article relating to qualifications of electors
being before the convention, Judge Clinton Briggs of Omaha sat during
the reading of the first clause, "every male," etc., meditating, as he re-
lated to a friend, on how many lives had been sacrificed and how many
millions of money had been spent in getting rid of the word "white,"
which had made such an unjust restriction, and how easy it would be, by
* The gentlemen who advocated the measure most warmly, were among the ablest judges and jurists
of the State. Of the opposition, Judge O. P. Mason experienced a change of heart, and ten years later
appeared as a foremost advocate. General E. Estabrook of Omaha lent all his influence to the amend-
ment in the late canvass, and Col. Philpott of Lincoln was also a warm advocate, often accompanying
his zealous wife and other members of the effective and untiring Lincoln association to the school-house
meetings held in all parts of Lancaster county. D. T. Moore was called out at a meeting in York in
1881, and came forward without hesitation, saying that he was in favor of woman suffrage. He related
this incident: that on his return home from the convention of 1871, he found that his wife had been
looking after his stock farm and attending to his business so that everything was in good order. He
praised her highly, when she replied, " Yes, and while I was caring for your interests, you were voting
against my rights." The reply set him to thinking, and he thought himself over on the other side. A-
J Weaver opposed the clause in a very bitter speech. The friends of the amendment in 1881 were
given to understand that Mr. Weaver was friendly, but to prevent the foreigners having that opinion.
Mr Weaver translated the record of his opposition into German, and distributed the paper* among the
German voters. Having been elected to congress, he was one of only three Republican members who
voted against the standing committee on woman's claims. These facts cost him a great many votes at
the time of his reelection in 1884, and are not yet forgotten.
Early Suffrage Societies. 68 r
one dash of the pen, to blot out the word " male," and thus abolish this
other unjust restriction. On the inspiration of the moment, he moved to
strike out the word " male." R. B. Harrington relates that the motion of
Judge Briggs, who had not before expressed his sentiments, and who had
not consulted with the known advocates of the measure, so astonished
the convention that it was some time before they could realize that he was
in earnest. The friends rallied to Judge Briggs' support. Gen. Chas. F.
Manderson — a member of this, as of the preceding convention — seconded
the motion, and sustained it with a forcible speech. Mr. Harrington made
a speech in its favor, and after a short and vigorous discussion it came to
a vote, which showed fifteen for the motion and fifty-two against.*
About this time Nebraska was again visited by lecturers on woman suf-
frage, who found an intelligent class of people, who, with growing ma-
terial prosperity, were kindly disposed toward progressive ideas. Mrs.
Margaret Campbell lectured in Nebraska in 1875, at about fifteen -places
between Kearney and the Missouri. In 1877-8 and 9, Mrs. Stanton and
Miss Anthony lectured at many points. These, with some local lectures
aroused an intelligent interest in equal rights for women. It was attempted
to give this expression in the legislature of 1879. Resolutions were intro-
duced, favorable reports made and the subject treated with kindly con-
sideration, but for lack of time, or some one deeply interested, nothing
was accomplished.
The legislation of 1879 on the subject of equal suffrage originated with Senator
McMeans and C. B. Slocumb of Fairbury. The former offered a petition from Thos.
Harbine and 160 others, asking a constitutional amendment prohibiting the disfranchis-
ing of citizens on account of sex. -Referred to a committee of whom a majority
recommended that its consideration be indefinitely postponed. A minority report was
brought in by Orlando Tefft and Chas. H. Brown recommending that the prayers of pe-
titioners be granted. In the House, at the same session, C. B. Slocumb presented
the petition of Calvin F. Steele and others, with a resolution asking that the com-
mittee on constitutional amendments be instructed to provide for the submission of an
amendment conferring the franchise upon woman. The resolution was adopted*
referred, and reported back with draft of an amendment. The committee were
Messrs. True, Windham, Batty, Simonton, Mitchell, Sparks and Gaylord. On motion
of Mr. True the joint resolution was ordered to first reading; no further mention ap-
pears of it.
The first suffrage society of the State was formed at Fairbury by Mrs.
H. Tyler Wilcox, and although this organization lived but a short time, it
secured petitions and drew the attention of legislators elect — Senator Mc-
Means and C. B. Slocumb — to the general interest felt in Jefferson county.
The second society was formed in Thayer county. The sisters, Mrs. Davis
and Mrs. Cornell, of Alexandria, called a meeting, which resulted in or-
ganizing the Alexandria Free Suffrage Association, Sept. 27, 1878. Prof.
W. D. Vermilion and E. M. Correll of Hebron, lectured before this society,
but, most of the members living in the country, the meetings were given
up when the cold weather set in.
* The debates of this convention were not reported for the economical reason* mentioned. The
names of the honored fifteen are, Clinton Briggs, W. L. Dunlap, R. C. Eldridge, J. G. K.w.ui, C. H.
Frady, C. H. Gere, R. H. Harrington. D. P. Henry, C. F. Manderaon, J. McPhcrson, M. B. Reese, S.
M. Kirkpatrick, L. B Thome, A. M. Walling, J. F. Zediker. Many of these were active friends of the
amendment of 1881.
682 History of Woman Suffrage.
The first working society was that of Hebron, which was organized by
Mrs. Stanton, April 15, 1879. The citizens were prepared for the under-
taking. E. M. Correll, editor of the Hebron Journal, in editorials, in lec-
tures by himself and others, had urged on women the dignity and import-
ance of interesting themselves in their own behalf. The society had been
encouraged by lectures from Miss Couzins and Mrs. H. T. Wilcox, the
latter taking the ground then comparatively new, that woman's ballot is
necessary for successful temperance effort. Meetings were kept up regu-
larly and with increasing membership, and the Thayer County Woman
Suffrage Association won a deserved triumph in being primarily connected
with the origin and successful passage of the joint resolution of 1881. The
legislators elected in 1880 were Senator C. B. Coon, and Representative E.
M. Correll. Both these gentlemen were active members of the Thayer
County Association, and after their election a committee waited on them,
pledging them to special effort during the coming session.
Meanwhile a general favorable sentiment was growing. In noting this
it would not be right to omit mention of Mrs. Harbert's " Woman's King-
dom," in the Chicago Inter-Ocean, which circulated largely among country
readers. The Omaha Republican passed, in 1876, under the editorial man-
agement of D. C. Brooks, who, with his wife, had been prominent in the
suffrage work of Michigan and Illinois. The favorable attitude of this
paper, and the articles which Mrs. Brooks from time to time contributed
to it, exerted a wide influence. In the winter of 1881, Mrs. Brooks estab-
lished a woman's department in the Republican which crystallized the
growing interest around the leadership of its editor. Letters were
addressed to her from various sections of the State, urging immediate
action. The following from Mrs. Lucinda Russell will show the interest
felt:
TECUMSEH, Neb., December 4, 1880.
MRS. HARRIET S. BROOKS — Dear Madam: I have been shown a form of petition
•for the suffrage which you enclosed to Rev. Mary J. DeLong, of this place. Will you
please inform me if this is to be the form of petition to be presented during the pres-
ent session of the legislature ? We wish the exact words in order that we may have it
published in our local paper.
We think it best to call a meeting, even now at this somewhat late day, and send
women to Lincoln who will attend personally to this matter. We have left these
things neglected too long. Will you call on all women of the State who can do so to
assemble at Lincoln during the session of the legislature, appointing the day, etc.? I
think we would be surprised at the result. This town contains scarcely a woman who
is opposed to woman suffrage. We know we are a power here; and we do not know
but the same hearty support which Tecumseh would afford may exist in many
towns throughout the State. All we need for good earnest work and mighty results
is organization. L. R.
In accordance with these requests a meeting for conference was called
at Lincoln, January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks presiding. A second meeting
was held at the M. E. Church, January 22, and a Lincoln Woman Suffrage
Association was formed. A mass convention was held January 26, and a
State Association was formed next day : *
* The officers elected were : President \ Harriet S. Brooks, Omaha ; \'ice-President-a.t-Large,
Clara Bewick Colby, Beatrice ; Vice-Presidents — First Judicial District, Mrs. B. J. Thomson, Hebron ;
Joint Resolution in the House. 683
The meeting of January 26 was held in the opera-house and was presided over by
Mrs. Franc E. Finch. The speakers were John B. Finch, Rev. Mary J. DeLong,
Judge O. P. Mason and Mrs. Esther L. Warner. Reading and music filled the pro-
gramme. Mrs. DeLong's address was in behalf of the prohibitory and suffrage
amendments. Judge Mason's address was afterwards printed for distribution. It
showed how forcible and eloquent the Judge could be when on the right side. It will
be remembered that Judge Mason opposed woman suffrage in the constitutional con-
vention of 1871. His closing sentences were :
The more intelligent and exalted the character of the electors in a government
whose foundation rests upon the franchise,,the more safe and secure are the liberties of
the people and the property of that government. The higher the social and moral
standard of the electors, the better will be the type of manhood that is chosen to
make laws and administer the government.. As you elevate the standard of intelli-
gence, and increase the ability and intensify the power to recognize the right and a
sense of obligation to follow it, you make sure the foundations of civil and religious
liberty. You do more, you elevate the character of the laws, and better the adminis-
tration in every department of government. It has been wisely said that government
is best which is best administered.
Do as we will, however, forget the rights of others, treat them with con-
tempt, summon to our aid the united efforts of great political parties, invoke statutory
and constitutional law to aid us in the mad career, yet, let no one forget that God's
balances, watched by his angels, are hung across the sky to weigh the conduct of in-
dividuals and nations, and that in the end divine wisdom will pronounce the inexorable
judgment of compensatory justice.
Previous to all of these meetings Hon. E. M. Correll had introduced on
January 13, H. R. 59, a bill for an amendment to the constitution Striking
the word " male " from qualifications, of electors. This had given im-
petus to the friends of the measure and inspiration to the meetings. A
vote of thanks was tendered Mr. Correll by both the State and Thayer
County Associations. The bill not being technically correct, Mr. Correll
introduced on February 3, a joint resolution of the same purport, H. R.
162. The committees of Senate and House on constitutional amend-
ments gave a hearing that evening to the advocates of the measure :
Of the fourteen members of the committees, ten were present; the full number from
the House and three from the Senate. Mr. Correll pressed the claims of the resolu-
tion in the first speech, and then introduced the different speakers representing the State
association. Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks reviewed the progress of sentiment elsewhere and
said that her acquaintance and correspondence in this State led her to think the time
ripe for action of this kind. Mrs. Orpha Clement Dinsmoor argued the abstract right
of it, saying :
It has now come to the question of absolute right — whether one class of people shall
say to another : " You can come only thus far in the direction of liberty." We re-
alize that woman must be educated to this new privilege, just as man has been edu-
cated to it, and just as this nation is now educating millions of the newly enfran-
dii-i-d to it. Feeling that in intellectual and moral capacity woman is the peer of man,
I think that her actual steps forward in needful preparation have given her the right
to say who shall rule over her.
Mrs. Jennie F. Holmes based her remarks on the added influence it would give
women in securing wise legislation in matters of welfare to the home. Clara B.
Coll>y answered questions of the committee. It was a most encouraging fact that
every member of the committee, after the speakers had finished presenting the case,
Second, Mrs. E. L. Warner, Roca ; Third, Mrs. A. P. Nicholas, Omaha ; Fourth, Mrs. J. S. Burns,
Scribner; Fifth, Mrs. C. C. Chapin, Rivcrton ; Sixth, Mrs. P. B. Slaughter, Fullerton ; Recording
Secretary, Mrs. Ada M. Rittenbendcr, Osceola; Corresponding Secretary, Mr*. Gertrude McDowell,
Fairbury ; Treasurer, Mrs. L. Russell, Tccumsch ; Executive Committee, Rev. M. J. DeLong,
Tecumseh; Mrs. Orpha C. Uinsmoor, Omaha: Mrs. J. C. Roberts, David City; Mrs. C. B. Parker,
Mrs. J. B. Finch, Lincoln ; Mrs. E. M. Correll, Hebron ; Mrs. J. H. Bowen, Hasting*.
684 History of }\~ouian Suffrage.
spoke in favor of the amendment, except one, a Bohemian, who was suffering from
hoarseness and induced his colleague to express favorable sentiments for him. These
gentlemen all remained friendly to the bill until its passage.
Headquarters were established in Lincoln. Mrs. Brooks remained dur-
ing the session, and Mesdames Holmes, Russell, Dinsmoor and Colby all,
or most of the time, until the act was passed, interviewing the members
and securing the promise of their votes for the measure :
The joint resolution went through all the preliminary stages in the House without
opposition on account of the discretion of its advocates, the watchfulness of its zealous
friends among the members, and the carefulness of Mr. Correll with regard to all
pending measures. The bill was made a special order for February 18, 10:45 A- M->
and Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Dinsmoor and Mrs. Colby addressed the House by invitation.
At the close of their remarks Mr. Roberts offered the following :
Resolved, That, as the sense of this House, we extend our thanks to the ladies who
have so ably addressed us in behalf of female suffrage, and we wish them God-speed
in their good work.
On motion of Mr. Howe the resolution was unanimously adopted. Mr. Correll
moved that H. R. 162 be ordered engrossed for third reading. The motion prevailed.
The final vote in the House, February 21, stood 51 for the amendment; 22 against.*
The passage of the bill had its dramatic features. Intense interest was
felt by the crowds which daily gathered in the capitol to watch its prog-
ress, while the officers of the State association were extended the court-
esies of the floor, and came and went, watching every opportunity and
giving counsel and assistance at every step. On this eventful Monday
afternoon but one of these was present, and she watched with anxiety the
rapid passage of the bills preceding, which made it evident that H. R.
162 would soon be reached. Six more than the needed number of votes
had been promised, but three of these were absent from the city. There
were barely enough members present to do business, as important bills
claimed attention in committee-rooms and lobbies. The last bill ahead
of this was reached, and the friends hurried out in every direction to in-
form the members, who responded quickly to the call. One man pledged
to the amendment went out and did not return, the only one to betray the
measure.
The roll was called amid breathless interest and every one kept the
tally. Church Howe, in voting, said : " I thank God that my life has
been spared to this moment, when I can vote to extend the right of suf-
frage to the women of my adopted State." And C. B. Slocumb responded
to his name, "Believing that my wife is entitled to all the rights that I
enjoy, I vote aye." The last name had been called, and all knew that
only fifty votes had been cast for the amendment, lacking one of the
required three-fifths of all members elect. The chief clerk of the House,
B. D. Slaughter, usually so glib, slowly repeated the names of those who
* Members voting in the affirmative were: Messrs. Abbott, Babcock, Bailey, Baldwin, Bartlett,
Broatch, Brown, Cantlin, Carman, Cook, Cole, Correll, Dailey, Dew, Dowty, Filley, Fried, Graham,
Gray, Hall, Heacock, Herman, Hosteller, Howe, Jackson of Pawnee, Jensen, Johnson, Jones, Kaley,
Kcmpton, Kyner. Linn, McClun, McDougall, McKinnon, Mickey, Moore of York, Montgomery,
Palmer, Paxton, Ransom, Reed, Roberts, Root, Schick, Scott, Sill, Slocumb, Watts, Wilsey and
Windham — 51. Voting in the negative : Messrs. Bick, Bolln, Case, Franse, Frederick, Gates, Holl-
man, Jackson of Douglas, King, Lamb, Laughlin, McShane, Moore of Otoe, Mullen, Overton, Peter-
son, Putney, Scars, Wells, Whedoii, Ziegler and Mr. Speaker — 22.
Passage of the Bill. 685
had voted and more slowly footed up the result. Two favorable members
were outside ; if only one could be reached ! The speaker, who had just
voted against the amendment, but was kindly disposed towards those
interested in it, held the announcement back for a moment which gave
Church Howe time to move the recommitment of the resolution. His
motion was seconded all over the House, but just at this juncture one of
the absent friends, P. O. Heacock, a German member from Richardson
county, came in, and, being told what was going on, called out, " I desire
to vote on this bill." He walked quickly to his place and, in answer to
his name, voted "aye." The speaker asked Mr. Howe if he wished to
withdraw his motion, which he did, and the vote was announced. The
galleries cheered, and the House was in a hubbub, unrebuked by the
speaker, who looked as happy as if he had voted for the bill. The mem-
bers gathered around the woman who sat in their midst, shook hands and
extended congratulations, many even who had voted against the amend-
ment expressing their personal sympathy with its advocates.
The joint resolution was immediately sent to the Senate, where, after
its second reading, it was referred to the Committee on Constitutional
Amendments, who returned it with two reports :
That of the majority, recommended its passage, while the minority opposed it on the
ground that it would be inadvisable to introduce opposing measures into the
House and thus create new divisions in politics and a new cause of excite-
ment; but principally upon the claim that in the territory where female suf-
frage had obtained "for a period of two years" the experiment had been
disastrous, the "interests of the territory damaged in emigration," and the ad-
ministration of justice hindered in the courts. This report was signed by Senators
J. C. Myers and S. B. Taylor, who had persistently refused to listen to argument or
information on the subject. As soon as the report was made, the senators were informed
of their glaring mistake as to the length of time the women of Wyoming had voted,
and information was laid before them proving that the results in that territory had
been in every way beneficial,* but they refused to withdraw or change their report.
The parliamentary tactics and watchfulness of Senators Doane, Coon, Smith, Whfte,
Dinsmore, Harrington and Tefft carried the bill through the bluster of the minority to
its final vote ; by twenty-two for to eight against, f When Senator Howe's name was
called he offered the following explanation :
The question of submitting this proposition to a vote of the people is not to be
regarded as a pleasantry, as some members seem to think. However mischievously
the experiment of giving the suffrage to women may operate, the power once given
cannot be recalled. I have endeavored to look at the question conscientiously. I
desire to keep abreast of all legitimate reforms of the day. I would like to see the
moral influence of women at the polls, but I would not like to see the immoral influ-
* At this time the valuable information from Wyoming with which Nebraska was afterwards flooded;
letters from Gov. Hoyt, editorials from leading papers of the territory, and testimony from every
reputable source, had not been gathered ; but two members of the House, J. H. Helm and Church
Hnwc, had been residents of Wyoming, and these cheerfully gave their assurance that only good had
resulted from the enfranchisement of the women of Wyoming.
t Those voting in the affirmative were : Messrs. Baker, Burns (of Dodge), Burns (of York), Coon,
Daily, Dinsmore, Doane, Evans, Gere, Graham, Harrington, Morse, Perkins, Pierce, Powers,
Smith, Tefft, Turner, Van Wyck, Wells, Wherry and White — aa. Those voting in the negative
were : Messrs. Ballentine, Cady, Ervin, Howe, Myers, Taylor, Turk and Zehrung— 8. Two of
these names cannot stand in the roll of honor without an explanation; for twenty votes indicate the
full strength of the bill. The irrelevance of opponents was illustrated by Senators Morse and Pierce.
The former in voting said, he had opposed the measure every step of the way, and now to be consistent
he voted aye. Senator Pierce said he had been watching the other side of the capitol and nothing
there seemed popular but whiskey and women, therefore, he voted aye 1
686 History of Woman Suffrage.
ence of politics in the home circle. The Almighty has imposed upon woman the
highest office to which human nature is subject, that of bearing children. Her life is
almost necessarily a home life ; it should be largely occupied in rearing and training
her children to be good men and pure electors. Therein her influence is all-powerful.
Again, I incline to the belief that to strike out the word 'male' in the constitution
would not change its meaning so as to confer the suffrage upon women. I am not
acquainted with half a dozen ladies who would accept the suffrage if it were offered to
them. They are not prepared for so radical a change. For these reasons, briefly
stated, and others, I vote No.
Mr. Turner explained his vote as follows :
Our wives, mothers and sisters having an equal interest with us in the welfare of
our commonwealth, and being equal to ourselves in intelligence, there appears no
good reason why the right to vote should be withheld from them. The genius of our
institutions is opposed to taxation without representation ; opposed to government
without the consent of the governed, and therefore I vote Aye.
The act was then signed by the president of the Senate and speaker of the House,
and sent to Gov. Nance. The latter, who, although not personally an advocate of the
measure, had given all courtesy and assistance to its supporters, signed it promptly.
To take a bill like this, which even a minority are anxious to defeat, through the
intricate course of legislation requires work, watchfulness and the utmost tact and
discretion on the part of its friends in both Houses.
The suffrage association immediately arranged to begin a canvass of
the State. The vice-president was appointed State organizer and entered
upon the duties of the office by forming a society at Beatrice, March 5.
The next step was to secure ample and unimpeachable testimonials from
Wyoming, which were printed in Woman's Work, and then spread broad-
cast in leaflet form. Lectures were given, and societies and working com-
mittees formed as rapidly as possible. The Western Woman's Journal, a
neat monthly magazine, was established in May, by Hon. E. M. Correll,
and a host of women suddenly found themselves gifted with the power
to speak and write, which they consecrated to the cause of their civil
liberties.
The Thayer County Association, as the elder sister of the numerous
family now springing up, maintained its prominence as a centre of activity
and intelligence. Barbara J. Thompson, secretary from its organization,
wrote at this time of the enthusiasm felt, and of the willingness of the
women to work, but added, " nearly all our women are young mothers
with from one to five children, and these cannot do anything more than
attend the meetings occasionally when they can leave the children." This
might have been said of any society in the State, and this fact must be
considered in judging from their achievements of the zeal of the Nebraska
women. Few, comparatively, could take a public part, and all others were
constantly reckoned by opponents as unwilling or indifferent. Thayer
County Association celebrated the Fourth of July in a novel manner, mak-
ing every feature an object lesson. Woman's Work gave an account of
it at the time, which is quoted to give a pleasant glance backward at the
enthusiasm and interest that marked the work of this society :
We found to our surprise that the women of Thayer county had in charge the whole
celebration. The Fourth dawned cool and clear, and with news of the improvement
of Garfield, everybody felt happy. The procession, marshaled by ladies on their
handsome horses, and assisted by Senator C. B. Coon, was formed in due time, and
presented a very imposing appearance. The band wagon was followed by nearly a
hundred others, and among the novelties of the occasion was the boys' brigade, con-
Convention at Omaha. 687
sisting of a score of little fellows, some with drums and some with cornets, who played
in quite tolerable time. The States were represented to indicate their progress with re-
gard to equal rights. Young men represented those wherein no advance had been
made; young women those where school suffrage had been granted to women; and
Wyoming Territory was represented by two, a man and a woman. The little girls
were all dressed in the appropriate colors, the wagons were gaily decorated, and the
procession well managed. After singing and prayer, the president, Mrs. Ferguson,
gave a short address. Mrs. Vermilion, who is a direct descendant of one of the sign-
ers of the Declaration of Independence, read the Woman's Declaration of Inde-
pendence and Bill of Rights, a document couched in such forcible terms as
Hancock, Adams & Co., would use if they were women in this year of our
Lord 1 88 1. Then followed the oration of the day, delivered by Mrs. Colby,
and for the audience it had at least two points of interest: First, that the woman
suffrage society had acted in defiance of precedent, and had engaged a woman
as their orator; and secondly, that it was given from the standpoint of a citizen and not
of a woman. There being nothing in the address on the matter of woman suffrage,
the society desired the speaker to address them in the evening on that subject. Ac-
cordingly a meeting was held, and despite the fatigue of the day, there was a good at-
tendance and considerable interest. A good dinner was provided on the grounds, and
afterwards they had singing and speaking. Mr. Hendershot addressed the children.
It will be an item of interest to the readers of the Express that the W. S. A. of Thayer
county have had some songs printed appropriate for their use. Among them is " Hold
the Polls," a song by the editor of the Express, and this was sung with considerable
enthusiasm. It may be said that the whole affair was a success, and reflected great
credit on the executive ability of the ladies in charge. One item of interest must not
be forgotten — among the various banners indicative of the virtues which are worthy of
cultivation, was one whose motto read, " In Mother we Trust." A lady being asked
the peculiar significance of this, said, " It has always been God and father, now we
want the children to learn to trust their mothers, and to think they are of some ac-
count."
A successful State convention was held at Omaha July 6, 7, Mrs.
Brooks presiding and making the opening address. The address of Mrs.
Ada M. Bittenbender on "The Legal Disabilities of Married Women"
created quite a discussion among a number of noted lawyers present. Of
this the Republican said :
This lady is the well-known recent editor of the Osceola Record, which she has now
relinquished for the study and practice of law, in partnership with her husband. Her
address, although learned, elaborate, comprehensive, and dealing with principles and
technicalities, was delivered extemporaneously, with great animation and effect, and in
a manner at once womanly, captivating and strong.
Miss Ida Edson read a paper on "Might and. Right." Mrs. Bloomer,
whose presence was an interesting feature of the convention, gaVe remin-
iscences of her own work for woman's ballot in Nebraska. The conven-
tion was enlivened by the dramatic readings of Mrs. H. P. Mathewson,
and the inspiring ballads of the poet-singer, James G. Clark, who had
come from Colorado to attend the meeting. A glimpse at the convention
through the friendly eyes of the editor of the Republican will indicate the
interest and ability shown by the women of the State :
The first general convention of the Woman's State Suffrage Association commenced
its session last evening at Masonic hall, the president, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, in the
chair, assisted by the first vice-president, Mrs. Clara B. Colby of Beatrice; the secretary,
Mrs. A. M. Bittenbender of Osceola; and the treasurer, Mrs. Russell of Tecumseh.
A majority of the members of the executive committee and of the vice-presidents were
688 History of W'oman Suffrage.
also present, with several friends of the cause from abroad, including Hon. E. M.
Correll, editor of the Western Woman 's Journal, who was the "leader of the House"
on the bill for submitting the suffrage amendment to the people. The evening was
sultry and threatening, and Masonic hall was not so full as it would otherwise have
been, considering both " promise and performance." The local attendance was repre-
sentative, including quite a number of our leading citizens, with their wives, and the
editors of our contemporaries the /A'w/</and the Bee. The meeting was a very interest-
ing one, more especially the "conversational" portion, in which free discussion was
solicited. This was opened by Hon. E. Rosewater, who spoke in response to a very
general call. His address of half an hour in length was marked by apparent sincerity,
and was a calm and argumentative presentation of objections, theoretical and practical,
which occurred to him against the extension of the franchise to women. It was replied
to by Mrs. Colby, in a running comment, which abounded in womanly wisdom and wit,
and incessantly brought down the house. Our.restricted space will compel us to forego
a report of the discussion at present. On the conclusion of Mrs. Colby's very bright
and convincing remarks, Dr. McNamara addressed the convention in a brief speech of
great earnestness, depth and power.
The last session was most interesting. The hall was nearly filled, and among
the audience were repres'entatives of many of our leading families. There was
rather too much crowded into this session, but the convention "cleaned up" its
work thoroughly, and the audience displayed a patient interest to the very end.
Besides the address of Professor Clark, there was a masterly constitutional argu-
ment by Mrs. Clara B. Colby, which demonstrated that woman can argue logi-
cally, and can support her postulates with the requisite legal learning, embracing a
knowledge of the common and statute law authorities from Blackstone down. The
address abounded in historical and literary allusions which show its author to be a
person of broad culture as well as an adept in "book learning." Following came
another address from Mrs. Bloomer, in which she disposed — as he expressed, to Dr.
McNamara's entire satisfaction — of the stock biblical argument down from Moses to
Paul against " woman's rights" to act in the same spheres, and speak from the same
platform with men. This address was given at the special request of several leading
ladies of this city, and though the hour was late, it was received with unbroken interest,
and was complimented with a special vote of thanks, moved by Mrs. Colby. Most
interesting reports of district and. local work were made by Mrs. Holmes, of Tecum-
seh, Mrs. Chapin of Riverton, and Mrs. Slaughter of Osceola. Dr. McXamara
closed the convention with a few stirring words of exhortation to the ladies to go right
to work from now on to November, 1882. He excused himself from a set speech with
the promise that, if " let off " now, he would, at some future time, present a fuil ex-
pression of his views on the reform to which he has so earnestly pledged himself. The
closing word in which the Republican would sum up the varied proceedings of the first
State suffrage convention is the magic word success.
A second very successful convention was held at Kearney, October 19,
20. A score or more societies were represented by delegates and their
reports were very encouraging.
The principal features of the programme were : Address of president, Harriet S.
Brooks ; welcome, Mrs. H. S. Sydenham ; response, Mrs. A. P. Nicholas ; addresses
by Mrs. Esther L. Warner, Gen. S. H. Connor (whose name appeared among the votes
of the opponents in 1875) ; Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor, on " Inherent Rights"; L. B.
Fifield, regent of the State University, on "Woman's Influence for Women"; and
Rev. Crissman, resident Presbyterian minister, on "Expediency." Among the letters
received was the following, addressed to Mrs. Dinsmoor, by Gen. Manderson, whose
name has been mentioned as voting for woman's ballot in the constitutional conven-
tions of 1871 and 1875 :
OMAHA, October, 17.
Your esteemed favor inviting me to speak before the convention at Kearney, October
18, 19, upon the subject of the extension of stfffrage to women, was duly received. I
Convention at Norfolk. 689
have delayed replying to it until to day in the hope that my professional engagements
would permit me to meet with you at Kearney. The continuing session of our Dis-
trict Court prevents my absence at this time. I would like very much to be with you
at the meeting of your association. My desire, however, would be to hear rather than
to speak. Ten years have passed since, with other members of the constitutional
convention of 1871, I met in argument those who opposed striking the word
" male " from the constitution of Nebraska. In those days "the truth was mighty
and prevailed," almost to the extent of full success, for, as the result of our effort, we
saw the little band of thirteen increase to thirty. I feel that there must be much of
new thought and rich argument growing from the agitation of the last ten years, and
to listen to those who, like yourself and many other members of your association, have
been in the forefront of the battle for the right, would be most interesting, But I
must, for the present, forego the pleasure of hearing you. I write merely to keep myself
"on the record" in the good fight. Now, as ever, I favor the enfranchisement of women,
the disfranchisement of ignorance. I would both extend and contract the right to
vote in our republic; extend it so that intelligence without regard to color or sex
should rule, and contract it so that ignorance should be ruled. If this be not the cure
for the political ills that threaten the permanency of American institutions, then there
is no cure. May Nebraska be the first of the States to apply the remedy.
Very respectfully yours, CHARLES F. MANDERSON.
The association sent out its scouts, and as a result a convention was
held in quite the northern part of the State, at Norfolk, November 30 and
December i. This was much appreciated by the citizens, whose locality
was at that time not much frequented by speakers on any topic.* The
first annual meeting, held at Lincoln in February, 1882, found a large
number of delegates, each with reports of kindred local work, ready to
receive the record of this year of preparation. Everything indicated a
favorable termination to the effort, as it became evident that all sections
of the State were being aroused to active interest.
The address of the president, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, was entitled, " Work, Wages
and the Ballot." It was a review of a lecture given earlier in the season by Chancel-
lor Fairchild of the University, in which he had taken the ground that the work of
women should not receive the same wages as that of men. Rev. Dr. McNamara and
others spoke briefly and earnestly. Miss Lydia Bell, at the closing evening session,
gave an address which, to use the words of the reporter, " for felicity of composition,
strength of argument, and beauty of delivery, fully merited the special resolution of
thanks unanimously given by the society." f
The work of organizing and lecturing was continued with as much zeal
and efficiency as the busy days and limited resources of the women would
permit. Many of the counties held conventions, took count of their
friends, and prepared for a vigorous campaign. As the summer ad-
vanced, at picnics, old settlers' gatherings, soldiers' reiinions, fairs, and
* The speakers of this convention were Clara Bewick Colby, acting president ; Mr. Saltier, who gave
the welcome ; Ada M. Bittenbender, Esther L. Warner, Judge I. N. Taylor, Mrs. M. E. Vandermark,
Rev. Haywood and Professor Wood of Nebraska City College. The latter spoke in English in the
:ifternoon, and in German, his native tongue, in the evening. The announcement that he would do so
ilrcw a large number of his countrymen. One of these was allowed the floor by request, when he
soundly berated (in German) the women as opposed to foreigners, while at the tame time he tried to
ur.ikrn Professor Wood's argument by saying it was to be attributed to an American wife. It was
reported that the marked contrast between the speakers was commented on by resident Germans greatly
to the disadvantage of their fellow-townsman.
t The officers elected were : President, Ada M. Bittenbender ; Vice-Pretidtnt, Clara Bewick Colby ;
Secretary, Belle G. Bigelow ; Corresponding Secretary, Gertrude M. McDowell ; 1'rtatitrer, Luciml.i
Kus-eli ; Executive Committee, Harriet S. Brooks, E. M. Correll, Susie Noble Fineld, Gem
Skinner, Rev. John McNamara, Jennie F. Holmes; Vice-Presidents o/ Judicial Dittrictt— Kir-t.
Barbara J. Thompson ; second, Dr. Ruth M. Wood ; third, Orpha Clement Dinsmoor ; fourth, Ada
Van Pelt ; fifth, Mrs. H. S. Sydenham.
44
690 History of Woman Suffrage.
political conventions, — wherever a company of people had assembled,
there interested women claimed an opportunity to present the subject to
audiences it would otherwise have been impossible to reach. With but
few exceptions, officials extended the courtesies asked.
During the summer of 1882, the work was greatly aided by the lectures
of Margaret Campbell and Matilda Hindman ; and during the month of
September by Helen M. Gougar. The American Suffrage Association, at
its annual meeting in 1881, elected Hon. E. M. Correll president, as a
recognition of his services to the cause in Nebraska, and in 1882, it held
its annual meeting in Omaha, September 12 and 13. Lucy Stone, H. B.
Blackwell, and Hannah Tracy Cutler remained for some weeks, lecturing
in the State, and were warmly received by the local committees. Ex-
Governor John W. Hoyt, and Judge Kingman, of Wyoming, gave a few
addresses. The National Association also held its annual meeting at
Omaha, Sept. 26, 27, 28. A reception was given at the Paxton Hotel on
the close of the last session. Following this, a two days' convention was
held at Lincoln, from which point the speakers diverged to take part in
the campaign.*
While those friendly to the amendment were laboring thus earnestly,
the politicians held themselves aloof and attended strictly to " mending
their own fences." After the act had passed the legislature, it was found
that almost every prominent man in the State was friendly to the amend-
ment. The bench and bar were especially favorable, while three-fourths
of the press and a large majority of the clergy warmly espoused the cause.
Leading politicians told the women to go ahead and organize, and they
would assist in the latter part of the canvass. Thayer and Clay county
.^Republicans endorsed woman suffrage in their platform, while Franklin
•county delegates were instructed to vote for no one who was not in favor
of the amendment.
Previous to the session of the Republican State Convention, great
hopes were entertained that this body would put an endorsement of the
amendment in its platform, as a majority of the delegates were personally
pledged to vote for such a measure. But the committee on resolutions
was managed by a man who feared that such endorsement would hurt the
party, and the suffrage resolution which was handed in, was not reported
with the rest. On the plea of time being precious, the convention was
maneuvered to pass a resolution that the report of the committee should
not be discussed. The report was brought in at the last moment of the
convention, and adopted as previously arranged, and the convention was
adjourned, everybody wondering why a resolution relative to the amend-
ment had not been presented. The Republican leaders feared that their
party was endangered by the passage of the bill by the legislature, for it
was very largely carried by Republican votes, and while individually
friendly, they almost to a man avoided the subject.
* Most of the speakers spent several weeks in the State. Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, Mrs. May Wright
Sewall, Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Harbert, Mrs. Shattuck, Mrs. Neyman. Miss Anthony, Mi><
Couzins and Miss Hindman were the principal National speakers, and their ability and zeal aroused
the whole State. Mrs. Colby was indefatigable in her exertions from the moment the amendment
was submitted to the end of the canvass. Mrs. Colby and Miss Rachel Foster organized the whole
campaign throughout the State, and kept all the speakers in motion. — [S. B. A.
The Trial at the Polls. 691
As the canvass progressed, it was comical to note how shy the politi-
cians fought of the women to whom they had promised assistance. Judge
O. P. Mason, who had agreed to give ten lectures for the amendment, and
whose advocacy would have had immense weight, engaged to speak for
the Republican party, and at everyplace but one, the managers stipulated
that he should be silent on the amendment. Of the vast array of Repub-
lican speakers, had even those who had expressed themselves in favor of
the amendment advocated it intelligently and earnestly, the result would
have been different.
Due credit must be given to ex-United States Senator Tipton, Judge
W. H. Morris, and a few others who lectured outside of their own coun-
ties, as well as at home, while David Butler, candidate for senator from
Pawnee county, E. M. Correll of Hebron, C. C. Chapin of Riverton, Judge
A. P. Yocum of Hastings, and doubtless a few others, regardless of their
political prospects, advocated the cause of woman along with their own.
The women of Nebraska will always cherish the memory of the enthusi-
astic young student from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who spent some months
of the campaign in Nebraska, giving lavishly of his means and talents to
aid the cause. Wilder M. Wooster was a bright, logical speaker, and his
death, which occurred in 1885, cost the world a promising and conscien-
tious journalist.
Towards the close of the campaign it became evident that the saloon
element was determined to defeat the amendment. The organ of the
Brewers' Association sent out its orders to every saloon, bills posted in
conspicuous places by friends of the amendment mysteriously disap-
peared, or were covered by others of an opposite character, and the
greatest pains was taken to excite the antagonism of foreigners by rep-
resenting to them that woman suffrage meant prohibition. On the other
hand, the temperance advocates were by no means a unit for its support.
The morning dawned bright and clear on November 5, 1882. The
most casual observer would have seen that some unusual interest was
commanding attention. Everything wore a holiday appearance. Polling
places were gaily decorated; banners floated to the breeze, bearing sug-
gestive mottoes: "Are Women Citizens?" "Taxation Without Repre-
sentation is Tyranny!" "Governments Derive their Just Powers from
the Consent of the Governed." " Equality before the Law," etc., etc.
Under pavilions, or in adjoining rooms, or in the very shadow of the bal-
lot-box, women presided at well-filled tables, serving refreshments to the
voters, and handing to those who would take them, tickets bearing the
words : " For Constitutional Amendment Relating to Right of Suffrage,"
while the national colors floated alike over governing and governed ;
alike over women working and pleading for their rights as citizens, and
men who were selling woman's birth-right for a glass of beer or a
vote. It looked like a holiday picnic — the well-dressed people, the
II' >\vers, the badges, and the flags ; but the tragic events of that day would
till .1 volume.
The conservative joined hands with the vicious, the egotist with the ig-
norant, the demagogue with the venial, and when the sun set, Nebraska s
opportunity to do the act of simple justice was gone — lost by a vote of*
692 History of Woman Suffrage.
50,693 to 25,756 — so the record gives it. But it must not be forgotten
that many tickets were fraudulently printed, and that tickets which con-
tained no mention of the amendment were counted against it, as also were
tickets having any technical defect or omission ; for instance, tickets
having the abbreviated form, " For the Amendment," were counted
against it. It will always remain an open question whether the amend-
ment did not, after all, receive an actual majority of all votes cast upon
that question. In this new State, burdened with the duties incident to the
development of a new country, the women had done what women might
do to secure their rights, but their hour had not yet struck.
On the following evening, the speakers of the National Association,
who still remained in the State held a meeting* at the opera-house in
Omaha, at which the addresses were in the main congratulatory for the
large vote, making proportionally the largest ever cast for woman's
ballot.
While history must perforce be silent concerning the efforts and sacri-
fices of the many, a word will be expected in regard to some of the
principal actors. Looking back on these two eventful years, not
a woman who took part in that struggle would wish to have been inactive
in that heroic hour. It is an inspiration and an ennobling of all the facul-
ties that they have once been lifted above all personal aims and transient
interests ; and for all who caught the true meaning of the moment, life can
never again touch the low level of indifference. The officers of the State
Association who were most active in the canvass are here mentioned
with a word as to their subsequent efforts :
Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, whose services have so often been referred to, after work-
ing in three States for the privileges of citizenship, is devoting herself to the congenial
study of sociology, and her able pen still does service.
Ada M. Bittenbender was admitted to the bar May 17, 1882, and from that time
until the election gave undivided attention to the duties of her office as president of
the State Association. The campaign song-book, the supplement folded in the county
papers, the columns of notes and news prepared for many journals in the State, the
headquarters in Lincoln from which, with the assistance of E. M. Correll and Mrs.
Russell, she sent forth documents, posters, blanks and other campaign accessories,
sufficiently attest her energy and ability. She is now a practicing lawyer of Lincoln,
and was successful during the session of the legislature of 1885 in securing the passage
of a law making mothers joint and equal guardians of their children.
Mrs. Belle G. Bigelow of Geneva was an active and reliable officer during the can-
vass of 1882, and is now prominent in the temperance work of Nebraska.
Mrs. Lucinda Russell of Tecumseh, for two years the treasurer of the State Associa-
tion, edited a department in the local paper in the interest of the amendment, was one
of the campaign committee, and spared no effort to push the work in her own county.
Her sister, Mrs. Jennie F. Holmes, was one of the most efficient members of the ex-
ecutive committee. She drove all over her own county, holding meetings in the
school-houses. The efforts of these two women would have carried Johnson county
for the amendment had not the election officials taken advantage of a technical defect
in the tickets used in some of the precincts. Mrs. Holmes sustained the suffrage work
in Nebraska through the two following years as chairman of the executive committee,
was elected in 1884 to the office of president of the State Woman's Christian Temper-
ance Union, and reelected in 1885 to the same position.
* For further details of the closing scenes, see Vol. III. pa^e 241.
Leaders of the Campaign. 693
Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor of Omaha, as chairman of the executive committee during
the fiist year (Mrs. De Long having resigned), contributed largely to the most success-
ful conventions of the campaign. One of the most notable lectures given in the State
was hers in reply to Chancellor Fairfield of the Nebraska University, on "Work
and Wages." As it was known that the chancellor held the ground that woman should
not be paid equally with man, even for the same work and the same skill, the Lincoln
Woman Suffrage Association invited him to give his lecture on that subject, and Mrs.
Dinsmoor to answer him on the following evening. Mrs. Dinsmoor is well known
for her interest in education and scientific charity, and has, by appointment of the
governor of the State, represented Nebraska at the National Conference of Charities
and Corrections at its last two annual meetings. She is now the president of the Ne-
braska Woman's Board of Associated Charities.
Mrs. Barbara J. Thompson, of English birth, was one of the leading spirits of the
Thayer County Society, and was active in holding meetings and organizing commit-
tees. Her principal service was by her ready pen, which furnished articles for a large
number of papers. It is pleasant to reflect that one woman who worked so earnestly
for the rights of citizenship in Nebraska has obtained them in her new home at Tacoma,
Washington Territory.
Mrs. Gertrude McDowell of Fairbury lent her wit and wisdom to many conventions,
was ready with her pen, and secured a thorough canvass in Jefferson county. She
was the third president of the State Association.
Mrs. Mollie K. Maule of Fairmont laid by her law studies to serve on the executive
board of the State Association. In company with Mrs. Susie Fifield and others, she
held meetings in all the precincts of Fillmore county, securing a good vote. Mrs.
Maule was elected president of the State Association in 1885.
Mrs. Jennie G. Ford of Kearney, for some time member of the executive commit-
tee, was one of the leading advocates in Buffalo county. Always aiding and inspiring
others to effort, she was an incessant worker in the causes. dear to her heart. She was
president of the Nebraska Woman's Christian Temperance Union from 1882 to 1884.
She died June 18, 1885, leaving in the hearts of all who had known her, tender memo-
ries of her beautiful life.
Miss Lyclia Bell, a talented elocutionist of Lincoln, devoted some months to lectur-
ing. Her great iutellectual and rhetorical gifts made her a very effective speaker.
Dr. Hetty K. Painter was a graduate of the Pennsylvania Medical College in 1860.
She was a physician in the army during the civil war, and her proudest possession is
the badge which proves her membership in the Fifth Army Corps. Her practice and
her infirmary at Lincoln did not prevent her helping largely the cause in which she
felt so great an interest.
Mrs. Esther L. Warner of Roca was the only person actively engaged in the last
canvass who had been connected with the effort of 1871. As vice-president of her
judicial district, she spoke at many places, organizing wherever practicable. Her
motherly face, and persuasive but humorous argument, made her a favorite at conven-
tions. Coming to Nebraska in its early days, a widow with a large family, she pur-
ch:iM-il a large farm and devoted herself to its management, to the care and education
of her children, and to the direction of the village school, being a member of the
l»i;inl of trustees for many years. She had not used tongue or pen for public service
since her girlhood until this occasion enlisted her interest and proved her gifts.
Clara C. Chapin, La Petite, as she was called at conventions, or as a friend styles
her, " the dear little English bud that blossomed on American soil," was one of the
most /ealousof our women, organizing, lecturing and arranging campaigns. She is at
nt very active in the temperance work, and is one of the editors of a State tem-
perance paper, the Republican Valley Echo. An extract from a letter received from
her in answer to inquiry will show the spirit that actuates this representative advocate
of woman's political enfranchisement:
I never thought much about " woman's rights" until within the last five years — that
is, political rights. I always had a strong sense of my responsibilities a& a woman
694 History of Woman Suffrage.
and a mother (have three children), and realize that we need something more than
moral suasion to make our influence practical and effective. My husband, though not
what is called a "politician," has been sufficiently in politics for me to know just what
power the ballot has, and to see the necessity of woman's work in that direction. I am
happy to say that Mr. Chapin is heart and soul with me in this, and it is a wonder to
us how any wife or mother, how any Christian woman can say, " I have all the rights
I want."
Hoping to hold the vantage ground already gained, a State convention
was held at Kearney, December 6, 7, the place being selected because
Buffalo county had carried the amendment by a good majority.
The association held three formal sessions, which were well attended and very in-
teresting. Speeches of encouragement and congratulation were made, plans for work
discussed, and campaign reminiscences recounted. One of the most interesting that
was given was that of Mrs. Beedy of Gardner precinct, who said that the women ac-
tively interested in the suffrage work talked socially on the subject with every man in
the precinct. There were seventy-two votes, and only four against the amendment.
Of these four persons, two could neither read nor write, a third could not write his own
name, and the fourth could not write his name in English. All the delegates present
reported that the social work had been a prime cause of such success as they had
found. Mrs. Bigelow said that Geneva precinct stood ninety-eight for the amendment
and ninety-eight against. At Fairmont sixty ladies went to the polls. They wore
white ribbon badges on which was printed, " Are we citizens ? " The general impres-
sion among those attending the convention was that the Association should petition
congress for a sixteenth amendment, petition the Nebraska legislature for municipal
suffrage, and make use of school suffrage to its fullest extent. The executive commit-
tee held four sessions, appointed a number of working committees, and attended to
settling up the campaign business of the Association. The convention was considered
a decided success in every way.
The annual meeting was held in January, 1883. Mrs. Gertrude Mc-
Dowell was elected president. The usual business was transacted, and a
special committee appointed to secure favorable legislation. In view of
the fact that so much of the opposition had been based on the allegation
that "women do not want to vote," a resolution was prepared for the im-
mediate re-submission of a constitutional amendment with a provision
making it legal for women to vote on its final ratification. The joint
resolution was introduced by Senator Charles H. Brown of Omaha, and
ably advocated by him and others, especially by Senator David Butler. It
was lost by nearly a two-thirds vote. The Committee on Amendments
gave a hearing to Lydia Bell, Clara C. Chapin and Clara B. Colby. The
joint resolution was taken up in the Senate for discussion February 15.
Woman's Work gives the record of the proceedings :
Senator McShane of Douglas moved indefinite postponement. Senator Brown of
Douglas, who introduced the resolution, spoke against the motion and made a forcible
historical argument for the bill. Senator McShane then spoke at length against the
bill, basing his opposition to the enfranchisement of woman on the ground that it
would be detrimental to the interests of the foreigner. Senator SchOnheit of Richard-
son opposed the bill on the plea that it would mar the loveliness of woman in her
domestic relations. Senator Reynolds of Butler favored the bill. He had voted
against the amendment last fall, but he did it because he feared the women did not
want the ballot, and he was willing to let them decide for themselves. Senator Dech
of Saunders favored the bill in remarks showing a broad and comprehensive philoso-
phy. Senator Butler of Pawnee made a magnificent arraignment of the Republican
and Democratic parties, and an appeal to the anti-monopolists to oppose the monopoly
The Work Still Goes On. 695
of sex. His speech was the longest and most earnest of the session. Several persons
expressing a desire to continue the discussion, McShane withdrew his motion to post-
pone. The Senate adjourned, and on Friday morning it was moved and carried that
this bill be made the special order for that evening. Accordingly, the chamber and
gallery were filled. On motion, Mrs. Colby was unanimously requested to address
the Senate in behalf of the bill. Senator Butler escorted her to the clerk's desk, and
she delivered an extemporaneous address, of which a fair synopsis was given by the
Journal reporter. Foreseeing the defeat of the bill, she said, in closing, "You may
kill this bill, gentlemen, but you cannot kill the principle of individual liberty that is
at issue. It is immortal, and rises Phoenix-like from every death to a new life of sur-
passing beauty and vigor. The votes you cast against the bill will, like the dragons'
teeth in the myth of old, spring up into armed warriors that shall obstruct your path,
demanding of you the recognition of woman's right to ' equality before the law.'"
The grave and reverend senators joined in the applause of the gallery, and carried
Senator Reynolds' motion "that the thanks of this Senate be returned to Mrs. Colby
for the able, eloquent and instructive address to which we have listened"; but with
no apparent reluctance, on Senator McShane's motion being renewed, they postponed
the bill by a vote of 18 to 6.* Of the absent ones, Senator Dech was know? to be
sick, some of the others were in their seats a moment previous, and it is fairly to be
presumed that they did not dare to vote upon the question. Of those voting aye, Sen-
ators Brown of Clay, and Walker of Lancaster had favored the bill in the committee,
and the friends were counting on their vote, as also some others who had expressed
themselves favorable. It is due to Senators Brown of Douglas and Butler to say that
they championed the bill heartily, and furthered its interests in every possible way.
Conventions were held at Grand Island in May, at Hastings in Au-
gust of 1883, and at Fremont August, 1884. The annual meeting of 1884
was held at York, and that of 1885 in Lincoln. At all of these enthusiasm
and interest were manifested, which indicate that the idea has not lost its
foothold. The Woman's Tribune, established in 1883, circulates largely in
the State, and maintains an intelligent if not an active interest. When a
new occasion comes the women will be able to meet it. Their present
attitude of hopeful waiting has the courage and faith expressed in the
words of Lowell :
" Endurance is the crowning quality,
And patience all the passion of great hearts;
These are their stay, and when the hard world
With brute strength, like scornful conqueror,
Clangs his huge mace down in the other scale,
The inspired soul but flings his patience in,
And slowly that out-weighs the ponderous globe;
One faith against a whole world's unbelief,
One soul against the flesh of all mankind."
CHAPTER L.
KANSAS.
Effect of the Popular Vote on Woman Suffrage — Anna C. Wait — Hannah Wilson —
Miss Kate Stephens, Professor of Greek in State University — Lincoln Centre
Society, 1879 — The Press — The Lincoln Beacon — Election, 1880 — Sarah A. Brown,
Democratic Candidate — Fourth of July Celebration — Women Voting on the School
Question — State Society, 1884 — Helen M. Cougar — Clara Bewick Colby — Bertha
H. Ellsworth — Radical Reform Association — Mrs. A. G. Lord — Prudence Crandall
— Clarina Howard Nichols — Laws — Women in the Professions — Schools — Political
Parties — Petitions to the Legislature — Col. F. G. Adams' Letter.
WE closed the chapter on Kansas in Vol. II. with the submis-
sion and defeat of the woman suffrage amendment, leaving the
advocates of the measure so depressed with the result that sev-
eral years elapsed before any further attempts were made to re-
organize their forces for the agitation of the question. This has
been the experience of the friends in every State where the
proposition has been submitted to a vote of the electors —
alike in Michigan, Colorado, Nebraska and Oregon — offering
so many arguments in favor of the enfranchisement of woman by
a simple act of the legislature, where the real power of the people
is primarily represented. We have so many instances on record
of the exercise of this power by the legislatures of the several
States in the regulation of the suffrage, that there can be no
doubt that the sole responsibility in securing this right to the
women of a State rests with the legislature, or with congress in
passing a sixteenth amendment that should override all State
action in protecting the rights of United States citizens.
We are indebted to Anna C. Wait for most of the interesting
facts of this chapter. She writes :
I watched with intense interest from my home in Ohio, the progress of
the woman suffrage idea in Kansas in the campaign of 1867, and although
temporary defeat was the result, yet the moral grandeur displayed by the
people in seeking to make their constitution an embodiment of the prin-
ciple of American liberty, decided me to become a citizen of that young and
beautiful State. Gov. Harvey's massage was at that time attracting much
attention and varied comments by the press. For the benefit of those
Revival of Interest. 697
who have not studied the whole history of the cause, we give the follow-
ing extracts from his message, published February 9, 1871 :
The tendency of this age is towards a civil policy wherein political rights will not be
affected by social or ethnological distinctions; and from the moral nature of mankind
and the experience of States, we may infer that restrictions merely arbitrary and con-
ventional, like those based upon color and sex, cannot last much longer than they are
desired, and cannot be removed much sooner than they should be. This consideration
should give patience to the reformer, and resignation to the conservative.
Let us have a true republic — a "government of the people, by the people, for the
people," and we shall hear no more the oligarchical cry of croaking conservatism call-
ing for a " white man's government " — appealing by this, and like slogans of class and
caste to the lowest and meanest principles of human nature, dangerous alike to real re-
publicanism and true democracy. Expediency, that great pretext for the infringement
of human rights, no longer justifies us in the retention of a monopoly of political power
in our own favored class of " white male citizens."
In the summer of 1871, Mr. Wait and myself removed to Salina, where
Mrs. Hannah Wilson resided. She was the only person in this section of
Kansas I ever heard of doing any suffrage work between the years of
1867 and 1877. She was a woman of great force of character, and a strong
advocate of suffrage. She was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, and came
to Salina in 1870. After Miss Anthony lectured in that city in 1877, Mrs.
Wilson circulated petitions to the legislature and to congress. She was
also active and aggressive in the temperance cause. When she learned
of the Lincoln Beacon, and its advocacy of woman suffrage, she wrote an
article for the paper, and accompanied it with a kind letter and the price
of a year's subscription. Mrs. Wilson was a Quaker, and in her dress and
address strictly adhered to the peculiarites of that sect.
Miss Kate Stephens, professor of Greek in the Kansas State Univer-
sity, writes that she has made dilligent search during the past summer
among the libraries of Topeka and Lawrence for record of suffrage work
since the campaign of 1867, and finds absolutely nothing, so that I am
reduced to the necessity of writing, principally, of our little efforts
here in central Kansas. In the intensely interesting letters of Mes-
dames Helen Ekin Starrett, Susan E. Wattles, Dr. R. S. Tenney and Hon.
J. P. Root, in Vol. II., all written since 1880, ^1 find no mention of any
woman suffrage organizations. Mrs. Wattles, of Mound City, says : " My
work has been very limited. I have only been able to circulate tracts and
papers "; and she enumerates all the woman suffrage papers ever published
in America, which she had taken and given away. A quiet, unobtrusive
method of work, but one of the most effective ; and doubtless to the sen-
timent created and fostered by this sowing of suffrage literature by Mrs.
\V;ittles, is largely due the wonderful revival which has swept like one of
our own prairie fires over south-eastern Kansas during the past year; a
sentiment so strong as to need but " a live coal from off the altar " to kin-
dle into a blaze of enthusiasm. This it received in the earnest elo-
quence of Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, who has twice visited that portion of the
State. All these writers express their faith in a growing interest in the
suffrage cause, and, some of them, the belief that if the question were again
submitted to a vote of the people, it would carry.
*In our State suffrage convention, June, 1884, among the demands which
698 History of Woman Suffrage.
we resolved to make of our incoming legislature, was the submission of an
amendment striking out the word "male" from the State constitution. For
myself, I entertained no hope that it would succeed further than as a means
of agitation and education. On reflection, I hope it will not be done. The
women of Kansas have once been subjected to the humiliation of having
their political disabilities perpetuated by the vote of the " rank and file"
of our populace. While I believe the growth of popular opinion in
favor of equality of rights for women has nowhere been more rapid than
in Kansas, yet I do not lose sight of the fact that thousands of foreigners
are each year added to the voting population, whose ballots in the aggre-
gate defeat the will of our enlightened, American-born citizens. Besides,
it is a too convenient way for a legislature to shirk its own responsibility.
If the demand is made, I hope it may be done in connection with that for
municipal and presidential suffrage.
The history of the woman suffrage organizations in Kansas since 1867,
may be briefly told. The first owes its existence to one copy of the
National Citizen and Ballot-Box subscribed for by my husband, W. S. Wait,
who by the merest chance heard Miss Anthony deliver her famous lecture,
"Woman wants Bread, not the Ballot," in Salina, in November, 1877. The
paper was religiously read by Mrs. Emily J. Biggs and myself; although
we did not need conversion, both being radical in our ideas on this ques-
tion, we had long felt the need of something being done which would
fix public attention and provoke discussion. This was all we felt our-
selves competent to do, and the knowledge that nobody else in our sec-
tion of the country would do it, coupled with the inspiration of the
National Citizen, culminated, in November 1879, in sending to the Saline
Valley Register, George W. Anderson, editor and proprietor, a notice for a
meeting of women for the purpose of organizing a suffrage society. In
response to the call, Mrs. Emily J. Biggs, Mrs. Sarah E. Lutes, and Mrs.
Wait, met November n, 1879, at the house of A. T. Biggs, and organized
the Lincoln Auxiliary of the National Association. We elected a full
corps of officers from among ladies whom we believed to be favorable,
interviewed them for their approval, and sent a full report of the meeting
to be published as a mattej of news in the Register, which had given our
call without comment. The editor had a few weeks previously bought
the paper, and we were totally ignorant in regard to his position upon
the question. We were not long left in doubt, for the fact that we had
actually organized in a way which showed that we understood our-
selves, and meant business, had the effect -to elicit from his pen a scur-
rilous article, in which he called us " the three noble-hearted women,''
classed us with " free-lovers," called us " monstrosities, neither men nor
women," and more of the same sort. Of course, the effect of this upon
the community was to array all true friends of the cause on our side, to
bring the opposition, made bold by the championship of such a gallant
leader, to the front, and cause the faint-hearted to take to the fence. And
here we had the discussion opened up in a manner which, had we foreseen,
I fear our courage would have been inadequate to the demand. But not
for one moment did we entertain a thought of retreating. Knowing that
if we maintained silence, the enemy would consider us vanquished,*!
"Woman as a Citizen'' 699
wrote an article for his paper, quoting largely from Walker's Ameri-
can Law, which he published; and Mrs. Biggs also furnished him an
article in which she showed him up in a manner so ludicrous and sarcastic
that he got rid of printing it by setting it up full of mistakes which he
manufactured himself, and sending her the proof with the information
that if he published it at all, it would be in that form. It appeared the
following week, however, in the first number of The Argus, a Democratic
paper, Ira C. Lutes, editor and proprietor, in which we at once secured a
column for the use of our society. About a dozen ladies attended our
second meeting, at which the following resolutions were unanimously
adopted, all the ladies present being allowed to vote :
WHEREAS, The local newspaper is adjudged, by common consent, to be the expon-
ent of the intelligence, refinement, and culture of a community, and, in a large de-
gree, the educator of the rising generation ; and
WHEREAS, In one issue of the Lincoln Register there appears no fewer than forty-
seven misspelled words, with numerous errors in grammatical construction and punctua-
tion; also a scurrilous article headed " Woman vs. Man," in which the editor not only
grossly misrepresents us, but assails the characters of all advocates of suffrage every-
where in a manner which shocks the moral sense of every true lady and gentleman in
this community; therefore
Resolved, That this association present the editor of the Register with a copy of
some standard English spelling-book, and English Language Lessons, for his especial
use.
Resolved, That as he has been so kind as to offer his advice to us, unsolicited, we
reciprocate the favor by admonishing him to confine himself to facts in future, and
to remember that the people of Lincoln are capable of appreciating truth and common
decency.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished the editor of the Lincoln
Register, with the books above named.
This was promptly done, and so enraged him that the following week
he published a tirade of abuse consisting of brazen falsehoods, whereupon
a iM-ntleman called a halt, by faithfully promising to chastise him if he did
not desist, which had the desired effect so far as his paper was concerned.
W. S. Wait bought the Argus at the end of four months, changed its
politics to Republican, and its name to the Lincoln Beacon, in which I es-
tablished a woman suffrage department, under the head of "Woman as a
Citizen," with one of Lucretia Mott's favorite mottoes, " Truth for Au-
thority, and not Authority for Truth "; and weekly, for six years, it has
gone to a constantly increasing circle of readers, and contributed its share
to whatever strength and influence the cause has gained in this portion
of the State. In the summer of 1880, G. W. Anderson announced himself
a candidate for the legislature. He had just before made himself es-
pecially obnoxious by shockingly indecent remarks about the ladies who
had participated in the exercises of the Fourth of July celebration. At a
meeting of the suffrage society, held August 6, the following resolution,
suggested by Mrs. S. E. Lutes, were unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, We. as responsible members of society, and guardians of the purity of
our families and community, are actuated by a sense of duty and our accountability to
r tin- faithful performance of it; and
WHEREAS, George W. Anderson, editor and proprietor of the Lincoln Register,
during his few months' residence in our county has, by constant calumny and scurrility,
700 History of Woman Suffrage*
both verbal and through the columns of his paper, sought to injure the reputation of
the honorable women who compose the Lincoln suffrage and temperance associations,
and of all women everywhere who sympathize with the aims and purposes which these
societies represent; and
WHERKAS, His utterances through the columns of the Lincoln Register are often un-
fit to be read by any child, or aloud in any family, because of their indecency, we are
unanimously of the opinion that his course is calculated to defeat the aims and pur-
poses of Christianity, temperance and morality; therefore
Resolved, That whenever George W. Anderson aspires to any position of honor,
trust or emolument in the gift of the voters of Lincoln county, we will use all honor-
able means in our power to defeat him; and we further urge upon every woman who
has the welfare of our county at heart, the duty and necessity of cooperating with us
to accomplish this end.
The above preamble and resolution appeared in the woman's column of
the Lincoln Beacon the following week, and 250 copies were printed in the
form of hand-bills and distributed to the twenty-three post-offices in Lin-
coln county. It did not prevent his election, and we did not expect it
would, but we believed it our duty to enter our protest against the perpe-
tration of this outrage upon the moral sense of those who knew him best.
We ignored him in the legislature, sending our petitions asking that body
to recommend to congress the adoption of the sixteenth amendment, to
Hon. S. C. Millington of Crawford, who had come to our notice that winter
by offering a woman suffrage resolution in the House. In 1882 Anderson
sought a second indorsement as a candidate for the legislature, but that
portion of the community which he really represented had become
disgusted with him ; he struggled against fate with constantly waning
patronage for another year, when he succumbed to the inevitable and
sought a new field, a wiser if a sadder man. His mantle has fallen upon
E. S. Bower, whose capacity and style were graphically portrayed in caus-
tic rhyme by Mrs. Ellsworth, making him the target for the wit of the
women long after.
I have given more space and prominence to these two editors than
they merit, but the influence of a local newspaper is not to be despised,
however despicable the editor and his paper may be ; and it takes no
small degree of courage to face such an influence as that exerted in this
county by the one in question, which, I am happy to say, has gradually
dwindled, until to-day it is too trifling, both in extent and character, to
deserve recognition.
Six years ago I do not believe there was a paper in the State of Kansas
which contained a woman suffrage department, and we rarely saw any
reference whatever to the subject ; now, within a radius of fifty miles of
Lincoln Centre, fully two-thirds of all newspapers published have a col-
umn devoted to suffrage or temperance, or both, edited by women. The
reason this is not true of the press of the entire State is because our in-
defatigable corresponding secretary, Mrs. Bertha H. Ellsworth, has not
yet had sufficient time to personally present the matter; but there
has been such a growth on the subject that by the press generally
it seems to be accepted as one of the living issues of the day. A very
efficient agency in bringing about this desirable result was the printed
column, entitled "Concerning Women," sent out gratis every week dur-
Fourth of July Celebrations. 701
ing the year 1882, by Mrs. Lucy Stone, from the office of The Woman's
Journal, to all newspapers that would publish it. Many Kansas editors
availed themselves of this generous offer, greatly to the advantage of
their patrons and themselves.
But to return to the Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association. The first
year our membership increased to twenty-seven; the second, to forty,
including six gentlemen. We did not invite gentlemen to join the
first year; owing to the character and attitude of the opposition, we pre-
ferred to demonstrate our ability to conduct the affairs of the society
without masculine assistance. During our six years' existence we have
enrolled eighty members, eighteen of whom are gentlemen. Of this
number, forty-five women and fourteen men still reside in Lincoln county.
We have held, on an average, one parlor meeting a month and ten public
meetings.
In 1880, Mesdames Emily J. Biggs, Mary Crawford, Bertha H. Ellsworth
and myself were assigned places on the programme for the Fourth of
July celebration, after solicitation by a committee from our society.
To me was assigned the reading of the Declaration of Independence,
and I embraced the opportunity of interspersing a few remarks not
found in that honored document, to the delight of our friends and the
disgust of our foes. The other ladies all made original, excellent and
well-timed addresses. In 1881 we got up the Fourth of July celebration*
ourselves, and gave the men half the programme without their asking for
it. In 1883 we had a " Foremothers' Day" celebration, and confined the
programme to our own society. In September, 1882, the society sent the
writer as delegate to the annual meeting of the National Woman Suffrage
•elation, held at Omaha, Nebraska; and in March, 1884, we sent Ber-
tha H. Ellsworth to the Washington convention in the same capacity.
Our society has taken an active part in the annual school district elec-
tions in Lincoln Centre. In the last five elections we have been twice
defeated and three times successful. Our defeats we claimed as victories,
inasmuch as we forced our opponents to bring out all their friends to out-
vote us. Fifty per cent, of all the votes cast at the last three elections
were by women. Only twelve women in the town failed to vote in 1884.
This increase is general all over the State; and, although we have only
once tried in Lincoln Centre to elect a woman, and then failed, yet very
* In the centennial year, when protests were in order, the following was sent to the National Associ-
ation at Philadelphia, describing the manner in which a lady eighty-four yean old celebrated her
birthday : *
"NEUTRAL STATION, Kansas, July 17, 1876.
" 1 -i : Two days ago, on Saturday, the 151)1, as ha* been usual for three or four year*, a
i i.inpany of rmr friends and neighbors met at our house to celebrate my eighty-fourth birthday. \Ve
h.i'l .1 ]•!••.'. -.mi time. Some pieces, composed for the occasion, were read, and a i.lcr^\ iu.ui made some
appropriate nm.uk.. I improved the opportunity to obtain the names of the ladies present, and suc-
ceeded with all, old and young, except one who was afraid it would get her into a trap ; lint with
the rest it needed but little electioneering betide reading your advertisement to secure their names.
U>, ., , a neighborhood, are ignorant on the subject. I solicited assistance pecuniarily, and send y. u
what I i an. \viih a word of encouragement still to work and wait, and my earnest prayer f-r \ •-.: t~m.it
success. KISIK STKWART.''
The other signatures were: Henrietta L. Miller, Mrs. Julia A. Ingroham, Mr*. Hollct. '
r.iinin, Sflimla MilliT, Cclina Lake, Mollie Ycates, Hetsey J. Corse, Mary G. M.ipem.in. Mr-. Maggie
(.'lark, MU> KUic Miller, Louie Ingraham, Malura Hicltox, C. A. Eddy, Anna Lowe, Charlotte H.
Butler.
702 History of Woman Suffrage.
many of the country districts have one, some two women on the school-
board, and at one time all three members in one district were women.
That they are honest, capable and efficient is the verdict in every case.
In the spring of 1881, Mrs. Emily J. Biggs organized the Stanton Suf-
frage Society, eight miles from Lincoln Centre, with a membership of
over twenty, more than half of whom were gentlemen. Mesdames Mary
Baldwin, N. Good, T. Faulkner, M. Biggs, Mrs. Swank and others were
the leading spirits. All their meetings are public, and are held in the
school-house. Through this society that portion of the county has be-
come well leavened with suffrage sentiment. Failing health alone has
prevented Mrs. Biggs from carrying this school district organization to
all parts of the county and beyond its limits, as she has been urgently in-
vited to do. " Instant in season and out of season " with a word for the
cause, she has, individually, reached more people with the subject than
any other half-dozen women in the society. Her pen, too, has done good
service. Over the noin de plume of " Nancy," in the Beacon, she has dealt
telling blows to our ancient adversary, the Register. In October, 1882,
the writer went by invitation to Ellsworth and organized a society* aux-
iliary to the National, composed of excellent material, but too timid to
do more than hold its own until the summer of 1884, when Mrs, Gougar,
and later, Mrs. Colby, lectured there, soon after which Mrs. Ellsworth
canvassed the town with literature and a petition for municipal suffrage,
which was signed by eighty of the eighty-five women to whom it was pre-
sented, showing that there was either a great deal of original suffrage
sentiment there, or that the society had exerted a large amount of " silent
influence." In October, 1883, Mrs. Helen M. Gougar came to fill some
lecture engagements in the southeastern part of the State. During this
visit she organized several clubs.t
In June, 1884, Mrs. Gougar again visited Kansas, lecturing for a month
in different parts of the State. She drew large audiences and made many
converts. A suffrage society was organized at Emporia, Miss M. J. Wat-
son, president. The active friends availed themselves of her assistance to
call a State Suffrage Convention, which met in the Senate chamber in
Topeka, June 25, 26, and organized a State Association. \ Mrs. Gougar,
by the unanimous vote of the convention, presided, and dispatched busi-
ness with her characteristic ability. In view of all the circumstances, this
* President, Mrs. Mary Maberly ; Secretary, Miss Lillie M. Hull; Treasurer, Mrs. Emma H.
Johns ; and an able executive committee, of which Mrs. E. M. Alden, Mrs. Emma Faris, Mrs. Mattie
McDowell and Bertha H. Ellsworth, who was then teaching there, were members.
t Arkansas City Suffrage Club, with Mrs. M. B. Houghton, President; Mi's. E. T. Ayers, Vice-
President ; Miss Gertrude Fowler, Secretary, and Mrs. F. Daniels, Treasurer ; also one at Winfield,
county-seat of Cowley county, with Mrs. J. Cairns, President ; Mrs. M. R. Hall, Secretary, and Mrs.
E. D. Garlick, Treasurer ; and vice-presidents from each of the churches, as follows : Mesdames P.
P. Powell, G. Miller, M. Burkey and J. C. Fuller.
\President, Mrs. Hetta P. Mansfield, Winfield; Vice-President-at-Large, Mrs. Anna C. Wait,
Lincoln ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Bertha H. Ellsworth, Lincoln ; Recording Secretary, Miss
Georgiana Daniels, Eureka; Treasurer, Mrs. D. A. Millington, Winfield; Chaplain, Rev. S. S.
Cairns, Winfield ; Vice-Presidents and Executive Committee, Mrs. Judge Griswold, Leavenworth ;
Miss Sarah Hurtsel, Columbus ; Mrs. Anna Taylor, Wichita ; Miss Myra Willets, Independence ;
Mrs. W. P. Roland, Cherryvale ; Judge Lorenzo Westover, Clyde ; Mr. V. P. Wilson, Abilene ; Hon.
Albert Griffin, Manhattan ; Mrs. A. O. Carpenter, Emporia ; Mrs. Noble Prentis, Atchison ; Mrs. S. S.
Moore, Burden ; Mrs. Emma Faris, Carnerio ; Mrs. Houghton and Mrs. Farrer, Arkansas City ; Mrs.
Finley, Topeka.
Mrs. A. G. Lord. 703
convention and its results were highly satisfactory. The attendance was
not large, but the fact that the call was issued from Topeka to the press
of the State but eight days before the convention met, and probably did
not reach half the papers in time for one insertion, accounts for the ab-
sence of a crowd. Some even in Topeka learned that the convention was
in progress barely in time to reach its last session. Reporters for the
Topeka Capital, the Topeka Commonwealth and Kansas City Journal at-
tended all the day sessions of the convention, and gave full and fair re-
ports of the proceedings. After the adjournment of the State conven-
tion, the women of Topeka formed a city society. The corresponding
secretary, Mrs. Ellsworth, with Mrs. Clara B. Colby, made an extensive
circuit, lecturing and organizing societies. They were everywhere cor-
dially welcomed.*
Kansas has a flourishing Women's Christian Temperance Union
which at its last annnal meeting adopted a strong woman suffrage resolu-
tion ; Miss O. P. Bray of Topeka is its superintendent of franchise. Mrs.
Emma Molloy of Washington, both upon the rostrum and through her
paper, the official organ of the State Union, ably and fearlessly advocates
woman suffrage as well as prohibition, and makes as many converts to
the former as to the latter.
Mrs. A. G. Lord did a work worthy of mention in the formation of the
Radical Reform Christian Association, for young men and boys, taking
their pledge to neither swear, use tobacco nor drink intoxicating liquors.
A friend says of Mrs. Lord :
Like all true reformers she has met even more than the usual share of opposition
and persecution, and mostly because she is a woman and a licensed preacher of the
Methodist church in Kansas. She was a preacher for three years, but refuses to
be any longer because, she says, under the discipline as it now is, the church has
no right to license a woman to preach. Trying to do her work inside the church in
which she was born and reared, she has had to combat not only the powers of dark-
ness outside the church, but also the most contemptible opposition, amounting in
several instances to bitter persecutions, from the ministers of her own denomination
with whom she has been associated in her work as a preacher; and through it all she
has toiled on, manifesting only the most patient, forgiving spirit, and the broadest,
most Christ-like charity.
The R. R. C. A. has been in existence two and a half years, and has
already many hundreds of members in this and adjoining counties, through
the indefatigable zeal of its founder. Mitchell county has the honor of
numbering among its many enterprising women the only woman who is
a mail contractor in the United States, Mrs. Myra Peterson, a native of
New Hampshire. The Woman's Tribune of November, 1884, contains the
following brief sketch of a grand historic character:
Marianna T. Folsom is lecturing in Kansas on woman suffrage. She gives an in-
teresting account of a visit to Mrs. Prudence Crandall Philleo. Miss Crandall over
* The towns visited were : Beloit, Lincoln Center, Wilson, Ellsworth, Salina, Solomon City, Minne-
apolis, Cawker City and Clyde. The officers of the Topeka society were : frttidcttt, Mn. PrUcilla
Kinley ; Secretary, Mrs. E. G. Hammon ; Treasurer, Mrs. Sarah Smith. The officers of Rcloit were :
Prtsiiitut, Mrs. H. Still; Vice-President$, Mrs. J. M. Patten, Mm. M. Vaughan ; CorrtiponJing
Secretary, Mrs. F. J. Knight ; Recording Secretary, Mary Charlesworth ; Trttuurtr, Mrs. M. Bailey.
At Salina, Mrs. Johns and Mrs. Christina Day are the officers.
704 History of Woman Suffrage.
fifty years ago allowed a girl with colored blood in her veins to attend her young
ladies' school in Connecticut. On account of the social disturbance because of this,
she dismissed the white girls and made her school one for colored pupils. Protests
were followed by indictments, and these by mobbings, until she was obliged to give up
her school. For her fortitude, the Anti-Slavery Society had her portrait painted. It
became the property of Rev. Samuel J. May, who donated it to Cornell University
when opened to women. Miss Crandall married, but has now been a widow many
years. She is in her eighty-third year, and is vigorous in mind and body, having
been able to deliver the last Fourth of July oration at Elk Falls, Kan., where she now
lives and advocates woman suffrage and temperance.
In the introduction to Chapter VII., Vol. I., of this history, appears
this sentence : "To Clarina Howard Nichols * the women of Kansas are
indebted for many civil rights which they have as yet been too apathetic to
exercise." Uncomplimentary as this statement is, I must admit its truth-
fulness as applied to a large majority of our women of culture and leisure,
those who should have availed themselves of the privileges already theirs
and labored for what the devotion of Mrs. Nichols made attainable.
They have neither done this, nor tried to enlighten their less favored
sisters throughout the State, the great mass of whom are obliged to exert
every energy of body and mind to furnish food, clothes and shelter for
themselves and children. Probably fully four-fifths of the women of
Kansas never have heard of Clarina Howard Nichols ; while a much
larger number do know that our laws favor women more than those of
other States, and largely avail themselves of the school ballot. The readi-
ness with which the rank and file of our women assent to the truth when
it is presented to them, indicates that their inaction results not so much
from apathy and indifference as from a lack of means and opportunity.
Among all the members of all the woman suffrage societies in Central
Kansas, I know of but just one woman of leisure — one who is not obliged
to make a personal sacrifice of some kind each time she attends a meet-
ing or pays a dollar into the treasury. Section 6, Article XV., of the con-
stitution of Kansas reads :
The legislature shall provide for the protection of the rights of women, in acquiring
and possessing property, real, personal, and mixed, separate and apart from her hus-
band; and shall also provide for their equal rights in the possession of their children.
In accordance with the true spirit of this section, our statute provides that the law of
descents and distributions as regards the property of either husband or wife is the same;
and the interests of one in the property of the other are the same with each; and that
the common-law principles of estates of dower, and by courtesy are abolished. f
The rights of husband and wife in the control of their respective prop-
erties, both real and personal, are identical, as provided for in sections i, 2,
3, and 4. Chapter 62, page 539, compiled laws of Kansas, 1878 :
SECTION I. The property, real and personal, which any woman in this State may
own at the time of her marriage, and the rents, issues, profits, and proceeds thereof,
* The women of Kansas should never forget that to the influence of Mrs,. Nichols in the Constitu-
tional convention at Wyandotte, they owe the modicum of justice secured by that document, \\ith
her knitting in hand, she sat there alone through all the sessions, the only woman present, watching
every step of the proceedings, and laboring with members to so frame the constitution as to make all
citizens equal before the law. Though she did not accomplish what she desired, yet by her conversa-
tions with the yonng men of the State, she may be said to have made the idea of woman suffrage seem
practicable to those who formed the constitution and statute laws of that State.— [E. C. S.
t See compiled laws of Kansas, 79, page 378, chapter XXXIII.
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Sarah. A. Brown. 705
and any real, personal, or mixed property which shall come to her by descent, devise,
or bequest, or the gift of any person except her husband, shall remain her sole and
separate property, notwithstanding her marriage, and not be subject to the disposal of
her husband, or liable for his debts.
SEC. 2. A married woman, while the marriage relation subsists, may bargain, sell
and convey her real and personal property, and enter into any contract with reference
to the same, in the same manner, to the same extent, and with like effect as a married
man may in relation to his real and personal property.
SEC. 3. A woman may, while married, sue and be sued, in the same manner as if
unmarried.
SEC. 4. Any married woman may carry on any trade or business, and perform any'
labor or services, on her sole and separate account, and the earnings of any married
woman from her trade, business, labor or services, shall be her sole and separate prop-
erty, and may be used and invested by her in her own name.
It is a fact worthy of note that the above legislation, also the passage
of the law of descents and distributions, immediately followed the woman
suffrage campaign of 1867.
In 1880, the Democrats of Kansas, in their State convention at Topeka,
nominated Miss Sarah A. Brown of Douglas county, for superintendent
of public instruction, the first instance on record of a woman receiving a
nomination from one of the leading political parties for a State office.
The following is Miss Brown's letter of acceptance :
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, Douglas Co., Kansas, )
LAWRENCE, Kansas, Sept. 30, 1880. )
To Hon. yohn Martin, Topeka, Kansas, Chairman of the State Democratic Central
Committee:
SIR : — I am in receipt of your communication of August 30, advising me of the action
of the Democratic convention of August 26, in nominating me as their candidate for
State superintendent of public instruction.
In making this nomination the Democratic party of Kansas has, with a liberal and
enlightened spirit, and with a generous purpose, yielded to the tendency of the times,
which demand equal rights and equal opportunities for all the people, and it has thus
shown itself to be a party of progress. It has placed itself squarely and unequivocally
before the people upon this great and vital question of giving to woman the right to
work in any field for which she may be fitted, thus placing our young and glorious
State in the foremost rank on this, as on the other questions of reform.
Furthermore, in nominating one who has no vote, and for this reason cannot be con-
sidered in politics, and in doing this of its own free will, without any solicitation on
my part, the Democratic party of this State has shown that it is in full accord with the
Jeffersonian doctrine that the office should seek the man and not the man the office;
and also that it fully appreciates the fact which is conceded by all persons who have
thought much on educational matters, that the best interests of our schools demand that
the office of superintendent, both of the State and county, should be as far as possible
disconnected from politics, and it has done what it could to rescue the office from the
vortex of mere partisan strife. For this reason I accept the nomination, thanking the
party for the honor it has conferred upon me. Respectfully, SARAH A. BROWN.
Miss Brown was defeated. The vote of the State showed the average
Democrat unable to overcome his time-rusted prejudices sufficiently to
vote for a woman to fill the highest educational office in the gift of the
people, so that Miss Brown's minority was smaller even than that of the
regular Democratic ticket.
January 21, 1881, Hon. S. C. Millington of Crawford county introduced
in the House a joint resolution providing for the submission to the legal
45
706 History of Woman Suffrage.
voters of the State of Kansas of a proposition to amend the constitution
so as to admit of female suffrage. The vote on the adoption of the reso-
lution stood 51 ayes and 31 noes in the House, and a tie in the Senate.
Later in the same session, Hon. A. C. Pierce of Davis county introduced
in the House a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitu-
tion which should confer the right of suffrage on any one over 21 years
of age who had resided in the State six months. Mr. Hackney of Cowley
county, introduced a like resolution in the Senate.
In December, 1881, Governor St. John appointed Mrs. Cora M. Downs
one of the regents of the State University at Lawrence. In 1873, Mrs.
Rice was elected to the office of county clerk of Harper county, and Miss
Alice Junken to the office of recorder of deeds, in Davis county, In 1885
Miss Junken was reflected by a majority of 500 over her competitor, Mrs.
Fleming, while Trego county gave a unanimous vote for Miss Ada Clift
as register of deeds.
In proportion to her population Kansas has as many women in the
professions as any of the older States. We have lawyers, physicians,
preachers and editors, and the number is constantly increasing. In
Topeka there are eight practicing physicians, holding diplomas from medi-
cal colleges, and two or three who are not graduates. In the Woman's
Medical College of Chicago, Kansas now has four representatives — Mrs.
Sallie A. Goff of Lincoln, Miss Thomas of Olathe, Miss Cunningham of
Garnett, and Miss Gilman of Pittsburg.
All female persons over the age of twenty-one years are entitled to
vote at any school-district meeting on the same terms as men.
The right of a woman to hold any office, State (except member of the
legislature), county, township or school-district, in the State of Kansas, is
the same as that of a man. In 1882, six counties, viz., Chase, Cherokee-
Greenwood, Labette, Pawnee, and Woodson, elected women as superin-
tendents of public instruction.
Section 23, Article II., Constitution of Kansas, reads: "The legislature, in pro-
viding for the formation and regulation of schools, shall make no distinction between
males and females."
Under the legislation based upon this clause of our constitution, males
and females have equal privileges in all schools controlled by the State.
The latest report of the State superintendent of public instruction shows
that over one-half of the pupils of the Normal school, about two-fifths in
the University, and nearly one-third in the Agricultural College, are
females.
In the private institutions of learning, including both denominational
and unsectarian, over one-half of the students are females who study
in the same classes as the males, except in Washburn college which has
a separate course for ladies.
Most of these institutions have one woman, or more, in their faculties.
One-half of the faculty of the State University is composed of women.
In the last report of the State superintendent is the following :
The ratio of female teachers is greater than ever before, some 69 per cent, of the
entire number employed. It is, indeed, a matter of congratulation that the work of
Action of the Parties in Convention. 707
the schools, especially the primary teaching, is falling more and more to the care of
women.
The Republican State convention of 1882, by an overwhelming majority
endorsed woman suffrage, which action the Lincoln \V. S. A. promptly re-
cognized as follows :
WHEREAS, The Republican party of the State of Kansas, by and through its chosen
representatives in the Republican State convention at Topeka, August 9, 1882, did, by
an overwhelming majority, pledge itself to the support of the principle of woman
suffrage by the following:
Resolved, That we request the next legislature to submit such an amendment to the
constitution of the State as will secure to woman the right of suffrage. And,
WHEREAS, By this action the Republican party of Kansas has placed itself in line
with the advanced thought of the times in a manner worthy a great political party of
the last quarter of the nineteenth century, thereby proving itself worthy the respect
and confidence of the women of the State; therefore,
Resolved, That the Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association, in behalf of the women of
Kansas, does hereby express thanks to the Republican party for this recognition of the
political rights of the women of the State, and especially to the Hon. J. C. Root of
Wyandotte, Hon. Hackney of Winfield, Col. Graves of Montgomery, and Gen. Kelly,
for their able and fearless support of the measure, and to each and every member of
the convention who voted for it.
In 1883. Senator Hackney introduced a bill of which we find the follow-
ing in the Topeka Capital of that date :
Senate bill No. 46, being Senator Hackney's, an act to provide for the submission
of the question of female suffrage to the women of Kansas, was taken up, the reading
thereof being greeted with applause. It provides, that at the general election in 1883
the women of the State shall decide, by ballot, whether they want suffrage or not.
Senator Hackney made an address to the Senate upon the bill, saying he believed in
giving women the same rights as men had. The last Republican platform declared
in favor of woman suffrage, and those Republicans who opposed the platform said they
believed the women of the State should have their say about it; the Democratic plat-
form said the same as the dissenters from the Republican. Several humorous amend-
ments were made to the bill. Senator Kelley favored the bill because there were a
great many women in the State who wanted to vote. He hoped the Senate would not
be so ungallant as to vote the bill down. Senator Sluss moved the recommendation be
made that the bill be rejected. Carried.
The Republican State convention of 1884 ignored the woman suffrage
quest i< MI. The Anti-monopoly (Greenback) party State convention, of
August 1884, placed in its platform the following :
That we believe the advancing civilization of the past quarter of the nineteenth cen-
tury demands that woman should have equal pay for equal work, and equal laws with
man to secure her equal rights, and that she is justly entitled to the ballot.
Miss Fanny Randolph of Emporia, was nominated by acclamation for
St. itc superintendent of public instruction, by this convention. The Pro-
hibiti-Mi State r. Mivention, in session in Lawrence, September 2, 1884,
placed the following plank in its platform :
\Vc believe that \\omen have the same right to vote as men, and in the language of
the Republican State platform of two yean ago, we request the next legislature to
submit MU li an amendment to the constitution of the State as will secure to woman
the right of suffrage.
This year we sent from Lincoln a petition with 173 names asking fora
resolution recommending to congress the adoption of the sixteenth
708 History of Woman Suffrage.
amendment. The results of the election of 1884, showed quite a gain
for women in county offices. There are now eleven superintendents of
public instruction, several registers of deeds, and county clerks. The
number of lawyers,* physicians, notaries public, principals of schools,
members of school-boards in cities and school districts, is rapidly increas-
ing, as is also the number of women who vote in school-district elections.
Miss Jessie Patterson, who ran as an independent candidate for register
of deeds in Davis county, beat the regular Republican nominee 286 votes,
and the Democratic candidate 299 votes.
The work of organizing suffrage societies has also progressed, though
not as rapidly as it should, for want of speakers and means to carry it on.
Through the efforts of Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Salina, vice-president of
the State society, several new and flourishing clubs have been formed
this summer in Saline county, so that it is probably now the banner
county in Kansas. The Lincoln society is preparing to hold a fair
in September, for the benefit of the State association, which will hold
its next annual convention in October. Suffrage columns in newspapers
are multiplying and much stress is placed upon this branch of work. On
July 18, a convention was held to organize the Prohibition party in Lin-
coln county. A cordial invitation was extended to women to attend.
Eight were present, and many more would have been had they known of
it. 1 was chosen secretary of the convention, and Mesdames Ellsworth
and Goff were appointed upon the platform committee, and several of the
central committee are women. The position of the new party upon the
question may be inferred from the following clauses in its platform :
Resolved, By the Prohibition party of Lincoln county, Kansas, in convention assem-
bled, that the three vital issues before the people to-day are prohibition, anti-mon-
opoly, and woman suffrage.
Resolved, That we believe in the political equality of the sexes, and we call on the
legislature to submit such an amendment to the people for adoption or rejection, to
the constitution of the State as will secure to women equal political rights.
Later the convention nominated me for register of deeds, and Dr. Sallie
A. Goff for coroner. I immediately engaged Miss Jennie Newby of Ton-
ganoxie, member of the executive committee and State organizer of the
Prohibition party of Kansas, to make a canvass of the county with me in
the interest of the party and the county ticket. We held ten meetings
and at all points visited made converts to both prohibition and woman
suffrage, though nothing was said about the latter. There were two men
on the ticket; one of them received more votes than Dr. Goff and I did,
and the other fewer. Emma Paris ran independently for register of deeds
in Ellsworth county and received a handsome vote. It is no longer a
matter of much comment for a woman to run for an office in Kansas.
Mrs. Gougar came again to Kansas in June to attend the third annual
meeting of the Radical Reform Christian Association, and spent a month
lecturing on woman suffrage and temperance.
* Miss Flora M. Wagstaff of Paoli was among the first to practice law in Kansas. In 1881, Ida M.
Tillotson of Mill Brook, and in 1884, Maria E. DeGeer were admitted.
Mother Bickerdyke. 709
January 15, 16, 1885, the annual meeting of the State society was held
at Topeka. Large and enthusiastic audiences greeted Mrs. Gougar on
this, her third visit to Kansas. She remained at the capital for several
days, and largely through her efforts with members of the legislature
special committees were voted for in both Houses to consider the in-
terests of women. The measure was carried in the House by a vote of 75
to 45.* In the Senate it was a tie, 19 to 19. The new committee t through
its chairman, George Morgan of Clay, reported in favor of a bill for munic-
ipal suffrage. It was so low on the calendar that there was no hope of its
being reached, but a motion was made to take it out of its regular course,
which was lost by 65 to 52.
The second annual meeting of the State society was held at Salina,
October 28, 29, 1885. Mrs. Laura M. Johns gave the address of welcome,
to which Mrs Anna C. Wait, the president, responded. " Mother Bicker-
dyke," \ who followed Sherman's army in its march to the sea, was present
and cheered all with her stirring words of the work of women in the
war.§ Her introduction was followed with applause and the earnest
attention to her remarks showed in what high esteem she is held. She
said that half the work of the war was done by women, but she made no
complaint, indeed no mention, of the fact that these women had never
been pensioned.
As it may add force to some facts already stated to have them repeated
by one in authority, we give the following letter from the secretary of
the Kansas Historical Society :
* The names of representatives voting for the committee stand as follows: Yeat— Barnes, Keattie,
Bollinger, Bond, Bonebrake, Brewster, Buck, Butterfield, Caldwell, Campbdl, Carter, Clogston, J. B.
Cook of Chetopa, H. C. Cook of Oswego. Collins, Cox, Currier, Davenport, Dickscn, Edwards, Faulk-
ner, (iillespie, Glasgow, Gray, Grier, Hargrave, Hatfield, Hoguc, Hollenshead, Holman, Hopkins,
Hosteller, Johnson of Ness City, Johnson of Marshall, Johnson of Topeka, Johnson (Speaker of the
House), Kelley of Cawker City, King, Kreger, Lawrence, Lewis, Loofburrow, Lower, McBride, Mc-
Nall, McN'eal, Matlock, Mnurer, Miller, Moore, Morgan of Clay, Morgan of Osborne, Mosher, Osborn,
Patton, Pratt, Reeves, Rhodes, Roach, Roberts, Slavens, Spiers, Simpson, Smith of McPherson. Smith
of Neosho, Stewart, Stine, Sweezy, Talbot, Vance, Veach, Wallace, Wentworth, Wiggins, Willhelm—
75. The names of senators were: Yeat— Bowden, Congdon, Donnell, Edmunds, Granger, Hicks,
Humphrey, Jennings, M. B. Kelley, Kellogg, Kimball, Kohler, Pickler, Ritter, Rush, Shean, Sheldon,
White, Young — 19.
t The Committee on the Political Rights of Women, granted by the House, were : George Morgan
of Clay, George Seitz of Ellsworth, David Kelso of Labette, F. W. Rash of Butler, W. C. Edward* of
Pawnee, F. J. Kelley of Mitchell, W. H. Deckard of Doniphan.
t The speakers were: Rev. Amanda May (formerly of Indiana), Mrs. Martha I.. Merry, Mrs. Ada
Sill, Mrs. Colby, Dr. Addie Kester, Mrs. M. D. Vale, Rev. C. H. Roger*, Mr*. De C.eer. Miss Jennie
Newby. Officers : President, Mrs. Anna C. Wait of Lincoln ; / Yev-/V«/</><«/, Mr*. Laura M. Johns
4>f S.ilina; Treasurer, Mrs. Martia L. Berry of Cawker City ; Comt^omdinf Stcrtiary, Mr*. B. H.
Ellsworth of Lincoln ; Recording Secretary ^ Mrs. Alice G. Bond of Salina.
| When Miss Anthony and I went through Kansas in 1867 we held an afternoon and evening meeting
in S.ilina. Our accommodation* at the hotel were wretched l>ey»nd description. Mother Bickerdyke
was just preparing to open her hotel but wa* still in great confusion. Hearing of our dismal quarters
she came and took us to her home, where her exquisitely cooked food and clean bed* redeemed in a
measure our dolorous impression* of Salina. Our meeting* were held in an unfinished church without
a floor, the audience sitting on the beams, our opponent* (two young lawyer*) and ourselves on a few
planks laid across, where a small stand wa* placed and one tallow candle to lighten the discus»iun that
contintied until a late hour. Being delayed the next day at the depot a long time waiting for the train
we held another prolonged discussion with these same sprigs of the legal profession. We had intended
to go on to Ellsworth, but hearing of trouble there with the Indians we turned our face* eastward.
Mother Itirkerdyke and her thrilling slurie* of the war are the pleaaaat memories that still linger with
us of Salina.— [E. C. S.
710 History of Woman Suffrage.
KANSAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY Topeka, Nov. 26, 1885
Miss SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Rochester, N. Y.:
My Dear Friend: — In answer to your request for information upon certain points
hearing upon the subject of woman suffrage in Kansas, I give the following :
The women avail themselves quite generally of their privilege of voting at the an-
nual and special school district meetings, at which district officers are elected, and all
questions of taxes and expenditures are voted on and settled. Women are, in many
instances, elected members of the board of school directors, and thus are charged with
the duty of employing teachers, with the supervision of the schools, and with the gen-
eral management of the affairs of the district. Women vote on the question of the
issue of school district bonds, and thus they take part in deciding whether new school
houses shall be built and the property of the districts be pledged for the future pay-
ment of the cost of the same.
In the chartered cities women do not generally vote for school officers although,
under the constitution, it is believed they have the right to do so, and in one or more
instances I am informed they have done so, without the right being contested. In
cities, school officers are elected at general elections for other city officers, for which
women are not permitted to vote, and as they cannot vote for all they generally do not
choose to vote for any. Women do not vote for either city, county, or State superin-
dents, and it is not considered that under our constitution they have the right to do so.
In 1884, there were 4,915 women teaching in the State, and 1,936 men. The aver-
age monthly wages of women was $32.85, and of men, $40.70. There are at present
twelve women holding the office of county superintendent of public schools in the
State. In 72 counties the office is filled by men. Thus, of the 84 organized counties
of the State, one-seventh of the school superintendents are women, who generally
prove to be competent and efficient, and the number elected is increasing.
In one county, Harper, a woman holds the office of county clerk. A young woman
was recently elected to the office of register of deeds, in Davis county. It is conceded
that these two offices can very appropriately be filled by women; and now that the
movement has begun, no doubt the number of those elected will increase at recurring
elections. Already, in numerous instances, women are employed as deputies and as-
sistants in these and other public offices.
The participation of women in school elections and their election to membership of
school district boards, are resulting in a steady growth of sentiment in favor of woman
suffrage, generally. It is seen that in the decision of questions involving the proper
maintenance of schools, and the supplying of school apparatus, women usually
vote for liberal and judicious expenditures, and make faithful school officers. Their
failures are not those of omission, as is so frequently the case with men holding these
offices. If they err in judgment, it is from a lack of that business information and ex-
perience which women as non-voters have had little opportunity to acquire, but which,
under our Kansas system is now rapidly being supplied.
Among the influences tending to increase the suffrage sentiment in Kansas, may be
mentioned those growing out of the active part women are taking in the discussion of
political, economical, moral and social questions, through their participation in the pro-
ceedings of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the State Temperance Union,
the Woman's Social Science Association, the Kansas Academy of Science, the Grange,
the State and local Teachers' Associations, and many other organizations in which
women have come to perform so prominent a part. In these organizations, and in
the part they take in discussions, they show their capacity to grapple with the politi-
cal, social, and scientific problems of the day, in such a manner as to demonstrate
their ability to perform the highest duties of citizenship. Still the chief influence
which is bringing about a growth of opinion in favor of woman suffrage in Kansas,
comes from what has now become the actual, and I may say, the popular and salu-
tary practice of woman suffrage at school district meetings. It is seen that the reasons
which make it right and expedient for women to vote on questions pertaining to the
The Great Obstacle. 7 1 1
education of their children, bear with little, if any, less force upon the propriety of
their voting upon all questions affecting the public welfare.
I think I may truly say to you that the tendencies in Kansas are to the steady growth
of sentiment in favor of woman suffrage. This is so apparent that few of those even
who do not believe in its propriety or expediency now doubt that it will eventually be
adopted, and the political consequences fully brought to the test of experience.
Yours sincerely, F. G. ADAMS.
The greatest obstacle to our speedy success in this State, as elsewhere,
is the ignorance and indifference of the women themselves. But the
earnestness and enthusiasm of the few, in their efforts from year to year,
cannot be wholly lost — the fires kindled by that memorable campaign of
1867 are not dead, only slumbering, to burst forth with renewed brilliancy
in the dawn of the day that brings liberty, justice, and equality for
woman.
CHAPTER LI.
COLORADO.
Great American Desert — Organized as a Territory, February 28, 1860 — Gov. McCook's
Message Recommending Woman Suffrage, 1870— Adverse Legislation — Hon.
Amos Steck — Admitted to the Union, 1876 — Constitutional Convention — Efforts
to Strike Out the Word " Male " — Convention to Discuss Woman Suffrage — School
Suffrage Accorded — State Association Formed, Alida C. Avery, President — Propo-
sition for Full Suffrage Submitted to the Popular Vote — A Vigorous Campaign —
Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Patterson of Denver — Opposition by the Clergy — Their
Arguments Ably Answered — D. M. Richards — The Amendment Lost — The Rocky
Mountain News.
THAT our English readers may appreciate the Herculean
labors that the advocates of suffrage undertake in this country
in canvassing a State, they must consider the vast territory to be
traveled over, in stages and open wagons where railroads are
scarce. Colorado, for example, covers an area of 104,500 square
miles. It is divided by the Rocky Mountains running north
and south, with two hundred lofty peaks rising thirteen thous-
and feet above the level of the sea, and some still higher. To
reach the voters in the little mining towns a hundred miles apart,
over mountains such as these, involves hardships that only those
who have made the journeys can understand. But there is some
compensation in the variety, beauty and grandeur of the scenery,
with its richly wooded valleys, vast parks and snow-capped moun-
tains. It is the region for those awake to the sublime in nature
to reverently worship some of her grandest 'works that no poet
can describe nor artist paint. Here, too, the eternal struggle
for liberty goes on, for the human soul can never be attuned
to harmony with its surroundings, especially the grand and
glorious, until the birthright of justice and equality is secured
to all.
For a history of the early efforts made in the Centennial State
to secure equal rights for women, we are indebted to Mrs. Mary
G. Campbell and Mrs. Katharine G.Patterson, two sisters who
have been actively interested in the suffrage movement in Colo-
rado, as follows :
The First Effort. 713
In 1848, while those immortal women whose names will be found on
many another page of the volume in which this chapter is included, were
asking in the convention at Seneca Falls, N. Y., that their equal member-
ship in the human family might be admitted by their husbands, fathers
and sons, Colorado, unnamed and unthought of, was still asleep with her
head above the clouds. Only two mountain-tops in all the world were
nearer heaven than hers, and they, in far Thibet, had seen the very be-
ginnings of the race which, after six thousand years, had not yet pene-
trated Colorado. Islanded in a cruel brown ocean of sand, she hid her
treasures of gold and silver in her virgin bosom and dreamed, unstirred
by any echoes of civilization. When she woke at last it was to the sound
of an anvil chorus — to the ring of the mallet and drill, and the hoarse
voices of men greedy only for gold.
In 1858, when the Ninth National Convention of women to demand
their legal rights was in session in New York, there were only three
white women in the now rich and beautiful city of Denver. Still another
ten years of wild border life, of fierce vicissitudes, of unwritten tragedies
enacted in forest and mine, and Colorado was organized into a territory
with a population of 5,000 women and 25,000 men.
The first effort for suffrage was made in 1870, during the fifth session
of the legislative assembly, soon after General Edward McCook was sent
out by President Grant to fill the gubernatorial chair. In his message
to the legislature, he promptly recommended to the attention of its mem-
bers the question of suffrage for woman :
Before dismissing the subject of franchise, I desire to call your attention to one
question connected with it, which you may deem of sufficient importance to demand
some consideration at your hands before the close of the session. Our higher civiliza-
tion has recognized woman's equality with man in all respects save one — suffrage.
It has been said that no great reform was ever made without passing through three
stages — ridicule, argument, and adoption. It rests with you to say whether Colorado
will accept this reform in its first stage, as our sister territory of Wyoming has done,
or in the last; whether she will be a leader or a follower; for the logic of a progressive
civilization leads to the inevitable result of a universal suffrage.
This was the first gun of the campaign, and summoned to the field
various contending forces, armed with ridicule, argument, or an optimistic
diplomacy, urging an immediate surrender of the ground claimed. Bills
favoring the enfranchisement of women were discussed both in the Terri-
torial Council Chamber and in the lower House of the legislature. The
subject was taken up by the press and the people, and not escaping its
meed of ridicule, was seriously dealt with by both friend and enemy.
Perhaps the western champions of woman's recognition as an intelligent
part of the body politic were brought to understand the full meaning of
her disabilities by their own experiences as territorial minors. Certain it
is that the high spirit of the citizens of Colorado chafed intolerably under
the temporary limitations of accustomed rights of sovereign manhood.
The federal government, in the capacity of regent, sent to these terri-
torial wards their officers and governors and fixed the rate of their taxa-
tion without full representation. These wards were indeed empowered,
as were the people of their sister territories, to elect a delegate to the
714 History of Woman Suffrage.
national congress, whose opinions upon territorial matters were allowed
expression in that body, but who could no more enforce there his con-
victions upon important measures, by a vote, than could the most intelli-
gent woman of this territory upon the question of his election to repre-
sent her interests.
In the Colorado papers of those days of territorial tutelage, there ap-
peared repeatedly most impatient protests against these humiliating con-
ditions of citizenship. With the attainment of statehood in 1876 there
came to the men of Colorado a restoration of their full rights as citizens
of the Republic. According to the prescriptive usage, the humiliating
conditions of citizenship without the ballot, remained to the women of
the Centennial State ; and those of their reenfranchised brothers who had
felt most keenly their own unaccustomed restrictions, were without doubt
the foremost advocates of the movement to secure the full recognition
of women's rights.
The majority of the territorial legislative assembly of 1870 was unex-
pectedly Democratic, and almost as unexpected was the favor promptly
shown by the Democratic members to the passage of the bill proposing
woman suffrage. The measure was indeed characterized by the opposing
Republicans, as " the great Democratic reform," and for weeks seemed
destined to triumph through Democratic votes, in spite of the frivol-
ous and serious opposition of the Republican minority, and the few Dem-
ocratic members who deserted what then seemed the party policy upon
this question. The pleas urged in advocacy of the new movement, as well
as the protests urged against it, were substantially the same as were used
in the East at that stage of the question. Accompanying them were the
extravagancies of hope and fear incident to the early consideration of
every suggested change in a long-accepted social order. An impossible
Utopia was promised on the one hand no less confidently than was pre-
dicted upon the other a dire iconoclasm of the sacred shrine of long-
adored ideals, as a consequence of simply granting to intelligent women
a privilege justly their due. Both the derision and the adverse reasoning
of the alarmists were well met by fearless friends, in Council and House.
Bills looking to the removal of woman's disabilities were referred in each
to a select committee for consideration, on January 19. The majority re-
port to the House through the chairman of its special committee, M.
DeFrance, was an able advocacy of the measure under consideration,
while the adverse recommendation of the Council committee was accom-
panied by an excellent report by Hon. Amos Steck, setting forth clearly
the reasons of the minority for their favorable views. After hearing the
reports, both Houses went into committee of the whole for a free discus-
sion upon the question.
" The criterion of civilization, physical force," " Strength as the measure
of right," — as recent writers have defined the divine right of might —
seemed the basis of reasoning with those who claimed that woman should
not be given the ballot because she might not carry the sword. Dark
pictures were drawn of possible women as electors plunging their country
into wars, from whose consequences they would themselves suffer noth-
A Lion in the Way. 715
ing. By the more hopeful it was urged that the mighty heart, the moral
force of humanity, as represented in womanhood, and united with clear
womanly intelligence, would prove a greater power in all State interests
than sword or bayonet.
The strongest speaker in the legislature upon the subject of suffrage —
President Hinsdale of the Council — was, unfortunately, a bitter enemy of
the proposed reform. Yet some of his most forcible utterances made in
committee of the whole, were excellent arguments in favor of, rather than
against the measure. Excellent arguments in favor of the bill in question
were made by leading members of the House — Messrs. Lea, Shepard
and DeFrance. By invitation of the legislature, that body was addressed
by a prominent member of the Denver bar, Mr. Willard Teller, the
brother of one of our U. S. senators. The hall was filled by an interested
audience to hear Mr. Teller's address, which was a strong presentation
of the principles upon which rest the claims of American citizens to uni-
versal suffrage.
Outside the assembly halls, Governor McCook and his beautiful, accom-
plished, and gracefully aggressive wife, strongly favored the affirmative
of the question at issue, while Willard Teller, D. M. Richards and other
distinguished men and women of the territory were active friends dur-
ing the contest. In the press, the measure had a most influential
support in the Daily Colorado Tribune, a well-conducted Denver journal,
edited by Mr. R. W. Woodbury. Space in its columns was given to
well-written articles by contributors interested in the success of the
cause, and many able editorials appeared, embodying strong argu-
ments in favor of the reform, or answering the opposing bitterness and
frivolity of its contemporary the Rocky Mountain News. The interest in
the proposed innovation was indeed quite general throughout the terri-
tory, but wherever the subject was discussed, in the legislative halls, in
private conversation, editorial column, or correspondence of the press,
the grounds argumentatively traversed were the same highways and by-
ways of reason and absurdity which have been so often since gone over.
There was perhaps one lion in the way of establishing universal suffrage
in the West, which the eastern advocates did not fear. It was said that
our intelligent women could not be allowed to vote, whatever the princi-
ples upon which the right might be claimed, because in that case, the poor,
degraded Chinese women who might reach our shores, would also be ad-
mitted to the voting list, and what then would become of our proud, Cau-
casian civilization ? Whether it was the thought of the poor Mongolian
slave at the polls, or some other equally terrifying vision of a yearly visit
of American women to the centre of some voting precinct, the majority
of the Colorado legislative assembly of 1870, in spite of all the free dis-
cussion of the campaign of that year, decided adversely. In the latter
days of the session, the bill having taken the form of a proposition to
submit the question at issue to the already qualified voters of the terri-
tory, was lost in the council chamber by a majority of one, and in the
House by a two-thirds majority, leaving to the defeated friends of the re-
form as their only reward, a consciousness of strength gained in the con-
test.
716 History of Woman Suffrage.
A few years more made Denver a city beautiful for habitation, made
Colorado a garden, filled that goodly land with capable men, and intelli-
gent, spirited women. Statehood had been talked of, but lost, and then
men began to say : " The one hundredth birthday of our American inde-
pendence is so near, let us make this a centennial State ; let the entrance
into the Union be announced by the same bells that shall ring in our
national anniversary." And so it was decreed. Mindful of 1776 — mindful
too, of the second declaration made by the women at the first equal
rights convention in 1848, the friends of equality in Colorado determined
to gird themselves for a supreme effort in anticipation of the constitution
that was to be framed for the new State to be.
A notice was published asking all persons favorable to suffrage for
women, to convene in Denver, January 10, to take measures to secure the
recognition of woman's equality under the pending constitution. In pur-
suance to this call, a large and eager audience filled Unity Church long
before the hour appointed for the meeting. A number of the orthodox
clergy were present. The Rev. Mrs. Wilkes of Colorado Springs,
opened the exercises with prayer. Mrs. Margaret W. Campbell of Massa-
chusetts was then introduced, and said : " This convention was called to
present woman's claims to the ballot, from her own stand-point, and to
take such measures to secure the recognition of her equality in the con-
stitution of Colorado, as the friends gathered from different parts of the
territory may think proper. We do not ask that women shall take the
places of men, or usurp authority over them ; we only ask that the prin-
ciples upon which our government is founded shall be applied to women.
Rev. Mrs. Wilkes made an especial point of the fact that in Colorado
Springs women owned one-third of the taxable property, and yet were
obliged (at the recent spring election) to see the bonds for furnishing a
supply of pure water, voted down because women had no voice in the
matter. This had been a serious mistake, as the physicians of the place
had pronounced the present supply impure and unwholesome. She re-
ferred to the fears of many that the constitution, freighted with woman
suffrage, might sink, when it would else be buoyant, and begged her
hearers not to fear such a burden would endanger it. The convention
continued through two days with enthusiastic speeches from Mr. D.
M. Richards and Rev. Mr. Wright, who preferred to be introduced as the
nephew of Dr. Harriot K. Hunt of Boston. Letters were read from Lucy
Stone and Judge Kingman, and an extract from the message of Governor
Thayer of Wyoming, in which he declared the results of woman suffrage
in that territory to have been beneficial and its influence favorable to the
best interests of the community. A territorial society was formed with
an efficient board of officers ;* resolutions, duly discussed, were adopted,
* President, Alida C. Avery, M. D., Denver. Vice-Presidents, Rev. Mr. Harford, Denver ; Mr. J.
E. Washburn, Big Thompson ; Mrs. H. M. Lee. Longmont ; Mrs. M. M. Sheetz, Canon City ; Mrs. L.
S. Ruhn. Del None; Mr. N. C. Meeker, Greeley ; Hon. Willard Teller. Central ; Mr. D. M. Richards,
Denver; Mr. J. B. Harrington, Littleton; Mr. A. E. Lee, Boulder; Rev. Wm. Shephard, Canon
City. Recording Secretary, Miss Eunice D. Sewall, Denver. Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. A. L.
Washburn, Big Thompson. Treasurer, Mrs. I. T. Hanna, Denver. Executive Committee, Mrs. M.
F. Shields. Colorado Springs; Mr. A. L. Ellis, Boulder; Mrs. M. E. Hale, Denver; Mr. W. A.
Wilkes, Colorado Springs ; Mr. J. R. Hanna, Denver ; Mrs. S. C. Wilber, Greeley ; Rev. Dr. Crary,
Pueblo.
A Momentous Day. 717
and the meeting closed with a carefully-prepared address by Dr. Avery,
the newly-elected president of the territorial association.
The committee* appointed to wait upon the constitutional convention
were received courteously by that body, and listened to with respectful
attention. One would have thought the gentlemen to whom the argu-
ments and appeals of such women were addressed would have found it in
their hearts to make some reply, even while disclaiming the official
character of their act ; but they preserved a decorous and non-committal,
if not incurious silence, and the ladies withdrew. The press said, the
morning after their visit : " The gentlemen were all interested and amused
by the errand of the ladies." The morning following, the constitutional
convention was memorialized by the Suffrage Association of Missouri,
and was also presented with a petition signed by a thousand citizens of
Colorado, asking that in the new constitution no distinction be made on
account of sex. This was only the beginning. Petitions came in after-
wards, numerously signed, and were intended to have the force of a sort
of ante-election vote.
Denver presented an interesting social aspect at this time. It was as
if the precursive tremor of a moral earthquake had been felt, and people,
only half awake, did not know whether to seek safety in the house, or
outside of it. Women especially were perplexed and inquiring, and it
was observed that those in favor of asking a recognition of their rights
in the new State, were the intelligent and leading ladies of the city. The
wives of ministers, of congressmen, of judges, the prominent mem-
bers of Shakespeare clubs, reading circles, the directors of charitable
institutions, — these were the ones who first ranged themselves on the
side of equal rights, clearly proving that the man was right who pointed
out the danger of allowing women to learn the alphabet.
When February 15 came, it was a momentous day for Colorado. The
report of the Committee on Suffrage and Elections was to come up for
final action. As a matter of fact there were two reports; that of the
minority was signed by two members of the committee, Judge Bromwell,
whose breadth and scholarship were apparent in his able report, and a
Mexican named Agapita Vigil, a legislator from Southern Colorado
win-re Spanish is the dominant tongue. Mr. Vigil spoke no English, and
was one of those representatives for whose sake an interpreter was main-
tained during the session of the convention.
Ladies were present in large numbers. Some of the gentlemen cele-
hrat'-d the occasion by an unusual spruceness of attire, and others by
l>< ing sober enough to attend to business. The report with three-fifths
of the signatures, after setting forth that the subject had had careful con-
• ( )( the membership of this committee a grateful word U to be Mid : Mr*. Campbell U a woman of
agreeable and stately presence, and adds to thorough information on all point* connected with the
claim* in. i.!.- in (hit campaign, an unutual facility and persuasiveness of language. Mr*. Shields is one
of the in. -.i lovable women to be seen in the suffrage panorama; ft tower of strength in her own
family, where she is at once the comrade and commaiulcr of her children — the help-meet ami fn>
her hu«t>an<l. She inspires immediate confiilrnrc whenever »he confronts an audience. Mr*. Wash-
Inirii it aUo an attractive and large-hearted woman— a " Granger," and thus experienced in united,
:.-cil action of men and women for furthering the imere*t» of both. Mrv Manna, a tall, graceful
blonde, more reserved in speech but entirely intelligent in faith and in labor, represented to many men
of the convention the very qualities they liked in their own wive*.
7i 8 History of Woman Suffrage.
sideration, went on to state the qualifications of voters, namely, that all
should be male citizens, with one exception, and that was, that women
might vote for school district officers.
Mr. A. K. Yount of Boulder, spoke in favor of the motion to strike out
the word " male " in section i : " That every male person over the age of 21
years, possessing the necessary qualifications, shall be entitled to vote,"
etc. He called attention to the large number of petitions which had been
sent in, asking for this, and to the fact that not a single remonstrance had
been received. He believed the essential principles of human freedom
were involved in this demand, and he insisted that justice required that
women should help to make the laws by which they are governed. The
amendment was lost by a vote of 24 to 8.
Mr. Storm offered an amendment that women be permitted to vote for,
and hold the office of, county superintendent of schools. This also was
lost. The only other section of the report which had any present inter-
est to women, was the one reading :
SECTION 2. The General Assembly may at any time extend by law the right of suf-
frage to persons not herein enumerated, but no such law shall take effect or be in
force until the same shall have been submitted to a vote of the people, at a general
election, and approved by a majority of all the votes cast for and against such law.
After much discussion it was voted that the first General Assembly
should provide a law whereby the subject should be submitted to a vote
of the electors.
After this the curtain fell, the lights were put out, and all the atmos-
phere and mise en scene of the drama vanished. It was well known, how-
ever, that another season would come, the actors would reappear, and an
" opus " would be given ; whether it should turn out a tragedy, or a
Miriam's song of deliverance, no one was able to predict. Meantime, the
women of Colorado — to change the figure — bivouacked on the battle-
field, and sent for reinforcements against the fall campaign. They held
themselves well together, and used their best endeavors to educate pub-
lic sentiment.
A column in the Denver Rocky Mountain News, a pioneer paper then
edited by W. N. Byers, was offered the woman suffrage association,
through which to urge our claims. The column was put into the hands
of Mrs. Campbell, the wife of E. L. Campbell, of the law firm of Patterson
& Campbell of Denver, for editorship. This lady, from whose editorials
quotations will be given, was too timid (she herself begs us to say cow-
ardly) to use her name in print, and so translated it into its German
equivalent of Schlachtfeld, thus nullifying whatever of weight her own
name would have carried in the way of personal and social endorsement
of an unpopular cause. Her sister, Mrs. T. M. Patterson, an early and
earnest member of the Colorado Suffrage Association, "bore testimony"
as courageously and constantly as her environment permitted.
Mrs. Gov. McCook, as previously stated, had been the first woman in
Colorado to set the example of a spirited claim to simple political justice
for her sex, but she, alas ! at the date now reached in our sketch, was dead
— in her beautiful youth, in the first flower of her sweet, bright woman-
hood. Her loss to the cause can best be measured by those who know
Leaders in the Cause. 719
what an immense uplifting power is present when an intelligent man in
an influential position joins his personal and political force to his wife's
personal and social force in the endeavor to accomplish an object dear
to both.
It is a pity not to register here, however inadequately, some outline of
many figures that rise to form a part of the picture of Colorado in 1876-7.
When liberty shall have been achieved, and all citizens shall be com-
fortably enjoying its direct and indirect blessings, this book should
be found to have preserved in the amber of its pages the names of those
who bravely wrought for freedom in that earlier time. Would that one
might indeed summon them all by a roll-call ! But they will not answer —
they say only,: " Let our work stand for us, be its out-come small or
great."
To Dr. Alida C. Avery, however, whatever the outcome, a weighty ob-
ligation is due from all past, present and future laborers in this cause in
Colorado. She it was who set at work and kept at work the interplay of
ideas and efforts which accomplished what was done. Through her per-
sonal acquaintance with the immortals at the East, Lucy Stone, Susan B.
Anthony, Henry B. Blackwell, she drew them to Colorado during the
campaign about to be described, and with them came others. Mrs. M. W.
Campbell and her husband reappeared to do faithful service, and then
came also Miss Lelia Patridge of Philadelphia, a young, graceful, and ef-
fective speaker, — so the local papers constantly describe her, and then
came, in the person of Miss Matilda Hindman of Pittsburg Pa., one of the'
ablest women of the whole campaign. Gentle, persuasive, womanly, she
was at the same time armed at all points with fact, argument, and illustra-
tion, and her zeal was only equaled by her power of sustained labor.
Many of these same qualities belong to Mrs. M. F. Shields, of Colorado
Springs, one of the committee on constitutional work in the campaign of
1876, and an ardent, unceasing, unselfish laborer in the church, in suffrage
and temperance, for more than ten years. She did not lecture, but
" talked "; talked to five hundred men at a time as if they were her own
sons, and only needed to be shown they were conniving at injustice, in
order to turn about and do the right thing. This same element of
"motherliness " it was, which gained her the respectful attention of an
audience of the roughest and most ignorant Cornish miners up in
Caribou, who would listen to no other woman speaking upon the subject.
When the members of the famous constitutional committee were con-
sidering the suffrage petition, prior to making their report, Judge Stone of
Pueblo, tried to persuade the Spanish-speaking member that to grant the
franchise to women would be to be false to his party, as those women were
all Democrats. But Senor Vigil replied that he had been talking through
his interpreter to the " nice old lady, who smiled so much " (meaning Mrs.
Shields), and he knew what they asked was all right, and he should vote
for it.
Of the men who were willing to obey Paul's entreaty to "help those
women," must be named in the front rank David M. Richards of Denver,
a pioneer of '59, and as brave and generous and true a heart as ever beat
720 History of Woman Suffrage.
in time to the pulse of progress, Rev. B. F. Crary, a true apostolic helper,
Mr. Henry C. Dillon, a young western Raleigh for knightly chivalry,
Hon. J. B. Belford, member of congress then and now, Judge H. P. H.
Bromwell, who needs no commendation from the historian, as his elo-
quent minority report speaks adequately for him ; these, and very many
more, both men and women, have, as the French say, " deserved well of
the State and of their generation."
And it was once more to the aid of these men and women that the East
sent reinforcements as soon as the winter of 1877 was well ushered in. An
annual convention was announced for January 15, in Denver. When the
bitter cold evening came it seemed doubtful if any great number of per-
sons would be present, but the large Lawrence street Methodist Church
was, on the contrary, packed to its utmost capacity. Rev. Mr. Eads, pas-
tor of the church, opened the meeting with prayer, and Dr. Avery, as
president of the association, gave a brief re'sume' of the work during its
one year of existence. Colonel Henry Logan of Boulder (formerly of Ill-
inois), made a manly and telling speech in favor of a measure which he
called one of axiomatic justice. Mrs. Wright of New York, after a piquant
address, announced the meeting of the convention for the next day. On
the following morning a business session was held, and officers elected
for the year.* In the afternoon speeches were made by Dr. Crary, Mrs.
Shields, and Mr. David Boyd of Greeley, and in the evening by Mr. Henry
C. Dillon and Rev. J. R. Eads, the closing and crowning speech of the con-
'vention being given by Miss Laura Hanna of Denver, a petite, pretty
young girl, whose remarks made a bonne bouche with which to close the
feast. Interest in the subject rose to fever heat before October. Pulpit,
press and fireside were occupied with its discussion. The most effective,
and at the same time, exasperating opposition, came from the pulpit, but
there was also vigorous help from the same quarter. The Catholic Bishop
preached a series of sermons and lectures, in which he fulminated all the
thunders of apostolic and papal revelation against women who wanted to
vote :
Though strong-minded women who are not satisfied with the disposition of Provi-
dence and who wish to go beyond the condition of their sex, profess no doubt to be
Christians, do they consult the Bible ? — do they follow the Bible ? I fear not. Had
God intended to create a companion for man, capable of following the same pursuits,
able to undertake the same labors, he would have created another man; but he created
a woman, and she fell. * * * The class of women wanting suffrage are battalions
of old maids disappointed in love — women separated from their husbands or
divorced by men from their sacred obligations — women who, though married, wish to
hold the reins of the family government, for there never was a woman happy in her
home who wished for female suffrage. ' ' * Who will take charge of those young
children (if they consent to have any) while mothers as surgeons are operating indis-
criminately upon the victims of a terrible railway disaster? * * * No kind hus-
* President, Dr. Alida C. Avery of Denver; Vice-Presidents, D. Howe, Mrs. M. B. Hart, J. E.
Washburn, Mrs. Emma Moody, Willard Teller, J. B. Harrington, A. E. Lee, and N. C. Meeker ; Re-
cording Secretary p, Birks Carnforth of Denver; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. T. M. Patterson of
Denver; Treasurer, Mrs. H. C. Lawson of Denver; Executive Committee, D. M. Richards, Mrs.
M. F. Shields. Mrs. M. E. Hale, H. McAllister, Mrs. Birks Carnforth, J. A. Dresser, A. J. Wilber, B.
F. Crary, Miss Annie Figg, H. Logan, J. R. Eads, F. M. Ellis, C. Roby, Judge Jones, General Cam-
eron, B. H. Eaton, Agapita Vigil, W. B. Felton, S. C. Charles and J. B. Campbell.
Public Discussion. 721
band will refuse to nurse the baby on Sunday (when every kind of business is stopped)
in order to let his wife attend church; but even then, as it is not his natural duty, he
will soon be tired of it and perhaps get impatient waiting for the mother, chiefly when
the baby is crying.
These, with the omnipresent quotations from St. Paul to the effect
that women shall keep silence in the church, etc., formed the argument
of the Bishop in two or three lengthy sermons. Indignant men, dis-
gusted with the caliber of the opposition and yet obliged to notice it on
account of the position of the divine, made ample rejoinders. Rev. Dr.
Crary of Golden, in an exhaustive review of the Bishop's discourse, depre-
cated the making permanent and of universal application the commands
which with Paul were evidently temporary and local, and said half the
churches in Christendom would be closed if these were literally obeyed :
" Women should not usurp authority, therefore men should usurp all authority."
This is the sort of logic we have always heard from men who are trotting along in the
wake of progress and howling because the centuries do not stop rolling onward. In
barbarous regions Paul is paraded against e.ducating girls at all. In half-civilized
nations Paul is doing service against educating girls except in the rudiments. Among
people who are just beginning to see the hill-tops of a higher, nobler world, Paul is
still on duty crowding off women from high-schools and colleges. Proud universities
to-day have Paul standing guard over medical meanness and pushing down aspiring
female souls from the founts of knowledge. Within our memory Paul has been the
standing demonstration in favor of slavery, intemperance and the oppression of women.
Another sermon in which the Bishop lays solemn stress on the one
sacred, inevitable duty of women to become wives and mothers, was
answered by Mr. David Boyd of Greeley, who, among other things, asks
the Bishop :
How, in view of the injunction to increase and multiply, he can justify the large
celibate class created by positive command of the Catholic church, not only by the
ordination of priests, but by the constant urging of the church that women should be-
come the barren brides of Christ by taking on them the vows of nuns.
The Bishop published his lectures in pamphlet form, that their influ-
ence might be far-reaching, and curiously enough, the very same lectures
were printed and scattered by the friends of suffrage*as the best sort of
document for the campaign now fairly inaugurated. D. M. Richards, the
able chairman of the executive committee, and Dr. Avery, president of
the association, showed themselves capable of both conceiving and exe-
cuting a plan of operations which had the merit of at least deserving
victory,
There was no lack of pens to defend women's claim to equal chances in
the struggle for existence. In Denver, the Rocky Mountain News and the
Times planted themselves fairly and squarely in an affirmative attitude, and
gave generous aid to the effort. The Tribune's columns were in a state of
chronic congestion from a plethora of protests, both feminine and mas-
culine. One young lawyer said : " If suffrage is to come, let it come by
man's call, and not by woman's clamor"; and, "When all the women of
the land can show the ability to rear a family, and at the same time be-
come eminent in some profession or art, then men will gladly welcome
them." Whereupon the women naturally rushed into print to protest
46
722 History of Woman Suffrage.
against the qualifications required of them, compared with those required
of men.
It is safe to say, that from the middle of January, 1877, until the follow-
ing October, the most prominent theme of public discussion was this
question of suffrage for women. Miners discussed it around their camp-
fires, and " freighters " on their long slow journeys over the mountain
trails argued pro and con, whether they should " let " women have the
ballot. Women themselves argued and studied and worked earnestly.
One lawyer's wife, who declared that no refined woman would contend
for such a right, and that no woman with self-respect would be found
electioneering, herself urged every man of her acquaintance to vote
against the measure, and even triumphantly reported that she had spoken
to seventy-five men who were strangers to her, and secured their promise
to vote against the pending amendment. This, however, must not be
mistaken for electioneering.
On Wednesday, August 15, an equal rights mass-meeting was held in
Denver, for the purpose of organizing a county central committee, and
for an informal discussion of plans for the campaign. Judge H. P. H.
Bromwell and H. C. Dillon spoke, with earnest repetition of former
pledges of devotion to the cause, and Gov. Evans said :
Equal suffrage is necessary to equal rights. It is fortunate that we have in Col-
orado an opportunity of bringing to bear the restraining, purifying and ennobling in-
fluence of women upon politics. It is a reform that will require all the benign influ-
ences of the country to sustain and carry out, and, as I hope for the perpetuation of our
free institutions, I dare not neglect the most promising and potent means of purifying
politics, and I regard the influence of women as this means.
Major Bright of Wyoming, was introduced as the man who framed and
brought in the first bill for the enfranchisement of women. Judge W. B.
Mills said : " It is an anomalous condition of affairs which made it neces-
sary for a woman to ask a man whether she should vote," and referring
to all the reforms and changes of the last half century, predicted that
the extension of the franchise to woman would be the next in order.
The meeting was,a full and fervid one, and great confidence of success
was felt and expressed. A committee of seventeen was appointed * and
this committee did its full duty in districting the territory and sending out
speakers. Mr. Henry B. Blackwell, Lucy Stone and Miss Anthony ar-
rived almost immediately after this, and henceforth the advocates of suf-
irage swarmed through the rocky highways and byways of Colorado as
eagerly, if not as multitudinously, as its gold seekers. Mrs. Campbell
wrote to the Woman 's Journal ':
We have now been at work two weeks. Some of our meetings are very encouraging,
some not so much so. But the meetings are only one feature of the work. \Ve stop
along the way and search out all the leading men in each voting precinct, and secure
the names of those who will work on election day. We do more talking out of meet-
ing than in. We rode thirty-five miles yesterday, and arrived here after six o'clock in
•Consisting of Dr. R. G, Buckingham, chairman, Hon. John Evans, Judge G. W. Miller, Benjamin
D Spencer A J Williams, Captain Richard Sopris, E. B. Sluth, John Armor, Hon. E. L. Campbell,
John Walker,'j. U. Marlow, Col. W. H. Bright, John G. Lilly, John S. McCool, J. W. Nesmyth,
' Henry O. Wagoner, and Dr. Martimore.
Will the Coming Woman Marry? 723
the evening. While Mr. Campbell was taking care of the horse, I filled out bills be-
fore taking off my hat and duster; in fifteen minutes they were being distributed, and
at eight o'clock I was speaking to a good-sized audience.
On October i, a monster meeting was held in the Lawrence street
Methodist Church, and was addressed by Lucy Stone, Miss Matilda Hind-
man, Mrs. Campbell, and Dr. Avery. The most intense interest was mani-
fested, and the excellent speeches heartily applauded.
The next day (Sunday) the Rev. Dr. Bliss of the Presbyterian Church,
preached a sermon in his own pulpit, on " Woman Suffrage and the Model
Wife and Mother," in which he alluded to "certain brawling, ranting
women, bristling for their rights," and said God had intended woman to
be a wife and mother, and the eternal fitness of things forbade her to be
anything else. If women could vote, those who were wives now would
live in endless bickerings with their husbands over politics, and those
who were not wives would not marry."
These utterences brought out many replies. One was in the column
edited by "Mrs. Schlachtfeld," and may perhaps be quoted as a speci-
men of her editorial work, such being, as we have intimated, her one ser-
vice to suffrage, and that incognito :
One of the daily, dismal forecasts of the male Cassandras of our time is, that in the
event of women becoming emancipated from the legal thralldom that disables them,
they will acquire a sudden distaste for matrimony, the direful consequences of which
will be a gradual extermination of homes, and the extinction of the human species.
This is an artless and extremely suggestive lament. In the first place — accepting that
prophecy as true — why will women not marry ? Because, they will then be independ-
ent of men ; because in a fair field for competition where ability and not sex shall de-
termine employment and remuneration, women will have an equal chance with men
for distinction and reward, for triumphs commercial and professional as well as social,
and hence, needing men less, either to make them homes, or to gratify indirectly their
ambitions, their affections will become atrophied, the springs of domestic life will dis-
appear in the arid sands of an unfeminine publicity, and marriage, with all the weary-
ing cares and burdens and anxieties that it inevitably brings to every earnest woman,
will be regarded more and more as a state to be shunned. The few who enter it will
be compassionated much as a minister is who undertakes a dangerous foreign mission.
Men will stand mateless, and the ruins of the hymeneal altars everywhere crumble
mournfully away, and be known to tradition only by their vanishing inscriptions : "To
the unknown god." But it is ill jesting over that which tugs at every woman's heart-
strings and which impinges upon the very life-centres of society. If women, on being
made really free to choose, will not marry, then we must arraign men on the charge of
having made the married state so irksome and distasteful to women that they prefer
celibacy when they dare enjoy it. Observe, however, the inconsistency of another line
of reasoning running parallel with this in the floating literature of the day : " Mother-
hood," these writers say, " is the natural vocation of women; is, indeed, an instinct so
mighty, even if unconscious, that it draws women toward matrimony with a yearning
as irresistible as that which pulls the great sea upon the land in blind response to the
moon." If this be true, society is safe, and women will still be wives, no matter how
much they may exult in political freedom, no matter how alluringly individual careers
may open before them, nor how accessible the tempting prizes of human ambition may
become.
Well, the day came, — the dies irae for one side or the other, and it proved
to be for the " one." The measure was defeated. Ten thousand votes were
lor it, twenty thousand against it. Women remained at the polls all day,
724 History of Woman Suffrage.
distributing ballots, and answering objections. They had flowers on all
the little tables where the tickets were heaped, on which were printed the
three words, " Woman Suffrage Approved," words for many pregnant with
hope for a new impetus to civilization, for others with a misfortune only
to be compared to that which happened in Greece when Ino boiled the
seed corn of a whole kingdom, and thus not only lost the crop of that
year, but, by the subtle interplay of the laws by which evolution proceeds,
set back humanity for a period not to be reckoned in years. Mrs. H. S.
Mendenhall of Georgetown wrote to Dr. Avery on the evening of election
day:
Before this reaches you the telegraph will have given you the result of the day's work
all over the State, but I thought I would jot down a line while the experiences of the
last ten hours were fresh in my mind. Last evening our committee appointed ladies
to represent the interests of woman suffrage at the polls. To my surprise, many
evaded the work who were, nevertheless, strongly in favor of the measure. Mrs. Dr.
Collins and I were the only ones at the lowest and most important precinct until one
o'clock, when we were joined by the wife of the Presbyterian minister. Our course
was somewhat as follows : On the approach of a voter, we would ask him, " have you
voted ?" If he had, we usually troubled him no further; if he had not, we asked,
"Can you vote for woman suffrage?" If he approved, we supplied him with his
ticket; if he disapproved, we asked him for his objections, and we have listened to
some comical ones to-day. One man asked me, though not rudely, "Who is cook-
ing your husband's dinner ?" I promptly invited him to dine with us. Another spoke
of neglected household duties, and when I mentioned a loaf of bread I had just baked,
and should be glad to have him see, he said, " I expect you can bake bread," but he
voted against us. The Methodist men were for us; the Presbyterians and Episcopa-
lians very fairly so, and the Roman Catholics were not all against us, some of the
prominent members of that church working and voting for woman suffrage. The
liquor interest went entirely against us, as far as I know.
The observations of the day have led me to several general conclusions, to which, of
course, exceptions exist : (i) Married men will vote for suffrage if their wives appre-
ciate its importance. (2) Men without family ties, and especially if they have asso-
ciated with a bad class of women, will vote against it. (3) Boys who have just
reached their majority will vote against it more uniformly than any other class of
men. We were treated with the utmost respect by all except the last class. Desti-
tute of experience, and big with their own importance, these young sovereigns will
speak to a woman twice their years with a flippancy which the most ignorant foreigner
of mature age would not use, and I have to-day been tempted to believe that no one
is fitted to exercise the American franchise under twenty-five years of age.
The main objection which I heard repeatedly urged was, women do not want to
vote. This seems to be the great stumbling-block to our brethren. Men were con-
tinually saying that their wives told them not to vote for woman suffrage. If we are
defeated this time I know we can succeed in the next campaign, or just as soon as we
can educate enough prominent women up to the point of coming out plainly on the
subject. Then all men, or all but the vicious men who always vote against every good
thing, will give in right away.
Lucy Stone, in a letter to the Woman s Journal describes similar scenes
enacted that day in Denver; speaks of the order and quiet prevailing at
the polls, of the flowers on all the tables, and, in spite of the strangeness
of the occasion, of the presence of women as evidently a new and benifi-
cent element there. Rev. Dr. Ellis of the Baptist Church, who, on the
Sunday before had preached from the text, " Help those Women," was
using his influence to convert those doubtful or opposed. Rev. Mr.
The Hour Not Yet. 725
Bliss, who had declared in his pulpit that " the only two women
the Bible mentioned as having meddled in politics were Jezebel and
Herodias," was there also, to warn men not to vote for equal rights for
women. At other polls I saw colored men, once slaves, electioneering
and voting against the rights of women. When remonstrated with, one
said : " We want the women at home cooking our dinners." A shrewd
colored woman asked whether they had provided any dinner to cook, and
added that most of the colored women there had to earn their dinner as
well as cook it.
*********
Hear the conclusion of the whole matter. In the words of the last
editorial of the woman's column in the Rocky Mountain News:
Woman's hour has not yet struck ! The chimes that were waiting to ring out
the tidings of her liberty — the candles furtively stored against an illumination which
should typify a new influx of light, the achievement of a victory whose meaning and
promise at least seemed to those who both prayed and worked for it, neither
trivial nor selfish — all these are relegated to the guardianship of Patience and Hope.
Colorado has refused to enfranchise its women. ****** The Qer.
mans, the Catholics, and the negroes were said to be against us. Naturally, those
who themselves most keenly feel, or most recently have felt, the galling yoke of ar-
bitrary rule, are most disposed to derive a certain enjoyment from the daily contem-
plation of a noble class still in bondage. ***** gut a// opposition, in
whatever guise, comes back at last to be written under one rubric — the immaturity of
woman. We make this dispassionate statement of a fact. We feel neither scorn nor
anger, and we trust that we shall excite none. It is a fault which time will cure, but
meantime it is the grand factor in our account. Every other argument has been met —
every other stronghold of opposition taken. Woman's claim to the ballot has been
shown to rest in justice on the very foundation stone of democratic government — has
been, from the Christian standpoint, as completely exonerated from the charge of im-
piety as ever anti-slavery and anti-polygamy were, and the fact which was the slogan
of the anti-suffragists still remains : the mass of the women do not want it. We do
not quarrel with the fact, but state it to give the real reason for our failures — the real
objective point for our future work.
The complacency with which we are able to state without fear of contradiction that
the body of intelligent and thoughtful women do want suffrage must not obscure our
perception of the equal truth of what we have just stated above. To accept this verity
and turn our energies toward the emancipation of our own sex — toward their emanci-
pation from frivolous aims, petty prejudices, and that attitude toward the other sex
which is really the sycophancy born of vanity and weakness; to make them recognize
the State as a multiplication of their own families, and patriotism as the broadening of
their love of home; to make them see that that mother will be most respected whose
son does not, when a downy beard is grown, suddenly tower above her in the super-
cilious enjoyment of an artificial superiority — a superiority which consists simply, as
Figaro says, in his having taken the trouble to be born; to make them see, finally, that
in the highest exercise of all the powers with which God has endowed her, woman can
no more refuse the duties of citizenship, than she can refuse the duties of wifehood and
motherhood, once having accepted those sacred relations. This is our first duty, and
this the scope of our work, if we would attain suffrage in 1879, or even in 1900.
CHAPTER LII.
WYOMING.
The Dawn of the New Day, December, 1869 — The Goal Reached in England and
America — Territory Organized, May, 1869 — Legislative Action — Bill for Woman
Suffrage — William H. Bright — Gov. Campbell Signs the Bill — Appoints Esther
Morris, Justice of the Peace, March, 1870 — Women on the Jury, Chief-Justice
Howe, Presiding — J. W. Kingman, Associate-Justice, Addresses the Jury — Women
Promptly take their Places — Sunday Laws Enforced — Comments of the Press —
Judge Howe's Letter — Laramie Sentinel — J. H. Heyford — Women Voting, 1870
— Grandma Swain the First to Cast her Ballot — Effort to Repeal the Law, 1871 —
Gov. Campbell's Veto — Mr. Corlett — Rapid Growth of Public Opinion in Favor
of Woman Suffrage.
AFTER recording such a long succession of disappointments
and humiliations for women in all the States in their worthy
endeavors for higher education, for profitable employment in the
trades and professions and for equal social, civil and political
rights, it is with renewed self-respect and a stronger hope of
better days to come that we turn to the magnificent territory of
Wyoming, where the foundations of the first true republic were
laid deep and strong in equal rights to all, and where for the first
time in the history of the race woman has been recognized as a
sovereign in her own right — an independent, responsible being —
endowed with the capacity for self-government. This great event
in the history of human progress transpired in 1869.
Neither the point nor the period for this experiment could
have been more fitly chosen. Midway across this vast western
continent, on the highest plane of land, rising from three to eight
thousand feet above the level of the sea, where gigantic moun-
tain-peaks shooting still higher seem to touch the clouds, while
at their feet flow the great rivers that traverse the State in all
directions, emptying themselves after weary wanderings into
the Pacific ocean at last ; such was the grand point where woman
was first crowned with the rights of citizenship. And the period
was equally marked. To reach the goal of self-government the
women of England and America seemed to be vicing with each
other in the race, now one holding the advance position, now the
Results in England and in America. 727
other. And in many respects their struggles and failures were
similar. When seeking the advantages of collegiate education,
the women of England were compelled to go to France, Austria
and Switzerland for the opportunities they could not enjoy in
their own country. The women of our Eastern States followed
their example, or went to Western institutions for such' privi-
leges, granted by Oberlin and Antioch in Ohio, Ann Arbor in
Michigan, Washington University in Missouri, and refused in
all the colleges of the East. For long years, alike they endured
ridicule and bitter persecution to secure a foothold in their uni-
versites at home.
Our battles in Parliament and in the Congress of the
United States were simultaneous. While nine senators,*
staunch and true, voted in favor of woman suffrage in 1866, and
women were rolling up their petitions fora constitutional amend-
ment in '68 and '69, with Samuel C. Pomeroy in the Senate
and George W. Julian in the House, the women of England,
keeping step and time, found their champions in the House of
Commons in John Stuart Mill and Jacob Bright in 1867-69, and
no sooner were their mammoth petitions presented in parliament
than ours were rolled into the halls of congress. At last we
reached the goal, the women of England in 1869 and those of
Wyoming in 1870. But what the former gained in time the
latter far surpassed in privilege. While to the English woman
only a limited suffrage was accorded, in the vast territory of
Wyoming, larger than all Great Britain, all the rights of citizen-
ship were fully and freely conferred by one act of the legislature
— the right to vote at all elections on all questions and to hold
any office in the gift of the people.
The successive steps by which this was accomplished are given
us by Hon. J. W. Kingman, associate-justice in the territory for
several years :
It is now sixteen years since the act was passed giving women the right
to vote at all elections in this territory, including all the rights of an
elector, with the right to hold office. The language of the statute is
broad, and beyond the reach of evasion. It is as follows :
That every woman of the age of twenty-one years, residing in the territory, may, at
every election to beholden under the laws thereof, cast her vote; and her rights to the
elective franchise, and to hold office, shall be the same, under the election laws of the
territory, as those of the electors.
* Messrs. Wade, Anthony, Gratz Brown, Buckalew, Cowan, Foster, Nesmith, Patterson, Riddle.
See Vol. 1 1., Chapter XVI I.
728 History of Woman Suffrage.
There was no half-way work about it, no quibbling, no grudgingly part-
ing with political power, no fear of consequences, but a manly acknowl-
edgment of equal rights and equal privileges, among all the citizens of
the new territory. Nor was this the only act of that first legislature on
the subject of equal rights. They passed the following :
AN ACT to protect married women in their separate property, and the enjoyment of their
labor.
SECTION i. That all the property, both real and personal, belonging to any married
woman as her sole and separate property, or which any woman hereafter married, owns
at the time of her marriage, or which any married woman during coverture acquires in
good faith from any person other than her husband, by descent or otherwise, together
with all the rents, issues, increase and profits thereof, shall, notwithstanding her mar-
riage, be and remain during coverture, her sole and separate property, under her sole
control, and be held, owned, possessed and enjoyed by her, the same as though she
were sole and unmarried, and shall not be subject to the disposal, control or interfer.
ence of her husband, and shall be exempt from execution or attachment for the debts
of her husband.
SEC. 2. Any married woman may bargain, sell, and convey, her personal property,
and enter into any contract in reference to the same, as if she were sole.
SEC. 3. Any woman may, while married, sue and be sued in all matters having re-
lation to her property, person or reputation, in the same manner as if she were sole.
SEC. 4. Any married woman may, while married, make a will the same as though
she were sole.
SEC. 5. Any married woman may carry on any trade or business, and perform any
labor or service on her sole and separate account, and the earnings of any married
woman from her trade, business, labor or services, shall be her sole and separate prop-
erty, and may be used and invested by her in her own name; and she may sue and be
sued, as if sole, in regard to her trade, business, labor, services, and earnings. *
SEC. 9. The separate deed of the husband shall convey no interest in the wife's
lands.
Under the statute for distributions, the wife is treated exactly as the
husband is ; each having the same right in the estate of the other. The
provisions are so unusual and peculiar, that I venture to copy some of
them :
' If such intestate leave a husband or wife, and children, him or her
surviving, one-half of such estate shall descend to such surviving husband or wife, and
the residue thereof * * * * to the children; if such intestate leave a husband or
wife and no child, * . * * * then the property shall descend as follows, to wit :
three-fourths thereof to such remaining husband or wife, and one-fourth thereof to the
father and mother of the intestate, or the survivor of them; provided that if the estate
of such intestate, real and personal, does not exceed in volume the sum of ten thousand
dollars, then the whole thereof shall descend to and rest in the surviving husband or
wife as his or her absolute estate. Dower and the tenancy by the curtesy are abol-
ished.
The school law also provides :
SEC. 9. In the employment of teachers no discrimination shall be made, in the ques-
tion of pay, on account of sex, when the persons are equally qualified.
Such are some of the radical enactments of the first legislature of Wy-
oming territory in reference to woman's rights ; and to a person who has
grown up under the common law and the usages of English-speaking
people, they undoubtedly appear extravagant if not revolutionary, and
well calculated to disturb or overthrow the very foundations of social or-
Election Scenes. 729
der. Experience has not, however, justified any such apprehensions.
The people of Wyoming have prospered under these laws, and are grow-
ing to like them better and better, and adapt themselves more and more
to their provisions. The object of this sketch is to trace the progress and
development of this new legislation, and gather up some of its conse-
quences as they have been observed in our social and political relations.
The territory of Wyoming was first organized in May, 1869. The Union
Pacific railroad was completed on the 9th of the month, and the trans-
continental route opened to the public. There were but few people in
the territory at that time, except such as had been brought hither in con-
nection with the building of that road, and while some of them were good
people, well-educated, and came to stay, many were reckless, wicked and
wandering. The first election was held in September, 1869, for the elec-
tion of a delegate in congress, and members of the Council and House
of Representatives for the first territorial legislature. There was a good
deal of party feeling developed, and election day witnessed a sharp and
vigorous struggle. The candidates and their friends spent money freely,
and every liquor shop was thrown open to all who would drink. I was
about to say that any one could imagine the consequences ; but in fact I
do not believe that any one could picture to himself the mad follies, and
frightful scenes of that drunken election. Peaceful people did not dare
to walk the streets, in some of the towns, during the latter part of the
day and evening. At South Pass City, some drunken fellows with large
knives and loaded revolvers swaggered around the polls, and swore that
no negro should vote. One man remarked quietly that he thought the
negroes had as good a right to vote as any of them had. He was immedi-
ately knocked down, jumped on, kicked and pounded without mercy, and
would have been killed, had not his friends rushed into the brutal crowd
and dragged him out, bloody and insensible. It was a long time before
the poor fellow recovered from his injuries. There were quite a number
of colored men who wanted to vote, but did not dare approach the polls
until the United States Marshal placed himself at their head and with
revolver in hand escorted them through the crowd, saying he would
shoot the first man that interfered with them. There was much quarrel-
ing and tumult, but the negroes voted. This was only a sample of the
day's doings, and characteristic of the election all over the territory. The
result was that every Republican was defeated, and every Democratic can-
didate elected ; and the whisky shops had shown themselves to be the
ruling power in Wyoming. From such an inspiration one could hardly
expect a revelation of much value 1 Yet there were some fair men among
those elected.
The legislature met October 12, 1869. Wm. H. Bright was elected
president of the Council. As he was the author of the woman suffrage
bill, and did more than all others to secure its passage, some account of
him may be of interest. He was a man of much energy and of good nat-
ural endowments, but entirely without school education. He said frankly,
" I have never been to school a day in my life, and where I learned to
read and write I do not know." His character was not above reproach,
730 History of Woman Suffrage.
but he had an excellent, well-informed wife, and he was a kind, indulgent
husband. In fact, he venerated his wife, and submitted to her judgment
and influence more willingly than one could have supposed ; and she was
in favor of woman suffrage.* There were a few other men in that legisla-
ture, whose wives exercised a similar influence ; but Mr. Bright found it
up-hill work to get a majority for his bill, and it dragged along until near
the close of the session. The character of the arguments he used, and
the means he employed to win success are perhaps worthy of notice, as
showing the men he had to deal with. I ought to say distinctly, that Mr.
Bright was himself fully and firmly convinced of the justice and policy of
his bill, and gave his whole energy and influence to secure its passage ; he
secured some members by arguing to support their pet schemes in return,
and some he won over by even less creditable means. He got some votes
by admitting that the governor would veto the bill (and it was gener-
ally understood that he would), insisting at the same time, that it would
give the Democrats an advantage in future elections by showing that
they were in favor of liberal measures while the Republican governor and
the Republican party were opposed to them. The favorite argument, how-
ever, and by far the most effective, was this : it would prove a great ad-
vertisement, would make a great deal of talk, and attract attention to the
legislature, and the territory, more effectually than anything else. The
bill was finally passed and sent to the governor. I must add, however,
that many letters were written from different parts of the territory, and
particularly by the women, to members of the legislature, urging its pass-
age and approving its object.
On receipt of the bill, the governor was in great doubt what course to
take. He was inclined to veto it, and had so expressed himself; but he
did not like to take the responsibility of offending the women in the ter-
ritory, or of placing the Republican party in open hostility to a measure
* Ex-Governor Hoyt in his public speeches frequently gives this bird's-eye view of Bright's domestic
and political discussions : " Betty, it's a shame that I should be a member of the legislature and make
laws for such a woman as you. You are a great deal better than I am ; you know a great deal more,
and you would make a better member of the Assembly than I, and you know it. I have been thinking
about it and have made up my mind that I will go to work and do everything in my power to give you
the ballot. Then you may work out the rest in your own way." So he went over and talked with
other members of the legislature. They smiled. But he got one of the lawyers to help him draw up
a short bill, which he introduced. It was. considered and discussed. People smiled generally. There
was not much expectation that anything of that sort would be done ; but this was a shrewd fellow, who
managed the party card in such a way as to get, as he believed, enough votes to carry the measure
before it was brought to the test. I will show you a little behind the curtain, so far as I can draw it-
Thus he said to the Democrats : " We have a Republican governor and a Democratic Assembly. Now,
then, if we can carry this bill through the Assembly and the governor vetoes it, we shall have made a
point, you know ; we shall have shown our liberality and lost nothing. But keep still ; don't say any-
thing about it." They promised. He then went to the Republicans and told them that the Democrats
were going to support his measure, and that if they did not want to lose capital they had better vote for
it too. He didn't think there would be enough of them to carry it, but the vote would be on record
and thus defeat the game of the other party. And they likewise agreed to vote for it. So when the
bill came to a vole it went right through! The members looked at each other in astonishment, for
they hadn't intended to do it, quite. Then they laughed and said it was a good joke, but they had
"got the governor in a fix." So the bill went, in the course of time, to John A. Campbell, who was
then governor— the first governor of the territory of Wyoming— and he promptly signed it ! His heart
was right. He saw that it was long-deferred justice, and so signed it as gladly as Abraham Lincoln
wrote his name to the Proclamation of Emancipation of the slaves. Of course the women were
astounded ! If a whole troop of angels had come down with flaming swords for their vindication, they
would not have been much more astonished than they were when that bill became a law and the women
of Wyoming were thus clothed with the habiliments of citizenship.
Mrs. Esther Morris, J. P. 731
which he saw might become of political force and importance. I remem-
ber well an interview that Chief-Justice Howe and myself had with him
at that time, in which we discussed the policy of the bill, and both of us
urged him to sign it with all the arguments we could command. After
a protracted consultation we left him still doubtful what he would do.*
But in the end he signed it, and drew upon himself the bitter curses of
those Democrats who had voted for the bill with the expectation that he
would veto it. From this time onward, the measure became rather a Re-
publican than a Democratic principle, and found more of its friends in the
former party, and more of its enemies in the latter.
Soon after the passage of the bill, a vacancy occurred in the office of
justice of the peace, at South Pass City, the county seat of Sweetwater
county, and the home of Mr. Bright and of Mrs. Esther Morris. At the
request of the county attorney — who favored woman suffrage — the com-
missioners, two of whom also approved of it, appointed Mrs. Morris
to fill the vacancy. The legislature had vested the appointment of offi-
cers, in case of a vacancy, in the county commissioners, but the organic
act of congress, creating the territory, provided that the governor " shall
commission all officers who shall be appointed under the laws of
said territory." Governor Campbell being absent from the territory at
the time, the secretary, acting as governor, sent Mrs. Morris her com-
mission. It is due to Secretary Lee to say that he was an earnest advo-
cate of woman's enfranchisement, and labored for the passage of the bill,
and gladly embraced the opportunity to confirm a woman in office. The
important fact is, however, that Mrs. Morris' neighbors first suggested
the appointment that secured her the office, and manfully sustained her
during her whole term. She tried between thirty and forty cases, and de-
cided them so acceptably that not one of them was appealed to a higher
court; and I know of no one who has held the office of justice of the
peace in this territory, who has left a more acceptable record, in all re-
spects, than has Mrs. Esther Morris. Some other appointments of women
to office were made, but I do not find that any of them entered upon its
duties.
The first term of the District Court, under the statutes passed by the
first legislature, was to be held at Laramie City, on the first Monday of
March, 1870. When the jurors were drawn, a large number of women
were selected, for both grand and petit jurors. As this was not done by
the friends of woman suffrage, there was evidently an intention of mak-
ing the whole subject odious and ridiculous, and giving it a death-blow at
the outset. A great deal of feeling was excited among the people, and
some effort made to prejudice the women against acting as jurors, and
even threats, ridicule and abuse, in some cases, were indulged in. Their
husbands were more pestered and badgered than the women, and some of
them were so much inflamed that they declared they would never live
with their wives again if they served on the jury. The fact that women
* No sooner had these gentlemen left than Mrs. Post and Mrs. Arnold had a long interview with the
governor, urging him to sign the bill on the highest moral grounds; not only to protect the personal
rights of the women of the territory but to compel the men to observe the decencies of life and to ele-
vate the social and political status of the people. — [E. C. S.
732 History of Woman Suffrage.
were drawn as jurors was telegraphed all over the country, and the news-
papers came loaded with hostile and uncomplimentary criticisms. At this
stage of the case Col. Downey, the prosecuting attorney for the county,
wrote to Judge Howe for advice and direction as to the eligibility of the
women as jurors, and what course should be taken in the premises. At
first Judge Howe was much inclined to order the women discharged, and
new juries drawn ; and it certainly required no small amount of moral
courage to face the storm of ridicule and abuse that was blowing from all
quarters. We had a long consultation, and came to the conclusion that
since the law had clearly given all the rights of electors to the women of
the territory, they must be protected in the exercise of these rights if
they chose to assume them ; that under no circumstances could the
judges permit popular clamor to deprive the women of their legal rights
in the very presence of the courts themselves. The result was that Judge
Howe wrote the county attorney the following letter :
CHEYENNE, March 3, 1870.
S. W. DOWNEY — My Dear Sir: I have your favor of yesterday, and have carefully
considered the question of the eligibility of women who are "citizens," to serve on
juries. Mr. Justice Kingman has also considered the question, and we concur in the
opinion that such women are eligible. My reason for this opinion will be given at
length, if occasion requires. I will thank you to make it known to those ladies who
have been summoned on the juries, that they will be received, protected, and treated
with all the respect and courtesy due, and ever paid, by true American gentlemen to
true American ladies, and that the Court, in all the power of government, will secure
to them all that deference, security from insult, or anything which ought to offend the
most refined woman, which is accorded in any walks of life in which the good and
true women of our country have heretofore been accustomed to move. Thus, whatever
may have been, or may now be thought of the policy of admitting women to the right
of suffrage and to hold office, they will have a fair opportunity, at least in my Court,
to demonstrate their ability in this new field, and prove the policy or impolicy of occupy-
ing it. Of their right to try it I have no doubt. I hope they will succeed, and the
Court will certainly aid them in all lawful and proper ways. Very respectfully,
J. H. HOWE, Chief-Justice.
When the time came to hold the court, Judge Howe, whose duty it was
to preside, requested me to go with him to Laramie City, and sit with him
during the term. I gladly availed myself of the opportunity. As soon as
we arrived there, Judge Howe was waited on by a number of gentlemen
who endeavored to induce him to order the discharge of the female jurors
without calling them into court. Some spoke of the impolicy of the pro-
ceeding, and said the women all objected to it and wished to be excused ;
while some were cross, and demanded the discharge of their wives, saying
that it was an intentional insult and they would not submit to it. But
Judge Howe told them all firmly, that the women must come into court,
and if, after the whole question was fairly explained to them, they chose
to decline, they should be excused. At the opening of the court next
morning, the house was crowded, and the female jurors were all there.
After the usual preliminaries, an attorney arose and moved that all the
women summoned as jurors be excused, saying he made the motion at the
request of the women themselves ; and that he was assured they did not
wish to serve. Judge Howe then requested me to express my opinion
The First Jury of Men and Women. 733
and make some remarks to the women on the duties devolving on them.
I said :
It was a real pleasure to me to see ladies in the court-room, with the right to take a
responsible part in the proceedings, as grand and petit jurors; that no one knew so
well as they did, the evils our community suffered from lawless and wicked people ;
and no one better understood the difficulties the court labored under in its efforts to
administer justice and punish crime; that the time had come when the good women
of the territory could give us substantial aid, and we looked to them especially, as the
power which should make the court efficient in the discharge of its duties; that the
new law had conferred on them important rights, and corresponding duties necessarily
devolved upon them; that I hoped and believed they would not shrink when so
many influences were calling on them for noble and worthy action; that if they failed
us now, the cause of equal rights would suffer at their hands, not only in our territory,
but in every land where its advocates were struggling for its recognition; that if they
would remain, their presence would secure a degree of decorum in the court-room and
add a dignity to the proceedings, which the judges had been unable to command;
that we required the assistance of good women all over the territory, and I begged
them to help us.
Judge Howe then spoke as follows :
It is an innovation and a great novelty to see, as we do to-day, ladies summoned to>
serve as jurors. The extension of political rights and franchise to women is a subject
that is agitating the whole country. I have never taken an active part in these discus-
sions, but I have long seen that woman is a victim to the vices, crimes and immorali-
ties of man, with no power to protect and defend herself from these evils. I have long
felt that such powers of protection should be conferred upon woman, and it has fallen
to our lot here to act as the pioneers in the movement and to test the question. The
eyes of the whole world are to-day fixed upon this jury of Albany county. There is
not the slightest impropriety in any lady occupying this position, and I wish to assure
you that the fullest protection of the court shall be accorded to you. It would be a
most shameful scandal that in our temple of justice and in our courts of law, anything;
should be permitted which the most sensitive lady might not hear with propriety and
witness. And here let me add that it will be a sorry day for any man who shall so far
forget the courtesy due and paid by every American gentleman to every American lady
as to ever by word or act endeavor to deter you from the exercise of those rights with,
which the law has invested you. I conclude with the remark that this is a question,
for you to decide for yourselves. No man has any right to interfere. It seems to me
to be eminently proper for women to sit upon grand juries, which will give them the
best possible opportunities to aid in suppressing the dens of infamy which curse the
country. I shall be glad of your assistance in the accomplishment of this object. I
do not make these remarks from distrust of any of the gentlemen. On the contrary, I
am exceedingly pleased and gratified with the indication of intelligence, love of law
and good order, and the gentlemanly deportment which I see manifested here.
The ladies were then told that those who could not conveniently serve,
and those who insisted on being excused, might rise and they should
be discharged. Only one rose and she was excused. But a victory had
been won of no small moment. Seeing the earnestness of the judges and
the dignified character they had given to the affair, the women were en-
couraged and pleased, and the enemies of equal rights, who had planned,
as they thought, a stunning blow to further progress, were silenced and
defeated. The current set rapidly in the other direction and applause,
as usual, followed success. The business of the court proceeded with
marked improvement. The court-room, always crowded, was quiet and
decorous in the extreme. The bar in particular was always on its good
734 History of Woman Suffrage.
behavior, and wrangling, abuse and buncome speeches were not heard.
When men moved about they walked quietly, on tip-toe, so as to make
no noise, and forbore to whisper or make any demonstrations in of around
the court-room. The women when called took their chairs in the jury-
box with the men, as they do their seats in church,* and no annoyance or
reluctance was visible from the bench. They gave close and intelligent
attention to the details of every case, and the men who sat with them
evidently acted with more conscientious care than usual. The verdicts
were generally satisfactory, except to convicted criminals. They did not
convict every one they tried, but " no guilty man escaped," if there was
sufficient evidence to hold him. The lawyers soon found out that the
usual tricks and subterfuges in criminal cases would not procure acquittal,
and they began to challenge off all the women called. The court check-
mated this move by directing the sheriff to summon other women in their
places, instead of men, and then came motions for continuances. The
result was a great success and was so acknowledged by all disinterested
persons. On the grand jury were six women and nine men, and they
became such a terror to evil-doers that a stampede began among them
and very many left the town forever. Certainly there was never more
fearless or efficient work performed by a grand jury.
The legislature copied most of the statutes which it enacted from the
laws of Nebraska, and among others the following clauses in the crimes
act, to wit.:
If any person shall keep open any tippling or gaming-house on the Sabbath day or
night, * * * he shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisoned
in the county jail not exceeding six months.
Any person who shall hereafter knowingly disturb the peace and good order of
society by labor on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday (works of neces-
sity and charity excepted), shall be fined, on conviction thereof, in any sum not ex-
ceeding fifty dollars.
No attention whatever had been paid to these statutes, and Sunday was
generally the great drinking day of the whole week; the saloons sold
more whiskey and made more money that day than any other. The
women on that grand jury determined to put a stop to it and enforce
these laws. They therefore indicted every liquor saloon in town. This
made a great outcry, not only among the liquor-sellers but among their
customers also. They were all arrested, brought into court and gave bail ;
but Judge Howe told them as this was a new law recently passed, and as
it was quite probable that most of them were ignorant of its provisions,
he would continue the cases with this express understanding, that if they
would strictly obey the law in future these cases should be dismissed ; but
* In the summer of 1871 Mrs. Stanton and myself, en route for California, visited Wyoming and met
the women who were most active in the exercise of their rights of citizenship. At Cheyenne we were
the guests of Mrs. M. B. Arnold and Mrs. Amalia B. Post. Mrs. Arnold had a large cattle-ranch and
Mrs. Post an equally large sheep-ranch a few miles out of the city, which they superintended, and
from which each received an independent income. They had not only served as jurors, but acted as
foremen. At Laramie we were the guests of Mr. J. H. Hayford, editor of the Laramit Sentinel, and
met Grandma Swain, who was the first woman to cast her ballot in that city. We also met Judges
Howe and Kingman and Governor Campbell, and heard from them of the wonderful changes wrought
in the court-room and at the polls by the presence of enfranchised women. We spoke in the very
court-room in which women had sat as jurors and felt an added inspiration from that fact. — [S. B. A.
Press Comments. 735
if any of them violated it, these cases would be tried and the full penalty
inflicted. They all agreed to this, and the " Sunday Law," as it was called,
was carefully observed afterwards in Laramie City; and so great has been
the change in that town in the habits of the people and the quiet appear-
ance of the streets on Sunday, as compared with other towns in the ter-
ritory, that it has been nick-named the " Puritan town " of Wyoming, and,
I may add, rejoices in its singularity.
And how was this most successful experiment in equal rights received
and treated by the press and the people out of the territory? The New
York illustrated papers made themselves funny with caricatures of female
juries, and cheap scribblers invented all sorts of scandals and misrepre-
sentations about them. The newspapers were overflowing with abuse
and adverse criticism, and only here and there was a manly voice heard
in apology or defense. I copy these extracts as a sample of the rest.
"LADY JURORS." — Under this head the New Orleans Times, the ablest
and largest paper in the South, said :
Confusion is becoming worse confounded by the hurried march of events. Mad
theorizings take the form of every-day realities, and in the confusion of rights and the
confusion of dress, all distinctions of sex are threatened with swift obliteration. When
Anna Dickinson holds forth as the teacher of strange doctrines in which the mascu-
linity of woman is preposterously asserted as a true warrant for equality with man in all
his political and industrial relations; when Susan B. Anthony flashes defiance from
lips and eyes which refuse the blandishment and soft dalliance that in the past have
been so potent with "the sex"; when, in fine, the women of Wyoming are called
from their domestic firesides to serve as jurors in a court of justice, a question of the
day, and one, too, of the strangest kind, is forced on our attention. From a careful
review of all the surroundings, we think the Wyoming experiment will lead to beneficial
results. By proving that lady jurors are altogether impracticable — that they cannot sit
as the peers of men without setting at defiance all the laws of delicacy and propriety —
the conclusion may be reached that it will be far better to let nature alone in regulating
the relations of the sexes.
The Philadelphia Press had the following :
WOMEN AS JURORS. — Now one of the adjuncts of female citizenship is about to be
tested in Wyoming. Eleven women have been drawn as jurors to serve at the March
term of the Albany County Court. It is stated that immense excitement has been
created thereby, but the nature of the aforesaid excitement does not transpire.
Will women revolutionize justice? What is female justice, or what is it likely to be?
Would twelve women return the same verdict as twelve men, supposing that each
twelve had heard the same case? Is it possible for a jury of women, carrying with them
all their sensitiveness, sympathies, predilections, jealousies, prejudices, hatreds, to
reach an impartial verdict ? Would not every criminal be a monster, provided not a
female? Can the sex, ordinarily so quick to pronounce pre-judgments, divest itself of
them sufficiently to enter the jury-box with unbiased minds ? Perhaps it were best
to trust the answer to events. Women may learn to be jurymen, but in so doing they
have a great deal to learn.
So persistent were the attacks and so malignant were the perversions
of truth that Judge Howe, at the request of the editor, wrote the follow-
ing letter for publication anonymously in the Chicago Legal News, every
statement in which I can confirm from my own observation. The Judge,
after writing the letter, consented to its publication over his own signature :
73 6 History of Woman Suffrage,
CHEYENNE, Wyoming, April 4, 1870.
Mrs. Myra Brad-well, Chicago, III.:
DEAR MADAM : I am in receipt of your favor of March 26, in which you request
me to "give you a truthful statement, over my own signature, for publication in your
paper, of the history of, and my observations in regard to, women as grand and petit
jurors in Wyoming." I will comply with your request, with this qualification, that it
be not published over my own signature, as I do not covet newspaper publicity, and
have already, without any agency or fault of my own, been subjected to an amount of
it which I never anticipated nor conceived of, and which has been far from agreeable
to me.
I had no agency in the enactment of the law in Wyoming conferring legal equality
upon women. I found it upon the statute-book of that territory, and in accordance
with its provisions several women were legally drawn by the proper officers on the
grand and petit juries of Albany county, and were duly summoned by the sheriff with-
out any agency of mine. On being apprised of these facts, I conceived it to be my
plain duty to fairly enforce this law, as I would any other; and more than this, I re-
solved at once that, as it had fallen to my lot to have the experiment tried under my
administration, it should have a fair trial, and I therefore assured these women that
they could serve or not, as they chose; that if they chose to serve, the Court would
secure to them the most respectful consideration and deference, and protect them
from insult in word or gesture, and from everything which might offend a modest and
virtuous woman in any of the walks of life in which the good and true women of our
country have been accustomed to move.
While I had never been an advocate for the law, I felt that thousands of good men
and women had been, and that they had a right to see it fairly administered; and I
was resolved that it should not be sneered down if I had to employ the whole power
of the court to prevent it. I felt that even those who were opposed to the policy of
admitting women to the right of suffrage and to hold office would condemn me if I did
not do this. It was also sufficient for me that my own judgment approved this course.
With such assurances these women chose to serve and were duly impanelled as
jurors. They were educated, cultivated eastern ladies, who are an honor to their sex.
They have, with true womanly devotion, left their homes of comfort in the States to
share the fortunes of their husbands and brothers in the far West and to aid them in
founding a new State beyond the Missouri.
And now as to the results. With all my prejudices against the policy, I am under
conscientious obligations to say that these women acquitted themselves with such
dignity, decorum, propriety of conduct and intelligence as to win the admiration of
every fair-minded citizen of Wyoming. They were careful, pains-taking, intelligent
and conscientious. They were firm and resolute for the right as established by the
law and the testimony. Their verdicts were right, and, after three or four criminal
trials, the lawyers engaged in defending persons accused of crime began to avail them-
selves of the right of peremptory challenge to get rid of the female jurors, who were
too much in favor of enforcing the laws and punishing crime to suit the interests of
their clients. After the grand jury had been in session two days, the dance-house
keepers, gamblers and demi-monde fled out of the city in dismay, to escape the indict-
ment of women grand jurors ! In short I have never, in twenty-five years of constant
experience in the courts of the country, seen more faithful, intelligent and resolutely
honest grand and petit juries than these.
A contemptibly lying and silly dispatch went over the wires to the effect that during
the trial of A. W. Howie for homicide (in which the jury consisted of six women and
six men) the men and women were kept locked up together all night for four nights.
Only two nights intervened during the trial, and on these nights, by my order, the
jury was taken to the parlor of the large, commodious and well-furnished hotel of the
Union Pacific Railroad, in charge of the sheriff and a woman bailiff, where they were
supplied with meals and every comfort, and at 10 o'clock the women were conducted
by the bailiff to a large and suitable apartment where beds were prepared for them,
Comments of the Press. . 73 7
and the men to another adjoining, where beds were prepared for them, and where
they remained in charge of sworn officers until morning, when they were again all
conducted to the parlor and from thence in a body to bieakfast, and thence to the
jury-room, which was a clean and comfortable one, carpeted and heated, and furnished
with all proper conveniences.
The cause was submitted to the jury for their decision about n o'clock in the fore-
noon, and they agreed upon their verdict, which was received by the court between n
and 12 o'clock at night of the same day, when they were discharged.
Everybody commended the conduct of this jury and was satisfied with the verdict,
except the individual who was convicted of murder in the second degree. The pres-
ence of these ladies in court secured the most perfect decorum and propriety of con-
duct, and the gentlemen of the bar and others vied with each other in their courteous
and respectful demeanor toward the ladies and the court. Nothing occurred to offend
the most refined lady (if she was a sensible lady) and the universal judgment of every
intelligent and fair-minded man present was and is, that the experiment was a success.
I dislike the notoriety this matter has given me, but I do not shrink from it. I
never sought it nor expected it, and have only performed what I regarded as a plain
duty, neither seeking nor desiring any praise, and quite indifferent to any censure or
criticism which my conduct may have invoked.
Thanking you for your friendly and complimentary expressions, I am very respect-
fully yours, J. H. HOWE.
As showing how the matter was received at home, in Laramie City, I
copy the following from the Laramie Sentinel of April 7, 1870 :
If we should neglect to give some idea of the results of our jury experiment,
the world would say we were afraid or ashamed of it. For our own part we
are inclined to admit that it succeeded beyond all our expectations. We naturally
wished it to succeed; still we scarcely wished it to demonstrate a theory that women
were better qualified for these duties than men. Hence, when Chief-Justice Howe said,
" In eighteen years' experience I have never had as fair, candid, impartial and able a jury
in court, as in this term in Albany county," and when Associate-Justice Kingman said,
" Fbr twenty-five years it has been an anxious study with me, both on the bench and at
the bar, how we are to prevent jury trials from degenerating into a perfect burlesque,
and it has remained for Albany county to point out the remedy and demonstrate the cure
for this threatened evil," we confess to having been more than satisfied with the result.
It may be safely stated as the unanimous verdict of bench, bar and public opinion,
that the jurors of Albany county did well and faithfully discharge their duties, with
honor and credit to themselves and to the satisfaction of the public.
Among the few exceptions to the general abuse of the press, the follow-
ing from the Cincinnati Gazette of April 14, 1870, is well worth preserving:
Now, in the name of the inalienable right of every person to the pursuit of
happiness, we have to ask : Are not these women competent to decide for themselves
whether their households, their children or their husbands are of more importance than
their public duties ? And having the best means for deciding this question, have they
not the right to decide ? Who has the right to pick out the females of a jury and chal-
lenge them with the question whether they are not neglecting their households or their
husbands? Who challenges a male juror and demands whether he left his family well
provided, and his wife well cherished? or if, through his detention in court, the cup-
board will be bare, the wife neglected, or the children with holes in their trousers ?
This is simply the crack of the familiar whip of man's absolute domination over women.
It means nothing short of their complete subjection. Not to use rights is to abandon
them. There are inconveniences and cares in all possessions; but who argues that
therefore they should be abandoned ? It would much promote the convenience of
man if he would let his political rights and duties be performed by a few willing per-
sons; but he would soon find that he had no rights loft.
47
738 History of Woman Suffrage.
And what is this family impediment which is thus set up as a female disability? The
family obligation is just as strong in man as in woman. It is much stronger, for the
manners which compel woman to be the passive waiter on the male providence leave
to him the real responsibility. Yet many men forego marriage and homes and chil-
dren, and nobody imagines that it disqualifies them for public duties. Nobody chal-
lenges them as jurors, and demands if they have discharged the family obligation.
Rather it is held wise in them to give themselves wholly to their pursuits, without the
distraction of conjugal joys, until they have achieved success. Why should the family
requirement, which man throws off so easily, be made a yoke for woman ? There is
something more fundamental than nursing babies or coddling the appetites of husbands.
The sentiment, "Give me liberty, or give me death," is the American instinct.
Breathes there a woman with soul so dead that she would bring forth slaves ? Babes
had better not be born if they are not to have their rights. It is the duty of women
to first provide the state of freedom for their progeny. Then they may consent to be-
come wives and mothers. Liberty and the exercise of all political rights are so bound
together, that to neglect one is to abandon all. Trial by a jury of one's peers is the
essential principle of the administration of justice. To be a peer on a jury involves
the whole principle of equal rights. To abandon this to man, is to accept subjection
to man.
For women to neglect jury duty is to give men the exclusive privilege to judge
•women, and to abandon the right to be tried by a jury of their peers. How can men
justly judge a woman ? They cannot have that knowledge of her peculiar physical and
mental organization which is requisite to the judgment of motives and temptations.
They cannot comprehend the variable moods and emotions, nor the power of her im-
pulses. It is monstrous injustice to judge women by the same rules as men. And
men lack that intuitive charity and tender sympathy which women always feel for an
exposed, erring sister. Furthermore, many of the crimes of men are against women.
How can men appreciate their injury? That which is her ruin, they call, as Anna
Dickinson says, sowing their wild oats. How can justice be expected from those who
instinctively combine to preserve their privilege to abuse women ? For the administra-
tion of justice to women who are accused, and to men who have wronged women,
judges and jurors of their own sex are indispensable.
As long as Judge Howe remained on the bench he had women on his
juries.* His first term at Cheyenne, after the law was passed, several
women were among the jurors, and they did fully as well, and exerted quite
as good an influence there, as the women had recently at Laramie City.
The first election under the woman suffrage law was held in September-
1870, for the election of a delegate in congress, and county officers. There
was an exciting canvass, and both parties applied to the whisky shops,
as before, supposing they would wield the political power of the terri-
tory, and that not enough women would vote to influence the result. The
morning of election came, but did not bring the usual scenes around the
polls. A few women came out early to vote, and the crowd kept entirely
out of sight. There was plenty of drinking and noise at the saloons, but
:the men would not remain, after voting, around the polls. It seemed
more like Sunday than election day. Even the negro men and women
Voted without objection or disturbance. Quite a number of women voted
during the day, at least in all the larger towns, but apprehension of a re-
* The following is the list of the first grand jury at Laramie City, composed of nine men and six
women, as impanneled and sworn : C. H. Bussard, foreman ; Mrs. Jane E. Hilton, T. W. DeKay,
Jeremiah Boies, Mrs. H. C. Swain, Joseph DeMars, M. N. Merrill, Mrs. M. A. Pierce, Mrs. C.
Blake, Richard Turpin, G. W. Cardwell, Mrs. S. L. Larimer, N. C. Worth, Mrs. Jane Mackle, W. H.
Mitchell.
View of Rev. J. D. Pierce. 739
petition of the scenes of the former election, and doubt as to the proper
course for them to pursue, kept very many from voting. The result was
a great disappointment all around. The election had passed off with un-
expected quiet, and order had everywhere prevailed. The whisky shops
had been beaten, and their favorite candidate for congress, although he
had spent several thousand dollars to secure an election, was left out in
the cold. I cannot deny myself the pleasure of quoting at length
the following letter of the Rev. D. J. Pierce, at that time a resident of
Laramie City, and a very wealthy man, to show the powerful influence
that was exerted on the mind of a New England clergyman by that first
exhibition of women at the polls, and as evidence of the singular and
beneficial change in the character of the election, and the conduct of the
men :
Editor Laramie Sentinel : I am pleased to notice your action in printing testimonials
of different classes to the influence of woman suffrage in Wyoming. With the apathy
of conservatism and prejudice of party spirit arrayed against the idea in America, it is
the duty of the residents in Wyoming to note the simple facts of their noted experi-
ment, and lay them before the world for its consideration. I came from the vicinity
of Boston, arriving in Laramie two weeks before the first regular election of 1870. I
had never sympathized with the extreme theories of the woman's rights platform, to
the advocates of which I had often listened in Boston. But I had never been able to
learn just why a woman is naturally excluded from the privilege of franchise, and I
sometimes argued in favor in lyceum debates. Still the question of her degradation
stared me in the face, and I came to Wyoming unsettled in the matter, determined
to be an impartial judge. I was early at the polls, but too late to witness the polling
of the first female vote — by "Grandma" Swain, a much-esteemed Quaker lady of 75
summers, who determined by her words and influence to rally her sex to defend the
cause of morality and justice.
I saw the rough mountaineers maintaining the most respectful decorum whenever
the women approached the polls, and heard the timely warning of one of the leading
canvassers as he silenced an incipient quarrel with uplifted finger, saying, " Hist ! Be
quiet ! A woman is coming !"
And I was compelled to allow that in this new country, supposed at that time to be
infested by hordes of cut-throats, gamblers and abandoned characters, I had witnessed
a more quiet election than it had been my fortune to see in the quiet towns of Ver-
mont. I saw ladies attended by their husbands, brothers, or sweethearts, ride to the
places of voting, and alight in the midst of a silent crowd, and pass through an open
space to the polls, depositing their votes with no more exposure to insult or injury than
they would expect on visiting a grocery store or meat-market. Indeed, they were
much safer here, every man of their party was pledged to shield them, while every
member of the other party feared the influence of any signs of disrespect.
And the next day I sent my impressions to an eastern paper, declaring myself con-
vinced that woman's presence at the polls would elevate the tone of public sentiment
there as it does in churches, the social hall, or any other place, while her own robes
are unspotted by the transcient association with evil characters which she is daily
obliged to meet in the street or dry-goods store. My observation at subsequent an-
nual elections has only confirmed my opinion in this respect.
Without reference to party issues, I noticed that a majority of women voted for men
of the most temperate habits, thus insuring success to the party of law and order.
After three years'- absence from my old home, I could not fail to notice in the elec-
tions of 1877 and 1878 that both parties had been led to nominate men of betterstand-
ing in moral character, in order to secure the female vote.
I confess that I believe in the idea of aristocracy — *'. e. " the rule of the best ones"
740 History of Woman Suffrage.
— not by blood or position, but the aristocracy of character, to which our laws point
when they declare that prison characters shall not vote.
The ballot of any community cannot rise above its character. A town full of aban-
doned women would be cursed by the application of woman suffrage.
We need to intrust our State interests to the class most noted for true character. As
a class, women are more moral and upright in their character than men. Hence
America would profit by their voting. D. J. PIERCE, Pastor Baptist Church.
The next general election occurred in September, 1871, for members of
the second territorial legislature. The usual tactics were employed and
considerable sums of money were given to the drinking saloons to secure
their influence and furnish free drinks and cigars for the voters. But no
one thought of trying to buy up the women, nor was it ever supposed
that a woman's vote could be secured with whiskey and cigars ! Election
day passed off with entire quiet and good order around the polling-places ;
the noise and bustle were confined to the bar-rooms. The streets pre-
sented no change from an ordinary business day, except that a large
number of wagons and carnages were driven about with the watch-words
and banners of different parties, or different candidates, conspicuously
posted on them. A much larger number of women voted at this election
than at the former one, but quite a number failed or refused to take part
in it. The result was again a surprise, and to many a disappointment.
Some candidates were unexpectedly elected, and some who had spent
large amounts of money and worked hard around the drinking saloons,
and were ready to bet largely on being elected, were defeated. The Re-
publicans had shown an unexpected strength and had returned several
members to each House, although it was quite certain that some of the
Democrats were indebted to the women for their success. It was ad-
mitted, however, that their votes had generally gone against the favorites
of the whiskey shops and that the power of the saloons had been largely
neutralized and in some cases entirely overthrown. Some remarkable
instances of woman's independence and moral character occurred at this
election which I cannot help recording, but must not mention names.
As above stated in reference to the grand jury in Laramie City, the
" Sunday law " had there been put into vigorous operation. The evening
before the election, and after both the political parties had nominated
their candidates for the legislature, the saloon-keepers got together very
secretly and nominated a ticket of their own number, pledged to
repeal the " Sunday law." This move was not discovered until they
began to vote that ticket at the polls next day. Then it was found
that the saloons were pushing it with all their influence and giving
free drinks to all who would vote it. This aroused the women and they
came out in force ; many who had declined to vote before not only
voted, but went round and induced others to do the same. At noon the
rum-sellers' ticket was far ahead and it looked as though it would be
elected by a large majority ; at the close of the polls at night it was over-
whelmingly defeated. In one case the wife of a saloon-keeper who was
a candidate on that ticket, told her husband that she would defeat him if
she could. He was beaten, and he was man enough to say he was glad of
Results of the Election. 74 *
it — glad he had a wife so much better than he was, and who had so much
more influence in town than he had.
Another candidate on that ticket was a saloon-keeper who had grown
rich in the traffic, but whose private character was much above the
morals of his business. He had recently married a-very nice young lady in
the East, and she was much excited when she learned how matters were
progressing. She told her husband she was ashamed of him and would vote
against him, and would enlist all the members of her church against him
if she could ; and she went to work in earnest and was a most efficient
cause of the defeat of the ticket. Her husband also was proud of her,
and said it served him right and he was glad of it. I have never heard
that the domestic harmony of either of these families was in anyway dis-
turbed by these events, but I know that they have prospered and are still
successful and happy,
Still the legislature was strongly Democratic. There were four Re-
publicans and five Democrats in the Council, and four Republicans and
nine Democrats in the House. When they met in November, 1871, many
Democrats were found to be bitteriy opposed to woman suffrage and
determined to repeal the act; they said it was evident they were losing
ground and the Republicans gaining by reason of the women vot-
ing, and that it must be stopped. The Republicans were all inclined
to sustain the law. Several caucuses were held by the Democrats to de-
termine on their course of action and overcome the opposition in their
own ranks, These caucuses were held in one of the largest drinking
saloons in Cheyenne and all the power of whiskey was brought to bear
on the members to secure a repeal of the woman suffrage act. It required
considerable time and a large amount of whiskey, but at last the opposi-
tion was stifled and the Democratic party was brought up solid for repeal.
A bill was introduced in the House for the purpose, but was warmly
resisted by the Republicans and a long discussion followed. It was
finally carried by a strict party vote and sent to the Council, where it
met with the same opposition and the same result followed. It then went
to the governor for his approval. There was no doubt in his mind as to
the course he ought to take. He had seen the effects produced by the
act of enfranchisement, and unhesitatingly approved all of them. He
promptly returned the bill with his veto; and the accompanying message
is such an able paper and so fully sets forth the reasons in favor of the
original act, and the good results of its operation, that at least a few ex-
tracts well deserve a prominent place in this record :
I return herewith to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, a bill for
"An Act to repeal Chapter XXXI. of the Laws of the First Legislative Assembly of
the Territory of Wyoming."
I regret that a sense of duty compels me to dissent from your honorable body with
regard to any contemplated measure of public policy. It would certainly be more in
accordance with the desire I have to secure and preserve the most harmonious rela-
tions among all the branches of our territorial government, to approve the bill. A
regard, however, for the rights of those whose interests are to be affected by it, and
for what I believe to be the best interests of the territory, will not allow me to do so.
The consideration, besides, that the passage of this bill would be, on the part of those
instrumental in bringing it about, a declaration that the principles upon which the
742 History of Woman Suffrage.
enfranchisement of women is urged are false and untenable, and that our experience
demonstrates this, influences me not a little in my present action.
While I fully appreciate the great danger of too much attention to abstract specula-
tion or metaphysical reasoning in political affairs, I cannot but perceive that there are
times and circumstances when it is not only proper but absolutely necessary to appeal
to principles somewhat general and abstract, when they alone can point out the way
and they alone can guide our conduct. So it was when, two years ago, the act which
this bill is designed to repeal was presented for my approval. There was at that
time no experience to which I might refer and test by its results the conclusions to
which the application of certain universally admitted principles led me. In the
absence of all such experience I was driven to the application of principles which
through the whole course of our national history have been powerfully and beneficially
operative in making our institutions more and more popular, in framing laws more
and more just and in securing amendments to our federal constitution. If the ballot
be an expression of the wish, or a declaration of the will, of the tax-payer as to the
manner in which taxes should be levied and collected and revenues disbursed, why
should those who hold in their own right a large proportion of the wealth of the coun-
try be excluded from a voice in making the laws which regulate this whole subject ?
If, again, the ballot be for the physically weak a guarantee of protection against the
aggression and violence of the strong, upon what ground can the delicate bodily
organism of woman be forbidden this shelter for her protection? If, once more, each
ballot be the declaration of the individual will of the person casting it, as to the rela-
tive merit of opposed measures or men, surely the ability to judge and determine —
the power of choice — does not depend upon sex, nor does womanhood deprive of per-
sonality. If these principles are too general to be free from criticism, and if this
reasoning be too abstract to be always practically applicable, neither the principles
nor the reasoning can fail of approbation when contrasted with the gloomy mis-
givings for the future and the dark forebodings of evils, imaginary, vague and unde-
fined, by dwelling upon which the opponents of this reform endeavor to stay its
progress. Aggressive reasoning and positive principles like these must be met with
something more than mere doubtful conjectures, must be resisted by something more
than popular prejudices, and overthrown — if overthrown at all — by something stronger
than the force of inert conservatism; yet what is there but conjecture, prejudice and
conservatism opposing this reform ? * *******
The law granting to women the right to vote and to hold office in this territory was
a natural and logical sequence to the other laws upon our statute-book. Our laws
give to the widow the guardianship of her minor children. Will you take from her
all voice in relation to the public schools established for the education of those
children ? Our laws permit women to acquire and possess property. Will you forbid
them having any voice in relation to the taxation of that property? This bill says too
little or too much. Too little, if you legislate upon the assumption that woman is an
inferior who should be kept in a subordinate position, for in that case the other laws
affecting her should be repealed or amended; and too much, if she is, as no one will
deny, the equal of man in heart and mind, for in that case we cannot afford to dis-
pense with her counsel and assistance in the government of the territory.
I need only instance section 9 of the school act, which declares that, " In the em-
ployment of teachers no discrimination shall be made in the question of pay on ac-
count of sex when the persons are equally qualified." What is more natural than that
the men who thought that women were competent to instruct the future voters and
legislators of our land, should take the one step in advance of the public sentiment of
yesterday and give to her equal wages for equal work ? And when this step had been
taken, what more natural than that they should again move forward — this time per-
haps a little in advance of the public sentiment of to-day — and give to those whom
they consider competent to instruct voters, the right to vote.
To the statement, so often made, that the law which this bill is intended to repeal
was passed thoughtlessly and without proper consideration, I oppose the fact to which
Governor Campbell's Veto. 743
I have adverted, that the law perfectly conforms to all the other laws in relation to
women upon our statute-book. Studied in connection with the other laws it would
seem to have grown naturally from them. It harmonizes entirely with them, and
forms a fitting apex to the grand pyramid which is being built up as broadly and as
surely throughout all the States of the Union as it has been built up and capped in
Wyoming.
The world does not stand still. The dawn of Christianity was the dawn of light
for woman. For eighteen centuries she has been gradually but slowly rising from the
condition of drudge and servant for man, to become his helpmeet, counselor and
companion. As she has been advanced in the social scale, our laws have kept pace
with that advancement and conferred upon her rights and privileges with accom-
panying duties and responsibilities. She has not abused those privileges, and has been
found equal to the duties and responsibilities. And the day is not far distant when
the refining and elevating influence of women will be as clearly manifested in the
political as it now is in the social world.
Urged by all these considerations of right, and justice, and expediency, and the
strong conviction of duty, I approved that act of which this bill contemplates the repeal,
and it became a law. To warrant my reconsidering that action, there ought to be
in the ejrperience of the last two years something to show that the reasons upon which
it was founded were unsound, or that the law itself was wrong or at least unwise and
inexpedient. My view of the teachings of this experience is the very reverse of this.
Women have voted, and have the officers chosen been less faithful and zealous and
the legislature less able and upright ? They have sat as jurors, and have the laws
been less faithfully and justly administered, and criminals less promptly and adequately
punished ? Indeed the lessons of this two years' experience fully confirm all that has
beert claimed by the most ardent advocate of this innovation.
In this territory women have manifested for its highest interests a devotion strong,
ardent, and intelligent. They have brought to public affairs a clearness of understand-
ing and a soundness of judgment, which, considering their exclusion hitherto from
practical participation in political agitations and movements, are worthy of the greatest
admiration and above all praise. The conscience of women is in all things more dis-
criminating and sensitive than that of men ; their sense of justice, not compromising
or time-serving, but pure and exacting ; their love of order, not spasmodic or senti-
mental merely, but springing from the heart ; all these, — the better conscience, the
exalted sense of justice, and the abiding love of order, have been made by the enfran-
chisement of women to contribute to the good government and well-being of our ter-
ritory. To the plain teachings of these two years' experience I connot close my eyes.
I cannot forget the benefits that have already resulted to our territory from woman
suffrage, nor can I permit myself even to seem to do so by approving this bill.
There is another, and in my judgment, a serious objection to this bill, which I sub-
mit for the consideration and action of your honorable body. It involves a reference
to that most difficult of questions, the limitations of legislative power. High and tran-
scendent as that power undoubtedly and wisely is, there are limits which not even it
can pass. Two years ago the legislature of this territory conferred upon certain of its
citizens valuble rights and franchises. Can a future legislature, by the passage of a
law not liable to the objection that it violates the obligation of contracts, take away
those rights ? It is not claimed, so far as I have been informed, that the persons upon
whom these franchises were conferred have forfeited or failed to take advantage of
them. But even if such were the case it would be rather a matter for judicial deter-
mination than for legislative action. What that dertermination wonld be is clearly
indicated in the opinion of Associate-justice Story in the celebrated case of Trustees of.
Dartmouth College vs. Woodward: " The right to be a freeman of a corporation is a
valuable temporal right * * It is founded on the same basis as the right of voting in
public elections ; it is as sacred a right ; and whatever might have been the prevalence
of former doubts, since the time of Lord Holt, such a right has always been deemed a,
valuable franchise or privilege."
744 History of Woman Suffrage.
But even if we concede that these rights once acquired may be taken away, the pass-
age of this bill would be, in my judgment, a most dangerous precedent. Once admit
the right of a representative body to disfranchise its own constituents, and who can
establish the limits to which that right may not be carried? If this legislature takes
from women their franchises or privileges, what is to prevent a future legislature from
depriving certain men, or classes of men, that, from any consideration they desire
to disfranchise, of the same rights? We should be carefnl how we inaugurate prece-
dents which may " retnrn to plague the inventors," and be used as a pretext for taking
away our liberties.
It will be remembered that in my message to the legislature at the commencement
of the present session I said : " There is upon our statue book an act granting to the
women of Wyoming territory the right of suffrage and to hold office which has now
been in force two years. Under its liberal provisions women have voted in the terri-
tory, served on juries, and held office. It is simple justice to say that the women,
entering for the first time in the history of the country upon these new and untried
duties, have conducted themselves with as much tact, sound judgment, and good sense
as the men. While it would be claiming more than the facts justify, to say that this
experiment, in a limited field, has demonstrated beyond a doubt the perfect fitness of
woman, at all times and under all circumstances, for taking a part in the government,
it furnishes at least reasonable presumptive evidence in her favor, and she has a right
to claim that, so long as none but good results are made manifest, the law should
remain unrepealed."
These were no hastily formed conclusions, but the result of deliberation and convic-
tion, and my judgment to-day approves the language I then used. For the first time in
the history of our country we have a government to which the noble words of our Magna
Charta of freedom may be applied, — not as a mere figure of speech, but as express-
ing a simple grand truth, — for it is a government which " derives all its just powers
from the consent of the governed." We should pause long and weigh carefully the
probable results of our action before consenting to change this government. A regard
for the genius of our institutions, for the fundamental principles of American autonomy,
and for the immutable principles of right and justice, will not permit me to sanction
this change.
These reasons for declining to give my consent to the bill, I submit with all defer-
ence for the consideration and judgment of your honorable body.
J. A. CAMPBELL.
The Republicans in the House made an ineffectual effort to sustain the
veto, but the party whip and the power of the saloons were too strong for
them, and the bill was passed over the veto by a vote of 9 to 4. It met a
different and better fate, however, in the Council, where it was sustained
by a vote of 4 to 5, a strict party vote in each case. Mr. Corlett, a rising
young lawyer, at that time in the Council and since then a delegate in
congress, made an able defense of the suffrage act and resisted its repeal,
sustaining the veto with much skill and final success. And there was
much need, for the Democrats had made overtures to one of the Republi-
can members of the Council (they lacked one vote) and had obtained a
promise from him to vote against the veto; but Mr. Corlett, finding out
the fraud in season, reclaimed the fallen Republican and saved the law.
It is due to Mr. Corlett to say that he has always been an able and con-
sistent supporter of woman's rights and universal suffrage. He is now
the leading lawyer of the territory.
Since that time the suffrage act has grown rapidly in popular favor, and
has never been made a party question. The leading men of both parties,
seeing its beneficial action, have given it an unqualified approval ; and
Suffrage Well Established. 745
most, if not all, of its former enemies have become its friends and
advocates. Most of the new settlers in the territory, though coming
here with impressions or prejudices against it, soon learn to respect its
operation, and admire its beneficial results. There is nowhere in the
territory a voice raised against it, and it would be impossible to get up a
party for its repeal.
The women uniformly vote at all our elections, and are exerting every
year a more potent influence over the character of the candidates selected
by each party for office, by quietly defeating those most objectionable in
point of morals. It is true they are not now summoned to serve on juries,
nor are they elected to office ; and there are some obvious reasons for this.
In the first place, they never push themselves forward for such positions,
as the men invariably do ; and in the second place, the judges who
have been sent to the territory, since the first ones, have not insisted on
respecting the women's rights as jurors, and in some cases have objected
to their being summoned as such. But these matters will find a remedy
by and by. It used to be an important question in the nominating cau-
cuses, " Will this candidate put up money enough to buy the saloons, and
catch the loafers and drinkers that they control ?" Now the question is,
" Will the women vote for this man, if we nominate him ?" There have
been some very remarkable instances where men, knowing themselves to
be justly obnoxious to the women, have forced a nomination in caucus,
relying on their money and the drinking shops and party strength to se-
cure an election, who have been taught most valuable lessons by signal
defeat at the polls. It would be invidious to call names or describe
individual cases, and could answer no necessary purpose. But I would
ask particular attention to the following articles, taken from recent news-
papers, as full and satisfactory evidence of the truth of these statements,
and of the wisdom of granting universal suffrage and equal rights to the
citizens of Wyoming territory.
The Laramie City Daily Sentinel of December 16, 1878, J. H. Hayford,
editor, has the following leading editorial :
For about eight years now, the women of Wyoming territory have enjoyed the same
political rights and privileges as the men, and all the novelties of this new departure,
all the shock it carried to the sensibilities of the old conservatives, have long since passed
away. For a long time — even for years past — we have frequently received letters ask-'
ing for information as to its practical results here, and still more frequently have re-
ceived copies of eastern papers with marked articles which purported to be written by
persons who resided here, or had visited the territory and witnessed the awful results or
the total failure of the experiment. We have usually paid no attention to these false
and anonymous scribblers, who took this method to display their shallow wit at the
sacrifice of truth and decency. But recently we have received more than the usual
number of such missives, and more letters, and trom a more respectable source than
before, and we take this occasion and method to answer them all at once, and once
for always, and do it through the columns of the Sentinel, one of the oldest and most
widely circulated papers in the territory, because it will be readily conceded that we
would not publish here at home, false statements and misrepresentations upon a mat-
ter with which all our readers are familiar, and which, if false, could be easily refuted.
We assert here, then, that woman suffrage in Wyoming has been in every particular
a complete success.
746 History of Woman Suffrage.
That the women of Wyoming value as highly the political franchise, and as generally
exercise it, as do the men of the territory.
That being more helpless, more dependent and more in need of the protection of
good laws and good government than are men, they naturally use the power put into
their hands to secure these results.
That they are controlled more by principle and less by party ties than men, and gen-
erally cast their votes for the best candidates and the best measures.
That while women in this territory frequently vote contrary to their husbands, we
have never heard of a case where the family ties or domestic relations were disturbed
thereby, and we believe that among the pioneers of the West there is more honor and
manhood than to abuse a wife because she does not think with her husband about
politics or religion.
We have never seen any of the evil results growing out of woman suffrage which we
have heard predicted for it by its opponents. On the contrary, its results have been
only good, and that continually. Our elections have come to be conducted as quietly,
orderly and civilly as our religious meetings, or any of our social gatherings, and the
best men are generally selected to make and enforce our laws. We have long ago
generally come to the conclusion that woman's influence is as wholesome and as much
needed in the government of the State as in the government of the family. We do
not know of a respectable woman in the territory who objects to or neglects to use her
political power, and we do not know of a decent man in the territory who wishes it
abolished, or who is not even glad to have woman's help in our government.
Our laws were never respected or enforced, and crime was never punished, or life
or property protected until we had woman's help in the jury box and at the polls, and
we unhesitatingly say here at home that we do not believe a man can be found who
wishes to see her deprived of voice and power, unless it is the one " who fears
not God nor regards man," who wants to pursue a life of vice or crime, and conse-
quently fears woman's influence and power in the government. We assert further that
the anonymous scribblers who write slanders on our women and our territory to
the eastern press, are either fools, who know nothing about what they write, or else be-
long to that class of whom the poet says :
" No rogue e'er felt the halter draw
With good opinion of the law."
We took some pains to track up and find out the author of one of the articles against
woman suffrage to which our attention was called, and found him working on the
streets of Cheyenne, with a ball and chain to his leg. We think he was probably an
average specimen of these writers. And, finally, we challenge residents in Wyoming
who disagree with the foregoing sentiments, and who endorse the vile slanders to
which we refer, to come out over their own signature and in their own local papers and
take issue with us, and our columns shall be freely opened to them.
There are some obvious inferences to be drawn and some rather re-
markable lessons to be learned, from the foregoing narrative. In the
first place, the responsibilities of self government, with the necessity of
making their own laws, was delegated to a people, strangers to each other,
with very little experience or knowledge in such matters, and composed
of various nationalities, with a very large percentage of the criminal
classes. It is a matter of surprise that they should have so soon settled
themselves into an orderly community, where all the rights of person and
property are well protected, and as carefully guarded and fully respected
as in any of our old eastern commonwealths. It is a still greater surprise
that a legislature selected by such a constituency, under such circum-
stances as characterized our first election, and composed of such men as
were in fact elected, should have been able to enact a body of laws con-
Public Opinion. 747
taining so much that was good and practicable, and so little that was in-
judicious, unwise or vicious. ,
In the next place, it is evident that there was no public sentiment de-
manding the passage of the woman suffrage law, and but few advocates
of it at that time in the territory; that its adoption, under such circum-
stances, was not calculated to give it a fair chance to exert a favorable in-
fluence in the community, or even maintain itself among the permanent
customs and laws of the territory. The prospect was, that it would either
remain a dead letter, or be swept away under the ridicule and abuse of the
press, and the open attacks of its enemies. But it has withstood all these
adverse forces, and from small beginnings has grown to be a permanent
power in our politics, a vital institution, satisfactory to all our people.
The far-reaching benefits it will yet accomplish can be easily foreseen.
To make either individuals or classes respected and induce them to respect
themselves, you must give them power and influence, a fair field and full
enjoyment of the results of their labors. We have made a very creditable
beginning in this direction, so far as woman is concerned, and we have
no doubts about the outcome of it. Wyoming treats all her citizens alike,
and offers full protection, equal rewards, and equal power, to both men
and women.
Again it is very evident that while our women take no active part in the
primary nomination of candidates for office, they exercise a most potent
influence by the independent manner in which they vote, and the signal
defeat they inflict on many unworthy candidates. Their successful oppo-
sition to the power of the bar-rooms is a notable and praiseworthy in-
stance of the wise use of newly-acquired rights. The saloon-keepers
used to sell themselves to that party, or that man, who would pay the
most, and while robbing the candidates, degraded the elections and de-
bauched the electors. So long as it was understood that in order to
secure an election it was necessary to secure the rum-shops, good men
were left out of the field, and unscrupulous ones were sought after as
candidates. The women have already greatly modified this state of affairs
and are likely to change it entirely in the end.
Another wonderful consequence which has attended the presence of
women at the polls, is the uniform quiet and good order on election
day. All the police that could be mustered, could not insure half the de-
corum that their simple presence has everywhere secured. No man, not
even a drunken one, is willing to act like a rowdy when he knows the
women will see him. Nor is he at all anxious to expose himself in their
presence when he knows he has drank too much. Such men quit the
polls, and slink out of the streets, to hide themselves from the eyes of the
women in the obscurity of the drinking shops.
Another fact of great importance is the uniform testimony as to
woman's success as a juror. It is true that there has been but a limited
opportunity, thus far, to establish this as a fact beyond all doubt. But a
good beginning has been made, a favorable impression produced, and
no bad results have accompanied or followed the experiment. If our
jury system of trying cases is to be preserved, as a tolerable method of set-
748 History of Woman Suffrage.
tling disputes and administering justice in our courts, every one will admit
that a great improvement in the character of the jurors must be speedily
found. At present, a jury trial is generally regarded as a farce, or some-
thing worse. The proof of this is seen in the fact that in most of our
courts the judges are required to try all cases without a jury, where the
parties to the action consent, and that in a great portion of the cases the
parties do consent.
Another notable observation is the rapid growth of opinion in favor
of woman suffrage among our people, after its first adoption ; but more
particularly the change effected in the minds of the new settlers, who
come to the territory with old prejudices and fixed notions against it.
Neither early education, nor personal bias, nor party rancor, has been
able to withstand the overwhelming evidence of its good effects, and of its
elevating and purifying influence in our political and social organization.
I must add, in conclusion, that the seventh legislature of our territory
has just closed its session of sixty days. It was composed of more mem-
bers than the earlier legislatures were, there being thirteen in the Council
and twenty-six in the House. Many important questions came up for
consideration, and a wide field of discussion was traveled over, but not
one word was at any time spoken by any member against woman suffrage.
Hon. M. C. Brown, district-attorney for the territory, confirms
the testimony given by the judges and Governor Campbell, in a
letter to the National Suffrage Convention held in Washington
in 1884. which will be found in the pamphlet report of that year.
CHAPTER LIII.
CALIFORNIA.
Liberal Provisions in the Constitution — Elizabeth T. Schenck — Eliza W. Farnham —
Mrs. Mills' Seminary, now a State Institution — Jeannie Carr, State Superintendent
of Schools — First Awakening — The Revolution — Anna Dickinson — Mrs. Gordon
Addresses the Legislature, 1868 — Mrs. Pitts Stevens Edits The Pioneer — First
Suffrage Society on the Pacific Coast, 1869 — State Convention, January 26, 1870,
Mrs. Wallis, President — State Association Formed, Mrs. Haskell of Petaluma,
President — Mrs. Gordon Nominated for Senator — In 1871, Mrs. Stanton and Miss
Anthony Visit California — Hon. A. A. Sargent Speaks in Favor of Suffrage for
Woman — Ellen Clarke Sargent Active in the Movement — Legislation Making
Women Eligible to Hold School Offices, 1873 — July 10, 1873, State Society In-
corporated, Sarah Wallis, President — Mrs. Clara Foltz — A Bill Giving Women
the Right to Practice Law — The Bill Passed and Signed by the Governor — Contest
Over Admitting Women into the Law Department of the University — Supreme
Court Decision Favorable — Hon. A. A. Sargent on the Constitution and Laws —
Journalists and Printers — Silk Culture — Legislative Appropriation — Mrs. Knox
Goodrich Celebrates July 4, 1876 — Imposing Demonstration — Ladies in the Pro-
THE central figure in the seal of California is the presiding
goddess of that State, her spear in one hand, the other resting
on her shield, the cabalistic word " Eureka" over her head and a
bear crouching quietly at her feet. She seems to be calmly con-
templating the magnificent harbor within the Golden Gate. The
shadows on the distant mountains, the richly-laden vessels and
the floating clouds indicate the peaceful sunset hour, and the
goddess/in harmony with the scene is seated at her ease, as if
after many weary wanderings in search of an earthly Paradise
she had found at last the land of perennial summers, fruits and
flowers — a land of wonders, with its mammoth trees, majestic
mountain-ranges and that miracle of grandeur and beauty, the
Yosemite Valley. Verily it seems as if bounteous Nature in
finishing the Pacific Slope did her best to inspire the citizens of
that young civilization with love and reverence for the beautiful
and grand.
California, admitted to the Union in 1850, owing to the erratic
character of her early population, has passed through more vicis-
750 History of Woman Suffrage.
situdes than any other State, but she secured at last social order,
justice in her courts and a somewhat liberal constitution, as far
as the personal and property rights of the " white male citizen "
were concerned. By its provisions —
All legal distinctions between individuals on religious grounds are pro-
hibited ; the utmost freedom of assembling, of speech and of the press is
allowed, subject only to restraint for abuse ; there is no imprisonment
for debt, except where fraud can be proved ; slavery and involuntary
servitude, except for crime, are prohibited ; wives are secured in their
separate rights of property ; the exemption of a part of the homestead
and other property of heads of families from forced sale is recognized.
So far so good ; but while the constitution limits the franchise
to every " white male citizen " over twenty-one, who has been a
resident of the State six months, and thus makes outlaws and
pariahs of all the noble women who endured the hardships of
the journey by land or by sea to that country in the early days,
who helped to make it all that it is, that instrument cannot be
said to secure justice, equality and liberty to all its citizens.
The position in the constitution and laws of that vast territory,
of the real woman who shares the every-day trials and hardships
of her sires and sons inspires no corresponding admiration and
respect, with the ideal one who gilds and glorifies the great seal
of the State.
For the main facts of this chapter we are indebted to Elizabeth
T. Schenck.* She says :
Out of the stirring scenes and tragical events characterizing the early
days of California one can well understand that there came of necessity
many brave and adventurous argonauts and many women of superior
mental force, from among whom in after years the woman suffrage cause
might receive most devoted adherents. For nearly a score of years
after the great incursion of gold-seekers into this newly-acquired State
no word was uttered by tongue or pen demanding political equality for
women — none at least which reached the public ear. There were no pre-
ceding causes, as in the older States, to stimulate the discussion of the
question, and even that mental amazon, Eliza W. Farnham who was one
of the distinguished pioneers of California, gathered her inspiration from
* Having spent several days with Mrs. Schenck, in her cozy, artistic home surrounded with a hedge of
brilliant geraniums, I can readily testify to the many virtues and attractions her large circle of friends
has always accorded her. From all I had heard I was prepared to find Mrs. Schenck a woman of
remarkable cultivation and research, and I was not disappointed. Refined, honorable in her feeling,
clear in her judgments of men and measures, just and upright In all her words and actions, she was
indeed the fitting leader for the uprising of women on the Pacific Slope. The preparation of this chapter
occupied the last year of her life, her one wish to live was to complete the task, but when her failing
powers made that impossible she charged her friend Mrs. Manning, with whom she resided, to take
up the work that had fallen from her hands and make a fair record of all that had been done and said,
by her noble coadjutors, who had labored so faithfully to inaugurate the greatest reform of the century.
— [E. C. S.
Laura De Force Gordon. 751
afar, and thought and wrote for the whole world of women without once
sounding the tocsin for woman's political emancipation. Many of
the women who braved the perils of the treacherous deep, or still more
terrible dangers of the weary march over broad deserts, inhospitable
mountains, and through the fastnesses of hostile and merciless Indians,
to reach California in the early times, entertained broad views upon
the intellectual capacity and political rights of women, but their efforts
were confined to fields of literature. While this advanced guard of pro-
gressive women was moulding into form a social system out of the
turbulent and disorganized masses thrown together by the rapidly-
increasing population from all parts of the globe, the elements were
aggregating which in after years produced powerful, outspoken thought
and earnest action in behalf of disfranchised women.
Here as elsewhere women took the lead in school matters and were
the most capable and efficient educators from the days of " "49." One of
our permanent State institutions, Mills' Seminary, was founded by a
woman whose name it bears, and who, assisted by her husband, Rev. Mr.
Mills, conducted the school for nearly a quarter of a century, until by an
act of the legislature, she conveyed it to the State. Several prin-
cipals of the public schools in San Francisco have held their positions
for over twenty consecutive years. Mrs. Jeanne Carr, deputy state
superintendent of public instruction from 1871 to 1875, was succeeded by
Mrs. Kate M. Campbell, who served most efficiently for the full term.
During Mrs. Carr's public service she visited nearly every county in the
State, attending teachers' institutes, and lecturing upon educational topics
with great ability. For many years women have been eligible to school
offices in California and there is not a county in the State where women
have not filled positions as trustees or been elected to the office of county
superintendent.* Mrs. Coleman has been reeleeted to that office in Shasta
county, and Mrs. E. W. Sullivan in Mono county has served for several
terms.
The first attempt to awaken the public mind to the question of suffrage
for woman was a lecture given by Laura De Force Gordon in Platt's
Hall, San Francisco, Feburary 19, 1868. Although the attendance was
small, a few earnest women were there t who formed the nucleus of
what followed. Soon after Mrs. Gordon addressed the legislature in the
senate-chamber at Sacramento, and made an eloquent appeal for the politi-
cal rights of women. Among the audience were many members of the
legislature who became very deeply impressed with the justice of her
*Among them are Laura Fowler, Kate Kennedy, Mary N. Wadleigh, Trinity County ; Anna L.
Spencer, Alpine ; Mrs. D. M. Coleman, Shasta ; Miss A. L. Irish, Mono ; Los Angeles City Board of
Education has three women out of its five members, to-wit., Mrs. C. B. Jones (chairman), Mrs. M. A.
Hodgkins (secretary), Mrs. M. Graham. Oakland Board, Miss A. Aldrich ; Sacramento, Charlotte
Slater ; San Jose, Mrs. B. L. Hollenbeck. Sister Mary Frances of the order of " Sisters of Charity "
came to California in 1849, and devoted her great energies, and rare accomplishments, to the cause of
education up to the time of her demise in April, 1881. Annie Haven, Miss Prince, Miss Austin, and a
host of others have been successful in the same field of labor, including Miss Merweidel, founder
of the kindergarten system in San Francisco.
t Among them were Mrs. Sarah Wallis of Mayfield, Mrs. E. T. Schenck, Mrs. L. M. Clarke, Emily
Pitts (afterwards Mrs. Stevens of San Francisco).
752 History of Woman Suffrage.
demand, including the subsequent governor of the State, George C.
Perkins, then senator from Butte county. Soon afterwards Mrs. Gordon
removed to Nevada, and no more lectures on woman suffrage were given
until the visit of Anna Dickinson in the summer of 1869.
The way was being prepared however, for further agitation by the
appearance of The Revolution in 1868 in New York, which was hailed by
the women of California (as elsewhere) as the harbinger of a brighter and
better era. Its well filled pages were eagerly read and passed from hand
to hand, 'and the effect of its startling assertions was soon apparent. Mrs.
Pitts Stevens had about that time secured a proprietary interest fn the
San Francisco Mercury, and was gradually educating her readers up to a
degree of liberality to endorse suffrage. Early in 1869 she became sole
proprietor, changing the name to Pioneer, and threw the woman suffrage
banner to the breeze in an editorial of marked ability.
The organization of the National Woman Suffrage Association in New
York, May, 1869, gave fresh impetus to the movement, and the appoint-
ment of Mrs. Elizabeth T. Schenck as vice-president for California by that
association, met with the approval of all those interested in the movement.
Soon after this Mrs. Schenck with her gifted ally, Mrs. Stevens, decided to
organize a suffrage society, and at an impromptu meeting of some of the
friends at the residence of Mrs. Nellie Hutchinson, July 27, 1869, the first
association for this purpose on the Pacific coast was formed. There were
just a sufficient number of members * to fill the offices. This society grew
rapidly and within a month the parlors were found inadequate to the
constantly increasing numbers. Through the courtesy of the Mercantile
Library Association their commodious apartments were secured.
The advent of Anna Dickinson afforded the ladies an opportunity to
attest their admiration for her as a representative woman, which they did,
giving her a public breakfast, September 14. Their honored guest appre-
ciated the compliment ; and in an earnest and eloquent speech referred
to it, saying that although she had received many demonstrations of the
kind, this was the first ever given her exclusively by her own sex.t
Soon after Miss Dickinson's departure, Mrs. Schenck, much to the re-
gret of the society, resigned the chair, and Mrs. J. W. Stow was appointed
to fill the vacancy. The ladies having for some time considered the or-
ganizing of a State Society of great importance, it was decided to hold a
grand mass convention for that purpose. There was need of funds to carry
forward the work, and a course of three lectures was suggested as a means
to raise money. This carried, on motion of Mrs. Stow, and her offer to de-
liver the first lecture of the course was accepted. All the members of
the society devoted their energies to secure the success of the undertak-
ing. Many of them engaged in selling tickets for the two weeks inter-
* President, Elizabeth T. Schenck; Vice-President, Emily Pitts Stevens; Recording Secretary^
Mrs. Hutchinson ; Corresponding Secretary •, Mrs. Celia Curtis ; Treasurer, Mrs S. J. Corbett.
t The following persons were present : Mrs. E. T. Schenck, president of Woman Suffrage Associa-
sion of San Francisco ; Mrs. E. Pitts Stevens, Mrs. Celia Curtis, Mrs. Walton, Mrs. Watson, Mrs. S. J.
Corbett, M. D.; Mary Collins, Mrs. E. P. Meade, M. D.; Mrs. Alpheus Bull, Mrs. James S. Bush, Mrs.
S. M. Clarke, Mrs. Judge Shafter, Mrs. Judge Burke, Mrs Thomas Varney, Mrs. R. B. Swain, Mrs.
Carlton Curtis, Mrs. T. Richardson, Mrs. I. W. Hobson, Mrs. Smythe, Mrs. J. W. Stow, Mrs. C. G.
Ames, Mrs. Barry and 30 others.
c
/'C i v
<?X£ C^^
•
The conventit .
vith "'•
return i :
meeting i
nblc.
•
LAI
iw gave the op<
48
Convention at San Francisco. 753
vening, and on November 2, Mrs. Stow gave her lecture to a large and in-
terested audience, taking for her theme, "Woman's Work." The
Rev. Mr. Hamilton followed, November 9, with "The Parlor and the
Harem," and the Rev. C. G. Ames concluded the course, November 18,
with " What Does it Mean?" The lectures were well received, and though
not particularly directed to the right of suffrage for women, succeeded in
attracting attention to the society under whose auspices they were given,
and helped it financially. About this time Mrs. Gordon returned from the
East and took an active part in canvassing the State, lecturing and form-
ing county societies preparatory to securing as large a representation as
possible at the coming convention. The following report of the proceed-
ings is taken from the San Francisco dailies :
The convention to form a State Woman Suffrage Society, held its first meeting in
Dashaway Hall, Wednesday afternoon, January 26, 1870. The hall was well filled.
Mrs. E. T. Schenck, vice-president of the National Association, was chosen president,
pro. tern., and Miss Kate Atkinson, Secretary. A committee on credentials was ap-
pointed by the chair, consisting of one member from each organization.* During
the absence of the committee quite an animated discussion arose as to the admission
of delegates. Mrs. Gordon said the greatest possible liberality should be exercised in
admitting persons to the right to speak and vote; that all who signed the roll, paid the
fee, and expressed themselves in sympathy with the movement, should be admitted.
After some discussion, Mrs. Gordon's views prevailed, and the names of those who
chose to qualify themselves were enrolled. About I2O delegates were thus chosen
from nine suffrage societies in different parts of the State. Many counties were repre-
sented in which no organizations had yet been formed. Some rather humorous dis-
cussion was had as to whether the president should be called Mrs. Chairman or Mrs.
Chairwoman. The venerable Mr. Spear arose and suggested the title be Mrs. Presi-
dent, which was adopted. Mrs. Gordon said she had noticed that when questions
were put to the meeting not more than a dozen timid voices could be heard saying
" aye," or " no." The ladies must not sit like mummies, but open their mouths and
vote audibly. This disinclination to do business in a business-like way, is discredit-
able. (Cheers). Mrs. Gordon's hint was taken, and unequivocal demonstration of
voices was made thereafter upon the taking of each vote. Long before the time ar-
rived for the evening session, the hall in every part, platform, floor and gallery, was
crowded, and large numbers were unable to gain entrance.
The Committee on Permanent Organization presented the following names for offi-
cers of the convention : President, Mrs. Wallis of Mayfield ; Vice-PresiJents, J. A.
Collins, C. G. Ames, Mrs. Mary W. Coggins; Secretaries, Mrs. McKee, Mrs. Rider,
Mrs. Perry; Treasurer, Mrs. Collins. On motion, Mrs. Haskell and Mrs. Ames
escorted the president to the rostrum, and introduced her to the convention. Mrs.
Wallis is a lady of imposing presence, and very earnest in the movement. Upon
being introduced she said :
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN — I thank you for this expression of your high esteem and
confidence in electing me to preside over your deliberations. I regard this as a severe
ordeal, but, having already been tested in this respect, I do not fear the trials to come.
I shall persevere until the emancipation of women is effected, and in order to fulfill my
duties successfully upon this occasion, I ask the hearty cooperation of all. [Applause],
Mrs. Stow gave the opening address, after which delegates f from various localities
made interesting reports. An able series of resolutions was presented and dis-
* Rev. C. G. Ames, San Francisco ; Mrs. S. S. Allyn, Oakland ; Mrs. Sarah Wallis, Mayfield ; Mrs.
Bowman, Sacramento ; Mrs. Georgiana Bruce Kirby, Santa Cruz ; Mrs. Fannie Kingsbury, San Diego ;
Mrs. Elmira Eddy, Nevada ; Mrs. A. A. Haskell, Petaluma ; Minnie H. McKee, Santa Clara.
t See Appendix to California chapter.
48
754 History of Woman Suffrage.
cussed at length by various members of the convention, and letters of sympathy were
read from friends throughout the country.*
From the first session, some anxiety was felt regarding the action of
the State Society in affiliating with one of the two rival associations in
the East. The Rev. C. G. Ames of San Francisco, whose wife had been in
attendance upon the Cleveland convention of the American Association,
was appointed vice-president for California, while Mrs. E. T. Schenck had
been appointed vice-president by the National Association. In addi-
tion to the names of officers of county societies appended to the call
for this convention, both Mrs. Schenck and Mrs. Ames signed in their
official capacity, as vice-president of their respective Associations. Under
these circumstances it was not strange that a spirit of rivalry should mani-
fest itself, but it was unfortunate that it was carried so far as to breed dis-
turbance in this infant organization. The leading women looked upon
Mrs. E. Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony as among the first who
organized the suffrage movement in the United States, and therefore felt
that it was due to them that our California Society which owed its exist-
ence mainly to the efforts of Mrs. Schenck whom they had appointed
vice-president for California, should show its loyalty, devotion and grati-
tude to them, by becoming auxiliary to the National Association. On the
other hand, Rev. C. G. Ames, being an enthusiastic admirer of some of the
leading spirits in the American Association, desired it to be auxiliary to
that. This conflict having been foreshadowed, a letter was writ-
ten to Miss Anthony in relation to it. Her reply was received by Mrs.
Schenck on the first day of the convention, breathing a noble spirit of un-
selfishness, advising us not to allow any personal feelings towards Mrs.
Stanton or herself to influence us in the matter, but rather to keep our
association entirely independent, free to cooperate with all societies hav-
ing for their object the enfranchisement of woman. Accordingly, the
following resolution was almost unanimously adopted :
Resolved, That the California Woman Suffrage Society remain independent of all
other associations for one year.
The result was satisfactory to Mrs. Schenck and her sympathizers, but
Mr. Ames seemed loth to relinquish his preference for the American, and
the course taken had the effect of lessening his zeal and that of his
followers, until they gradually dropped from the ranks. But the
convention, despite the unfortunate schism, was a grand success. The
sessions were crowded, and so great was the interest awakened in
the public mind that a final adjournment was not had until Saturday
night, after four days of earnest, profitable work. The press of the city
gave full and fair reports of the proceedings, though very far from en-
dorsing woman's claim to suffrage, and men and women of all classes and
* At the close of the convention a State society was organized, with the following officers : Presi-
dent^ Mrs. A. A. Haskell of Petaluma ; I'ice-Presidents, Mrs. J. W. McComb of San Francisco, Mrs.
Denio of Solano, Mrs. Kingsbury of San Diego, Mrs. E. J. Hall of Los Angeles, Mrs. Eddy of Nevada,
Mrs. Lewis of Sacramento, Mrs. Kirby of Santa Cruz, Mrs. Agnes Eager of Alamcda, Mrs. Watkins of
Santa Clara, Mrs. L. D. Latimer of Sonoma; Secretary, Mrs. Minnie McKee of Santa Clara. Board
of Control, Mrs.C. H. Spear, Mrs. C. G.Ames, Mrs. Minnie Edwards, Mrs. Celia Curtis, Miss Laura
Fowler, Mr. John A. Collins, Miss Kate Atkinson, Mrs. Pitts Stevens.
Attitude of the Press. 755
professions took an active part in the deliberations. But of the multitude
who met in that first woman suffrage convention on the Pacific coast
but few were prominent in after years.
The newly organized society immediately arranged to send a delegation
to Sacramento, to present to the legislature then in session a petition for
woman suffrage. The delegation consisted of Laura DeForce Gordon,
Caroline H. Spear and Laura Cuppy Smith, who were accorded a hearing
before a special committee of the Senate, of which the venerable Judge
Tweed, an able advocate of woman suffrage, was chairman. The proceed-
ing was without a parallel in the history of the State. The novelty of
women addressing the legislature attracted universal attention, and the
newspapers were filled with reports of that important meeting.
During the year 1870 a general agitation was kept up. A number of
speakers* held meetings in various parts of the State. The newspapers
were constrained to notice this all-absorbing topic, though most of them
were opposed to the innovation, and maintained a bitter war against its
advocates. Prominent among them was the sensational San Francisco
Chronicle followed by the Bulletin, the Call, and in its usual negative style,
the Alta, while the Examiner mildly ridiculed the subject, and a score of
lesser journalistic lights throughout the State exhibited open hostility to
woman suffrage, or simply mentioned the fact of its agitation as a matter
of news. But the brave pioneers in this unpopular movement received
kindly sympathy and encouragement from some journals of influence, first
among which was the San Francisco Post, then under the management of
that popular journalist, Harry George, afterwards distinguished as the
author of " Progress and Poverty." The San Jose Mercury was our
friend from the first, and its fearless and able editor, J. J. Owen, ac-
cepted the office of president of the State woman suffrage society to which
he was elected in 1878. The Sacramento Bee also did valiant service in
defending and advocating woman's political equality, its veteran editor,
James McClatchy, being a man of liberal views and great breadth of
thought, whose powerful pen was wielded in advocacy of justice to all
until his death, which occurred in October, 1883. There were several
county journals that spoke kind wqrds in our behalf, and occasionally one
under the editorial management of a woman would fearlessly advocate
political equality.
During the year of 1870, Mrs. Gordon traveled extensively over the
State, delivering more than one hundred lectures, beside making an ex-
tended tour, in company with Mrs. Pitts Stevens, through Nevada, where
on the Fourth of July, at a convention held at Battle Mountain, the first
suffrage organization for that State was effected. In February, 1871, Mrs.
Gordon again lectured in Nevada, remaining several weeks in Carson
while the legislature was in session. She was invited by that body to ad-
dress them upon the proposed amendment to the State constitution to
allow women to vote, which amendment was lost by a majority of only
* Mrs. Kingsbury of San Diego, Mrs. H. F. M. Rrown, Addie L. Ballou, Paulina Roberts, Mrs. C.
H. Spear, Laura Cuppy Smith, Mrs. F. A. Logan, M. D., Mrs. C. M. Churchill, John A. Collins, and
a large number of local speakers, who aided in organizing societies, or in keeping up the interest in
those already formed. ,
756 History of Woman Suffrage.
two votes, obtained by a political trick, the question being voted upon
without a call of the House, when several members friendly to the meas-
ure were absent. The author of the proposed amendment was the Hon.
C. J. Hillier, a prominent lawyer of Virginia City, who, in bringing the
bill before the legislature in 1869, delivered one of the ablest arguments
ever given in favor of woman suffrage.
In 1871 Mrs. Gordon again made an extended tour through Cali-
fornia, Oregon, and Washington Territory, traveling mostly by stage, en-
during hardships, braving dangers and everywhere overcoming prejudice
and antagonism to strong-minded women, by the persuasiveness of her
arguments. In September, while lecturing in Seattle, a telegram in-
formed her of her nomination by the Independent party of San Joaquin
county for the office of State senator, requesting her immediate re-
turn to California. This necessitated a journey of nearly a thousand
miles, one-half by stage-coach. Six days of continuous travel brought
her to Stockton, where she entered at once upon the senatorial campaign.
Mrs. Gordon spoke every night until election, and succeeded in awakening
a lively interest in her own candidacy and in the subject of woman
suffrage. Her eligibility to the office was vehemently denied, par-
ticularly by Republicans, who were badly frightened at the appear-
ance of this unlooked-for rival. The pulpit, press, and stump speakers
alternated in ridiculing the idea of a woman being allowed to take a seat
in the Senate, even if elected. The Democratic party, being in the minority,
offered but little opposition, and watched with great amusement this un-
equal contest between the great dominant party on the one side, and the
little Spartan band on the other. The contest was as exciting as it was
brief, and despite the great odds of money, official power, political superi-
ority, and the perfect machinery of party organization in favor of her
opponents, Mrs. Gordon received about 200 votes, besides as many more
which were rejected owing to some technical irregularity. Among those
who took part in that novel campaign and deserving special mention, was
the venerable pioneer familiarly called Uncle Jarvis, who had voted a
straight Whig or Republican ticket for fifty years, and who for the first
time in his life scratched his ticket and voted for Mrs. Gordon.
In July, 1871, California was favored by a visit from Mrs. Stanton and
Miss Anthony, who awakened new interest wherever their logical and
eloquent appeals were heard. Their advent was hailed with joy, and they
received marked attention from all classes, the clergy not excepted.
Every lecture given by them drew out large assemblies of the most
influential of the citizens. Indeed, they received a continual ovation dur-
ing their stay in San Francisco. After Mrs. Stanton returned to New
York, Miss Anthony remained and traveled in California, Nevada, Oregon
and Washington Territory several months, speaking at conventions held
in San Francisco and Sacramento, besides lecturing in all the principal
towns, winning for herself great praise, and a deeper respect for the cause
she so ably represented. A complimentary banquet was tendered her in
San Francisco on the eve of her departure eastward, at which eighty
guests, distinguished in art, literature and social life, sat down to a sump-
tuous collation spread in the Grand Hotel.
Clara S. Foltz. 757
In the early part of that year, 1871, Hon. A. A. Sargent and wife returned
to California from Washington, his term as representative having expired,
and both took an active part in the work of woman's political enfranchise-
ment. Mr. Sargent, with commendable bravery, which under the cir-
cumstances was indeed a test of courage, delivered an address in favor of
woman suffrage at a convention held in San Francisco, just on the eve of
an important political campaign, in which he was a candidate for reelec-
tion to congress, and also to the United States Senate. Of course, those
opposed to woman suffrage tried to make capital out of it against him,
but without avail, for that able and distinguished statesman was elected
to both offices, his term as representative expiring before he would be
called upon to take his seat in the United States Senate. His noble wife,
Ellen Clark Sargent, took an active interest in all the woman suffrage
meetings, and in November, 1871, was appointed, as was also Mrs. Gor-
don, to represent California in the National convention to be held in
Washington in January, 1872.
During the session of the California legislature in 1871-2 a delegation
from the State Society visited Sacramento and was accorded a hearing
in the Assembly-chamber before the Judiciary Committee of that body.
Addresses were made by Mrs. Pitts Stevens, Mrs. A. A. Haskell, Mrs. E.
A. H. DeWolf and Hon. John A. Collins.
During the session of 1873-4 a bill was passed by the legislature making
women eligible to school offices, and also one which provided that all
women employed in the public schools should receive the same compen-
sation as men holding the same grade certificates.
Mrs. Laura Morton has filled and ably discharged the office of assistant
State librarian for the past ten years. Mrs. Mandeville was deputy-con-
troller during the Democratic administration of Governor Irwin, and
proved herself fully capable of discharging the duties of that responsible
office ; while for several years women have been elected to various posi-
tions in the legislature and employed as clerks.
July 10, 1873, the Woman Suffrage Society was incorporated under the
laws of the State, with Mrs. Sarah Wallis, president. Mrs. Clara S. Foltz,
a brilliant young woman who had begun the study of law in San Jose,
knew the statutes permitted no woman to be admitted to the bar, and
early in the session of 1877 drafted a bill amending the code in favor of
women, and sent it to Senator Murphy of Santa Clara to be presented.
Five years before this, however, Mrs. Nettie Tator had applied for admis-
sion to the bar at Santa Cruz. A committee of prominent attorneys ap-
pointed by the court examined her qualifications as a lawyer. She passed
creditably and was unanimously recommended by the committee, when
it was discovered that the law would not admit women to that learned
profession.
Following the presentation of Mrs. Foltz' bill, Mrs. Knox Goodrich,
Laura Watkins, Mrs. Wallis and Laura De Force Gordon were appointed
by the State Society a committee to visit Sacramento during the session
and use their influence to secure the passage of the "Woman's Lawyer
Bill," as it was termed, and to petition for suffrage. Mrs. Gordon, who
758 History of Woman Suffrage.
was also reading law, was in Sacramento as editorial correspondent for
her paper, the Daily Democrat of Oakland, and had ample opportunity to
render valuable service to the cause she had so much at heart. The bill
passed the Senate by a vote of 22 to 9, being ably advocated by Senators
N. Green Curtis, Judge Niles Searles of Nevada county, Creed Haymond
of Sacramento, and Joseph Craig of Yolo. In the Assembly, after weeks
of tedious delajr and almost endless debate, the bill was indefinitely post-
poned by a majority of one. By the persistent efforts of Assemblymen
Grove L. Johnson of Sacramento, R. W. Murphy, Charles Gildea and Dr.
May of San Francisco, the bill was brought up on reconsideration
and passed by two majority. The session was within three days of its
close, and so bitter was the opposition to the bill that an effort was made
to prevent its engrossment in time to be presented for the governor's
signature. The women and their allies, who were on the watch for tricks,
defeated the scheme of their enemies and had the bill duly presented to
Governor Irwin, but not till the last day of the session. Then the sus-
pense became painful to those most interested lest it might not receive
his approval. Mrs. Gordon, as editor of a Democratic journal, asserted
her claims to some recognition from that party and strongly urged that
a Democratic governor should sign the bill. Aided by a personal appeal
from Senator Niles Searles to his excellency, her efforts were crowned
with success ; the governor's message sent to the Senate, when the hands
of the clock pointed to fifteen minutes of twelve, midnight (at which hour
the president's gavel would descend with the words adjourning the Senate
sine die), announced that Senate bill number 66, which permitted the admis-
sion of women to all the courts of the State, had received his approval.
There was great rejoicing over this victory among the friends everywhere,
though the battle was not yet ended.
The same legislature had passed a bill accepting the munificent dona-
tion to the State of $100,000 from Judge Hastings to found the Hastings
College of Law, on condition that it be the law department of the State
University, and the college was duly opened for the admission of students.
At the beginning of the December term Mrs. Foltz, who had been ad-
mitted to the District Court in San Jose (being the first woman ever
admitted to any court in the State), came to San Francisco, and with Mrs.
Gordon applied for admission to the law college. The dean, Judge Has-
tings, himself opposed to women being received as students, told them it
was a matter that must be laid before the board of directors, but that
they could attend the lectures ad interim. Three days later they were
informed that their application had been denied. Satisfied that the law
was in their favor, they immediately appealed to the courts. To save time
Mrs. Gordon applied to the Supreme Court and Mrs. Foltz to the Dis-
trict Court, simultaneously, for a writ of mandamus to compel the
directors to act in obedience to the law which, the petitioners claimed,
did not discriminate against women in founding the State University or
its departments. The Supreme Court, wishing perhaps to shirk the
responsibility of acting in the first instance, sent their petitioner, Mrs.
Gordon, to the lower court, which had in the meantime ordered the writ
An Important Legal Contest. 759
to issue for Mrs. Foltz ; so it was decided to make hers the test-case, and
by the courtesy of Judge Morrison, now chief-justice of the Supreme
Court, Mrs. Gordon was joined with Mrs. Foltz in the prosecution of the
cause. The board of directors of the college consisted of the chief-justice
of the Supreme Bench and seven other lawyers, among the most distin-
guished and able in the State. The case attracted great attention and
deep interest was taken in the proceedings. Judges Lake and Cope, who
were ex-justices of the Supreme Court, assisted by T. B. Bishop, another
learned practitioner at the bar, were arrayed as counsel for the defense
against these comparatively young students in the law, who appeared
unaided in their own behalf. After one of the most interesting legal con-
tests in the history of the State these women came off victors, and the
good-natured public, through the press, offered them congratulations.
But the defendants would not yield without a stubborn resistance and
carried their cause on appeal to the Supreme Court; hence many months
elapsed before the final struggle came, but victory again rewarded the
petitioners, the Supreme Court deciding that women should be admitted
to the law department of the State University. Although excluded
from the benefit of the lectures in the college, Mesdames Gordon and
Foltz had improved their time in study, and in December, 1879, both were
admitted to the Supreme Court of the State, after a thorough examination.
Prior to this legal contest, in the summer of 1878, when delegates to
the constitutional convention were to be elected, Mrs. Gordon, urged by
her friends in San Joaquin county, became an independent candidate only
a week or two before the election. With Mrs. Foltz she made a very
brief though brilliant canvass, attracting larger and more enthusiastic
audiences than any other speaker. Mrs. Gordon received several hun-
dred votes for the office, and felt compensated for the time and money
spent by the great interest awakened in the subject of woman suffrage.
As soon as the constitutional convention assembled in September,
Mrs. Gordon, although still pursuing her legal studies, was able as a news-
paper correspondent to closely watch the deliberations of that body and
urge the insertion of a woman suffrage clause in the new organic law.
The State Society delegated Mrs. Knox Goodrich, Mrs. Sarah Wallis and
Mrs. Watkins to join Mrs. Gordon in pressing the claims of woman, but
the opposition was too strong and the suffrage clause remained declaring
male citizens entitled to vote, though a section in the bill of rights, to-
gether with other provisions in the new constitution, renders it quite
probable that the legislature has the right to enfranchise women without
having to amend the organic law. At all events the new instrument is
far more favorable to women than the old, as will now be shown. The
agitation of the question of the admission of women to the Law College,
which began during the session of the convention, led that body to in-
corporate the following provision in the constitution :
ARTICLE II., SEC. 18. No person shall be debarred admission to any of the collegi-
ate departments of the State University on account of sex.
Remembering the hard struggle by which the right to practice law had
been secured to women, and the danger of leaving it to the caprice of
760 History of Woman Suffrage.
future legislatures, Mrs. Gordon drafted a clause which protects women
in all lawful vocations, and by persistent effort succeeded in getting it in-
serted in the new constitution, as follows :
ARTICLE XX., SEC. 18. No person shall, on account of sex.be disqualified from en-
tering upon or pursuing any lawful business, vocation or profession.
The adoption of this clause, so valuable to women, was mainly accom-
plished by the skillful diplomacy of Hon. Charles S. Ringgold, delegate
from San Francisco, who introduced it in the convention and worked
faithfully for its adoption. Thus California stands to-day one of the first
States in the Union, as regards the educational, industrial and property
rights of women, and the probability of equal political rights being se-
cured to them at an early day, is conceded by the most conservative.
About the time Mrs. Foltz and Mrs. Gordon were admitted to the bar,
they, as chief officers of the State W. S. S. (incorporated), called a con-
vention in San Francisco. It convened in February, 1880, and was well
attended. Mrs. Sargent took an active part in the meetings, occupied the
chair as president pro tern., and subsequently spoke of the work done by
the National Association in Washington. Several prominent officials, un-
able to be present, sent letters heartily endorsing our claims ; among these
were Governor Perkins, State Senator Chace, and A. M. Crane, judge of
the Superior Court. Addresses were delivered by Judge Swift, Marian
Todd and Mrs. Thorndyke of Los Angeles, Judge Palmer of Nevada city,
and others. The newspapers of the city, though still hostile to the object
of the convention, gave very fair reports. In September following, the an-
nual meeting of the society was held, and made particularly interesting by
the fact that the proposed new city charter, which contained a clause pro-
scriptive of women, was denounced, and a plan of action agreed upon
whereby its defeat should be secured, if possible, at the coming election.
The women worked assiduously against the adoption of the city charter,
and rejoiced to see it rejected by a large majority.
The following facts in regard to the constitution and statute laws of
California were sent us by the Hon. A. A. Sargent :
In 1879, California adopted a new constitution, by means of a constitutional conven-
tion. It was an unfortunate time for such organic legislation, for the reason that the
State was rife at the time with the agitation of " sand-lotters," as they were called, a
violent faction which assailed property rights and demanded extreme concessions to
labor. The balance of power in the constitutional convention was held by persons
elected by this element, and resulted in a constitution extraordinary in some of its feat-
.ures, but which was adopted by the people after a fierce contest.
Women fared badly at the hands of these constitution-makers, so far as suffrage is
concerned. Section I, article 2, confirms the right of voting to " every native male
-citizen," and "every male naturalized citizen," although a heroic effort was made by
.the friends of woman suffrage to keep out the word " male." But section 18, article
XX,, provides that " no person shall, on account of sex, be disqualified from entering
Upon Of pursuing any lawful business, vocation or profession."
Some years before, the State had adopted a " civil code," which was abreast of the
world in liberality to women. This code discarded the idea of any servility in the re-
lation of the wife to the husband. This code is still the law, and provides, in effect,
that husband and wife contract toward each other obligations of mutual respect,
fidelity and support. The husband is the head of the family, and may choose any
Achievements in Journalism. 761
reasonable place and mode of life, and the wife must conform thereto. Neither
has any interest in the property of the other, and neither can be excluded from the
other's dwelling. Either may enter into any engagement or transaction with the other,
or with any other person, respecting property, which either might if unmarried. They
may hold property as tenants in common or otherwise, with each other, and with
others. All property of the wife owned by her before marriage, and acquired after-
wards by gift, devise, bequest or descent, with the rents, issues and profit thereof, is
her separate property, and she may convey the same without his consent. All property
acquired after marriage is community property. The earnings of the wife are not liable
for the debts of the husband. Her earnings, and those of minor children in her cus-
tody, are her separate property. A married woman may dispose of her separate prop-
erty by will, without the consent of her husband, as if she were single. One-half of
the community property goes absolutely to the wife, on the death of the husband, and
cannot be diverted by his testamentary disposition. A married woman can carry on
business in her own name, on complying with certain formalities, and her stock, capi-
tal and earnings are not liable to her husband's creditors, or his intermeddling. The
husband and father, as such, has no rights superior to those of the wife and mother, in
regard to the care, custody, education and control of the children of their marriage,
while such husband and wife live separate and apart from each other.
The foregoing exhibits the spirit of the California law. It is believed by friends of
woman suffrage that had the convention been held under normal conditions, the word
"male" might have been eliminated from that instrument.
Several creditable attempts were early made in journalism. In 1855
Mrs. S. M. Clark published the weekly Contra Costa in Oakland. In
1858, The Hesperian, a semi-monthly magazine, was issued in San Fran-
cisco, Mrs. Hermione Day and Mrs. A. M. Shultz, editors. It was quite
an able periodical,* and finally passed into the hands of Elizabeth T.
Schenck.
As journalists and printers, women have met with encouraging success.
The most prominent among them is Laura DeForce Gordon, who began the
publication of the Daily Leader at Stockton in 1873, continued afterward
at Oakland as the Daily Democrat, until 1878. In Geo. P. Rowell's News-
paper Reporter for 1874, the Stockton Leader is announced as "the only
daily newspaper in the world edited and published by a woman." Mrs.
Boyer, known as " Dora Darmoor," published different magazines and
journals in San Francisco during a period of several years, the most suc-
cessful being the Golden Dawn. Mrs. Theresa Corlett has been connected
with various leading journals of San Francisco, and is well known as a
brilliant and interesting writer. Miss Madge Morris has not only made a
place for herself in light literature, but has been acting-clerk in the legis-
lature for several sessions. Mrs. Sarah M. Clark published a volume
entitled "Teachings of the Ages"; Mrs. Josephine Wolcott, a volume of
poems, called " The World of Song."
Mrs. Amanda Slocum Reed, one of our most efficient advocates of suf-
frage, has proved her executive ability, and capacity for business, by the
management of a large printing and publishing establishment for several
years. The liberal magazine called Common Sense, was published by her
and her husband — most of its original contents the product of her pen;
* Chief among its contributors were Eliza W. Farnham, Sarah M. Clark, Amanda Simonton Page,
Mrs. M. D. Strong, Fanny Green, Annie K. Fader, Eliza A. Pittsinger, Mrs. James Neal, Mrs. Eliza-
beth Williams.
762 History of Woman Suffrage.
and when the radicalism of her husband caused the suspension of that
journal in 1878, Mrs. Slocum began the publication of Roll Call, a temper-
ance magazine which was mainly edited by her gifted little daughter Clara,
only fifteen years old, who also set all the type. Among the earliest
printers of California was Lyle Lester. She established a printing
office in San Francisco in 1860, in which she employed a large number
of girls and women as compositors. Miss Delia Murphy — now Mrs. Dear-
ing — ranks with the best printers in San Francisco, and several women in
various portions of the State have taken like standing. " Mrs. Rich-
mond & Son," is the novel sign which decorates the front of a large print-
ing establishment on Montgomery street, San Francisco, known for many
years as the " Woman's Cooperative Printing Company," but which, in
fact, was always an individual enterprise. Mrs. Augusta DeForce Cluff
has entered upon her seventh year in practical journalism as publisher
of a sprightly weekly, the Valley Review, at Lodi, in which enterprise she
has met with remarkable success, being a superior business manager as
well as a facile and talented writer. Some of her little poems have great
merit. Mrs. Cluff and Mrs. Gordon have both filled official positions in
the Pacific Coast Press Association. Miss Mary Bogardus, the gifted
young daughter of that pioneer journalist, H. B. Bogardus, editor of
Figaro, is her father's main assistant in all the business of his office.
Mrs. Wittingham has been elected postmaster of the State Senate
several terms, and is at present employed in the U. S. branch mint in San
Francisco.
One of the most meritorious and successful enterprises occupying the
attention of the women of California, is the silk culture, which promises
to develop into one of the dominant industries of the nation. Mrs. G.
H. Hittel first brought the subject into public notice by able articles
on the cultivation of the mulberry tree, published in various journals.
In 1880 she formed the Ladies' Silk Culture Society of California. This
association like its predecessor, the first Woman Suffrage Society, was
organized and held its meetings in private parlors for a time, but it
soon required more room. Men have been taken into membership
since the object for which the society was formed seemed to be feasible,
and, as a natural result, whatever of financial and honorary reward may
be accorded the self-sacrificing women who performed the arduous and
thankless labor of founding the institution, will be shared with the men
who now come into the work.
During the session of the legislature of 1883, a committee was appointed
to ask an appropriation from the State for the purpose of establishing a
Filature or free silk-reeling school. After considerable delay the com-
mittee called to their aid Mrs. Gordon, and asked her to visit the State
capital and see what could be done. The session was rapidly drawing to
a close, and even the warmest friends of the measure feared that it was too
late to accomplish anything. But happily the bill was got through
both branches of the legislature and sent to the governor the last
hour of the session. By its provisions a State Board of Silk Culture was
created consisting of nine members, five of whom were to be women,
Women in the Industries. 763
and the sum of $7, 500 was appropriated. Thus women have begun and are
now fostering a great industrial enterprise which in the near future will
give to millions of hitherto unemployed or ill-paid women and children
an occupation peculiarly suited to them, and which will add millions of
dollars annually to the revenue of the country. Mrs. Florence Kimball
of San Diego county was appointed a member of the State Board of
Silk Commissioners by Governor Stoneman in 1883.
Since the expiration of their term as superintendents of the public
schools of the State, Dr. and Mrs. James Carr have made their home in
that loveliest spot of southern California — Passadena, where, overlooking
rich orange groves and luxurious vineyards, they enjoy the blessings of
prosperity, and where Mrs. Carr, with her ambitious, active nature, finds
congenial employment in demonstrating what woman can accomplish in
silk-culture, raisin-making, and the crystalizing of fruit.
Miss Austen, formerly a teacher in the public schools of San Francisco,
has a vineyard at Fresno, where she employs women and girls to prepare
all her considerable crop of raisins for market, conceded to be of the
best quality produced in the State. Mrs. Ellen McConnell Wilson of Sac-
ramento county, from the small beginning, twenty years ago, of 320 acres
of land, and less than 1,000 sheep, has now over 5,000 acres of rich farming
land and 6,000 sheep. Mrs. H. P. Gregory of Sacramento, left a widow
with a large family of little children, succeeded her husband in the ship-
ping and commission business in which he was engaged on a small scale.
From such a beginning, Mrs. Gregory has built up one of the largest
trades in that city, and has by judicious investments in real estate acquired
property of a value exceeding $100,000, besides having reared and edu-
cated her numerous family.
Mrs. Elizabeth Hill was one of the early settlers in Calaveras county,
where her husband located land on the Mokelumne river near Camanche
in 1855. Six years after she was left a widow with four little children.
The support of the family devolved upon the mother, and she engaged in
cultivating the land, adding thereto several hundred acres. In 1877
Mrs. Hill began the cultivation of the Persian-insect-powder plant, known
to commerce as Buhach. So successful has this venture proved that she
has now over 200 acres planted to that shrub, and manufactures each year
about fifteen tons of the Buhach powder, for which she finds a ready sale.
The number of women who have supported their families (often including
the husband), and acquired a competency in boarding and lodging-house
keeping, dressmaking, millinery, type-setting, painting, fancy work, stock-
dealing, and even in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits, is legion.
In regard to the position of women in medicine, Miss Elizabeth Sargent,
M. D., writes:
Women are admitted on equal terms with men to the medical and dental depart-
ments of the State University, and to the Cooper Medical College of Skn Francisco.
Women are also eligible to membership in the State and various county medical asso-
ciations, as well as in the dental association. There are in the State 73 women who
have been recognized by the authorities as qualified to practice. They may be classi-
fied as follows: Practitioners of regular medicine, 30, 16 of whom are established in
San Francisco; eclectics, 22, 9 in San Francisco; homceopathists, 21, 2 in San Fran-
764 History of Woman Siiffrage.
cisco. Among these physicians two make a specialty of the eye and ear, one in San
Francisco and one in San Jose. Two women have been graduated from the State Dental
College, located in San Francisco. In April, 1875, the Pacific Dispensary Hospital
for women and children was founded by women. In 1881 a training-school for nurses
was added. The hospital department, although admitting women, is intended
especially for children, and is the only children's hospital on the coast. The dis-
pensary is for out-patients, both women and children. The board of ten directors,
the resident and attending physicians of the hospital, and five out of the seven
connected with the dispensary are women. From a small beginning the institu-
tion has increased to importance, and bids fair to continue in its present prosperity and
capacity for good work. I have written thus lengthily that you may see how energetic
our women have been in originating and carrying on such an institution.
The most prominent literary woman of the coast is undoubtedly Miss
M. W. Shinn. She is a graduate of our State University and was the
medal scholar of her class. At present she is the editor of the Overland
Monthly, and the excellent prospects of the magazine are largely the result
of her own courage and the hard work she has done.
The higher education in the State is being put upon a secure basis.
Hon. Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford, have recently
given a great part of their vast fortune for the establishment of a uni-
versity which bids fair to be the foremost educational institution on the
continent. In a letter specifying his views in regard to the management
of the university, Governor Stanford says :
We deem it of the first importance that the education of both sexes shall be equally
full and complete, varied only as nature dictates. The rights of one sex, political and
other, are the same as those of the other sex, and this equality of rights ought to
be fully recognized.
There are many men and women throughout the State who have faith-
fully advocated political equality for all citizens.*
Mendocino county has the honor of claiming as a citizen, one of the
earliest and ablest women in this reform, Clarina Howard Nichols, who
may be said to have sown the seeds of liberty in three States in which
she has resided, Vermont, Kansas and California. Since 1870, her home
has been with a son in Porno, where she finished her heroic life January
ii, 1885. Though always in rather straitened circumstances, Mrs. Nichols
was uniformly calm and cheerful, living in an atmosphere above the
petty annoyances of every-day life with the great souls of our day and
generation, keeping time in the march of progress. She was too
much absorbed in the vital questions of the hour even to take note of
her personal discomforts. Many of her able articles published in mag-
azines and the journals of the day, and letters from year to year to our
* Among the many who have been active and faithful in the movement for the political rights of
women, whose names should be mentioned, are : Mrs. Eliza Taylor, Mrs. O. Fuller, Elizabeth Mc-
Comb, Dr. Laura P. Williams, Mrs. Dr. White, Sallie Hart, Dr. R. H. McDonald, Hon. Frank Pixley,
and many others in San Francisco : Fanny Green McDougal, Oakland ; Mrs. Phebe Benedict,
Antioch. ; Mrs. (Isabella Irwin, San Rafael; Mrs. Cynthia Palmer, Mrs. Emily Rolfe, Nevada City ;
Mrs. Elizabeth Condy, Stockton; Miss E. S. Sleeper, Mountain Vieiv ; Mrs. Laura J. Watkins, Mrs.
Damon, Santa Clara: Mrs. Dr. Kilpatrick, San Mateo ; Mrs. S. G. Waterhouse, Drs. Kellogg and
Bearby, Mrs. M. J. Young, Mrs. E. B. Crocker, and others, Sacramento ; Mrs. Mary Jewett, Mr. and
Mrs. Howell, Healdsburgh ; Mrs. Lattimer, Windsor ; Mr. and Mrs. Denio, Mrs. E, L. Hale, \ 'allejo:
Mrs. J. Lewellyn, Mrs. Potter. St. Helena; Mr. and Mrs. J. Eggleston, Nafa ; Henry and Abigail
Bush, Martinez ; Rowena Granice Steele, Merced; Mrs. Jennie Phelps Purvis, Mrs. Lapham and
daughter, Modesto.
Sarah Knox Goodrich. 765
conventions, were written in such conditions of weakness and suffering,
as only a hero could have overcome. She was a good writer, an effective
speaker, and a preeminently brave woman, gifted with that rarest of all
virtues, common sense.
The advocacy of woman's rights began in Santa Cruz county, with the
advent of that grand champion of her sex, the immortal Eliza Farnham,
who braved public scorn and contumely because of her advanced views,
for many years before the suffrage movement assumed organized form.
Mrs. Farnham's work rendered it possible for those advocating woman
suffrage years later, to do so with comparative immunity from public ridi-
cule. A society was organized there in 1869, and Rev. D. G. Ingraham,
E. B. Heacock, H. M. Blackburn, Mrs. Georgiana Bruce Kirby, Mrs. Van-
Valkenburgh, W. W. Broughton and wife, and Mrs. Jewell were active
members.
Prominent in Santa Clara county is Mrs. Sarah Wallis of Mayfield.
From the first agitation of the subject in 1868, when she entered heartily
into the work of getting subscribers to The Revolution, she has been
untiring in her efforts to advance the interests of women. A lady
of fine presence, great energy and perseverance, Mrs. Wallis has been
able to accomplish great good for her sex. With a large separate estate,
when the statutes prevented her as a married woman from managing it,
she determined that the laws should be changed, and never ceased her ef-
forts until she succeeded in getting an amendment to the civil code which
enables married women to make contracts. The most successful suffrage
meetings ever held in Santa Clara county have been at Mayfield. There
Mrs. Wallis and her husband, Judge Joseph S. Wallace, make their spa-
cious and luxurious home the rendezvous of lecturers and writers in the
great work of woman's emancipation.
Mrs. Sarah Knox Goodrich of San Jose, was among the first to see the
significance of the movement for woman's rights in 1868. Her husband,
William J, Knox, who shortly before his death had been State senator,
secured the passage of a bill, drafted by himself, giving to married women
the right to dispose of their own separate property by will. Having been
from her youth the cherished companion of a man who believed in the
equality of the sexes, and being herself a thoughtful, clear-headed person,
she naturally took her place with those whose aim was the social and
political emancipation of woman, and has stood from the first a tower of
strength in this cause, giving largely of her wealth for the propagation
of its doctines. Mrs. Knox Goodrich has for many years paid her taxes,
sometimes exorbitant, under protest, and at important elections has also
offered her vote, to have it refused. The county suffrage society has had
an untiring leader in Mrs. Goodrich, and on all occasions she has nerved
the weak and encouraged the timid by her example of unflinching devotion.
The following extracts from a letter written by the lady will show how
effective her work has been :
In 1872, our society was invited to take part in the Fourth of July celebration,
which we did, and had the handsomest carriages and more of them than any other
society in the procession. We paid our own expenses, although the city had
766 History of Woman Suffrage.
made an appropriation for the celebration. In 1876 we were not invited to take
part in the festivities, but some of us felt that on such a day, our centennial anniver-
sary, we should not be ignored. Accordingly I started out to see what could be done,
but finding some of our most active friends ill and others absent from home, I decided
to do what I could alone. I had mottoes from the grand declarations of the Fathers
painted and put on my house, which the procession would pass on two sides.
Some of our most prominent ladies seeing that I was determined to make a mani-
festation, drove with me in the procession, our carriage and horses decorated with
flags, the ladies wearing sashes of red, white and blue, and bearing banners with
mottoes and evergreens. A little daughter of Mrs. Clara Foltz, the lawyer, dressed
in red, white and blue, was seated in the center of the carriage, carrying a white ban-
ner with silver fringe, a small flag at the top with a silver star above that, with
streamers of red, white and blue floating from it, and in the center, in letters large
enough to be seen some distance, the one word " Hope." On my flag the motto was:
" We are Taxed without being Represented"; Mrs. Maria H. Weldon's, " We are
the disfranchised Class "; Mrs. Marion Hooker's, "The Class entitled to respectful
Consideration"; and Miss Hannah Millard's, " We are governed without our Con-
sent." On the front of my house in large letters was the motto: " Taxation without
Representation is Tyranny as much in 1876, as it was in 1776"; on the other side
was, "We are Denied the Ballot, but Compelled to Pay Taxes"; fronting the other
side was, " Governments Derive their Just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."
Mrs. McKee also had the last motto on her house. On the evening of July 3, after
we had all our preparations completed, we sent to one of the marshals and asked him
to give us a place in the procession next to the negroes, as we wished to let our legal
protectors have a practical illustration of the position occupied by their mothers, wives,
sisters and daughters in this boasted republic. We did want to go in, however, ahead
of the Chinamen, as we considered our position at present to be between the two. The
marshal willingly assigned us a place, but not the one we desired. " We cannot allow
you," said he, " to occupy such a position. You must go in front, next to the Pioneer
Association "; and being in part members of that society we accepted the decision.
Our carriage was the center of attraction. Many, after reading our mottoes, said :
"Well, ladies, we will help you to get your rights"; "It is a shame for you to be
taxed and not have the right to vote." Hundreds of people stood and read the mottoes
on the house, making their comments, both grave and gay : " Good for Mrs. Knox ";
" She is right "; " If I were in her place I would never pay a tax "; "I guess one of
the strong-minded lives here."
Mrs. Knox was married to Mr. Goodrich, the well-known architect, in
1878, in whom she has found a grand, noble-souled companion, fully in
sympathy with all her progressive views, and with whom she is passing the
advancing years of her well-spent life in luxury and unalloyed happiness.
Mrs. Van Valkenburg tried to vote under the claim that the fourteenth
amendment to the Constitution of the United States entitled her to regis-
tration, and being refused, brought suit against the registrars. The case
was decided against her after being carried to the Supreme Court of Cali-
fornia. These cases argued in the Supreme Court have been of inestim-
able value in the progress of the movement, lifting the question of
woman's rights as a citizen above the mists of ridicule and prejudice, into
the region of reason and constitutional law. We cannot too highly ap-
preciate the bravery and persistence of the few women who have fur-
nished these test cases and compelled the highest courts to record their
decisions.
CHAPTER LIV.
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
The Long Marches Westward — Abigail Scott Duniway — Mary Olney Brown — The
First Steps in Oregon— Col. C. A. Reed— Judge G. W. Lawson— 1870— The New
Northwest, 1871 — Campaign, Mrs. Duniway and Miss Anthony — They Address
the Legislature in Washington Territory — Hon. Elwood Evans — Suffrage Society
Organized at Olympia and at Portland — Before the Oregon Legislature — Dona-
tion Land Act — Hon. Samuel Corwin's Suffrage Bill — Married Woman's Sole
Traders' Bill — Temperance Alliance — Women Rejected — Major Williams Fights
their Battles and Triumphs — Mrs. H. A. Loughary — Progressive Legislation, 1874
— Mob-Law in Jacksonville, 1879 — Dr. Mary A. Thompson — Constitutional Con-
vention, 1878 — Woman Suffrage Bill, 1880 — Hon. W. C. Fulton — Women En-
franchised*in Washington Territory, Nov. 15, 1883 — Great Rejoicing, Bonfires,
Ratification Meetings — Constitutional Amendment Submitted in Oregon and Lost,
June, 1884 — Suffrage by Legislative Enactment Lost — Fourth of July Celebrated at
Vancouvers — Benjamin and Mary Olney Brown — Washington Territory — Legisla-
tion in 1867-68 Favorable to Women — Mrs. Brown Attempts to Vote and is Refused
— Charlotte Olney French — Women Vote at Grand Mound and Black River Pre-
cincts, 1870 — Retrogressive Legislation, 1871 — Abby H. Stuart in Land-Office —
Hon. William H. White — Idaho and Montana.
IN the spring of 1852, when the great furor for going West
was at its height, in the long trails of miners, merchants and
farmers wending their way in ox-carts and canvas-covered
wagons over the vast plains, mountains and rivers, two remark-
able women, then in the flush of youth, might have been seen ;
one, Abigail Scott Duniway, destined to leave an indelible mark
on the civilization of Oregon, and the other, Mary Olney Brown,
on that of Washington territory. What ideas were revolving
in these young minds in that long journey of 3,000 miles, six
months in duration, it would be difficult to imagine, but the love
of liberty had been infused in their dreams somewhere, either in
their eastern homes from the tragic scenes of the anti-slavery con-
flict, or on that perilous march amidst those eternal solitudes by
day and the solemn stillness of the far-off stars in the gathering
darkness. That this long communion with great nature left its
impress on their young hearts and sanctified their lives to the
. best interests of humanity at large, is clearly seen in the deeply
interesting accounts they give of their endeavors to mould the
768 History of Woman Suffrage.
governments of their respective territories on republican princi-
ples. Writing of herself and her labors, Mrs. Duniway says:
I was born in Pleasant Grove, Tazewell county, Illinois, October 22,
1834, of the traditional "poor but respectable parentage " which has hon-
ored the advent of many a more illustrious worker than myself. Brought
up on a farm and familiar from my earliest years with the avocations of
rural life, spending the early spring-times in the maple-sugar camp, the
later weeks in gardening and gathering stove-wood, the summers in
picking and spinning wool, and the autumns in drying apples, I found
little opportunity, and that only in winter, for books or play. My
father was a generous-hearted, impulsive, talented, but uneducated man ;
my mother was a .conscientious, self-sacrificing, intelligent, but unedu-
cated woman. Both were devotedly religious, and both believed implicitly
that self-abnegation was the crowing glory of womanhood. Before I was
seventeen I was employed as a district school teacher, received a first-
class certificate and taught with success, though how I became pos-
sessed of the necessary qualifications I to this day know not. I never
did, could, or would study when at school.
In the spring of 1852 my father decided to emigrate to Oregon. My
invalid mother expostulated in vain ; she and nine of us children were
stowed away in ox-wagons, where for six months we made our home,
cooking food and washing dishes around camp-fires, sleeping at night in
the wagons, and crossing many streams upon wagon-beds, rigged as ferry-
boats. When our weary line of march had reached the Black Hills of Wy-
oming my mother became a victim to the dreadful epidemic, cholera, that
devastated the emigrant trains in that never-to-be-forgotten year, and af-
ter a few hours' illness her weary spirit was called to the skies. We made
her a grave in the solitudes of the eternal hills, and again took up our line
of march, " too sad to talk, too dumb to pray." But ten weeks after, our
Willie, the baby, was buried in the sands of the Burnt River mountains.
Reaching Oregon in the fall with our broken household, consisting of
my father and eight motherless children, I engaged in school-teaching till
the following August, when I allowed the name of " Scott " to become
" Duniway." Then for twenty years I devoted myself, soul and body, to
the cares, toils, loves and hopes of a conscientious wife and mother. Five
sons and one daughter have been born to us, all of whom are living and
at home, engaged with their parents in harmonious efforts for the enfran-
chisement of women.
The first woman suffrage society ever formed in Oregon, was organ-
ized in Salem, the capital of the State, in the autumn of 1870, and con-
sisted of about a dozen members. Col. C. A. Reed was chosen president
and G. W. Lawson, secretary. This little society which maintained a
quiescent existence for a year or more and then disbanded without cere-
mony, was, in part, the basis of all subsequent work of its character in
Oregon. In the winter of 1871 this society honored me with credentials
to a seat in the woman suffrage convention which was to meet in San
Francisco the following May. My business called me to the Golden City
before the time for the convention, and a telegraphic summons com-
A Lecturing Tour. 769
pelled me to return to Oregon without meeting with the California
Association in an official way, as I had hoped. But my credentials intro-
duced me to the San Francisco leaders, among whom Emily Pitts Stevens
occupied a prominent position as editor and publisher of the The Pioneer,
the first woman suffrage paper that appeared on the Pacific coast. Before
returning to Oregon I resolved to purchase an outfit and begin the
publication of a newspaper myself, as I felt that the time had come for
vigorous work in my own State, and we had no journal in which the
demands of women for added rights were treated with respectful con-
sideration.
Soon after reaching my home in Albany I sold my millinery store and
removed to Portland, where, on May 5, 1871, the New Northwest made its
appearance, and a seige of the citadels of a one-sexed government began,
which at this writing is going on with unabated persistency. The first
issue of this journal was greeted by storms of ridicule. Everybody
prophesied its early death, and my personal friends regarded the enter-
prise with sincere pity, believing it would speedily end in financial dis-
aster. But the paper, in spite of opposition and burlesque, has grown
and prospered.
In August, 1871, Susan B. Anthony favored Oregon and Washington
territory with a visit. The fame of this veteran leader had preceded her,
and she commanded a wide hearing. We traveled together over the
country, visiting inland villages as well as larger towns, holding woman
suffrage meetings and getting many subscribers for the New Northwest.
During these journeyings I became quite thoroughly initiated into the
movement and made my first efforts at public speaking. After a six
weeks' campaign in Oregon, we went to Olympia, the capital of Washing-
ton territory, where the legislature was in session, and where, through a
motion of Hon. Elwood Evans, we were invited to address the Assembly
in advocacy of equal rights for all the people. From Olympia we pro-
ceeded to Victoria, a border city belonging to a woman's government,
where we found that the idea of the ballot for woman was even more un-
popular than in the United States, though all, by strange inconsistency,
were intensely loyal to their queen. After an interesting and profitable
experience in the British possessions we returned to Puget Sound, stop-
ping over on our route at the different milling towns that teem with busy
life upon the evergreen shores of this Mediterranean of the Pacific. At
Seattle we organized an association* in which many of the leading ladies
and gentlemen took a prominent part ; after which we returned to
Olympia, where a territorial organization was effected.t
Returning to Portland, we called a convention, and organized the
Oregon State Woman Suffrage Association, with Harriet W. Williams, a
venerated octogenarian, president. This estimable woman had been
one of the earliest leaders of the woman suffrage movement in the State
* Hon. H. L. Yesler, the city's founder and mayor; Mrs. Yesler, Rev. John F. Damon, Mrs. Mary
Olney Brown, Rev. Daniel Baglcy and others.
t Its leaders being Mrs. Abbfe H. H. Stuart, Mrs. P. C. Hale, Hon. Marshall Blinn, Hon. Elwood
Evans, and Mr. J. M. Murphy, editor of the Washington Standard.
49
770 History of Woman Suffrage.
of New York, and her presence at the head of our meetings in Oregon
was a source of genuine satisfaction to the friends of the cause in the new
State of her adoption. Subsequently, Mrs. Williams was compelled to
resign on account of increasing infirmities, but her wise counsels are still
cherished by her successors, whom she regards with motherly solicitude
as she serenely awaits the final summons of the unseen messenger. Many
of those who early distinguished themselves in this connection deserve
special mention because of their long-continued zeal in the work.* If
others failed us, these were always ready to work the hardest when the
fight was hottest. And whatever might be our differences of opinion
personally, we have always presented an unbroken phalanx to the foe.
The original society at Salem having disbanded, its members joined the
new State Association organized at Portland, which has ever since been
regarded as the nucleus of all our activities.
In September of 1872, I visited the Oregon legislature, where I went
clothed by our association with discretionary power to do what I could to
secure special legislation for the women of the State, who, with few ex-
ceptions, were at that time entirely under the dominion of the old com-
mon law. The exceptions were those fortunate women who, having come
to Oregon as early as 1850 and '52, had, by virtue of a United States
law, known as the Oregon Donation Land Act, become possessed of
"claims," as they were called, on equal shares with their husbands, their
half, or halves, of the original ground being set apart as their separate
property in realty and fee simple. This Donation Land Act deserves
especial mention, it being the first law enacted in the United States which
recognized the individual personality of a married woman. It became a
temporary law of congress in 1850, mainly through the efforts of Hon.
Samuel R. Thurston, delegate from Oregon territory (which at that time
included the whole of Washington territory), aided by the eminent Dr.
Linn of Missouri, from whom one of the principal counties of the State
of Oregon derives its name.
My first experience in the capitol was particularly trying. I spent
two days among my acquaintances in Salem in a vain attempt to find a
woman who was ready or willing to accompany me to the State-house.
All were anxious that I should go, but each was afraid to offend her hus-
band, or make herself conspicuous, by going herself. Finally, when I
had despaired of securing company, and had nerved myself to go alone,
Mary P. Sawtelle, who afterwards became a physician, and now resides in
San Francisco where she has a lucrative practice, volunteered to stand by
me, and together we entered the dominion hitherto considered sacred to
the aristocracy of sex, and took seats in the lobby, our hearts beating
audibly. Hon. Joseph Engle, perceiving the innovation and knowing me
personally, at once arose, and, after a complimentary speech in which he
•was pleased to recognize my position as a jonrnalist, moved that I be in-
vited to a seat within the bar and provided with table and stationery as
were other members of the profession. The motion carried, with only two
* Mr. D. W. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Shanahan, Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Gibson, Rev. T. L. Eliot,
Mr. B. C. Duniway, Dr. Mary A. Thompson, Rev. Isaac Dillon and Hon. and Mrs. G. W. Brown.
Scene in a Temperance Meeting. 771
or three dissenting votes ; and the way was open from that time forward
for women to compete with men on equal terms for all minor positions
in both branches of the legislature — a privilege they have not been slow
to avail themselves of, scores of them thronging the capitol in these later
years, and holding valuable clerkships, many of them sneering the while
at the efforts of those who opened the way for them to be there at all.
Hon. Samuel Corwin introduced a woman suffrage bill in the House of
Representatives early in the session ; and while it was pending, I was in-
vited to make an appeal in its behalf, of which I remember very little, so
frightened and astonished was I, except that once 1 inadvertently alluded
to a gentleman by his name instead of his county, whereupon, being
called to order, I blushed and begged pardon, but put myself at ease
by informing the gentlemen that in all the bygone years while they had
been studying parliamentary rules, I had been rocking the cradle.
One member who had made a vehement speech against the bill, in
which he had declared that no respectable woman in his county desired
the elective franchise, became particularly incensed, as was natural,
upon my exhibiting a woman suffrage petition signed by the women
he had misrepresented, and headed, mirabile dictu, by the name of his
own wife ! The so-called representative of women lost his temper, and
gave vent to some inelegant expletives, for which he was promptly repri-
manded by the chair. This offender has since been many times a candi-
date for office, but the ladies of his district have always secured his de-
feat. The woman suffrage bill received an unexpectedly large vote at
this session, and was favored in 1874 by a still larger one, when it was ably
championed by Hon. C. A. Reed, the before named ex-president of the
first woman suffrage society in the State.
In 1872 the Senate, the House concurring, passed a Married Woman's
Sole Trader bill, under the able leadership of Hon. J. N. Dolph, who has
since distinguished himself as our champion in the Senate of the United
States. This bill has ever since enabled any woman engaged in business
on her own account to register the fact in the office of the county clerk,
and thereby secure her tools, furniture, or stock in trade against the lia-
bility of seizure by her husband's creditors.
Perhaps I cannot better illustrate the general feeling of opposition to
women having a place in public affairs at that time, than by describing the
scenes in the State Temperance Alliance in February of that year, when
somebody placed my name in nomination as chairman of an important
committee. The presiding officer was seized with a sudden deafness when
the nomination was made, and the Alliance was convulsed with merri-
ment. Ladies on all sides buzzed about me, and urged me to resent the
insult in the name of womanhood. And, as none of them were at that
time public speakers, I felt obliged to rise and speak for myself.
"Mr. President," I exclaimed, "by what right do you refuse to recognize
women when their names are called? Are men the only lawful members
of this Alliance ? And if so, is it not better for the women delegates to go
home?"
" Mr. President : The committees are now full!" shouted an excited
772 History of Woman Suffrage.
voter. Somebody, doubtless in ridicule, then nominated me as vice-presi-
dent-at-large, which was carried amid uproarious merriment. I took my
seat, half frightened and wholly indignant; and the deliberations of the
sovereign voters were undisturbed for several hours thereafter by word
or sign from women. At last they got to discussing a bill for a prohib-
itory liquor law, and the heat of debate ran high. During the excitement
somebody carried a note to the presiding officer, who read it, smiled, col-
ored, and rising, said : "We are hearing nothing from the ladies, and yet
they constitute a large majority of this Alliance. Mrs. Duniway, will you
not favor us with a speech ?"
I was taken wholly by surprise, but sprang to my feet and said : " Mr.
President: I have always wondered what it was that consumed so much
time in men's conventions. I hope gentlemen will pardon the criticism,
but you talk too much, and too many of you try to talk at once. My head
is aching from the roar and din of your noisy orators. Gentlemen, what
does it all amount to? You are talking about prohibition, but you over-
estimate your political strength. Disastrous failures attend upon all your
endeavors to conquer existing evils by the votes of men alone. Give
women the legal power to combat intemperance, and they will soon be
able to prove that they do not like drunken husbands any better than men
like drunken wives. Make women free. Give them the power the ballot
gives to you, and the control of their own earnings which rightfully be-
long to them, and every woman will be able to settle this prohibition
business in her own home and on her own account. Men will not toler-
ate drunkenness in their wives ; and women will not tolerate it in hus-
bands unless compelled to."
A prominent clergyman arose, and said: "Mr. President: I charge the
sins of the world upon the mothers of men. There are twenty thousand
fallen women in New York — two millions of them in America. We can-
not afford to let this element vote." Before I was aware of what I was
doing I was on my feet again. Shaking my finger at the clergymen, I
exclaimed : " How dare you make such charges against the mothers of
men? You tell us of two millions of fallen women who, you say, would
vote for drunkenness ; but what say you, sir, to the twenty millions of
fallen men — all voters — whose patronage alone enables fallen women to
live ? Would you disfranchise them, sir ? I pronounce your charge a
libel upon womanhood, and I know that if we were voters you would not
dare to utter it."
A gentleman from Michigan — Mr. Curtis — called me to order, saying
my remarks were personal. " You, sir, sat still and didn't call this man to
order while he stood up and insulted all womanhood !" I exclaimed, ve-
hemently. " Prohibition is the question before the house," said the gen-
tleman, " and the lady should confine herself to the resolution." "That
is what I am doing, sir. I am talking about prohibition, and the only way
possible to make it succeed."
The chair sustained me amid cries of "good!" "good!" but I had be-
come too thoroughly self-conscious by this time to be able to say any-
thing further, and, with a bow to the chairman whom I had before for-
gotten to address, I tremblingly took my seat.
First Annual Convention. 773
A resolution was passed, after a long and stormy debate, declaring
it the duty of the legislature to empower women to vote on all
questions connected with the liquor traffic ; and I, as its author, was
chosen a committee to present the same for consideration at the com-
ing legislative session. Woman suffrage gained a new impetus all over
the Northwest through this victory. Everybody congratulated its advo-
cates, and the good minister who had unwittingly caused the commotion
seized the first opportunity to explain that he had always been an advo-
cate of the cause. I was by this time so thoroughly advertised by the
abuse of the press that I had no difficulty in securing large audiences in
all parts of the Pacific Northwest.
I was chosen in April, 1872, as delegate to the annual meeting of the
National Association, held in New York the following month. Horace
Greeley received the nomination for the presidency at the Cincinnati
Liberal Republican Convention while I was on the way; and when I
reached New York I at first threw what influence I had in the Associa-
tion in favor of the great editor. But Miss Anthony, who knew Mr.
Greeley better than I did, caused me to be appointed chairman of a
committee to interview the reputed statesman and officially report the
result at the evening session. Miss Anthony and Mrs. Jane Graham
Jones of Chicago were the other members of this committee. We ob-
tained the desired interview, of which it only needs to be said that it
became my humiliating duty to ask pardon in the evening for the speech
in advocacy of the illustrious candidate which in my ignorance I had made
in the morning. That Mr. Greeley owed his defeat in part to the oppo-
sition of women in that memorable campaign, I have never doubted. But
he builded better than he knew in earlier years, for he planted many a
tree of liberty that shall live through the ages to come, overshadowing
in a measure his failure to recognize the divine right of political equality
for woman in his later days.
The first annual convention of the Oregon State Association met in
Portland, February 9, 1873. Many ladies and several gentlemen* of more
or less local prominence assisted at this convention, but we were able to
prevail upon but one gentleman, Col. C. A. Reed of Salem, to occupy the
platform with us. This convention received favorable notice from the
respectable press of the State, and was largely attended by the best ele-
ments of the city and country. Delegates were chosen to attend the
forthcoming State Temperance Alliance which held its second annual
meeting February 20, and to which a dozen of us went bearing credentials.
It was evident from the first that trouble was brewing. The enemy had
had a whole year to prepare an ambuscade of which our party had
no suspicion. A Committee on Credentials was appointed with in-
structions to rule the woman suffrage delegation out of the Alliance as a
•"disturbing element." Hon J. Quinn Thornton was chairman of that
* Addresses were made in advocacy of the cause by Col. Reed, Mrs. J. Devore Johnson, Miss V. M.
Olds, Rev. T. L. Eliot, Mrs. C. A. Coburn, Mrs. Realty (colored), and the writer. The celebrated
McGibeney family furnished the music, and the Portland press gave favorable reports of the proceed-
ings. Valuable aid was also contributed by Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Hendee, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Peters,
and Mrs. M. J. Foster.
774 History of Woman Suffrage.
committee. In his report he declared all delegations to be satisfactory
(including those from the penitentiary) except the women whom he
styled "setting hens," "belligerent females," etc., after which he sub-
sided with pompous gravity. All eyes were turned upon me, and I
felt as I fancy a general must when the success or failure of an army in
battle depends upon his word. " Mr. President," I exclaimed, as soon as
I could get the floor, " I move to so amend the report of the committee
as to admit the suffrage delegation." The motion was seconded by
a half-dozen voices. Then followed a scene which beggars descrip-
tion. It was pandemonium broken loose. When I arose again to address
the chair that worthy ordered my arrest by the sergeant-at-arms, saying :
"Take that crazy woman out of the house and take care of her." The
officer came forward in discharge of his duty, but he quailed before my
uplifted pencil, and several gentlemen stepped into the aisle and began
drawing off their coats to defend me, among them a veteran minister of
the gospel. I smiled and bowed my thanks, and as nobody could hear a
word amid the uproar I complacently took my seat while the officer
skulked away, crestfallen. All that day and evening, and until one o'clock
the next afternoon, a noisy rabble of self-styled temperance men sought to
prevent bringing the question to a square and honorable vote. Major
George Williams, a brave man who had lost a limb in fighting for his
country, at last succeeded in wearying the chairman into a semblance
of duty. The result was a triumph for the advocates of suffrage. A
recess was then taken, during which my hand was so often and enthusi-
astically shaken that my shoulder was severely lamed. The first thing in
order after resuming business was my report as Legislative Committee.
I advanced to the platform amid deafening cheers and, as soon as I could
make myself heard, said, in substance, that the legislature had decided
that it was an insult to womanhood to grant women the right to vote on
intemperance and debar them from voting on all honorable questions. I
then offered a fair and unequivocal woman suffrage resolution, which was
triumphantly carried. The disappointed minority seceded from the
Alliance and set up a " Union " for themselves ; but their confederacy did
not live long, and its few followers finally returned to their alma mater
and gave us no further trouble.
Woman suffrage associations were formed in several counties during
the year 1874. Our strength was now much increased by the able assist-
ance of Mrs. H. A. Loughary, who suddenly took her place in the front
rank as a platform speaker. The editorial work of the New Northwest
received a valuable auxiliary in June of this year in the person of Cath-
arine A. Coburn, a lady of rare journalistic ability, who held her position
five, years, when my sons, W. S., H. R. and W. C. Duniway, having com-
pleted their school duties and attained their majority, were admitted to
partnership in the business. Mrs. Coburn now holds a situation on the
editorial staff of the Daily Oregonian.
In the autumn of 1876 I was absent at the Centennial Exposition,
whither I had gone in the summer in response to an invitation from the
National Woman Suffrage Association to "Come over into Macedonia
Egged at Jacksonville. 775
and help." The work for equal rights made favorable headway in the
legislature of Oregon that year through the influence of a convention
held at Salem under the able leadership of Mrs. H. A. Loughary and Dr.
Mary A. Thompson.
In June, 1878, a convention met in Walla Walla, Washington territory,
for the purpose of forming a constitution for the proposed new State of
Washington, and in compliance with the invitation of many prominent
women of the territory I visited the convention and was permitted to
present a memorial in person, praying that the word "male" be omitted
from the fundamental law of the incubating State. But my plea (like that
of Abigail Adams a century before) failed of success, through a close vote
however — it stood 8 to 7 — and men went on as before, saying, as they did
in the beginning: "Women do not wish to vote. If they desire the
ballot let them ask for it." In September of that year I was again at my
post in the Oregon legislature circulating the New Northwest among the
law-makers, and doing what else I could to keep the cause before them in
a manner to enlist their confidence and command their respect. An
opportunity was given me at this session to make an extended argument
upon constitutional liberty before a joint convention of the two Houses,
which occupied an hour in delivery and was accorded profound attention.
I was much opposed to the growing desire of the legislature to shirk its
responsibility upon the voters at large by submitting a proposed consti-
tutional amendment to them when the constitution nowhere prohibits
women from voting, and I labored to show that all we need is
a declaratory act extending to us the franchise under the existing
fundamental law. Dr. Mary A. Thompson followed in a brief speech
and was courteously received. The Married Woman's Property bill,
passed in 1874, received some necessary amendments at this session, and
an act entitling women to vote upon school questions and making them
eligible to school offices, was passed by a triumphant majority.
I went to Southern Oregon in 1879, and while sojourning in Jackson-
ville was assailed with a shower of eggs (since known in that section as
"Jacksonville arguments") and was also burned in effigy on a principal
street after the sun went down. Jacksonville is an old mining town,
beautifully situated in the heart of the Southern Oregon mountains, and
has no connection with the outside world except through the daily stage-
coaches/ Its would-be leading men are old miners or refugees from the
bushwhacking district whence they were driven by the civil war. The
taint of slavery is yet upon them and the methods of border-ruffians are
their hearts' delight. It is true that there are many good people among
them, but they are often over-awed by the lawless crowd whose very in-
stincts lead them to oppose a republican form of government. But that
raid of the outlaws proved a good thing for the woman suffrage move-
ment. It aroused the better classes, and finally shamed the border ruffians
by its own reaction. When I returned to Portland a perfect ovation
awaited me. Hundreds of men and women who had not before allied
themselves with the movement made haste to do so. The newspapers
were filled with severe denunciations of the mob, and "Jackson-villains,"
776 History of Woman Stiff rage.
as the perpetrators of the outrage were styled, grew heartily disgusted
over their questionable glory.
When the legislature met in the autumn of 1880 it was decided by the
Woman Suffrage Association that we could " raise the blockade " and en-
courage agitation in the work by consenting to an attempt to amend the
State constitution. Pursuant to this decision a resolution was offered in
the Senate by Hon. W. C. Fulton of Clatsop, and in the House by Hon.
Lee Laughlin, which, after considerable discussion pro and con in which
I was graciously invited to participate on the floor of both Houses, was
passed by the requisite two-thirds majority. The result was considered
a triumph for the cause. A grand ratification jubilee was held in the
opera-house in honor of the event, and resolutions of thanks to the law-
makers were passed, accompanied by many expressions of faith in the
legislation of the future.
In the meantime the work was going steadily on in Washington terri-
tory, my own labors being distributed about equally between the two
sections of the Pacific Northwest that had formerly been united under
one territorial government. In the autumn of 1881 the legislature of
Washington met one afternoon in joint convention to listen to arguments
from Hon. William H. White and myself, on which occasion I held the
floor for nearly three hours, in the midst of an auditory that was itself an
inspiration. Mr. White, a Democrat of the old school, and now (1885)
holding the office of United States marshal in the territory, under com-
mission from President Cleveland, based his plea for woman suffrage
upon the enfranchisement of the colored men, urging it strongly as a
means of Democratic retaliation. The suffrage bill passed in the House
on the following day by a majority of two, but was defeated in the Coun-
cil by a majority of two, showing that the vote would have been a tie if
taken under the joint-ballot rule.
Returning to Oregon I renewed the contest, and in the autumn of 1882
we were all gratified by the passage of the pending constitutional
amendment by a very nearly unanimous vote of each House. Then the
Oregon campaign began in earnest. The question had assumed formidable
proportions and was no longer an ignored issue. The work went on with
accelerated speed, and as far as could be ascertained there was little or no
opposition to it. The meetings were largely attended and affirmative
speakers were ready to assist at all times, the help of this kind represent-
ing all grades of the professions, led by the best and most influential men
of the State everywhere.
Another year went by, and the time for assembling the Washington
-territory legislature was again at hand. Immediately upon arriving at
Olympia I learned that a coterie of politicians, finding open hostility no
longer effectual, had combined to crush the woman suffrage bill, which
had passed the House trimuphantly, by lobbying a " substitute " through
the Council. In pursuance of this seemingly plausible idea they talked
with the ladies of Olympia and succeeded in convincing a few of them
that all women, and especially all leaders of the movement, must be kept
away from the capitol or the bill would certainly be defeated. Several
Passage of the Suffrage Bill. 777
women who ought to have have known better were deceived by these
specious pleaders, and but for sx>me years of experience in legislative
assemblies that had brought me to comprehend the "ways that are dark
and tricks that are vain," for which the average politician is "peculiar,"
the ruse would have succeeded. I remained at headquarters, enduring
alike the open attacks of the venal press and the more covert opposition
of the saloons and brothels, and, as vigilantly as I could, watched all legis-
lative movements, taking much pains to keep the public mind excited
through the columns of the Daily Oregonian and the weekly issues of the
New Northwest. The bill, which had been prepared by Professor William
H. Roberts, passed the House early in the session ; but it tarried long
in the Council, and those most interested were well-nigh worn out
with work and watching before the measure reached a vote. It came up
for final passage November 15, 1883, when only three or four women were
present. The Council had been thoroughly canvassed before-hand and
no member offered to make a speech for or against it. The deathly still-
ness of the chamber was broken only by the clerk's call of the names and
the firm responses of the "ayes" and "noes." I kept the tally with a
nervous hand, and my heart fairly stood still as the fateful moment came
that gave us the majority. Then I arose and without exchanging words
with any one left the State-house and rushed toward the telegraph-office,
half a mile distant, my feet seeming to tread the air. Judge J. W. Range
of Cheney, president of a local woman suffrage society, overtook me on
the way, bound on the same errand. He spoke, and I felt as if called
back to earth with a painful reminder that I was yet mortal. A few min-
utes more and my message was on the way to the Neu( Northwest. It was
publication-day and the paper had gone to press, but my jubilant and
faithful sons opened the forms and inserted the news, and in less than half
an hour the newsboys were crying the fact through the streets of Port-
land, making the New Northwest, which had fought the fight and led the
work to the point where legislation could give a victory, the very first
paper in the nation to herald the news to the world. The rejoicing in
Oregon, as well as in Washington territory, was most inspiriting. A
bloodless battle had been fought and won, and the enemy, asleep in carnal
security, had been surrendered unawares. The women of Oregon thanked
God and took courage.
After passing the Council the bill passed leisurely, and some of us
feared perilously, through the various stages of clerical progress till No-
vember 22, when it received the signature of Governor William A. Newell,
who used a gold pen presented him for the purpose by women whom his
act made free. And when at a given signal the church bells rang in glad
acclaim, and the loud boom of minute-guns reverberated from the forest-
clothed hills that border Puget Sound and lost itself at last in the faint
echoes of the far-off hights, the scroll of the dead century unrolled before
my inner vision and I beheld in spirit another scene on the further verge
of the continent, when men in designing to ring the bell at Independence
Hall in professed honor of the triumph of liberty, although not a woman
in the land was free, had sought in vain to force the loyal metal into glad
778 History of Woman Suffrage.
responses; for the old bell quivered in every nerve and broke its heart
rather than tell a lie J
An immense ratification jubilee was held in the evening of the same
day at the city hall in Olympia, with many distinguished speakers.*
Similar meetings were subsequently held in all the principal towns of the
Pacific Northwest. The freed women of Washington thankfully accepted
their new prerogatives. They were appointed as jurors in many localities,
and have ever since performed their duties with eminent satisfaction to
judges, lawyers and all clients who are seeking to obey the laws. But
their jurisdiction soon became decidedly uncomfortable for the law-
breaking elements, which speedily escaped to Oregon, where, as the
sequel proved, they began a secret and effective war upon the pending
constitutional amendment. We all knew we had a formidable foe to fight
at the ballot-box. Our own hands were tied and our own guns spiked,
while our foe was armed to the teeth with ballots, backed by money and
controlled by vice, bigotry and tyranny. But the leading men of the
State had long been known to favor the amendment ; the respectable
press had become mildly, and in a few cases earnestly acquiescent ; no
opposition could be raised at any of our public meetings, and we felt
measurably sure of a victory until near election time, when we discovered
to our dismay that most of the leading politicians upon whom we had
relied for aid had suddenly been seized with an alarming reticence. They
ceased to attend the public meetings and in every possible way ignored
the amendment, lest by openly allying themselves with it they might lose
votes ; and as all of them were posing in some way for office, for them-
selves or friends, and women had no votes with which to repay their
allegiance, it was not strange that they should thus desert us.
Our Republican senator in congress, Hon. J. N. Dolph, favored the
Woman Suffrage Association with an able and comprehensive letter,
which was widely circulated, urging the adoption of the amendment as a
measure of justice and right, and appealing to the voters to make Oregon
the banner State of the great reform. Leading clergymen, especially of
Portland, preached in favor of woman suffrage, prominent among them
being Rev. T. L. Eliot, pastor of the Unitarian church ; Chaplain R. S.
Stubbs of the Church of Sea and Land, and Rev. Frederic R. Marvin of
the First Congregational society. Appeals to voters were widely circu-
lated from the pens and speeches of many able gentlemen.t Not one
influential man made audible objection anywhere.
We had carefully districted and organized the State, sparing neither
labor nor money in providing " Yes " tickets for all parties and all candi-
dates and putting them everywhere in the hands of friends for use at the
polls. But the polls were no sooner open than it began to appear that the
battle was one of great odds. Masked batteries were opened in almost
* Governor Newell, Judge Orange Jacobs, Judge B. F. Dennison, Mrs. Pamela Hale, Hon. Philip
D. Moore, Mr. W. S. Duniway, Captain William H. Smallwood, the writer, and a large number of the
members of the legislature.
t S. F. Chadwick, Unhed States Representative M. C. George, ex-United States Senator J. H.
Mitchell, United States District Judge M. P. Deady, Hon. H. W. Scott, editor of the Oregonian, ex-
Governor A. C. Gibbs, District-Attorneys J. F. Caples and T. A. McBride, and various ex-members
of the legislature.
Fourth of July Celebration.
779
every precinct, and multitudes of legal voters who are rarely seen in day-
light except at a general election, many of whom were refugees from
Washington territory, crowded forth from their hiding-places to strike
the manacled women down. They accused the earnest ladies who had
dared to ask for simple justice of every crime in the social catalogue.
Railroad gangs were driven to the polls like sheep and voted against us
in battalions. But, in spite of all this, nearly one-third of the vote was
thrown in our favor, requiring a change of only about one-fourth of the
opposing vote to have given us a victory, and proving to the amazement
of our enemies that the strength of our cause was already formidable.*
We were repulsed but not conquered. Before the smoke of the battle
had cleared away we had called immense meetings and passed vigorous
resolutions, thanking the lovers of liberty who had favored us with their
suffrages, and pledging ourselves anew to the conflict.
We at once decided that we would never again permit the legislature
to remand us to the rabble in a vain appeal for justice. We had demon-
strated the impossibility of receiving a fair, impartial vote at the hands of
the ignorant, lawless and unthinking multitude whose ballots outweigh
all reason and overpower all sense. In pursuance of this purpose I went
to the legislature of 1885 and found no difficulty in securing the aid of
friendly members of both Houses who kindly championed the following
bill:
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Oregon :
That the elective franchise shall not hereafter be denied to any person in this State
on account of sex.
This act to be in force from and after its approval by the governor.
After much parliamentary fillibustering the vote of both Houses was
recorded upon this bill and stood conjointly 34 to 54. This vote, coming
so soon after our defeat at the polls, is regarded as the greatest victory we
have yet won. The ablest lawyers of the State and of Washington terri-
tory are preparing elaborate opinions showing the constitutionality of our
present plan, and these are to be published in the form of a standard
work, with appropriate references for convenient use. The movement
exhibits a healthy, steady and encouraging growth, and is much accele-
rated by its success in Washington territory.
On the Fourth of July of this year a grand celebration was held at
Vancouver, on Washington soil, the women of Oregon having resolved
in large numbers that they would never again unite in celebrating men's
independence-day in a State where they are denied their liberty. The
celebration was a success from first to last. Boys and girls in equal num-
bers rode in the liberty-car and represented the age of the government.
The military post at Vancouver joined heartily in the festivities, headed
by the gallant soldier, General Nelson A. Miles, commander-in-chief of
the department of the Columbia. The fine Fourteenth Infantry Band
furnished the instrumental music, and a local choir rendered spirited
choruses. The New Declaration of Independence was read by Josie De
Vore Johnson, the oration was delivered by Mattie A. Bridge, and Louise
* The official vote of the State was 11,223 f°r '^c amendment, and 28,176 against.
780 History of Woman Suffrage.
Lester, the famous frima donna, electrified the delighted crowd by her
triumphant rendition of the " Star-Spangled Banner." The exercises
closed with the announcement by the writer, who had. officiated as presi-
dent of the day, that the Executive Committee of the Oregon Woman
Suffrage Association had, during the noon recess, adopted the following
resolutions:
Resolved, That our thanks are due to General Nelson A. Miles of the department
of the Columbia for his valuable cooperation in the exercises and entertainments of
this historic day.
Resolved, That we thank the citizens of Clarke county, and especially of Vancouver,
for their hospitality and kindness, so graciously bestowed upon their less fortunate
Oregon neighbors, who have not yet achieved their full independence, and we shall
ever cherish their fraternal recognition in grateful remembrance.
Resolved, That while we deplore the injustice that still deprives the women of
Oregon of the liberty to exercise their right to the elective franchise, we rejoice in the
record the women of Washington are making as citizens, as voters and as jurors. We
congratulate them upon their newly-acquired liberties, and especially upon the intel-
ligent and conscientious manner in which they are discharging the important public-
duties that in no wise interfere with their home affairs. And we are further
Resolved, That if our own fathers, husbands, sons and brothers do not at the next
session of the Oregon legislature bestow npon us the same electoral privileges which
the women of Washington already enjoy, we will prepare to cross the Columbia river
and take up our permanent abode in this "land of the free and home of the brave."
The resolutions evoked cheers that waked the echoes, and the celebra-
tion, reported by the Oregon press, contributed largely to the growth of
the equal-rights sentiment among the people of the State. Two stanzas
of a spirited poem are subjoined, written for the Woman Suffrage Asso-
ciation just after our defeat at the polls, by a young man from Southern
Oregon who has withheld his own name but included the names of all
the counties in his glorious prophecy :
From Clatsop and from Clackamas, from Linn and Tillamook;
From Grant, Multnomah, Lane and Coos, and Benton, Lake and Crook;
From Josephine, Columbia, and loyal Washington,
And Union, Baker and Yamhill, and proud old Marion;
From where the Cascade mountain-streams their foaming waters pour,
We're coming, mothers, sisters, dear, "ten times ten thousand more."
From Klamath's lakes and Wasco's plains, and Jackson's rolling hills;
From Douglas with her mines of gold, and Curry with her mills;
From Umatilla's burdened fields, and hills and dales of Polk,
We're coming with our votes and songs to break the tyrant's yoke,
And in the ears of Liberty this song of joy we'll pour,
We're coming, mothers, sisters, dear, " ten times ten thousand more."
Mrs. Mary Olney Brown gives an amusing account of her
attempts to vote in Washington territory. The incidents related
occurred several years before the passage of the act specifically
enfranchising women. She says :
I do not think there has ever been a session of our legislature that has
not had before it the subject of woman suffrage. It has been my habit to
write out, and send to all parts of the territory, before the assembling of
each legislature, petitions to be signed, asking for a law guaranteeing to
Mrs. Brown Attempts to Vote. 781
women the exercise of their right to vote. These petitions were not with-
out their effect, though no one knew who sent them out, or, when re-
turned, who selected the member to receive and present them to the
legislature. At the session of 1867, mainly through the efforts of Edward
Eldridge of Whatcom county, an act was passed giving " all white Ameri-
can citizens above the age of twenty-one years " the right to vote. This
law is still on our statute books ; but, like the fourteenth amendment, is
interpreted to mean only male citizens. During the time between the
passage of this law and the next election, I wrote to some of the promi-
nent women of the principal towns, telling them of the law, and urging
them to go out and vote at the coming election, and also to induce as
many more to go as they could. But no notice was taken of my letters.
I was looked upon as a fanatic, and the idea of a woman voting was re-
garded as an absurdity. The law seemed to be in advance of the people.
It needed lectures and organized societies among us to educate the
women into a just appreciation of their rights and duties.
In the autumn of 1868, Dr. Smith wrote several articles on the right of
women to the ballot, as did also Mr. Eldridge. The latter asserted that
it was the intention of the law to give the women of the territory the
right to vote ; that being a member of the legislature he had purposely
stated in his remarks, that if the bill passed in that form, it would give
the women the right to vote; and a member from his seat cried out,
" That is what we want!" Mr. Eldridge urged the women to go out to
the polls and vote. These articles were published in the Olympia Trans-
cript, the Republican paper, J. N. Gale, one of the editors, being an advo-
cate of suffrage. Still not a woman made a move. Many wished to vote ;
they knew it was the only way to secure their rights, and yet they had
not the courage to go to the polls in defiance of custom.
Seeing this to be the case, and knowing that if anything was done some
one must take the initiative, I determined to cast aside my timidity and set
the ball rolling. Accordingly, several weeks before the election of 1869
I gave out word that I was going to the polls to vote. I had the previous
year removed with my family from Olympia, and was living on White
River in King county. The announcement that I would attend the elec-
tion caused a great commotion in White River precinct. A fearful hue
and cry was raised. The news reached Olympia and Seattle, and
some of the papers deprecated the idea that " a woman should unsex
herself by dabbling in the filthy pool of politics." But I was fully com-
mitted. The law had been on our statute books for nearly three years.
If it was intended for our benefit, it was time we were availing ourselves
of it. So, nothing daunted, I determined to repair to the polling place,
the district school-house, accompanied by my husband, my daughter
(Mrs. Axtell) and her husband — a little band of four — looked upon with
pity and contempt for what was called our "fanaticism."
For several days before the election the excitement in the neighborhood
and other settlements along the river was intense. Many gentlemen
called on me and tried to persuade me to stay at home and save myself
from insult. I thanked them for their kindness, and told them I fully
782 History of Woman Suffrage.
appreciated their good intentions, but that I had associated with men all
my life, and had always been treated as a lady ; that the men I should
meet at the polls were the same that I met in church and social gather-
ings, and I knew they would treat me with respect. Then they begged
my husband not to allow me to go ; but he told them his wife had as good
a right to vote as he had ; and that no citizen can legally deprive another
of the right to vote.
On the morning of the election, just before we reached the school-
house, a man met us and said, "Mr. Brown, look here now! If Mrs.
Brown goes up to vote she will be insulted ! If I was in your place I
wouldn't let her go any farther. She had better go back." My husband
answered, " Mr. Brannan, my wife has as good a right to vote as I have,
and I would not prevent her if I could. She has a mind of her own and
will do as she thinks best, and I shall stand by her and see that she is well
treated ! Besides [speaking with emphasis], she will not be insulted
either!" " Well," said the man, "if she was my wife she shouldn't go!
She'll be sure to be insulted ! " I looked him full in the face, and said with
decision, "Mr. Brannan, a gentleman will be a gentleman under all cir-
cumstances, and will always treat a lady with respect." I said this because
I knew the man, and knew that if anyone offered any annoyance, it would
be he, and so it proved.
As we drove up to the school-house and alighted, a man in an angry
voice snapped out, "Well! if the women are coming to vote, I'm going
home !" But he did not go ; he had too much curiosity ; he wanted to see
the fun. He stayed and was converted. After watching the sovereign
" white male citizen " perform the laborious task of depositing his vote in
the ballot-box, I thought if I braced myself up I might be equal to the
task. So, summoning all my strength, I walked up to the desk behind
which sat the august officers of election, and presented my vote. When
behold ! I was pompously met with the assertion, " You are not an Ameri-
can citizen ; hence not entitled to vote." The great unabridged dictionary
of Noah Webster was opened, and the definition of the word citizen read
tome. They all looked to see me vanquished; they thought I would
have to retreat before such an overwhelming array of sagacity. The
countenances of the judges wore a pleased expression that they had hit
on so easy an expedient to put me hors du combat, while the crowd looked
astonished that I did not sink out of sight. Waiting a moment, I said,
" The definition is correct. A citizen of the United States, is a person
owing allegiance to the government; but then all persons are not men;
and the definition of " citizeness " is a female citizen. I claim to be an
American citizen, and a native-born citizen at that ; and I wish to show
you from the fourteenth amendment to the coustitution of the United
States, that women are not only citizens having the constitutional right
to vote, but also that our territorial election law gives women the privi-
lege of exercising that right."
When I commenced speaking, all the men, with the exception of two
— the one who had urged my husband not to let me go to the school-
house, and a low, degraded fellow, who had a squaw for a wife — came and
Mrs. Browns Argument. 783
ranged themselves around me and the judges before whom I stood, and
listened attentively. It was a new subject to them. They had heard of
woman suffrage, but only in ridicule. Now it was being presented to
them in a very different light. As I proceeded there was a death-like
stillness, so intent were they to catch every word. Even the man who
had declared he would go home if the women were going to vote, was
among the most interested of the listeners. There was but one interrup-
tion ; the two men, of whom I have spoken, to make good their assertion
that I would be insulted, got behind a desk in the far corner of the room,
and began talking and laughing very loudly ; but they were promptly
called to order. Silence being restored, I went on to show them that the
original constitution recognized women as citizens, and that the word
citizen includes both sexes, as is proved by the phrases, " male citizen,"
and "female citizen"; that women from the beginning had been un-
justly deprived of the exercise of their constitutional rights; that they
had for years been petitioning those in power to restore them to their
political freedom, when the emancipation of the Southern slaves threw
upon the country a class of people, who, like the women of the nation,
owed allegiance to the government, but whose citizenship was not recog-
nized. To settle this question, the fourteenth amendment was adopted.
Its first section declares emphatically who are citizens, and guarantees to
them the exercise of all their natural rights under the equal protection of
the law. (Here I read to them the section.) No distinction is made in
regard to sex ; the word " person " being used, which includes both men
and women.
, "And now, honorable gentlemen," I said, in conclusion, " I am a 'per-
son,' declared by the fourteenth amendment to be a citizen, and still fur-
ther, I am a native-born citizen of the same race and color of these gen-
tlemen by whom I am surrounded, and whose votes you do not hesitate
to receive ; and, had our territorial law failed to give me the right to vote,
this amendment would protect me in the exercise of it. I again offer
my vote, and hope you will not refuse it." No hand was extended
to receive it ; but one of the judges threw himself back in his seat,
and with great dignity of manner and an immense display of igno-
rance, exclaimed, " Women have no right to vote ; and the laws of
congress don't extend over Washington territory." This was too much
for even the strongest opponents. On every side was heard, "Oh,
Mr. Alvord ! why, yes, they do!" "Mr. Alvord, you are mistaken, the
laws of congress do extend over our territory "; and some tried to explain
to him that the territory belonged to the United States and was under the
jurisdiction of the national government, and that of course the laws of
congress extended over it. But still more pompously, he again declared,
" It is no such thing, the laws of congress don't extend over Washington
territory." A look of disgust and shame was depicted on nearly every
countenance, and the cause of woman suffrage had advanced perceptibly
in the minds of the audience.
Another of the judges arose, and said, he had never thought much on
the subject. He had no doubt but Mrs. Brown was right, women were
784 History of Woman Suffrage.
citizens and had the right to vote ; but as the courts had not instructed
the election officers to take the votes of women, and as the precinct was
a small one, he was afraid their whole vote would be thrown out if they
received the women's ballots. So, although he should like to see the
women have their rights, he should have to refuse Mrs. Brown's vote.
Here an Irishman called out, " It would be more sensible to let an intelli-
gent white woman vote than an ignorant nigger." Cries of "Good for
you, Pat ! good for you, Pat !" indicated the impression that had been
made. My daughter now went up and offered her vote, which was, of
course, rejected.
My going to the polls was noised abroad, and set men as well as women
thinking. They examined the law for themselves, and found that women
had a right to vote, so that before the next election many were prepared
to act. In May, 1870, I published an appeal to the women of the territory,
quoting to them the law, and urging them to avail themselves of its pro-
visions by going to the polls and voting. My sister, Charlotte Olney
French, living in Grand Mound precinct, some twenty-five miles from
Olympia, began talking the matter up ; and, being a woman of energy and
influence, she soon had the whole neighborhood interested. With the as-
sistance of an old lady, Mrs. Peck, she planned a regular campaign. By
the programme the women were to get up a picnic dinner at the school-
house where the election was to be held, and directly after, while the offi-
cers of election were in good humor (wives will understand the philosophy
of this), they were to present their votes. My sister, being a good talker
and well informed on all the constitutional, judicial and social phases of
the question as well as a good judge of human nature, was able to meet
and parry every objection, and give information where needed, so that by
the time dinner was over, the judges, as well as everybody else, were in
the best of spirits. When the voting was resumed, the women (my sister
being the first) handed in their ballots as if they had always been accus-
tomed to voting, and everything passed off pleasantly. One lady, Mrs.
Sargent, seventy-two years old, said she thanked the Lord that He had
let her live until she could vote. She had often prayed to see the day,
and now she was proud to cast her first ballot.
It had been talked of for some days before the election in the adjoining
precinct — Black River — that Mrs. French was organizing a party of wo-
men to attend the election in Grand Mound precinct ; but they were not
sure the judges would let them vote. " If they do," said they, " if the Grand
Mound women vote, the Black River women shall !" So they stationed a
man on a fleet horse, at the Grand Mound polls, with instructions to start
as soon as the women began to vote, and ride with all haste back to their
precinct and let them know. The moment the man rode in sight of the
school-house he swung his hat, and screeched at the top of his voice,
"They're voting! They're voting!" The teams were all ready in antici-
pation of the news, and were instantly flying in every direction, and soon
the women were ushered into the school-house, their choice of tickets
furnished them, and all allowed to vote as "American citizens."
While the women of these two precincts were enjoying the exercise of
Another Attempt to Vote. 785
their political rights, the women of Olympia were suffering- the vexation
of disappointment. I had been stopping there for some weeks previous
to the election, trying to induce the women to go to the polls, and also
to convince the men that women had a legal right to vote, and that their
right must be respected. The day before election the judges were inter-
viewed as to whether they would take the votes of the women. They re-
plied, " Yes; we shall be obliged to take them. The law gives them the
right to vote, and we can not refuse." This decision was heralded
all over the city, and women felt as if their millennium had come. To-
morrow, for the first time, their voice would be heard in the government
through the ballot. All day long women met each other, and asked :
"Are you going to the election to-morrow?" Groups gathered in par-
lors and discussed the matter, and everything seemed auspicious.
But how true the saying : "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the
lip !" Before nine o'clock the next morning, the word had been commu-
nicated all over town that " the women need not come out to the polls
as the judges would not take their votes." They would give no reason
why, but said "they had decided not to take the votes of the women."
About a dozen of us gathered together to consult what was best to be
done ; finding most of them inclined to back out, I urged the necessity of
our making an effort ; that whether the judges took our votes or not, it
was not best to give it up as the rest had done ; if we did, it would be
harder to make an effort next time ; that I had been to the polls once and
had my vote refused, and could be refused again ; at any rate, I had the
right to vote, and I should go and offer it if I had to go alone. Three of
the number said they would go with me — Mrs. Patterson, Mrs. Wiley and
Mrs. DofHemyer ; these, with Mr. Patterson, my husband and myself made,
our party. As we reached the court-house where the election was held,
Mr. Dofflemyer met us and took his wife home, she meekly submitting.
Just before us a cart rattled up bearing a male citizen, who was too
drunk to know what he was doing, or even to do anything. He was lying
on his back in the cart, with feet and hands up, hurrahing at the top
of his voice. This disgusting, drunken idiot was picked up out of the
cart by two men, who put a ticket into his hand, carried him to the win-
dow (he was too drunk to stand), shoved him up and raised his arm into
the aperture ; his vote received, he was tumbled back into the cart.
I then stepped up and offered my vote, and was answered with, "We
have decided not to take the votes of the women !" " On what grounds
do you refuse ?" I asked. No answer. " Do you refuse it on legal
grounds?" Still no answer. I then said, " Under the election law of this
territory, setting aside my constitutional right as a citizen of the United
States, I have the right to vote at this election. Have you the election
law by you?" "No, we have not got it here," they said. I knew they had,
but did not dispute their word. " Very well," I said, " I can quote it for
you." I did so, and then said, "Under this territorial law I claim my right,
and again I offer you my vote as an American citizen. If you doubt my
citizenship, I will insist on taking the oath. Will you receive it?" The
answer was, " No ; we have decided not to take women's votes, and we
50
786 History of Woman Suffrage.
cannot take yours." "Then," said I, "it amonnts to this : the law gives
women the right to vote in this territory, and you three men who
have been appointed to receive our votes, sit here and arbitrarily re-
fuse to take them, giving no reason why, only that you have decided not
to take the women's votes. There is no law to sustain you in this usurpa-
tion of power. We can claim legal redress. Are you willing to stand a
legal prosecution ?" " Yes," was the response of each one separately. It
was now plain to see why the votes of the women were refused ; the judges
had been hired to do the dirty work, and money pledged in case of prose-
cution. They were men in moderate circumstances and could not have
stood the cost of a suit individually. The ready assent they gave showed
such a contingency had been thought of and provided against by the op-
ponents of woman suffrage. The other two women then offered their
votes, which were also refused.
In the autumn of 1871 Susan B. Anthony came to Olympia and attended
the first woman suffrage convention ever held here. Our legislature was
in session, and a joint hearing before the two Houses was extended to her.
Her statesman-like argument clearly proved the right of our women to
vote under both the national constitution and the territorial law. After
Miss Anthony left, there arose a rumor that the election law was to be
repealed, and a committee of women attended every session, determined
if possible to prevent it. They were at the capitol the last day, prepared
to stay until the adjournment ; they were urged to go home, but would
not unless a solemn promise was made them that the law should in no
way be tampered with. This the members refused to do, until a bright
idea struck one of them, which was that they need not disturb the law,
but could make it inoperative by enacting another statute. This being
whispered among the members, the promise was given, and the women re-
tired. Immediately after, the following act was passed by both Houses,
approved and signed by the governor :
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington:
SECTION I. That hereafter no female shall have the right of ballot, or vote at any
poll or election precinct in this territory until the Congress of the United States of
America shall, by direct legislation, declare the same to be the supreme law of the
land.
SEC. 2. This act to take effect from and after its passage.
Approved November 29, 1871. EDWARD S. SOLOMON, Governor.
When the proclamation to hold a convention to form a constitution
preparatory to our admission into the Union as a State, was issued, I
recommended to the Territorial Woman Suffrage Association that we
make every effort to secure to the convention as many delegates as pos-
sible in favor of woman suffrage, and then that we circulate petitions ask-
ing them to leave out the word " male " from the constitution. Failing to
get the society to take any associated action, I went to work individually,
wrote and sent out petitions into every town and country place where
there was a post-office, asking that the word " male " be left out of the con-
stitution. With each petition I sent a letter to the person whose name
I had procured from the postmaster of the place, stating the object,
urging a thorough circulation, and directing its return at a given date to
Introduction of a Suffrage Bill. 787
Mary Olney Brown, President of the Washington Territorial Woman
Suffrage Association ; thus giving the credit of the work to the Society.
I could not get a member of our Association to circulate the petition in
Olympia, so every day that I could get away from home I took my peti-
tion in hand and canvassed for signatures. If I went shopping or on an
errand I took it with me, and in that way I procured over 300 names.
My experience had taught me that the principal opposition to woman's
voting came from ignorance as to her true position under the government.
She had come to be looked upon almost as a foreign element in oWr
nation, having no lot nor part with the male citizen, and I felt that it was
necessary to disabuse the minds of the people generally, and the dele-
gates to the convention particularly, of this notion. I therefore wrote
five articles on the "Equality of Citizenship," which Mrs. Duniway
kindly published in the New Northwest. The Olympia Courier also
printed them, and placed the paper on file in the city reading-room ; and
when I met a man who had not made up his mind on the subject I recom-
mended him to the reading-room, and several after perusing the articles
were converted and signed the petition.
On the assembling of the legislature Mrs. A. H. H. Stuart and myself
watched a lavorable opportunity to present an equal rights bill. We let
them talk up the matter pretty well over a petition signed by fifty women
of one of the upper counties, when one day Mrs. Stuart came to me and
said : " Now, Mrs. Brown, write out your bill ; the speaker of the House
sent me word they were ready for it." I sat down and framed a bill* to
the best of my ability, which was duly presented and respectfully debated.
Mrs. Dnniway came from Portland to urge its passage, and the day before
it came to a vote both Houses adjourned and invited her to speak in the
hall of representatives. She made one of her best speeches. The mem-
bers of both Houses were present, besides a large audience from the city.
The next day the House passed the bill by two majority, and on the day
following it was lost in the Council by two majority. In the House the
vote stood, ayes, 13; nays, n. In the Council, ayes, 5; nays, 7.
Saturday evening Mrs. Duniway made another telling speech in the
city hall, at the close of which Mr. White, a lobby member, made a few
remarks, in which he disclosed the cause of the defeat of the bill in the
Council. He said, after the bill passed the House the saloon-keepers,
alarmed lest their occupation would be gone if women should vote,
button-holed the members of the Council, and as many of them as could
be bought by drinks pledged themselves to vote against the bill. The
members of the Council were present, and though an urgent invitation
was given to all to speak, not one of them denied the charge made by
Mr. White. On the following Monday an effort was made in the Council
to reconsider the bill, but failed. Thus stands our cause at present.
* Be it enacted by the Legislature of the Territory of Washington :
SECTION i. All female citizens of the age of twenty-one years shall be entitled to vote at all elec-
tions in the territory, subject only to such regulations as male citizens.
SEC. 2. Any officer of election who shall refuse to take the vote of a woman citizen (otherwise quali-
fied to vote), shall be liable to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than 8500.
SEC. 3. All laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 4. This act to be in force on and after its passage.
788 History of Woman Suffrage.
There will be a greater effort than ever before put forth during the next
two years to secure an affirmative vote in our legislature.
As Mrs. Brown wrote the above in 1881, the promise in the
closing sentence was really quite prophetic, since the legislature
of 1883 passed a law enfranchising the women of the territory*
Mrs. Duniway concludes her account with a brief reference to
the work in neighboring territories:
In addition to all that is being done in Oregon and Washington, we are
actively engaged in pushing the work in Idaho and Montana territories,
where the New Northwest has been thoroughly circulated in many locali-
ties and many spirited public meetings have been held. The Idaho legis-
lature seriously considered and came near adopting a woman suffrage bill
last winter, and the women of the territory are confidently awaiting a
triumph at the next biennial session. Remembering Dakota's set-back
through the governor's veto in 1885, they are carefully planning to
avoid a like calamity in their own territory. In Montana the cause has
made less apparent progress, but there is much quiet and constantly in-
creasing agitation in its favor. Popular feeling is steadily ripening for
the change, and let the rest of the world wag as it will, there cannot be
much longer hindrance to the complete triumph of liberty in the Pacific
Northwest.
No one offered to speak on it. The vote stood : Ayes — Burk, Edmiston, Hale, Harper,
and Smith— 7. Noes — Caton, Collins, Houghton, Whitehouse and President Truax— 5,
W. A. Newell approved the bill November 22, 1883.
CHAPTER LV.
LOUISIANA— TEXAS— ARKANSAS— MISSISSIPPI.
St. Anna's Asylum, Managed by Women — Constitutional Convention, 1879 — Women
Petition — Clara Merrick Guthrie — Petition Referred to Committee on Suffrage — A
Hearing Granted — Mrs. Keating — Mrs. Saxon — Mrs. Merrick — Col. John M.
Sandige — Efforts of the Women all in Vain — Action in 1885 — Gov. McEnery —
The Daily Picayune — Women as Members of the School-Board — Physiology in
the Schools — Miss Eliza Rudolph — Mrs. E. J. Nicholson — Judge Merrick's Digest
of Laws — Texas — Arkansas — Mississippi — Sarah A. Dorsey.
L— LOUISIANA.
MRS. CAROLINE E. MERRICK has furnished the following in-
teresting facts from her native State, for which we feel ourselves
deeply indebted :
Like the children of one family the States have a common resemblance,
but they are various in character as in geographical outline. In Louisi-
ana the Anglo-American finds himself side-by-side with inhabitants of
French or Spanish descent, and in many of the country parishes the
African freedmen outnumber all the rest.
St. Anna's Asylum in New Orleans is controlled and managed by a
board of directors composed entirely of women. Among the inmates in
1878 was a German woman who had resided in the institution for many
years. Finding herself in ill-health and fearing the approach of the end,
she confided to the ladies of the board that she had a thousand dollars in
bank which she wished to bequeath to the home where she had been
provided for and sheltered so long. At her earnest request a will was
drawn up in accordance with her wishes, and signed by members of the
board who were present <^ witnesses. 'Shortly after, the woman died and
her will was submitted to the proper authority for admission to probate.
When the ladies were duly informed that the will was null and void, they
naturally asked why, and were told that under Louisiana law women
were not lawful witnesses to a will. Had they only called in the old
darkey wood-sawyer, doing a day's work in the asylum yard, and had him
affix his mark to the paper, the money would have accrued to the asylum ;
as it was, it went to the State.
Early in 1879, when a convention to make a new State constitution*
* Emily P. Collins of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, wrote Miss Anthony : " Our State is to form a new
constitution this spring. I feel that now if ever is the time to strike for woman's emancipation. ' We.
the people,' includes women as well as men, and regardless of former legislative enactments we should
790 History of Woman Suffrage.
had been called and was about to assemble in New Orleans, Mrs. Merrick
tried to arouse the ladies of the board, representing to them that in the
controlling power they exercised over St. Anna's Asylum they were only
children playing they were a part of the people and citizens of the State,
when in reality they were legally powerless to perform any free and inde-
pendent act. The ladies were mortified by the position in which they
found themselves but were not willing to take any step to remedy their
pitiful case, not even to sign the petition which was afterwards drawn up
by Mrs, Saxon and Mrs. Merrick to present to the constitution-makers to
have these disabilities removed. The petition was as follows :
To the Honorable President and Members of the Convention of Louisiana, convened
for the purpose of framing a new Constitution :
The undersigned, citizens of the State of Louisiana, respectfully represent :
That up to the present time all women, of whatever age or capacity, have been de-
barred from the right of representation, notwithstanding the burdensome taxes which
they have paid.
They have been excluded from holding any office save in cases of special tutorships
in limited degree, or of administration only in specified cases.
They have been debarred from being witnesses to wills or notarial acts, even when
executed by their own sex.
They look upon this condition of things as a grievance proper to be brought before
your honorable body for consideration and relief.
As a question of civilization, we look upon the enfranchisement of women as an all-
important one. In Wyoming, where it has been tried for ten years, the law-makers
and clergy unite in declaring that this influx of women voters has done more to pro-
mote morality and order than thousands of armed men could have accomplished.
Should the entire franchise seem too extended a privilege, we most earnestly urge
the adoption of a property qualification, and that women may be allowed a vote on
school and educational matters, involving as they do the interests of women and child-
ren in a great degree. *
So large a proportion of the taxes of Louisiana is paid by women, many of them
without male representatives, that in granting consideration and relief for grievances
herein complained of, the people will recognize justice and equity. To woman as
well as man "taxation without representation is tyranny," she being "a person, a
citizen, a freeholder, a tax-payer," the same as man, only government has never held
out the same fostering, protecting hand to all alike, nor ever will, until women are
directly represented.
Wherefore, we, your petitioners, pray that some suitable provision remedying these
evils be incorporated in the constitution you are about to frame.
While this petition was being circulated, favorable articles appeared
from time to time in the public prints. The following, signed "Fatima,"
the nom de plume of Clara Merrick Guthrie, appeared in the Democrat :
A well-known notary signed this petition with a flourish, remarking that "few
women and not over half the men were aware of the disabilities of wives and
daughters."
If the convention should invest women of property with the elective franchise it
be allowed to vole and be voted for as delegates to the constitutional convention. If I only had some
one to aid me, or had your moral courage, I would proclaim myself a candidate for the constitutional
convention. The colored people ought to sustain me for I have ever been their steadfast friend, and
they themselves owe their emancipation chiefly to women. They cannot elect a colored man here,
but could I have their support I have personal friends enough to secure my election. The parish
ought to be stumped in support of some candidate whose efforts should be pledged to the insertion of a
clause in the new constitution to prohibit future legislatures making sex a qualification for voting."
Constitutional Convention. 791
would give to the respectable side of politics a large body of sensible voters which
would go far toward neutralizing the evil of unlimited male suffrage. The policy in
the Northern States has been to demand unrestricted suffrage, but the women of
Louisiana may with propriety exhibit certain variations in the nature of their appeal.
This subject in all its phases inspires my enthusiasm, but I dare not be as eloquent as
I might, lest a messenger should be sent to me with an urgent request to address the
convention next Monday evening. * ' ' *
On dit. — Other ladies beside our brave Mrs. Saxon are desired to give their views.
Now surely the convention would not ask these quiet house-mothers, who are not even
remotely akin to professional agitators, to do such violence to their old-time precedents
if the prospect of some reward were not encouraging and immediate. Nothing could
induce me to make personal application save the solemn obligation of the whole august
body to accede to my timid proposal simultaneously and by acclamation. Fortunately
for us there are women in Louisiana more sacrificing of their naturally shrinking dis-
position, who perhaps take the cause more seriously than your correspondent, who
would make a most persuasive enrolling-officer but not so gallant a general for active
service.
After securing over 400 influential names * the petition was sent in to
the convention and was referred to the Committee on Suffrage, Mr. Felix
P. Poche, chairman, now judge of the Supreme Court. On May 7, the
committee invited the ladies to a conference at Parlor P, St. Charles
Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Saxon, Colonel and Mrs. John M. Sandige and Mrs.
Mollie Moore Davis were present. Mrs. Saxon spoke for an hour and
replied to questions from the committee. She made a very favorable im-
pression and was highly commended for her argument. On June 16 the
friends of the petition were notified that a hearing would be granted them
at the evening session of the convention. Mrs. Harriette C. Keating and
Mrs. Elizabeth L. Saxon had consented to speak if such a hearing were
granted.
Col. John M. Sandige, who had occupied prominent positions in the
political affairs of the State, gave much encouragement and assistance.
He did not hesitate to urge the importance of this movement, and the ne-
cessity that the women who were most interested should cheerfully as-
sume their responsibility in relation to it. While Mrs. Saxon was known
already as a fearless and able reformer, and Dr. Harriette C. Keating as a
noble representative of woman in professional life, he thought it was de-
sirable to have a voice from the home and from society, and Mrs. Caro-
line E. Merrick was solicited to come forward and endorse what her col-
* The following letter from Mrs. Saxon to Mrs. Minor gives the reason why she could not be present
at the National Convention held in St. Louis :
" Almost entirely unaided I have gained 300 names in five weeks. Among them two Presbyterian
ministers, wives of three others, seven of the most prominent physicians, all of the city administrators,
two distinguished judges, several lawyers and many leading business men. I have begged Mrs. Emily
P. Collins to urge upon the Association to meet here next year. I feel that now and before this con-
vention is our most important work, so I mnst stay and try and influence the members all in my power.
I was unaware of the action I was to take here, and if I get before the convention it will not be before
the morning of the 7th, or I would come anyway as I have been offered a free passage by both rail and
river. Mrs. Collins was with me for a few days and will assure you of my untiring efforts in the cause
here. God knows I would be willing to buy fifteen minutes before the whole convention, the day they
vote on that bill, by the sacrifice of my life ; for remembering the grand women I have seen sacrificed
along life's path, I think from their memory a power and eloquence would spring that might win hearts
of steel and force justice to women from them. I will write again in a few days and report progress^
" Very sincerely your friend, E. L. SAXON."
" May j, /<5>9."
792 History of Woman Suffrage.
leagues would say, in a few words at the close of the proceedings. Mrs.
Merrick finally agreed that she should see her duty in the light in which
it was presented if Judge Merrick, who constituted her court of last re-
sort, should leave her entirely free to act in the case. After a consulta-
tion, to her great surprise and consternation the judge said, " You have
always desired to help women — here is an opportunity ; go forward and
do your share in this work."
The surprise could hardly have been greater if a procession of slaves
twenty-five years ago had come up in force to the lordly mansion of their
master with several spokesmen chosen from their ranks, for the avowed
purpose of asking for their freedom. The ladies were treated with a deli-
cate courtesy and kindness on this unusual occasion, which they can
never forget. Judge Poche, with the tact of a true gentleman, endeavored
to smooth a difficult way, reassuring the failing courage of the ladies while
assisting them to mount the platform. The Daily Picayune of June 17,
1879, said:
The usually prosaic and unimpressive appearance of the convention hall assumed
for the occasion an entire change last evening. When the convention closed its fore-
noon's labors, it took a recess until half-past 7 o'clock for the purpose of affording
the female suffragists an opportunity to plead their cause before a full meeting. The
scene before the convention was called to order was interesting and amusing. As the
minutes rolled on the crowd of ladies commenced to pour in, and by 8 o'clock the
hall contained some fifty representatives of the gentler sex of the Crescent City. Every
age of womanhood and every class of beauty found a representative upon the floor.
About half a dozen "society girls" occupied a retired corner of the room, while a
number of the notables, including Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines, took possession of the
middle of the hall.
Promptly at 8 o'clock President Wiltz climbed to his seat and called the convention
to order in a tone slightly husky from nervous excitement. Secretary Harris, having
summoned up his spare courage, called the roll in a determined voice. Of the 134
members 106 responded to their names. After the usual preliminaries Mr. Poche an-
nounced that a committee of ladies were in attendance, prepared to address the con-
vention upon the question of woman suffrage. He then introduced Mrs. Dr. Keating.
The fair speaker had scarcely begun before it was seen that she possessed a clear, slow
enunciation and perfect confidence in her ability to enforce the doctrines of the cause
she was to advocate. She read from manuscript and showed no little knowledge of
the rules of oratory.
Mrs. Saxon was greeted with a burst of applause, which was gracefully acknowl-
edged by the recipient; her address was earnest and made a deep impression.
Mr. ^Robertson of St. Landry then offered the following resolution, which lies over
under the rules :
Resolved, That the committee on elective franchises be directed to embody in the
article upon suffrage reported in this convention, a provision giving the right of suf-
frage to women upon the same terms as to men.
After some talk the resolution was laid aside to allow another speech to be made.
'Mrs. E. T. Merrick was introduced by Mr. Poche, as the wife of ex-Chief-Jus-
tice Merrick, and a shower of applause followed the appearance of the lady. She
said :
Mr. President and Delegates of the Convention: — We have met with such unexpected
kindness in the reception which you have accorded us to-night, that we find it hard to
give expression to anything but thanks. When we remember the persistent and ag-
gressive efforts which our energetic sisters of the North put forth before they could
obtain a hearing before any legislative assembly, we find ourselves lost in a pleasing
Mrs. Mer rick's Address, 793
astonishment at the graciousness which beams upon us here from all quarters.
Should we even now be remanded to our places and have our petitions met with an
utter refusal, we should be grieved to the heart, we should be sorely disappointed, but
we never could cherish the least feeling of rebellious spite toward this convention of
men, who have shown themselves so respectful and considerate toward the women of
Louisiana.
Perhaps some of the gentlemen thought we did not possess the moral courage to
venture even thus far from the retiremeut in which we prefer to dwell ; perhaps they
thought we would not dare to appear in person before this formidable body and speak
for our own cause. Be assured that a resolute and conscientious woman can put aside
her individual preferences at the call of duty, and act unselfishly for the good of others.
You are our witnesses that we have not wearied you by our importunities, nor have
we sought in any disingenuous manner to influence you in our favor. We are simply
here in response to your own courteous invitation to explain our ideas and opinions on
the great question of woman's enfranchisement. The ladies who have already ad-
dressed you have given you our arguments, and in eloquent language have made their
appeal, to which you could not have been insensible. It only remains for me to give
you some of my own individual views in the few words which are to conclude this in-
terview.
We assure you we are not cherishing any ambitious ideas of political honors and
emoluments for women. We do not wish to become governors or legislators, nor
have we any inordinate desire to obtain seats in congress. I have seen but. one
woman who ever expressed even a wish to be president of these United States. But
we do ask with most serious earnestness that you should give us the ballot, which has
been truly called the expression of allegiance and responsibility to the govern-
ment. All over the world this same movement is advancing. In many countries
earnest, thoughtful, large-hearted women are working day and night to elevate their
sex; to secure higher education; to open new avenues for their industrious hands; trying
to make women helpers to man, instead of being millstones round his neck to sink him
in his life struggle. Ah, if we could only infuse into your souls the courage which we,
constitutionally timid as we are, now feel on this subject, you would hasten to perform
this act of justice, and inaugurate the beginning of the end which all but the blind can
see is surely and steadily approaching. We are willing to accept anything. We have
always been in the position of beggars, as now, and cannot be choosers if we wished.
We will gladly accept the franchise on any terms, provided they be wholly and entirely
honorable. If you should see proper to subject us to an educational test, even of a
high order, we should try to attain it; if you require a considerable property qualifica-
tion, we would not complain. We would be only too grateful for any amelioration of
our legal disabilities. Allow me to ask, are we less prepared for the intelligent exer-
cise of the right of suffrage than were the freedmen when it was suddenly conferred
upon them ? Has not this right been to them a beneficial stimulant, inducing them to
use exertions to promote their improvement, and has it not raised them to a superior
place, above the disfranchised classes, such as the Chinese, Indians and women ?
Perhaps you think only a few of us desire the ballot. If that were so, we think it
would not be any sufficient reason for withholding it. In old times most of our slaves
were happy and contented. Under the rule of good and humane masters, they
gave themselves no trouble to grasp after a freedom which was beyond their
reach. So it is with us to-day. We are happy and kindly treated (as witness our re-
ception here to-night), and in the enjoyment of the numerous privileges which our
chivalrous gentlemen are so ready to accord; many of us who feel a wish for freedom,
do not venture even to whisper a single word about our rights. For the last twenty-
five years I have occasionally expressed a desire to vote, and it was always received as
a matter of surprise, but the sort of effect produced was as different as the characters
of the individuals with whom I conversed. * *
Gentlemen of the convention, we now leave our cause in your hands, and commend
it to your favorable consideration. We have pointed out to you the signs of the dawn-
794 History of Woman Suffrage.
ing of a better day for woman, which are so plain before our eyes, and implore you to
reach out your hand and help us up, that we may catch the first glimpse of its glory be-
fore it floods the world with noon-day light.*
Col. John M. Sandidge read a letter from Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey :
JUNE ii, 1879.
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: — Too weak from recent illness and
suffering to appear personally before you by the side of the women of Louisiana who
are asking for the privilege and responsibility of political suffrage, I am forced to use
this mode of indorsing their movement.
Being left by the fiat of God entirely alone in the world, with no man to represent
me, having large interests in the State and no voice either in representation or taxa-
tion while hundreds of my negro lessees vote and control my life and property, I feel
that I ought to say one word that may perhaps aid many other women whom fate has
left equally destitute. It is doubtful whether I shall rise from my couch of pain to
profit by the gift should the men of Louisiana decide to give the women of the State
the right which is the heritage of the Anglo-Saxon race — repesentation for taxation.
But still I ask it for my sisters and for the future of the race. We women of Louisi.
ana have always been treated before the law as civil partners of our husbands. In
every respect our rights have been protected.
It needs but one more step to make us civilly free, and this we ask you to embody
in your new constitution. Many men are not opposed to the fact of female suffrage,
but to its mode at present; that could be corrected, and women need not be ex-
posed to the coarseness and strife of the polls as they are now conducted. There is
no man among you who does not believe his wife or his daughter intelligently capable
of taking a voice in the government. If my lessees are capable of being citizens of Lou-
isiana, it is because for thirty years of my life and for five generations of my ancestors
we have interested ourselves in their civilization and in their instruction. Gentlemen,
we ask nothing that would unsex ourselves. We do not expect to do man's work ; we
can never pass the limits which nature herself has set. But we ask for justice; we ask
for removal of unnatural restrictions that are contrary to the elemental spirit of the
civil law; we do not ask for rights, but for permission to assume our natural responsi-
bilities.
Praying that the hearts and minds of the men of Louisiana may be moved toward
this act of justice, I am, with profound respect, your obedient servant,
SARAH A. DORSEY.
The Webster Tribune, Mr. Scanland, editor, of June 25, 1879, shows the
sensation created in the remotest parishes of Louisiana by this hearing
before the convention :
The ladies, it seems, are about walking up and demanding enlarged liberties. We
were under the impression that women generally had about as much latitude as they
wanted, but if they desire more, the Tribune says, in the name of gallantry if not
justice, let them have all they wish. There is an element throughout the Union agi-
tating the proposition that they are entitled to vote because they are taxed. The Consti-
tution of the United States provides that no one shall be taxed without representation.
Representation is based on population, and, of course, the ladies are enumerated ; and
the ' ' horrid men " claim that the ladies are represented through them. This a great
many repudiate, and their heads are about level. When a man assumes to represent a
woman, he undertakes a larger contract than he imagines — something we would not
dream of attempting in a political or any other sense.
The ladies who advocate female suffrage claim that as they are governed by the laws
* Of her speech Mrs. Merrick writes : "Fearing that I could not be heard, I proposed to my son-in
law, Mr. Guthrie, that he should read it for me, but Mrs. Saxon objected, saying, ' No matter if they
do not hear a word you say ! You do not wish a man to represent you at the polls; represent yourself
now, if you only stand up and move your lips.' ' I will,' said I, ' you are right.' — [EDITORS.
Women Eligible to School Offices. 795
they have a right to a voice in making them. Many of the ablest women of this coun-
try hold that belief, and of all our noble statesmen, not one has advanced an answer
to this demand — reasonable, if it does come from women. A French essayist held
that as women are a part of society, they have a right to be judges of its members, as-
sist in making its laws, and condemn and punish transgressors. They have their in-
fluence, but that is not so effective as power. * * * * Some of the brightest
intellects that adorn the social circles throughout this country and State hold
these views and ably advance them. Among them in this State are Mrs. E. L. Saxon,
Mrs. Merrick, wife of ex-Chief-Justice Merrick, and Mrs. Dr. Harriette Keating.
When our convention was discussing the suffrage question, these ladies petitioned to
be heard. Of course the request was allowed. Last Tuesday evening the above-men-
tioned ladies addressed the congress at length. Their speeches were able, and the
ideas they advanced were sound logic; but if carried into effect may prove beneficial,
and may not. Woman suffrage is an experiment. Like everything else, we will never
know its effects until after it is tried. We only wish that there were a few more men
in that convention who could make as able speeches as did these ladies — notwithstand-
ing the Utopian ideas advanced.
When the new constitution finally went forth, it contained, as the result
of all our arguments and appeals, but one little concession :
ARTICLE 232. Women twenty-one years of age and upwards, shall be eligible to any
office of control or management under the school laws of the State.
Judge I. F. Marshall of Catahoula parish, an accomplished gentleman
and able lawyer, suggested this article, and it was presented and cham-
pioned by Hon. F. L. Claiborne * of Pointe Coupee. The women of
Louisiana have never realized any advantage from this law. All school
offices are filled by appointment of the governor, and there was no
serious agitation for the enforcement of this clause in the new constitu-
tion until the autumn of 1885, when, in response to the demand that
women should be appointed on the school-board of New Orleans, Gov.
McEnery, through a correspondent of the Times-Democrat, gave his
opinion as follows :
If a married woman occupied an office under the school laws, in which it was neces-
sary to bring a suit to enforce some right connected with it, she would have-to get the
consent of her husband to bring the suit and join him with her. There are only a few
exceptional cases where the married woman can legally act independently of her hus-
band. Our code so recognizes the paramount control of the husband that when a
widow, who is the tutor of her minor children, wishes to marry, and gets the consent
of a family meeting to be retained in the tutorship, the code, article 255, says : Her
second husband becomes of necessity the co-tutor, and, for the administration of the
property subsequently to his marriage, becomes bound in solido with his wife. And
so it would be in the appointment of a married woman to a public office. Her
husband, of necessity, would share it with her; would, in fact, be the officer. And as
to unmarried women, Article 232 does not repeal any ot their disabilities. It does not
repeal the laws creating the essential differences between men and women. It, as I
stated, simply asserts a right, and is inoperative until there is legislation to enforce it.
The Daily Picaytine of November 16, under the head lines of " Women
as Members of School Boards," " The Law and the Facts in the Case
Presented by Mrs. Merrick," gives the following:
* The Claibornes are a distinguished Virginia family, but belong to the history of Mississippi and
Louisiana since territorial times. Mr. Claiborne now regrets that he did not go farther, for he is satis-
fied that women may be trusted with powers that have long been withheld. He says he was led to re-
flect seriously on the subject by the able addresses of Mrs. Keating, Mrs. Saxon and Mrs. Merrick, who
made a profound impression on the convention.
796 History of Woman Suffrage.
Last Thursday evening, November 12, a special meeting or reception was held by
the women's club at their rooms on Baronne street. On this occasion the club was ad-
dressed by Mrs. Caroline E. Merrick, a good and practical-minded friend of the cause
of woman. The I2th was the seventieth birthday of Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
and a decorated picture of the famous woman hung in the rooms. Mrs. Merrick read
a sketch of the life of Mrs. Stanton, but devoted the first part of the evening to reading
the following paper, the matter of which is of the keenest interest to all thinking men
and women in the State :
More than eighty thousand children attend the public schools in Louisiana, and of
this number one-half are girls, and of the 389 teachers employed in the public schools
of New Orleans, 368 are women. It cannot be denied that these are of equal concern
and importance to the State with any like number of boys and men, nor does it require
any argument to prove that mothers are best qualified to superintend and look after
the welfare of their own children. In view of this fact the convention of 1879 em-
bodied the following article in the constitution of the State :
ARTICLE 232. Women 21 years of age and upward shall be eligible to any office of
control or management under the school laws of this State.
Notwithstanding the absolute right conferred by this article on women over twenty-
one years of age, the chief executive of the State, with his present views, is apparently
unwilling to make any appointment of women to such management without further
legislation. The views of the Governor on all questions are always entitled to great
respect. The question is one of interpretation, and many of the best lawyers in
Louisiana do not hesitate to hold and declare a different view.
I am told that there are in the various constitutions of the States and general gov-
ernment two classes of provisions, the one self-executing and absolute, and the other
requiring legislative action before they can be exercised. For example of the first
class, article 59 of the constitution declares that " the supreme executive power of the
State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of Louisi-
ana." Nobody would ever undertake to say that the governor was dependent on any
more legislation to carry this into effect so as to enable him to fill his office. If he
were, it would then become necessary to legislate about every other article, and so the
constitution would be worthless, everything being required to be done over by the
legislature before the constitution could have any effect.
Article 232 of the constitution is imperative. It declares that women over twenty-
one years of age shall be eligible to any office of control or management under the
school laws of the State. Can the legislature repeal or modify this mandate ? Of
course not. Could the absoluteness of this right be expressed in plainer or more ener.
getic terms? No, indeed. We are told and have been made to understand that it is
a right conferred by the constitution of the State, which cannot be defeated or enlarged,
or even abridged in any way by the legislature,' neither by modification, repeal, or in-
action. That this article being paramount law, itself repeals all legislation inconsist-
ent with it. The constitution, I am told, prescribes the legal and other qualifications
for our judges of the courts. Nobody ever thought legislative action was needed when
their qualifications are according to that instrument, to enable them to take their
places on the bench.
Article 185 of the constitution prescribes the qualifications of voters or electors, and
we are instructed that all conflicting laws on that point are annulled by the sovereign
will of the people in convention assembled. In fact, good lawyers have given us in-
numerable examples, illustrations and decisions to this effect; and even women, who
are for the most part ignorant of the laws of their State, begin to understand that they
have a right to a place on the school-board for some one of their own sex here in Lou-
isiana. True, it has been said that there are other articles which are in conflict with
article 232, but we are told the other provisions of the constitution relate to other and
more general subjects, and on this very subject the framers of the constitution have in
very positive and unmistakable terms declared its precise will, and it is wasting time
to try to explain it away. These wise jurists do not fear to tell us further, that special
Mrs. Merrick Criticises the Governor. 797
laws or provisions in a constitution or statute abrogate or limit the general provisions
in the same instrument.
We are sorry that our governor apprehends any difficulty would arise in regard
to married women being school directors. He says the husband might change his
domicile and the wife would be obliged to follow him, and if bond were required she
could not sign it without his consent, and finally the fact was she could not do anything
without the husband's consent. Then " the husband would share the office with her."
I have heard that it was difficult to prevent outside influences from operating upon the
minds of men in office. We have certainly heard some complaints of this sort, but it
seems that there would be no great danger encountered from this source. The duties
which this article of the constitution permits women to perform are not generally re-
munerative, and would be probably more a labor of love than of reward. As to
the other objections, perhaps the husband -would sign his wife's bond, and perhaps
he would not move away while she held the office. I have heard that sheriffs sometimes
run away after giving bond, and people are sometimes elected to office and unable to
qualify, and others disappoint the public by resigning. Moreover we have ascertained
the fact that a tutrix may subsequently marry, and that act does not prevent her from
filling the office of tutrix, neither does the fact of being already married prevent her
from discharging the duties of tutrix. But I see no harm done if the husband should
become the assistant of his wife in this office. Is it not manifest that the two together
would have a superior official knowledge of the needs and exigencies of the girls sent to
the public schools and the women who teach them daily, than the husband could pos-
sibly attain by himself? But the whole difficulty, it seems to us, might be obviated.
Let the governor appoint unmarried women. A woman who has been so unfortunate
as to be a widow would not be objectionabie.
The article says : " Women over twenty-one years shall be eligible " to these of-
fices. It does not say the legislature may make them "eligible." By its own inherent
force it declares them eligible. If they are really eligible, then why not have them
selected and appointed ? They have every requisite for the office, and as the diction-
ary says, are " proper to be chosen." They are " qualified to be elected." They are
"legally qualified." They are eligible. It is not at all likely that the legislature will
ever do the vain thing of affirming a constitutional right so explicitly given.
The opposition of the executive, therefore, seems to be a bar not only to this pro-
vision being carried out, but also to the raising of any question under it for the consid-
eration of the judiciary. It is confidently hoped and expected that he will consent to
reconsider the whole question. We feel sure the governor will not intentionally be
guilty of any injustice to the women of Louisiana, and will not desire to withhold any
benefit from them which has already been conferred by the State constitution. Women
all over the Union rejoiced when this generous concession was granted here in Louisi-
ana. In many other States they enjoy the same, and greater privileges, and letters and
inquiries have come from distant States, asking why this law has not gone into effect.
We are aware that any reform changing existing conditions must move slowly,
and is apt to be unpopular with men in authority ; then it also antagonizes the inertia
of women, who are too modest to thrust themselves forward, saying, " I am ready to
serve the State "; yet they know all the time they can do good service in relation to
the schools. Only give them a kindly helping hand, and we feel sure that a valuable
cooperating influence will be felt, of which no one has ever dreamed in the past. We
leave this matter to the governor, to the citizens of Louisiana, and to the fathers who
take a deep interest in the welfare of their daughters as well as of their sons.
Our legislature passed a law requiring physiology to be taught in the
public schools, while the vast majority of the teachers of the State are
women, and no college in which that science is taught is open to them. In
1885, Dr Chaille gave a course of free lectures on physiology and anatomy
for the benefit of the New Orleans teachers, who, while they are doing
798 History of Woman Suffrage.
the most important public work in training the rising generation in the
rudiments of learning, are denied the advantages of the higher education
that would fit them for the duties of their profession. A fitting precedent
for the action of our rulers may be found in Shakespeare's, "Titus
Andronicus," in which rude men seize the king's daughter, cut out her
tongue and cut off her hands, and then bid her go call for water and
wash her hands.
The State Pharmaceutical Association, formed in 1882 with no mem-
bers, unanimously elected Miss Eliza Rudolph a member. Miss Rudolph
was then the only woman in the drug business. Having been refused
admission to the medical college of the State University, she perfected
herself in pharmacy by a course of private lectures. In 1884 she was
elected corresponding secretary of the association.
The Daily Picayune, in closing its half-century, gives the following of
Mrs. E. J. Nicholson, its chief owner and manager since January, 1876:
"Pearl Rivers," the lady's nom de plume, was already well known in the republic
of letters before she became, as she now is, the most eminent female journalist in the
world, largely owning and successfully directing for years a great daily politi-
cal journal. The fact is unique. The fame of Mrs. Nicholson belongs to the world
of letters and her biography may be found in any dictionary of Southern authors,
nevertheless a history of the Picayune would not be complete without some notice of
one who has had so much to do with its destiny. Miss Eliza J. Poltevent is a native
of Hancock county, Mississippi. She was born on the banks of one of the most
beautiful streams in the South, Pearl river. She wrote over the name of "Pearl
Rivers," and her poems made her a conspicuous niche in the temple of Southern
letters. She wrote much for the Picayune and wrote herself into love as well as fame.
She was married to Col. Holbrook, the proprietor of the paper, and after his death in
1876, she succeeded to the ownership. This was a trying position for a woman.
The South had not recovered from the devastation of the war, and the Picayune was
involved in embarrassments. Friends even advised her to dispose of the property
and not to undertake so formidable a task as the conduct of a daily paper under
existing complications. Brave and true-hearted, with a profound and abiding con-
viction of her duty in the matter, she assumed th'e control of the paper. She wisely
surrounded herself with able and devoted assistants, and with their help has gallantly
and successfully surmounted many formidable obstacles, until she has seen the Pica-
yune reestablished on a sound and prosperous basis. Mr. George Nicholson had ac-
quired a proprietorship in it, and when Mrs. Holbrook assumed control the firm name
was E. J. Holbrook & Co. On June 28, 1878, the interests of the two copartners
were further consolidated by marriage. Since then the Picayune has been published
under the firm name of Nicholson & Co., and the columns daily attest the energy, en-
terprise and ability with which it is conducted, while its advertising patronage speaks
for itself.
Mrs. Martha R, Field is a member of the editorial staff of the Picayune.
She has charge of the Sunday woman's column, besides her regular
column over the nom de plume of Catherine Cole.
The Times-Democrat is owned by Mrs. Burke, who however leaves its
management to her husband, Col. Burke. Miss Bessie Bisland, under
the name of B. L. R. Dane, contributes to the Sunday paper, and edits
the " Bric-a-Brac column" which consists of criticisms and reviews of the
leading magazines. This paper boasts the most clever " Society column "
in the country ; it is edited by Mrs. Jennie Coldwell Nixon who is now,
1886, superintendent of the Woman's Department of the Exposition.
Laws Relating to Married Women. 799
Mrs. J. Pinkney Smith edits the " Social Melange " of the States. Among
the regular Sunday contributors are Miss Corrinne Castillanos, who
buzzes as the Society Bee, and Mrs. Mollie Moore Davis, known as the
" Texas Song Bird." Mrs. Ada Hilderbrand, editor of the Courier at
Gretna, did the printing for the Woman's Exposition.
New Orleans has a Woman's National Press Association of which Mrs.
E. J. Nicholson is president; a Christian Woman's Exchange, Mrs. R.
M. Wamsley, president, doing a business of $45,000 a year,* a Southern
Art Union and Woman's Industrial Association, with Mrs. J. H. Stauffer
and others on the auxiliary executive committee, and a Woman's Club.t
originated by Miss Bessie Bisland who was the president of the club for
the first year, 1*885.
The laws of Louisiana relating to women have been given by Judge
E. T. Merrick, a well-known legal authority and for ten years the chief-
justice of the Supreme Court of the State :
The rights of married women to their estates are probably better secured in Louisi-
ana than in any other of these United States. The laws on this subject are derived
from Spain. Certain provinces of that kingdom were conquered and for centuries
held by the Visigoths, among whom, as among the Franks at Paris, the institution
called the community of aquets and gains between husband and wife, prevailed. In
Spain, as in France, there were certain provinces in which the ancient Roman law
continued in force, and they were called the provinces of the written law. In these
(called also the countries of the dotal regime) there was no community between the
spouses of their acquisitions. Both of these systems are recognized by the Louisiana
civil code, but if the parties marry without any marriage settlement the law implies
that they have married under the regime of the community. To prevent error it is
proper to observe that there have been three civil codes adopted in Louisiana, viz., in
1808. 1825 and 1870. The marriage laws are substantially the same in all, but bear
different numbers in each code. The following references are to the code of 1870.
Except in a very limited number of cases the husband and wife are incapable of making
binding contracts with each other during the marriage. Hence all settlements of
property, to be binding, must be executed before marriage and in solemn form,
that is, before a notary and two male witnesses having the proper qualifications. The
betrothed are granted considerable liberty over the provisions of their marriage con-
tract, as the following quotations show :
ART. 2,325. In relation to property, the law only regulates the conjugal associa-
tion in default of particular agreements, which the parties are at liberty to stipulate as
they please, provided they be not contrary to good morals and under the modifications
hereafter prescribed.
ART. 2,326. Husband and wife can in no case enter into any agreement or make
any renunciation the object of which would be to alter the legal order of descents,
either with respect to themselves, in what concerns the inheritance of their children,
* The officers of the Christian Woman's Exchange for 1885, were : President, Mrs. R. M. Walmsley;
Vice-Presidents, Mesdames T. G. Richardson, M. W. Bartlett, Albert Baldwin, John R. Juden, J. H.
Allen; Recording Secretary , Mrs. Theo. Auze ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. E. J. Wharton ;
Treasurer, Mrs. S. H. Davis; Acting Treasurer ; Mrs. F. N. Griswold ; Board of 'Managers •, Mcs-
datnes S. Landrtim, M. C. Jennings, B. D. Wood, A. Brittin, Percy Roberts, S. Delgado, F. N. Gris-
wold, E. L. Wood, Wm. Muller, E. Ranlett, G. W. Pritchard, L. P. Wayne, T. H. Holmes, J. B.
Wallace, Albert Baldwin, P. N. Strong, K. Fuhri, S. H. Kennedy, H. J. Leovy, John Parker, R. M.
Walmsley, T. G. Richardson, Theo. Auze, E. J. Wharton, S. H. Davis. M. W. Bartlett, D. A. Given,
John R. Juden, J. H. Allen, Fred. Wing.
t The original members of the Woman's Club were: Miss Bessie Bistand, Mrs. Elizabeth W.
Raker, Miss C. Farrar, Mrs. J. M. Ferguson, Miss M. E. Hagan, Miss J. E. Linsler, Miss H. D.
Pickens, Miss M. Siebold, Mrs. M. J. C. Swayze, Miss E. Schrievcs, Mi^s M. Manning, Miss P. Teil-
tebaum.
8oo History of Woman Suffrage.
posterity, or with respect to their children between themselves, without prejudice to
the donations inter -vivas or mortis causa, which may take place according to the
formalities and in the cases determined by this code.
The parties are also "prohibited from derogating from the power of the husband
over the person of his wife and children which belongs to the husband as the head
of the family, or from the rights guaranteed to the surviving husband or wife"
(C. C., Art. 2,327).
If the parties adopt the dotal regime in their marriage contract the dotal effects are
(except under some circumstances) inalienable during marriage; and at the dissolution
of the marriage, they are to be replaced or returned to the wife, or her heirs, and to
secure this, the wife has a mortgage on her husband's lands, and a privilege on his
movables, including those of the community (C. C., Art. 2376; Art. 2347). "The
dower is given to the husband, for him to enjoy the same as long as the marriage shall
last." Strong as is this language, the dowry is given by the wife or her father or
mother or other relations or friends, simply to support the marriage.
Under the regime of the community, the individual property of the husband or wife,
and all property either may acquire afterwards by inheritance or donations re-
remain separate property. The conjugal partnership is denned by C. C., Art. 2402.
" This partnership, or community, consists of the profits of all the effects of which the
husband has the administration and enjoyment, either of right or in fact, of the pro-
duce of the reciprocal industry and labor of both husband and wife, and the estates
which they may acquire during marriage, either by donations made jointly to them
both, or by purchase, or in any other similar way, even should the purchase be in the
name of one of the two, and not of both, because in that case the period of time when
the purchase is made is alone attended to, and not the person who made the purchase."
During the marriage the husband has the management of the community, and he
can sell or exchange the same, but he cannot give away the real estate without binding
his estate to recompense the wife or her heirs, for the one-half so given away. All
the income of his estate must enter into the community. On the other hand the wife
may at her pleasure take her own estate from the management of the husband into her
own control and discretion (C. C. 2384). But in this contingency she must contribute
to the family expenses (C. C. 2389 and 2435).
If the affairs of the husband become embarrassed, the wife can sue the husband for
a separation of property, and get a judgment against him for all indebtedness, on ac-
count of money or property used or disposed of by him, and sell him out under execu-
tion, and buy in the property herself if she sees fit. Thus she stands in a more favor-
able position toward the community than the husband, who is bound for all its debts,
for she can stand by and choose. If the community becomes prosperous, she has the
absolute right, as owner, to one-half of it after payment of debts, and a right to the
income of tjje other half until she dies, or marries a second time.
By causing her claims on account of her separate or paraphernal estate to be re-
corded, she secures a mortgage against her husband's lands and the lands of the
community. If a husband or wife dies affluent, leaving the survivor in necessitous cir-
cumstances, the latter can claim one-fourth of the estate of the deceased. This is
called " the marital fourth." The wife, also, if she or the children do not possess one
thousand dollars in their own right, can claim as a privilege and against the creditors,
one thousand dollars, or a sum which, with her own estate, shall equal that amount.
The wife cannot appear in court, or dispose of, or mortgage, or acquire real estate,
without the consent of the husband, but the judge of the court of the domicil may au-
thorize the wife to sue, or be sued. If the husband refuses to empower the wife to
contract, she may cite him into court and have the property of the proposed contract
settled by an order of the judge. The wife has full power to make a will without any
authorization from her husband or the court.
ART. 2,398. The wife, whether separated in property, by contract, or by judgment,
or not separated, cannot bind herself for her husband, nor conjointly with him, for
debts contracted by him before or during the marriage.
Myra Clark Gaines. 80 1
ART. 1 19. The husband and wife owe to each other mutual fidelity, support and as-
sistance.
ART. 120. The wife is bound to live with her husband, and follow him wherever he
chooses to reside; the husband is obliged to receive her, and furnish her with whatever
is required for the convenience of life in proportion to his means and condition.
It is provided that the domicil for granting divorces of such marriages as have been
solemnized in Louisiana, shall be in that State so that the courts of Louisiana may
grant divorces for causes and faults committed in foreign countries. For abandon-
ment and other causes, a final divorce cannot be granted until one year after a decree
of separation from bed and board has elapsed without a reconciliation. In other par-
ticulars the law is similar to that of the other States.
One day in 1842, the New Orleans Delta had this item:
"Myra Clark Gaines argued her own case in court in this city;
the only instance of a lady appearing as counsel in the courts."
Mrs. Gaines was a remarkable woman. She carried on a suit for
many years against the city of New Orleans to recover property
that belonged to her, and, through untold difficulties and delays,
triumphed at last. She preserved her youth, beauty and vivacity
until late in life. All who knew her can readily recall her bright,
sparkling face, and wonderful powers of conversation. In her
long experience in litigation, she became well versed in the laws
regarding real estate and the right of descent. Mrs. Gaines was
a generous woman and did not desire to rob the poor ; to many
such she gave a quit-claim title to the property which she had
secured under her suits.
In 1869, the New Orleans Republican had an excellent editorial
fully endorsing the demand for woman's enfranchisement. In
1870 the Livingston Herald, published in Ponchatoula parish, by
J. O. and J. E. Spencer, advocated suffrage for women.
In 1874, the secretary of the treasury rendered a decision that
when a woman owns a steamboat she may be named in the papers
as the master of the same. This decision, despite the opposition
of Solicitor Raynor, received confirmation in case of Mrs. Miller,
in 1883, from Secretary Charles J. Folger.
II.— TEXAS.
In the adoption of the first constitution of Texas, woman had
some representatives in the convention to remind the legislators
of that State of her existence, and to demand that the constitution
be so framed as to secure the right of suffrage alike to both sexes.
On the resolution of Mr. Mundine, to extend suffrage to women,
in the constitutional convention of Texas, January, 1869, Hon.
L. D. Evans said :
802 History of Woman Suffrage.
I do not favor the adoption of this measure at the present time, because the country
is not yet prepared, yet it is entitled to our respectful consideration — therefore I thank
the convention for allowing me the opportunity to state the ground on which the
friends of woman suffrage place their advocacy, so far as I may be able under the five-
minute rule. It does not comport with the dignity of a representative body engaged
in forming a constitution of government to thrust aside the claim of woman to the
right of suffrage, — a claim that is advocated by some of the ablest statesmen and politi-
cal philosophers of Europe and America, and is destined to a sure and speedy
triumph.
Aristotle, the profoundest thinker of antiquity, in his treatise on politics, defines a
citizen to be " one who enjoys a due share in the government of that country of which
he is a member." If he does not enjoy this right, then he is no citizen, but a subject.
Every citizen, therefore, is entitled to a voice — a vote — a due share in the government
of his country. I am aware that the courts and politicians in democratic America have
not so defined citizenship. The reason is that politics is not yet a positive science, and
they have failed to analyze this question. Had they a clear conception of the con-
stituent elements — the anatomy, so to speak, of the body politic, they would perceive
that suffrage — a voice in the government — is an essential condition of citizenship.
Aristotle, in his treatise, which is perhaps the ablest yet given to the world, pointed
out that families, not individuals, are the constituent units of a State.
A family — a household — exists and is held together by natural laws, independent of
the State, and an aggregation of these constitute the State. The head of the family,
whoever that may be, according to its structure, is the representative in the State. All
the constituent members of the family, consisting, in its most perfect form, of husband,
wife, children and domestics, are subject to the authority of the head, and have no
voice, no vote, no share in the government, except through their head or representa-
tive. In societies where the common law obtains, which in this respect is a transcript
of the Bible, the wife, like the child, is subordinated to the authority of the husband,
and on principle, has no voice, no vote. On the decease of the husband, the widow
becomes the head of the family, and on principle is entitled to a voice, a vote. But
in countries where the civil law governs, the wife is the partner, and not the subject of
her husband, and on principle ought to have her due share in the government.
When the children in a family, whether male or female, attain the age fixed by law
for the control of their own affairs, and do control them, they are free, independent,
and on every principle are entitled to a due share in the government — to a vote.
Every member of society who is free and independent — capable of managing his own
affairs, or making his own living, and does make it, should have the same right of
choice in the selection of his political agents that he has to select his legal or business
agents. But all persons, no matter from what cause, who are unable to maintain
themselves, and are dependent for their support upon others, are incapable of any
share in the government, and should have no voice — no vote. As soon as the princi-
ple of citizenship comes to be thoroughly understood, woman suffrage must be adopted
throughout the United States, in England, and in every country where representative
government exists.
The Revolution of August 20, 1868, said :
"We have received from Loring P. Haskins, esq., a delegate to the con-
-vention, the following excellent report and declaration made and signed
by a majority of the committee to whom the subject of woman suffrage
was referred. We need scarcely bespeak attentive reading :
Report of the Committee on State Affairs upon Female Suffrage, with accompanying
Declaration :
July 30, 1868 — Introduced and ordered to be printed.
COMMITTEE ROOM, AUSTIN, Texas, July 10, 1868.
To the Hon. E. J. Davis, President of the Convention :
A majority of your Committee on State Affairs, to whom was referred the declara-
Constitutional Convention of Texas. 803
tion introduced by the Hon. T. H. Mundine of the county of Burleson, to extend the
right of suffrage to all citizens of the State over the age of twenty-one years, possessing
the requisite qualifications for electors, have examined with much care said declaration
and considered the object sought to be accomplished, and have arrived at the conclu-
sion that said declaration ought to be a part of the organic law.
It was said by George Washington that the safety of republican government depends
upon the virtue and intelligence of the people. This declaration is not a new theory
of government for the first time proposed to be made a part of our republican institu-
tions. The idea of extending the elective franchise to females has been discussed
both in Great Britain and in the United States. Your committee are of the opinion that
the true base of republican government must ever be the wisdom and virtue of the
people.
In this State our system of jurisprudence is a combination of civil and Spanish law,
intermixed with the common law of England; and this peculiar system, just in all its
parts for the preservation of the rights of married and unmarried women, is likely to
be continued. The time was when woman was regarded as the mere slave of man.
It was believed, in order to perpetuate the pretended divine right of kings to rule, that
the mass of the people should be kept in profound ignorance and that woman was not
entitled to the benefits of learning at all. It is not remarkable that as the benign
principles of Christianity have been promulgated, free government has steadily pro-
gressed and the divine rights of woman have been recognized.
The old constitution of the republic of Texas, the constitution of the State of Texas
of 1845, the laws enacted for the protection of married women, the many learned de-
cisions of the Supreme Courts of Texas and Louisiana, and other courts, clearly
indicate that the march of intelligence is onward and that our advanced civilization
has approximated to the period when other and more sacred rights are to be conceded.
Is it just that woman, who bears her reasonable portion of the burdens of government,
should be denied the right of aiding in the enactment of its laws?
The question of extending the freedom of the ballot to woman may well claim the
attention of the law-maker, and in view of the importance of the subject a majority of
your committee earnestly recommend the passage of the declaration.
H. C. HUNT, Chairman,
T. H. MUNDINE, BENJ. WATROUS,
WM. H. FLEMING, L. P. HARRIS.
A DECLARATION.
Be it declared by the people of Texas in convention assembled, that the following
shall be a section of the constitution of the State of Texas, known as section of
article : Every person, without distinction of sex, who shall have arrived at the
age of twenty-one years, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, or is at the
time of the adoption of this constitution by the congress of the United States a citizen
of the State of Texas, and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding an
election, and the last six months within the district, county, city or town in which he
or she offers to vote, shall be an elector.
The Woman 's Journal of December 4, 1875, contains a letter
from Mrs. Sarah W. Hiatt, who presented a memorial to the
constitutional convention. The memorial was referred to the
Committee on Suffrage. In regard to the effect, she says:
Since the presentation of the memorial I have had some very interest-
ing letters on the subject from a few of our leading men ; some for, others
against woman suffrage, but all treating the subject respectfully. I copy
below a portion of one just received. I should like to give it entire with
the writer's name, but have not his permission to do so:
804 History of Woman Suffrage.
As you apprehended, the question of suffrage had been definitely settled in the con-
vention before the reception of your letter. It remains as heretofore, unrestricted
manhood suffrage. That all the rabble, the very cttbris of society, should be allowed
a voice in government, and yet intelligent, highly-cultivated women who are amenable
to the laws of the State and who own and pay taxes on property, should be debarred
from a voice in making the laws which are to affect their persons and property equally
with that of the men, is to my mind simply an outrage on reason and justice. * * *
The fear of ignoring the right of petition, and gallantry towards your sex on the part
of a few, prevented the memorial from being summarily rejected. Outside of
and I know of no member of the convention who openly favors woman suffrage
in any form. It is true there are a number of gentlemen who, in private conversation,
will admit the justice of your plea, but avoid it by saying that ladies generally neither
demand nor desire the right to vote. The truth is, these men (and society is full of
them) have not the moral courage to do simple justice.
Thus you see that, so far as the action of this convention is concerned,
our cause is defeated. Yet I do not feel discouraged. I think there is
hardly a State in the Union that has such just and excellent laws concern-
ing the property rights of women as Texas. There is also great liberality
of sentiment here concerning the avocations of women. But the right of
women to thxe ballot seems to be almost a new idea to our people.
I have never lived in a community where the women are more nearly
abreast of the men in all the activities of life than here in this frontier
settlement. In our State a woman's property, real or personal, is her
own, to keep, to convey, or to bequeath. The unusual number of widows
here, due to the incursions of the Indians during and since the war, has
made the management as well as the ownership of property by women
so common a thing as to attract no notice. I might give interest-
ing instances, but that would take time, and my point is this,
that the laws which have enabled, and the circumstances which have
driven women to rely upon and to exert themselves, have been educa-
tional, not only to them, but also to the community. The importance of
this education to the future — who can measure it ? It is true that many
of them can neither read nor write, but in this the men, are not in advance
of them. It as often happens that the woman can read while the man
cannot, as the reverse. And they are almost universally resolved that
their children shall not grow up in the ignorance that has been their por-
tion. If the women could vote, our convention would not think of sub-
mitting a constitution that did not secure to the State a liberal free school
system.
The legislature of 1885, after a hard struggle, enacted a law
making it compulsory on the heads of all departments to give at
least one-half of the clerical positions in their respective offices to
women. The action has extraordinary interest, and is regarded
as a victory for the woman's rights party. Mrs. Jenny Bland
Beauchamp of Dennison writes :
Texas claims to be a woman's State, in that her laws are unusually just
and lenient to women. A woman who has property at marriage can keep
it. She can even claim any property that she can prove was bought with
Arkansas. 805
that money. The wife is entitled to half the community whether she
owned any of the original stock or not. She has a life interest in the
homestead ; no deed of trust can be put upon it, nor can it be mortgaged.
It can only be conveyed from her by actual sale with her written consent.
Under our latest revised statutes women have the right of suffrage, but
have never exercised it; nor is the subject agitated to any great extent.
Three years ago, when the State University was built, it was decided
that it should be coeducational, and young women are now being educated
there side by side with young men. Texas has many liberal men and
women. It is generally remarked that the women of the State are better
educated than the men.
Miss Julia Pease, a Vassar graduate and daughter of the late ex-Governor Pease,
has charge of 6,000 acres of land. She lives in the family mansion at Austin
with her mother, and in addition to her other duties superintends the education of the
three children of her deceased sisters.
Mrs. Rogers, the "cattle queen" of Texas, inherited from her first husband a herd
of 40,000 cattle. The widow managed the business, and in due time married a
preacher twenty years younger than herself, who had seven children. She attends to
her estate herself, rides among her cowboys on horseback, and can tell just what a
steer or cow is worth at any size or age.
The largest individual sheep-owner is a woman, known all over the State as
the "Widow Cullahan." Her sheep, more than 50,000 in number, wander over
the ranges of Uvalda and Bandern counties, in the southwestern part of the State.
Their grade is a cross between the hardy Mexican sheep and the Vermont merino.
They are divided into flocks of 2,000 head each, with a ' ' bossero " and two ' ' pastoras "
in charge of each flock. At the spring and fall shearings long trains of wagons trans-
port the "widow's" wool to the market at San Antonio.
Texas has two female dentists. Mrs. Stocking is one of the most successful dental
surgeons in the State. The other, Miss Emma Tibler, went from Kentucky to Texas
for the purpose of teaching. Finding this profession full, she studied dentistry and is
now a successful practitioner of Cleburne.
The youngest telegrapher in the world is probably Hattie Hutchinson, in charge of
an office in Texas. She is only ten years old.
III. — ARKANSAS.
Under date of March, 1868, Miles L. Langley writes from Arka-
delphia, Arkansas, in regard to the efforts for equality in the con-
stitutional convention :
ARKADELPHIA, Ark., March 5, 1868.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY — Dear Friend: With a sad heart but an approving
conscience, I will give you some information relative to the action of our
constitutional convention on the franchise question.
The new constitution — a copy of which I send you — makes no differ-
ence between men, on account of race or color and contains other ex-
cellences; but alas! it fails to guarantee to woman her God-given and
well-earned rights of civil and political equality.
I made a motion to insert in the constitution a section to read thus :
" All citizens twenty-one years of age, who can read and write the English
language, shall be eligible to the elective franchise, and be entitled to
equal political and legal rights and privileges." The motion was seconded
806 History of Woman Suffrage.
and I had the floor, but the House became so clamorous that the presi-
dent could not restore order, and the meeting adjourned with the under-
standing that I was to occupy the floor next morning. But next morn-
ing, just as I was about to commence my speech, some of the members
tried to " bully " me out of the right to speak on that question. I replied
that I had been robbed, shot, and imprisoned for advocating the rights
of the slaves, and that I would then and there speak in favor of the rights
of women if I had to fight for the right ! I then proceeded to present
arguments of which I am not ashamed. I was met with ridicule, sarcasm
and insult. My ablest opponent, a lawyer, acknowledged in his reply that
he could not meet my argument. The motion was laid on the table.
The Democrats are my enemies because I assisted in emancipating the
slaves. The Republicans have now become my opponents, because I
have made an effort to confer on the women their rights. And even the
women themselves fail to sympathize with me.
Very respectfully, MILES L. LANGLEY.
The Arkansas Ladies Journal says :
They tell us that women are not fit for politics. This may be true; and as it is next
to impossible to change the nature of a woman, why wouldn't it be a good idea to
so change politics that it shall be fit for women ?
In 1885, Arkansas formed its first woman suffrage society at Eureka
Springs through the efforts of Miss Phoebe Couzins, Mrs. Lizzie D. Fyler,
president. The association numbers some fine speakers. The press is
not in opposition, one or two papers favor the cause.
Misses Pettigrew and Sims have been elected clerks of the legislature.
Several other ladies were candidates for the positions, and the contest
was quite exciting. Mrs. Simonson and Miss Emily Thomas are members
of the board of directors of a lumber company at Batesville, and Miss
Thomas is also bookkeeper of the firm.
A very able report* of what has been done in Arkansas for the
elevation of woman was presented by Mrs. Lizzie D. Fyler at the
annual Washington convention in March, 1884.
IV. — MISSISSIPPI.
Mississippi secures to a married woman her own separate
estate, and enables her to contract with her husband, or others,
and carry on business in her own name. She may sue her hus-
band, or others, and be sued, and has practically most of her civil
rights ; but her political rights are denied as in all other States.
In 1877 a law was passed by which henceforth no one can legally sell
liquor in Mississippi unless he can obtain the written consent of a majority
of the adult citizens of both sexes resident in the township.
The Mississippi Industrial College for Women held its formal opening
October 22, 1885, at Columbus. Students had come from all parts of the
State. More than 300 had already entered. The occasion was a brilliant
* See Report Washington Convention, 1884.
Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey. 807
one. Speeches were made by Senator E. T. Sykes, Senator J. McMartin
of Claiborne county, Col. J. L. Power of Jackson, Hon. James T. Harri-
son, Governor Lowry, and Dr. Jones. Mrs. E. G. Peyton of Hazelhurst,
to whose efforts the founding of the Industrial College is largely due, was
called upon, and in a few well-chosen remarks expressed the pride she
felt in the State and in the college, feeling sure, she said, that Mississippi's
daughters were now in safe hands.
Miss Lilian Light, the eight-year-old daughter of Mr. Jere Light of
Hayneville, when only five or six years old began to make figures in clay,
and now (1885) has a large collection of mud cats, hogs, dogs, cows,
horses, and men. The figures are declared to be not childish imitations,
but remarkably acute likenesses. Her best piece represents a negro
praying, and is said to be very clever.
Miss C. F. Boardman of Elmore's Point, two miles from Biloxi, on the
Bock Bay, has received the chief premiums awarded for oranges grown
on the Gulf coast outside of Florida. This lady has 1,000 bearing orange
trees of the choicest varieties, and has devoted her attention to the pro-
duction of these and other tropical fruits, with great success. She came
to the South for health a few years ago, and has not only found that, but
has established for herself a pleasing and profitable industry in fruit cul-
ture. Her oranges were exhibited among numerous fine competing
specimens, and were chosen for high excellence.
Miss Eliza A. Dupuy for many years contributed copiously to Mr.
Bonner's Ledger. Miss Dupuy, who was descended from prominent Vir-
ginia families, was in her youth a teacher. The first story written by her
was produced when she was only fourteen years old. More fortunate
than the majority of authors, she leaves behind her a considerable sum
earned by her ever-busy pen.
Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey was perhaps the most remarkable woman
that Mississippi can boast. She was the niece of Mrs. Warfield,
the author of the " Household of Bouverie," who had great in-
fluence in forming her literary tastes. The New Orleans Monthly
Review contains many able articles on abstruse questions from
her pen. One, in the February number for 1876, on the " Origin
of the Species," is exceptionally able and. interesting. It was
read in October, 1875, before the New Orleans Academy of Sci-
ences by Mrs. Dorsey herself. This article shows extensive
reading in scientific questions. She was made corresponding
member of the Academy, an honor she appreciated more highly
for her sex than for herself. She was a large-souled, noble
woman, devoted to what she considered Southern interests. She
bequeathed to Jefferson Davis the estate, called Beauvoir, on
which he now resides.
CHAPTER LV. (CONTINUED).
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA— MARYLAND — DELAWARE — KEN-
TUCKY — T ENNESSEE — VIRGINIA — WEST VIRGINIA
—NORTH CAROLINA— SOUTH CAROLINA-
FLORIDA — ALABAMA — GEORGIA.
Secretary Chase — Women in the Government Departments — Myrtilla Miner — Mrs.
O'Connor's Tribute — District of Columbia Suffrage Bill — The Universal Franchise
Association, 1867 — Bill for a Prohibitory Law Presented by Hon. S. C. Pomeroy,
1869 — A Bill for Equal Wages for the Women in the Departments, Introduced by
Hon. S. M. Arnell, 1870 — In 1871 Congress Passed the Organic Act for -the Dis-
trict Confining the Right of Suffrage to Males — In 1875 it Withdrew all Legislative
Power from the People — Women in Law, Medicine, Journalism and the Charities
— Dental College Opened to Women — Mary A. Stuart — The Clay Sisters — The
School of Pharmacy — Elizabeth Avery Meriwether — Judge Underwood — Mary
Bayard Clarke — Dr. Susan Dimock — Governor Chamberlain— Coffee-Growing —
' Priscilla Holmes Drake — Alexander H. Stephens.
I. — DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
THE District covers an area of 64 square miles, and contains a
population of 200,000. It was origininally a portion of Maryland,
and was ceded to congress by that State for the exclusive use ot
the Federal government. Hon. Salmon P. Chase, secretary of the
treasury under Abraham Lincoln, seeing that most of the gifted
young men had been drafted or had enlisted in the army, intro-
duced young women as clerks in the government departments.
The experiment proved successful, and now there are about six
thousand women in the various departments. Mr. Chase often
alluded to this afterwards as one of the most important acts of his
life. The war brought many bright, earnest women to Washing-
ton, led thither by patriotism, ambition, or the necessity of finding
some new employment. This new vital force, this purer element,
infused into the society at the capitol, has been slowly introduc-
ing more liberal ideas into that community.
The first specific work for woman in the District of Columbia
of which we find any record was that of Myrtilla Miner of New
York, who opened a Normal School for colored girls, December
3, 1851. She began with six pupils in a small room in a private
Universal Franchise Association. 809
house, but soon had more offered than could be accommodated.
Through much ridicule and untold difficulties she struggled alone,
but successfully, for ten years, when Miss Emily Rowland came
to her aid. The heroism of this noble woman has been told by
Mrs. Ellen O. Connor in a little volume* which is a beautiful
tribute to the memory of Miss Miner. The Miner Normal School
of Washington is now a thorough and popular school for colored
girls.
For a brief report of what has been accomplished in the
District of Columbia, we are indebted to Belva A. Lockwood :
In 1866, the women of Washington were first aroused to the considera-
tion of the suffrage question, by the discussion of " The District of Colum-
bia suffrage bill " proposing to strike out the word "white " in order to
extend the franchise to colored men. Mr. Cowan, a Democrat from Penn-
sylvania, offered an amendment to strike out the word " male " also, and
thus enfranchise the women of the District. It was said his proposition
was not made in good faith, but simply to embarrass Republican legisla-
tion. However it served a good purpose for all disfranchised classes, as
the amendment called out a notable debate,! lasting three days, and
received the votes of nine influential senators in its favor. The voting
of the newly enfranchised negroes at the May election, 1867, brought out
in strong color the beauties of masculine legislation, and immediately
after there was a movement among the friends of wqman's enfranchise-
ment. A meeting was called by James and Julia Holmes at their resi-
dence, where the " Universal Franchise Association " was organized.! As
soon as their meetings, regularly held, took on a serious air, the combined
power of the press was brought to bear upon them with the determina-
tion to break them up. But the meetings were continued, notwithstand-
ing the opposition ; and although most of the speeches were good,
they were often interrupted with hisses and yells, and the police, when
appealed to, failed to keep order, seeming rather to join hands with
the mob. In order to put a check on the rabble, contrary to the spirit
of the society, a fee was charged at the door. Strangely enough, so great
had the interest become, the crowd increased instead of lessening, and
night after night Union League Hall was crowded, until the coffers of the
association contained nearly $1,000. The press of the city in the mean-
time had kept up a fusilade of ludicrous reports, in which the women
were caricatured and misrepresented, all of which they bore with forti-
tude, and without any attempt at reply. The meetings continued through
the year notwithstanding the cry of the timid that the cause was being
injured and fair reputations blighted.
* Myrtilla Miner ; published by Houghton, Mifllin & Co., Boston and New York.
t See Vol. II., page 90.
\ /'n-sii/i'fit, Hon. Samuel C. Pomeroy ; / 'ice-Presidents^ Josophine S. Grifnng, Belva A. Lock-
wood, Jas. H. Holmes, John H. Craney ; Advisory Council, M;iry K. O'Connor, Josephine S. llrif-
fing, Caroline B. Winslow, Dr. Susan A. Edson, Lydia S. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Boyle, Caroline B.
Colby, and others.
8io History of Woman Suffrage.
June 25, 1868, a deputation from the District Franchise Association
appeared, by appointment, before the House Committee of the District, to
urge the passage of the bill presented in the House of Representatives
by Hon. Henry D. Washburn, accompanied by a petition signed by eighty
women of the District :
"Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of this act, no person shall be
debarred from voting or holding office in the District of Columbia by reason of sex."
Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing began by saying that the friends of equal freedom for
women in the District had thought the revision of the local government a fit time to
present their claims and submit a memorial, setting forth the justice of passing the
bill before the committee to remove the restrictions that forbid women to vote in the
District. The movement was not wholly new, and was known by those active in the
work to be approved by a large mass of women who were not prepared to express them-
selves openly. The enfranchisement of woman is needful to a real reconstruction.
Mr. Wilcox read a memorial, signed by a committee of residents of the district, con-
sisting of eleven ladies and eleven gentlemen, including Mrs. Griffing, Mrs. E. D. E.
N. Southworth, Miss Lydia S. Hall (formerly of Kansas), Mrs. Annie Denton Cridge,
Judge A. B. Olin and Mrs. Olin, recalling the fact that congress had freed 3,000 slaves,
and enfranchised the 8,000 colored men of the district, both of which experiments had
worked well, notwithstanding conservative predictions to the contrary; and showing
that, while the former experiments, on a small scale comparatively, had yielded rich
results, so the enfranchisement of half the adult population would produce vast good.
He incidentally answered the usual arguments against suffrage, and affirmed that those
who possess neither the power of wealth nor of knowledge wherewith to protect
themselves, most need political power for that purpose. He remarked that the com-
petition for votes among politicians was a tremendous educating force, and that laws
would not be certain of enforcement unless those for whose benefit they were made
were clothed with power to compel such enforcement.
Mrs. Mary T. Corner presented a number of points as to the laws of the district re-
lating to women, of some of which Judge Welker took notes with a view to their
speedy investigation by the committee. As to suffrage, she pointed out that women
do not come under the head of paupers, minors, felons, rebels, idiots or aliens, and
that the reasons existing for the disfranchisement of such persons do not apply to
native-born, loyal women. She showed that women are not represented in the gov-
ernment of the district, though taxed by it, and by law cannot properly protect them-
selves, their children, or their property, nor hold municipal office, however fit. A wife
cannot hold property in the district except by proxy. Women understand their needs
and condition better than men, and should be free to regulate them. The swarms of
foreigners who are freely admitted to the polls know less of our institutions than the
masses of our women. Women have voted and held the highest offices in other coun-
tries with great success. Are our women less capable than these? At the conclusion
Mrs. Corner returned thanks to the committee for their attention; and the latter, with-
out expressing an opinion on the matter, complimented the speakers on the ability and
eloquence with which their views had been presented. It was also stated that a large
number of petitions would be presented in support of the bill. The committee ex-
pressed themselves as unable, by reason of the lateness of the session and the pressure
of other business, to promise an early report. The interview lasted about an hour, and
was very cordial and pleasant on both sides.
September 25, 1868, the Universal Franchise Association held its first
annual meeting* at Union League Hall, Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing presid-
* The officers elected were : President, United States Senator S. C. Pomeroy ; rice-Presidents, Mrs.
Josephine S. Griffing, Mrs. Belva McNall Lockwood, Miss Stickney, Thaddeus Hyatt, Caroline B.
Winslow, M. D., S. Yorke At Lee, Mrs. Josephine L. Slade, Prof. William J. Wilson, Mrs. Mary Olin,
Judge A. B. Olin, Mrs. C. M. E. Y. Christian, Prof. George B. Vashon, J. H. Grossman, Mrs. Angeline
Justice to Female Employees. 8 1 1
ing. A letter was read from Senator Pomeroy, stating that he was willing
to act as president of the society. In closing he said :
I trust the friends will unite in one association. We have but one object in view,
and should ail labor together to accomplish this end, viz.: the enfranchisement of
every citizen, with no partiality for race or sex. The American citizen is the only safe
depository for the ballot, and the only safeguard for individual and national liberty.
Let us labor to realize, even in our day and time, this true type of republican govern-
ment. The rights and safety of individuals and of the nation demand it.
In 1869, the executive committee passed a resolution to expend the
money that had been accumulated at the meetings of the association in a
series of lectures for the purpose of enlightening the public mind upon
the question of equal political rights for women. Among the speakers
engaged were Anna Dickinson, Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, D. R. Locke
(Nasby), Theodore Tilton. From that time the women of the district were
permitted to speak their minds freely.
In the House of Representatives, March 21, 1870, Mr. Arnell, on leave,
introduced the following bill :
A bill to do justice to the female employees of the Government, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That hereafter all clerks and other employes in the
civil service of the United States shall be paid, irrespective of sex, with reference to
the character and amount of services performed by them.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, in the employment of labor, clerical or
other, in any branch of the civil service of the United States, no discrimination shall
be made in favor of either sex.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That where examinations of candidates for posi-
tions in the civil service of the United States are prescribed by law, or by the heads of
departments, bureaus, or offices, said examinations shall be of the same character for
persons of both sexes.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the designations, chief clerk, chief or head
of division, chief or head of section, clerk of the fourth class, clerk of the third class,
clerk of the second class, clerk of the first class, copyist, messenger, laborer, and all
other designations of employes, in existing acts of Congress, or in use in any branch
of the civil service of the United States, shall be held, hereafter to apply to women as
well as to men; and that women shall be regarded equally eligible with men to perform
the duties of the afore-designated clerks and employes, and shall receive the compen-
sation therefor prescribed by law.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That this act shall not be so construed as to re-
quire the displacement of any person now employed, but shall apply to all vacancies
hereafter occurring, for any cause.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts, in conflict with
any of the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, expressly repealed.
Thousands of petitions for this bill were circulated. Mrs. Lockwood
went to New York, and secured seven hundred signatures, visiting both
of the suffrage conventions then in session in that city, the National and
S. Hall, Dr. C. B. Purvis, Mrs. Dr. Hathaway, Bishop Moore, Mrs. C. A. F. Stebbins, Giles B. Stebbins,
Miss Emily Stanton, Dr. John Mayhew, John R. Elvana, J. C. O. Whaley, Charles Roeser, George T.
Downing ; Recording Secretary , George F. Needham ; Treasurer, Daniel Breed ; Board of Managers,
Josephine S. Griffing, Hamilton Wilcox, Dr. Daniel Breed, Mrs. Comer, Geo. F. Needham, Mrs. Lydia
S. Hall, J. H. Crane ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Mary T. Corner. Letters were reported from
Frederick Douglass, George William Curtis, Mrs. E. Oakes Smith. Addresses were delivered by J. H.
Crossman, G. F. Needham, Mrs. Lockwood, R. J. Hinton, and Mr. Tibbits of Virginia. Dr. Breed
recited an original poem, entitled, " Woman's Pledge to Freedom."
812 History of Woman Suffrage.
the American. The bill was shortly afterward passed in a modified form,
and has ever since been in force in all of the government departments.
In February, 1871, congress passed the organic act for the district, mak-
ing of it a territory and granting suffrage to the male members of the
commonwealth. There was also granted under this bill a right to a dele-
gate in congress. In the meetings which followed for the nomination of
delegates a number of women took part. Mrs. Lockwood often broke
the monotony with a short speech, and on one occasion only lacked one
vote of an election to the general convention for the nomination of a
delegate to congress.
The women of the district were not permitted to vote under the organic
act, but soon after the organization of its legislature, bills to provide for
this were introduced into both Houses. Mrs. Lockwood prepared an ex-
haustive address upon these pending bills, and was granted a hearing
before both Houses of the legislature, but they were finally lost. In 1875
congress withdrew the legislative power from the people of the District
of Columbia.
It was also in 1871 that the National University Law School, then prin-
cipally under the control of Prof. Wm. B. Wedgewood, organized a law
class for women, in which fifteen matriculated. Mrs. Lockwood had
been denied admission the previous year to the law class of Columbia Col-
lege for the reason, as given by the trustees, " that it would distract the
attention of the young men." About this time a young colored woman,
Charlotte Ray of New York, was graduated from the law class of Howard
University and admitted to the bar with the class. Of the fifteen women
who entered the National University only two completed the course, viz.,
Lydia S. Hall, and Belva A. Lockwood. The former never received her
diploma. The latter, after an appeal to President Grant, received her
diploma, and was admitted to the district bar, September 23, 1873. Since
that period Emma M. Gillett, Marilla M. Ricker, and Laura DeForce Gor-
don have been admitted to the district bar, and there seems to be no longer
any hindrance to such admissions. The above-named have all appeared
in court, and a number of other ladies have been graduated in the district.
Women have also been appointed notaries public, and examiners in chan-
cery.
In the profession of medicine there has been more liberality. Dr. Susan
A. Edson and Dr. Caroline B. Winslow have been in full practice here
since the close of the war. Dr. Mary Parsons and Dr. Cora M. Bland
and others, are practicing with marked success. Last year there were
fourteen women duly registered with the health department, and they
all seem to be in good standing. Howard University has admitted women
to its medical classes for some years, and both white and colored women
have availed themselves of the privilege. Last year Columbia College
opened its doors in the medical department, with a suggestion that the
classes in law and theology may soon be opened also.
Many women in the district within the last few years have entered into
business for themselves, as they are now permitted to do under the law of
1869, and are milliners, merchants, market-women, hucksters. In the art
of nursing, which has been reduced to a science, they have free course.
Writers and Teachers. 813
In 1871, a large number- of ladies tried to register in the city of Wash-
ington. They marched in solid phalanx some seventy* strong to the regis-
trar's office, but were repulsed. They tried afterwards to vote, but were re-
fused, whereupon Mrs. Spencer sued the inspectors, and Mrs. Webster
sued the registrars, so testing their rights in two suits in the Supreme
Court of the District.t
In 1866 Jane G. Swisshelm commenced the publication of a liberal sheet
in the District of Columbia, known as The Wasp. This was the continua-
tion of a paper formerly published by her in Pittsburg, Pa., and in St.
Cloud, Minn., called The Visitor. Many other papers by women have
been since published in the District. Perhaps the most voluminous author
in this country is Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, who has written a volume
for each year of her life, and is now sixty-five years of age. Her author-
ship has been confined to romances, which have been very popular. A
large proportion of the teachers of the public schools in the District are
women, some of them of very marked culture. Many of the most noted
and successful private schools, some with collegiate courses, are conducted
by women. Among these, Mrs. Margaret Harover who taught in the Dis-
trict during the war, is worthy of mention, also Mrs. Ellen M. O'Connor,
president of the Miner school. Mrs. Sarah J. Spencer, as associate
principal of the Spencerian business college whence large classes of
young women have been graduated for many years past, is deservedly
popular. She was at one time prominent in the woman suffrage move-
ment, acting as corresponding secretary of the. National Association. She
is now engaged in one of the large charity organizations of the city.
Many colored women who have been graduated from Howard University,
have become quite successful as teachers, and some have studied medicine.
All of the copyists in the office of registrar of deeds are women. A goodly
number are short-hand reporters for the courts, among whom Miss Camp,
daughter of the assistant clerk, is notably skillful.
The number of women who hold property in the District is large and
rapidly increasing. A woman may now enter into almost any honorable
profession that she chooses, and maintain her respectability. All of the
professions are open to her, and the sphere of trades is rapidly widening.
The progress made in this regard in the last quarter of a century amounts
almost to a revolution. The first women ever admitted to the reporter's
* The names of the women who attempted to register and vote were : Jane A. Archibald, Clara M.
Archibald, Mary Anderson, S. W. Aiken, Sallie S. Barrett, Mary B. Baumgras, Florence Riddle
Bartlett, Ann M. Boyle, M. W. Browne, Deborah B. Clarke (Grace Greenwood's mother, eighty years
of age), C. W. Campbell, Elizabeth T. Cowperthwaite, Mary T. Corner, Mary M. Courtenay, Mary A.
Donaldson, Mary A. Dennison, Ruth Carr Dennison, L. S. Doolittlc, Dr. Susan A. Edson, Sarah P. Ed-
son, B. F. Evans, E. W. Foster, Olive Freeman, Maggie Finney, Julia H. Grty, Josephine S. Griffing,
A. A. Henning, Susie J. Hickey, Calista Hickey, E. M. Mickey, Mary Hooper, Ruth G. D. Havens, E.
E. Hill, Lydia S. Hall, Julia Archibald Holmes, N. M. Johnson, Jennie V. Jewell, Carrie Kctchum,
Joanna Kelly, Sara J. Lippincott (Grace Greenwood), Belva A. Lockwood, Susie S. McClure, A.
Jennie Miles, Augusta E. Morris, M. T. Middleton, Savangie E. Mark, A. E. Newton, M. C. Page,
Eliza Ann Peck, Mary A. Riddle, A. R. Riddle. Caroline Risley, Sarah Andrews Spencer, E. D. E. N.
Southworth, Caroline A. Sherman, Mary S. Scribner, Belle Smith, Maria T. Stoddard, Ada E."
Spurgeon, Rubina Taylor, Harriet P. Trickham, Eliza M. Tibbetts, Dr. Caroline B. Winslow, Sarah
E. Webster (mother of Dr. Susan A. Edson), Julia A. Wilbur, Mrs. Westfall, Mary Willard, Amanda
Wall, Lucy A. Wheeler.
t For full account see Vol. II., page 587.
8 14 History of Woman Suffrage.
gallery of the Senate and House we re Abigail Dodge (Gail Hamilton), and
Helen M. Barnard, both political writers of great power; the former as a
reporter for the New York Times, and the latter for the New York Herald.
Mrs. Barnard, during Grant's administration, was sent as commissioner of
immigration to Liverpool, visiting England, Ireland and Scotland. Return-
ing in the steerage of an ocean steamer, she gave one of the finest reports
ever made upon this question. This resulted in the passage by the legis-
lature of New York of a bill for the better protection of emigrants on
shipboard, and the appointment by the United States government of an
inspector of immigration for every out-going steamer.
Women were first appointed as clerks in the government departments
in 1861 by Secretary Chase, at the earnest solicitation of Treasurer Spin-
ner. They were employed at temporary work at $50 a month — one-half
the lowest price paid to any male clerk — until they were recognized by
an act of congress in which their salary was fixed at $900 a year, in the
general appropriation bill of July 23, 1 866. The men doing the same work
were of four classes, receiving, respectively, $1,000, $1,400, $1,600, $1,800.
Treasurer Spinner, in his report of October, 1866, said :
The experiment of employing females as clerks has been, so far as this office is con-
cerned, a success. For many kinds of office-work, like the manipulation and counting
of fractional currency, they excel, and in my opinion are to be preferred to males.
There is, however, quite as much difference in point of ability between female clerks
as there is between the several classes of male clerks, whose equals some of them are.
Some are able to accomplish twice as much as others, and with greater accuracy. So,
too, some of them incur great risks, being responsible for making mistakes in count,
and for counterfeits overlooked. Such should, by every consideration of justice and
fair dealing, be paid according to their merits, and the risks and liabilities they incur.
And in 1868, Mr. Spinner urged the committee of which Mr. Fessenden
of Maine was the chairman, to so amend the bill providing for the re-
organization of the treasury department as to increase the salary of the
female clerks who have the handling of money, stating that cases had oc-
curred in which women had lost more than half their monthly pay by
reason of being short in count, or of allowing counterfeit notes to pass
their hands.
Secretary M'Cullough asserted that women performed their clerical
duties as creditably as men, and stated that he had three ladies who per-
formed as much labor, and did it as well as any three male clerks receiv-
ing $1,800 a year. It is now a quarter of a century that women have served
the government in these responsible positions, and still, with but few ex-
ceptions, they receive only the allotted $900. Mrs. Fitzgerald, the expert
in the redemption bureau of the treasury, who has for fifteen years de-
ciphered defaced currency, in which no man has ever yet proved her
equal, receives $1,400. In 1886 she subjected herself to an examination
for an increase to $1,600, but, failing to answer some questions foreign
to her art, she was compelled to content herself with the former salary.
II. — MARYLAND.
The Revolution of February 26, 1868, shows an effort in the direction of
progress on this question in Man'land. A correspondent says :
Maryland. 815
Notwithstanding the present ascendancy of conservatism in Maryland, the progress-
ive element is not wholly annihilated; in proof of which, we send information of the
working of this leaven, as developed in an association lately organized in the city of
Baltimore, under the name of the " Maryland Equal Rights Society." For nearly a
year past it has been in contemplation to form a society based upon the principle of
equal chance to all human kind, irrespective of sex or color, through the mediumship
of the elective franchise. The first public meeting of the friends of the movement was
held on the afternoon of November 12, 1867, at the Douglass Institute, at which
twelve persons, white and colored, were present. Some steps were taken towards or-
ganization in the framing and adopting of a constitution based upon the principle
afore-mentioned; but further business was deferred in hope of securing a larger at-
tendance at a subsequent meeting. Two weeks later a second meeting was called,
when the constitution was signed by fourteen persons, ten of whom were white and
four colored. Officers were chosen, consisting of a president, a vice-president, a secre-
tary and a treasurer, together with eight other members to act as an executive commit-
tee. The last meeting, held January 29, was attended by Alfred H. Love and Rachel
Love of Philadelphia. To Mr. Love the society is indebted fofc many valuable sug-
gestions as to the best means of becoming an effective co-worker m the cause of human
progress.
Our colored friends, who have control of the Douglass Institute, have testified their
good will toward the movement in giving the society the use of an apartment in the
building, free of charge. This is the one instance in which we have met with encour-
agement in our own community. We have sought it in high places, among those we
supposed to be friends, and found it not. It appears to be the nature of fine linen
to dread the mud splashes of the pioneer's spade and pick-ax, and for silk and broad-
cloth to shrink from contact with the briers of an uncleared thicket; hence our sole re-
course is to appeal to those only who are dressed for the service. We are conscious
that we have entered upon no easy task; but, ashamed of having so long left our North-
ern sisters to toil and endure alone in a cause which is not one of section but of hu-
manity, we come forward at last to assume our share of the hardship, trusting that
what we have lost in our tardiness may be made up in earnestness and activity.
From various papers we clip the following items :
At the election in Baltimore, January 20, 1870, there were three women who applied
to be registered as voters at the third-ward registry office. Their names were Mrs.
L. C. Dundore, Mrs. A. M. Gardner and Miss E. M. Harris. Their cases were
held under advisement by the register. In 1871, a Maryland young lady, Miss
Middlebrook, raised over 5,000 heads of cabbage. On Christmas, she sold in the Balti-
more market 500 pounds of turkey at 20 cents per pound. Mrs. H. B. Conway of
Frederick county, has established a reputation as a contractor for " fills" and "cuts."
.She has filled several contracts in Pennsylvania, been awarded a $100,000 job on the
Western Maryland railroad, and now, 1885, is engaged in the work of excavating a
tract in Baltimore for building-sites.
Miss R. Muller has for several years been engaged as subscription and
general correspondence clerk for the Baltimore Daily American, She
was the first woman to be employed in that city on newspaper work during
the present century. In the chapter on newspapers it will be seen that
Anna R. Green established the first newspaper in the Maryland colony
one hundred and nineteen years ago, doing the colony printing; and that
Mary R. Goddard not only published a pacer, writing able editorials, but
was also the first postmaster after the revolution. And from the follow-
ing item it would seem that the first woman to claim her right to vote
must be credited to Maryland :
At the regular meeting of the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore, December,
1885, Hon. J. L. Thomas read a paper on " Margaret Brent, the first woman in
816 History of Woman Suffrage.
America to claim the right to vote." She lived at St. Mary's city on the river of the
same name two hundred and forty years ago, and was related to Lord Baltimore.
She was the heir of Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore's brother and agent, and as such
she claimed not only control of all rents, etc., of Lord Baltimore, but also the right to
two votes in the assembly as the representative of both Calvert and Baltimore. The
first claim the courts upheld, but the second was rejected.
On March 20, 1872, Hon. Stevenson Archer made an exhaustive speech
on the floor of the House of Representatives, entitled, " Woman Suffrage
not to be tolerated, although advocated by the Republican candidate for
vice-presidency." The speech was against Senator Wilson's bill to en-
franchise the women of the territories. The honorable representative
from Maryland may have been moved to enter his protest against woman's
enfranchisement by the fact that the women of his State had in conven-
tion assembled early in the same month made a public demand for their
political rights :
The Havre de Grace Republican says that the convention of the Maryland Equal
Rights Association, held in Raine's Hall, Baltimore, last week, was a grand success.
Mrs. Lavina C. Dundore, president of the association, presided over the convention
with dignity and grace. Many prominent and able champions of the cause were
present and delivered eloquent and telling addresses in favor of woman's enfranchise-
ment, which were listened to with marked attention by the large audiences in attend-
ance. The friends of the cause in Maryland feel much gratified at this exhibition of
the rapidly increasing interest in the movement.
Meetings had been held in Baltimore during the years of 1870-71, and
lecture^ given by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony, and
others.
Charlotte Richmond of Baltimore writes the Woman 's Journal, April
22, 1873:
The American Journal of Dental Science makes the following statement : " The
Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, having had the honor of conferring the first de-
gree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in the world, has also graduated the first woman
who ever received a diploma in medicine or dentistry in Baltimore, in the person of
Miss Emilie Foeking of Prussia, who, after attending two full courses of lectures and
demonstrations, passed a very creditable final examination. Miss Foeking conformed
to all the rules and regulations of the college during the two sessions that she was a
student; no favor whatever as to requirement being asked for on her part, or extended
to her by the faculty, on account of sex. She has fairly earned her degree by pro-
ficiency and earnest application. After a short time Miss Foeking will return to Ber-
lin, where she intends to locate. That she will succeed in establishing a large and
lucrative practice, there is no doubt, as she is well qualified professionally, and is in
manner so perfect a lady as to command the respect of all who know her."
You will see by this extract from one of our medical journals, that a lady has been
graduated from our dental college. I hope she has left the doors open, so that some of
our own countrywomen may enter and acquit themselves as honorably, but without the
difficulties which she has been compelled to encounter. You are aware of the pro-
ceedings of the Philadelphia college in regard to female students. Our Baltimore
dentist, for we feel proud to claim her as ours, although admitted in the college, still
had all the prejudices to meet in the minds of the people, but they were too courteous
and hospitable to act upon those feelings so far as to turn her from their doors. She
was brave and did not surrender; not even when her sensitive woman's heart was
wounded and humiliated by the little acts done heedlessly under the impression that a
woman had stepped out of her sphere and was taking upon herself a vocation belong-
ing exclusively to men. She is naturally sincere, modest and dignified. With these
Delaware. 8 1 7
lady-like qualifications, together with ability and perseverance, she has won the honor
and esteem of the faculty and the students.
I wish that Prussia could have witnessed the success of her daughter on the night of
commencement — the wreaths of laurel, and the incessant applause while she was on
the stage. I, for one, felt quite proud to see my city acknowledge the foreign lady-
student so gracefully. She is already practicing to some extent, and in every case
gives the most entire satisfaction. I trust there will be no more college doors closed
against our sex, for the reason that the male students do not want us. Let the pro-
fessors and trustees be just. We have proved that a true lady is no disadvantage in a
college with male students. I think the way is now clear for women to enter upon the
dental profession. Miss Foeking has proved that a woman can be successful when she
undertakes an honorable profession.
For the facts in regard to the Baltimore Dental College we are indebted
to the dean of the faculty:
BALTIMORE COLLEGE OF DENTAL SURGERY, Jan. 2, 1886.
Miss SUSAN B. ANTHONY — Dear Miss: Your letter of 27th of last month came
safely to hand. In reply I will say that only two members of the fair sex have been
graduated with us. Miss Emilie Foeking of Prussia, whose present address I do not
know, and Miss Pauline Boeck of Germany, who has since died. Miss Foeking was
graduated in 1873, an(i Miss Boeck in 1877. I have learned that both of these young
ladies were attentive and energetic in the pursuit of their studies, and were graduated
with credit to themselves. We have the "Woman's Medical College," from which
quite a number of young women have been graduated. For information in regard to this
institution I would refer you to its dean, Prof. Wm. D. Booker, 157 Park avenue.
Very truly yours, R. B. WINDER.
III. — DELAWARE.
Mary A. Stuart is the active^ representative of the movement for
woman suffrage in Delaware. From year to year she has written and con-
tributed to our National conventions in Washington, and has been among
the delegates on several occasions to address congressional committees.
In her report she says :
My father was the first man in the State Senate to propose the repeal of some of our
oppressive laws, and succeeded in having the law giving all real estate to the eldest
male heir repealed. The law of 1871 gave a married woman the right to make a will,
provided her husband gave his written consent, with the names of two respectable wit-
nesses thereunto attached. In 1873 the law was repealed, and another act passed
giving married women the right to make a will, buy property and hold it exempt from
the husband's debts, but this law does not affect his tenancy by courtesy.
Prior to 1868, bonds, mortgages, stocks, etc., were counted personal property,
all of which went into the possession of the husband the moment the woman answered
" I will," in the marriage ceremony. I worked hard to get the law passed giving the
wife the right to her own separate earnings, and at last was greatly helped by the
fact that a woman petitioned for a divorce, stating in her application that she was
driven from her home, that she and her two children had worked hard and saved $100
for a rainy day, and now her husband claimed the money. It was a case in point, and
helped the members of our legislature to pass the wages bill.
Delaware College, the only institution of the kind in the State, was open to girls
for thirteen years, but owing to a tragedy committed by the boys in hazing one another,
resulting in death, the doors were thereafter closed to girls, although they were in no
way directly or indirectly implicated in the outrages. When Governor Stockley was
appealed to, he simply gave some of the old arguments against coeducation, and did
52
818 History of Woman Suffrage.
not recommend, as he should have done, an appropriation at once by the State to build
a similar college, with all the necessary appointments for the education of girls. We
have women who are practicing physicians, and are also in the State Medical Boards.
We have none who practice law or preach in our pulpits, and all the political offices
of the State are closed to women. No notaries, bank cashiers, telegraph operators.
Women are still in the belief that work outside the home is a disgrace to the men of
their families.
In February, 1881, Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, MissCouzins and Mrs. Lockwood,
held various hearings before the legislature. Mrs. Lockwood read to the gentlemen
article 4 of the constitution as amended in 1834: " Any white male citizen over 22
years of age who shall be a tax-payer, shall be eligible to vote for electors." She then
showed them how readily, without any marked revolution, the word " white " had been
stricken out, while the word tax-payer had virtually become a dead letter. Then turn-
ing to the first paragraph of the United States revised code she cited the passage which
states that in determining the meaning of statutes after February 25, 1877, " words
importing the masculine gender may be applied to females." * * * * At
this point the chairman of the committee placed before Mrs. Lockwood the Dela-
ware code from which she read a similar application of the law made many years be-
fore. Having laid this foundation she asserted that the women of Delaware were
legally entitled to vote under the laws as they are, but that to prevent all question on
the subject, she would recommend a special enactment like that prepared in the bill be-
fore them. An amendment to the State constitution giving suffrage to women was
presented in the House of Representatives in February, 1881, and referred to the com-
mittee on privileges and elections. It was reported adversely. The vote showed that
all the members, with two * exceptions, were opposed to the measure.
Among the friends in Delaware were several liberal families, active in
all the progressive movements of the day. Preeminent among these was
that of the noble Thomas Garrett, whose good words of encouragement
for woman's enfranchisement may be found in the bound copies of The
Revolution as far back as 1868. His private letters to those of us interested
in his labors of love are among our most cherished mementoes. He was
a man of good judgment, broad sympathies, and unswerving integrity.
IV. — KENTUCKY.
MARY B. CLAY, daughter of Cassius M. Clay, sends us the fol-
lowing report of what has been done to change the status of
women in Kentucky:
The earliest agitation of the suffrage question in our State arose from
the advent of Miss Lucy Stone in Louisville, in 1853, at which time she
•delivered three lectures in Masonic Hall to crowded audiences. George
D, Prentice gave full and friendly reports in the Courier-Journal. In later
years, Anna Dickinson and others have lectured in our chief cities. But
the first note of associated effort is that given in The Revolution from
Glendale, which says :
We organized here an association with twenty members the first of October, 1867,
and now have fifty. We hope soon to have the whole of Hardin county, and by the
close of another year the whole of the State of Kentucky, enlisted on the side of
woman's rights.
* David Eastburn and Henry Swaine of New Castle county.
Kentucky. 819
In the winter of 1872 Hannah Tracy Cutler and Margaret V. Longley
were granted a respectful hearing before our legislature at Frankfort. In
May, 1879, self-appointed, I represented Kentucky at the May anniversary
of the National Association at St. Louis. In the autumn following, Miss
Anthony, during an extended lecture tour through the State, stopped in
Richmond several days, and aided us in organizing a local suffrage so-
ciety.* Letters were at once written to the leading editors asking them
to publish articles on the subject. Many favorable answers were received,
and we have largely availed ourselves of the columns of the papers to
keep up the agitation. My sister, Sally Clay Bennett, edits a column in
the Richmond Register, sister Anne a column in the Lexington Gazette,
and Kate Dunning Clarke, a column in the Turf, Field and Farm. Mrs.
Clarke is also associate editor of the Kentucky State Jonrnal. The Misses
Moore are making a success of a daily paper at Milledgeville.
In May, 1880, Mrs. Bennett and myself were delegates at the great Na-
tional Mass Convention in Farwell Hall, Chicago. In October, 1881, the
American Association held its annual meeting in Louisville. It was largely
attended and fully and fairly reported by the press of the city. At its
close, a Kentucky State association was organized, with Laura Clay as
president.
In January, 1882, the Richmond and Louisville clubs secured a hearing
before the judiciary committee of the Senate, Mrs. Bennett and myself
representing the former, and John A. Ward the latter. With the valuable
aid of Mrs. Mary Haggart of Indianapolis we made a most favorable im-
pression upon our legislators. The points in which our laws are defect-
ive and upon which our appeals and arguments were based are well indi-
cated by the pleas of our several petitions:
That women might have municipal and presidential suffrage by statute; that in mar-
riage women might own their property as men own theirs; that women who were
married might be the legal guardians of their children's property and persons as well
as the father; that women should be appointed with equal responsibility and authority
as assistant physicians in insane asylums, and that the appointment of all the officers in
such asylums should be made by the legislature, and not by the governor, as now; that
women be appointed on boards of visitors and commissioners to all asylums where
women are inmates or prisoners.
In 1884, all of the Clay sisters — Mrs. Bennet, Mary, Laura and Anne —
with Mrs. Haggart, again went to Frankfort, and held meetings in the
legislative hall, which were largely attended by the best classes of the
citizens of that city, as well as by members of the legislature.
For several years we have had a woman for State Librarian. In Fay-
ette, one of our most aristocratic counties, Lexington being its county
seat, a woman was elected to the office of county clerk by a majority of
200 over her male competitor. In two other connties women are also
county clerks. Each of them had served so efficiently in her husband's
office, that at his death she had been elected in his place.
That woman has to fight every step of her way to the recognition of
her rights as a citizen equal before the law, is shown by the following des-
patch from Frankfort, dated December 18, 1885 :
* The officers were : Sally Clay Bennett, Maggie S. Burnham, Mrs. Somcrs, Mary B. Clay.
820 History of Woman Suffrage.
Mrs. M. C. Lucas was elected by the vote of Daviess county to the office of jailer,
to succeed her husband, who was killed by a mob while in discharge of his duty.
When she appeared before the county court to give bond for the office, the Judge re-
fused to allow her to qualify. A writ of mandamus from the Circuit Court was applied
for to compel the court to allow her to qualify, but the motion was denied. An ap-
peal was then taken to the Court of Appeals. Yesterday that court affirmed the de-
cision of the Circuit Court, that a woman cannot legally hold the office of county jailer.
A woman in Madison county acted as census-taker, and performed her
duty well. She was the niece of Mr. Justice Miller of the Supreme Court
of the United States. Gen. W. J. Sanderson, internal revenue collector
for the eighth district, employed two young ladies as clerks, Miss Brown
and Miss Price, the former of whom is said to be his best clerk. She is
the sister of Mrs. Smith, the circuit clerk of Laurel county. The suc-
cessor of General Sanderson, employs his two daughters as clerks, and
they receive the same pay as men who do the same work.
Many women in our State manage their own farms. My mother, dur-
ing my father's absence as minister to Russia, took his farm of 2, 500 acres
(he making her his attorney), paid off a large debt on the property, built an
elegant house costing $30,000, stocked the farm, and largely supported the
family of six children, with money which she made during the war. She
fed government mules, and did it so well that she would return them to
camp before the time expired, in better condition than most feeders got
theirs. She is now, 1885, conducting her own farm of 350 acres, selling
several thousand dollars' worth of wheat, cattle, and sheep annually, giv-
ing her personal attention to everything, at the age of seventy. During
the adventurous and perilous period of my father's life she shared his
dangers, and was ever his mainstay in upholding his hands against slavery ;
and in that crowning point of his life, when he was mobbed in Lexington,
my mother sat at his bed-side, and wrote at his dictation, " Go tell your
secret conclave of dastardly assassins, Cassius M. Clay knows his rights
and how to defend them."
Two of my sisters, Laura and Anne, and myself are practical farmers,
each having under her immediate superintendence the workmen, both
white and black, on 300 acres. We raise corn, wheat, oats, cattle and
sheep, buying and selling our own stock and produce. We took posses-
sion of the land without stock or utensils, and by our observation and ex-
perience, prudence and industry, have greatly improved the lands and
stock, and annually realize a handsome income therefrom.
Miss Laura R. White of Manchester, sister of Hon. John D. White, who
ably advocated our cause in congress as well as in his own State, was
graduated with marked honor from the Michigan State University in 1874.
Since that time she has studied architecture in the Boston Institute of
Technology one year, worked as draughtsman in the office of the super-
visory architect of the treasury department at Washington, two years,
studied in the special school of architecture in Paris one year, and is now,
1886, prosecuting her studies with a liberal selection of French and English
architectural works at her mountain home in Kentucky. Mrs. Bessie
White Heagen, the youngest daughter of Mrs. Sarah A. White, was grad-
uated with honor from the Roxbury High School of Boston, and from the
Facilities for Education. 821
school of Pharmacy of Michigan University. Being denied examination
and the privileges of college graduates of the college of pharmacy at
Louisville, where she was employed by a prominent pharmacist, she
brought suit and obtained a verdict in her favor.
Early in 1882, Dr. J. P. Barnum employed young women in his store with
the expectation of being able to educate them in the college of pharmacy.
But the hostility of the students to the proposed innovation, and the lack
of a systematic laboratory course, caused the relinquishment of that plan
and the formation of the new school. Prominent gentlemen in the com-
munity assisted Dr. Barnum, and the Louisville School of Pharmacy
was duly incorporated under the general laws of Kentucky.* Though
sustained by men of wealth and influence, the school met with great oppo-
sition, the State Board of Pharmacy refusing to register the women who
were graduated from it until compelled to do so by a mandamus from the
Law and Equity Court, Judge Simral presiding. March 7, 1884, the legis-
lature incorporated the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women, and
by special enactment empowered its graduates to practice their profession
without registration or interference from the State board.
The school confers two degrees ; its full course taking three years and
requiring more work than is done in other schools. So far its gradu-
ates have been representative women, and all have found responsible
situations awaiting them. Its faculty remains, with a few exceptions, as
in the first session. Dr. J. P. Barnum, to whose indefatigable efforts the
foundation of the school is due, is dean and professor of pharmacy and
analytical chemistry; Dr. T. Hunt Stuckey, a graduate of Heidelberg Uni-
versity, who joined his efforts with, Dr. Barnum at an early day, is pro-
fessor of materta medica, toxicology and microscopy. Mrs. D. N. Marble,
professor of general and pharmaceutical chemistry, and Mrs. Fountaine
Miller, professor of botany, were graduates of the first class.
Mrs. Kate Trimble de Roode, in a recent letter says :
Kentucky has had school suffrage for thirty years, but as the right is not generally
known or understood, few women have ever availed themselves of the privilege. The
State librarian has for many years been a woman, and there are several post-mistresses
also in this State. The State University has recently admitted women on equal terms
to all its departments. As a general] thing the young women of Kentucky are better
educated than the men, the latter being early put to business, while most parents
desire above all things to secure to their daughters a liberal education. We have a
number of women practicing medicine in the larger cities, one architect, but as yet no
lawyers, although several women have taken a full course of study for that profession.
The question of woman suffrage has been but little agitated in this State, although the
* The incorporators who formed the Board of Regents were, the Right Rev. Thomas U. Dudley, D.
D., Bishop of Kentucky; Rev. James P. Boyce, D. D., President of the Baptist Theological Seminary;
Rev. E. F. Perkins, Rector of St. Paul's Church ; Hon. I. H. Edwards, Chancellor of Louisville Chan-
cery Court ; Theodore Harris, President Louisville Banking and Insurance Co.; W. N. Haldeman,
President Courier Journal Co.; Nicholas Finzer, President of Finzer tobacco works; Samuel L.
Avery, President B. F. Avery Co.; G. H. Cochran, President Louisville School Board ; Robert Coch-
ran, Commissioner of Chancery Court ; Hon. Charles Godshaw, Trustee of Jury Fund ; Dr. E. A.
Grant and Mr. James K. Lemon. The board was organized by the election of Mr. Theodore Harris,
President, Dr. E. A. Grant, Secretary^ and James K. Lemon, Treasurer. The school opened with
fifteen students, and continued until June, 1883. A lecture and practical course combined, occupy ten
months of the year — lectures being given five afternoons of each week during the term.
822 History of Woman Suffrage.
last legislature gave a respectful hearing to several ladies on the question. The prop-
erty rights of married women are in a crude state; the wife's personal property vests in
the husband; the profits and rents that accrue from her real estate belong to him also.
She can make no will without the assent of her husband, and if given, he can revoke it
at any time before the will is probated. The wife's wages belong to her husband. She
cannot sue or be sued without he joins her in the suit. The wife's dower is a life in-
terest in a third of the husband's real estate, whereas the husband's curtesy, where
there is issue of the marriage, born alive, is a life interest in all the real estate belong-
ing to the wife at the time of her death. This is the statutory law, but the wife by
obtaining a decree in chancery may possess all the rights of a femme sole. A bill se-
curing more equal rights to women passed the House of the last legislature, but failed
in the Senate. The courtesy of Kentucky men to women in general, has kept them
from realizing their civil and political degradation, until, by some sudden turn in the
wheel of fortune, the individual woman has felt the iron teeth of the law in her own
flesh, and warned her slumbering sisterhood. We are now awaking to the fact that an
aristocracy of sex in a republic is as inconsistent and odious as an aristocracy of color,
and indeed far more so.
V- — TENNESSEE.
We are indebted to Mrs. Elizabeth Lisle Saxon for the fol-
lowing :
Elizabeth Avery Meriwether is the chief representative of liberal
thought in Tennessee. Her pen is ever ready to champion the wronged.
I first came to know her when engaged in a newspaper discussion to re-
establish in the public schools of Memphis three young women who had
been dismissed because of " holding too many of Mrs. Meriwether's views "
— the reason actually given by the superintendent and endorsed by the
board of directors. A seven month's war was carried on, ending in a
triumphant reinstallment of the teachers, a new superintendent, and a
new board of directors. Public opinion was educated into more liberal
ideas, and the Memphis Appeal, through its chivalrous editor, Mr. Keating,
declared squarely for woman suffrage.
When Col. Kerr introduced into the Tennessee legislature a bill making
divorce impossible for any cause save adultery, Mrs. Meriwether wrote
the ablest article I ever read, in opposition, which Mr. Keating published
in his paper, and distributed among the members of the legislature. The
result was a clear vote against the bill.
With Mrs. Lide Meriwether and Mrs. M. J. Holmes, she publicly assailed
the cross examination of women in criminal trials, either as culprits or
witnesses, until the practice was broken up, and private hearings ac-
corded. In 1876 she sent a memorial to the National Democratic con-
vention at St. Louis, asking that party to declare for woman suffrage in
its platform. Though her appeal was not read, hundreds of copies were
circulated among the members in the hope of stirring thought on the
subject in the South. It provoked much sarcasm because it was signed
only by Mrs. Meriwether and Mrs. Saxon. In 1880-81 Mrs. Meriwether
was one of the speakers in the series of conventions held by the National
association in the Western and New England States.
Mrs. Bodeker s Letter. 823
VI. — VIRGINIA.
In the winter of 1870, immediately after the National Washington con-
vention, Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, while spending a few days in Rich-
mond, formed the acquaintance of Mrs. Anna Whitehead Bodeker, a
most earnest advocate of the ballot for women. Mrs. Davis held a parlor
meeting in the home of Mrs. Bodeker, enlisting the interest of several
prominent citizens of Richmond, who very soon invited Mrs. Joslyn Gage
to their city to give a series of lectures. Of the result of this visit we
give Mrs. Bodeker's report as published in The Revolution of May, 1870 :
DEAR REVOLUTION : — I glory in announcing a grand achievement in the great re-
form of the day in Virginia. Our energetic and heroic leader, Mrs. M. Joslyn Gage,
after giant efforts on her part, and with the aid of some strong advocates of the re-
form, on Friday evening, May 6, 1870, organized in the city of Richmond a Virginia
State Woman Suffrage Association. The whole proceedings I here append, for im-
mediate publication in your columns.
Mrs. Gage, advisory counsel for New York, in the National Woman Suffrage As-
sociation of America, delivered a lecture upon " Opportunity for Woman," at Bosher's
Hall, corner of Ninth and Main streets, on Thursday evening. The lecture was able,
earnest and eloquent, and was listened to with rapt attention by the friends of the
cause present. At its conclusion, Judge John C. Underwood gave notice that on the
following evening a meeting would be held at the United States Court room (which he
freely proffered for the purpose) to organize a State Association, adopt a constitution,
elect officers, and appoint delegates to the anniversary of the National Association
soon to be held in New York city. The judge remarked that, upon conversing with
Governor Wise upon the subject, he expressed his warm sympathy with the objects of
the movement save upon the question of giving women the ballot. With all the other
rights claimed, he was heartily in accord; especially, he thought, should the professions
be opened to women, more particularly the medical, they being the natural physicians
of their sex and of children.
Pursuant to the above notice, a meeting was held in the United States court-room.
Judge John C. Underwood was called to preside. Previous to action on the regular
business of the meeting, several articles favorable to the movement were read. Miss
Sue L. F. Smith, daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Wm. A. Smith, read very charmingly
a well-written essay prepared by herself in advocacy of granting to women the full
meed of powers and responsibilities now enjoyed by men. Mr. William E.
Colman read an article entitled "Clerical Denunciation of Woman Suffrage — A
Defense," being a reply to a violent attack made by the Rev. Dr. Edwards of this city,
upon the adherents of the movement, in a sermon delivered by him recently. A pro-
posed constitution for the government of the Virginia State Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion was adopted; after which came the election of officers* of the society. On motion
of Judge Underwood, Miss Sue L. F. Smith was appointed delegate to represent Vir-
ginia in the National Association to be held in New York city May 12, 13, the society
having by resolution connected itself as an auxiliary to said National Association. Mrs.
Gage offered resolutions, which were unanimously adopted, after which she delivered
a forcible address, enumerating many of the wrongs to which women are subjected in
this State, dwelling particularly upon the laws depriving mothers of the right to their own
children, placing the property of married women at the mercy of their husbands, and
* President '.Mrs. Anne W. Bodeker, Richmond ; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. Maria G. and Judge JohnC.
Underwood, Mr. and Mrs. Judge Westal Willoughby, Mr. and Mrs. Judge I.ysandcr Hill, all of Alex-
andria ; Mr. R. M. Manly, Richmond ; Mrs. Martha Haines Bennett, Norfolk ; Mr. Andrew Wash-
burne and Mr. William E. Coleman, Richmond ; Secretary* Miss Sue L. F. Smith. Richmond ;
Executive Committee^ Rev. W. F. Hemenway, Mrs. Andrew Washburne, Mrs. Dr. £. H. Smith, Dr.
and Mrs. Langstedt, Richmond, and Mrs. Allen (Florence Percy) of Manchester.
824 History of Woman Suffrage.
depriving the wives of all voice in the disposition of the property possessed by them
before marriage.
In the winter of 1871, Miss Anthony was honored by an invitation from
the society, and held several meetings in Judge Underwood's court-room.
About this time appeared the following:
Judge Underwood, having stated in a letter that after mature consideration he had
come to the conclusion that the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitu-
tion of the United States, together with the enforcement act of May 31, 1870, have se-
cured the right to vote to female citizens as fully as it is now exercised and enjoyed by
male citizens, a test case is to be made at once in the Virginia courts. As there are
very few advocates of woman suffrage in Virginia, some of the leaders of the move-
ment in Washington are about to move to Alexandria to perfect an organization and
be ready with a case when Judge Underwood opens court there.
But Mrs. Bodeker, who also memorialized the general assembly, was
first to make the attempt to vote. The Richmond Dispatch describes the
occasion :
Yesterday morning the judges of the second precinct of Marshall ward, J. F. Shin-
berger, esq., presiding, were surprised at the appearance of a lady at the polls. She
wished to deposit a ballot, but as the judges declined to allow this, in view of her not
having registered, she then asked to be permitted to have a paper with the following
inscription placed in the ballot-box : "By the Constitution of the United States, I,
Anne Whitehead Bodeker, have a right to give my vote at this election, and in vindica-
tion of it drop this note in the ballot-box, November 7, 1871." This paper was taken
by the judges, and will be deposited with the ballots in the archives of the Hustings
court.
One remarkable incident in Gen. Grant's administration was Miss
Elizabeth VanLew's appointment as postmaster at Richmond. She held
the office eight years, notwithstanding the persistent opposition of politi-
cians= The Ballot-Box said :
Miss VanLew was postmaster in Richmond under Grant, introducing many reforms
in the office, but through the envy of men, who were voters, she, a non-voter, lost her
office, as she had lost wealth and friends from her devotion to the Union during the
war. Now, since its close, she finds not only her former slave men permitted to make
laws for her, but also those whom she opposed when they were seeking their country's
life. But women of all ranks, white and colored, are awaking to their need of the
ballot for self-protection.
The Philadelphia Press, edited by J. W. Forney, said:
Some covert enemies of the president and the new civil-service reform have been
spreading a report, through sensational specials, that the Richmond post-office is to be
given to some prominent Virginian of local standing as soon as Miss VanLew's com-
mission expires. If there is any post-office in the United States in which the whole
nation at this time has a special interest, it is this one of Richmond which the present
incumbent holds, as it were, by a national right, and certainly by popular acclaim.
"We have not time in a brief paragraph to tell the striking story of what Miss VanLew
has done and what she has suffered for the country. Her story will pass into standard
history, however, as sadly illustrative of our times. She herself is known and loved
wherever the horrors of Libby and Belle Isle are mourned and denounced.
VII. — WEST VIRGINIA.
Hon. Samuel Young, in a letter to 77;,? Revolution, dated Senate Cham-
ber, Wheeling, West Virginia, February 22, 1869, writes:
North Carolina. 825
In 1867, I introduced a bill in the State Senate, looking to the enfranchisement of
all women in West Virginia, who can read the Declaration of Independence intelli-
gently, and write a legible hand, and have actually paid tax the year previous to their
proposing to vote. But even this guarded bill had no friends but myself. * * *
I introduced a resolution during the present session of our legislature, asking congress
to extend the right of suffrage to women. Eight out of the twenty-two members of
the Senate voted for it. This is quite encouraging — advancing from one to eight in
two years. At this rate of progress, we may succeed by next winter. I give the
names of those who are in favor of and voted for female suffrage in the Senate :
Drummond, Doolittle, Humphreys, Hoke, Wilson, Workman, Young, and Farnsworth,
president. The same senators voted to invite Miss Anna E. Dickinson to lecture in
the state-house during her late visit to Wheeling.
VIII. — NORTH CAROLINA.
We are indebted to Mrs. Mary Bayard Clarke of New Berne for the
following :
Since 1868, when the constitution was changed, a married woman has absolute
control of all the real estate she possessed before marriage or acquired by gift or
devise after it, except the power to sell without the consent of her husband, who in
his turn is not at liberty to sell any real estate possessed by him before marriage, or
acquired after it, without the consent of his wife. Should he sell any real estate
without the wife's consent, in writing, she can, after his death, claim her dower of
one-third in such real estate. If she owns a farm and her husband manages it, she
can claim full settlements from him, he having no more rights than any other agent
whom she may employ. So her property, real and personal, is her individual right,
with the income therefrom. But she cannot contract a debt that is binding on her
property without the consent of her husband. With his written consent, which must
be registered in the office of the clerk of the county in which she resides, she may be-
come a free-trader with all the rights of a man, her husband having no claim to her
gains and not being responsible for any debt which she may contract. By giving this
written consent her husband virtually places her in the position of an unmarried
woman, as far as her property is concerned.
In iSSi, finding that a widow had no right to appoint a guardian for her children
by "letters testamentary," I, through my son, William E. Clarke, who was then sen-
ator for this county in our State legislature, succeeded in getting this law so changed
that she now has the same rights as a man. In cases of divorce or separation while
the children are under age, it is discretionary with the judge to give the children to
either parent; but public sentiment always gives them to the mother while young.
As a rule the women of the South are better educated than the men, the boys being
put to work while the girls are at school. The girls are not trained to work in any
way, and very few, as yet, see the necessity of being regularly trained to do anything
by which they may make a living except as teachers. Our public-school system re-
quires a course through the normal school for all teachers. Mixed schools are not
popular with us, but we have been forced into them by the public-graded-school tax,
which has crushed out our private schools. I am now, and have been for the past two
years, making an effort to have women on our school-boards, and a female as well as
a male principal for eveiy mixed public school, on the ground that mothers have as
much right to a voice in the education of their daughters as fathers have in that of
their sons. We have female teachers in our public schools but not as principals, and
the pay of the women is, regardless of the quality of their work, always considerably
less than that of men.
Our Supreme Court granted a license to Miss Tabitha A. Holton to practice law, and
there is no legal impediment in the way of one doing so. The same is true of the
medical profession. Dr. Susan Dimock was a North Carolinian by birth and on her
826 History of Woman Suffrage.
application for admission to the State Medical Society was unanimously elected a
member of that body. The African Methodist-Episcopal Conference, Bishop Turner
presiding, ordained Miss Sarah A. Hughes of Raleigh, a bright mulatto girl, as deacon
in the church. Shortly after the close of the late war, my husband being then in-
capacitated for work by wounds received in the Mexican and the civil war, and my
sons under age, I applied to Governor Jonathan Worth for the position of State
librarian. Though cordially acknowledging my fitness, intellectually, for the office,
and admitting that my sex did not legally disqualify me to hold it, he positively re-
fused to appoint me or any other woman to any office in his gift. Public sentiment
then sustained him, but it would not now do so; so many ladies of culture, refinement
and social position have been, since the war, forced to work or starve, that it is now
nothing remarkable to see them and their daughters doing work which twenty years
ago they would have been ostracised for undertaking.
In a letter to the Boston Index, published August, 1885, the venerable Mrs. Eliza-
beth Oakes Smith, who is now a resident of this State, truthfully says .
The women of the North can have little conception of the hindrances which their
sisters of the South encounter in their efforts to accept new and progressive ideas.
The other sex, in a blind sort of way, hold fast to an absolute kind of chivalry akin
to that of the renowned Don Quixote, by which they try to hold women in the back-
ground as a kind of porcelain liable to crack and breakage unless daintily handled.
Women here see the spirit of the age and the need of change far more clearly than
the men, and act up to this light, but with a flexible grace that disarms opposition.
They see the necessity of work and are turning their attention to methods for remu-
nerative labor, far more difficult to obtain at the South than at the North.
I cordially endorse this extract. The Southern man does not wish his "women
folks " to be self-supporting, not because he is jealous of their rivaling him, but
because he feels it is his duty to be the bread-winner. But the much sneered at
" chivalry " of the South, while rendering it harder for a woman to break through old
customs, most cordially and heartily sustains her when she has successfully done so.
There are fewer large centers in the South than in the North, and much less attrition
of mind against mind; the people are homogeneous and slower to change, and public
opinion is much less fluctuating. But once let the tide of woman suffrage fairly turn,
and I believe it will be irresistable and advance far more steadily and rapidly in the
South than it has done in the North. Let the Southern women be won over and the
cause will have nothing to fear from the opposition of the men. But, after twenty
years' experience as a journalist, my honest opinion is that until the Southern women
can be made to feel the pecuniary advantages to them of suffrage, they will not lift a
finger or speak a word to obtain it.
In iSSi, at the March meeting of the Raleigh Typographical Union, No. 194, my
son, being then a member of that Union, introduced and, after some hard fighting,
succeeded in carrying a resolution placing women compositors on a par in every
respect with men. There was not at that time a single woman compositor in the
State, to my son's knowledge; there is one now in Raleigh and two apprentices, who
claimed and receive all the advantages that men applying for admission to the Union
receive.
Mrs. C. Harris started the South Atlantic at Wilmington. The Misses Bernheim
and their father started a magazine in the same city called At Home and Abroad,
which was afterwards moved to Charlotte; both were short-lived. We have now the
Southern ]Voman. This is the only journal ever edited and managed by a woman
alone, with no man associated with or responsible for it. I have been for twenty
years connected with the press of this State in one way and another, and am
called the "Grandmother of the North Carolina Press Association." In iSSo I de-
livered an original poem before the association, and another Masonic one before the
board of the orphan asylum; making me, I believe, the first native North Carolina
woman that ever came before the public as a speaker. I was both denounced and
applauded for my " brass" and " bravery." Public sentiment has changed since then.
Dr. Susan Dimock. 827
Mrs. Marion A. Williams, president of the State National Bank at Raleigh for
several years, is probably the first woman ever elected to that responsible position
in any State of this Union. In 1885 Louisa B. Stephens was made president of the
First National Bank of Marion, Iowa; and a national bank in Newbery, South Caro-
lina, honored itself by placing a woman at the head of its official board.
The North Carolinian of January, 1870, contained an able editorial endorsing
woman suffrage, closing with :
For one we say, tear down the barriers, give woman an opportunity to show her
wisdom and virtue; place the ballot in her hands that she may protect herself and re-
form men, and ere a quarter of a century has elapsed many of the foulest blots upon
the civilization of this age will have passed away.
From an interesting article in the Boston Advertiser, May 22, 1875, by
Rev. James Freeman Clark, concerning Dr. Susan Dimock, one of North
Carolina's promising daughters, whose career was ended in the wreck of
the Schiller near the Scilly islands, we make a few extracts :
One of our eminent surgeons, Dr. Samuel Cabot, said to me yesterday :
" This community will never know what a loss it has had in Dr. Dimock. It was
not merely her skill, though that was remarkable, considering her youth and lim-
ited experience, but also her nerve, that qualified her to become a great surgeon. I
have seldom known one at once so determined and so self-possessed. Skill is a quality
much more easily found than this self-control that nothing can flurry. She had that
in an eminent degree; and, had she lived, she would have been sure to stand, in time,
among those at the head of her profession. The usual weapons of ridicule would have
been impotent against a woman who had reached that supreme position which Susan
Dimock would certainly have attained."
During the war of the rebellion, Miss Dimock sought admission into the medical
school of Harvard University, preferring, if possible, to take a degree in an American
college. Twice she applied, and was twice refused. Hearing that the University of
Zurich was open to women, she went there, and was received with a hospitality which
the institutions of her own country did not offer. She pursued her medical studies
there, and graduated with honor. A number of the " Revue des Deux Mondes " for
August, 1872, contains an article called " Les Femmes Al'Universitie de Zurich," which
speaks very favorably of the success of the women in that place. The first to take a
degree as doctor of medicine was a young Russian lady, in 1867. Between 1867 and
1872 five others had taken this degree, and among them Miss Dimock is mentioned.
From the medical school at Zurich, she went to that at Vienna; and of her appear-
ance there we have this record : A distinguised German physician remarked to a friend
of mine residing in Germany that he had always been opposed to women as physicians
— but that he had met a young American lady studying at Vienna, whose intelligence,
modesty and devotion to her work was such as almost to convince him that he was
wrong. A comparison of dates shows that this American student must have been Dr.
Dimock.
On her return to the United States Dr. Dimock became resident physician at " The
Hospital for Women and Children," on Codman Avenue, in Boston. Both the stu-
dents of medicine and *the patients became devotedly attached to her; they were fas-
cinated by this remarkable union of tenderness, firmness and skill. The secret was in
part told by what she said in one of her lectures in the training-school for nurses con-
nected with the woman's hospital : " I wish you, of all my instructions, especially to
remember this. Where you go to nurse a patient, imagine that it is your own sister
before you in that bed; and treat her as you would wish your own sister to be treated."
While at this hospital, she was also able to carry out a principle in which she firmly
believed, namely — that in a hospital the rights of every patient, poor and rich, should
be sacredly regarded, and never be postponed even to the supposed interests of medi-
ca,l students. No student was allowed to be present at any operation, except so far as
the comfort and safety of her patients rendered the student's presence desirable. Her
828 History of Woman Suffrage.
interest in the woman's hospital was very great. She was in the habit, at the begin-
ning of each year, of writing and sealing up her wishes for the coming year. Since
her death, her mother has opened the envelope of January i, 1875, and found it to
contain a prayer for a blessing on " my dear hospital."
And now this young, strong soul so ardent in the pursuit of knowledge, so filled with
a desire to help her suffering sisters, has been taken by that remorseless deep.
IX. — SOUTH CAROLINA.
The first action we hear of in South Carolina was a Woman's Right's
Convention in Columbia, Dec. 20, 1870, of which the Charleston Republi-
can said :
The chairman, Miss Rollin, said : "It had been so universally the custom to treat the
idea of woman suffrage with ridicule and merriment that it becomes necessary in sub-
mitting the subject for earnest deliberation that we assure the gentlemen present that
our claim is made honestly and seriously. We ask suffrage not as a favor, not as a
privilege, but as a right based on the ground that we are human beings, and as such,
entitled to all human rights. While we concede that woman's ennobling influence
should be confined chiefly to home and society, we claim that public opinion has
had a tendency to limit woman's sphere to too small a circle, and until woman has the
right of representation this will last, and other rights will be held by an insecure tenure."
Mr. T. J. Mackey made a forcible argument in favor of the movement. He was
followed by Miss Hosley, who made a few brief remarks upon the subject. General
Moses thought woman's introduction upon the political platform would benefit us
much in a moral point of view, and that they had a right to assist in making the laws
that govern them as well as the sterner sex. Messrs. Cardozo, Pioneer and Rev. Mr.
Harris followed in short speeches, endorsing the movement and wishing it success.
Resolutions were adopted, and officers chosen.* The following letters were read :
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Columbia, Jan. 19, 1871.
Miss L. M. Rollin: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation
to be present at the preliminary organization of the association for the assertion of
woman's rights in this State, and regret that the pressure of public duties precludes my
indulging myself in that pleasure. Be assured, however, that the cause has my warmest
sympathy, and I indulge the hope that the time is not far distant when woman shall be
the peer of man in political rights, as she is peerless in all others, and when she will be
able to reclaim some of those privileges that are now monopolized by the sterner sex.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, etc., R. K. SCOTT, Governor.
OFFICE OF THE, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, Columbia, Feb. i, 1871.
I hoped when I received your invitation to the meeting to-night of the friends
of woman suffrage, that I should be able to attend in person, but at a late hour I find
other duties standing in the way, and I can only say a word of approval and encour-
agement with my pen. The woman suffrage cause is to my mind so just and so expe-
dient as to need little argument. To say that my mother, my sisters or my. wife have
less interest in good government than I have, or are less fitted by nature to understand
and use the ballot than I am, is to contradict reason and fact.
Upon the same grounds that I defend my own right to share in the government
which controls and protects me, do I now assert the right of woman to,a voice in pub-
lic affairs. For the same reasons that I would regard an attempt to rob me of my civil
rights as tyranny, do I now protest against the continued civil inequality and thralldom
of woman. I take no merit or pride to myself for such a position. I have felt and
said these things during my whole life. They are to me self-evident truths ; needing
* President, Gov. R. K. Scott ; Vice-Presidents, Hon. B. F. Whittemore, Hon. G. F. Mclntyre,
Gen. W. J. Whipper, Mrs. R. C. DeLarge, Hon. D. H. Chamberlain, Mrs. A. J. Ransier, and Mrs. R.
K. Scott ; Secretary, Miss K. Rollin ; Treasurer, Mrs. K. Harris.
Hon. D. H. Chamberlain. 829
no more demonstration by argument than the first lines of the Declaration of American
Independence. My claim for woman is simply this : Give her a full and fair chance
to act in any sphere for which she can fit herself. Her sphere is as wide as man's. It
has no limits except her capacity. If woman cannot perform a soldier's duty, then the
army is not her sphere ; if she can, it is her sphere, as much as it is man's.
I value the ballot for woman chiefly because it opens to her a wide, free avenue to a
complete development of all her powers. The Chinese lady's shoe is nothing compared
to the clamps and fetters which we Americans have put upon woman's mind and soul.
An impartial observer would scarcely condemn the one and approve the other. What
we need now is to accustom the public to these radical truths. Demand the ballot;
demand woman's freedom. It is not a conflict of argument or reason, so much as a
crusade against habit and prejudice. To tell the truth, I don't think there is a respect-
able argument in the world against woman suffrage. People think they are arguing or
reasoning against it when they are in fact only repeating the prejudices in which they
have been trained. With the sincerest wishes for the success of your meeting and of
all your efforts for woman suffrage, I remain, yours very truly,
D. H. CHAMBERLAIN.
The American association memorialized the legislature March 13, 1872.
The joint committee recommended an amendment to the constitution of
the State, providing that every person, male or female, possessed of the
necessary qualifications, should be entitled to vote. B. F. Whittemore,
H. J. Maxwell, W. B. Nash, G. F. Mclntyre, were the committee on the
part of the Senate; C. D. Hayne, W. J. Whipper, Benj. Byas, B. G.
Yocom, F. H. Frost, committee on the part of the House.
In the debate in congress in 1874, Hon. Alonzo J. Ransier of South Car-
olina, the civil-rights bill being under discussion, claimed that equal hu-
man rights should be extended to women as follows :
And may the day be not far distant when American citizenship in civil and political
rights and public privileges shall cover not only those of our sex, but those of the op-
posite one also; until which time the government of the United States cannot be said
to rest upon the "consent of the governed," or to adequately protect them in life, lib-
erty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Miss Sallie R. Banks, for some years a teacher of colored schools in
South Carolina, has been appointed collector of internal revenue for the
Sumter district.
X. — FLORIDA.
In 1880, the agricultural department at Washington, paid a premium of
$12 to Madame Atzeroth of Manatee, for the first pound of coffee ever
grown out of doors in the United States.
The following is from a letter to the Savannah News, reporting a judg-
ment rendered by a Florida county judge, in a case between an old black
man and his wife :
OCALA, Fla., May 12, 1874.
Be it known throughout all Christendom that the husband is the head of the wife,
and whatever is his is his'n, and whatever is hers is his'n, and come weal or woe, peace
or war, the right of all property is vested in the husband, and the wife must not take
anything away. The ox belongs to Uncle Ben, and he must keep it, and the other
things, and if the old woman quits she must go empty-handed. Know all that this is
so by order of the Judge of Probate. [Signed] WM. R. HlLLYi- K.
Though quaintly expressed, yet this decision Js in line with the old
common law and the statutes of many of the States in this Union to-day.
830 History of Woman Suffrage.
XI. — ALABAMA.
The women of Alabama are evidently awake on the temperance ques-
tion, though still apparently unprepared for suffrage. In a report of a
meeting in Birmingham in 1885, the following, from a prominent editor,
was read by the president :
Tell the admirable lady, Mrs. Bryce, that I would devote everything to the cause
she espouses, but there's no use. Let women demand the ballot, and with it they can
destroy whisky, and by no other agency. There is no perfect family or state in which
woman is not an active governing force. They should have the courage to assert
themselves and then they can serve the country and the race.
If a thunderbolt had fallen it would not have created a greater sensa-
tion. The ladies at first grew indignant and uttered protestations. When
they grew calmer, the corresponding secretary was ordered to furnish the
editor with the following :
The ladies of the W. C. T. U. return thanks to the editor for his kindly and pro-
gressive suggestions, but, in their opinion, they are not ready to ask any political favors.
Whenever suffrage is granted to the women of the United States, those of Alabama
will be found on the right side.
At Huntsville lives Mrs. Priscilla Holmes Drake, whose name has stood
as representative of our National Association in Alabama since 1868.
XII. — GEORGIA.
We give a letter from Georgia's great statesman, defining his views of
woman's sphere :
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 29, 1878.
Mrs. E. L. Saxon, New Orleans, La.
MY DEAR MADAM : — Your letter to Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, of the 22d inst.,
came duly to hand. He requests me to thank you for it, and to say in reply that he
has ever sympathized with woman in her efforts for a higher and broader sphere of in-
tellectual and moral culture, as well as physical usefulness in life. He does not go
so far as to endow woman with the ballot, or to fit her for the more masculine duties
of the State. Her sphere, by nature, is circumscribed within certain physical bound-
aries, but in all those things to which she is fitted by nature, and can enter without
interference with the laws of God, he would open the doors wide to her.
Very respectfully yours, C. P. CULVER, Secretary.
CHAPTER LV. (CONCLUDED).
CANADA.
WE are indebted to Miss Phelps of St. Catharines and Mrs. Curzon of
Toronto for the facts we give in regard to women's position in the
Dominion. Miss Phelps says :
History tells us that when the thirteen American colonies revolted and their inde-
pendence was declared there were 25,000 who adhered to the policy of King George,
under the name of the United Empire Loyalists, some of whom came to Canada,
others to Acadia and others wandered elsewhere. The 10,000 who sought a home in
Canada at once formed a government in harmony with English laws and usages.
Parliament was established in 1803 at York, now Toronto, and during that session
the first law for the protection of married women was passed. At first, if a married
woman desired to dispose of her property, she was obliged to go before the courts to
testify as to her willingness to do so. In 1821 a bill was passed enabling her to go
before justices of the peace. This was a great convenience, for the courts were not
always in session when it was imperative for her to sell. In 1849 a bill was passed to
naturalize women who married native-born or naturalized subjects. In 1859, under
the old parliament of Canada, the Married Woman's Property act was passed, which
in brief provides that every woman who may marry without any marriage-contract or
settlement shall, after May 4, 1859, notwithstanding her coverture, have, hold and
enjoy all her real estate, whether belonging to her before marriage or in any way
acquired afterward, free from her husband's debts and obligations contracted after
May 4, 1859. A. married woman may also hold her personal property free from the
debts and contracts of her husband, and obtain an order of protection for her own
earnings and those of her minor children. She may become a stockholder of any
bank, insurance company or any incorporated association, as if she were a feme sole,
and may vote by proxy or otherwise. A married woman is liable on contracts respect-
ing her own real estate. No married woman is liable to arrest either on mesne or
final process. Any superior court of law or equity or any judge of said court, or a
judge of a surrogate court, or deputy, may, on hearing the petition of a mother, or
minor whose father is dead, appoint her as guardian — notwithstanding the appoint-
ment of another person by the father — of the estate to which the minor is entitled, and
of such sums of money as are necessary from time to time for the maintenance of the
minor. In 1881 a law was passed enabling a woman to discharge a mortgage on her
lands without her husband being a party to it, while a husband cannot dispose of his
property without her consent.
More than thirty years ago school suffrage was granted to women on the same
grounds as to male electors, and they are eligible to all school offices. Women have,
however, been slow to avail themselves of this privilege, owing to their ignorance of
the laws and their lack of interest in regard to all public measures. When they awake
to their political rights they will feel a deeper responsibility in the discharge of their
public duties. But the steady increase in the number of those who avail themselves of
this privilege is the one encouraging indication of the growth of the suffrage movement
in Canada.
832 History of Woman Suffrage.
In 1882 the municipal act was so amended as to give married women, widows and
spinsters, if possessed of the necessary qualifications, the right to vote on by-laws and
some other minor municipal matters. Again, in 1884, the act was still further
amended, extending the right to vote at municipal elections to widows and unmarried
women on all matters. In Toronto, January 4, 1886, the women polled a large vote,
resulting in the election of the candidate pledged to reform. But it must be remem-
bered that this progressive legislation belongs only to the Province of Ontario.
Mrs. Curzon writes :
In the year 1876 Dr. Emily H. Stowe — graduated in New York — settled in
Toronto for the practice of her profession. Thoroughly imbued with the principles
roughly summed up in the term " woman's rights," and rinding that her native Canada
was not awake to the importance of the subject, she lectured in the principal towns of
Ontario on " Woman's Sphere and Woman in Medicine." By reason of the agitation
caused by these lectures a Woman's Literary Club * was organized in Toronto with
Dr. Stowe, president, and Miss Helen Archibald, secretary. The triumphs scored
through the efforts of this club were the admission of women to the University Col-
lege and School of Medicine of Toronto, Queen's University and the Royal Medical
School of Kingston, and the founding of a medical school for women in each city.
When the municipal franchise was granted to women the club decided to come out
boldly as a suffrage organization. Accordingly by resolution the Toronto Woman's
Literary Club was dissolved and the Canadian Woman Suffrage Association f formed,
March 9, 1883.
McGill University at Montreal has an annex for women founded through the munifi-
cence of one of the merchants of that city. Dalhousie College, Halifax, admits
women on the same footing as men. The Toronto J/az'/says it is only a question of
time when all Canadian colleges will do the same thing. In 1883 the provincial
legislature of Nova Scotia gave duly qualified women the right to vote, and they ex-
ercised it very generally the following year. In New Brunswick the old laws and
prejudices remain, but woman suffrage has its friends and advocates in Mrs. E. W.
Fisher and Mr. and Mrs. W. Frank Hathaway of St. Johns. In 1885 the Mount
Allison Methodist College at Sackville, N. B., conferred the degree of M. A. on Miss
Harriet Stewart. This is the first instance of an educational institution in the
Dominion conferring such an honor upon a lady.
* The Ballot-Box in 1880 said : " The Citizen of Toronto, Ont., has established a * Ladies' Column '
under the auspices of the Toronto Woman's Literary Club, the first ladies' club ever formed in Canada.
This club has been in existence four years. The Citizen is said to be the first Canadian paper devoted,
even in part, to woman's interest. Heading this change ' Important Notice,' it says : ' We have great
pleasure in announcing that we have made an arrangement with the Toronto Woman's Literary Club
to occupy an important space in our columns, for the advance of moral, social, educational and family
matters affecting woman generally. Mrs. S. A. Curzon has charge of this column as associate editor.'
The club in a stirring salutatory defines its work and objects. It is the intention to give, each week, a
resume" of the current topics concerning women, education, the franchises, the legal abilities and dis-
abilities of women, etc., hoping to arouse a national sentiment among Canadian women and intelligence
upon these important subjects. This appeal is signed by Mrs. McEwen. the president, and Emily H.
Stowe, Mrs. W. J. MacKenzie, Mrs. W. B. Hamilton and Mrs. S. A. Curzon, the executive committee."
t The officers were: President, Mrs. Donald McEwen ; Vice-Presidents^ Mrs. Curzon, Mrs. E. H.
Stowe, M. D., Captain W. F. McMaster, John Hallam, esq.; Treasurer, Mrs. W. B. Hamilton;
Secretary, Miss J. Foulds ; Executive Committee, Mrs. McKenzie, Mrs. S. McMaster, Mrs. Riches,
Mrs. Miller, Miss Hamilton, Miss McMaster, Miss Alexander, William Houston, J. L. Foulds, P.
Mclntyre, Phillips Thompson, Thomas Bengough.
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834 History of Woman Suffrage.
tion for the county of Suffolk, Sir Simonds d'Ewes being high-
sheriff :
Who, as soon as he had notice thereof, sent to forbid the same, con-
ceiving it a matter verie unworthy of anie gentleman, and most dishonour-
able in such an election to make use of their voices, although in law they
might have been allowed.
The spirit of the Puritans was not favorable to woman's
equality ; but, though disused, the right was never absolutely
taken away by law. In a celebrated trial, Olive vs. Ingram
(reign of George II.) the chief-justice gave it as his opinion that
" a person paying scot and lot," and therefore qualified to vote,
was a description which included women ; and all the writs of
election down to the time of William IV. were made to " persons "
who were freeholders. However, for all purposes of political life
this right was'as good as dead, being absolutely forgotten. But
still the local franchises remained. We have no data to determine
whether these were as completely neglected as the parliamentary
franchise. Parishioners voted for overseers of the poor and for
other local boards ; and women were never legally disqualified
from voting in these elections. The lowest period in the condi-
tion of women appears to have been reached at the end of
the last century, though they were not then indifferent to poli-
tics. "You cannot," says Miss Edgeworth's Lady Davenant,
•"satisfy yourself with the common namby-pamby phrase, ' Ladies
have nothing to do with politics.' * * * Female influence
must exist on political subjects as well as on all others ; but this
influence should always be domestic not public ; the customs of
society have so ruled it." This sentence exactly represented
ordinary English feeling. It was never considered derogatory
to an English lady to take an active part in elections, provided
she did so for some member of her family ; but of direct responsi-
bility she had none.
In the ferment of opinion which preceded the great Reform
bill, woman's claim to participate in it was never heard. The
new franchises which were then for the first time created applied
exclusively to male persons, but in the old franchises continuing
in force, the word " person " alone is strictly used. Mr. Sidney
Smith said :
In reserving and keeping alive the qualifications in existence before
those itself created, this statute falls back exactly to the accustomed
phraseology of the earlier acts. Whenever it confers a new right it re-
stricts it to every male person. Whenever it perpetuates existing fran-
Mary Smith's Petition. 835
chises, it continues them to every person, leaving the word " male " out
on system.
This may have been little more than an oversight, or it may-
have been that respect for precedent which used to be an inherent
quality in English statesmen. But it is curious that the first pe-
tition ever, to our knowledge, presented for women's suffrage to
the House of Commons should date from this same year. It was
presented on August 3, 1832, and is the worthy predecessor of
many thousands in later times. Hansard thus describes it :
Mr. Hunt said he had a petition to present which might be a subject of
mirth to some honorable gentlemen, but which was one deserving of con-
sideration. It came from a lady of rank and fortune, Mary Smith of
Stanmore, in the county of York. The petition stated that she paid taxes,
and therefore did not see why she should not have a share in the election
of a representative ; she also stated that women were liable to all the
penalties of the law, even death, and ought to have a voice in the fixing
of them ; but so far from this, on their trials both judges and jurors were
of the opposite sex. She could see no good reason for the exclusion of
women from political rights while the* highest office of the State, that of
the crown, was open to the inheritance of females ; and, so we understood,
the petitioner expressed her indignation against those vile wretches who
would not marry, and yet would exclude females from a share in the legis-
lation. The prayer of the petition was that every unmarried female, pos-
sessing the necessary pecuniary qualifications, should be entitled to vote
for members of parliament.
The following year Sir Robert Peel in opposing vote by ballot
said :
The theoretical arguments in favor of woman suffrage were at least as
strong as those in favor of vote by ballot. There were arguments in
favor of extending the franchise to women to which it was no easy matter
to find a logical answer. Other and more important duties were en-
trusted to women. Women were allowed to hold property, to vote on
many occasions in right of that property; nay, a woman might inherit
the throne and perform all the functions of the first office of the State.
Why should they not vote for a member of parliament ?
But Sir Robert Peel evidently had no idea that a time would
come when women would ask this question in downright serious-
ness. Meanwhile the preference for the words " male person " in
the new enactments still continued. It was employed in the Muni-
cipal Corporation Reform act,. 1835 ; and in the Irish poor-law act
of 1838, women, as well as clergymen, were expressly excluded
from election as poor-law guardians. The repeal of the corn-
laws brought the political work of women to the front ; they
formed local committees, collected funds and attended meetings.
836 History of Woman Suffrage.
In a speech on free-trade, delivered in Covent Garden Theater
January 15, 1845, Richard Cobden said:
There are many ladies present, I am happy to say ; now, it is a very
anomalous fact that they cannot vote themselves, and yet that they
have a power of conferring votes upon other people. I wish they had
the franchise, for they would often make much better use of it than
their husbands.
Again in 1848, in supporting a motion of Mr. Joseph Hume in
the House of Commons to the effect that the elective franchise
should be extended to all householders, Mr. Cobden said :
A gentleman asked me to support universal suffrage on the ground of
principle, and I said to him, if it is a principle that a man should have a
vote because he pays taxes, why should not a widow who pays taxes and
is liable to serve as church-warden and overseer, have a vote for members
of parliament ? The gentleman replied that he agreed with me.
In 1853, Mr. W. J. Fox, member for Oldham, in acknowledg-
ing the presentation to him by the ladies of Oldham of a signet-
ring bearing the inscription, ".Education, the birthright of all,"
spoke strongly in favor of women having a definite share in politi-
cal life :
If women have nothing to do with politics, honest men ought to have
nothing to do with politics. They keep us pure, simple, just, earnest, in
our exertions in politics and public life. ' They have to do with it, because
while the portion of man may be by the rougher labors of the head and
hands to work out many of the great results of life, the peculiar function
of woman is to spread grace and softness, truth, beauty, benignity over
all. Nor is woman confined to this. In fact I wish that her direct as
well as indirect influence were still larger than it is in the sphere of poli-
tics. Why, we trust a woman with the sceptre of the realm, consider her
adequate to make peers in the State and bishops in the Church ; surely she
must be adequate to send her representatives to the lower House. I
know the time may not have come for mooting a question of this sort;
but I know the time will come, and that woman will be something more
than a mere adjective to man in political matters. She will become a sub-
stantive also. And why not ?
Other speakers and writers brought forward the same point.
Jeremy Bentham declared he could find no reasons for the ex-
clusion of women, though he laid no stress on the matter ; Herbert
Spencer in "Social Statics" (1851), Mr. Thomas Hare in his
book on " Representation," and Mr. Mill in " Representative
Government," all discussed it. In 1843 Mrs. Hugo Reid pub-
lished an excellent volume, " A Plea for Woman," in which
she maintained that " There is no good ground for the assump-
tion that the possession and exercise of political privileges are
The Sheffield Association. 837
incompatible with home duties." In 1841 a strong article ap-
peared in the ^Westminster Review, written by Mrs. Margaret
Mylne, a Scotch lady still living. Mrs. Stuart Mill's admirably
comprehensive article appeared in the same review in 1851.* In
1846, also, Col. T. Perronet Thompson, the well-known anti-corn-
law advocate, wrote :
Whenever the popular party can agree upon and bring forward any
plan which shall include the equal voting of women, they will not only
obtain an alliance of which most men know the importance, but they will
relieve the theory of universal suffrage from the stigma its enemies never
fail to draw upon it, of making its first step a wholesale disqualification of
half the universe concerned.
Among other writers and speakers on the subject, we must
also enumerate Anne Knight, an earnest warm-hearted Quaker
lady. She sometimes lectured upon it, and many of her letters
written to Mrs. Elizabeth Pease Nichol of Edinburgh, Lord
Brougham, and others, are still preserved, in which she eagerly ad-
vocates the admission of women to the suffrage. She assisted
in founding the Sheffield Female Political Association. On Feb-
ruary 26, 1851, this association held a meeting at the Democratic
Temperance Hotel, Sheffield, and unanimously adopted an ad-
dress, which was the first manifesto dealing with the suffrage ever
formulated by a meeting of women in England:
ADDRESS OF THE SHEFFIELD POLITICAL ASSOCIATION TO THE WOMEN
OF ENGLAND — Beloved Sisters : We, the women of the democracy of Shef-
field, beg the indulgence of addressing you at this important juncture.
We have been observers for a number of years of the various plans and
systems of organization which have been laid down for the better govern-
ment and guidance of democracy, and we are brought to the conclusion
that women might with the strictest propriety be included in the procla-
mation of the people's charter; for we are the majority of the nation, and
it is our birth-right, equally with our brother, to vote for the man who
is to sway our political destiny, to impose the taxes which we are com-
pelled to pay, to make the laws which we with others must observe ; and
heartily should we rejoice to see the women of England uniting for the
purpose of demanding this great right of humanity, feeling assured that
were women thus comprehended, they would be the greatest auxiliaries
of right against might. For what would not the patient, energetic
mind of woman accomplish, when once resolved? The brave and heroic
deeds which history records are our testimony that no danger is too
great, no struggle too arduous for her to encounter; thus confirming
* This was called out by the movement in America. A report of a convention held in Worcester,
Mass., published in the New York Tribune, fell into the hands of Mrs. Taylor and aroused her to
active thought on the question. She comments on a very able series of resolutions passed at this con-
vention, in which such men as Emerson, Parker, Channing, Garrison and Phillips took part. — [EDITORS.
838 History of Woman Suffrage.
our convictions that woman's cooperation is greatly needed for the ac-
complishment of our political well-being. But there are some who would
say: " Would you have woman enjoy all the political rights of men?"
To this we emphatically answer: Yes! for does she not toil early and
late in the factory, and in every department of life subject to the despot-
ism of men ? and we ask in the name of justice, must we continue ever
the silent and servile victims of this injustice? perform all the drudgery
of his political societies and never possess a single political right? Is
the oppression to last forever? We, the women of the democracy of
Sheffield, answer, No ! We put forth this earnest appeal to our sisters of
England to join hand and heart with us in this noble and just cause, to
the exposing and eradicating of such a state of things. Let us shake off
our apathy and raise our voices for right and liberty, till justice in all its
fulness is conceded to us. This we say to all who are contending for
liberty, for what is liberty if the claims of women be disregarded ? Our
special object will be the entire political enfranchisement of our own sex ;
and we conjure you, our sisters of England, to aid us in accomplishing
this holy work. We remain with heartfelt respect, your friends.*
At the end of 1858 there was established in Newcastle-on-
Tyne an association called the Northern Reform Society, which
had universal suffrage for its object, and it expressly invited the
contributions of women. Letters were written by Matilda Ashurst
Biggs, and afterwards by two or three women in different parts
of the country, offering to become members. In acknowledging
these letters, the secretary stated that the Northern Reform
Union only contemplated the extension of the franchise to men,
although he admitted that many of its leading members were in-
dividually in favor of "woman suffrage" but they believed that
by asking for manhood suffrage, they were advancing a step
towards universal franchise. He added, "The society will be
very glad of women's subscriptions, and trusts that they will use
their best efforts to promote its extension." Undoubtedly, there
has never been any reluctance to accept the subscriptions of
women towards promoting the objects of men. In commenting
upon this letter, Mrs. Biggs f said in the Newcastle Guardian,
February 19, -1859:
* Council cf the Association — Mrs. S. Turner, Mrs. S. Bartholomew, Mrs. E. Stephenson, Mrs. M.
Whalley, Mrs. E. Rooke, Mrs. E. Wade, Mrs. C. Ash, president pro tern., Mrs. E. Cavill, treasurer,
Mrs. M. Brook, financial secretary, Mrs. A. Higginbottom, corresponding secretary.
t Mrs. Biggs, Anna Knight, Mrs. Hugo Reid and many other English women were roused to white
heat on this question, by the exclusion of women as delegates from the World's Anti-slavery Convention
held in London in 1840. That was the first pronounced public discussion, lasting one entire day, on the
whole question of woman's rights that ever took place in England, and as the arguments were repro-
duced in the leading journals and discussed at every fireside, a grand educational work was inaugurated
at that time. The American delegates spent several months in England — Lucretia Mott speaking at
many points. She occupied the Unitarian pulpit in London and elsewhere. As Mrs. Hugo Reid sat
in this convention throughout the proceedings and met Lucretia Mott socially on several occasions, we
may credit her outspoken opinions, in 1843, in a measure to these influences. — [EDITORS.
Mill and Disraeli United. 839
I have never given my rights to be merged in those of any other person,
and I feel it an injustice that I, who am equally taxed with men, should
be denied a voice in making the laws which affect and dispose of my
property, and made to support a State wherein I am not recognized as a
citizen. I consider that a tyranny which renders me responsible to laws
in the making of which I am not consulted. The Northern Reform
Society, which "takes its stand upon justice," should claim for us at least
that we be exempted from the duties, it we are to be denied the rights
belonging to citizens.
These books, speeches and letters though scattered and
unconnected, slowly prepared the ground for the organized agi-
tation. Another Reform bill grew into preparation. Men's
thoughts were turned again towards the question of representa-
tion, and every word spoken on behalf of the enfranchisement of
women assumed double force as it drew near to a political issue.
The enfranchisement of women advanced from a question of
philosophical speculation to actual politics in the election of John
Stuart Mill member of parliament for Westminster in 1865. In his
election address, Mr. Mill, as previously in his work on representa-
tive government, openly avowed this article of political faith.
Nevertheless, the first speech of which we have record in the
House of Commons plainly vindicating the right of women to the
vote, was that of a man who differed from Mr. Mill in every other
feature of his political life and creed — Mr. Disraeli. He used
almost the same form of argument as Sir Robert Peel had done
thirty years before, but unlike the former statesman he backed it
up with his vote and personal influence for many succeeding
years. It was in 1866 that he spoke these words, long and grate-
fully remembered by the women of the country:
In a country governed by a woman — where you allow woman to form
part of the estate of the realm — peeresses in their own right for example —
where you allow a woman not only to hold land, but to be a lady of the
manor and hold legal courts — where a woman by law may be a church-
warden and overseer of the poor, — I do not see, where she has so much
to do with the State and Church, on what reasons, if you come to right,
she has not a right to vote.
These words from Disraeli were the spark that fired the train.
In answer to a request from Miss Jessie Boucherett, Mrs.
Bodichon and Miss Bessie R. Parkes, Mr. Mill replied that if
they could find a hundred women who would sign a petition for
the franchise, he would present it to the House of Commons. A
committee was immediately formed in London, and the petition
was circulated. In two or three weeks it had received 1,499
840 History of Woman Suffrage.
signatures. Among these were many who in after years took a
prominent part, not only in suffrage, but in other move-
ments for the elevation of women. The petition was presented
by Mr. Mill in May, 1866, and was received with laughter. He
then gave notice of a motion to introduce into the Reform bill a
provision to the same effect. The committee* immediately be-
gan to circulate petitions and pamphlets. Two of these were by
Mrs. Bodichon, " Reasons for, and Objections against the En-
franchisement of Women," being the substance of a paper she
had read at the Social Science Congress, in October, 1866. We
give the text of the petition, as it differed somewhat from those
circulated in after years :
To the Honorable, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
in Parliament assembled :
The humble petition of the undersigned, — showeth, That your petitioners fulfill the
conditions of property or rental prescribed by law as the qualification of the electoral
franchise, and exercise in their own names the rights pertaining to such conditions ;
that the principles in which the government of the United Kingdom is based, imply
the representation of all classes and interests in the State; that the reasons alleged for
withholding the franchise from certain classes of her majesty's subjects do not apply
to your petitioners. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray your honorable House to
grant to such persons as fulfill all the conditions which entitle to a vote in the election
of members of parliament, excepting only that of sex, the privilege of taking part in
the choice of fit persons to represent the people in your honorable House.
This form of petition was only signed by unmarried women
and widows of full age, holding the legal qualification for voting
in either county or borough, but there were other forms for other
classes of persons. On March 28, the Right Hon. H. A. Bruce
presented a petition from 3,559 persons, mostly women. Mr.
Mill, in April, presented one with 3,161 names collected by the
Manchester committee, and the Right Hon. Russell Gurney one
signed by 1,605 qualified women, i.e., free-holders and house-
* The committee as at first formed, consisted of the following persons : The very Rev. the Dean
of Canterbury, Dr. Alford, Miss Jessie Boucherett, Professor Cairnes, Rev. \V. L. Clay, Miss
Davies, the originator of Girton College, Lady Goldsmid, Mr. G. W. Hastings, Mr. James
jHeywood, Mrs. Knox, Miss Manning, and Mrs. Hensleigh Wedgwood. Mrs. Peter A. Taylor
•was treasurer, and Mrs. J. W. Smith, nee Miss Garrett, honorary secretary. A few months later
TMrs. Smith's death left this post vacant, and Mrs. P. A. Taylor then assumed the office of secretary
••which she retained with the aid of Miss Caroline Ashurst Biggs till 1871. No one else could have
rendered such services to our movement while it was in its infancy as Mrs. Taylor gave. Her gentle
and dignified presence, her untiring energy, the experience of organization and public life which she
already possessed, her influence with an extended circle of friends chosen from among the most liberal
thinkers of the nation, secured at once attention and respect for any cause she took up. Many years
before she had worked hard for the association of the Friends of Italy, and on the breaking out of
the American civil war her sympathies and practical knowledge led her to found a society for assisting
the freedmen. In acknowledgment of the invaluable assistance she rendered, her friends in America
*ent a book containing a complete set of photographs of all the chief anti-slavery workers. When she
began her efforts for women's suffrage, the English Abolitionists were among the first correspondents
to whom she applied, and they nearly all responded cordially. For years her house, Aubrey House,
Kensington, was the centre of the London organization lo which she gave her time, strength, and
money, well earning the title of " Mother of the Movement," which loving friends have since bestowed.
Mary Somerville, Florence Nightingale. 841
holders who would have had the vote had they been men. In all
13,497 were counted in the parliamentary report this session;
among these were many clergymen, barristers, physicians and
fellows of colleges.
While we are on the subject of petitions we may as well briefly
glance at what was done in this branch of work during succeed-
ing years.* No better method could 'be found of testing public
opinion, or of affording scope for quiet, intelligent agitation.
Many friends could help by circulating petitions, distributing
literature at the same time and arguing away objections. In
1868 there were presented 78 petitions with nearly 50,000 signa-
tures. One of them, headed by Mrs. Somerville and Florence
Nightingale, contained 21,000 names, and was a heavy but de-
lightful burden which Mr. Mill could hardly carry to the table.
This petition excited great attention. During all these years no
petitions were presented against granting the suffrage to women.
These numbers were undoubtedly a surprise to many members of
parliament who were inclined to look upon woman suffrage as
an " impracticable fad," " the fantastic crochet of a few shrieking
sisters." But the collection and arrangement of the signatures
took up incalculable time, and after a few years this method of
agitation was discarded to a great extent in the large political
centres. Friends became wearied out with the toilsome process
of year by year collecting signatures, which when presented were
silently and indifferently dropped into the bag under the table
of the House of Commons. But during the early days of the
movement these petitions, signed by all classes of men and
women, were invaluable in arousing interest in our movement.
In 1867, for the better prosecution of the work, instead of one
committee embracing the whole of England, separate associations
were formed in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. The Lon-
don committee consisted of ladies only, Miss Frances Power Cobbe,
Mrs. Fawcett, Miss Hampson, Miss Hare, Mrs. Lucas, Mrs.
Stansfeld, with Mrs. Taylor as secretary. In the Manchester
committee Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., at once took up the posi-
tion of leader and advocate which he afterwards so long
and nobly maintained in the House of Commons. Miss Becker
MgllCll Only Dy te Ln.Hnll.Hl, UT 111)111 iuwll I iMIll'.ln .*ilil ;»<_.»lv.'4 « tin .111. 1'iiK-iMi VN.OTI/ , ... .w/a, w
tions with 350,093 signatures ; in 1873, 919 petitions, with 329,206 signatures; in 1874, M<W p
with 430,343 signatures ; and in 1873, 1,273 petitions were sent in containing 415,623 signatures.
842 History of Woman Suffrage.
was appointed secretary. The Edinburgh committee elected
Mrs. McLaren* for their president. At a special general meeting,
November 6, 1867, it was resolved that these three societies
should form one national society, thus securing the advantages
of cooperation while maintaining freedom of action. The same
rule applied to societies in Birmingham, Bristol and other
towns.
To return to the debate in the House of Commons on May 20,
1867. on clause 4 of the Representation of the People bill.
Mr. Mill moved to leave out the word " man " and insert the
word "person." His speech has been too long before the pub-
lic to need quotation ; it is a model of inductive reasoning and
masterly eloquence. The debate which followed was very
unequal in character, but the division was gratifying, for he
received 73 votes (including pairs, 81); 194 voted against him.
Mr. Mill wrote afterwards to a friend :
We are all delighted at the number of our minority, which is far greater
than anybody expected the first time, and would have been greater still
had not many members quitted the House, with or without pairing, in the
expectation that the subject would not come on. But the greatest
triumph of all was John Bright's vote.
At the election for Manchester, held near the end of 1867
(when Mr. Jacob ^Bright was elected), Lily Maxwell, whose
name had been accidentally left on the parliamentary register,
recorded her vote. No objection was taken to it by the return-
ing officer, or by the agents of either candidate. The Times de-
voted a leading article to it. The circumstance was of no legal
value, but it was useful to show that a woman could go through
the process of recording a vote in a parliamentary election even be-
fore the Ballot act was passed. The idea gained ground that
by the new Reform act the right to vote had been secured to
women. The Reform act of 1867, sec. 3, declares that :
Every man shall in and after the year 1868 be entitled to be registered
as a voter, and when registered, to vote for a member to serve in parlia-
ment.
In the substitution 01 the word " man " for that of " male per-
son " in the Reform act of 1832, a great difference was already
* This lady, sister of John and Jacob Bright, and wife of the senior member for Edinburgh, Mr.
Duncan McLaren, so much esteemed that he was sometimes spoken of as the " Member for Scotland, '
unites in her own person all the requisites for a leader of the movement. She has the charm and
dignified grace so generally found among Quaker ladies, and the pathetic eloquence which belong to
her family. She is clear-sighted in planning action, and enthusiastic and warm-hearted in carrying it
out, and for the past sixteen years the movement in Scotland has centered around her.
Women Vote in Many Districts. 843
discernable, but this difference was more important when taken
into conjunction with what was popularly known as " Lord
Romilly's act," an act for shortening the language used in
acts of parliament (13 and 14 Viet.). This act provides, "that
all words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and
taken to include females, unless the contrary is expressly pro-
vided "; and in the Representation of the People act there was no
express provision to the contrary. This had been pointed out
by one or two members at the time.
Accordingly the several societies united in a systematic en-
deavor to procure the insertion of women's names on the registers
of electors under the new Reform act. A circular respectfully re-
questing the boards of overseers to insert on the list of voters
the names of all persons who had paid their rates, was sent to
several hundred boards in different parts of the country. Very
few replies were received, but women were placed on the lists in
many counties, in Aberdeen, Salford and many small districts in
Lancaster, Middlesex, Kent, etc. The overseers of Manchester
declined compliance. In that city there were 5,100 women house-
holders who claimed their votes, and when the revision courts
were opened in September, this claim came on for consideration.
The case was ably argued, but the revising barrister decided
against admitting it, granting, however, a case for trial at the
Court of Common Pleas. Another case was also granted, being
that of Mrs. Kyliman, a free-holder, her claim being under the
old free-holding franchise 8 Henry VI., to wit. :
Elections of knights of the shire shall be made in each county by peo-
ple dwelling and resident therein of whom each has free-hold to the value
of £40 by the year.
In the majority of districts the revising barristers disallowed
the claims ; but in four district-revision courts the women's
names were admitted. In Finsbury, one of the metropolitan
boroughs, Mr. Chisholm Anstey was revising barrister, and he
admitted them on account of ancient English law ; in Cocker-
mouth, Winterton and two townships of Lancashire, the revising
barrister admitted them upon his interpretation of the Reform
act taken in conjunction with Lord Romilly's act. In the suf-
frage report for this year the number of women placed on the
electoral roll by these decisions is estimated at about 230, but
undoubtedly there were others concerning whom no information
was received. In many cases the women voted: 15 did so in
844 History of Woman Suffrage.
Finsbury (not only was there no disturbance, but hardly any re-
mark was made, and they expressed their surprise that it was so
easy a thing to do); 12 in Gordon and 10 in Levenshulme, both
little districts in Lancashire, and smaller numbers in other places.
In Chester the parliament candidate issued his election placards
to " Ladies and Gentlemen."
On November 7, the case of the 5,000 Manchester women
householders was argued before the Court of Common Pleas.
Mr. J. D. Coleridge (now Lord Coleridge, Lord-chief-justice of
England) and Dr. Pankhurst were the counsel for the appellants.
Mr. John Coleridge in an able argument spoke of the ancient
constitutional right of women to take part in elections. He pro-
duced copies from the record office of several indentures return-
ing members to parliament, the signatures of which were in the
hand-writing of women, or to which women were parties. He
argued that the term " man '' in the Reform act included woman,
not only generally but specifically, under the provisions of Lord
Romilly's act. The case was argued before Lord-chief-justice
Boville ; the decision was given on November 9, and decisively
pronounced that the new Reform act had never intended to in-
clude women, and that they were incapacitated from voting.
This decision did ijpt affect the women who were already on the
register, and many voted in the general election which took place
afterwards. Thus women have been shut out from electoral
rights, not by any decree of parliament, but by this decision of
the Court of Common Pleas. However there was no appeal
from this Court, except to parliament, and from this time for-
ward the character of the agitation changed. The year 1868
ended with a legal decision which seemed crushing in its finality,
while the same year had given the most conclusive proof that
women wished to vote, and would do so whenever the opportunity
offered.
The next year, 1869, gave another convincing proof that women
were eager, to vote, and brought us the most substantial triumph
yet obtained, due to the wisdom and skilful tactics of Mr. Jacob
Bright, member of parliament for Manchester. This victory was
the municipal franchise for women. Early in 1869 Mr. Hibbert in-
troduced a bill to regulate the conditions of the municipal fran-
chise. By the Municipal Corporation Amendment act, passed in
1835, male persons only were authorized to vote. The present
bill was to amend that. Mr. Jacob Bright, seconded by Sir
Jacob B right's Motion. 845
Charles Dilke and Mr. Peter Rylands, proposed the omission of
the word " male " from the bill, and the insertion of a clause se-
curing to women the right of voting in municipal elections. Mr.
Hibbert concurred in the introduction of these amendments,
though he did not anticipate they would lead to any result be-
yond a discussion. A circular containing full information upon
the ancient and existing rights of women to vote in local affairs
was sent to each member of parliament by the Manchester com-
mittee. It showed that before the passing of the Municipal Cor-
poration act of 1835, women rate-payers had rights similar to
those of men in all matters pertaining to local government and
expenditure ; and that in non-corporate districts they still exer-
cised such rights, under the provisions of the Public Health act,
and other statutes guarding the electoral privileges of the whole
body of rate-payers. But when any district was incorporated
into a municipal borough, the women rate-payers were disfran-
chised, although those not included within its boundaries re-
mained possessed of votes. It showed also that women can
vote in parochial matters, and take part in vestry meetings,
called for various purposes, such as the election of church-wardens
and way-wardens, the appointment of overseers, the sale of parish
property, and, formerly, the levying of church-rates ; also that
they can vote in the election of poor-law guardians — that in fact,
in none of those ancient voting customs, was the sex of the rate-
payers taken into consideration as either a qualification or dis-
qualification. We quote from the Manchester society :
In the House of Commons on June 7, 1869, on consideration of the
Municipal Franchise bill as amended, Mr. Jacob Bright rose to move that
in this act and the said recited act (Municipal Corporation Reform act,
1835) wherever words occur which import the masculine gender, the same
shall be held to include females for all purposes connected with and having
reference to the election of or power to elect representatives of any
municipal corporation. He stated that his object was to give the municipal
vote to every rate-payer within the municipal limits ; to give to municipal
property the representation which all property enjoyed elsewhere ; that
had the proposition been an innovation, a departure from the cus-
tomary legislation of the country, he would not have brought it in as
an amendment to a bill ; but that his object was to remove an innovation
— to resist one of the most remarkable invasions of long-established rights
which the legislation of this or any other country could show. The bill
before the house was an amendment of the Municipal Corporation act of
1835. That act was the only act in regard to local expenditure and local
government which established this disability. Before and since, all acts
846 History of Woman Suffrage.
of parliament gave every local vote to every rate-payer. The Health of
Towns act of 1848 had a clause almost identical with the one he was mov-
ing. He was therefore asking the House not only to make the bill in
harmony with the general legislation of the country, but to allow it to be
in harmony with its latest expressed convictions as shown in the act of
1848. There were in England 78 non-corporate towns which were not
parliamentary boroughs, with populations varying from 20,000 to 6,000.
In these every rate-payer voted. There was little if any difference between
their government and that of municipal towns. Who could assign a rea-
son why women should vote in one and not in the other ? Every parochial
vote was in the hands of the whole body of rate-payers. Women held the
most important parochial offices. The sister of the member for Stockport
had acted as overseer. Miss Burdett Coutts had been urged to take the
office of guardian. Had she been a large rate-payer in a municipal town,
•what an absurdity to shut her out from the vote ! He then showed how
the process of disfranchisement was going on, and quoted Darlington and
Southport. The latter town was incorporated in 1867. In 1866, 2,085
persons were qualified to vote for commissioners ; 588 of these were
•women. From the moment of incorporation these votes were extin-
guished without a reason being assigned, though they had exercised them
from time immemorial. Such would be the case with any town incor-
porated in the future. He appealed to the metropolitan members, and
showed them that unless his clauses were carried, when they came to
establish corporations throughout the metropolis, as some of them de-
sired, all the female rate-payers would be struck off the roll ; that over a
population of 3,000,000 this exclusion would prevail. He stated that where
women had the vote they exercised it to an equal degree with the men.
Mr. Lings, the comptroller for the city of Manchester, affirms that accord-
ing to his experience the number of men and women who vote in local
affairs bears a just proportion to the number of each on the register. He
showed that as the bill was a largely enfranchising measure, his clause
was in strict harmony with it, but that while the bill sought to in-
crease the representation of those who were already considerably repre-
sented, the clause which he wished to add would give representation to
those who within municipal towns were totally deprived of it. He con-
cluded by saying that questions had come to him, since these amendments
had been on the* paper, from women in different parts of the country, and
from those who by their social and intellectual positions might be regarded
as representatives of their sex, asking why there should always be this
tender regard for the representation and therefore the protection of men,
and this apparent disregard for the interest of women ; and he appealed
to the House, by its decision, to show that as regards these local franchises
it had a common regard for the whole body of rate-payers.
Mr. Jacob Bright's motion, which he supported with all the
tact, earnestness and judgment of which he afterwards gave such
repeated proofs in bringing forward his Women's Disabilities bill,
was seconded by Mr. Rylands. Mr. Bruce (the home secretary)
First Demonstration in Manchester. 847
said he had shown conclusively that this proposition was no
novelty, and that women were allowed to vote in every form of
local government, except under the Municipal Corporations act.
The clause introduced no anomaly, and he should give it his cordial
support. Mr. Hibbert also supported the clause, which was
agreed to amid cheers, and it was passed without a dissentient
word or the faintest shadow of opposition, as was also the pro-
posal of Sir Charles Dilke, to lea^e out the word " male " in
the first clause.
In the House of Lords an attempt was made by Lord Redes-
dale to reverse the decision of the House of Commons, but the
proposal found no seconder, and therefore fell to the ground.
The Earl of Kimberley, on behalf of the government, supported
the proposition, as did also Lord Cairns, from the opposition
benches. The Municipal Franchise bill became law in August,
1869. One well-known statesman said at the time, "This is a
revolution ; this vote means still another, and there never was
so great a revolution so speedily accomplished." In 1869 the
Ballot act had not been passed ; this was in the days of open
voting. It was therefore possible to ascertain with accuracy in
how large a proportion the women householders availed them-
selves of their restored right to vote whenever a contested election
took place. On the following November a letter of inquiry was
sent to the town clerk of every municipal borough in England
and Wales, and by their courtesy in replying it was ascertained
that the women voted in very large numbers. In our municipal
towns the average ratio of women householders to men house-
holders is about one to seven. This varies greatly in different
localities. In Tewkesbury, for instance, there was only one woman
householder to twenty-three men householders, while in Bath the
proportion had risen as high as one to three. The women voters
were in about the same proportion. In the larger boroughs the
proportion was especially good, while there were cases in which
the polling of the women exceeded that of the men. In Bodmin,
Cornwall, two women voted, one of whom was 92 and the other
94 years of age.
The first public meeting in connection with women's suffrage
was held in Manchester, April 14, 1868, in the assembly room of
the Free Trade Hall. The occasion was one of great interest.
Mr. Henry D. Pochin, the mayor of Salford (which adjoins Man-
chester), took the chair, and the first resolution was moved by
848 History of Woman Siiffrage.
Miss Becker, seconded by the venerable Arch-deacon Sandford,
and supported by Mr. T. B. Potter, M. P. :
Resolved, That the exclusion of women from the exercise of the franchise in the
election of members, being unjust in principle and inexpedient in practice, this meeting
is of opinion that the right of voting should be granted to them on the same conditions
as it is or may be granted to men.
The other resolutions were spoken to by Dr. Pankhurst, Mrs.
Pochin (who had also written a very exhaustive pamphlet on
" The Claim of Woman to the Elective Franchise," signed,
o '
Justitid), Mr. Chisholm Anstey, Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., Miss
Annie Robertson of Dublin, Mr. F. W. Myers, fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, and Mr. J. W. Edwards. This meeting, and
the one which followed in Birmingham, May 6, are fair types of
those which have followed by thousands. With few excep-
tions they have been addressed by men and women jointly ; the
resolutions passed have generally been of a directly practical and
political character. They have been presided over, whenever
possible, by the chief magistrate, or some other well-known man
in the locality ; in comparatively few cases have women presided,
and very seldom, indeed, strangers. Thus they have been
modeled closely on the ordinary English political meet-
ing ; and this form, quite apart from the principles discussed at
the meetings, has done much to identify women's suffrage with
the practical politics of the day. The first meeting ever held
in London (July, 1869,) excited much attention. Admittance
here was by ticket. Mrs. Peter A. Taylor took the chair;
Miss Biggs read the report, and a noble array of speakers fol-
lowed.*
The principle of women's suffrage was unhesitatingly conceded
by the passing of the Municipal Amendment act of 1869. The
time was come to demand its application in parliamentary elec-
tions. Moreover, the decision of the Court of Common Pleas had
left no mode of action possible except for parliament to
reverse that decision. Mr. Jacob Bright, therefore, on the first
day of the session gave notice of his intention to introduce a bill
to remove the electoral disabilities of women. Sir Charles Dilke,
a Liberal, and Mr. E. B. Eastwick, a Conservative, also gave
their names on the back of the bill •
* Mr. Thomas Hare, Mr. Boyd Kinnear, Mr. Mill, who was no longer in parliament, the Rev.
Charles Kingsley (this was the first and only meeting at which he was present), Prof. Fawcett, M. P.
and Mrs. Fawcett, Lord Houghton, Mr. John Morley, Sir Charles W. Dilke, Bt. M. P., Mr. P. A. Tay-
lor, M. P., Professor Masson of Edinburgh, and Mr. Stamfeld, M. P.
Bill to Remove Electoral Disabilities. 849
A BILL to remove the Electoral Disabilities of Women :
Be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords, spiritual and temporal, and Commons in this present parliament
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :
First — That in all acts relating to the qualification and registration of voters or per-
sons entitled or claiming to be registered and to vote in the election of members of parlia-
ment, wherever words occur which import the masculine gender, the same shall be held
to include females for all purposes connected with, and having reference to the right to
be registered as voters, and to vote in such elections, any law or usage to the contrary
notwithstanding.
On February 16, the bill was read for the first time, and on
May 4, it came on for its second reading. Mr. Jacob Bright
earnestly appealed to the House to grant this measure of justice:
The women who are interested in this subject, he concluded, are only
acting in the spirit of one of the noblest proverbs of our language, "God
helps those who help themselves." Is it a matter of regret to us that
they should have these aspirations? Ought it not rather to be a subject
of satisfaction and of pride? That this bill will become law, no one who
has observed the character of this agitation and who knows the love of
justice in the British people can doubt. I hope it will become law soon,
for I have a desire which will receive the sympathy of many in this
House. I have a strong desire that when our children come to read the
story of their country's fame, it may be written there that the British
parliament was the first great legislative assembly in the world, which, in
conferring its franchises, knew nothing of the distinctions of strong an "
weak, of male and female, of rich and poor.
The result of the division surprised and cheered all the sup-
porters of the measure. The government was neutral, and mem-
bers of the cabinet voted on either side according to their own
opinions. The second reading was carried by a vote of 124
to 91, being a majority in its favor of 33. Those who wit-
nessed that division will never forget the grateful enthusiasm
with which Mr. Jacob Bright was received when he came up to
the ladies' gallery, with his wife leaning upon his arm. But our
triumph was short-lived. Before the bill went into committee, a
week later, it became known that the government intended to
depart from its attitude of neutrality. A strong pressure was
exercised to crush the bill, and the contest of course became
hopeless. On the division for going into committee 220 votes
were counted against 94 in its favor.
It became evident that we were in for a long contest, which
would require not only patience, courage and determination, but
a high degree of political sagacity. Organizations had to be
perfected, and additional societies established ; meetings had to
be called, and lectures given to explain the question. In March
54
850 History of Woman Suffrage.
of this year the Women s Suffrage Journal was established in
Manchester. Miss Becker has conducted this monthly from the
beginning with great talent and spirit ; it is frequently quoted
by the ordinary press, and its pages contain the best record ex-
tant of the movement. This same year of 1870, which witnessed
our first parliamentary defeat, brought compensation also of
such magnitude as to outweigh the temporary overthrow of the
franchise bill. This was the Elementary Education act, by which
women were not only admitted to vote for school-board candi-
dates, but expressly enabled to sit on these boards, and thus ex-
ercise not only elective, but legislative functions of the most im-
portant character. The election clause reads thus:
The school-board shall be elected in the manner provided by this act, in a borough
by the persons whose names are on the burgess roll of such borough for the time being
in force, and in a parish not situated in the metropolis, by the rate-payers.
In London, with the sole exception of the city, the persons
who elect the vestries, i. e. the rate-payers, are the electors — this
includes women as a matter of course. In the city only, the
electors were to be the same persons who elected common-coun-
cil-men, and as these included men only, women are thus ex-
cluded from voting in the school-board election, though even
here it may be observed they are eligible to sit on the board.
Thus, within the space of two years, two important measures were
extended unexpectedly.
In 1871 Mr. Jacob Bright again introduced the Women's Dis-
abilities Removal bill, and it was also supported by Mr. Eastwick
and Dr. Lyon Playfair. It was thrown out in the division upon
the second reading on May 3, by a majority of 69 ; 151 (includ-
ing tellers and pairs 159) voting for it, and 220 (including tellers
and pairs 228) voting against it. The most remarkable feature
of the debate was a speech made by Mr. Gladstone, which cer-
tainly justified the confidence that women have subsequently
entertained that the great minister was willing to see justice done
to them :
The ancient law recognized the rights of women in the parish ; I appre-
hend they could both vote and act in the parish. The modern rule has
extended the right to the municipality, so far as the right of voting is con-
cerned. . . . With respect to school-boards, I own I believe that we have
done wisely, on the whole, in giving both the franchise and the right of
sitting on the school-board to women. Then comes a question with re-
gard to parliament, and we have to ask ourselves whether we shall or
shall not go further. ... I admit, at any rate, that as far as I am able to
judge, there is more presumptive ground for change in the law than some
Work of 1872. 851
of the opponents of the measure are disposed to own. ... I cannot help
thinking that, for some reason or other, there are various important par-
ticulars in which women obtain much less than justice under social ar-
rangements. ... I niay be told that there is no direct connection between
this and the parliamentary franchise, and I admit it , but at the same time
I am by no means sure that these inequalities may not have an indirect
connection with a state of law in which the balance is generally cast too
much against women, and too much in favor of men. There is one in-
stance which has been quoted, and I am not sure there is not something
in it — I mean the case of farms. ... I believe to some extent in the com-
petition for that particular employment women suffer in a very definite
manner in consequence of their want of qualification to vote. I go some-
what further than this, and say that so far as I am able to form an opinion
of the general tone and color of our law in these matters, where the pecu-
liar relation of men and women is concerned, that law does less than jus-
tice to women [hear, hear], and great mischief, misery and scandal result
from that state of things in many of the occurrences and events of life.
[Cheers.] . . . If it should be found possible to arrange a -safe and well-
adjusted alteration of the law as to political power, the man who shall at-
tain that object, and who shall see his purpose carried onward to its con-
sequences in a more just arrangement of the provisions of other laws
bearing upon the condition and welfare of women, will, in my opinion, be
a real benefactor to his country. [Cheers.]
In another portion of his speech Mr. Gladstone said that the
personal attendance of women in election proceedings, until the
principle of secret voting should be adopted, was in his eyes an
objection of the greatest force — thus giving reason to believe
that as soon as vote by ballot was secured, this objection would
be removed. Mr. Gladstone did not on this occasion vote against
the bill, but left the House without voting.
In 1872, our indefatigable leader again moved the second read-
ing of the bill on the 4th of May. His speech was calm and mas-
terly, and he was ably supported, but the division remained
much the same ; 143 for the bill and 222 against it. This
year the Scotch Education bill was passed, which extended the
voting of women and their election on school-boards to Scotland ;
thus the principle of direct representation on a matter so impor-
tant as national education was recognized. The Ballot act also,
which at once rendered elections orderly and safe, henceforth
gave increased security and comfort to women who were vot-
ing in municipal elections.
In this year a new committee was established in London called
the Central committee, to which all other branches of the society
852 History of Woman Suffrage.
had the right of appointing delegates, and the movement received
thereby a considerable increase of strength and solidity.*
Meantime each branch of the society was working away inde-
fatigably. During 1871, the Suffrage Journal recorded 135
public meetings, and during 1872, 104 in England and 63 in
Scotland. The work in Scotland was chiefly carried on in the
way of lectures by Miss Jane Taylour, who during these early
years of the movement was an untiring and spirited pioneer, Miss
Agnes McLaren often accompanying her and helping her to
organize the meetings.
We must not omit to mention Mary Burton (sister of John
Hill Burton the historiographer of Scotland), who was also one of
the most energetic workers of the Edinburgh committee, especi-
ally in the north of Scotland ; and Mrs. Dick Lauder who had
the courage to free herself from the opinions in which she had
been educated, and with much sacrifice devoted herself to the
work. Space fails us fitly to record the indomitable efforts of
Eliza Wigham, one of the honorable secretaries of the Edinburgh
committee. In England, Mrs. Ronniger organized and spoke at
many meetings, as did Mrs. Fawcett, Miss Rhoda Garrett, Miss
Becker, Miss Craigen and, less frequently, Mrs. Josephine Butler,
Lady Amberley, Miss Annie Young and others. Mrs. Grote, wife
of the historian and herself a well-known author, took part in one
meeting held in Hanover Square rooms, London, on March 26,
1870. Mrs. Grote was then upwards of seventy years of age.
Rising with great majesty, she spoke with all the weight that age,
ability and experience could give, greatly impressing her audience.
Miss Helen Taylor, step-daughter of John Stuart Mill, also made
her maiden speech at this meeting; it was delivered with much
grace, excellent in thought as in manner.
Many additional local committees were established, and good
work was done by familiarizing the public mind with the princi-
ples of the association. Ward meetings were held in which the
women burgesses and municipal voters were assembled, and
while the responsibilities of the vote they already possessed were
pointed out to them, attention was called to the prior importance
of the vote which was withheld from them.
* Mrs. Penington, Mr. Hopwood, Q. C. and Professor Amos were honorary secretaries the first year,
and succeeding them Miss C. A. Biggs and Miss Agnes Garrett. The principal committees united
with the central, including Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin and the North of
Ireland.
Defeat of Jacob Bright. 853
In 1873, for the fourth time, our unwearied champion, Mr.
Jacob Bright, brought forward his bill. This time the second
reading was fixed for April 30. He was supported in the debate
by Mr. Eastwick, Sergeant Sherlock, Lord John Manners, Mr.
Fawcett, Mr. Heron, Mr. Henley, and Sir J. Trelawny. While
all these gentlemen deserved our thanks for the able assistance
they rendered the cause, the speech of Mr. Henley, Conservative
member for Oxfordshire, so old a member that he was styled the
" Father of the House," excited special attention. He said he had
once felt considerable doubt and dislike of the measure, but after
careful watching of the way in which women gave the local votes,
he had come to the conclusion that an extension of the principle
would be useful. The votes in favor of the bill increased at
this debate to 155 (with tellers and pairs 172), a larger number
than had ever before been obtained, while the opposition re-
mained stationary.
Along with the petitions of this year were two memorials
signed by upwards of 1 1,000 women, and presented to Mr. Glad-
stone and Mr. Disraeli. Every English county, with the excep-
tion of the smallest, Rutland, and most large towns sent repre-
sentative signatures. An effort was made this session by Mr.
William Johnston, the member for Belfast, to introduce amend-
ments into the Irish Municipal bill, which would have had the
effect of extending the municipal franchise to Irish women house-
holders. But the bill was withdrawn, and similar efforts made in
subsequent years have met with the like fate.
This year the death of Mr. John Stuart Mill saddened the
hearts of all. He will never be forgotten as the first man who
carried this question into the arena of practical politics and gave
it the weight of an honored name. The strength and vitality of
the movement were further tested by a disaster which threatened
to do it a lasting injury. The general election took place early
in the spring of 1874, and to the regret and consternation of the
friends of equal suffrage, their able and devoted leader, Mr. Jacob
Bright, lost his seat for Manchester — a loss in a great degree
attributable to his unshrinking advocacy of an unpopular question.
Never did his clients, for whom he had sacrificed so much, feel
so deeply the need of the power which the franchise would have
given them to keep so good a friend in the House of Commons.
Not only was Mr. Bright defeated, but Mr. Eastwick, the friend
who had always seconded the bill, also lost his seat with about
854 History of Woman Suffrage.
seventy others of our supporters. We were thus compelled to
look around for fresh leaders. The task of bringing in a bill was
accepted by Mr. Forsyth, the Conservative member for Maryle-
bone, one of the London boroughs ; with him were associated
Mr. Stansfeld, Mr. Russell Gurney and Sir R. Anstruther, men
differing widely on matters of party politics. The bill was intro-
duced early in the session, but no day was found for it, and in
the middle of July it was withdrawn. Considerable discussion
was excited by the unexpected action of Mr. Forsyth, who on his
own responsibility inserted in the bill an additional clause by
which married women were especially excluded from its operation.
Although the insertion of this clause would probably have made
no difference, the bulk of legal opinion being that under the
law of coverture, married women even when possessed of prop-
erty are not " qualified persons," yet the society joined in re-
questing that this additional clause should be dropped and the
original form of the bill adhered to.
Memorials signed by upwards of 18,000 women headed by
Florence Nightingale, Harriet Martineau, Lady Anna Gore
Langton (sister of the Duke of Buckingham), Frances Power
Cobbe, Anna Swanwick, were again this year forwarded to Mr.
Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone. An important memorial was also for-
warded from a large conference held in Birmingham in January,
which represents very accurately the special aspects of the ques-
tion in England. The president of the conference was Mrs.
William Taylor, sister-in-law of Mr. Peter A. Taylor, M. P. :
To the Right Honorable William E-wart Gladstone, M. P., First Lord of Her
Majesty s Treasury :
The memorial of members and friends of the National Society for
Women's Suffrage, in conference assembled at Birmingham, January 22,
1874, showeth, that your memorialists earnestly desire to urge on the at-
tention of her majesty's government the justice and expediency of abolish-
ing the disability which precludes women, otherwise legally qualified,
from voting in the election of members of parliament.
They submit that the disability is anomalous, inasmuch as it exists
only in respect to the parliamentary franchise. The electoral rights of
women have been from time immemorial equal and similar to those of
men in parochial and other ancient franchises, and in the year 1869 a
measure was passed, with the sanction of the administration of which you
are the head, restoring and confirming the rights of women ratepayers to
the exercise of the municipal franchise.
The electoral disability is further anomalous, because by the law and
constitution of this realm, women are not disabled from the exercise of
Memorial of the Birmingham Conference. 855
political power. Writs, returning members to serve in the House of
Commons, signed by women as electors or returning officers, are now in
existence, and the validity of such returns has never been disputed.
Women who were heirs to peerages and other dignities exercised judicial
jurisdiction and enjoyed other privileges appertaining to such offices and
lordships without disability of sex. The highest political function known
to the constitution may be exercised by a woman. The principle that
women may have political power is coeval with the British constitution.
On the other hand the practice of women taking part in voting at popu-
lar elections is equally ancient in date, and has been restored and ex-
tended by the action of the present parliament. Your memorialists there-
fore submit that to bring the existing principle and practice into harmony
by removing the disability which prevents women who vote in local elec-
tions from voting in the election of members of parliament, would be a step
in the natural process of development by which institutions, while retain-
ing the strength and authority derived from the traditions of the past, and
preserving the continuity of the national life, continually undergo such
modifications as are needed in order to adapt them to the exigencies of
the age and the changed conditions of modern life.
They also submit that the old laws regulating the qualifications of elec-
tors do not limit the franchise to male persons; that the laws under
which women exercised the parochial franchise were couched in the
same general terms as those regulating the parliamentary suffrage, and
that while the latter were not expressly limited to men, the former were
not expressly extended to women. There is, therefore, a strong presump-
tion that the exclusion of women from the parliamentary suffrage was an
infringement on their ancient constitutional rights, rendered possible in
a barbarous age by the comparative weakness and smallness of the num-
ber of persons affected by it, and continued until the exclusion had become
customary. The franchise of women in local elections has been from
time to time under judicial consideration, and their right to take part in
such elections has been repeatedly confirmed by the judges. During the
arguments in these cases, the question of their right to vote in the elec-
tion of members of parliament was frequently mooted and conflicting
Opinions thereon incidently expressed by various judges, but the matter
was never judicially decided, and no authoritative judgment was
ever given against the right until the year 1868, after the passing of
two modern acts of parliament in 1832 and 1867, the former of which for
the first time in English history, in terms, limited the franchise created
by it to every "male person," and the latter to every "man" qualified
under its provisions. Your memorialists submit that had the question
of the right of women to vote in the election of members of parliament
been raised in the law courts under the old statutes which contain no
reference to sex, and before the passing of the limiting acts of 1832 and
1867, that the precedents which had determined the right in their favor
in the construction of the law as to local government must have been
held to apply to the case of qualified freeholders or others who claimed
the right as regards parliamentary government.
856 History of Woman Suffrage.
They submit also, that even after these limiting acts, women had reason-
able grounds for claiming the suffrage under the existing law. There is
an act of parliament which declares that " in all acts, words importing the
masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females, . . . un-
less the contrary is expressly provided." The act of 1867 contained clauses
imposing personal liabilities and pecuniary burdens on certain classes of
ratepayers. In these clauses, as in the enfranchising clauses, and through-
out the act, words importing the masculine gender were alone used. No
provision was made that these words should not include females. Ac-
cordingly in enforcing the act the extra liabilities and burdens were im-
posed on women ratepayers, to many of whom they caused grievous
hardship. There was, therefore, reason to expect that the enfranchising
clauses would bear the same interpretation, inasmuch as they were con-
fessedly offered as an equivalent for the increased liabilities. But when
the women who had been subjected to the liabilities claimed their votes,
they found that words importing the masculine gender were held to in-
clude women in the clauses imposing burdens, and to exclude them in
the clauses conferring privileges, in one and the same act of parliament.
This kind of injustice was shown in a marked manner in the case of
certain women ratepayers of Bridgewater, who, in a memorial addressed
to you in 1871, set forth the grievance of most heavy and unjust taxation
which was levied on them, in common with the other householders of
that disfranchised borough, for the payment of a prolonged commission
respecting political bribery. The memorialists felt it to be unjust and
oppressive, inasmuch as, not exercising the franchise nor being in any
way directly or indirectly concerned in the malpractices which led to the
commision, they were nevertheless required to pay not less than three
shillings in the pound according to their rental. To that memorial you
caused a reply to be sent through Mr. Secretary Bruce, stating that "it
was not in the power of the secretary of State to exempt women owning
or occupying property from the local and imperial taxation to which that
property is liable." While fully admitting this, your memorialists beg to
represent that it is in the power of the legislature to secure to women
the vote which their property would confer, along with its liability to lo-
cal and imperial taxation, were it owned or occupied by men.
They submit that this concession has recently been granted in respect
to local taxation, and that if justice demands that women should have a
voice in controlling the municipal expenditure to which their property
contributes, justice yet more urgently demands that they should have a
-voice in controlling the imperial expenditure to which the same property
:ls Jiable. The local expenditure of the country amounts to about ,£30,-
000,000, the imperial expenditure to about ^70,000,000 annually ; if, there-
fore, the matter be regarded as one of taxation only, the latter vote is of
more importance than the former. Local government deals with men
and women alike, and knows no distinction between male and female
ratepayers. But imperial government deals with men and women on
different principles, and in such a manner that whenever there is any dis-
tinction made in the rights, privileges and protection accorded to them
Memorial of t/ie Birmingham Conference. 857
respectively, the difference is always against women and in favor of men.
They believe this state of things is a natural result of the exclusion of
women from representation, and it will be found impracticable to amend
it until women are admitted to a share in controlling the legislature.
By the deprivation of the parliamentary vote, women, in the purchase
or renting of property, obtain less for their money than men. In a bill
which passed the House of Commons last session, provision was made
for the amalgamation in one list of the municipal and parliamentary regis-
ters of electors. In that list it appeared that the same house, the same
rent and the same taxes conferred on a man the double vote in municipal
and parliamentary government, and on a woman the single vote only,
and that the less honorable and important one. When the occupation of
a house is transferred from a man to a woman, say to the widow of the
former owner, that home loses the privilege of representation in the im-
perial government, though its relations with the taxgatherer continue
unaltered. There have been various societies formed with a view to en-
able persons .to acquire portions of landed or real property, partly for the
sake of the vote attached to such property. Should a woman purchase
or inherit such an estate, the vote, which has been one important con-
sideration in determining the value, would be lost through her legal disa-
bility to exercise it.
The deprivation of the vote is a serious disadvantage to women in the
competition for farms. A case is recorded of one estate in Suffolk from
which seven widows have been ejected, who, if they had possesed votes,
would have been continued as tenants. A sudden ejection often means
ruin to a family that has sunk capital in the land, and it is only too prob-
able that no day passes without the occurence of some such calamity to
some unhappy widow, who, but for the electoral disability, might have
retained the home and the occupation by which she could have brought
up her family in comfort and independence.
Besides this definite manner in which the electoral disability injures
women farmers, it has a more or less directly injurious influence on all
self-dependent women who maintain themselves and their families by
other than domestic labor. A disability, the basis of which is the pre-
sumed mental or moral incapacity of the subject of it to form a rational
judgment on matters within the ordinary ken of human intelligence, car-
ries with it a stigma of inferiority calculated to cause impediment to
the entrance on or successful prosecution of any pursuit demanding re-
cognized ability and energy. This presumed incapacity is probably the
origin of the general neglect of the education of women, which is only
now beginning to be acknowledged, and the absence of political power in
the neglected class renders it difficult if not impossible to obtain an ade-
quate share for girls in the application of educational funds and endow-
ments. So long as women are specifically excluded from control over
their parliamentary representatives, so long will their interests be post-
poned to claims of those who have votes to give; and while parliament
shall continue to declare that the voices of women are unfit to be taken
into account in choosing members of the legislature, the masses of men
858 History of Woman Suffrage.
will continue to act as if their wishes, opinions and interests were unde-
serving of serious consideration.
It is now nearly two years since you, in your place in the House of
Commons, said that the number of absolutely self-dependent women is
increasing from year to year, and that the progressive increase in the
number of such women is a very serious fact, because those women are
assuming the burdens that belong to men; and you stated your belief
that when they are called upon to assume those burdens, and to under-
take the responsibility of providing for their own subsistence, they
approach the task under greater difficulties than attach to their more
powerful competitors. Your memorialists therefore ask you to aid women
in overcoming these difficulties, by assisting to place them, politically at
least, on a level with those whom you designate as "their more powerful
competitors."
One of the greatest hindrances in the path of self-dependent women is
the opposition shown by members of many trades and professions to
women who attempt to engage in them. The medical and academical
authorities of the University of Edinburgh have successfully crushed the
attempt of a small band of female students to qualify themselves for the
medical profession, and the same spirit of " trades unionism " is rife in the
industrial community. A few months ago the printers of Manchester,
learning that a few girls were practicing type-setting, and endeavoring to
earn a little money thereby, instantly passed a rule ordaining a strike in
the shop of any master printer who should allow type set up by women
to be sent to his machines to be worked. At the present time, in a manu-
facturing district in Yorkshire where there are " broad " and "narrow"
looms, at the former of which much more money can be earned, the men
refuse to allow women to work at the broad looms, though they are quite
able to manage them, because the work is considered too remunerative
for women. At Nottingham there is a particular machine at which very
high wages can be earned, at which women now work, and the men, in
order to drive them out of such profitable employment, have insisted
on the masters taking no more women on, but as those at present em-
ployed leave, supplying their places by men. A master manufacturer
reports : " We have machines which women can manage quite as well
or better than men, yet are they not permitted by a selfish combination
of the strong against the weak." These are only samples of the cases
that are constantly occurring of successful attempts to drive women out
of remunerative occupations. Your memorialists submit that women
would be more able to resist such attempts if they had the protection of
the suffrage ; and that men would be less likely to be thus aggressive and
oppressive if they had learned to regard women as their political equals.
Besides the restrictions on the industrial liberties of women effected by
combinations of men, there are existing and proposed legislative restric-
tions from which men are exempt, and which exercise a powerful influence
on the market for their labor. For the coming session we have the pro-
posal further to limit their hours of paid labor in factories, and to place
other restrictions on their labor in shops ; also a proposition to place
Memorial of the Birmingham Conference. 859
married women on the footing of half-timers. Without here expressing
any opinion as to the wisdom of these proposals, we urge that members
of the House of Commons would be more capable of dealing with them
in a just and appreciative spirit if they were responsible for their votes to
the persons whose interests are directly concerned and whose liberties
they are asked to curtail ; and, further, that it is a grave question how far
it is safe to trust the industrial interests of women, as a class, to the irre-
sponsible control of the men who have manifested to individuals and to
sections of working women the spirit indicated by the examples we have
cited.
In the same speech you spoke of a state of the law in which the balance
is generally cast too much against women and too much in favor of men.
Since you directed your attention to this matter, you have not been able
either to introduce or to assist others who have introduced measures to
ameliorate the state of the law respecting women, and such proposals
have been unable to win consideration from parliament. Your memorial-
ists cannot believe that this neglect has arisen from want of a desire on
your part to deal with the grievances under which you have admitted that
your countrywomen suffer; they are therefore led to the conclusion that
you have been unable to take into consideration the affairs of an unrepre-
sented class, owing to the preoccupation of parliament with the concerns
of those to whom it is directly responsible.
You stated that "the question was, to devise a method of enabling
women to exercise a sensible influence, without undertaking personal
functions and exposing themselves to personal obligations inconsistent
with the fundamental particulars of their condition as women," and that
the objection to the personal attendance of women at elections was in
your mind an objection of the greatest force. They respectfully submit
that the exercise of the municipal franchise involves the personal attend-
ance of women at the polls, and that since your words were uttered changes
have been effected which render the process of voting absolutely identical
for municipal and parliamentary elections, and the whole proceeding per-
fectly decorous and orderly. Experience has proved that women can
vote at municipal elections without prejudice to the fundamental particu-
lars of their condition as women, whatever these may be ; and this ex-
perience shows that they may vote in parliamentary elections without the
smallest personal prejudice or inconvenience. The school-board elections
have also shown that women can appeal to large constituencies and go
through the ordeal of public meetings, addresses and questions from
electors, to which men must submit who seek the suffrages of a great
community, without any sacrifice of womanly dignity, or of the respect
and consideration accorded to their position and their sex. They there-
fore submit that events have obviated the objections you entertained in
1871 to the proposal to give representation to women, and that the course
taken by the administration over which you preside in assenting to the
extension of the municipal and school-board franchise to them ; in calling
them to the public functions of candidates and members of school-boards ;
and lastly, of securing the passing of a law which renders the process of
86o History of Woman Suffrage.
voting silent and secret, have taken away all reasonable grounds for
objecting on the score of practical inconvenience to the admission of
women to the exercise of a vote, which they would have to give in pre-
cisely the same manner, but not nearly so often, as those votes which
they already deliver.
It has been said that there is neither desire nor demand for the meas-
ure, and further, that women do not care for and would not use the suf-
frage if they possessed it. But the demand for the parliamentary fran-
chise is enormously greater than was the demand for the municipal fran-
chise, and for the school-board franchise there was no apparent call.
Yet these two measures were passed purely on their own merits, and it
was not held to be necessary to impose on their promoters, over and
above the obligation to make out their case, the condition that a majority
of the women of England or of a particular district should petition for the
proposed boon. Experience proved the wisdom and justice of this course,
for although women throughout the country had taken no active part in
agitating for the municipal franchise, no sooner was the privilege ac-
corded than they freely availed themselves of it, and statistics obtained
from some of the largest boroughs in the kingdom show that from the
first year that women possessed the suffrage, they have voted in about
equal proportion with men to the number of each on the register. The
parliamentary vote is more honorable and important than the municipal
vote ; it is, therefore, safe to conclude that women who value and use the
latter will appreciate and exercise the former as soon as it shall be be-
stowed upon them. Your memorialists submit that great injustice and
injury are done by debarring these women from a voting power which
there is such strong presumptive ground for believing that they would
freely exercise but for the legal restraint.
Your memorialists are especially moved to call your attention to the
urgency of the claim at the present time, when a bill extending the appli-
cation of the principle of household suffrage is about to be proposed to
parliament, which bill received last year such expressions of approval
from members of her majesty's government as to lead to the belief that
they are willing to take the proposal into serious consideration. They
submit that the claim and the need for representation of women house-
holders are even more pressing than that of agricultural laborers. The
grievances under which women suffer are equally great, and the demand
for the franchise has been pressed by a much greater number of women
and for a much longer period of time than in the case of county house-
holders now excluded. The number of persons who petitioned last ses-
sion for the County Franchise bill and for the Women's Disabilities bill
respectively were, for the former, 1,889, ar>d for the latter, 329,206. The
latter bill has received most influential support from both sides of the
House, and more votes have been recorded in its favor than have been
given for any bill not directly supported as a party measure by one
or other of the great parties in the State. Under these circumstances
your memorialists earnestly request that you will use your influence as
leader of the House of Commons and of the government to secure the
John Bright 's Defection. 86 1
passing of the bill introduced by Mr. Jacob Bright, either as a substan-
tive enactment, or as an integral portion of the next measure that shall
be passed dealing with the question of the representation of the people.
Signed on behalf of the conference,
CAROLINE M. TAYLOR, President.
The first vote that was given by the new parliament was on
April 7, 1875, Mr. Forsyth having moved the second reading in
an able speech. It at once became manifest that the question had
made great progress in the country. In spite of the loss of the
seventy friends at the preceding general election, our strength in
the new parliament had greatly increased. Including tellers and
pairs, 170 voted for the bill, and only 250 against. This result
appears to have alarmed our opponents, who proceeded to form
an association of peers, members of parliament and other in-
fluential persons, to resist the claims of women to the suffrage.
They issued a circular which will be read by future generations
with a smile of amazement.*
It may have been partly owing to the influence of this associa-
tion that the next year, when Mr. Forsyth again brought forward
his bill, April 26, 1876, although the numbers of our friends and
supporters remained undiminished, the opponents had consider-
ably increased. This was due, also, no doubt, in great degree
to the unexpected attitude taken on this question by the Right
Hon. John Bright, the most powerful living advocate for freedom
and representative government. In Mr. Mill's division of 1867,
Mr. Bright had voted in favor of the measure, and while his
brother had charge of the bill, he had never opposed it. His
opposition speech in this debate, therefore, caused extreme
disappointment and discouragement. It had little of the force
which had always characterized his pleas for political justice.
The most eloquent voice in the House of Commons lost its
magic power when no longer inspired by truth. The women
in the gallery listened with sorrowful hearts. Though they knew
* Minutes of a meeting at the House of Commons, June 93, 1875. Present : The Right Honorable
E. P. Bouverie, in the chair; and the following members of parliament: Right Hon. H. C. Childcrs,
Marquis of Hamilton, Lord Randolph Churchill, Hon. E. Stanhope, Mr. Bentiuck, Mr. Beresford
Hope, Mr. Chaplin, Mr. Hayter, Sir Henry Holland, Sir Henry James, Mr. Kay Shuttleworth, Mr.
Edward Leatham, Mr. Merewether, Mr. Newdegate, Mr. Raikes, Mr. de Rothschild, Mr. Scousficld,
Mr. Whitbread.
Resolved^ That a committee of peers, members of parliament and other influential men be organised
for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the franchise, in opposition to the claims for the extension
of the parliamentary suffrage to women.
Resolved, That Mr. E. P. Bouverie be requested to act as chairman, and Lord Claud John Hamilton
and Mr. Kay Shuttleworth as honorary secretaries.
The following members have since joined those named above : Lord Elcho, Right Hon. E. K natch -
bull-Hugessen, Right Hon. J. R. Mowbray, Sir Thomas Bazley, Mr. Butt, Mr. Gibson and Colonel
Kingscote.
862 History of Woman Suffrage.
Mr. Bright's opinion could not block the wheels of progress, yet
they felt intense regret that so honored a friend to freedom
should abandon his most cherished principles when applied to
women.
i
The parliamentary history of the next few years may be very
briefly recorded. In 1877 the bill had again passed into the
hands of our beloved leader, Mr. Jacob Bright, who had resumed
his place in the House of Commons, as member of parliament for
Manchester. After a debate of great interest, and while our
advocate, Mr. Leonard Courtney, was speaking, the opponents of
the measure burst into a tumultuous uproar, which effectually
drowned his voice. This new method of setting up shouts and
howls in place of arguments, has since been brought to bear
on more than one public question, but it was then comparatively
novel. Mr. Courtney, nothing daunted, would not give way,
and when six o'clock, which is the hour for closing the debates
on Wednesday, struck, it was no longer possible to take a division.
The following year, 1878, Mr. Jacob Bright was unable from
failing health to continue in charge of the bill in the House of
Commons, and a deputation of members from each society waited
on Mr. Courtney and placed it in his hands. June 19, was set for
the second reading. In his speech Mr. Courtney dwelt on the
benefits that may accrue to women from representation. He
added :
The political reasons for granting the prayer of the bill appear to me
to be undeniable, but I confess they are not the reasons why I most
strongly support it. I believe it will develop a fuller, freer and nobler
character in women by admitting them into the sphere of political thought
and duty. Some may say, " But what is to be the end ? " I do not know
that we are always bound to see the goal towards which we are moving.
If we are moving on right principles ; if we are actuated by a feeling of
justice ; if the hand that moves above us and leads us on is a hand in
which we can place implicit confidence, — then I say, trust to that light,
follow that hand, without fear of the future.
The bill was again lost by 219 votes against 140, thus showing
a smaller adverse majority than on the last division. This year
Mr. Russell Gurney died. His name will always be associated
with the women's suffrage movement, which he had supported
ever since Mr. Mill's division in 1867. The death of Lady Anna
Gore Langton about this time was also a severe loss.
The last time that the question was brought before that par-
liament was the following summer, 1870. Mr. Courtney, after
Mr. Courtney's Resohition. 863
taking counsel with his parliamentary friends, made an important
change in the conduct of his measure. It had hitherto been
brought forward as a bill, which, if passed, would have made the
actual change desired in the law ; as the parliament was now
verging towards its close, it was thought wiser to test the opin-
ion of the House by bringing the question fonvard in the form
of a resolution. Two purposes were served by this change : one
was that many men who were in favor of the principle of
women's suffrage had objected to it when brought forward as an
isolated measure of reform involving a large addition to the con-
stituency, and possibly therefore a new election ; the other was,
that the time for discussion of a private member's bill is very
limited. On Wednesdays, when such bills come on, the House
only sits in the morning, and the debate must be concluded at a
quarter before six, while the forms of the House afford greater
facilities for discussing and voting upon motions. Mr. Courtney
in a clear and exhaustive speech moved his resolution as follows :
That in the opinion of this House it is injurious to the best interests of
the country that women who are entitled to vote in municipal, parochial
and school-board elections when possessed of the statutory qualifications,
should be disabled from voting in parliamentary elections, although pos-
sessed of the statutory qualifications, and that it is expedient that this dis-
ability should be forthwith repealed.
The debate was animated, but the result on division was much
the same as before: 113 (including tellers and pairs, 144) voting
for it, and 217 (with tellers and pairs, 248) against it. Thus
closed the ninth parliament of Victoria, as far as women's suffrage
was concerned.
The steady perseverance and unflagging courage of the de-
voted band of men and women had achieved victories at
many points along the line of attack.* Every suffrage meet-
must mention the names of the ladies who during ihe previous two or three years ha
live in speaking and organizing societies. So many meetings had been held that the
864 History of Woman Suffrage.
ing was the means of gaining converts. The agitation for
the suffrage kept the memory of women's wrongs and grievances
fresh before the public mind. These years saw the medical pro-
fession legally thrown open to women, and facilities given them
in school and hospital for obtaining that education which had
been hitherto sought abroad. Pharmacy no longer excluded
them. London University opened its gates. The Irish Inter-
mediate Education bill, in 1878, which was originally introduced
for boys only, was, after several energetic discussions, widened, so
as to include girls. Women began to be elected as poor-law
guardians. A Scotch Married Women's Property bill was passed,
which was a great improvement on the former law. A Matrimo-
nial Causes Amendment act was also carried, which enables
magistrates to grant a judicial separation to wives who are bru-
tally treated, along with a maintenance for their children. Some of
our friends regretted that these side issues should absorb the time
of those who might otherwise have been working exclusively for
suffrage ; but this was a short-sighted fear. By broadening the
basis of work, by asking simultaneously for better laws, better
education, better employments and wider fields of usefulness, the
sympathies of more women were engaged ; while underlying and
supporting all was the steady agitation for the suffrage with its
compact organization of committees, meetings, publications and
petitions which kept parliament awake to the fact that though
still disfranchised, women had claims which it could not afford to
ignore.
This was a time when the agitation for the suffrage had appa-
rently reached a stationary condition, neither advancing nor re-
ceding, in which it was destined to remain for some years longer.
Other causes, as the abolition of West Indian slavery and the
corn laws, have had a similar period of apparent torpor succeed-
ing the first activity. Justin McCarthy in his " History of our
own Times," says :
spoke frequently. Space fails me to do justice to the varied powers of the speakers who have carried
our movement on during these years of patient perseverance ; to the clear logic and convincing power
by national inheritance. During these years of trial, too, the cause owed much to the strenuous ad-
vocacy of the Misses Ashworth, Anne Frances and Lillias Sophia, nieces of Jacob Bright. Miss Ash-
worth did not herself speak at meetings, but she comforted and helped those who did, while Lillias
possesed the family gift of eloquence and charmed her audience by her witty, forcible and telling
speeches. So numerous and so well attended have been thclte meetings during these and subsequent
years, that it is imposible to exonerate men and women from the charge of willful blindness if they
still misconstrue the plain facts of the question.
Views of Eminent Women. 865
This is, from whatever cause, a very common phenomenon in our politi-
cal history. A movement which began with the promise of sweeping all
before it, seems to lose all its force, and is supposed by many observers
to be now only the care of a few earnest and fanatical men. Suddenly it
is taken up by a minister of commanding influence, and the bore or the
crotchet of one parliament is the great party controversy of a second, and
the accomplished triumph of a third.
During the year of 1879, it was thought desirable to ascertain
by some practical test what were the various reasons which
caused thinking women to wish for the suffrage ; and letters were
addressed to ladies who were eminent either in literature or art,
or who were following scientific or professional careers, or were en-
gaged in any form of philanthropic work. The answers that were
returned were collected into a pamphlet of exceeding interest,
which was sent to each member before the debate, and it was
amazing to watch from the gallery how the little green pamphlet
was consulted and quoted from, in the most opposite quarters
of the House, by friends who sought fresh arguments from it or
by enemies who were looking for some sentence on which to base
a sarcasm.*
As a specimen of these letters Miss Frances Power Cobbe said :
So far from the truth is the reiterated statement of certain honorable
members of parliament that women do not desire the franchise, that in
my large experience I have scarcely ever known a woman possessed
of ordinary common sense, and who had lived some years alone in the
world, who did not earnestly wish for it. The women who gratify these
gentlemen by smilingly deprecating any such responsibilities, are those
who have dwelt since they were born in well-feathered nests, and have
never needed to do anything but open their soft beaks for the choicest
little grubs to be dropped into them. It is utterly absurd (and, I am afraid
the members of parliament in question are quite aware they are talking
nonsense) to argue from the contented squawks of a brood of these callow
* First in the list came six ladies, members of school-boards : Mrs. Buckton of Leeds, Miss
Helena Richardson of Bristol, Mrs. Surr, Mrs. Westlake, Mrs. Fenwick Miller and Miss Helen
Taylor, London ; then followed the opinions of ladies who were guardians of the poor. Forty ladies
known as authoresses or painters came next on the list ; among these were Mrs. Allingham, Mrs. Cow-
den Clarke, Mrs. Eiloart, Mary Howitt, Emily Pfeiffer, Augusta Webster. Women doctors came next:
Dr. Garrett Anderson, Dr. Annie Barker, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake, Dr. Eliza
Dunbar, Dr. Frances Hoggan, Dr. Edith Pechey ; and next to the doctors came Miss Eliza Orme, the
only woman who was successfully practicing law. The section of education included the names of
Mrs. Wm. Gray, and her sister, Miss Shirrcff, Mrs. Nichol (Edinburgh), Miss Emily Davics, founder of
Girton College, Miss Byers, founder of the Ladies' Collegiate School, Belfast, Mrs. Crawshay and Miss
Mary Gurney. Nineteen ladies, the heads of women's colleges and high-schools, next gave their reasons
why they desired the suffrage. After these came ladies engaged in philanthropic work, which included the
sisters Rosamund and Florence Davenport Hill, Florence Nightingale, Miss Ellice Hopkins, eminent for
rescue work; Miss Irby, well-known for her efforts among the starving Bosnian fugitives; Miss Man-
ning, secretary of the National Indian Association; Mrs. Southey, secretary of the Women's Peace
Association ; Mrs. Lucas, and Mrs. Edward Parker, president and secretary of the British Women's
Temperance Society. The opinions were various, both in kind and in length, some being only a con-
fession of faith in a couple of lines, others a page of able reasoning.
55
866 History of Woman Suffrage.
creatures, that full grown swallows and larks have no need of wings, and
are always happiest when their pinions are broken.
The production of this pamphlet marked an era in women's
suffrage literature. It was impossible after this to doubt that a
large body of thinking women, not the queens of society, but the
women who wrote, read, thought, or worked, were in favor of
having full admission to political rights and responsibilities.
The chief work of the society had now crystallized into five or
six great centres. Edinburgh, under the presidency of Mrs. Mc-
Laren, assisted by Miss Wigham and Miss Kirkland, treasurer
and secretary, was the recognized centre of activity for Scotland.
In Ireland there was a committee in Dublin, of which Mrs. Has-
lam is the most active member ; and the North of Ireland Com-
mittee, led by Miss Isabella Tod.* The three principal associa-
tions in England were those of London,^; including the east and
north-east counties ; Manchester,^: taking charge of the north of
England and Wales, and Bristol § looking after the West. The
officers of the several committees of the three kingdoms form a
National Central Committee which has its headquarters in Lon-
don and superintends all of the work bearing specially upon the
action of parliament.
Petitions were still sent in, but no longer in such enormous
numbers. It had become evident that parliament cared little for
a long roll of names from the unrepresented classes ; they were
now chiefly collected as a means of discovering how public opin-
ion stood in any particular district. For instance, in 1879, a pe-
tition was sent from 1,447 women householders of Leicester. The
total number of women householders in this town was 2,610, of
whom only 1,991 could be applied to, and there is no reason to
.suppose that public opinion was more advanced in Leicester than
in the majority of large manufacturing towns.
* Miss Tod gives the spirit to each movement in Ulster, which is the intellectual headquarters of
Ireland. She is the pioneer in all matters of reform ; she is asked to speak in churches ; she instigated
the efforts which led to girls participating in the benefits of the Irish Intermediate Education act,
•which was being restricted to boys ; she has organized and has won friends and votes not only over her
own district of Ulster, but in many other quarters of Ireland ; and often when in England some inde-
finable torpor has crept over a meeting — as will happen at times — a few eloquent and heart-stirring
words from her have been sufficient to raise the courage and revive the interest.
t Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Lucas, Miss Biggs, Miss Rhoda Garrett, Miss Jessie
Boucherett, Mrs. Arthur Arnold, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Lady Harberton, Mrs. Pennington, Miss
Helen Taylor, step-daughter of John Stuart Mill, Miss Henrietta Miiller, member of the London
school-boird, and others.
$ Mrs. Jacob Bright, Miss Becker, Mrs. Scatcherd, Miss Corbutt, Mr. Steinthal, Mrs. Thomasson,
and others.
§ Led by Mrs. Lillias Ashworth Hallett, Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, niece and daughter of John
Bright, Mrs. Beddoe, Miss Snyder, Miss Estlin, the Priestman sisters, Miss Blackburn and Miss Colby.
Eliza Sturge, Mrs. Ashford, Mrs. Matthews. Mrs. Ann Comen and Mrs. Alfred Osier, niece of
Mrs. Peter Taylor, are the chief Birmingham and Nottingham workers.
Demonstration in Manchester. 867
The municipal elections occur in England every November,
and our custom in some towns was to call meetings of the women
householders in every ward in which there was a contest, to ex-
plain to them the responsibilities resting upon the voters, and
after an earnest address from some one of the ladies, to invite the
respective candidates to speak. By these means not only was the
interest of the women awakened in local politics, but the candi-
dates themselves were reminded of the interests of an important
section of their constituencies.
With the beginning of 1880, came again the promise of a reform
bill. The majority of the Liberal members of the House of Com-
mons had pledged themselves to their constituents in its favor.
But as our enemies were still reiterating that women themselves
did not care for the franchise, some further proof of their sympathy
was in order. The first great demonstration in favor of women
was held in Free Trade Hall, Manchester, which seats about
5,000 people, February 3, where women were admitted free,
and seats reserved for men in the gallery at 2s. 6d. each. This
arrangement was adopted to make it a meeting of women. One
hundred gentlemen were present besides the reporters.
The purpose of the demonstration had been explained at pre-
liminary ward meetings to which men and women came in crowds.
On the night in question the scene exceeded the most sanguine
expectations. Those who had witnessed the great free trade
gatherings which assembled to hear Charles Villiers, Richard
Cobden and John Bright, never saw a more enthusiastic audi-
ence. Mrs. Duncan McLaren of Edinburgh, who had been in-
vited to preside, took her seat followed by an array of dis-
tinguished women, such as had never before graced any plat-
form in the history of the three kingdoms, while the vast area
and galleries weje crowded with women of wealth and cul-
ture ; factory women, shop-keepers and hard toilers of every sta-
tion were also there. Some had walked twenty miles to attend
that great meeting. They sat on the steps of the platform,
climbed on every coigne of vantage, stood in dense masses in
every aisle and corner. A large over-flow meeting was also
held in the neighboring Memorial Hall over which Mrs. Lu-
cas presided, but even this could not accommodate all who came,
and thousands went away disappointed. It was truly a marvel-
ous meeting, grand in its numbers, grand in the enthusiasm
which had brought so many thousands together unattracted by
868 History of Woman Suffrage.
the names of any distinguished speakers, to sympathize with
each other in a great national movement, and to proclaim unity
of action until it was gained ; and it was grand also in the impres-
siveness of the words that were uttered. The president in her
clear grave tones which were heard in the breathless stillness over
that large assembly, said :
It seems like a dream. But only a grave reality could have
brought so many women together. Need we wonder that the beneficent
designs of Providence have been so imperfectly carried out when only
one-half the intellect and heart of the nation have hitherto been called
into action, and the powers of the other half have been almost wholly
suppressed? Women are learning along with good men that politics in
the true sense has to do with human interests at large.
When Mrs. McLaren had concluded, one speaker after another,
gave her special testimony in favor of the necessity of obtain-
ing representation. The number was so great that no one was
allowed more than ten minutes.*
This demonstration was quickly followed by others that were
every way as successful. In connection with one at St James' Hall,
London, over which Viscountess Harberton presided, a proces-
sion of working women marched through the streets with a ban-
ner on which was inscribed "We're far too low to vote the tax;
we're not too low to pay." Here also an overflow meeting was
held to accommodate the numbers that could not be admitted
into the hall. On November 4, the same scene \vas repeated at
the Colston Hall, Bristol, and Mrs. Beddoe, the wife of a pop-
ular physician in that city presided, and on November 1 1, the last
demonstration of that year was convened in the Albert Hall,
Nottingham, where Mrs. Lucas took the chair. The follow-
ing year saw no relaxation in these efforts. The Birming-
ham demonstration took place on February 22, 1881. It was
a most inclement night and great fears had been entertained
that it would prove a failure, but nothing had power to keep the
crowds of women away or to lessen their enthusiasm. Mrs.
Crosskey, the wife of Dr. Crosskey, one of the most respected of
the Birmingham Liberal leaders, presided. The next was in St.
* Lady Harberton, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Ashworth Hallet, Mrs. Josephine Butler, Mrs. Ellis, Miss
Eliza Sturge, Mrs. Wellstood (Edinburgh), Mrs. Haslam (Dublin), Miss Becker, Mrs. Pearson, Miss
Jessie Craigen, Miss Helena Downing, Miss Lucy Wilson, Mrs. Nichols (Edinburgh), Mrs. O'Brien,
and in the overflow meeting Mrs. Lucas and Miss Biggs. At the close of the meeting the enthusiastic
and prolonged cheering which rose from the crowd, the cordial hand-shakes of utter strangers with
words of encouragement and sympathy brought tears to the eyes of many who had the privilege of be-
ing present on that occasion.
Other Demonstrations. 869
George's Hall, Bradford, on November 22, and here again Mrs.
McLaren took the chair, and said :
We are here to-night in the spirit of self-sacrifice. We have had our
sorrows in working on this question. We are here because we know
there are on our statute books unjust laws which subject many women to
sorrow and suffering, and the fact that we have worked our way to such a
platform proves that women are capable of holding a political position,
and ought to have a voice in our national affairs. We cannot rest con-
tented under the consciousness of injustice because there are women who
accept it as their natural condition. We feel it our duty to arouse our
sex everywhere to a sense of their high destiny. The inspiration for
this work has come from a higher source than ourselves, and we have
had often to feel that God does not leave his children to fight their
battles alone.
In 1882 there were two more demonstrations. The first was in
Albert Hall, Sheffield, on February 27, Lady Harberton presid-
ing, and it was crowded to overflowing with women of all ranks
and conditions of society. The demonstration at Glasgow was
on November 3, and no way inferior to the other in brilliancy
and interest.*
These demonstrations conclusively proved that the suffrage is
desired, not only by a few educated women, the leaders of the
movement, but by the great masses of the hard-working women.
They proved also woman's political capacity and organizing
power. No body of persons could possibly do more to manifest
their desire for political liberty than the women who have organ-
ized and attended these demonstrations. So far as I am aware
no such meetings have been attempted by the agricultural
laborers over whose enfranchisement the House of Commons has
been so deeply exercised, and though the absence of interest which
these classes of men have as a whole shown in the question of
the franchise is no argument for depriving them of it, the political
knowledge and aspirations that women have shown for more than
fifteen years ought to count for something in establishing their
claim.
The session of 1880 was broken, and the dissolution of parlia-
ment in March, the general election which followed, the change
in the government and the consequent press of public affairs,
* Mrs. McLaren occupied the chair and was accompanied by Mrs. Nichol, Miss Wigham, Miss Tod,
Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Craigen, Miss Becker, Miss Beddoe, Mrs. Shearer (formerly Miss Helena
Downing), Miss Flora Stevenson, Mrs. Wellstood, Miss Annie Stoddart, Mrs. Button and a distin-
guished visitor from New York, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was able on this visit to England
to estimate the wide difference in the position of women since the time — more than forty year* before
—she had been refused a seat as a delegate in the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London.
870 History of Woman Suffrage.
made it impossible to bring forward any measure for the suffrage,
but the principle was most splendidly and triumphantly vindi-
cated in the ancient kingdom of the Isle of Man which has an in-
dependent government dating from the time of its first coloniza-
tion under the vikings. It has in modern times its elective
'house which is called the House of Keys and is equivalent to the
Commons. Its Upper House consists of the attorney-general,
the clerk of the rolls, the bishop, two judges (or deemsters) and
other officials. It enacts its own laws and imposes its own taxes,
but is subject to imperial control by requiring the sanction of the
queen before any law can come into effect. Some few years ago
the franchise was felt to be too restricted, and a movement was
set on foot which culminated in 1880 in a bill to extend the fran-
chise to every male person who was a householder. Mr. Richard
Sherwood, who five years previously had brought forward a simi-
lar motion, moved an amendment to omit the word " male " for
the purpose of extending the franchise to women who possessed
the requisite qualification, which was carried by 16 to 3, a vote
of two-thirds of the whole body of the House of Keys. It
then went before the Council which refused the franchise to female
occupiers and lodgers, though agreeing to give it to all female
owners of real estate of £4 annual value. Thus modified the
bill was sent back to the House of Keys which gave up the lodger
franchise but adhered to that for occupiers. The bill thus altered
was again sent back to the Council and again returned with a
message that the Council refused to come to an agreement. The
Keys then proposed a compromise, limiting the qualification to
woman occupiers of £,20 a year. This again was refused, and the
Council were prepared to reject the bill altogether. Sooner than
lose the whole, the Keys assented, signing, however, a protest in
which they stated that they had complied simply to secure a part
of a just principle rather than lose the whole. The act was
signed by the governor, the Keys and the Council on December
21, received the royal assent on January 5, 1881, and was imme-
diately afterwards, according to ancient custom, proclaimed as
law on the Tynwald Hill.
Fully to estimate this victory, it must be remembered that the
vote thus gained is the complete parliamentary franchise. Though
the total area of the island is so small and though only those
women who were absolutely owners of property were enfran-
chised, they numbered about 700. The law came into opera-
Municipal Franchise for Scotland. 871
tion immediately, and the election began March 21. The
women voted in considerable numbers, and were, as an eye-wit-
ness states, without exception quite intelligent and business like
in this procedure. At the polling stations, the first persons who
recorded their votes were women. We may mention in proof of
their political gratitude that in the district where Mr. Sherwood
was one of the candidates, every woman, whatever her party,
voted for his reelection.
Just before the opening of parliament in 1881, Mr. Courtney
accepted a position in the administration, which rendered it
impossible for him to continue in charge of any independent
measure. By his advice, application was made to Mr. Hugh
Mason, member for Ashton under Lyme. But the state of
public business during the session never permitted the resolution
to be discussed. The same disappointment occurred in the
session of 1882 — the difficulties in Ireland and Egypt occupying
the attention of the government and the country to an extent
which almost precluded any measure of domestic reform. Never-
theless, by constant and arduous efforts, these two years witnessed
the passing of the Municipal Franchise bill for Scotland.
The Municipal Franchise act of 1869 applied to English women
only. Early in the session of 1881, Dr. Cameron, member for
Glasgow, introduced a bill to assimilate the position of Scottish
women to that which their English sisters had enjoyed for twelve
years. The bill passed the House of Commons before Easter,
and was then brought forward in the House of Lords by the Earl
of Camperdown, passed May 13, and received the royal assent
June 3. This law applied only to women rate-payers of the
royal and parliamentary burghs, and did not extend to the police
burghs, the populous places endowed with powers of local self-
government under the general Police and Improvement act of
1862. A request was sent to Mr. Cameron to exert himself
for a similar extension of the franchise to the women of the
police burghs, and h,e answered by introducing in the following
year, 1882, another act which gave to all women rate-payers the
right, not merely of voting at elections of burgh commissioners,
but also of voting with the other inhabitants as to whether a.
populous place should be constituted a police burgh.
The election under these new measures was in November, 1882^
and then Scottish women voted for the first time, excepting of
course in school-board elections. The result was entirely satis-
872 History of Woman Suffrage.
factory, though the number of women who voted varied greatly
— in some places where no special interest attached to the
election none came to vote, while in others they voted in equal
proportion with the men, and in a few towns nearly every woman
whose name was on the register voted. The passing of these
two franchise bills was an undoubted triumph of the women's
suffrage party. As one of the opponents in the debate of July,
1883, scornfully observed, " Had it not been for the question of
women's suffrage being agitated throughout the country at the
time, we should not have heard a syllable of the Scottish women's
franchise bill," a sneering admission which we willingly construe
into compliment.
The year 1882 also witnessed the passing of the Married
Women's Property act, whose immense benefits can hardly be
estimated, and we may confidently assert that but for the
unceasing agitation of the friends of women's suffrage, another
quarter of a century would have been suffered to pass without
bringing in this tardy measure of justice.*
We now come to the session of 1883, inoperative as far as
actual legislation was concerned, but rich in its augury for the
future. Already in April the improved temper of the House on
questions in which women were concerned, had been shown by
the brilliant majority that voted with the Rt. Hon. Mr. Stans-
feld for the suppression of the Contagious Diseases acts which
have so long stained the English statute book. Early in May a
memorial to Mr. Gladstone was signed by 1 10 Liberal members of
parliament, unconnected with the government, in which they
stated :
That in the opinion of your memorialists no measure for the assimila-
tion of the county and borough franchise will be satisfactory unless it
contain provisions for extending the suffrage without distinction of sex
to all persons who possess the statutory qualifications for the parliament-
ary franchise.
* MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY COMMITTEE. — The committee, at the time of the final meeting, No-
vember 18, 1882, consisted of the following ladies and gentlemen : Mrs. Addey; Mr. Arthur Arnold,
~M. P.; Mrs. Arthur Arnold; Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P.; Mrs. Josephine E. Butler; Mr. Thomas Chorl-
ton; Mr. L. H. Courtney, M. P.; Sir C. W. Dilke, Bart., M. P.; Rev. Alfred Dewes, D.D., LL.D.;
Mrs. Cell; Lady Goldsmid; Rev. Septimus Hansard; Mr. Thomas Hare; Miss Ida Hardcastle; Mrs.
Hodgson; Mr. William Malleson; Mrs. Moore; Mr. H. N. Mozley; Dr. Pankhurst; Mrs. Pankhurst;
Mrs. Shearer; Mrs. Sutcliffe; Mr. P. A. Taylor, M. P.; Mrs. P. A. Taylor; Mrs. Venturi; Miss Alice
Wilson; Miss Lucy Wilson; Treasurer, Mrs. Jacob Bright. Secretary , Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy.
The immediate passage of this bill was in a large measure due to Mrs. Jacob Bright, who was
unwearied in her efforts, in rolling up petitions, scattering tracts, holding meetings, and in company
with her husband having private interviews with members of parliament. For ten consecutive years
she gave her special attention to this bill. I had the pleasure of attending the meeting of congratula-
tion November 18, and heard a very charming address from Mrs. Bright on the success of the measure.
Mr. Jacob Bright and other members of the committee spoke with equal effect. — [E. C. S.
Mr. Masons Resolution. 873
This memorial was a most remarkable manifestation of the
support which members on the Liberal side of the House are
pledged to give to the principle of justice to women. Nor are
we wanting in Conservative support. Sir Stafford Northcote,
has always given his friendly approval to the movement, and has
very recently repeated his assurances of cooperation in answer to
a deputation of ladies who waited on him. After repeated bal-
loting, Mr. Mason obtained a day, July 6, on which to bring
forward his resolution. It was thus worded :
That in the opinion of this House the parliamentary franchise should
be extended to women who possess the qualifications which entitle men
to vote, and who, in all matters of local government have the right of
voting.
Mr. Edward Leatham, also a Liberal, gave notice to oppose
the resolution affirming with a curious liberalism, that " it is un-
desirable to change the immemorial basis of the franchise, which
is that men only shall be qualified to elect members to serve in
this House." Thus after a silence of four years, years of apparent
inertia, but really fraught with progress, the debate once again
revived in parliament. Mr. Jacob Bright said:
They have told us women can get what they want without the
franchise. That used to be said of working men — but since they have
had a vote, members in every part of the House have had a gen-
erosity and sympathy and courage in all matters affecting working men
which they never had before. Precisely the same effect would follow
if you gave women the franchise. I admit that women have gained much
without the franchise, and I will tell the House when that gain began : It
began with the introduction of the question of women's suffrage to the
House, and the gain has been mainly due to the awakening intelligence
of women on political questions owing to the wide-spread agitation and
the demand for women's suffrage. They have gained without the fran-
chise, municipal votes, school-board votes, the right to sit on school-
boards, the magnificent act of last year — an act which ought to confer
lasting fame on the present lord chancellor — the Married Women's
Property act. And owing to the untiring energy of the right honorable
member for Halifax (Mr. Stansfeld), they have succeeded in inflicting a
blow on an act of parliament * more unjust to women than anything which
has ever been passed, a blow from which that act will .never recover.
These things have been gained without the franchise. But who will tell
me they would not have gained them sooner, with less heart-breaking
labor, if they had had the political franchise ?
Mr. Courtney also addressed the House in stirring words. The
result was most encouraging. Four years had passed since a
* The Contagious Diseases acts.
874 History of Woman Suffrage.
division had been taken, and the enormous majority against us
which in so many divisions had maintained its strength had
dwindled to only 16. A total of 164, including tellers and pairs
supported the resolution against an opposition of only 180. If
the Liberal side of the House had only been canvassed on this
occasion it would have been a victory, as 1 19 Liberals voted for
it and paired, and only 75 against it.
With the close of the session the question was transferred to
the country, and the events of the autumn made it amply evident
that the majority of Liberals were in favor of extending the par-
liamentary suffrage to women. A great conference was held in
October at Leeds, where delegates from between 500 and 600
Liberal organizations were present. Fully 2,000 delegates were
present at the first meeting. After a long discussion upon the
coming Reform bill, the Rev. T. Crosskey, of Birmingham, pro-
posed a rider to the resolution which would include women's suf-
frage, as follows :
Resolved, That, in order to meet the just expectations of the country, and to fulfill
the pledges given at the last general election, this conference is of opinion that a
measure for the extension of the franchise should confer on householders in the coun-
ties the same electoral rights as those enjoyed by householders in parliamentary bor-
oughs ; and that, in the opinion of this meeting, any measure for the extension of the
suffrage should confer the franchise upon -women, who, possessing the qualifications
•which entitle men to vote, have now the right of voting in all matters of local govern-
ment.
Mr. Walter McLaren seconded Dr. Crosskey in an able speech,
and Miss Jane Cobden (daughter of the late Richard Cobden)
who was sitting on the platform, and who had been appointed
delegate from the Liberal association of Midhurst, supported the
resolution. She begged them, representing as they did the
Liberal principles of all England, to give it their hearty support.
This was a continuation of the struggle in which Liberals had
taken part during the last fifty years, and she trusted they would
be true to their principles.
Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, the daughter of Mr. John Bright, M.
P., who had been appointed delegate from one of the few Liberal
associations which comprise women among their members, said :
There was in this country a considerable and increasing number of
earnest women of strong liberal convictions, who felt keenly the total ex-
clusion of their sex from the parliamentary suffrage. Their hope was, of
course, in the Liberal party, though all of its members were not yet con-
verted to true liberalism. The Liberal women would not rest satisfied
until there was throughout the United Kingdom a real and honest house-
The Daughters of Bright and Cobden. 875
hold suffrage. They knew that they were weak in the cabinet, and they
regretted to know that some of the most eminent leaders of the Liberal
party were not in this matter wholly their friends. These leaders had fears
which she thought the future would show to have been unfounded. But she
could venture to say on behalf of the Liberal women of England that they
were not unmindful of the past, and were not ungrateful for the services
which these men rendered and were prepared to render to their country.
Women were grateful. They sympathized with the efforts of Liberal
statesmen in the past, and they knew how faithfully and loyally to follow.
But they felt that they must sometimes originate for themselves, and they
dared not blindly and with absolute faith follow any man, however great
or however justly and deeply beloved. Further, she could say that, with
the result of the high political teaching they had had in the past, they
would endeavor faithfully, intelligently and with, what ability was given
to them, to uphold those great principles of justice, and trust in the peo-
ple which she believed had made the Liberal party what it was, and which
alone were capable of lifting it to the highest triumphs in the future.
There were enthusiastic cheers when Mrs. Clark had finished
speaking. The historical interest, the self-evident justice of the
plea brought forward by the daughters of the great reform leaders
on behalf of the continuance of the grand cause of freedom for
which their fathers had so bravely battled, went to the hearts of
the crowded assembly. Delegates who had come determined to
vote against the resolution — the " monstrous political fad," as one
of our opponents in parliament had called it — said, almost with
tears in their eyes, " We can't vote against the daughters of
Bright and Cobden," and when the resolution with the rider was
put, a forest of hands went up in its support, and in that vast
crowd there were only about thirty dissentients. The following
evening Miss Jane Cobden and Mrs. Scatcherd addressed an open-
air meeting of 30,000 men who could not gain access to Victoria
Hall, where John Bright was speaking on the franchise for men,
and a unanimous cheer was given in favor of women's suffrage.
This was only the beginning of the autumn campaign among
the Liberal associations. The general committee of the Edin-
burgh United Liberal Association met on November 16, 1883, m
the Oddfellows' Hall (No. 2), Forrest road, Edinburgh, to con-
sider the questions of the Local Government Board (Scotland)
bill, the equalization of the burgh and county franchise, and the
extension of the parliamentary vote to women householders.
After the two first subjects had been considered, the following
resolution, moved by ex-Bailie Lewis, was adopted :
Resolved, That this meeting regards the extension of the parliamentary franchise to
female householders as just and reasonable, and would hail with satisfaction the in-
876 History of Woman Suffrage.
troduction of a government measure which would confer the parliamentary franchise
upon all female householders, whether resident in counties or burghs.
November 21, a meeting of the general council of the Man-
chester Liberal Association was held in the Memorial Hall to
consider the resolutions passed at the Leeds conference. Mr. J.
A. Beith presided. Mr. J. W. Southern moved the following
resolution :
Resolved, That in order to meet the just expectation of the country and to fulfill the
pledges given at the last general election, this council is of opinion that a measure for
the extension of the franchise should confer on householders and lodgers in the coun-
ties the same electoral rights as those enjoyed by householders and lodgers in parlia-
mentary boroughs, and should extend to Ireland the franchise enjoyed by Great
Britain; and that, in the opinion of this meeting, any measure for the extension of
the suffrage should confer the franchise upon women who, possessing the qualifications
which should entitle men to vote, have now the right of voting in all matters of local
government.
An amendment to strike out the portion relating to women
having been rejected, the resolution was carried unanimously.
November 26, the sixth annual meeting of the National Liberal
Association was held at Bristol. Here also one or two ladies
were present as delegates. After a resolution affirming the
urgency of the question of parliamentary reform had been passed,
Mr. Lewis Fry, M. P., moved : .»
Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting any measure for the extension of the
suffrage should confer the franchise upon women who, possessing the qualifications
which entitle men to vote, have now the right of voting in all matters of local govern-
ment.
The resolution was seconded by Dr. Caldicott, supported in ex-
cellent speeches by Mrs. Walter McLaren and Mrs. Ashworth
Hallett, and carried by a majority of five. Many other Liberal
associations of less importance, during the autumn, affirmed the
principle of women's suffrage. All the political associations in
Ulster, both Conservative and Liberal, either formally or inform-
ally signified their acceptance of the principle. In the progress
of the movement it was very encouraging to see so many brave
women * of ability crowding our platform, conscientiously devot-
ing their time, talents and money to this sacred cause, ready and
able to fill the vacant places that time must make in our ranks.
The year 1884 opened with good hopes. There was the im-
mediate prospect of a reform bill, intended so to widen the repre-
sentation of the people as to fix it on a satisfactory basis for an-
* Miss Henrietta Miiller and her sister Mrs. Eva McLaren, Mrs. Ormiston Chant, Mrs. Ashton
Dilke, Mrs. Oliver Scatcherd, Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Florence Balgarnie, Miss Laura Whittle,
Florence and Lillie Stacpoole, Miss Frances Lord, Mrs. Stanton Blatch and Mrs. Helena Downing
Shearer.
The Effort of 1884. 877
other generation at least. The time seemed opportune for the
attainment of women's suffrage. There had been repeated proof
that the majority of the Liberal party in the country admit the
justice of their claims ; there were renewed promises of support
on the part of members of parliament of all shades of political
opinion. Many times the claims of women for the franchise have
been set aside by the assertion that so important a privilege could
not be granted till the time came for the general re-settlement of
the question. That time appeared to have come. A consider-
able extension of the suffrage was to be granted, so as to include
another 2,000,000 of unenfranchised men ; what better time to
recognize the claims of women who already possessed the quali-
fications of property or residence which alone in England give
the vote? A few persons expected that the government Reform
bill would contain a clause relating to women, but this expecta-
tion was not generally shared. It was well known that strong
differences of opinion existed in the cabinet which would render
it well-nigh impossible for the government to introduce the ques-
tion as one of their own ; and though there may have been disap-
pointment, there was no great surprise when the Franchise bill,
on its introduction, was found to contain no reference to women.
Meanwhile there had been a change in the leadership of the
movement. Mr. Hugh Mason having intimated his intention to
resign the conduct of the measure, Mr. William Woodall, mem-
ber of parliament for Stoke-on-Trent, consented to take charge of
it. A conference of friendly members of parliament was held in
the House of Commons on February 7, and it was then agreed
that should the government Franchise bill not extend to women,
an amendment with the object of including them should be
moved at some stage of the discussion in the House of Commons.
Mr. Woodall agreed to take charge of this amendment.
On February 28, Mr. Gladstone moved in the House of Com-
mons for leave to bring in a bill to amend the representation of
the people. The forms of the House did not admit of Mr.
Woodall's amendment being placed on the notice-paper until
after the second reading of the bill, but during the adjourned de-
bate on the second reading he found an opportunity to announce
that he would move his proposed clause while the House was in
committee on the bill. He remarked that the fundamental prin-
ciple of the bill as it was described by the prime minister was to
give a vote to every household, but as there was no provision for
878 History of Woman Suffrage.
giving the franchise to such householders if they happened to be
women, he intended to propose the insertion of a clause to
remedy this omission. The clause was:
For all purposes connected with and having reference to the right of voting
in the election of members of parliament, words in the Representation of the People
acts importing the masculine gender include women.
A careful analysis of the opinions of members of the House of
Commons gave every promise that such an amendment might be
successful. The views of 485 out of the entire number were
known, while 155 had never expressed an opinion, about one-
third of these being new members. Of those whose opinions
were known, 249, or a majority, had expressed themselves in favor
of women's suffrage, 236 had expressed themselves against it.
The preponderance of support had hitherto always been among
the Liberal ranks, for though the leaders of the Conservative
party had given the principle their hearty approval, their exam-
ple had not been followed by their partisans. It appeared prob-
able therefore that, if the government held itself neutral on the
occasion and permitted fair play, the amendment would be
carried mainly by means of their own friends.
During the spring, meetings of considerable importance were
held in the country. The first was at Edinburgh on March 22. It
was a demonstration of women inferior in no respect to those we
have had occasion to chronicle of former years. No more impos-
ing assemblage for a political object had ever been seen in Edin-
burgh. The largest hall in the city — that of the United Presby-
terian Synod — was crowded to the doors, and an overflow meeting
was held in the Presbytery Hall. Banners were hung above the
platform and a roll inscribed with the names of the principal sup-
porters of the movement was conspicuously displayed.* Lady
Harberton occupied the chair and was accompanied by the dele-
gates.f Letters \ of sympathy were read by Miss Wigham, the
secretary.
* The inscription was : " Women Claim Equal Justice with Men. The Friends of Women : Henry
Fawcett, John Stuart Mill, Chas. Cameron, Jacob Bright, Leonard Courtney, Duncan McLaren,
George Anderson, James Stansfeld, Sir Wilfred Lawson, J. P. Thomasson."
t Mrs. Buchanan, Curriehill ; Mrs. O. Scatcherd, Leeds; Mrs. Nichol, Mrs. M'Laren, Miss Wig-
ham, Dr. A. M'Laren, Miss Hunter, Mrs. Paterson, Miss L. Stevenson, Miss F. Stevenson, Mrs.
M'Queen, Mrs. Hope. Mrs. M. Miller, Miss S. S. Mair, Miss R. Smith, Miss E. Kirkland, Mrs. Rae-
burn and Miss A. G. Wyld, Edinburgh ; Mrs. O. Chant, Mrs. Hodgson, Bonaly ; Miss Tod, Belfast;
Mrs. Somerville, Dalkeith ; Mrs. Forbes, Loanhead ; Mrs. D. Greig, Mrs. Erskine Murray, Miss Greig,
Mrs. Lindsay, Miss Barton and Wrs. A. Campbell, Glasgow; Miss Simpson, Miss Caldwell, Porto-
bello ; Mrs. M'Kinnel, Dumfries ; Mrs. M'Cormick, Manchester ; Miss Burton, Liberton ; Miss Bal-
garnie, Scarborough ; Miss A. S. Smith, Gorebridge ; Miss Drew, Helensburgh ; Miss Blair, Girvan ;
Mrs. Smith, Mrs. F. Smith, Bothwell.
% Miss Helen Taylor, Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Fawcett, London ; Mrs. Thomasson, Bolton ; Miss Orme,
Miss Jane Cobden, Miss C. A. Biggs, Mrs. Fenwick-Miller, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, London ; Mrs. Hal-
Lady Harder ions Address. 879
LADY HARBERTON said: If our legislators say taxation and repre-
sentation should go together, it is right that they should give expression
to this opinion fairly and openly, and at all times and seasons insist upon
it that those women who are ratepayers and who are in fact heads of
households, ought not to be excluded from the privilege of voting for a
member to represent them in the House of Commons. This is no
question of women usurping the place of men or any trivialities of that
kind ; it is a much more serious matter. The exclusion of women from
the right to representation has already led to laws being passed about
them and their interests, that I do not hesitate to call a disgrace to
humanity. [Cheers.] That they are not more commonly recognized as
such is due, I think, to two causes. One thing is that women of
the upper classes, who are usually wealthy, are able by the aid of money
so to hedge themselves around with barriers to oppose the inconven-
iences placed upon women by the laws, that they very often do not feel
them so much ; while women of the classes who are not wealthy are
so crushed and oppressed by the working of these laws that they are un-
able to take the first step, which is agitation, towards getting them al-
tered or repealed. [Cheers.] It often seems to me that another reason
why women themselves are not more enthusiastic upon this question of
the franchise is, that from their earliest childhood they are taught that
the first duty of women is unselfishness, the putting of their own in-
terests and wishes behind those of others. Any discussion of this great
question only brings forth hysterical clamor that "women should stay at
Home " — with a very big " H." [Laughter and cheers.] Well, I have
been examining a little into the conduct of those ladies who do stay at
home so much, and what do I find ? Why, that they rush about and seem
like the changing colors of the kaleidoscope, now collecting at a bazaar,
anon singing at a concert, with no end of publicity [cheers], but as long
as no rational object is promoted by their action, it is all counted as
staying quietly home in the nursery, whether they have children or not.
That is their notion of being "thoroughly domesticated." [Laughter.]
Now, much as I could wish myself that men had done their duty and agi-
tated for us, in this case it is an undeniable fact that they have not shown
that readiness, I may say eagerness, to begin that one could have wished ;
it therefore changes at once into one of those duties men have not seen
their way to do, and so becomes of necessity women's work.
A series of meetings * after this was held in Bath, Newcastle
and London.
lett, Bath; Miss Becker, Manchester; Miss Priestman, Bristol; Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, Street,
Somersetshire ; Miss Mullcr, London ; Mrs. Eva M'Laren, Bradford ; Mrs. Charles M'Laren, London ;
Mrs. Pochin, Boclnant, Conway ; Mrs. Campbell. Tillicchewan Castle; Mrs. Charteris, Edinburgh ;
Mrs. Edward Caird, Mrs. Young, Mrs. Kinnear, Mrs. A. B. M'Grigor, Glasgow ; Mrs. Arthur, Bar-
shaw, Paisley ; Mrs. Readdie, Perth ; Miss I'.irrcl, Cupar ; Mrs. Dunn, Aberdeen ; Miss Duncan, Fox-
hall ; Miss Chalmers, Slateford ; Miss Smith, Linlithgow ; Miss Macrobie, Bridge of Allan ; Mrs. Rit-
chie, Mrs. Greenlees, Glasgow; Mrs. Ord, Nesbit, Kelso ; Mrs. Gordon, Nairn; Mrs. Gerrard,
Aberdeen ; Miss Stoddart, Kelso ; Mrs. Robertson, Paisley ; Miss Maitland, Corstorphinc.
* EDINBURGH. — The first resolution was moved by Miss Tod and seconded by Mrs. Scatcherd :
ResolveJ, That this meeting, whilst thanking the no Liberal members who signed the memorial to
Mr. Gladstone to the effect that no measure of refom would-be satisfactory which did not recognue the
claims of women householders, trusts that since the bill unjustly excludes them, these members will be
88o History of Woman Suffrage.
The audiences heartily concurred with the speakers that the
time when a reform bill was before parliament was the fittest and
most opportune moment in which to press forward the claim of
women to representation.
We may observe once again with pride, how hearty and cheer-
ing have always been the sympathy and assistance that men
have rendered to women in this movement in England. At no
time has there been a possibility of a feeling of bitterness be-
tween the sexes or a conviction that their interests were antago-
nistic, for the plain reason that there have always been men work-
ing side by side with women. Our suffrage meetings have been
attended and supported by political leaders, members of parlia-
ment, town councils or prominent movers among the working-
class associations. Except in the great demonstrations, which
for special reasons were confined exclusively to women, our move-
ment has formed part of the ordinary political life of the country:
The Suffrage Journal for May contains a very carefully drawn
calculation of the number of women in the United Kingdom who
will probably receive the franchise if the wider qualifications con-
tained in the present Franchise bill become law. It must be re-
membered that there are now 3,330,720 more houses than elec-
tors in the British Isles. In boroughs where household suffrage
already prevails for men, the unrepresented houses should guide
us to a tolerably correct estimate of the number of women house-
holders. We may say that practically there are 446,000 houses
in the boroughs of England and Wales, whose inhabitant in each
case being a woman, is unrepresented. The proportion varies
faithful to the convictions expressed in that memorial, and will support any amendment to the bill
which has for its object the enfranchisement of duly qualified women.
The second resolution, a memorial to Mr. Gladstone, was moved by Miss Flora Stevenson, member
of the Edinburgh school-board, seconded by Mrs. McLaren and supported by Miss Florence Balgarnie
and Mrs. Ormiston Chant. The third resolution, the adoption of petitions, was moved by Miss S. S.
Mair, a grand-niece of Mrs. Siddons, and Mrs. Lindsay of Glasgow.
BATH, GUILD HALL. — Presided over by the mayor. Among other speakers were Mrs. Beddoe, Miss
Becker, Mrs. Jeffrey and Mrs. Ashworth Hallet.
NEWCASTLE, TOWN HALL. — Followed on April ai, under the presidency of the mayor. The crowd
was so great that an overflow meeting had to be arranged. The speakers were Mrs. Ashton Dilke,
Miss Tod, Mrs. Eva McLaren and Mrs. Scatcherd. The audience was largely composed of miners and
working people, and the enthusiasm manifested was striking. A Newcastle paper reports that this was
the first occasion on which Mrs. Ashton Dilke had appeared in public since her husband's death, and
tears glistened in many eyes as the men who were his constituents welcomed her among them once
more. Some miners walked twelve miles to hear her and twelve miles back after the meeting, who had
to go down the pit at 3 o'clock next morning. Some could not get in, and pleaded piteously for an
overflow meeting. " We have come a long way to hear Mistress Dilke ; do bring her." Some women
after hearing Miss Tod said : "She's worth hearing twice, is that," and insisted on following her to
the overflow meeting.
LONDON, ST. JAMES HALL. — Three days later there was a great meeting presided over by Sir
Richard Temple G. C. S. I., and addressed by Mr. W. Summers, M. P., Mrs. Fawcett, the Rt.
Hon. Jas. Stansfeld, M. P., Mrs. Charles McLaren, Mr. Woodall, M. P., Mr. J. Rankin, M. P., Miss
Tod, Mr. J. R. Hollond, M. P., Viscountess Harberton and Miss Jane Cobden.
Circular to Members of Parliament. 88 1
much in different localities ; in the city of Bath one-fourth the
householders are women. If we calculate that one house in
every six in the boroughs is occupied by a \vroman, we find that
349,746 is the probable number to be enfranchised there.
For the counties there are no means of arriving at so close a
result, but by estimating the proportion of women householders
to be the same as that of women land-owners, or one in seven, we
reach the fairly approximate calculation of 390,434, in the coun-
ties. The same method of calculation applies to Scotland and
to Ireland, where, however, the proportion of woman land-owners
is one in eight.*
In order to show that the desire for the suffrage was not con-
fined to any one rank, class or profession of women, a circular
was signed by a large number of ladies and sent to every mem-
ber of both houses of parliament. It was as follows :
SIR : We desire to call your attention to the claim of women who are
heads of households to be included in the operation of the government
Franchise bill.
Women have continuously presented this claim before parliament and
the country since the Reform bill of 1867. The introduction of a measure
declared by the government to be intended to deal with the franchise in
an exhaustive manner, renders it especially necessary now to urge it upon
the attention of parliament.
We respectfully represent that the claim of duly qualified women for
admission within the pale of the constitution is fully as pressing as that
of the agricultural laborer, and that the body of electors who would
thereby be added to the constituencies, would be at least equal in general
and political intelligence to the great body of agricultural and other
laborers who are to be enfranchised by the government bill.
Among this body would be found women land-owners, who form one-
seventh of the land proprietors of the country ; women of means and posi-
tion living on their own property ; schoolmistresses and other teachers;
women, engaged in professional, literary and artistic pursuits ; women
farmers, merchants, manufacturers and shopkeepers; besides large num*
* The result is as follows :
No. of Inhabited Estimated No. of
ENGLAND AND WALES. Houses. Women Householders.
Boroughs, 2,098,476 340,746
Counties, 2,7^3.043 390,434
4,83',5'9 74°,>8o
SCOTLAND.
Boroughs, 339.328 54,888
Counties, 409,677 58,525
— 739.005 — "3v»«3
IRELAND.
Boroughs, "9.837 »'. 339
Counties, 784,571 08.034
9M.108 "9.373
073,966
56
882 History of Woman Suffrage.
bers of self-supporting women engaged in industrial occupations. The
continued exclusion of so large a proportion of the property, industry and
intelligence of the country from all representation in the legislature is in-
jurious to those excluded, and to the community at large.
Several bills having special reference to the interests and status of wo-
men have been introduced in parliament during the present session.
This affords a powerful reason for the immediate enfranchisement of
women, in order that members of parliament may have the same sense of
responsibility towards the class affected by them whether dealing with
questions relating to women or to men.
For these and other reasons we earnestly beg that you will give your
support to the amendment to be introduced by Mr. Woodall in committee
on the Representation of the People bill for including women house-
holders in its operation. We are, sir, yours faithfully,*
In this circular women of all opinions were represented, but
a special circular, signed only by ladies of Conservative views,
was sent to the conservative associations. These ladies pointed
out that justice to women themselves, and the welfare of the
whole community are involved in the admission of the women
householders who at this moment are possessed of the existing
statutory qualifications:
To bring in a new class, under new conditions, whilst continuing to ex-
clude those who fulfill the present conditions, would be very injurious to
those excluded and set a wrong example before the community. Every
enlargement of the electoral franchise for men which can now take place
necessarily includes many whose interests in the country cannot equal
those of the women who now claim it. Their position is already recog-
nized by their possession of every local franchise whatsoever. Justice
requires that the principle should be fully carried out by extending to
women the right to vote for members of parliament, whose legislation so
strongly affects their welfare. Prudence also requires that an impor-
tant class of educated and philanthropic persons should not be left out,
or their claims postponed, when a large addition is likely to be made to
the less educated portion of the electorate. We most seriously believe
that few things could happen more dangerous for the real happiness of
the nation than to permit the opportunity to pass without the admission
of legally qualified women within the circle of the constitution.
* Signed by Eveline Portsmouth (Countess of Portsmouth), E. P. Verney (Lady Verney), Florence
Nightingale, Anne J. Clough (Newham College), Clara E. L. Rayleigh (Lady Rayleigh), Selina Hogg
(Lady Hogg), Anna Swanwick, Julia Camperdown (Countess of Camperdown), Mina E. Holland, (Mrs.
John Holland), (Lady) Dorothy Nevill, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Helen P. Bright Clark, Jane E.
Cobden, Elizabeth Adelaide Manning, M. Power (Lady Power), Louisa Colthurst (Dowager Lady Col-
thurst), Frances E. Hoggan, M. D.% Florence Davenport Hill (Poor-law Guardian), Louisa Twining
(Poor-law Guardian), Maryanne Donkin (Poor-law Guardian), Rosamond Davenport Hill (M. L. S. B.),
Mary Howitt, Maria G. Grey, Emily A. E. Shireff, Deborah Bowring (Lady Bowring), Emily Pfeiffer,
Barbara L. S. Bodichon, Augusta Webster, Catherine M. Buckton, Frances M. Buss (North London
Collegiate School), Sophia Bryant, B. Sc., Malvira Borchardt (Head Mistress of Devonport High
School). Louisa Boucherett, Jessie Boucherett, Margaret Byers (Ladies' Collegiate School, Belfast),
Ellice Hopkins.
Memorial to Mr. Gladstone. 883
A correspondence also was conducted with Mr. Gladstone by
the Bristol Ladies' Liberal Association and others whom they in-
vited to join them, of known Liberal views, urging him to receive
a delegation and praying that
It may not in the future be said that women alone were unworthy of
any measure of confidence which you so rightly extended even to the
humblest and most ignorant men.
Mr. Gladstone declined to receive the deputation, partly on
the ground of illness, partly lest the admission of their views
might interfere with his plans for the bill. So the day of battle
drew on, when a rumor began to be circulated that the govern-
ment intended to oppose Mr. Woodall's clause, on the ground
that its admission might endanger the bill. Strenuous efforts
were at the same time made to induce him to withdraw the
amendment, and the government whips plainly intimated that
the question would not be considered an open one, on which
members were to be free to vote according to their convictions,
but as one which the government had made up their minds to
oppose. With the hope of changing this determination a me-
morial was signed by seventy-seven members of parliament, and
presented to Mr. Gladstone, asking him to leave the introduction
of the clause an open question. It represented —
That the Franchise bill being now in committee a favorable opportunity
is afforded for the discussion of the amendment for extending its pro-
visions to women, of which notice has been given by Mr. Woodall.
That your memorialists have heard a rumor that her majesty's govern-
ment have declared against allowing the question to be discussed and
decided on its merits, on the ground that the adoption of the proposal
might endanger the bill.
That your memorialists are of the opinion that the claim of women who
are householders and ratepayers is just and reasonable, and that the time
when the House is engaged in amending J.he law relating to the repre-
sentation of the people is the proper time for the consideration of this
claim.
That during the discussion in committee on the Reform bill of 1867, an
amendment for extending its provisions to women was introduced by Mr.
John Stuart Mill, and that on that occasion the government of the day
offered no opposition to the full and free discussion of the question, and
placed no restriction on the free exercise of the judgment of members of
their party as to the manner in which they should vote. The tellers ap-
pointed against Mr. Mill's motion were not even the government tellers.
That your memorialists earnestly pray that the precedent so instituted
may be followed on the present occasion, and that the clause proposed
by Mr. Woodall maybe submitted to the free and unbiased decision of the
House on its own merits.
884 History of Woman Suffrage.
They desire earnestly to express their conviction that the course of
allowing the question to be an open one, on which the government is pre-
pared to accept the decision of the House, cannot possibly endanger or
prejudice the Franchise bill. In connection with this your memorialists
would press on your attention the fact that Mr. Woodall's amendment is
in the form of a new clause, and would not therefore come under discus-
sion until the bill as it stands has passed through committee.
This request was refused. On June 9, such unexpected pro-
gress was made by the committee of the House of Commons with
the Franchise bill that all the government clauses were carried.
There were many amendments on the paper which took preced-
ence of Mr. Woodall's, but these were hastily gone through or
withdrawn, and in the middle of the morning sitting of June 9,
he rose and moved the introduction of his clause. Mr. Wood-
all's speech was a masterpiece of earnest but temperate reason-
ing. He was fortunate enough to present an old and well-worn
subject in new lights. He said that Mr. Gladstone had affirmed
the principle of the measure to be to give every householder a
vote, and it would now be his endeavor to pursuade parliament
that women were capable citizens, who would meet all the con-
ditions so clearly laid down by the prime minister. Against the
charge of inopportunity in bringing the subject forward at this
crisis, he reminded the House of Mr. Chamberlain's words on a
recent occasion, that it was always opportune to do right.
Mr. Gladstone said there were two questions to be considered. One of
these was the question whether women were to be enfranchised, the other
whether the enfranchisement should be effected by a clause introduced in
committee on the present bill. The second question was that on which
he was about to dwell. He deprecated the introduction of new matter into
the bill. The cargo which the vessel carried was, in the opinion of the gov-
ernment, as large as she could carry safely. The proposal was a very large
one. It did not seem unreasonable to believe that the number of persons
in the three kingdoms to be enfranchised by the amendment would be little
short of half a million. What was the position in which Mr. Woodall
placed the government when he requested them to introduce a completely
new subject on which men profoundly differed, and which, it was clear,
should receive a full and dispassioned investigation ? It was not now
practicable to give that investigation. This was one of those questions
which it would be intolerable to mix up with purely political and party
debates. If there was a subject in the whole compass of human life and
experience that was sacred beyond all other subjects it was the character
and position of woman. Did his honorable friend ask him to admit that
the question deserved the fullest consideration? He gave him that ad-
mission freely. Did he ask whether he (Mr. Gladstone) wished to bind
the members of the Government or his colleagues in the cabinet with
Meeting of the General Committee. 885
respect to the votes they would give on this question ? Certainly not,
provided only that they took the subject from the vortex of political con-
tention. He was bound to say, whilst thus free and open on the sub-
ject itself, that with regard to the proposal to introduce it into this bill
he offered it the strongest opposition in his power, and must disclaim and
renounce all responsibility for the measure should Mr. Woodall succeed
in inducing the committee to adopt his amendment.
On motion of Lord John Manners the debate was adjourned
till June 12.
On the intervening day a meeting was summoned of the gen-
eral committee of the society. Miss Cobbe first, and Mr. Wood-
all subsequently, presided, and the following resolutions were
passed :
Resolved, That the claim of duly qualified women to the exercise of the suffrage
having been continuously presented before parliament and the country since the Re-
form bill of 1867, this meeting is of opinion that the time when the legislature is
again engaged in amending the law relating to the representation of the people is the
proper time for the consideration of this claim.
Resolved, That this meeting heartily approves of the amendment which Mr. Wood-
all has moved in committee on the Franchise bill for extending its provisions to duly
qualified women, and pledge themselves to support his action by every means in their
power.
Resolved, That they have heard with astonishment that her majesty's government
refuse to allow this amendment to be discussed on its merits and to be decided by the
free exercise of the judgment of members of the House of Commons, but that the
government require their supporters to refrain from such free exercise of their judg-
ment on the alleged ground that the adoption of the proposal would endanger the
Franchise bill.
Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the exercise of such pressure appears
to be an infringement of the privileges of a free parliament and an aggression on the
rights of the people. They hold that all sections of the community, whether electors
or non-electors, have an indefeasible right to have matters affecting their interests
submitted to the unbiased judgment, and decided by the unfettered discretion of the
members sent to represent them in parliament.
Resolved, That a declaration signed by 1 10 Liberal members of the House of Com-
mons was presented last session to Mr. Gladstone which set forth that, in the opinion
of the memorialists, no measure for the assimilation of the borough and counly fran-
chise could be satisfactory unless it contained provisions for extending the suffrage,
without distinction of sex, to all persons who possess the statutory qualifications for
the parliamentary franchise.
Resolved, That this meeting calls upon those who signed this declaration, and all
other members whq^ believe that the claim of duly qualified women to the parlia-
mentary franchise is reasonable and just, to support the clause moved by Mr. Woodall,
in committee on the Franchise bill, for extending its provisions to such women.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to Mr. Gladstone and to
every member of parliament.
Resolved, That petitions to both houses of parliament in support of Mr. Woodall's
clause be adopted and signed by the chairma/i on behalf of this meeting.
Some members of parliament who attended this meeting ex-
plained that though they were as firmly convinced as ever of the
justice of the claim, they could not vote for it after Mr. Glad-
886 History of Woman Suffrage.
stone's distinct declaration that he would abandon the bill if the
amendment were passed. On June 12 Lord John Manners re-
sumed the debate. He said :
That although this proposal had never been of a party character, it had
always been a political question. There was no question connected with
the franchise which had been more thoroughly discussed, threshed and
sifted. Guided by every consideration of justice and fairness, of equity,
of analogy and experience, he should give it his cordial and unhesitating
support.
The next speech of importance was Mr. Stansfeld's. He main-
tained that the acceptance of the clause by the government would
have strengthened rather than weakened the bill, and that its in-
sertion certainly would not have rendered the bill less palatable
to the House of Lords:
The principle of this bill is household suffrage. Household suffrage is
one of two things — it is either put as a rough test of capable citizenship,
or else it means what I will call the family vote. The women to be en-
franchised under this clause would be first of all women of property, in-
telligence and education, having a status in the country ; secondly a large
class of women of exceptional competency, because having lost the ser-
vices and support of men who should be the bread-winners and the heads
of families, they are obliged to step into their shoes and to take upon them-
selves the burdens and responsibilities which had previously devolved
upon men, and because they have done this with success. I decline either
byword or deed to make the admission that these women are less capable
citizens than the 2,000,000 whom the right honorable gentleman proposes
to enfranchise by this bill. Well, then, let it be the family vote — that is
to say, exceptions apart, let the basis of our constitution be that the
family, represented by its head, should be the unit of the State. Now
that is the idea which recommends and has always recommended itself to
my mind. But on what principle, or with what regard to the permanence
and stability of that principle, can you exclude the head of the family and
give that family no voice, because the head happens to be a woman ? If
this clause be excluded from the measure, as it will be, this will not be a
bill of one principle, but of two principles. It will not be a bill contain-
ing only the principle of household suffrage interpreted as the family vote,
but one founded on these two principles — first, a male householding vote ;
and, secondly, the exclusion of the head of the household when the head
is a woman. That is a permanent principle of exclusion, and therefore the
bill with this clause left out is a declaration for ever against the political
emancipation of women.
After some speeches against ,the motion Colonel King-Harman
said:
« In the old state of the franchise it was not so much a matter of import-
ance to women whether they possessed votes or not, but now that this
Discussion of Mr. WoodaWs Amendment. 887
bill proposed to create two million new voters of a much lower order
than those now exercising the franchise, it became of importance to se-
cure some countervailing advantage. They were told this was a matter
which could wait. What were the women to gain by waiting? They had
waited for seventeen years during which the subject had been discussed,
and now they were told to wait till two million of the common orders had
been admitted to a share in the parliamentary management of the country.
The honorable member for Huddersfield (Mr. Leatham) had used an ar-
gument which he (Colonel King-Harman) thought a most unworthy
one, namely, that the franchise was not to be extended to women, be-
cause, uuhappily, there are women of a degraded and debased class. Be-
cause there were 40,000 of them in this metropolis alone, the remaining
women who were pure and virtuous were to be deprived of the power of
voting. But would Mr. Leatham guarantee that the 2,000,000 men he
proposes to enfranchise shall be perfectly pure and moral men ? Would
he propose a clause to exclude from the franchise those men who lead
and retain in vice and degradation these unfortunate women? No — men
may sin and be a power in the State, but when a woman sins not only is
she to have no power, but her whole sisterhood are to be excluded from
it. He believed that svery idea of common sense pointed to the desira-
bility of supporting the amendment, and he therefore had great pleasure
in doing so.
There were also excellent speeches from Mr. Cowen (New-
castle), General Alexander, Sir Wilfred Lawson and Mr. Story,
and finally from Sir Stafford Northcote the leader of the Conserv-
ative opposition. He- observed :
That the prime minister had told them that they did not consider
this clause to be properly introduced now, because this was not the
time for the question. It seemed to him, on the contrary, that it
was the very best opportunity for dealing with it, because they were
going enormously to . increase the electorate, and would, therefore,
make the inequality between men and women much greater than it
was before. It would be said they were going to extend the property
franchise if this amendment were carried. On that issue they were pre-
pared to join and to maintain that it was a right thing, and it was the
duty of that House to make proper provision for those classes of prop-
erty holders now without a vote. Members who had canvassed boroughs
would remember that after going into two or three shops and asking
for the votes of those who were owners, they have come to one perhaps of
the most important shops and have been told, "Oh, it is of no use going
in, there is no vote there." Such women are probably of education and
gentle character, and perhaps live as widows and take care of their fami-
lies; they have every right to be consulted as to who should be the man
to represent the constituency in which they lived and to take care of
their interests and the interests of those dependent on them. That was
the ground on which Lord Beaconsfield stood. They had adhered to
that ground for several years, and there they stood now.
History of Woman Suffrage.
The division took place at a late hour with the result that the
clause was defeated by 271 votes to 135, being a majority against
it of 136, or two to one. But though such a vote would have
been a sore discouragement if it had represented the real opin-
ion of the House, on the present occasion it meant little if any-
thing. The government had sent out a " five-line " whip for its
supporters, and so effective had this whip been, combined with
Mr. Gladstone's assertion that he would give up the responsi-
bility of the bill if the clause were carried, that 98 Liberals and
6 Home Rulers, known to be supporters of our cause, voted
with the government, even Mr. Hugh Mason being among this
number, while 34 Liberals and 7 Home Rulers, also friends of
ours, were absent from the division. We may safely assume that
had the government more wisely left it an open question, upon
which members were free to vote according to their consciences,
our defeat would have been turned into a victory. On the other
hand while our Liberal friends thus voted against the amend-
ment or abstained from voting, the bulk of our supporters in this
division were Conservatives, a circumstance unknown in the pre-
vious history of the movement.
An important conference of friends and supporters was held
the next morning in the Westminster Palace Hotel at which
Mr. Stansfeld presided. To use Miss Tod's words:
Never had a defeated army met in a more victorious mood. There was
much indeed to encourage in the degree of importance to which the ques-
tion had attained. It had risen from a purely speculative into a pressing
political question ; it had been debated during two days, and it was heart-
ily supported by the Conservative leader.
The speeches at the conference were animated and full of hope
for the future. Mr. Stansfeld congratulated the meeting on
having made a new departure ; their question had become one of
practical politics, and they had now to address themselves in all
the constituencies to the political organizations.
A magnificent meeting was held in St. James Hall the follow-
ing week. The hall was densely crowded in every part, and an
overflow meeting was arranged for those unable to gain admis-
sion. Some of the speakers* proposed as the best measure for
agitation, a determined resistance against taxation.f
* Mrs. Lucas presiding, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Miss Becker, Miss Orme, Mrs. Beddoe, Mrs. Scat-
cherd, Mrs. Eva M'Laren, Mrs. Simcok, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, Mrs. Louisa Stevenson, Miss Balgarnie,
Miss Muller, Miss Wilkinson, Mrs. Ashworth Hallett, Miss Tod.
•f Miss Miiller's spirited protest against taxation without representation, owing to her official
reputation as a member of the London school-board, attracted unusual attention. For some time she
Mr. Woodall's Bill. 889
Repeated attempts to obtain a day for the debate and division
were followed by repeated disappointments. The session com-
menced in November, 1884. Mr. Woodall at once gave notice
of a bill. In presenting it to the House, he concluded after
consultation with parliamentary friends, to add a clause defining
the action of his bill to be limited to unmarried women and
widows.* The enacting clause of the bill was as follows :
For all purposes of and incidental to the voting for members to serve
in parliament, women shall have the same rights as men, and all enact-
ments relating to or concerned in such elections shall be construed
accordingly, provided that nothing in this act shall enable women under
coverture to be registered or to vote at such elections.
The addition of this clause excited much discussion. Those
in favor of it argued that this limitation would certainly be im-
posed in committee of the House, which though it was in all
probability prepared to give the vote to women possessed of in-
dependence, dreaded the extension of faggot votes which would
have been the almost inevitable consequence of admitting married
women ; while the result would be the same whether the limitation
clause was introduced by the promoters of the bill or by a par-
liamentary committee, and it would be more likely to obtain
support at the second reading if its intentions were made clear in
the beginning. On the other hand it was argued that the prin-
ciple of giving the vote to women in the same degree that it was
given to men, was the basis upon which the whole agitation
rested ; that marriage was no disqualification to men, and there-
fore should not prove so to women ; and that, though it might
be necessary to accept a limitation by parliament, it was not right
for the society to lower its standard by proposing a compromise.
This divergence in the views of the supporters of the movement
was the cause of much discussion in the public press and else-
where, and unfortunately resulted in the abstention of some
of the oldest friends of the cause from working in support of this
particular bill, although it was admitted on all sides that if a day
could be obtained its chances in a division were very good.
kept her doors barred against the coarse minions of the law, but ultimately they entered the house,
sri/cil her goods and carried them off to be sold at public auction, but they were bought in by friend*
next day. Miss Charlotte E. Hall and Miss Babb have protested and resisted taxation for many years.
It is probable that Miss Miiller's example will be followed by many others next year. This quiet
fnrin <>f pn.tc-st used to be very generally followed by members of the society of Friends, and must
command the sympathy of our co-workers in the United States, who date their national existence from
their refusal to submit to taxation without representation.— [K. C. S.
* The bill was prepared and brought in by Mr. Woodall, Mr. Illingworth, Mr. Coleridge Kennard,
Mr. Stansfeld, Mr. Yorke and Baron Henry de Worms.
890 History of Woman Suffrage.
The bill was introduced on November 19, 1884, and its oppon-
ents took the unprecedented course of challenging a division at
this stage. Leave was however given to bring it in, and the
second reading was set down for November 25, and then for
December 9 ; on each occasion it was postponed owing to the
adjournment of the House. It was next set down for Wednes-
day, March 4, but its chance was again destroyed by the appro-
priation by the government of all Wednesdays for the Seats bill.
Mr. Woodall then fixed on June 24, but before that time the
ministerial crisis occurred, and when that day arrived the House
had been adjourned for the reflections consequent upon a change
of government. He then obtained the first place on Wednesday,
July 22, but again ministers appropriated Wednesdays, and all
chances for the session being over, Mr. Woodall gave order to
discharge the bill.
This delay stands in sharp and painful contrast with the
promptness with which parliament passed the Medical Relief
bill. A clause had been inserted in the Franchise bill disfran-
chising any man who had been in receipt of parish medical aid
for himself or family. This clause caused great dissatisfaction
as it was stated it would disqualify from voting a large number
of laborers in the agricultural counties ; parliament therefore
found time amidst all the press of business and party divisions to
pass the Medical Relief bill removing this disfranchisement from
men, though we are repeatedly assumed that nothing but the want
of time prevents their fair consideration of the enfranchisement
of women. It is another proof that there is always time for a
representative government to attend to the wants of its con-
stituents.
Another effort was made in the House of Lords by Lord Den-
man who introduced a bill for extending the parliamentary vote
to women. The committees * were unaware of his intention until
* Central Committee of the National Society for Women s Suffrage — Mrs. Ashford (Birming-
ham), Miss Lydia E. Becker (Manchester), Alfred W. Bennett, esq., M. A., Miss Caroline Ashurst
Biggs, Miss Helen Blackburn, Miss Jessie Boucherett, Hon. Emmeline Canning, Miss Frances Power
Cobbe, Miss Jane Cobden, Miss Courtenay, Leonard Courteny, esq., M. P., Mrs. Cowen (Not-
tingham), Miss Mabel Sharman Crawford, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Hon. Mrs. Maurice Drummond (Hamp-
stead), Mrs. Millicent G. Fawcett, Miss Agnes Garrett, Rev. C. Green (Bromley), Mrs. Ash-
worth Hallett (Bristol), Viscountess Harberton, Thomas Hare, esq., Mrs. Ann Maria Haslam (Dub-
lin), Frederick Hill, esq., Mrs. John Hollond, Mrs. Frank Morrison, C. H. Hopwood, esq., Q. C., M.
P., Mrs. John Hullah, Coleridge Kennard, esq., M. P., Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, Mrs. E. M. Lynch,
Robert Main, esq., Mrs. Laura Pochin McLaren, Mrs. Eva Miiller McLaren (Bradford). Mrs. Pris-
cilla Bright McLaren (Edinburgh), Miss Henrietta Miiller, Frederick Pennington, esq., M. P., Mrs.
F. Pennington, Miss Reeves, Mrs. Saville, Miss Lillie Stacpole, Rev. S. A. Steinthal (Manchester),
J. S. Symon, esq., Miss Helen Taylor, Sir Richard Temple, G. C. S. I.; J. P. Thomasson, esq., M.
P., Mrs. Katharine Lucas Thomasson (Bolton), Miss Isabella M. Tod (Belfast), Miss Williams, William
Our Losses. 891
they read a notice of the bill in the newspapers. The enacting
clause was as follows :
All women, not legally disqualified, who have the same qualifications as
the present and future electors for counties and divisions of counties and
boroughs, shall be entitled to vote for knights of the shire for counties
and divisions of counties and for boroughs, at every election.
A division was taken upon it on June 23, just after the Seats
bill had been passed and the peers were about to adjourn in con
sequence of the change of government. Many protests were
made that the time was ill chosen, and some peers left
the House to avoid recording their votes while others voted
against it without reference to its merits as a question. The
division showed 8 in favor and 36 against. There appears to be
a strong impression that if a bill to enfranchise women were
passed by the Commons it would be accepted by the Lords, while
there is at the same time a feeling that any measure dealing with
the representation of the people should originate with the Com-
mons, and not in the upper House.
During the year 1885 we sustained the loss of many of
the earliest friends of the movement ; chief among these Pro-
fessor Fawcett, who from the commencement of its history
had given it his firm and unflinching support. His conviction
that justice and freedom must gain the upper hand often caused
him to take a more sanguine view of the prospect than the event
has justified. He was the firm friend of women in all their
recent efforts, and helped them to obtain employment in the civil
service, to enter the medical profession, to open the universities,
and in many other ways. Next to be mentioned is the death of
Mrs. Stansfeld. She was the daughter of Mr. William H.
Ashurst, who was a staunch advocate of freedom and may
be remembered as the first English friend of William L. Gar-
rison. She had been a member of the suffrage committee in
London for more than sixteen years, and gave unfailing sympathy
to all the efforts made by her noble husband, James Stansfeld, in
behalf of the rights of humanity. This year has also been sad-
dened by the death of Mrs. Ronald Shearer, formerly Helena
Downing, an able and true-hearted woman, who had devoted her
strength and talents to the furtherance of our cause at a time
o
when its advocates were still the objects of ridicule and attack.
Woodall, esq. M. P. Secretary, Miss Florence Balgarnie. Assistant Secretary, Miss Torrance.
Organizing Agent, Miss Moore. Treasurer, Mrs. Laura Pochin McLaren. Office* 29 Parliament
street, London, S. W.
892 History of Woman Suffrage.
The electorate of three millions of men is now increased to five
millions, and by this extension of the suffrage the difficulty of
waging an up-hill fight in the interests of the still excluded class
has also been increased. The interests of the newly represented
classes will imperatively claim precedence in the new parliament.
Like the emancipated blacks who received the vote after the
American civil war, while the women who had supported the
cause of the Union by their enthusiasm and their sacrifices were
passed over, the miners and laborers of English counties have
received the franchise for which they have never asked, in prefer-
ence to the women who have worked, petitioned and organized
themselves for years to secure it. Women have now to appeal
to this new electorate to grant that justice which the old elector-
ate has denied them ; they have to begin again the weary round
of educating their new masters by appeals and arguments ; they
will once more see their interests " unavoidably " deferred to the
interests of the represented classes ; they will once again be bid-
den to stand aside till it is time for another Reform bill to be
considered !
In recounting the history of woman suffrage frequent allusion
has been made to the parallel movements which have been car-
ried on through the same course of years ; the most important of
these have been : (i) The admission of women to fields of pub-
lic usefulness ; (2) removal of legal disabilities and hardships ; (3)
admission to a better education and greater freedom of employ-
ment. Much of the progress that has been made has been the
work of the active friends of woman suffrage, and under the fos-
tering care of the suffrage societies.
Under the first division comes the work of women on the school-
boards. The education act of 1870 expressly guaranteed their
right of being elected, and even in the first year several were
elected. One, Miss Becker, in Manchester, has retained her seat
ever since. In London the number of lady members has greatly
varied. Beginning with two, Miss Jarrett and Miss Davis, in
1879 it rose to nine, but now, 1885, has sunk again to three, Miss
Davenport Hill, Mrs. Westlake, and Mrs. Webster. Taken as a
whole, their influence has been very usefully exerted for the bene-
fit of the children and the young teachers. Under this head also
comes women's work as poor-law guardians. The first was elected
in Kensington in 1875. Six years afterwards a small society to
promote the election of women was founded by Miss Miiller,
Removal of Legal Disabilities. 893
and the number elected is steadily increasing. There are now in
England and Scotland in all forty-six. In Ireland women are
still debarred from this useful work. The election occurs every
year, and it is one of the local franchises that women as well as
men exercise. Last year three ladies were appointed members of
the Metropolitan Board which looks after London hospitals and
asylums. In 1873 Mr. Stansford, then president of the local
government board, appointed Mrs. Hassan Session assistant in-
spector of work-houses, and after an interval of twelve years Miss
Mason was appointed to the same position. Women are also
sometimes appointed as church wardens, overseers of the roads,
and registrars of births and deaths. These are the only public
offices they fill.
Under the second heading, the removal of legal disabilities, is
included the Married Woman's Property act, which was finally
passed in 1882, twenty-five years after it had been first brought
forward in parliament by Sir Erskine Perry. The ancient law of
England transferred all property held by a woman, except land,
absolutely to her husband. A step was gained in 1870 by which
the money she had actually earned became her own. This was
followed by frequent amendments, sometimes in Scotland, some-
times in England, and a comprehensive bill met with frequent
vicissitudes, now in the House of Lords, now in the Commons.
The honor of this long contest is chiefly due to Mrs. Jacob
Bright and Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy, whose unwearied efforts
were finally crowned with success by the act of 1882, under which
the property of a married woman is absolutely secured to her as
if she were single, and the power to contract and of sueing and
being sued, also secured to her. The right to the custody of
their own children is another point for which women are strug-
gling. In 1884, Mr. Bryce, M. P., brought in a bill to render a
mother the legal guardian of her children after the father's death.
This was read a second time by a vote of 207 for, and only 73
against. In 1885, however, though passing the House of
Lords, it was postponed till too late in the Commons. Another
important alteration in the legal condition of married women was
made in 1878. In that year Mr. Herschell introduced the Matri-
monial Causes act to remedy a gross injustice in the divorce law.
and Lord Pensance inserted a clause which provided that if a
woman were brutally ill-treated by her husband, a magistrate
might order a separate maintenance for her and assign her the
894 History of Woman Suffrage.
care of her children. It is no secret that the original drafting of
this clause was due to Miss Frances Power Cobbe. The long
struggle which is not yet terminated against the infamous Con-
tagious Diseases acts belongs to this division of work. The acts
were passed in 1866, '69, and for many years were supported
by an overpowering majority of the House of Commons. Mr.
Stansfeld, who has always been the supporter of every movement
advancing the influence of women, has been the leader of this
agitation. Mrs. Josephine Butler, Mrs. Stewart of Ougar, and
latterly Mrs. Ormiston Chant, have been the most untiring speak-
ers on this question. On April 26, 1883, Mr. Stansfeld carried a
resolution by a vote of 184 against 112 for the abolition of the
acts, since which time the acts have been suspended, but we must
look to the new parliament for their total repeal. The Criminal-
law Amendment act was the great triumph of 1885. It had been
postponed session after session, but the bold denunciation of Mr.
Stead, editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, finally roused the national
conscience, and now a larger measure of protection is afforded
to young girls than has ever been known before.
Of the successive steps by which colleges have been founded
for women, and the universities opened to them, it is impossible
to give any record. The London University and the Royal Uni-
versity of Ireland, recognize fully the equality of women ; nine
ladies secured the B. A. diploma from the latter university
in 1884, and nine more in 1885. Oxford and Cambridge
extend their examinations to women. The Victoria Uni-
versity acknowledges their claim to examination. The London
school of medicine gives a first rate education to women
(there are 48 this session), and the Royal College of Surgeons,
Dublin, admits them to its classes. There are now about 45
ladies who are registered as medical practitioners. One of them,
Miss Edith Stone, was appointed by Mr. Fawcett medical super-
intendent of the female staff at the general post-office, London.
The success of the movement for supplying women as physicians
for the vast Indian empire has attained remarkable success during
the last two years.
CHAPTER LVII.
CONTINENTAL EUROPE.*
4
BY THEODORE STANTON.
If you would know the political and moral status of a people, demand what place
its women occupy. — [L. AIMH MARTIN.
There is nothing, I think, which marks more decidedly the character of men or of
nations, than the manner in which they treat women. — [HERDER.
The Woman Question in the Back-ground — In France the Agitation Dates from the
Upheaval of 1789 — International Women's Rights Convention in Paris, 1878 —
Mile. Hubertine Auclert Leads the Demand for Suffrage — Agitation began in Italy
with the Kingdom — Concepcion Arenal in Spain — Coeducation in Portugal — Ger-
many : Leipsic and Berlin — Austria in Advance of Germany — Caroline Svetla of
Bohemia — Austria Unsurpassed in contradictions — Marriage Emancipates from
Tutelage in Hungary — Dr. Henrietta Jacobs of Holland — Dr Isala van Diest of
Belgium — In Switzerland the Catholic Cantons Lag Behind — Marie Goegg, the
Leader — Sweden Stands First — Universities Open to Women in Norway — Associa-
tions in Denmark — Liberality of Russia toward Women — Poland — The Orient —
Turkey — Jewish Wives — The Greek Woman in Turkey — The Greek Woman in
Greece — An Unique Episode — Woman's Rights in the American Sense not known.
THE reader of the preceding pages will be sorely disappointed
if he expects to find in this brief chapter a similar record of
progress and reform. If, however, he looks simply for an earnest
of the future, for a humble beginning of that wonderful revolu-
tion in favor of women which has occurred in the United States,
and to a less degree in England, during the past quarter of a
century, his expectations will be fully realized. More than this;
he will close this long account of woman's emancipation in the
new world convinced that in due season a similar blessing is to
be enjoyed by the women of the old world.
For the moment, the woman question in Europe is pushed into
the background by the all-absorbing struggle still going on in
various forms between the republican and monarchical principle,
between the vital present and the moribund past ; but the most
* This chapter is, in large part, a resumi of Mr. Stanton's valuable work " The Woman Question
in Europe, "published in 1884 by the Putnams of New York, to which we refer the reader who
desires to study more in detail the European movement for women. — [THK EDITORS.
896 History of Woman Siiffrage.
superficial observer must perceive, that the amelioration of the
lamentable situation of European womanhood is sure to be one
of the first problems to come to the front for resolution, as soon
as liberty gains undisputed control on this continent, — a victory
assured in the not-distant future. When men shall have secured
their rights, the battle will be half won ; women's rights will fol-
low as a natural sequence.
The most logical beginning for a sketch of the woman move-
ment on the continent, and indeed of any step in advance, is of
course France, where ideas, not facts, stand out the more promi-
nently ; for, in questions of reform, the abstract must always
precede the concrete, — public opinion must be convinced before
it will accept an innovation. This has been the role of France
in Europe ever since the great revolution ; it is her rdle to-day.
She is the agitator of the old world, and agitation is the lever of
reform.
The woman movement in France dates from the upheaval of
1789. Though the demands for the rights of man threw all other
claims into the shade, a few women did not fail to perceive that
they also had interests at stake. Marie Olympe de Gouges, for
example, in her " Declaration of the Rights of Woman," vindi-
cated for her sex all the liberties proclaimed in the famous
" Declaration of the Rights of Man." During the empire and the
restoration the reform slept ; under the July monarchy there was
an occasional murmur, which burst forth into a vigorous protest
when the revolution of 1848 awakened the aspirations of 1789,
and George Sand consecrated her talent to the cause of progress.
During the second empire, in spite of the oppressive nature of
the government, the movement took on a more definite form ; its
advocates became more numerous ; and men and women who
held high places in literature, politics and journalism, spoke out
plainly in favor of ameliorating the condition of French women.
Then came the third republic, with more freedom than France
had enjoyed since the beginning of the century. The woman
movement felt the change, and, during the past ten years, its
friends have been more active than ever before.
The most tangible event in the history of the question in
France is the International Woman's Rights Congress, the first
international gathering of the kind, which assembled in Paris in
the months of July and August during the exposition season of
1878. The committee which called the congress contained repre-
sentatives from six different countries, viz.: France, Switzerland,
International Congress at Paris. 897
Italy, Holland, Russia and America. Among the eighteen mem-
bers from France were two senators, five deputies and three Paris
municipal councilors. Italy was represented by a deputy and
the Countess of Travers, an indefatigable friend of the under-
taking, who died just before the opening of the congress. The
American members of the committee were Julia Ward Howe,
Mary A. Livermore and Theodore Stanton. Among the mem-
bers * of the congress, besides those just mentioned, were depu-
ties, senators, publicists, journalists, and men and women of
letters from all parts of Europe. Sixteen different organizations
in Europe and America sent delegates. The National Woman
Suffrage Association was represented by Jane Graham Jones and
Theodore Stanton, and the American Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion by Julia Ward Howe.
The work of the congress was divided into five sections, as
follows: the historical, the educational, the economic, the moral,
and the legislative. The congress was opened on July 25, by
Leon Richer, its promoter and originator, and one of the most
indefatigable friends of women's rights in France. He invited
Maria Deraismes, an able speaker well known among Paris
reformers, to act as temporary chairman. The next thing in
order was the election of two permanent presidents, a man and a
woman. The late M. Antide Martin, then an influential member
of the Paris municipal council, and Julia Ward Howe were
chosen. Mrs. Howe, on 'taking the chair made a short speech
which was very well received ; Anna Maria Mozzoni, of Milan, a
most eloquent orator, followed ; and then Genevieve Graham
Jones advanced to the platform, and in the name of her
mother, Jane Graham Jones, delegate of the National Woman
Suffrage Association, she conveyed to the congress messages
of good-will from the United States. This address, delivered
with much feeling, and appealing to French patriotism, was
enthusiastically received. When Miss Jones had taken her
seat, M. Martin arose, thanked the foreign ladies for their ad-
mirable words, and concluded in these terms: *'In the name of
my compatriots, I particularly return gratitude to Miss Graham
Jones for the eloquent and cordial manner in which she has just
* The United States was represented by Albert Brisbane and Mr». Brisbane, of New York ;
Elizabeth Chalmers and Mrs. Gibbons, of Philadelphia ; Colonel T. W. Higginson, of Massachusetts ;
Miss Hotchkiss, Fernando Jones and his wife and daughter, Jane Graham Jones and Gcncvicve
Graham Jones (now Mrs. Geo. R. Grant), Mrs. Klumpkc and her two daughters, of Chicago; Mrs.
Party and Louisa Southworth, of Ohio.
57
898 History of Woman Suffrage,
referred to France, and in turn, I salute republican America,
which so often offers Europe examples of good sense, wisdom
and liberty."
At the second session was read a long and eloquent let-
ter from Salvatore Morelli,* the Italian deputy. Theodore
Stanton read a paper entitled, "The Woman Movement in the
United States." The third session was devoted to the educa-
tional phase of the woman question. Tony Revillon, who has
since become one of the radical deputies of Paris, spoke, and
3Iiss Hotchkiss presented an able report on " The Education of
"Women in America." After Miss Hotchkiss had finished,
Auguste Desmoulins, now a member of the Paris municipal
-council, offered, as president of the section, a resolution advo-
cating the principal reforms — the same studies for boys and girls,
and coeducation — demanded by Miss Hotchkiss. The resolution
"was carried without debate. Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna, of
Florence, followed in a few remarks on the " Mission of Woman."
Eugenie Pierre, of Paris, spoke on the " Vices of Education in
Different Classes of Society," and in closing complimented
America in the highest terms for its progressive position on the
woman question. In fact, the example of the United States was
frequently cited throughout the proceedings of this congress,
and the reformers of America may find some joy in feeling that
their labors are producing fruit even in the old world.
At the last session of the congress, August 9, 1^78, a permanent
international committee was announced. France, England, Italy,
Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Poland,
Russia, Roumania and the United States are all represented on
this committee.f The chief duties of this committee were to be
* Before closing this brief sketch, I desire to mention with deep gratitude the name of the man who
first lifted up his voice in the Italian parliament to defend and protect women. Salvatore Morelli
deserves the veneration of every Italian woman. His first book, " Woman and Science " {La Donna
e la Scienza), dedicated to Antona Traversi.was animated by a just and noble spirit, too radical, how-
ever, to meet with universal approbation. When he entered parliament, Morelli, with the same
courage, constancy, and radicalism, demanded the complete emancipation of women. Conservatives
laughed, and many friends of our movement trembled for the cause. Ably seconded by Mancini, he
succeeded in securing for women the right to testify in civil actions, a dignity which they had not pre-
viously enjoyed, although, by an absurd contradiction they could be witnesses in criminal cases, convict of
murder by a single word and send the criminal to the scaffold. One of Morelli's last acts was a
divorce bill which was examined by the Chamber. Guardasigilli Tomman Villa, the then Minister of
Justice, was inclined to accept it, but death, which occurred in 1880, saved poor Morelli the pain of
seeing his proposition rejected. An appeal to women has been made to raise a modest monument to
Salvatore Morelli in memory of his good deeds, by Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna. The author of
this essay has been requested to receive subscriptions to this fund. Such subscriptions will be acknowl-
edged and forwarded to the Italian Committee. They should be addressed to Theoaore Stanton,
9 rue de Bassano, Paris, France.
t The American members are as follow* : Massachusetts, Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone ; Illinois,
Jane Graham Jones, Miss Hotchkiss ; New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony,
Theodore Stanton ; Pennsylvania, Mrs. Gibbons, of Philadelphia.
From France to Italy. goo
the advancement of the reforms demanded by the congress and
to issue the call for the next international gathering. The con-
gress ended with a grand banquet on the evening of the last day's
session, in which about two hundred guests participated.
The present situation in France is full of interest and en-
couragement. There are societies, journals, and different groups
of reformers all striving independently but earnestly to better
the situation of French women politically, civilly, morally and
intellectually. At the head of the agitation in favor of women's
political rights stand Hubertine Auclert and her vigorous
monthly, La Citoyenne*; the reformers of the code are lead by
L£on Richer and his outspoken monthly, Le Droit dcs Femmes\\
the movement in favor of divorce, which was crowned with
success in the summer of 1884, is headed by Alfred Naquet in
the senate, and finds one of its earliest and ablest supporters in
Olympe Audouard ; the emancipation of women from priestly
domination — and herein lies the greatest and most dangerous
obstacle that the reformers encounter — counts among its many
advocates Maria Deraismes ; woman's moral improvement, to be
mainly accomplished by the abolition of legalized prostitution,
is demanded by Dr. and Mrs. Chapman and Emilie de Morsier;
while the great uprising in favor of woman's education has such
a host of friends and has already produced such grand results,
that the brief limits of this sketch will permit neither an enu-
meration of the one nor the other.
The transition from France to Italy is easy and natural, for it
is on the Cisalpine peninsula that Gallic ideas have always taken
deeper root than elsewhere on the Continent, and, as might be
expected, the Italian woman movement resembles in many re-
spects that of which we have just spoken.
With the formation of the kingdom of Italy in 1870 began a
well-defined agitation in favor of Italian women. The educa-
tional question was first taken up. Prominent among the
women who participated in this movement were Laura Mante-
gazza, the Marchioness Brigida Tanari, and Alessandrina Ravizza.
Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna, who has devoted her whole
life to improving the condition of her countrywomen, writes me
from Florence on this subject. " Here it was, " she says, " that
the example of American and English women, who in this re-
* The office of this journal is 12, rue de Cail, Paris.
t The office of this journal is 4, rue dcs Deux-Gare», Paris.
900 History of Woman Suffrage.
spect were our superiors, was useful to us. While we were still
under foreign domination and ignorant of solidarity of sex, they
were free and united." The new political life produced a
number of able women orators and writers, such as Anna Mozzoni,
Malvina Frank, Gualberta Beccari, and many others. The last
named founded at Venice La Donna, and in 1872 Aurelia Cimino
Folliero de Luna established in Florence La Cornelia, which has
since ceased to exist, while in 1882 Ernesta Napollon began at
Naples the publication of the short-lived LUmanitario, the
youngest of a goodly list of journals which have done much to
excite an interest in the woman question. , The Italian govern-
ment has generously seconded the efforts of the reformers. The
code has been modified, schools have been established, the univer-
sities thrown open and courses in agriculture proposed.
But the most significant sign of progress in Italy was afforded by
the great universal suffrage convention, held at Rome on February
II, 12, 1 88 1. Anna Mozzoni, delegate to the convention from
the Milan Society for the Promotion of Woman's Interests, of
which she is the able president, made an eloquent appeal for
woman suffrage and introduced a resolution to this effect which
was carried by a good majority.* In 1876 a committee of the
Chamber, of which the deputy Peruzzi was chairman, reported
a bill in favor of conferring on women the right to vote on muni-
cipal and provincial questions (poto amministrativo), a privilege
which they had formerly enjoyed in Lombardy and Venice un-
der Austrian rule. This bill was reintroduced in 1882 by the
Depretis ministry and was reported upon favorably by the proper
committee in June, 1884. It is believed that the proposition
will soon become a law. If such is the case, Italian women will
enjoy the same rights as Italian men in municipal and provincial
affairs, with this exception, that they will not be eligible to
office in the bodies of which they are electors.f Aurelia Cimino
Folliero de Luna, says :
I make no doubt that in a few years the question of the emancipation
of women in Italy will be better understood ; will be regarded from a
more elevated standpoint and will receive a more general and greater
support; for if we turn to the past, we shall be astonished at what has
already been accomplished in this direction.
* See the Index, of Boston, May 19, 1881, where I give in full this remarkable speech,
t What is said of Austria in this respect further on in this chapter will apply to Italy if the proposed
reform is finally accepted by parliament.
Spain, Portugal.
Concepcion Arenal, the distinguished Spanish authoress, signals
several signs of progress in her country. This lady writes :
In the schools founded by the Madrid Association for the Education of
Women, nearly five hundred girls pursue courses in pedagogics, com-
mercial studies, modern languages, painting, etc. This instruction, for
the most part gratis, is given by professors who devote their time and
strength to this noble object without receiving any remuneration, — worthy
continuators of the grand work of the founder of the Madrid high-school
for women, Fernando de Castro, of blessed memory, one of the most
philanthropic men I ever met, who so loved mankind that his name should
be known in every land. Nine hundred and eighteen girls attended the
session of 1880-1881 of the school of music and declamation at Madrid, and
the number has since increased.
A few years ago a school of arts and trades was founded at the capital,
and women were admitted to the classes in drawing. In 1881, one hundred
and thirty availed themselves of this privilege. In 1882, one hundred and
fifty-four female students were present at the institutions (institutes) for
intermediate education in Spain. The coeducation of the sexes, there-
fore, is not unknown to us. In that year Valencia, Barcelona, Gerona
and Seville each counted sixteen, while the single girl at Mahon discon-
tinued her studies on the ground that she preferred not to mingle with
boys. At Malaga, the only female aspirant for the bachelor's degree took
seven prizes, and was " excellent " in all her studies. During the academic
year, 1881-1882, twelve women attended lectures in the Spanish universities.
The three at Madrid were all working for the doctorate, and one had
passed the necessary examinations ; the two at Valladolid were occupied
with medicine, while at Barcelona five were studying medicine, one law,
and one pharmacy. Three 9f the medical students have passed their ex-
aminations, but instead of the degrees, which are refused them, they are
granted certificates which do not allow them to practice.
Our public opinion is progressing, as is evidenced by the laws, and
especially by the educational reforms, which are the exclusive work of
men. The council of public instruction, a consulting body holding by
no means advanced ideas, was called upon a short time ago, to decide
whether the university certificates conferred upon women could be con-
verted into regular degrees, which would entitle the recipients to the en-
joyment of the privileges attached to these titles. The learned council
discussed, hesitated, tried to decide the question, but finally left it in a
situation which was neither clear nor conclusive. This hesitancy and
vagueness are very significant; a few years ago a negative decision would
huvc been given promptly and in the plainest terms.
Portugal is following closely upon the steps of Spain, and, in
the former as in the latter country, it is in the department of
education that the most marked signs of an awakening are to be
found. Rodrigues de Freitas, the well-known publicist and re-
publican statesman of Porto, says:
History of Woman Suffrage.
There is not a single intermediate school for girls in all Portugal. In
1883, the Portugese parliament took up the subject of intermediate in-
struction, and discussed the question in its relation to women, and the pro-
gress in this direction realized in France during the last few years. A
deputy who opposed the reform, recalled the words of Jules Simon; pro-
nounced in a recent sitting of the council of public instruction at Paris.
The philosopher remarked :
We are here a few old men, very fortunate gentlemen, in being excused from having
to marry the girls you propose to bring up.
Our minister of the interior, who has charge of public instruction, fol-
lowed, and declared that he was in favor of the establishment of girls'
colleges. He said :
It is true that M. Jules Simon considers himself fortunate in not having to marry a
girl educated in a French college; but I think I have discovered the reason for this
aversion. He is getting in his dotage, otherwise he would experience no repugnance
in proposing to such a girl, provided, of course, that, along with an education, she was
at the same time pretty and virtuous.
The chamber laughed. And such is the situation to-day : the minister
favorable to the better instruction of women, while neither minister nor
deputies make an earnest effort to bring it about.
This dark picture is relieved, however, by one or two bright touches.
There are many private boarding schools where families in easy circum-
stances send their daughters, who learn to speak several languages, are
taught a little elementary mathematics and geography, and acquire a few
accomplishments. Some of the pupils of these institutions pass with
credit the examinations of the boys' lyceums or colleges. Article 72, of
the law of June 14, 1880, on intermediate instruction, reads as follows :
" Students of the female sex, who wish to enter the State schools, or pass
the examinations of said schools, come within the provisions of this law,
except as regards the regulations concerning boarding scholars." That is
to say, girls enjoy in the State intermediate schools the same privileges
as male day scholars. Many girls have availed themselves of this oppor-
tunity and have passed the lyceum examinations.
Crossing the Rhine into the Teutonic countries, we find less
progress on the whole, than among the Latin races. Germany,
however, if behind France and Italy, is far ahead of Spain and
Portugal. The agitation is divided into two currents : the Leip-
sic and the Berlin movements. The former is the older, the
General Association of German Women having been founded
in Leipsic in October, 1865. Louise Otto-Peters, the prime
mover in the organization of this association, may be considered
the originator of the German movement. A novelist of much
power, whose stories all teach a lesson in socialism, she established
in 1848, the year of the great revolutionary fermentation through-
out Europe, the first paper which advocated the interests of
women in Germany. The aims of the Leipsic and Berlin re-
Germany: Leipsic, Berlin. 903
formers were of an economic and educational nature. It was
felt that the time had come when woman must have wider and
better paid fields of work, and when she must be more thoroughly
educated in order to be able the easier to gain her livelihood. A
paper, New Paths (Neue Bahnen), was established as the organ of
the association. It still exists. The plan of holding annual
conventions — much like those which have been in progress in
America for so many years — in the chief cities of Germany was
settled upon, and numerous meetings of this kind have already
occurred. At these gatherings all questions pertaining to
woman's advancement are discussed, and auxiliary associations
organized. The General Association of German Women has
sent several petitions to the Reichstag, or imperial parliament,
demanding various reforms and innovations. The principal
members of the association are Louise Otto-Peters, the president
and editor of the Neue Bahnen ; Henriette Goldschmidt, the
most effective speaker of the group ; and Mrs. Winter, the
treasurer, all of whom live in Leipsic ; Miss Menzzer of Dresden ;
Lina Morgenstern, the well-known Berlin philanthropist ; and
Marie Calm of Cassel, perhaps the most radical of the body,
whose ideas on woman suffrage are much the same as those
entertained in England and the United States. In fact, an
American is frequently struck by the similarity between many
of the features of the General Association of German Women,
and the Woman's Rights Association in the United States.
The Berlin movement, which resembles that of Leipsic in
everything except that it is rather more conservative, owes its
origin to that distinguished philanthropist, Dr. Adolf Lette.
The Lette Verein, or Lette Society, so called in honor of its
founder, was organized in December, 1865, but a few months
after the establishment of the Leipsic association. The object
of the society is, as has already been said, to improve the
material condition of women, especially poor women, by giving
them a better education, by teaching them manual employments,
by helping to establish them in business — in a word, by afford-
ing them the means to support themselves. The Lette Society
has become the nucleus of similar organizations scattered all
over the German empire. Its organ, the German Woman's
Advocate (Dcutchcr Fraucnanwalt\ is a well-conducted little
monthly, edited by the secretary of the society, Jenny Hirsch.
Anna Schepeler-Lette, daughter of the founder, has been for many
904 History of Woman Suffrage.
years and is still at the head of this admirable society. She
writes me :
If we are asked whether we would have women enter put>lic life,
whether we would wish them to become professors in the university,
clergymen in the church, and lawyers at the bar, as is the case in America,
we should make no response, Tor they are but idle questions. These de-
mands have not yet been made in Germany, nor will they be made for a
long time to come, if ever. But why peer into the future ? We have to-
day many institutions, many customs, which past centuries would have
looked upon as contrary to Divine and human law. In this connection we
would say with Sancho Panza : " What is, is able to be."
The German philosopher, Herr von Kirchmann, is more de-
cided in his views concerning the future of his countrywomen.
In one of his last works, entitled " Questions and Dangers of the
Hour " (Zcitfragen und Abenteuer) is a chapter on " Women in
the Past and Future," where it is shown that the female sex has
been gradually gaining its freedom, and the prediction is made
that the day is near at hand when women will obtain their com-
plete independence and will compete with men in every depart-
ment of life, not excepting politics.
Turning to the other great Germanic nation, Austria, we find
still less progress than in the north. In fact, the movement in
the south is little more than a question of woman's self-support.
The important problem of woman's education is not yet resolved
in Germany, and in Austria still less has been done. " In two
particulars," writes a Berlin correspondent, " Austria may be
said to be in advance of Germany. The admission of women to
the university does not present such insurmountable difficulties,
and her employment in railroad, post, and telegraph offices
does not encounter such strong opposition." But it must not
be supposed from this statement that the Austrian universities
are open to women. " Our universities are shut against women,"
Professor Wendt, of Troppau, informs me ; " but they may pass
the same examinations as boys who have finished their preparatory
studies, though it is distinctly stated in the women's diplomas
that they may not continue their studies in the university." The
professors, however, sometimes allow foreign girls to attend
lectures. Professor Bruhl, of Vienna, for example, has lectured
to men and women on anatomy. The Academy of Fine Arts at
Vienna is not open to women, though the Conservatory of Music
is much frequented by them. In 1880, in fact, three women re-
Austro-Hungarian Empire. 905
ceived prizes for musical compositions. Johanna Leitenberger,
of Salzburg, writes :
Several newspapers are devoted to the different phases of the woman's
movement in Austria. Some years ago an ex-officer, Captain A. D. Korn,
who, if I am not mistaken, had passed some time in England and America,
founded the Women s Universal Journal (Allgemeine Frauen Zeitung).
This newspaper was wholly devoted to women's interest, but it soon died.
The same thing is true of the Women s Journal (Frauenbldtter) of Gratz,
which appeared for a short time under my editorship. * * * *
On October 9, 10, n, 1872, the third German women's convention
{Deiitsche Fraitenkonferenz) was held at Vienna, under the auspices of the
general society for popular education and the amelioration of women's
condition. The other two sittings of this society had been held at Leipsic
and Stuttgart. The soul of this new movement was Captain Korn, whom
I have already mentioned. His study of the woman question in the
United States majr have prompted him to awaken a similar agitation
among the women of the Austrian empire. Addresses were delivered at
this convention by ladies from Vienna, Hungary, Bohemia and Styria-
and all the various interests of women were discussed. * * * *
The proceedings of the convention attracted considerable attention, and
produced favorable impressions on the audience, which was recruited from
the better classes of the population. But the newspapers of Vienna
ridiculed the young movement, its friends grew lukewarm, and every
trace was soon lost of this first and last Austrian women's rights conven-
tion.
In one important particular the Austro-Hungarian empire
treats women more fairly than is the case in other European
countries. Elise Krasnohorska, the Bohemian author, writes
me :
Women have a voice in the municipal, provincial and national elections,
though male citizens duly authorized by them cast their vote. With
this single reserve — a very important one, it must be confessed — our
women are politically the equals of men. At Prague, however, this is not
the case. The Bohemian capital preserves an ancient privilege which is
in contradiction to the Austrian electoral law, and which excludes us
from the elective franchise. Universal suffrage does not exist in the em-
pire, but the payment of a certain amount of taxes confers the right to
vote. I do not enter into the details of the electoral law, which is some-
what complicated, which has its exceptions and contradictions, and is in
fact an apple of discord in Austria in more than one respect ; but, speak-
ing generally, it may be said that a woman who owns property, who is in
business, or who pays taxes, may designate a citizen possessing her con-
fidence to represent her at the polls. Our women are satisfied with this
system, and prefer it to casting their ballot in person.
It may be said, also, that women are eligible to office, or at least that
there is no law against their accepting it, while there are instances of
906 History of Woman Suffrage.
their having done so. In southern Bohemia, a short time ago, a countess
was chosen member of a provincial assembly (pkresni zastupitestvo) with
the approval of the body, on the condition that she should not participate
personally in its deliberations, but should be represented by a man having
full power to act for her. At Agram in Croatia, a woman was elected,
a few years ago, member of the municipal council, and no objection
was made. Of course such cases are very rare, but they have their
significance.
Carolina Svetla, the distinguished poet and author, has done,
perhaps, the most to awaken thought on the woman ques-
tion in Bohemia. She stands at the head of a talented group of
literary women, which plays a brilliant part in the fatherland of
Huss. The means for woman's instruction, however, are most
lamentable in Bohemia. The universities are shut against women,
and though two women have been graduated in Switzerland,
their degrees are not recognized in their native land. Beyond
primary instruction the State does almost nothing for its women,
though they outnumber the other sex by two hundred thousand.
In several of the large cities of Bohemia something has been
accomplished for girls' high-school and normal-school instruction ;
but, in general, we may say that the intellectual development of
Bohemian girls is left to private instruction. Associations of
women have done much to fill this void, one of which, founded
by Carolina Svetla, is devoted to the industrial and commercial
instruction of girls. Two thousand women belong to this associa-
tion, and five hundred girls attend its school annually, while
many young women frequent its school for the training of nurses.
This vigorous organization has disarmed prejudices by the suc-
cess of its schools and by the arguments of its monthly organ,
the Zenskt Listy, ably edited by Elise Krasnohorska, one of the
best known Bohemian poets, and a leader in the work of improv-
ing the condition of her countrywomen. Vojta Naprstek, a man
who has justly been named " the woman's advocate," has founded
at Prague the Women's American Club, whose object is charity
and the intellectual elevation of women, and has presented the
club a valuable collection of books and objects of art. A lady,
writing me from Prague, says :
The club has always been in a most flourishing condition, although it
has never had a constitution or by-laws to hold it together, — nothing but
the single bond of philanthropy. At first it had not even a name. But
outsiders began to call its members 'the Americans,' because they adopted
American improvements in their homes. The appellation was accepted
Bohemia, Hungary. 907
by the club as an honorable title, and from that time it formally called
itself the " American Club."
The Austrian code, in its treatment of women, is unsurpassed
in contradictions. Women, for example, may testify in criminal
actions, but they may not be witnesses to the simplest legal
document. There are many absurdities of this sort in the exist-
ing law which were unknown in the ancient code of inde-
pendent Bohemia, which was more liberal in its treatment of
women. Divorce exists, but divorced persons cannot marry
again. Bohemia being a part of Austria, women vote in the
same way as has already been mentioned in what was said of the
latter country. But at Prague, however, women do not vote, the
capital still retaining its old laws on this subject.
Concerning the other grand division of the empire of the
Hapsburgs, Hungary, much the same maybe said as of Bohemia.
It is only within the last forty years that Hungary has striven to
attain to the level of occidental civilization and culture, so that
the question of the amelioration of women's condition is of very
recent origin in that country. Rose Revai, of Budapest, writes:
Hungarian legislators have always treated us favorably in all matters
pertaining to the family, marriage and inheritance. By the mere act of
marriage we attain our majority and are emancipated from tutelage. As
heirs, our interests are not forgotten, and as widows, we have the control
over our own children. In business and trade we enjoy equal rights with
men. And Hungarian women have not been slow to take advantage of
these privileges, as is shown by those of our sex who occupy worthy
positions in literature, art, commerce, industry, the theater and the
school-room.
Although the Hungarian universities are still closed against
women, there are many girls' industrial and normal schools and
colleges. The impetus given to female education in Hungary is
chiefly due to the late Baron Joseph Ecetvoes, the savant, poet and
philanthropist, who was minister of public instruction in 1867.
Women are employed in the postal and telegraphic service.
Returning north, to Holland, we flnd much the same situation
as in the other Teutonic nations. " The women of Holland are
unquestionably better educated, and entertain as a body more
liberal ideas than French women," said a Dutch lady to me, who
had lived many years at Paris ; " but, on the other hand, there is
not the little group of women in the Netherlands who grasp the
real meaning of the woman question as is the case here in
France." Woman's social position is a little better in Holland
908 History of Woman Siiffragc.
than in the Catholic countries. In 1870 an essay on the woman
question " by a lady " demanded political rights for women, and
there are a few instances of women having lectured on that sub-
ject. The Dutch universities are open to female students, and
Aletta Henriette Jacobs, the first and only female physician in
Holland, has a successful practice at Amsterdam. Dr. Jacobs
recently attempted to vote, and carried the question before the
courts. Elise A. Haighton, of Amsterdam, writes :
A few of our women do not hesitate to participate in political and social
discussions. The Union (Um'c), a society which aims to promote popular
interest in politics by meetings, debates, tracts, etc.; the Daybreak
(Dageraad), a radical association which holds very ultra opinions on
politics, religion and science, and supports a magazine to which many
scientific men contribute ; and the New Malthusian Band, an organization
sufficiently explained by its name, all count several women among their
members.
Elise van Calcar, the veteran Dutch authoress, sums up the
situation in Holland, as follows :
I am sorry to have to confess that, as regards the general emancipation
of women, we have accomplished but very little. Our work is indirect ;
we can only proclaim the injustice of our position.
Two countries, the product of Latin and Teutonic civilization,
Belgium and Switzerland, must be touched upon before we turn
to the Scandinavian people. Of the first, Belgium, about the
same may be said as of Holland with which she was so long
united politically. A correspondent in Belgium writes me as
follows :
There cannot be said to be any movement in this country in favor of
the emancipation of women. No journal, no association, no organization
of any kind exists.
But public opinion is said to be quite favorable. Women are
making their way slowly into certain callings. The professors of
the universities of Liege and Ghent, when asked their opinion not
long ago by the minister of public instruction, expressed a de-
sire to see women admitted J:o the privileges of these institutions
on the same terms as men, and to-day female students are found
at all the institutions for higher education. Another corres-
pondent writes :
Within the past few years an effort has been made among the
women of the middle classes in the large cities, and secondary and pro-
fessional schools have been established for girls, which are already pro-
ducing good fruit. This movement is beginning to make itself felt among
the upper classes, and it is to be hoped that the next generation will make
Holland, Belgium. 009
longer strides in the direction of instruction than is the case with the
present generation.
In one respect at least Belgium is far behind her neighbor,
Holland. Dr. Isala van Diest, the first and so far the only
female physician in Belgium, although she has passed success-
fully all the necessary examinations and taken all the necessary
degrees, may not practice medicine in her own country. She
wrote me recently :
I fear I shall soon be obliged to give up the fight and go to France,
England or Holland, unless I wish to lose the fruit of all my studies.
Concerning the higher education of women Dr. van Diest
writes :
There existed in Belgium some years ago a law which required students
who would enter the university, to pass the examination of graduate in
letters (gradut-en-lettres). Candidates for this degree were expected to
know how to translate Greek and write Latin. But as there were no
schools where girls could study the dead languages with the thorough-
ness of boys who were trained six years in the classics, the former were
almost entirely shut out from enjoying the advantages of an university
course. This graduat, however, no longer exists, and the entrance of
women into our universities is now possible. Female students are found
to-day at Brussels, Liege and Ghent, but their number is still very small.
It was in 1880 that the first woman entered the university of Brussels, but
it was not until 1883 that their admission became general. They pursue,
for the most part, scientific studies, thereby securing more lucrative posi-
tions as teachers, and pass their examinations for graduation with success.
Switzerland being made up of more than a score of separate
cantons closely resembling our States in their political organiza-
tion, it is difficult to arrive at the exact situation throughout the
whole country — small though it be. However, generally speak-
ing, it may be said that the Helvetic republic has remained
almost a passive spectator of the woman movement, though a
few signs of progress are worthy of note. The Catholic cantons
lag behind those that have adopted Protestantism, and the latter
are led by Geneva. Though subject to the Napoleonic code,
Geneva has never known that debasing law of the tutelage of
women which existed for so long a time in the other cantons,
even in the intelligent canton of Vaud, where it was abolished
only in 1873. It was not until 1881 that a federal statute put
an end to the law throughout all Switzerland. Geneva has
always been very liberal in its treatment of married women-
divorce exists, excellent intermediate girls' schools were created
more than thirty years ago, and women are admitted to all the
9io History of Woman Suffrage.
university lectures. Marie Gcegg, the untiring leader of the
movement in that country, writes me :
However, notwithstanding these examples of liberality, which denote
that the law-makers had a breadth of view in accord with their time,
Switzerland, as a whole, has been one of the least disposed of European
States to accept the idea of the civil emancipation of woman, much less
her political emancipation, so that from 1848 to 1868 the demands of
American women were considered here to be the height of extravagance.
.... The seed planted in America in 1848, though its growth was dif-
ficult, finally began to take root in Europe. The hour had come.
In March, 1868, Marie Gcegg published a letter, in which
she invited the women of all nations to join with her in the for-
mation of a society. In July of that same year the Woman's
International Association was founded at Geneva with Marie
Gcegg as president. The organization began immediately an
active work, and through its efforts, several of the reforms already
mentioned were brought about, and public opinion in Switzer-
land considerably enlightened on the question. Mrs. Gcegg says :
With the object of advancing the young movement, I established at my
own risk a bi-monthly, the Woman 's Journal (Journal des femmes). But
this was a violation of that good Latin motto, festina lentd, and, at the end
of a few months the paper suspended publication. Swiss public opinion
was not yet ready to support such a venture.
It may be pointed out here that, except in England, all the women's
societies created in Europe had, up to the time of the organization of the
International Association refrained from touching the question of the
political rights of women. The Swiss association, on the contrary, always
included this subject in its programme. But, unfortunately, at the moment
when our efforts were meeting with success, and the future was full of
promise for the cause which we advocated, the terrible Franco-German
war broke out, and, for various reasons unnecessary to go into here, I
felt constrained to resign the presidency, and the association came to an
end.
Two years later the International Association was revived in the
form of the Solidarity (Solidarity], whose name signified the
spirit which ought to unite all women. In 1875 Mrs. Gcegg be-
came president of the new organization as well as founder and
editor of its organ, the Solidarity Bulletin (Bulletin de la Solida-
ritf}. But on September 20, 1 880, both society and journal
ceased to exist. The president in her farewell address said :
The dissolution of the Solidarity ought not to discourage us, but ought
rather to cause us to rejoice, for the recent creation of so many women's
national societies in different countries proves that the Solidarity has
accomplished its aim, so that we have only to retire.
Switzerland: Madam Gcegg. pu
The striking success of university coeducation in Switzerland
calls for a few words of notice. Mrs. Gcegg writes :
In October, 1872, I sent a petition to the grand-council of Geneva, ask-
ing that women be admitted to the university of Geneva on the same
footing as men. The state of public opinion on this subject in Switzer-
land, and especially in Geneva, may be judged from the fact that, fearing
to compromise the demand if I acted in my own name or that of the Soli-
darity, the petition was presented as coming from "the mothers of
Geneva." Our prayer was granted.
The number of women who have pursued studies at Geneva
has steadily increased every year. In 1878 the university of
Nuefchatel was thrown open to women, while the university of
Zurich has long had a large number of female students. Pro-
fessor Pfliiger, of the university of Bern, writing to me in April,
1883, said :
From February 2, 1876, to the present time, thirty-five women have
taken degrees at our medical school. The lectures are attended each
semister on an average by from twenty-five to thirty women, while from
three to six follow the lectures on philosophy and letters. The presence
of women at our university has occasioned no serious inconvenience and
many colleagues favor it.
The rector of the university of Geneva wrote, February,
1883:
Up to the present time th.e attendance of women at our university has
occasioned us no inconvenience except in some lectures of the medical
school, where the subjects are not always of a nature to admit of their
treatment before mixed classes.
We shall now glance at the situation of woman in the three
Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Sweden
stands first, just as Germany does among the Teutonic nations,
and France among the Latin nations ; in fact we may perhaps
go farther and say that of all Continental States, Sweden leads
in many respects at least, in the revolution in favor of women.
The State, the royal family, private individuals, and, above all,
women themselves have all striven to outstrip each other in the
emancipation of Swedish women. Normal schools, high schools,
primary schools, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts, both at Stockholm, dairy schools and a
host of other educational insitutions, both private and public,
are thrown wide open to women. The State has founded scholar-
ships for women at Upsala University and at the medical school of
the university of Lund. Numerous benevolent, charitable and
912 History of Woman Suffrage.
industrial societies have been established and in many instances
are managed by women. But the best idea may be gained of
the liberal spirit which prevails in Sweden by showing what the
State has done for the emancipation of women. For instance,
in 1845, equality of inheritance for son and daughter was estab-
lished, and the wife was given equal rights with the husband as
regards the common property; in 1846, woman was permitted
to practice industrial professions and to carry on business in her
own name; in 1861, the professions of surgery and dentistry
were opened to her; in 1864, her rights in trade and industrial
pursuits were enlarged ; in 1870, she was admitted to the uni-
versities and medical profession ; in 1872, a woman of twenty-five
was given the full right of disposing of herself in marriage, the
consent of parents and relations having been necessary before
that time; and in 1874, a married woman became entitled to
control that part of her private property set aside for her per-
sonal use in the marriage contract, as well as to possess her own
earnings. The reforms jn favor of married women are in no
small measure due to the society founded in 1871 by Mrs. E.
Anckarsvard and Anna Hierta Retzius, whose aim was the accom-
plishment of these very reforms.
A good beginning has been made toward securing full politi-
cal rights for Swedish women. In many matters relative to the
muncipality, women vote on the same terms with men, as for
example, in the choice of the parish clergy, in the election of
municipal councilors, and members of the county council. This
latter body elects the House of Lords, so that woman's influence,
through an intermediate electoral body, is felt in the upper
chamber. May this not be one reason why the Swedish legis-
lature has been so liberal toward women? Demands have been
made, but in vain, for the complete franchise which would confer
upon women the privilege of voting for members of the diet.
Woman's interests have found a warm and energetic advocate in
the Home Review (Tidskrift for Hemmei), which was founded in
1859 by *he Hon. Rosalie d'Olivecrona and the Baroness Leyon-
hufoud, to-day the Hon. Mrs. Adlersparre. The paper is still
edited by the latter ; Rosalie d'Olivecrona, who, has always been
a most active friend of the woman movement, having retired in
1868.
If we cross the boundaries of Sweden into the sister kingdom
of Norway, we find the condition of woman absolutely changed.
Sweden, Norway. 913
"Concerning Norway, I have said almost nothing," writes Ca-
milla Collett, the distinguished Norwegian author, in some notes
which she sent me recently on the situation of women in Scandi-
navia, " for the very simple reason that there is little to say."
The long and oppressive domination of 'Denmark prostrated
Norway, but her close union with Sweden since the fall of Na-
poleon, has begun to have a good effect, and the liberal influence
of the latter country in favor of woman is already beginning to
be felt in the other half of the Scandinavian peninsula. One
step in advance has been the opening of the university to
women — "The best thing that can be said of Norway," says
Camilla Collett. Miss Cecilie Thoresen, the first female student
to matriculate at Christiania University, writing to me from
Eidsvold, Norway, in December, 1882, says it was in 1880
that she decided to try and take an academic degree. Her
father, therefore, applied to the minister of public instruction
for the necessary authorization ; the latter referred the applica-
tion to the university authorities, who, in their turn, submitted
the portentous question to the faculty of the law-school. In
due season Miss Thoresen received this rather unsatisfactory
response :
The admission of women to the university is denied, but we recognize
the necessity for changing the law on the subject.
Thereupon Mr. H. E. Berner, the prominent liberal member
of the Storthing, or Norwegian parliament, introduced a bill
permitting women to pursue university studies leading to the
degrees in arts and philosophy (examen artiuin and examen
philosopJiicuni). The committee reported unanimously in favor
of the bill; on March 30, 1882, it passed without debate the
Odelsthing, one of the two chambers of the Storthing, with but
one dissenting voice — that of a clergyman ; on April 21, 1882, it
received the unanimous vote of the other house, the Lagthing;
and it finally became a law on June 15, 1882. But Mr. Berner
did not stop here. He once wrote me :
In my opinion there hardly exists nowadays another social problem
which has a better claim on public attention than that of the emancipation
of women. Until they are placed on an equal footing with men, we shall
not have departed from the days of barbarism.
In 1884, Mr. Berner succeeded in making it possible for women
to take all university degrees, the law of 1882 having opened to
them only the degrees in arts and philosophy. He is now press-
58
History of Woman Suffrage.
ing on the attention of parliament other reforms in favor of
women ; and he has recently written me that he believes that his
efforts will be crowned with success.
In Denmark nothing has been done in the direction of political
rights, nothing for school suffrage, though the liberal movement
of 1848 improved woman's legal position slightly. But the situa-
tion of married women is still very unsatisfactory, for it may be
summed up by saying that" her property and her children are
controlled by the husband. In 1879 many thousand women
petitioned the legislature for the right to their own earnings, and
a law was passed to this effect. During the last twenty years,
thanks to the example set by Sweden, much has been done to
open to women the field of work. In 1875 the university con-
sented to receive women, but as the State furnishes them only
primary instruction, and does nothing for their intermedi-
ate instruction, leaving this broad gap to be filled by pri-
vate efforts, the educational situation of Danish women leaves
much to be desired. But the women themselves have turned
their attention to this matter, and high schools and professional
schools for women, and generally managed by women, are
springing up.
Denmark has produced several journals devoted to the in-
terests of women and edited by women. The Friday (Fredageri),
issued from July, 1875, to l$79> was edited by Vilhelmine Zahle.
It was a bold, radical little sheet. The name was probably taken
from the Woman s Journal and Friday Society, which appeared at
Copenhagen in 1 767, under the anonymous editorship of a woman.
The Woman s Review (Tidsskrift for Kvinder) began to appear in
January, 1882. Its editor, Elfride Fibiger, has associated with
Jier Mr. Frii's, a very earnest friend of the women's movement,
who has given a more progressive turn to the paper, which has
come out for women's suffrage — the first journal in Denmark to
take this radical step.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign of progress is the founda-
tion, during the past few years, of numerous associations of
women with different objects in view. John Stuart Mill's "Sub-
jection of Women," which was translated into Danish and widely
read ; the " Letters from Clara Raphael," of Mathilde Fibiger,
which appeared still earlier, in 1850; the writings of Camilla
Collett, of Norway ; the liberal utterances of the great poets of
the North, Bjornsen, Hostrup and Ibsen, whose "Nora" has
Denmark, Russia. 91 5
rightfully procured for him the title of " Woman's Poet "; the
great progress in America, England and Sweden ; all these influ-
ences stimulated thought, weakened prejudices and prepared the
way for reforms in the Danish peninsula. Kirstine Frederiksen,
of Copenhagen, says :
It is plainly evident that Danish women are weary of the part allotted to
them in the old society, a part characterized by the sentiment that the
best that can be said of a woman is that there is nothing to say about
her When, in due time, the claim for political rights is made here
in Denmark, then will women from all classes unite in their efforts to
secure the palladium which alone can protect them from arbitrariness and
subjection.
We shall now take up the Slavonic countries, beginning with
Russia, which stands first, not only because of its vastness, but
also because of its liberality toward women. The position of
the Russian women before the law is very peculiar. Children,
whatever their age and whether male or female, are never eman-
cipated from the control of their parents. The daughter can
only escape from this authority, and then only in a limited de-
gree, by marriage, and the son by entering the service of the
State. In the provinces alone girls of twenty-one may marry
without the parents' consent. The married woman is in the full
power of her husband, though she is the mistress of her own
fortune. Divorce exists. Russian women vote on an equality
with men for members .of the municipal councils and county
assemblies, and these two bodies choose the boards which transact
the public business, such as superintending the collection of
taxes, keeping the roads in order, directing the schools, etc. The
Russian woman does, not however, appear at the polls, but is
represented by some male relative or friend (as we have already
seen in Austria) who casts the vote for her. Thus the Russian
woman, except that she is ineligible to office, possesses all the
political rights of the Russian man — a privilege, however, that is
of little value in a country where liberty is crushed under the
iron heel of autocracy. The position of the Russian peasant
women is not as good as that of the women of the upper classes.
They find some comfort, however, in the doctrines of the rapidly
spreading religious sects, which resemble somewhat the American
Revivalists or Anabaptists. In fact, the subject condition of
Russian women is one of the chief causes of the growth of these
sects ; down-trodden by society and the State, they seek liberty
in religion. In some of these sects women preach. Miss Maria
Qi 6 History of Woman Stiff rage.
Zebrikoff, an able Russian writer, sends me this curious informa-
tion :
We have lately heard of a new sect which preaches a doctrine exalting
woman. She is placed above man, because she can give birth to another
being. Her pain and travail are so great, that alleviating the other suf-
ferings and annoyances of woman would be but a poor reward ; she is
entitled to the deepest gratitude of mankind.
Thought concerning the emancipation of woman was first
awakened among the upper classes about 1840, inspired by George
Sand, but was confined to a narrow circle of men of science and
authors. The new ideas continued to exist in a latent form until
the freedom of the serfs in 1860, when they burst forth into life.
The reforms of the last reign, the abolishment of bureaucratic
government and the emancipation of the slaves, advanced the
cause of woman, for the daughters of the office-holders and land-
owners, reduced to poverty by these changes, were forced to go
forth into the world and earn their own living. Woman's suc-
cess in the walks of higher education — especially in medicine —
has been a great victory for the friends of the rights of woman.
The government, the professors of the university and women
themselves have all united, more or less heartily, in a common
effort to give Russian women facilities for a complete education.
The first woman's medical school in Russia owes its origin to a
donation of 50,000 rubles from a woman. The war department
— for Russia thinks of medicine only in its relation to the army —
came to the aid of the new movement, and the medical profes-
sion, though in a restricted manner, was thrown open to women.*
As yet women physicians may treat only diseases of women and
children, but, notwithstanding this drawback, there are fifty-two
women physicians in St. Petersburg and two hundred and fifty
in Russia. During the last war with Turkey twenty women
physicians did noble work in the army. Women flock to the
universities in great numbers. An attempt has been made to
render the profession of law accessible to them, but the govern-
ment has prohibited it. It is expected that ere long women will
be professors in the university. The chemical, medical and legal
associations have already received women into membership.
In literature Russian women take an active part ; reviews, maga-
zines, and political journals counting many women among their
* Recent reforms in the war department call for economy, and the minister has been forced to refuse
the usual subsidy for the support of the woman's medical courses and they are unfortunately in a very
critical situation. The result will probably be the foundation of medical colleges for women indpen-
dent of government aid.
Poland. 917
contributors and in some cases their directors. Writes Maria
Zebrikoff :
It is especially in the domain of fiction that Russian women excel. After
the two renowned names of Tourgueneff and Tolstoi, the greatest genius
of which our contemporary literature can boast is Krestowsky, the
pseudonym of woman.
" The reactionary party," exclaims the same lady with en-
thusiasm, " counts in its ranks no woman distinguished for
thought or talent." Even this brief glance at woman's position
in Russia conclusively proves that when the day of liberty comes
to the great Cossack empire, the women will be as thoroughly
fitted to enter upon all the duties of citizenship as the men.
The women of no other continental nation are perhaps better pre-
pared for complete emancipation than those of Russia. Here,
as in several other respects, autocratic Russia resembles free
America. The good-will of every transatlantic friend of woman's
elevation should ever go forth to this brave, struggling people of
the North.
The civil law of the kingdom of Poland, a part of Russia, has
been, since 1809, the Napoleonic code ; the other Polish provinces
of Russia are subject to Russian law. Under the former, the
woman has an equal share in the patrimony ; but the married
woman is a perpetual minor. According to the Russian code,
on the contrary, a girl receives only a fourteenth part of the
patrimony ; and when a distant relative dies, brothers alone in-
herit. But a woman has absolute control of her own property ;
and when she becomes of age, at twenty-one, she may buy, own,
sell, without being subjected to any tutelage, without requiring
the consent of the husband — the very contrary of the Napoleonic
code. This same thing is true in several other particulars, a
striking illustration of the fact that much-abused Russian civili-
zation is in some respects superior to the much-vaunted Latin
civilization. In regard to education, the Polish woman is not so
well off. In the primary schools alone does she enjoy equal
rights ; in secondary education she has far fewer advantages than
the boy ; while as for university instruction, she is forced to seek it
in Russia or in foreign lands, the Polish universities being abso-
lutely closed against her. In the Polish provinces under direct
Russian authority, the State does nothing whatever for
woman's instruction ; and in the kingdom of Poland, the same
thing is true except in the matter of primary instruction. Polish
History of Woman Suffrage.
women may practice medicine, if, besides this foreign diploma,
they also pass an examination before the medical school of St.
Petersburg. Tomaszewicz Dobrska is one of the few Polish
women who has succeeded in this difficult field.
The Academy of Fine Arts at Cracow is open to men alone,
but Madeline Andrzejkowicz has endeavored to fill the gap
by establishing at Warsaw a school of painting for women.
The first woman's industrial school was founded in 1874 at
Warsaw, and during the first six years, to 1880, it had 743
scholars. Establishments of this kind are now quite numerous
in the kingdom, but, for political reasons, they have not been
founded in the Polish provinces of Russia. The unfortunate
political situation of Poland, which robs even men of their rights,
is an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the emancipation of
women. There are, however, many encouraging signs of prog-
ress. At Warsaw there is more than one newspaper edited by a
woman. Marie Ilnicka has owned and edited for more than
sixteen years, at the capital, a paper which is widely read and
which has great influence. It is no uncommon thing for women
to deliver public lectures, which are very popular and draw
large houses. Elise Orzeszko, the distinguished Polish novelist,
tells me :
We have confidence in the efforts of the men who are leading society
and who are sacrificing their talents and earnestly toiling to advance
liberal ideas. In the meanwhile our duty is to awaken thought on the
question of woman's rights, so that when a better day does come to
Poland, women may be ready to participate in the common welfare.
But we cannot close this brief sketch without mentioning the
Orient, that region of transition between the darkness of Asia
and the light of occidental Europe ; for, though the position of
woman is in general so lamentable that at first glance it seems
best to pass over this portion of the continent in silence, one
catches here and there a glimmer of progress that portends a
better day in the still distant future. And, too, regenerate
Greece commands our attention, for she indeed is a rich oasis in
this desert of Mohammedan conquest.
There are many Ottoman women, especially among the rich
families, who desire to change their dress and enter into relations
with the women of other religions, but the ecclesiastical and civil
authorities are always ready to check this tendency and to rigor-
ously enforce the ancient customs. In certain harems earnest
The Orient: Turkey, Greece. 919
efforts have been made to establish true family life and to bring-
up the children under the eye and care of the parents, with the
aid of foreign governesses, who, along with the languages, incul-
cate the habits and manners of occidental nations. Vain
attempts have been made to found girls' schools. There are
noble natures who long for amelioration of their state, and for
progress, but fanaticism condemns everything to mortal stagna-
tion.
The Jewish woman leads a contracted, monotonous existence
under the authority of the priest. The wives of many rich
bankers have tried to do something to improve the condition of
Hebrew women by founding aid societies, primary schools, and
normal schools. The Bulgarian women of the country enjoy
an agricultural and pastoral life, and those of the city are simple
and primitive in their habits and customs. But little has been
done for woman's instruction, though some worthy attempts
have been made to establish schools. The hope of the regenera-
tion of the Oriental woman lies in the influence of Greek civiliza-
tion. The emancipation of the Greek woman means the emanci-
pation of the Turkish woman.
The Greek woman in the Orient must be studied under two
heads: the Greek woman in Turkey and the Greek woman in
Greece. In both cases we find them filled with the spirit of
western civilization — perhaps it would be better to say, with the
spirit of their classic ancestors. Primary, secondary and normal
schools, asylums, hospitals, societies — all for women and generally
managed by women — are found in all the Greek centers of Tur-
key. Calliope A. Kechayia, the cultured principal of the Zappion,
the famous girls' college at Constantinople, says:
The intellectual condition of the Greek woman in the Orient is, gen-
erally speaking, not inferior to that of women in many parts of Europe ;
and as regards the instruction of the girls of the lower classes, it is much
superior to that of several Latin countries.
The Greek woman in Greece differs essentially from the Orien-
tal woman. With the independence of Greece came a great
patriotic movement for the building up of the new nationality, a
movement in which women took a most active and prominent
part. Several American women, especially Mrs. Hill, lent their
aid and founded the first girls' school at Athens. "A whole
generation of women," says a Greek lady, "distinguished for
their social and family virtues, received their education in this
920 History of Woman Suffrage.
college." An association of Greeks soon afterward established a
normal school for women. The Greek government also early
took up the question of popular education without excluding
women from its plans. The way in which young Greek school-
mistresses hastened all over the peninsula, spreading knowledge,
the Greek language and their own enthusiasm throughout the
newly liberated nation, is one of the most unique episodes in
modern history. " It is true and beyond dispute," I am told by
Miss Kechayia, " that the Greece of to-day owes its rapid prog-
ress and its Greek instruction to its women." But the Greek
woman is more than a school-mistress. The wife of a public man
has other than social duties to occupy her. She often represents
her husband before his constituents. She participates actively
and usefully in many of his political affairs. It frequently hap.
pens that the wife goes into the provinces to solicit votes for her
husband, and sometimes in drawing-room lectures she defends his
political conduct. " In truth these facts would not be believed
by a foreigner if he had not seen them with his own eyes," I was
once told by a Greek. Associations of various kinds have been
formed by women during the past few years, and there is at least
one instance of a woman lecturing in public on literary topics.
However, woman's rights in the American sense has not yet
penetrated into Greece, but from what has just been said it will
be seen that when that day comes, the reform will find a soil well
prepared for its reception.
Such is a brief and general view of the present status of the
Woman Question on the European Continent. It will have been
constantly noticed in the preceding pages that in every country
there are evidences of progress. Public opinion in the Old World
is slowly but surely accepting Voltaire's statement when the
broad-minded philosopher says, with a dash of French gallantry:
"Women are capable of doing everything we do, with this single
difference between them and us, that they are more amiable than
we are." In matters of instruction, the ideas of Montesquieu
and Aim6 Martin are gaining ground. "The powers of the
sexes," wrote the penetrating author of the " Spirit of the Laws,"
"would be equal if their education were, too. Test women in
the talents that have not been enfeebled by the way they have
been educated, and we will then see if we are so strong." " It is
in spite of our stupid system of education," declared Aime Martin,
One of the Decisive Battles of History. 921
more than fifty years ago, " that women have an idea, a mind
and a soul." And even the more radical utterances of the late
Eugene Pelletan find an echo. " By keeping women outside of
politics," once said the distinguished senator, " the soul of our
country is diminished by one-half." No wonder then that
Frances Power Cobbe likens this revolution to the irresistible
waves of the ocean. " Of all the movements, political, social and
religious, of past ages, there is, I think," writes Miss Cobbe, " not
one so unmistakably tide-like in its extension and the uniformity
of its impulse, as that which has taken place within living mem-
ory among the women of almost every race on the globe. Other
agitations, reforms and revolutions have pervaded and lifted up
classes, tribes, nations, churches. But this movement has stirred
an entire sex, even half the human race. * * * When the
time comes to look back on the slow, universal awakening of
women all over the globe, on their gradual entrance into one
privileged profession after another, on the attainment by them
of rights of person and property, and, at last, on their admission
to the full privileges of citizenship, it will be acknowledged that
of all the ' Decisive Battles of History,' this has been, to the
moralist and philosopher, the most interesting; even as it will be
(I cannot doubt) the one followed by the happiest Peace which
the world has ever seen."
CHAPTER LVIII.
REMINISCENCES.
BY E. C. S.
REACHING London amidst the fogs, and mists of November,
1882, the first person I met, after a separation of many years, was
our revered and beloved friend, William Henry Channing. The
tall, graceful form was somewhat bent ; the sweet, thoughtful face
somewhat sadder ; the crimes and miseries of the world seemed
more heavy on his heart than ever. With his refined, nervous
organization, the gloomy moral and physical atmosphere of Lon-
don was the last place on earth where that beautiful life should
have ended. I found him in earnest conversation with my daugh-
ter and a young Englishman soon to be married, advising them
not only as to the importance of the step they were about to
take, but as to the minor points to be observed in the ceremony.
At the appointed time a few friends gathered in Portland-street
chapel, and as we approached the altar, our friend appeared in
surplice and gown, his pale, spiritual face more tender and beau-
tiful than ever. This was the last marriage service he ever per-
formed, and it was as pathetic as original, his whole appear-
ance so in harmony with the exquisite sentiments he uttered that
we who listened felt as if for the time being we had entered with
him into the Holy of Holies.
Some time after, Miss Anthony and I called on him, to return
our thanks for the very complimentary review he had written of
the History of Woman Suffrage. He thanked us in turn for the
many pleasant memories we had revived in those pages, which he
said had been as entertaining as a novel ; " but," said he, " they
have filled me with indignation, too, over the repeated insults
offered to women so earnestly engaged in honest endeavors for
the uplifting of mankind. I blushed for my sex more than once
in reading these volumes." We lingered long in talking over the
events connected with this great struggle for freedom. He dwelt
with tenderness on our divisions and disappointments, and en-
Features of English Eloquence. 923
tered more fully into the humiliations suffered by women than
any man we ever met. His conversation that day was fully as
appreciative of the nice points in the degradation of sex as
is John Stuart Mill in his wonderful work on " The Subjection
of Woman." He was intensely interested in Frances Power
Cobbe's efforts to suppress the vivisectionists, and the last time I
saw him he was presiding at a parlor meeting at Mrs. VVolcott
Brown's, when Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell gave an admirable ad-
dress on the causes and cure of the social evil. Mr. Channing
spoke beautifully in closing, paying a warm and merited compli-
ment to Miss Blackwell's clear and concise review of all the diffi-
culties involved in the question.
Reading so much of English reformers in our journals, of the
Brights, the McLarens, the Taylors, of Lydia Becker, Caroline
Biggs, Josephine Butler and Octavia Hill, and of their great
demonstrations with lords and members of parliament in the
chair, we had longed to compare the actors in those scenes with
our speakers and conventions on this side the water. At last we
met them, one and all, in London, York, Manchester, Liverpool,
Glasgow, Edinburgh, in great public meetings and parlor re-
unions, at dinners and receptions, listened to their public men in
parliament, the courts and the pulpit, to the women in their va-
rious assemblies, and came to the conclusion that Americans sur-
pass them in oratory and the spirited manner in which they
conduct meetings. They have no system of elocution in England
such as we have — a thorough training of the voice, in what is
called vocal gymnastics. A hesitating, apotogetic way seems to
be the national idea for an exordium on all questions. Even
their ablest men who have visited this country, such as Kingsley,
Stanley, Arnold, Spencer, Tyndal, Huxley, and Canon Farrar,
have all been criticised by the American public for their stam-
mering enunciation. They have no speakers to compare with
Wendell Phillips and George William Curtis, or Anna Dickinson
and Phcebe W. Couzins. John Bright is without a peer among
his countrymen, as are Mrs. Bessant and Miss Helen Taylor
among the women. Miss Tod, from Belfast, is a good speaker.
The women, as a general thing, are more fluent than the men ;
those of the Bright family in all its branches have deep, rich
voices.
Among the young women, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Charles Mc-
Laren, Mrs. Scatcherd, Miss Henrietta Miiller, Mrs. Fen wick
924 History of Woman Suffrage.
Miller, and Lady Harberton, all speak with comparative ease and
self-possession. The latter is striving to introduce for her coun-
trywomen a new style of dress, in which all the garments are bi-
furcated, but so skillfully adjusted in generous plaits and folds,
that while the wearer enjoys the utmost freedom, the casual ob-
server is quite ignorant of the innovation. We attended one of
their public meetings for the discussion of that question, at
which Miss King, Mrs. Charles McLaren, and Lady Harberton
appeared in the new costume. All spoke in its defense, and were
very witty and amusing in criticising the present feminine forms
and fashions. Lady Harberton gave us a delightful entertain-
ment one evening at her fine residence on Cromwell Road, where
we laughed enough to dissipate the depressing effect of the fogs
for a week to come over the recitations of Corney Green on the
piano. There, among many other celebrities, we met Moncure
D. Conway * and his charming wife.
I reached England in time to attend the great demonstration
in Glasgow to celebrate the extension of the municipal franchise
to the women of Scotland. It was a remarkable occasion. St.
Andrew's immense hall was packed with women ; a few men
were admitted to the gallery at half a crown apiece. It was said
there were 5,000 people present. When a Scotch audience is
thoroughly roused, nothing can equal the enthusiasm. The ar-
riving of the speakers on the platform was announced with the
wildest applause, the entire audience rising, waving their hand-
kerchiefs, and clapping their hands, and every compliment paid
the people was received with similar outbursts of pleasure. Mrs.,
McLaren, a sister of John Bright,f presided, and made the open-
ing speech. I had the honor, on this occasion, of addressing an
audience for the first time in the old world. Many others spoke
briefly. There were too many speakers ; no one had time to
warm up to the point of eloquence. Our system of conventions
of two or three days, with long speeches discussing pointed and
radical resolutions, is quite unknown in England. Their meet-
ings consist of one session of a few hours into which they crowd
all the speakers they can summon together. They have a few
* He asked me confidentially if I knew what the " D " in his name stood for. " Why," said I, " in
line with your profession, it must be for ' Divinity,' or * Doxology.' " " No," said he, " for ' Dynam-
ite.' " As we were being blown up just then in all parts of London, I begged him not to explode un-
til Sunday morning in old South Church, as I would rather see a wreck of the old theologies than of
our charming hostess and Corney Green, who were giving us this pleasant entertainment.
tShe says she prefers to be known as the wife of Duncan McLaren, a member of parliament from
Edinburgh for sixteen years, who always voted right on the woman question, while John Bright is op-
posed to the movement.
Scene in Friends' Meeting. 925
tame resolutions on which there can be no possible difference of
opinion printed, with the names of those who are to speak ap-
pended. Each of these is read, a few short speeches made, that
may or may not have the slightest reference to the resolution,
which is then passed. The last is usually one of thanks to some
lord or member of parliament who may have condescended to
preside at the meeting, or to do something for the measure in
parliament ; it is spoken to like all that have gone before. The
Queen is referred to tenderly in most of the speeches, although
she has never done anything to merit the approbation of the ad-
vocates of suffrage for woman. As on this occasion a woman
conducted the meeting, much of the usual red tape was omitted.
From Glasgow quite a large party of the Brights and McLarens
went to Edinburgh, where the Hon. Duncan McLaren gave us a
warm welcome to Newington House, under the very shadow of
the Salisbury crags. These and the Pentland Hills are the re-
markable feature in the landscape as you approach this beautiful
city, with its monuments and castles on which are written
the history of the centuries. We passed a few charming days
driving about, visiting old friends, and discussing the status of
woman on both sides of the Atlantic. Here we met Elizabeth
Pease Nichol, Jane and Eliza Wigham, whom I had not seen
since we sat together hi the World's Anti-slavery Convention in
London in 1840, Yet I knew Mrs. Nichol at once ; her strongly-
marked face is one not readily forgotten.
I went with the family on Sunday to Friends' meeting, where
a most unusual manifestation for that decorous sect occurred. I
had been told that if I felt inclined, it would be considered quite
proper for me to make some remarks, and just as I was revolving
an opening sentence to a few thoughts I desired to present, a
man arose in a remote part of the house, and began in a low
voice to give his testimony as to the truth that was in him. All
eyes were turned toward him, when suddenly a friend leaned over
the back of the seat, seized his coat-tails and jerked him down in
a most emphatic manner. The poor man buried his face in his
hands, and maintained a profound silence. I learned afterwards
that he was a bore, and the friend in the rear thought it wise to
nip him in the bud. This scene put to flight all intentions of
speaking on my part, lest I, too, might get outside the prescribed
limits, and be suppressed by force. I dined with Mrs. Nichol at
Huntly Lodge, where she has entertained in turn many of our
926 History of Woman Suffrage.
American reformers. Her walls have echoed to the voices of
Garrison, Rogers, Samuel J. May, Parker Pillsbury, Henry C.
Wright, Douglass and Remond, and hosts of English philan-
thropists. Though over eighty, she is still awake on all questions
of the hour, and generous in her hospitalities as of yore.
Later, Miss Anthony, in company with Mrs. Rebecca Moore,
spent several weeks in Edinburgh looking over Mrs. Nichol's
voluminous correspondence with the anti-slavery apostles, to see
if anything of interest could be gleaned for these volumes. She
found Mrs. Moore as a traveling companion better than the most'
approved encyclopedia, as she possessed all possible information
on every subject and locality, so that all Miss Anthony had to do
was to keep her ears open whenever she was sufficiently rested to
listen. There, too, Miss Anthony visited Dr. Agnes McLaren, in
her recherch^ home, and found her as charming in the social circle
as she was said to be skillful in her profession. She spent several
days also with Dr. Jex Blake, and from her lips heard the full ac-
count of her prolonged struggle to open the medical college to
women, and to secure for them as students equal recognition.
After listening to all the humiliations to which they had been
subjected, and their final expulsion from the university, and of
the riots in Edinburgh, Miss Anthony felt that Dr. Jex Blake had
fought the battle with great wisdom and heroism. The failure
of the experiment in that university was not due to a want of
tact in the women who led the movement, but to the natural
bigotry and obstinacy of the Scotch people, the universal hostility
of the medical professors to all innovations, and the antagonism
men feel towards women as competitors in the sciences and pro-
fessions. Before leaving Edinburgh a public reception was ten-
dered to Miss Anthony, Mrs. Nichol presiding. Professor
Blackie, Mrs. Jessie Wellstood, and the honored guest herself, did
the speaking. With refreshments and conversation it was alto-
gether a pleasant occasion.
In the meantime I was making new friends in the other parts
of the kingdom. Mrs. Margaret Lucas, whose whole soul is in
the temperance movement, escorted me from Edinburgh to Man-
chester, to be present at another great demonstration in the
Town Hall, the finest building in that district. It had just been
completed, and, with its ante-rooms, dining hall, and various apart-
ments for social entertainments, was altogether the most per-
fect hall I had seen in England. There I was entertained by Mrs.
Moncure D. Conway. 927
Matilda Roby, who, with her husband, gave me a most hospit-
able reception. She invited several friends to luncheon one
day, among others, Miss Lydia Becker, editor of the Suffrage
Journal in that city, and the Rev. Mr. Steinthal, who had visited
this country and spoken on our platform. The chief topic at the
table was John Stuart Mill, his life, character, writings, and his
position with reference to the political rights of woman. In the
evening we went to see Ristori in Queen Elizabeth. Having
seen her many years before in America, I was surprised to find
her still so vigorous. And thus, from week to week, were suf-
frage meetings, receptions, dinners, luncheons and theatres pleas-
antly alternated.
The following Sunday we heard a grand sermon from Moncure
D. Conway, and had a pleasant interview with him and Mrs. Con-
way at the close of the sessions. Later we spent a few pleasant
days at their artistic home, filled with books, pictures, and me-
mentoes from loving friends. A billiard-room with well-worn cues
and balls may in a measure account for his vigorous sermons —
quite a novel adjunct to a parsonage. A garden reception there
to Mr. and Mrs. Howells, gave us an opportunity to see the
American novelist surrounded by his admiring friends. Howells
and Hawthorne seemed to be great favorites in the literary cir-
cles of England at that time, but I never read one of their novels
without regretting for the honor of American women that they
had not painted more vigorous and piquant characters for their
heroines.
One was always sure of meeting some Americans worth know-
ing at the Conway's in Bedford Park. We dined there with Mary
Clemmer and Mr. Hudson, just after their marriage, and a bright,
pretty daughter of Murat Halstead, who chatted as gaily among
the staid English as on her native heath. There, too, we first
D
saw Mrs. William Mellen with her daughters, from Colorado
Springs, now residing in London for the purpose of educating a
family of seven children,* although there is no so fitting place to
educate children to the duties of citizens of a republic, as under
our own free institutions. If possessed of wealth, they readily
adopt aristocratic ideas, and enjoy the distinctions of class they
find in all monarchical countries, which totally unfit them for
* She occupies the home of an English woman who has taken her seven children to Germany for their
education. How strange it is that so many parents imagine that they can educate their children better
in a foreign land.
928 History of Woman Suffrage.
properly appreciating the democratic principles it is our interest
to cherish at home.
The Sunday after Mr. Conway left for Australia, I was invited
to fill his pulpit. Spending a few days with Mrs. Conway, we
attended the Ladies' Club one afternoon. The leading spirits
seemed to be Miss Orme and Miss Richardson, both attorneys in
practice, with an office in London, though not yet regularly ad-
mitted to the Queen's Bench. The topic of discussion was the
well-worn theme — the education of girls ; but no one seemed quite
prepared to take off all the ligatures from their bodies and the
fears of everything known or unknown from their minds, and leave
them for a season to grow as nature intended, that we might find
out by seeing them in their normal condition what their real wants
and needs might be. I suggested for their next topic, the proper
education of boys, which was accepted. I retired that night very
nervous over my sermon for the next day, and the feeling stead-
ily increased until I reached the platform ; but once there, my
fears were all dissipated, and I never enjoyed speaking more than
on that occasion, for I had been so long oppressed with the
degradation of woman under canon law and church discipline
that I had a sense of relief in pouring out my indignation.
My theme was, " What has Christianity done for Woman ?"
and by the facts of history, I showed clearly that to no form of
religion was woman indebted for one impulse of freedom, as all
alike have taught her inferiority and subjection to man. No
lofty virtues can emanate from such a condition. Whatever
heights of dignity and purity women have individually attained,
can in no way be attributed to the dogmas of their religion.
With my son Theodore, always deeply interested in my friends
and public work, we called on Mrs. Gray, Miss Jessie Boucherett
and Dr. Hoggan, who had written essays for "The Wroman Ques-
tion in Europe "; on our American minister, Mr. Lowell, Mr. and
Mrs. George W. Smalley, and many other notable me'n and wo-
men. By appointment we had an hour with the Hon. John
Bright at his residence on Piccadilly. As his photograph, with
his fame, had reached America, his fine face and head, as well
as his political opinions, were quite familiar to us. He received
us with great cordiality, and manifested a clear knowledge, and
deep interest in regard to all American affairs. Free trade and
woman suffrage formed the basis of our conversation ; the litera-
ture of our respective countries, our great men and women, the
Barn Elms. 929
lighter topics of the occasion. He is not sound in regard to the
political rights of women, but it is not given to any one man to
be equally clear on all questions. He voted for John Stuart Mill's
amendment to the " Household Suffrage Bill," in 1867, but, as he
said, as a personal favor to a friend, without any strong convic-
tions as to the merits of what he considered " a purely senti-
mental measure."
We attended the meeting called to rejoice over the passage of
the Married Woman's Property bill, which gave to the women of
England in 1882 what we had enjoyed in many States in this
country since 1848. Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs.
Almy, and several members of parliament made short speeches
of congratulation to those who had been instrumental in carrying
the measure. It was generally conceded that to the tact and
persistence of Mrs. Bright, more than to any other one person,
belonged the credit of that achievement. Hon. Jacob Bright was
at that time a member of parliament, and fully in sympathy with
the bill ; and while Mrs. Bright exerted all her social influence to
make it popular with the members, her husband, thoroughly
versed in parliamentary tactics, availed himself of every techni-
cality to push the bill through the House of Commons. Mrs.
Bright's chief object in securing this bill, aside from establishing
the right every human -being has to his own property, was,
to lift married women on an even plane with widows and spin-
sters, thereby making them qualified voters.
The next day we went out to Barn Elms to visit Mr. and Mrs.
Chas. McLaren. Mr. McLaren, a Quaker by birth and educa-
tion, has sustained to his uttermost the suffrage movement, and
his charming little wife, the daughter of Mrs. Pochin, is worthy
the noble mother who was among the earliest leaders on this
question, speaking and writing with equal ability on all phases of
the subject. Barn Elms is a grand old estate, a few miles out of
London. It was the dairy farm of Queen Elizabeth, and pre-
sented by her to Sir Francis Walsingham. Since then it has been
inhabited by many persons of note. It has existed as an estate
since the time of the early Saxon Kings, and the record of the
sale of Barn Elms in the time of King Athelston is still extant.
What with its well-kept lawns, fine old trees, and glimpses here
and there of the Thames winding round its borders, and its wealth
of old associations, it is indeed a charming spot. Our mem-
ory of those days will not go back to Saxon Kings, but remain
59
930 History of Woman Suffrage.
with the liberal host and hostess, the beautiful children and the
many charming acquaintances we met at that fireside. I doubt
whether any of the ancient lords and ladies who dispensed their
hospitalities under that roof, did in any way surpass the present
occupants. Mrs. McLaren, interested in all the reforms of the
day, is radical in her ideas, a brilliant talker, and, for one so young,
remarkably well informed on all political questions. One thing
is certain, those old walls never echoed to more rebellious talk
.among women against existing conditions,* than on that evening.
It was at Barn Elms I met for the first time Mrs. Fannie Hertz,
to whom I was indebted for many pleasant acquaintances after-
wards. She is said to know more distinguished literary people
than any other woman in London. I saw her, too, several times
in her own cozy home, meeting at her Sunday-afternoon recep-
tions many persons I was desirous to know. On one occasion I
found George Jacob Holyoake there, surrounded by a bevy of
young ladies, all stoutly defending the Nihilists in Russia, and
their right to plot their way to freedom ; they counted a dynasty
of Czars as nothing in the balance with the liberties of a whole
people. As I joined the circle Mr. Holyoake called my attention
to the fact that he was the only one in favor of peaceful measures
among all those ladies. " Now," said he, " I have often heard it
said on your platform, that the feminine element in politics
would bring about perpetual peace in government, and here all
these ladies are advocating the worst forms of violence in the
name of liberty." " Ah," said I, " lay on their shoulders the re-
sponsibility of governing, and they would soon become as mild
and conservative as you seem to be." He then gave us his views
on cooperation, the only remedy for many existing evils, which
he thought would be the next step toward a higher civilization.
There, too, I met some Positivists, who, though quite reason-
able on religious questions, were very narrow on the sphere of
* After dinner, while the gentlemen still lingered at the table, the ladies being alone, an unusual
amount of heresy as to the rights of " the divinely appointed head of the house " found expression. A
young English-woman, who had been brought up in great retirement, turned to me and said, " I never
heard such declarations before ; do you ladies all xeally believe that God intended men and women to
_nd yo__ . „
the injustice to which you have been subjected. Now," said I, " think a little, and see if you can re-
call no sense of dissatisfaction at the broad difference made between your sisters and brothers."
" Well," said she, " I did often wonder why father gave the boys half a crown a week for spending
money, and us girls a few pence ; why so much thought and money were expended on their education,
and so little on ours ; but as 1 saw that that was the custom everywhere, I came to the conclusion that
they were a superior order of beings, and so thought no more about it, and I never heard that theory
contradicted until this evening."
The House of Commons. 931
woman. The difference in sex, which is the very reason why
men and women should be associated in all spheres of activity,
they make the strongest reason why they should be separated.
Mrs. Hertz belongs to the Harrison school of Positivists. I went
with her to one of Mrs. Orr's receptions, where we met Robert
Browning, a fine looking gentleman of seventy years, with white
hair and mustache. He is frank, easy, playful, and a good talker.
Mrs. Orr seemed to be taking a very pessimistic view of our pres-
ent sphere of action, which Mr. Browning, with poetic coloring,
was trying to paint more hopeful.
The next day I dined with Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, in
company with Mr. John P. Thomasson, member of parliament,
and his wife, and afterwards we went to the House of Commons
and had the good fortune to hear Gladstone, Parnell, and Sir
Charles Dilke. Seeing Bradlaugh seated outside the charmed
circle, I sent my card to him, and in the corridor we had a few
moments' conversation. I asked him if he thought he would
eventually get his seat ; he replied, " Most assuredly I will. I
shall open the next campaign with such an agitation as will rouse
our politicians to some consideration of the changes gradually
coming over the face of things in this country."
The place assigned ladies in the House of Commons is really a
disgrace to a country ruled by an Empress. This dark perch is
the highest gallery immediately over the speaker's desk and gov-
ernment seats, behind a fine wire-work, so that it is quite impos-
sible to see or hear anything. The sixteen persons who can
crowd in the front seat, by standing with their noses partly
through some open work, can have the satisfaction of seeing the
cranial arch of their rulers, and hearing an occasional pean to
liberty, or an Irish growl at the lack of it. I was told this net
work was to prevent the members on the floor from being dis-
turbed by the beauty of the women. On hearing this I remarked
that I was devoutly thankful that our American men were not so
easily disturbed, and that the beauty of our women was not of so
•dangerous a character.
I could but contrast our spacious galleries in that magnificent
capitol at Washington, as well as in our grand State capitols,
where hundreds of women can sit to see and hear their rulers at
their ease, with these dark, dingy buildings, and such inadequate
accommodations for the people. My son, who had a seat on the
floor just opposite the ladies' gallery, said he could compare our
93 2 History of Woman Suffrage.
appearance to nothing better than birds in a cage. He could not
distinguish an outline of anybody. All he could see was the
moving of feathers and furs, or some bright ribbon or flower.
In the libraries, the courts, and the House of Lords, I found
many suggestive subjects of thought. Our American inventions
seem to furnish them cases for litigation. A suit in regard to
Singer's sewing machine was just then occupying the attention
of the Lord Chancellor. Not feeling much interest in the matter,
I withdrew and joined my friends, to examine some frescoes in
the ante-room. It was interesting to find so many historical
scenes in which women had taken a prominent part. Among
others, there is Jane Lane assisting Charles II. to escape, and
Alice Lisle concealing the fugitives after the battle of Sedgemoor.
Six wives of Henry VIII. stand forth a solemn pageant when one
recalls their sad fate. Alas! whether for good or ill, woman
must ever fill a large space in the tragedies of the world.
I passed a few pleasant hours in the house where Macaulay
spent his last years. The once spacious library and the large
bay window looking out on a beautiful lawn, where he sat from
day to day writing his flowing periods, possessed a peculiar charm
for me, as the surroundings of genius always do. I thought as I
stood there how often he had unconsciously gazed on each object
in sight in searching for words rich enough to gild his ideas.
The house is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen
Winckworth. It was at one of their sociable Sunday teas that
many pleasant memories of the great historian were revived.
.We went with Mrs. Lucas to a meeting of the Salvation army,
in Exeter Hall, which holds 5,000 people. It was literally packed
— not an inch of standing-room even, seemed to be unoccupied.
This remarkable movement was then at its height of enthusiasm
in England, and its leaders proposed to carry it round the world,
but it has never been so successful in any other latitude. They
not only hold meetings, but they march through the streets, men
and women, singing and pl'aying on tambourines. The exercises
on this occasion consisted of prayers, hymns, and exhortations by
Mr. and Mrs. Booth. When this immense audience all joined in
the chorus of their stirring songs, it was indeed very impressive.
The whole effect was like that of an old-fashioned Methodist re-
vival meeting. I purchased their paper, The War Cry, and
pasted it in my journal to show the wild vagaries to which the
human mind is subject. There is nothing too ridiculous or mon
Frances Power Cobbe. 933
strous to be done under the influence of religious enthusiasm. In
spite, however, of the ridicule attached to this movement, it is
at least an aspiration for that ignorant, impoverished multi-
tude. The first thing they were urged to do was to give up in-
toxicating drinks, and their vicious affiliations. If some other or-
ganization could -take hold of them at that point, to educate them
in the rudiments of learning and right living, and supplement
their emotions with a modicum of reason and common sense in
the practical affairs of life, much greater good might result from
this initiative step in the right direction.
One of the most remarkable and genial women we met was
Miss Frances Power Cobbe. She called one evening at 10 Duch-
ess street, and sipped with us the five o'clock cup of tea, a uni-
form practice in England. She is of medium height, stout, rosy,
and vigorous looking, with a large, well-shaped head, a strong,
happy face, and gifted with rare powers of conversation. I felt
very strongly attracted to her. She is frank and cordial and pro-
nounced in all her opinions. She gave us an account of her
efforts to rescue unhappy cats and dogs from the hands of the
vivisectionists. We saw her, too, in her own cozy home and in
her office in Victoria Row. The perfect order in which her books
and papers were all arranged, and the exquisite neatness of "the
apartments were refreshing to behold.
My daughter, having decided opinions of her own, was soon at
loggerheads with Miss Cobbe on the question of vivisection. Af-
ter showing us several German and French books with illustra-
tions of the horrible cruelty inflicted on cats and dogs, enlarging
on the hypocrisy and wickedness of these scientists, she turned
to my daughter and said, " Would you shake hands with one of
these vivisectionists?" "Yes," said Harriot, " I should be proud
to shake hands with Virchow, the great German scientist, for his
kindness to a young American girl. She applied to several pro-
fessors to be admitted to their classes, but all refused except
Virchow ; he readily assented, and requested his students to
treat her with becoming courtesy. 'If any of you behave other-
wise,' said he, ' I shall feel myself personally insulted.' She en-
tered his classes and pursued her studies unmolested and with
great success. Now," said she, "would you refuse to shake
hands with any of your statesmen, scientists, clergymen, lawyers
or physicians, who treat women with constant indignities and
insults?" "Oh, no"; said Miss Cobbe. "Then," said Mrs.
934 History of Woman Suffrage.
Blatch, "you estimate the physical suffering of cats and dogs as
of more consequence than the humiliation of human beings.
The man who tortures a cat for a scientific purpose is not as low
in the scale of being, in my judgment, as one who sacrifices his
own daughter to some cruel custom." Though Miss Cobbe
weighs over two hundred pounds, she is as light on foot as a
deer and is said to be a great walker. After seeing her I read
again some of her books. Her theology now and then evi-
dently cramps her, yet her style is vigorous, earnest, sarcastic,
though at times playful and pathetic. In regard to her theology,
she says she is too liberal to please her orthodox friends and
too orthodox to please the liberals, hence in religion she stands
quite solitary.
Suffering from the effects of the prolonged fogs, we took our
letters of introduction from Dr. Bayard of New York to the two
leading high-dilution homeopathic physicians in London, Drs.
Wilson and Berridge. We found the former a good talker and
very original. WTe were greatly amused with his invectives
against the quacks in the profession; the "mongrels," as he
called the low dilutionists. The first question he asked my
daughter was if she wore high heels ; he said he would not at-
tempt to cure any woman of any disease so long as she was
perched on her toes with her spine out of plumb. His advice to
me was to get out of the London fogs as quickly as possible.
No one who has not suffered a London fog can imagine the
terrible gloom that pervades everywhere. One can see noth-
ing out of the windows but a dense black smoke. Drivers
carry flambeaux in the streets to avoid running into each
other. The houses are full ; the gas burns all day, but you can
scarcely see across the room ; theaters and places of amusement
are sometimes closed, as nothing can be seen distinctly. We
called on Dr. Berridge, also, thinking it best to make the
acquaintance of both that we might decide from their general
appearance, surroundings, conversation and comparative intelli-
gence, which one we would prefer to trust in an emergency. We
found both alike so promising that we felt we could trust either
to give us our quietus, if die we must, on the high dilutions. It
is a consolation to know that one's closing hours at least are
passed in harmony with the principles of pure science. On
further acquaintance we found these gentlemen true disciples of
the great Hahneman.
Harriet Martineaiis Home. 935
As we were just then reading Froude's " Life of Carlyle," we
drove by the house where he lived and paused a moment at the
door, where poor Jennie went in and out so often with a heavy
heart. It is a painful record of a great soul struggling with
poverty and disappointment ; the hope of success as an author
so long deferred and never wholly realized. His foolish pride of
independence and headship, and his utter obliviousness as to his
domestic duties and the comfort of his wife, made the picture
still darker. Poor Jennie, fitted to shine in any circle, yet
doomed all her married life to domestic drudgery, with no asso-
ciations with the great man for whose literary companionship she
had sacrificed herself. It adds greatly to one's interest in Scott,
Dickens, Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, Bulwer, James and George
Eliot, to read them amidst the scenes where they lived and died.
Thus in my leisure hours, after the fatigues of sight-seeing and
visiting, I re-read many of these authors near the places where
they spent their last days on earth.
As I had visited Ambleside forty years before and seen Har-
riet Martineau in her prime, I did not go with Miss Anthony to
Lake Windermere. She found the well-known house occupied
by Mr. William Henry Hills, a liberal Quaker named after Wil-
liam Henry Channing. Mrs. Hills received the party with great
hospitality, showed them through all the apartments and pointed
out the charming views from the windows. They paused a
few moments reverently in the chamber where . that grand
woman had passed her last triumphant days on earth. On the
kitchen hearth was still sitting her favorite cat, sixteen years
old, the spots in her yellow and black fur as marked as ever.
Puss is the observed'of all observers who visit that sacred shrine,
and it is said she seems specially to enjoy the attention of
strangers. From here Miss Anthony drove round Grasmere, the
romantic home of Wordsworth, wandered through the old church,
sat in the pew he so often occupied and lingered near the last
resting-place of the great poet. As the former residence of the
anti-slavery agitator, Thomas Clarkson, was on Ulswater, another
of the beautiful lakes in that region, Miss Anthony extended her
excursion still further and learned from the people many pleasing;
characteristics of these celebrated personages. On her way to
Ireland she stopped at Ulverston and visited Miss Hannah
Goad, who was a descendant of the founder of Quakerism,
George Fox. She was in the old house in which he was married.
936 History of Woman Suffrage.
to Margaret Fell and where they lived many years ; attended the
quaint little church where he often spoke from the high seats,
looked through his well-worn Bible, and the minutes of their
monthly meetings, kept by Margaret Fell two centuries ago.
Returning to London we attended one of Miss Biggs' recep-
tions and among others met Mr. Stansfeld, M. P., who had
labored faithfully for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases acts,
and in a measure been successful. We had the honor of an
interview with Lord Shaftsbury at one of his crowded receptions,
and found him a little uncertain as to the wisdom of allowing
married women to vote, for fear of disturbing the peace of the
family. I have often wondered if men see in this objection what
fatal admissions they make as to their own selfishness and love
of domination.
Miss Anthony was present at the great Liberal conference at
Leeds on October 17, to which Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, Miss
Jane Cobden, Mrs. Tanner, Mrs. Scatcherd and several other
ladies were duly elected delegates from their respective Liberal
leagues, and occupied seats on the floor. Mrs. Clark and
Miss Cobden, daughters of the great Corn-law reformers,
spoke eloquently in favor of the resolution to extend parlia-
mentary suffrage to women, which was presented by Walter
McLaren of Bradford. As these young women made their im-
passioned appeals for the recognition of woman's political
equality in the next bill for the extension of suffrage, that im-
mense gathering of 1, 600 delegates was hushed into profound
silence. For a daughter to speak thus in that great representa-
tive convention in direct opposition to her loved and honored
father, the acknowledged leader of that party, was an act of
heroism and fidelity to her own highest convictions almost with-
out a parallel in English history, and the effect on the audience
was as thrilling as it was surprising. The resolution was passed
by a large majority. At the reception given to Mr. John Bright
that evening, as Mrs. Clark approached the dais on which her
:noble father stood shaking the hands of passing friends, she re-
marked to her husband, " I wonder if father has heard of my
speech this morning, and if he will forgive me for thus publicly
differing with him?" The query was soon answered. As he
caught the first glimpse of his daughter he stepped down and,
pressing her hand affectionately, kissed her with a fond father's
warmth on either cheek in turn. The next evening the great
John Bright. 937
Quaker statesman was heard by the admiring thousands who
could crowd into Victoria Hall, while thousands, equally de-
sirous to hear, failed to get tickets of admission. It was a
magnificent sight, and altogether a most impressive gathering of
the people. Miss Anthony with her friends sat in the gallery
opposite the great platform, where they had a fine view of the
whole audience. When John Bright, escorted by Sir Wilfred
Lawson, took his seat, the immense audience rose, waving hats
and handkerchiefs and with the wildest enthusiasm giving cheer
after cheer in honor of the great leader. Sir Wilfred Lawson in
his introductory remarks facetiously alluded to the resolution
adopted by the conference as somewhat in advance of the ideas
of the speaker of the evening. The house broke into roars of
laughter, while the father of Liberalism, perfectly convulsed,
joined in the general merriment.
But when at length his time to speak had come, and Mr. Bright
went over the many steps of progress that had been taken by the
Liberal party, he cunningly dodged all in the direction of the
emancipation of the women of England. He skipped round the
agitation in 1867 and John Stuart Mill's amendment presented
at that time in the House of Commons; the extension of the
municipal suffrage in 1869; the participation of women in the
establishment of national schools under the law of 1870, both as
voters and members of school-boards; the Married Woman's
Property bill of 1882; the large and increasing vote for the ex-
tension of parliamentary suffrage in the House of Commons, and
the adoption of the resolution by that great conference the day
before. All these successive steps towards woman's emancipa-
tion he carefully remembered to forget.
During Miss Anthony's stay in Leeds she and her cousin, Dr.
Fannie Dickinson, were guests of Mrs. Hannah Ford at Adel
Grange, an old and lovely suburban home, where she met many
interesting women, members of the school-board, poor-law guard-
ians and others. The three daughters of Mrs. Ford, though pos-
sessed of ample incomes, have each a purpose in life ; one had
gathered hundreds of factory girls into evening schools, where she-
taught them to cut and make their garments, as well as to read and
write ; one was an artist and the third a musician, having studied
in London and Florence. It was during this ever-to-bc-renu-m-
bered week that Miss Anthony, escorted by Mrs. Ford, visited
Haworth, the bleak and lonely home of the Brontes. It wa- .1
938 History of Woman Suffrage.
dark, drizzly October day, intensifying all the gloomy memories
of the place. She sat in the old church pew where those shiver--
ing girls endured such discomforts through the fearful services,
with their benumbed feet on the very stone slab that from time
to time was taken up to deposit in the earth beneath their loved
dead ! She was shown through the house, paused at the place
under the stairs where the imperial Shirley had her fierce encoun-
ter with that almost human dog, Keeper ; she stood in the draw-
ing-room where the sainted three sisters, arm-in-arm, paced up
and down plotting their weird stories. She walked through the
same old gate, on the same single stone pavement and over the
same stile out into the same heather fields, gazing on the same
dreary sky above and the same desolate earth on every side.
She dined in the same old " Black Bull "; sat in poor Branwell's
chair and was served by the same person who dealt out the drinks
to that poor unfortunate — then a young bar-maid, now the aged
proprietor.
Miss Anthony crossed from Barrow to Belfast, where she was
given a most cordial reception at the house of one of Ireland's
distinguished orators, Miss Isabella M. Tod, who took her to one
of her Ulster temperance meetings at Garvah, where they were
the guests of Rev. Thomas Medill, a cousin of the distinguished
Chicago editor. There, as Miss Anthony listened to the prayers
and exhortations of the Presbyterian ministers and to the argu-
ments of Miss Tod, and heard no appeals to the audience to join
in the work of suppressing the traffic, a realizing sense of the
utter powerlessness of the queen's subjects in Ireland dawned
upon her for the first time. In all that crowd there was not one
who had any voice in the decision of that question. The entire
control of the matter rested with three magistrates appointed by
the queen, who are in nowise responsible to the tax-paying
people to whom they administer the laws. Had Miss Tod been
addressing an American audience, she would have appealed to
every man to vote only for candidates pledged to no-license.
From Garvah they made a pilgrimage to the Giant's Causeway.
Miss Anthony had, when at Oban, visited Fingal's Cave, and the
two wonders that always fix themselves upon the imagination of
the youthful student of the world's geography fully matched her
expectations.
At Dublin she visited the Castle, the old parliament building,
now a bank; Kings and Queens College, that gives diplomas to
Killarney. 939
women ; the parks, the cemeteries, the tomb of Daniel O'Connell.
She attended a meeting of the common council, of which Alfred
Webb, the only surviving son of the old abolitionist, Richard D.
Webb, was a member, and there she listened to a discussion on
a petition to the queen that the people of Dublin might be
allowed to elect their own tax-collector instead of having one
placed over them by " the powers that be" at London, as the
official thus appointed had just proved a defaulter. In listening
to the outrages perpetrated upon a helpless people by foreign
officials, the one wonder to her was, not that so many of Ireland's
sons are discontented, but that they are not in open rebellion.
There Miss Anthony made the acquaintance of numbers of
excellent Friends,* and with Mrs. Haslam visited their large free
library and attended their First-day meeting. In Dublin, too,
she met Michael Davitt, who seemed to her a most sincere cham-
pion of liberty for himself and his people. Miss Anthony spent
a week with Mr. and Mrs. Haslam in Cork, visiting Blarney
Castle, the old walled city of Youghal with its crumbling
Quaker meeting-house and fine old mansion in which Sir Walter
Raleigh lived, and thence to the beautiful Lakes of Killarney,
and in a jaunting-car through the evicted tenants' district, enter-
ing the hovels and talking with the inmates. The sad stories
poured into her ears, and the poverty and wretchedness she saw,
proved to her that none of Mr. Redpath's revelations, so shock-
ing to the humanity of our people, were in the least over-drawn.
The circuit through Limerick, Galway, Clifton and Belfast was
made in third-class cars, that she might talk with the people
of the working class. This was the season for their county
fairs, which gave her an opportunity to see the farmers driving
their cattle and taking their meagre products to the fair. The
women and girls were uniformly barefooted, while some of the
men and boys wore shoes. In reply to her query why this was
so, one man said, " It is all we can do to get shoes for them as
airnes the money." The same old story ; woman's work, how-
ever arduous, brings no price in the market.
While in London we attended several large and enthusiastic
reform meetings. We heard Bradlaugh address his constituency
on that memorable day at Trafalgar Square, at the opening of
* Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Haslam, Mr. Wigham, brother of Eli«a Wigham. and hi% cul-
tured wife"; Hannah Webb, the daughter of Richard, and Thomas Webb and daughter-, in whose ol
family-record book of visitors she was shown the autograph* of William Lloyd Oarruon and Nathaniel
P. Rogers over the date of 1840.
94-O History of Woman Suffrage.
parliament, when violence was anticipated and the parliament
houses were surrounded by immense crowds, with the military
and police in large numbers to maintain order. We heard Michael
Davitt and Miss Helen Taylor at a great meeting in Exeter Hall,
the former on home-rule for Ireland, and the latter on the nation-
alization of land, showing that in ancient times the people had
many privileges long since denied. They even had forests and
commons and the road-side, where their cows, sheep and geese
could glean something. The facts and figures given in these two
lectures as to the abject poverty of the people and the cruel
system by which every inch of land had been grabbed by their
oppressors, were indeed appalling. A few days before sailing we
made our last visit to Ernestine L. Rose and found our noble
coadjutor, though in delicate health, pleasantly situated in the
heart of London, as deeply interested as ever in the struggles of
the hour.
Dining one day with Mrs. Lucas, we were forcibly impressed
with the growing liberality of people of all shades of belief and
of all professions. The guests on that occasion were Mrs. Hal-
lock, sister-in-law of Robert Dale Owen, thoroughly imbued with
his religious and social ideas ; Dr. Mary J. Hall, the only woman
practicing homeopathy in England ; Miss Henrietta Miiller,
member of the London school-board ; Miss Clara Spence, a
young actress from America, who gave us some fine recitations ;
and such liberals in politics and religion as Mrs. Stanton Blatch
and myself, while our hostess was an orthodox Friend. How-
ever we were all agreed on one point, the right of women to full
equality everywhere. In the evening we went to see Mrs. Hal-
lock's daughter, Ella Deitz, in the play of " Impulse." We urged
Mrs. Lucas to accompany us, but she said she had never been to
a theater in her life.
A great discomfort in all English homes is the cold draughts
through their halls and unoccupied rooms. A moderate fire in
the grates in the family apartments is their only mode of heat-
ing, and they seem quite oblivious as to the danger of throwing
a door open into a cold hall on one's back while the servants
pass in and out with the various courses at dinner. As \vc
Americans were sorely tried under such circumstances, it was de-
cided in the Basingstoke mansion to have a hall stove, which,
after a prolonged search, was found in London and duly installed
as a presiding deity to defy the dampness that pervades all those
York Cathedral. 94 1
ivy-covered habitations, as well as the neuralgia that wrings
their possessors. What a blessing it proved, more than any
one thing making the old English house seem like an American
home ! The delightful summer hea£ we in America enjoy in the
coldest weather is quite unknown to our Saxon cousins. Al-
though many came to see our stove in full working order, yet we
could not persuade them to adopt the American system of heat-
ing the whole house at an even temperature. They cling to the
customs of their fathers with an obstinacy that is incompre-
hensible to us, who are always ready to try experiments. Ameri-
cans complain bitterly of the same freezing experiences in France
and Germany, and in turn foreigners all criticise our over-heated
houses and places of amusement.
An evening reception at Mrs. Richardson's, in the city of York,
gave us an opportunity of a personal greeting with a large circle
of ladies identified with the suffrage movement, and a large
public meeting the next day in the Town Hall enabled us to
judge still further of the merits of English women as speakers.
Here I was entertained by Mrs. Lucretia Kendall Clarke, an
American, who had spent five years as a student in Dresden,
where she made the acquaintance of Mr. Clarke. It is said in
England that the American girls capture all the choice young
men ; that our rich cattle-dealers get all their best horses, cows,
sheep, dogs, and that in time we shall rob them of all that is best
in the country. One thing is certain, we shall always regret our
hospitable invitation to the sparrows, as they are making war on
our native birds instead of fulfilling their mission to the " Diet of
Worms." In company with Mrs. Scatcherd we spent an hour in
that magnificent York cathedral, said to be one of the finest in
England. Being there at the time for service we had the benefit
of the music. To us, lost in admiration of the wonderful archi-
tecture and the beautiful carving in wood and stone, the solemn
strains of the organ reverberating through those vast arches made
the whole scene very impressive. As women in many of the
churches are not permitted to take part in the sacred ceremonies,
the choir is composed of men, and boys from ten to fifteen \\h«>
sing the soprano and alto. But these old ideas, like the old
Roman wall that still surrounds that city, time only can remove.
We had a merry trip from York to London. Miss M Ciller,
Mrs. Chant, Mrs. Shearer, Miss Stackpole, in our compartment,
discussed freely the silly objections to woman's enfranchisement
942 History of Woman Suffrage.
usually made by our legislators. We found on comparing notes
that the arguments usually made were the same in the House of
Commons as in the halls of Congress. If the honorable gentle-
men could only have heard their stale platitudes with good imi-
tations in voice and manner, I doubt whether they would ever
again air their absurdities. I regretted that our Caroline Gilkey
Rogers had not been there to have given her admirable imper-
sonation of a Massachusetts legislator.
A few days later I attended another meeting in Birmingham
and stayed with a relative of Joseph Sturge, at whose home I had
visited forty years before. This was called to discuss the degra-
dation of women under the Contagious Diseases acts. Led by
Josephine Butler, the women of England have been deeply
stirred on the question of repeal, and are very active in their
opposition to the law. We heard Mrs. Butler speak in many of
her society meetings, as well as on several public occasions. Her
style is not unlike that we hear in Methodist class-meetings from
the best cultivated of that sect ; her power grows out of her
deeply religious enthusiasm.
In London we met Emily Faithful, who had just returned
from a lecturing-tour in the United States, and were much
amused with her experiences. Having taken prolonged trips
over the whole country from Maine to Texas for many succes-
sive years, Miss Anthony and I could easily add the superlative
to all her narrations. She dined with us one day at Mrs. Mel-
len's, where we also had the pleasure of meeting Miss Jane
Cobden, a daughter of the great Corn-law reformer, who was
much interested in forming Liberal leagues, to encourage the
Liberal party and interest women in the political questions under
consideration. She passed a day with us at Basingstoke, and
together we visited Mrs. Caird, the author of " Whom Nature
Leadeth," an interesting story of English life. I found the
author a charming woman, but in spite of the title I really could
not find one character in the three volumes that seemed to fol-
low the teachings of nature.
Two weeks again in London, visiting picture-galleries, museums,
libraries, going' to teas, dinners, receptions, concerts, theaters and
reform-meetings ; it is enough to turn one's head to think of all
the different clubs and associations managed by women. It was
a source of constant pleasure to me to drive about in hansoms
and try to take in the vastness of that wonderful city ; to see the
Mrs. Peter Taylor. 943
beautiful equipages, fine saddle-horses and riders and the skill
with which the bycicles were so rapidly engineered through the
crowded streets. The general use of bicycles and tricycles all over
England, even for long journeys, is fast becoming the favorite
mode of locomotion both for ladies and gentlemen.
It was a pleasant surprise to meet the large number of Ameri-
cans usually at the receptions of Mrs. Peter Taylor.* Graceful
and beautiful in full dress, standing beside her husband, who
evidently idolizes her, Mrs. Taylor appeared quite as refined in
her drawing-room as if she had never been " exposed to the
public gaze," while presiding over a suffrage convention. Mr.
Peter Taylor, M. P., has been untiring in his endeavors to get a
bill through parliament against "compulsory vaccination." Mrs.
Taylor is called the mother of the suffrage movement. The
engraving of her sweet face which adorns the English chapter
will give the reader a good idea of her character. The reform
has not been carried on in all respects to her taste, nor on what
she considers the basis of high principle. Neither she nor Mrs.
Jacob Bright has ever been satisfied with the bill asking the
right of suffrage for "widows and spinsters" only. To have
asked this right " for all women duly qualified," as but few mar-
ried women are qualified by possessing property in their own
right, the result would have been substantially the same
without making any invidious distinctions. Mrs. Taylor and
Mrs. Bright felt that as married women were the greatest
sufferers under the law, they should be the first rather
than the last to be enfranchised. The others, led by Miss
Becker, claimed that it was good policy to make the demand for
" spinsters and widows," and thus exclude the " family unit " and
" man's headship " from the discussion ; and yet these were the
very points on which the objections were invariably based.
They claimed that if " spinsters and widows " were enfranchised
they would be an added power to secure to married women their
rights. But the history of the past gives no such assurance.
It is not certain that women would be more just than men, and
a small privileged class of aristocrats have long governed their
fellow-countrymen. The fact that the spinsters in the movement
advocated such a bill shows that they are not to be trusted in
* On one occasion I counted fourteen : Miss Risley Seward, Mr*. Louise Chandler Moulton. Mr»,
Laura Curtis Bullard, Miss Rachel Foster, Mrs. William Mellen and two loni and daughters, Mr.
Theodore Tilton. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Stanton Blatch and myself.
944 History of Woman Suffrage.
extending it. John Stuart Mill, too, was always opposed to the
exclusion of married women in the demand for suffrage.
If our English friends had our system of conventions and
discussions in which every resolution is subject to criticism,
changes could be more readily effected. But as their meetings
are now conducted, a motion to amend a resolution would throw
the platform into the wildest confusion and hopelessly bewilder
the chairman. We saw this experiment made at the great
demonstration in St. James' Hall the night before Mr. Mason's
bill was to be acted on in the House of Commons. For its effect
on their champions some were desirous that a resolution should
be endorsed by that great audience proposing higher ground ;
that instead of " spinsters and widows," the demand should be
for " all duly qualified women." After the reading of one of the
resolutions Miss Jessie Craigen arose and proposed such an amend-
ment. Mr. Woodhall, M. P., in the chair, seemed quite at a loss
what to do. She was finally, after mnch debate and prolonged
confusion, suppressed, whether in a parliamentary manner or not
I am unable to say. Here we should have discussed the matter
at length if it had taken us until midnight, or adjourned over
until next day, " the spinsters and widows " having been the
target for all our barbed arrows until completely annihilated.
Spending two months in traveling on the continent, Miss
Anthony had many amusing experiences. While visiting our
minister and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Sargent, at Berlin, she occu-
pied some rainy days, when sight-seeing was out of the question,
in doing up papers and writing a large number of letters on our
official paper, bearing the revolutionary mottoes, " No just gov-
ernment can be formed without the consent of the governed,"
"Taxation without representation is tyranny." For a brief
period she was in the full enjoyment of that freedom one has
when, a pressing duty to family and friends has been thoroughly
discharged. But alas ! her satisfaction was soon turned to
disappointment. After a few days a dignified official ap-
peared at the American Legation with a large package bearing
the proscribed mottoes, saying, "such sentiments cannot pass
through the post-office in Germany." So all that form of prop-
agandism was nipped in the bud, and in modest, uncomplaining
wraps the letters and papers started again for the land of the
free and reached their destination.
But this experience did not satisfy the " Napoleon of our
Religious Persecutions. 945
movement " that the rulers in the old world could securely guard
their subjects from those inflammable mottoes to which from
long use we are so indifferent. She continued to sow the
seeds of rebellion as she had opportunity, in Germany, France,
Switzerland and Italy. It is well for us that she did not experi-
ment in Russia, or we should now be mourning her loss as an
exile in Siberia. At all points of interest books are kept for
visitors to register their names ; Miss Anthony uniformly added
some of our Pilgrim Fathers' heroic ejaculations in their struggle
for liberty, which friends visiting the same places afterwards in-
formed us were carefully crossed out so as to be quite illegible.
But we may hope for their restoration in the near future and
that they may yet do an effective work. Thus circumscribed
with her pen and not being able to speak a foreign language,
happily no rebellions were fomented by her rapid transit through
their borders.
My sense of justice was severely tried with all I heard of the
persecutions of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh for their publica-
tions on the right and duty of parents to limit population. Who
can contemplate the sad condition of multitudes of young chil-
dren jn the old world whose fate is to be brought up in ignorance
and vice — a swarming, seething mass whom nobody owns — with-
out seeing the need of free discussion of the philosophical prin-
ciples that underlie these tangled social problems. The trials
of Foote and Ramsey, too, for blasphemy, seemed unworthy a
great nation in the nineteenth century. Think of well-educated
men of good moral standing, thrown into prison in solitary con-
finement for speaking lightly of the Hebrew idea of Jehovah and
the New Testament account of the birth of Jesus! Our Protest-
ant clergy never hesitate to make the dogmas and superstitions
of the Catholic church seem as absurd as possible, and why
should not those who imagine they have outgrown Protestant
superstitions make them equally ridiculous? Whatever is true
can stand investigation and ridicule.
The last of April, when the wild-flowers were in their glory,
Mrs. Mellen and her lovely daughter, Daisy, came down to
Basingstoke to enjoy its beauty. As Mrs. Mellen had knou n
Charles Kingsley and entertained him at her residence in Colo-
rado, she felt a desire to see his former home. Accordingly, one
bright morning Mr. Blatch drove us through Stralficldsagc over
the grounds of the Duke of Wellington, well stocked with fine
60
946 History of Woman Suffrage.
cattle, sheep and deer. This magnificent place was given him by
the English government after the battle of Waterloo. A lofty
statue of the duke that can be seen for miles around stands at
the entrance. A drive of a few miles further brought us to
Eversley, the home of Canon Kingsley, where he preached many
years and where all that is mortal of him now lies buried. We
wandered through the old church, among the moss-covered tomb-
stones and into the once happy home, now silent and deserted,
his loved ones scattered in different quarters of the globe. Stand-
ing near the last resting-place of the author of " Hypatia," his
warning words for woman, in a letter to John Stuart Mill, seemed
like a voice from the clouds, saying with new inspiration and
power, "This will never be a good world for woman until the last
remnant of the canon law is civilized off the face of the earth."
Mrs. Mellen's spacious home in Pembroke Gardens, Kensing-
ton, was thrown open for her American friends in London to
celebrate the Fourth of July. A large number of our English
acquaintances were also present, who very kindly congratulated
us on the stirring events of that day in 1776. Of the Ameri-
cans assembled, many contributed to the general entertain-
ment. Grace Greenwood, Miss Rachel Foster, Miss Kate
Hillard and Miss Mildred Conway gave recitations. Miss Lip-
pincott, daughter of Grace Greenwood, sang some fine operatic
music ; Mrs. Carpenter of Chicago sang sweetly, playing her own
accompaniment ; Mr. Frank Lincoln gave some of his amusing
impersonations; Miss Maud Powell of Chicago, only fourteen
years of age, who had been taking lessons in France and Ger-
many for some years, played exquisite airs on the violin ; Mrs.
Flora Stark, Miss Alice Blatch and Miss Conway gave us some
fine classical music on the piano , and Nathaniel Mellen sang
some pathetic negro melodies.* Altogether it was a pleasant
occasion and I felt quite proud of the varied talents manifested
by our young people. Some English friends remarked on their
cleverness and readiness, all spontaneously called out without any
time for preparation.
We heard Mr. Fawcett speak to his Hackney constituents at
* Aside from those already mentioned were William Henry Channing, L. N. Fowler, the phrenolo-
gist, and his daughter; Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Slanton, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, Miss
Anthony, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Phillips, several members from the Bright, the McLaren and
the Cobden families, Mrs. Conway, Miss Emily Faithful, Mr William Henry Blatch, Mr. Stark, the
artist ; Philip Marston, the blind poet ; Miss Orme and Miss Richardson, attorneys-at-law ; Judge
Kelley, wife and daughter Florence, Miss Lydia Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs and sisters, Miss Julia
Osgood.
Miss Mary Priestman. 947
one of his campaign meetings. In the course of his remarks he
mentioned with evident favor as one of the coming measures the
disestablishment of the church, and was greeted with loud
applause. Soon after he spoke of woman suffrage as another
question demanding consideration, but this was received with
laughter and jeers, although the platform was crowded with ad-
vocates of the measure, among whom were the wife of the speaker
and her sister, Dr. Garrett Anderson, who sat just behind him.
The audience were evidently in favor of releasing themselves
from being taxed to support the church, forgetting that women
were taxed also not only to support the church, in which they
had no voice, but the State, too, with its army and navy. Mr.
Fawcett was not an orator, but a simple, straightforward speaker.
He made but one gesture, striking his right clenched fist into the
palm of the left hand at the close of all his strongest assertions;
but being sound and liberal, he was a great favorite with his con-
stituents.
A pleasant trip southward through Bath to Bristol brought us
to the home of the Misses Priestman and Mrs. Tanner, sisters-in-
law of John Bright. I had stayed at their father's house forty
years before, so we felt like old friends. I found them all charm-
ing, liberal women, and we enjoyed a few days together, talking
over our mutual struggles, and admiring the beautiful scenery for
which that part of the country is quite celebrated. The women
of England were just then organizing political clubs, and I was
invited to speak before the one in Bristol. They are composed
of men and women alike, for the discussion of all political
questions. The next day I spoke to women alone in the church
on the Bible view of woman's creation and destiny. It is strange
that those who pretend to be well-versed in Scripture do not
see that the simultaneous creation of man and woman and the
complete equality of the sexes are as clearly taught in the first
chapter of Genesis as the reverse is in the allegorical garden-
scene in the second. The drive over the suspension-bridge by
moonlight to dine with Mrs. Garnet, a sister of John Thomasson,
M. P., was a pleasant episode to public speaking and more serious
conversation. There, too, we had an evening reception. There
is an earnestness of purpose among English women that is very
encouraging under the prolonged disappointments reformers in-
evitably suffer, There is something so determined and heroic in
what Mary Priestman does and says that one would readily fol-
948 History of Woman Suffrage.
low her through all dangers. It added much to my comfort in
this visit to have an escort in Mrs. Lucas.
Later Miss Anthony visited Bristol and had a complimentary
reception at the Misses Priestman's. She was the guest of Miss
Mary Estlin, who had spent some time in America, a dear friend
of Sarah Pugh and Parker Pillsbury. Miss Estlin was from home
during my visit, so that I did not see her while in England. The
order of English homes among the wealthy classes is very enjoy-
able. All goes on from year to year with the same servants, the
same surroundings, no changes, no moving, no building even;
in delightful contrast with our periodical upheavings, always un-
certain where we shall go next, or how long our main dependents
will stand by us.
From Bristol we went to Greenbank to visit Mrs. Helen Bright
Clark, a daughter of the great orator. In the evening the parlors
were crowded, and I was asked to give an account of the suffrage
movement in America. Some clergymen questioned me in re-
gard to the Bible position of woman, whereupon I gave quite an
exposition of its general principles in favor of liberty and
equality. As two quite distinct lines of argument can be woven
out of those pages on any subject, on this occasion I selected all
the most favorable texts for justice to woman, and closed by stat-
ing the limits of its authority. Mrs. Clarke, though thoroughly
in sympathy with the views I had expressed, feared lest my
very liberal utterances might have shocked some of the strictest
of the laymen and clergy. " Well," I said, " if we who do see the
absurdities of the old superstitions never unveil them to others,
how is the world to make any progress in the theologies ? I am
now in the sunset of life, and I feel it to be my special mission
to tell people what they are not prepared to hear, instead of
echoing worn-out opinions." The result showed the wisdom of
my speaking out of my own soul. To the surprise of Mrs. Clark,
the primitive Methodist clergyman called on Sunday morning to
invite me to occupy his pulpit in the afternoon and present the
same line of thought I had the previous evening. I accepted his
invitation. He led the services and I took my text from Gen-
esis i., 27, 28,. showing that man and woman were a simultaneous
creation, endowed with equal power in starting.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark I found very agreeable, progressive people,
with a nice family of boys and girls. Like all English children,
they suffered too much repression, while our American children
Reception in Princess1 Hall. 949
have too much latitude. If we could strike the happy medium
between the two systems, it would be a great benefit to the
children of both countries. The next day we drove down to see
Glastonbury cathedral. England is full of these beautiful ruins,
covered with flowers and ivy, but the saddest spectacles, with all
this fading glory, are the men, women and children whose naked-
ness neither man nor nature seeks to drape.
Returning to London we accepted an invitation to take tea
with Mrs. Jacob Bright. A choice circle of three it was,
and a large server of tempting viands was placed on a small
table before us. Mrs. Bright, in earnest conversation, had helped
us each to a cup of tea, and was turning to help us to something
more, when over went table and all, tea, bread and butter, cake,
strawberries and cream, silver, china, in one conglomerate mass.
Silence reigned. No one started ; no one said " Oh ! " Mrs.
Bright went on with what she was saying as if nothing unusual
had occurred, rang the bell, and when the servant appeared,
pointing to the debris, she said, " Charles, remove this." I was
filled with admiration at her coolness, and devoutly thankful that
we Americans maintained an equally dignified silence.
At a grand reception given in our honor by the National Cen-
tral Committee, in Princess' Hall, Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., pre-
sided and made an admirable opening speech, followed by his
sister, Mrs. McLaren, with a highly complimentary address of
welcome. By particular request Miss Anthony gave a presenta-
tion of the industrial, legal and political status of American
women ; while I set forth their educational, social and religious
limitations. Mr. John P. Thomasson, M. P., made the closing
address, expressing his satisfaction with the addresses of the
ladies and the progress made in both countries.*
Mrs. Thomasson, daughter of Mrs. Lucas, gave several de-
lightful evening parties,f receptions and dinners, some for ladies
alone, where an abundant opportunity was offered for a critical
analysis of the idiosyncracies of the superior sex, especially in
* Among the distinguished persons on the platform were France* Power Cobbe, Dr. Garrett Ander-
son, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Lucas. Mrs. Thomasson, Mrs. Margaret Parker.
Alice Scatcherd, Miss Becker, Miss Biggs, Mrs. Moore, Mr. and Mr*. Conway, O>car Wilde and hi*
queenly mother, Charles McLaren, M. P., Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Miss Helen Taylor, Mi« • >rn,.
Miiller, Miss Lord, Miss Foster, Mrs. and Miss Blatch, Mrs. Mellcn, Miss Tod of Belfast. Mr*. Che»-
son, daughter of George Thompson, the great anti-slavery orator, and very many other* whoM name*
we cannot recall.
we uuiiuui recall.
t Where we met Mrs. Fawcett, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Sir Hugh Staples, Mr. Mitchell, the MMM»
Stackpole and brothers, Madame Venturi, Miss Biggs and sisters. Miss France* Lord and her »i»tw, who
is doing a noble work in her kindergarten.
950 History of Woman Suffrage.
their political dealings with women. The patience of even such
heroic souls as Lydia Becker and Caroline Biggs was almost
exhausted with the tergiversations of members of the House of
Commons. Alas for the many fair promises broken, the hopes
deferred, the votes fully relied on and counted, all missing in the
hour of action. One crack of Mr. Gladstone's whip put a hun-
dred Liberals to flight in a twinkling, members whom these noble
women had spent years in educating. I never visited the House
of Commons that I did not see Miss Becker and Miss Biggs try-
ing to elucidate the fundamental principles of just government
to some of them. Verily their divine faith and patience merited
more worthy action on the part of their representatives.
We formed very pleasant friendships with Miss Frances Lord
and Miss Henrietta Miiller, spending several days with the latter
at 58 Cadogan square, and both alike visited us at different times
in Basingstoke. Miss Lord has translated some of Ibsen's plays
very creditably to herself, and, we understand, to the satisfaction
of the Swedish poet. Miss Lord is a cultured, charming woman,
attractive in society, and has a rare gift in conversation ; she is
rather shrinking in her feelings. Miss Miiller, her devoted friend, is
just the opposite; fearless, aggressive and self-centered. Miss Lord
discharged her duties as poor-law guardian faithfully, and Miss
Miiller, as member of the London school-board, claimed her rights
when infringed upon, and maintained the dignity of her position
with a good degree of tact and heroism. We met Miss White-
head, another poor-law guardian, at Miss Miiller's, and had a long-
talk on the sad condition of the London poor and the grand
work Octavia Hill had done among them. Miss Miiller read us a
paper on the dignity and office of single women. Her idea seems
to be very much like that expressed by St. Paul in his epistles,
that it is better for those who have a genius for public work in
the church or State not to marry; and Miss Miiller carries her
theory into practice thus far. She has a luxurious establishment
of her own, is fully occupied in politics and reform, and though
she lives by herself she entertains her friends generously, and
does whatever it seems good to her to do. As she is bright
and entertaining and has many worshipers, she may fall a victim
to the usual fate in spite of her admirable essay, which has been
printed in tract form and circulated extensively in England and
America. Miss Miiller gave Miss Anthony and myself a farewell
reception on the eve of our departure for America, when we had
At Alderly Edge.
the opportunity of meeting once more most of the pleasant ac-
quaintances we had made in London. Although it was an-
nounced for the afternoon, we did in fact receive all day as many
as could not come at the hour appointed. Dr. Elizabeth Black-
well took breakfast with us; Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Seville* and
Miss Lord were with us at luncheon ; Harriet Hosmer and Olive
Logan soon after ; Mrs. Peter Taylor later, and from three to six
o'clock the parlors were crowded.
Returning from London I passed my birthday, November 12,
in Basingstoke. It was a sad day to us all, knowing that it was
the last before my departure for America. When I imprinted
the farewell kiss on the soft cheek of little Nora in the cradle,
she in the dawn and I in the sunset of life, I realized how widely
the long years and the broad ocean would separate us forever.
Miss Anthony, who had been visiting Mrs. Parker, near Warring-
ton, met me at Alderly Edge, where we spent a few days in the
charming home of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bright. There we found
their noble sisters, Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas, young Walter
McLaren and his lovely bride, Eva Miiller, whom we had heard
several times on the suffrage platform. We rallied her on the
step she had lately taken, notwithstanding her sister's able paper
on the blessedness of a single life. While here we visited Dean
Stanley's birthplace ; but on his death the light and joy went out,
and the atmosphere of the old church whose walls had once
echoed to his voice, and the house where he had spent so many
useful years, seemed sad and deserted. But the day was bright
and warm, the scenery all around was beautiful, cows and sheep
were still grazing in the meadows, the grass as green as in
June. This is England's chief charm, forever green, some com-
pensation for the many cloudy days. An evening reception in
Mrs. Bright's spacious parlors, with friends from Manchester and
other adjoining towns, with speeches of welcome and farewell,
finished our visit at Alderly Edge.
As our good friends Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas had deter-
mined to see us safely on board the Servia, they escorted us to
Liverpool, where we met Mrs. Margaret Parker, Mrs. Scatcherd
and Dr. Fanny Dickinson of Chicago. Another reception was
* Mrs. Seville, whose husband was a professor at Sandhurst College, having recently awoke to the
indignities the church heaps upon women, made her protest in discarding her bonnet and appearing on
Sundays with her head uncovered, contrary to Paul's injunctions. Having thus attended church fur
two years, involving much criticism and disturbance, both the vicar and the bishop labored with her t<-
resume the bonnet, but she remained incorrigible. She read us a letter of remonstrance from the
bishop, over which we all had a hearty laugh.
952 History of Woman Suffrage.
given us at the residence of Dr. Ewing Whittle. Several short
speeches were made, all cheering the parting guests with words
of hope and encouragement for the good cause.
Here the wisdom of forming an international association was
considered. The proposition met with such favor from those
present that a committee was appointed to correspond with the
friends in different nations. As Miss Anthony and myself are
members of that committee,* now that these volumes are finished
and we are at liberty once more, we shall ascertain as soon as
possible the feasibility of a grand international conference in
New York in 1888, to celebrate the fourth decade of our move-
ment for woman's enfranchisement. Such conventions have been
held by the friends of anti-slavery, peace, temperance, social
purity and evangelical Christianity, and why may not the suffrage
cause, too, receive a new impetus from the united efforts of its
friends in all countries.
On the broad Atlantic for ten days we had many opportunities
tq review all we had seen and heard. There we met our noble
friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hussey of New Jersey; also Mrs. Margaret
Buchanan Sullivan of Chicago, just returning from an extended
tour in Ireland, who gave us many of her rich experiences.
Sitting on deck hour after hour, how often I queried with myself
as to the significance of the boon for which women were so
earnestly struggling. In asking for a voice in the government
under which we live, have we been pursuing a shadow for forty
years? In seeking political power, are we abdicating that social
throne where they tell us our influence is unbounded ? No ! no !
the right of suffrage is no shadow, but a substantial entity that
women all
ig an
* The following is the report of the action prepared that evening by Mrs. Parker: " At a large and
influential gathering of the friends of woman suffrage, at Parliament Terrace, Liverpool, November
16, 1883, convened by E. Whittle, M. D., to meet Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B.
Anthony prior to their return to America, it was proposed by Mrs. Margaret E. Parker of Penketh
(near Warrington), seconded by Mrs. McLaren of Edinburgh, and unanimously passed :
" That this meeting, recognizing that union is strength and that the time has come when wom«
over the world should unite in the just demand for their political enfranchisement ; therefore
" Resoh'ed^ That we do here appoint a committee of correspondence, preparatory to formin
International Woman Suffrage Association.
" Resolved^ That the committee consist of the following friends, with power to add to their number:
ffff (he American Center — Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Miss Susan B. Anthony, Miss Rachel
Foster. London Center — Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Mrs. Margaret B. Lucas, Miss Helen Taylor, Mi>-
Henrietta Miiller. Miss Caroline A. Biggs, Mr. and Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Eliza Orme, Miss
Rebecca Moore, London ; Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch, Basingstoke. Manchester Center — Mr. and
Mrs. Jacob Bright, Manchester; Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Thomasson, Bolton ; Mrs. Margaret E. Parker,
Penketh ; Dr. and Mrs. Whittle, Liverpool ; Mrs. Oliver Scatcherd, Leeds ; Mr. and Mrs. Walter
McLaren, Bradford ; Mrs. Philips, Liverpool ; Mr. and Mrs. Crook, Bolton ; Mr. Berners, Mr. Russell,
Liverpool; Miss Becker, Manchester. Bristol Center — Miss Helen Bright Clarke, Street : Mrs. Alfred
Ostler, Birmingham ; Miss Priestman, Bristol. Center for Scotland — Mrs. Duncan McLaren, Mrs.
Elizabeth Pease Nichol, Miss Eliza Wigham, Edinburgh. Center for Ireland — Miss Tod, Belfast;
Mrs. Haslam, Dublin. Center for France — M'lle Hubertine Auclert, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Stanton,
Charlotte B. Wilbour, Paris.
Arrival Home. 953
the citizen can seize and hold for his own protection and hie
country's welfare. A direct power over one's own person and
property, an individual opinion to be counted on all questions of
public interest, is better than indirect influence, be it ever so far-
reaching.
Though influence, like the pure white light, is all-pervading,
yet it is oft-times obscured with passing clouds and nights of
darkness ; like the sun's rays, it may be healthy, genial, inspiring,
though sometimes too direct for comfort, too oblique for warmth,
too scattered for any given purpose. But as the prism by divid-
ing the rays of light reveals to us the brilliant coloring of the
atmosphere, and as the burning-glass by concentrating them in a
focus intensifies their heat, so does the right of suffrage reveal
the beauty and power of individual sovereignty in the great
drama of national life, while on a vital measure of public interest
it combines the many voices of the people in a grand chorus of
protest or applause.
After an unusually calm, pleasant voyage, for November, we
sailed up our beautiful New York harbor just as the sun was
rising in all his glory, gilding every hill-top and distant spire in
the landscape, and with grateful hearts we celebrated the
national Thanksgiving-day once more with loving friends in the
great Republic.
APPENDIX.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CENTENNIAL YEAR.
AMONG those who sent most cordial letters of greeting, with requests that their
names should be enrolled in the centennial autograph-book as signers of the woman's
declaration of sentiments, were : Maine, Lavinia M. Snow, Lucy A. Snow; New
Hampshire, Marilla M. Ricker, Abby P. Ela; Massachusetts, E. T. Strickland, Sarah
E. Wall; Rhode Island, Paulina Wright Davis; Connecticut, Isabella Beecher Hooker,
Frances Ellen Burr, Julia and Abby Smith; New York, Clemence S. Lorier, Hen-
rietta Paine Westbrook, Nettie A. Ford, Elizabeth B. Phelps, Charlotte A. Cleveland,
Elizabeth M. Atwell; Pennsylvania, E. A. Stetson Lozier, Anna Thomson; New
Jersey, Ellen Dickinson, S. Mary Clute, Mary M. Van Clief, S. H. Cornell, Emma
L. Wilde, Jennie Dixon, Casa Tonti, Marie Howland, Lucinda B. Chandler; District
of Columbia, Addie T. Holton, Margaret E. Johnson, Sabra P. Abell, Ruth Carr
Dennison, Ellen H. Sheldon, Mary Shadd Cary and ninety-four others, Mary F.
Foster, Susan A. Edson; Virginia, Sally Holly, Carrie Putnam; Kentucky, Annie
Laurie Quinby; Tennessee, Elizabeth Avery Meriwether; Louisiana, Elizabeth Lisle
Saxon; Michigan, Sarah C. Owen, Margaret J. E. Millar; Illinois, A. J. Grover,
Edward P. Powell, Cynthia A. Leonard, Susan H. Richardson; Missouri, Francis
Minor, Annie R. Irvine; California, Sarah L. Knox, Sarah J. Wallis, Carrie M.
Robinson, Mary E. Kellogg, Georgiana Bruce Kirby; Oregon, Mrs. A. J. Johns,
Eveline Merrick Roork, Charles A. Reed; Washington Territory, Mary Olney
Brown, Abby H. H. Stuart; Utah Territory, Annie Godbe; Iowa, Amelia Bloomer,
Submit C. Loomis, Philo A. Lyon and seventy-five others of Humboldt, Jane A.
Telker, Nancy R. Allen, Margaret Euart Colby, Mrs. Ellen M. Robinson, Mrs. G.
R. Woodworth, Mrs. W. W. Johnson, Mrs. Caroline A. Ingham, Mrs. Mabel A.
Stough, Mrs. R. H. Spencer, Mrs. J. W. Kenyon, Mrs. A. M. Horton, Miss L. T.
Dood, Mary L. Watson, Mrs. Sarah A. McCoy, Mrs. J. J. Wilson, Mrs. F. L.
Calkins, Mrs. L. H. Smith, Mrs. Emma C. Spear, Mrs. M. L. Burlingame, Mrs. G.
W. Blanchard, Mrs. D. L. Ford, Mrs. E. C. Buffam, Mrs. Cora A. Jones, Mrs. Clara
M. Wilson; Wisconsin, Laura Ross Wolcott, M. Josephine Pearcc, Eliza T. WiUon,
H. S. Brown; Minnesota, Sarah Burger Stearns; Kansas, Susan E. Wattles, F.l-ie
Stewart, Henrietta L. Miller, Lottie Griffin, Jane M. Burke, Malura Hickson, EUie
J. Miller; Colorado, Alicia C. Avery; Ohio, Sarah R. L. Williams, Margaret V.
Longley; England, Lydia E. Becker, Caroline A. Biggs, Jessie M. Wellstood.
CHAPTER XXX.
CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL WOMAN SI-FFRAGE ASSOCIAM'-N.
ARTICLE i. This organization shall be called the NATION A i. W..MAN SIKKRAGE
ASSOCIATION.
956 History of Woman Suffrage.
ARTICLE 2. The object of this Association shall be to secure NATIONAL Protec-
tion for women in the exercise of their right to vote.
ARTICLE 3. All citizens of the United States subscribing to this Constitution, and
contributing not less than one dollar annually, shall be considered members of the
Association, with the right to participate in its deliberations.
ARTICLE 4. The officers of this Association shall be a President, a Vice-President
from each of the States and Territories, Corresponding and Recording Secretaries, a
Treasurer and an Executive Committee of not less than five.
ARTICLE 5. A quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of nine, and all
officers of this Association shall be ex-officio members of the committee, with power to
vote.
ARTICLE 6. All woman suffrage societies throughout the country shall be welcomed
as auxiliaries, and their accredited officers or duly appointed representatives shall be
recognized as members of the National Association.
OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION, 1886.
President— Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenafly, N. J.
Vice-Presidents-at-Large — Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N. Y. ; Matilda Joslyn
Gage, Fayetteville, N. Y.; Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine, Wis. ; Phoebe W. Couzins,
St. Louis, Mo.; Abigail Scott Duniway, Portland, Ore.
Honorary Vice-P residents — Ernestine L. Rose, London, England; Priscilla Holmes
Drake, Huntsville, Ala.; Mrs. Perry Spear, Eureka Springs, Ark.; Sarah J. Wallis,
Mayfield; Sarah Knox Goodrich, San Jose, Cal. ; Mary F. Shields, Colorado
Springs, Col.; Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, New Haven, Conn.; Rev. Eliza Tupper
Wilkes, Sioux Falls, Dak. Ten; Rosina M. Parnell, Susan A. Edson, M. D., Ellen
M. O'Connor, Washington, D. C.; Catherine V. Waite, Myra Bradwell, Chicago,
111.; Zerelda G. Wallace, Indianapolis; Eliza Hamilton, Fort Wayne, Ind.;
Amelia Bloomer, Council Bluffs; Mary V. Cowgill, West Liberty, la.; Prudence
Crandall Philleo, Elk Falls; Mary T. Gray, Wyandotte; Mary A. Humphrey, Junc-
tion City, Kan.; Elizabeth H. Duval, Rinaldo, Ky. ; Ann T. Greeley, Ellsworth;
Lucy A. Snow, Rockland, Me.; Anna Ella Carroll, Baltimore, Md. ; Sarah E. Wall,
Worcester; Paulina Gerry, Stoneham, Mass. ; Catherine A. F. Stebbins, Detroit,
Mich. ; Charlotte O. Van Cleve, Minneapolis, Minn. ; Caroline Johnson Todd, St.
Louis, Mo.; Harriet S. Brooks, Omaha, Neb.; Eliza E. Morrill, Sarah H. Pillsbury,
Concord; Mary Powers Filley, North Haverhill, N. H. ; Sarah G. Hurn, Vineland;
Delia Stewart Parnell, Bordentown, N. J. ; Clemence S. Lozier, M. D., New York;
Amy Post, Rochester; Sarah H. Hallock, Milton; Mary R. Pell, Flushing, N. Y. ;
Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Hollywood, N. C.; Sophia O. Allen, South Newbury; Sarah
R. L. Williams, Toledo; Louise Southworth, Cleveland, O. ; Harriet W. Williams,
Portland, Ore.; M. Adeline Thomson, Philadelphia, Penn. ; Catherine C. Knowles,
East Greenwich; Elizabeth B. Chace, Valley Falls, R. I.; Elizabeth Van Lew, Rich-
mond, Va. ; Mary Olney Brown, Abbie H. H. Stuart, Olympia, Wash. Ter. ; Laura
Ross Wolcott, Milwaukee; Emma C. Bascom, Madison, Wis.
Vice-Presidents — Caroline M. Patterson, Harrison, Ark.; Ellen Clarke Sargent,
San Francisco, Cal.; Mrs. L. J. Terry, Pueblo, Col.; Isabella Beecher Hooker,
Hartford, Conn.; Marietta M. Bones, Webster City, Dak.; Mary A. Stewart, Green-
wood, Del.; Ruth C. Dennison, Washington, D. C.; Mrs. C. B. S. Wilcox, Inter-
lachen, Fla. ; Althea L. Lord, Savannah, Ga. ; Dr. Jennie Bearby, Mountain Home,
Idaho; Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Evanston, 111.; Helen M. Cougar, Lafayette,
Ind.; Jane Amy McKinney, Decorah, la.; Laura M. Johns, Salina Kan.; Mary B.
Clay, Richmond, Ky. ; Caroline E. Merrick, New Orleans, La.; Sophronia C. Snow,
Hampden Corners, Me.; Caroline Hallowell Miller, Sandy Spring, Md. ; Harriette R.
Shattuck, Maiden, Mass.; Fannie Holden Fowler, Manistee, Mich.; Sarah Burger
Stearns, Duluth, Minn.; Olivia Fitzhugh, Vicksburg, Miss.; Virginia L. Minor, St.
Louis, Mo.; Clara Bewick Colby, Beatrice, Neb.; Maria H. Boardman, Reno, Nev. ;
Ada M. Jarrett, Magdalena, N. Mex. ; Marilla M. Ricker, Dover, N. H.; Cornelia
Appendix: Chapter XXXII. 957
C. Hussey, East Orange, N*. J.; Lillie Devereux Blake, New York, X. Y. ; Mary
Bayard Clarke, New Berne, N. C.; Frances D. Casement, Painesville, O. ; Harriettc
A. Loughary, McMinneville, Ore.; Matilda Hindman, Pittsburgh, Perm.; Anna S.
Aldrich, Providence, R. I. ; Elizabeth Lisle Saxon, Memphis, Tenn. ; Jennie Bland
Beauchamp, Denton, Tex.; Jennie A. Froiseth, Salt Lake City, Utah; Lydia Putnam,
Brattleboro', Vt. ; Mrs. Roger S. Greene, Seattle, Wash. Ten; Alura C. Collins,
Milwaukee, Wis. ; Amalia B. Post, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Executive Committee — May Wright Sewall, Chairman, 429 North New Jersey
street, Indianapolis, Ind.; Laura DeForce Gordon, San Francisco; Mary J. Channing,
Pasadena, Cal. ; Dr. Alida C. Avery, Denver, Col.; Frances Ellen Burr, Emily P.
Collins, Hartford, Conn.; Mrs. J. S. Pickler, Falktown; Linda W. Slaughter, Bis-
mark, Dak. Ter. ; Belva A. Lockwood, Dr. Caroline B. Winslow, Washington, D.
C. ; Flora M. Wright, Drayton Island, Fla. ; Julia Mills Dunn, Moline; Rev. Florence
Kollock, Englewood; Dr. Alice B. Stockham, Ada C. Sweet, Chicago, 111.; Mary E.
Haggart, Mary E. N. Gary, Indianapolis, Ind.; Narcisa T. Bemis, Independence;
Mary J. Coggeshall, Des Moines, la; Annie C. Wait, Lincoln Center; Henrietta B.
Wall, Mrs. S. A. Hauk, Hutchinson, Kan.; Sally Clay Bennett, Mary A. Somers,
Richmond; Laura \Vhite, Manchester, Ky.; Maria I. Johnson, Mound, La.; Charlotte
A. Thomas, Portland, Me.; Amanda M. Best, Bright Seat, Md.; Harriet H. Robin-
son, Maiden; Sara A. Underwood, Dorchester Mass.; Julia Upton, Big Rapids;
Cordelia Fitch Briggs, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Julia Bullard Nelson, Red Wing; Mrs.
L. H. Hawkins, Shakopee; Mary P. Wheeler, Kasson, Minn.; Anne R. Irvine,
Oregon; Elizabeth A. Meriwether, St. Louis, Mo.; Jennie F. Holmes, Tecumseh;
Orpha C. Dinsmoore, Omaha, Neb.; Hannah R. Clapp, Carson City, Nev.; Mrs. A.
B. I. Roberts, Candia, N. H.; Augusta Cooper Bristol, Vineland; Theresa A. Sea-
brook, Keyport, N. J.; Mathilde F. Wendt, New York; Caroline G. Rogers, Lan-
singburgh; Ellen S. Fray, Lewia C. Smith, Rochester, N. Y.; Sarah M. Perkins,
Elvira J. Bushnell, Cleveland; Sarah S. Bissell, Toledo, O.; Mrs. J. M. Kclty.
Lafayette, Ore.; Deborah L. Pennock, Kennett Square; Harriet Purvis, Philadelphia,
Penn. ; Lillie Chace Wyman, Valley Falls, R. I.; Lide Meriwether, Memphis, Tenn.;
Mrs. D. Clinton Smith, Middleboro', Vt.; Mrs. F. D. Gordon, Richmond, Va. ; Eliza
T. Wilson, Menomonie; Laura James, Richland Center, Wis. ; Barbara J, Thompson,
Tacoma, Wash. Ter.; Mrs. J. H. Hayford, Laramie City, Wyoming Ter.
Recording Secretaries — Julia A. Wilbur, Caroline A. Sherman, Washington. D. C.
Corresponding Secretaries — Rachel G. Foster, Philadelphia, Penn.; Ellen H. Shel-
don, Washington, D. C.
Foreign Corresponding Secretaries — Caroline A. Biggs, London; Lydia E. Becker,
Manchester, England; Marguerite Berry Stanton, Hubertine Auclert, Charlotte B.
Wilbour, Paris, France; Clara Neymann, Berlin, Germany.
Treasurer — Jane H. Spofford, Riggs House, W'ashington, D. C.
Auditors — Eliza T. Ward, Ellen M. O'Connor, Washington, D. C.
CHAPTER XXXII.
CONNECTICUT.
Is the Family the Basis of the State?
BY JOHN HOOKER.
The proposition that the family is the basis of the State has come down through
many generations, so far as I know, unchallenged; but in the scn>c in which it
ordinarily understood, and for the purpose for which it is ordinarily iiM-d. it rely
a fallacy. The State depends upon the family for the continuance of its popul
jubt as it depends upon the school for the intelligence of its people and on
958 History of Woman Siiffrage.
institutions for their morality. But the State stands in no political relation to the
family any more than to the school and the church. What is meant by the proposi-
tion as generally used is, that the State is politically an aggregate of families and not
of individuals. This is entirely untrue, and if true the fact would be calamitous.
Civil government is supposed to have had its origin in family government, the
patriarch becoming chief of a tribe which was substantially the outgrowth and expan-
sion of a single family; but if a nation was to be formed of such tribes it would be
essential to its peace and prosperity that they should as soon as possible mingle into
one homogeneous mass, and that no citizen should consider himself of one tribe rather
than another. It is the family idea in a government like ours that makes the feuds
which are handed down from generation to generation in some parts of the country.
It made the frequent bloody contests of the clans in Scotland, and the dissensions of
the Hebrew tribes. In a republic nothing can be more disastrous than that great
political leaders should have large family followings. The first duty of the citizen is
to forget that he belongs to any family in particular. He is an individual citizen of the
State, and when he becomes a magistrate he must practically ignore the fact that he
has family relatives who feel entitled to his special favor. He must, like justice, be
blind to every fact except that the applicant for office or for justice is an individual
citizen and must stand wholly on his personal merits or the justice of his cause.
The proposition that the family is the basis of the State thus taken by itself is en-
tirely false; but even if true, the use made of it as an argument against giving
suffrage to women is equally fallacious. This can be shown by a single illustra-
tion. We will suppose there are two families, in both of which the father
dies, leaving in one case a widow and one son, and in the other a widow and six
daughters. Where is now the family representation ? The son whom we will sup-
pose to be of age, goes to the polls and we will suppose sufficiently represents the
family to which he belongs; but where is the family representation for the other widow
and her six daughters ? She may be the largest tax-payer in the State, and yet she can
have no voice in determining what taxes shall be laid, nor to what purposes the money
shall be appropriated.
The question whether the family is the basis of the State cannot be made an abstract
question of political philosophy. Indeed the question is unmeaning when put as an
abstract one. We might just as well ask, " Is the climate cold in a State?" or, " Is
the English language spoken in a State ? " It is only as we ask these questions about
a particular State that they have any meaning. "Is it cold in Russia?" " Is Eng-
lish spoken in Connecticut ? "
Take the case of a State ruled by a despot. Here the people are not the political
basis of the State, either as families or as individuals. They have no political power
whatever. The political basis of the State is the will of the despot. He is himself
and alone the State politically. He makes the laws himself, and shoots and hangs
those who disobey them. The people are indispensable to the State, and so in one
sense its basis, just as the square miles that compose its territory are its physical basis,
but the people stand in no political relation whatever to the State, any more than the
rocks and gravel of its territory. It is only where the people of the State have the
whole or a part of its political power, that the question can possibly arise as to whether
individuals or families are its political basis. And when it thus arises, it comes up
wholly with reference to a particular State, and not as an abstract question. And
then it is wholly a question of fact, not one of political philosophy; a matter for simple
ascertainment, not for speculation and reasoning. Thus, suppose the question to be,
' ' Is the family or the individual the political basis of the State of Connecticut ? " We
are to answer the question solely by looking at the constitution and laws of the State.
We look there and find that it is as clear as language can make it that the political
basis of the State is the individual and not the family. The individual is made the
voter — not the family — and that is the whole question. It was perfectly easy for the
people, if they had so desired, when they were adopting a constitution, to make fam-
ilies and not individuals the depositaries of political power, but they chose to give the
Appendix: Chapter XXXVII. 959
power to individuals, and thus the question is absolutely settled for the State. It is
true, the State does not carry out completely its own theory, but this was its theory,
and what it did was wholly in this direction and away from the family theory. We go
to the constitution of the State to settle this question, just as we would to settle the
question whether the governor's term is one year or two, or whether the judges hold
office for a term of years'or for life. While considering whether either of these pro-
visions .ought to be adopted, we are dealing with a matter proper for opinions and
argument, but when the provisions have been adopted, the whole question becomes
one of fact, and we look only to the constitution to determine it, and treat it as a
matter not for discussion but for absolute ascertainment.
When one is advocating the theory that the family should be the political basis of
the State, he is simply saying that the constitution ought to be amended and the right
of voting taken away from individuals and given to families. But it is idle to urge
this. Such a measure would not get even a respectable minority of votes. It is
decisive on this point that not a single representative government, so far as the writer
knows, has adopted the theory that the family and not the individual should vote. A
law peculiar to Russia gives its villages, in the management of their local matters, the
right of voting by families — a perfect illustration, on a very small scale, of the family
as the political basis of a State. But here woman suffrage is admitted as a necessary
result; and where there is no man to represent the family, or he is unable to attend,
the woman of the house casts the vote.
The advocates of woman suffrage have no interest whatever in this question, as it
is idle to suppose that it can become a practical one. The writer has taken what
trouble he has in the matter solely in the interest of correct thinking.
Hartford, May, i&jg.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
NEW YORK.
Brief on the Legislature's Power to Extend the Suffrage, Submitted Feb-
ruary 19, 1880, to the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly of the
State of New York.
BY HAMILTON WILCOX.
I. LEGISLATURE OMNIPOTENT. — Unlike the Federal constitution, the State con-
stitution does not reserve all powers not expressly delegated. It is held by the
authorities that in the absence of positive restriction the legislature is omnipotent.
" In a judicial sense, their authority is absolute and unlimited, except by the express
restrictions of the fundamental law" (Court of Appeals, 1863, Bank of Chenan^;
Brown, 26 N. Y., 467; S. P., Cathcart vs. Fire Department of New York, Id., 529;
Supreme Court, 1864, Clark vs. Miller, 42 Barb., 255; Luke vs. City of Brooklyn, 43
Id., 54).
"Only on the ground of express constitutional provisions limiting legislative power,
can courts declare void any legislative enactment" (Court of Error. 1838, Cochran vs.
Van Surlay, 29 Wend., 365; Newell vs. People, 7 N. Y. [3 Seld.J, 9, 109).
" Before proceeding to amend, by judicial sentence, what has been enacted by the
law-making power, it should clearly appear that the act cannot be supported by any
reasonable intendment or allowable presumption" (Court of Appeals, 1858, People vs.
Supervisors of Orange, 17 N. Y., 235; affi'g, 27 Barb., 575).
II. POWERS UNDEFINED. — The constitution forbids the legislature to do certain
things. Otherwise it does not define or limit the legislature's powers (Art. 3, g§ 3,
18, 19, 24).
III. No PROHIBITION.— No constitution of New York has ever forbidden the
960 History of Woman Suffrage.
legislature to extend the suffrage beyond the classes specified by such constitution;
nor has any ever forbidden unspecified persons to vote. The constitution simply
secures the suffrage to certain classes, and there leaves the matter.
IV. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. — The constitution declares that the object of its
establishment is to secure the blessings of freedom to the people (Preamble, Revised
Statutes, vol. I., p. 82). Hence it, and all enactments under it, must be understood
and construed, where a contrary intent is not clearly expressed, to be aimed at securing
freedom to all.
V. DISFRANCHISEMENT. — The constitution follows this declaration by laying down
at its outset, as its fundamental principle, that "No member of this State shall be
disfranchised or deprived of any of the rights or privileges secured to any citizens
thereof, except by the law of the land" (Art. I, § I, do. , do.). Disfranchisement,
then, must be express by the law. It cannot constitutionally be inflicted through
mere implication or silence.
Rules for the securing of freedom have often been found to cover unforeseen cases.
Such was the fact in the famous decision of Lord Mansfield in 1774, that slavery was
against the common law, under which slavery was afterward abolished throughout the
British empire; and the decision of the highest court of Massachusetts, that the terms
of the constitution of 1780 conferred freedom on the slaves of that State.
Women, it is now fully recognized, are citizens, and hence "members of the State,"
entitled to the security guaranteed. The practice under the constitution has been to
treat as disfranchised all persons not specified as entitled to vote. Though this prac-
tice is plainly against the declared object and principle of the constitution, it has been
general and mostly continuous, and has thus acquired the force of law. This, how-
ever, does not impair the legislature's power to correct the practice by express enact-
ment.
VI. PRECEDENTS. — The legislature has repeatedly corrected this practice by
express enactments securing freedom to various portions of the people.
(a). CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1801. — The act calling this convention ex-
tended the suffrage for members of that body — the highest officers of the State — to
"all free male citizens over twenty-one years of age, "while the constitution secured
suffrage only to male holders of and actual taxpayers on a fixed amount of real estate
(Session Law 1801, ch. 69, p. 151; constitution of 1777, do., i, 39).
(b). CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1821. — The act providing for the convention
that framed the constitution of 1822, while the existing constitution (as above) only
specified as entitled to vote, holders of and taxpayers on a fixed amount of real estate —
this act allowed all freeholders, however small the value of their holdings, all actual
taxpayers, all officers and privates, ex-officers and ex-privates, in militia or in volunteer
or uniform corps, all persons exempt by law from taxation or militia duty, all workers
on public roads and highways, or payers of commutation for such work; to vote on
the question whether the convention should be held, to vote in the choice of delegates
thereto — again for the highest officers of the State — and to vote on the question of
adoption of the new constitution — to exercise a voice in framing the State's funda-
mental law. The council of revision, including the governor, which opposed and
defeated part of this act, made no objection to this feature (Session Laws 1821, ch.
90, p. 83).
The vote for governor, 1820, was 93,437 — the largest ever cast in the State. That
on the question of calling the convention in 1821 was 144,247. One act of the legis-
lature thus enfranchised fifty thousand persons. The vote on the new constitution
stood: For, 74,732; against, 41,402; majority for, 33,330. Thus the votes of fifty
thousand persons — enfranchised, not by the constitution but by the legislature — car-
ried the adoption of a new constitution, which further secured to them the freedom
which the legislature had opened to them. The vote for governor in 1824 — the next
hotly-contested election — was 190,545; so that the immediate effect of the legislature's
act was to add 97,108 persons to the constituency — to make a mass of new voters who
outnumbered those specified by the constitution.
Appendix: Chapter XXXVIII. 961
(c\ ALIENS VOTING. — The constitution specifies none but " citizens" as entitled
to vote; yet the legislature, by a school law of many years' standing, allowed aliens to
vote for school functionaries, on filing with the secretary of state notice of intention
to become naturalized (t R. S., art. 2, § I, p. 65; 2 R. S., 63, § 12; 2 R. S , I 096
§31).
(</). NORTHFIELD. — The proprietors of swamp-lands in the town of Northfield,
Richmond county, were authorized to elect directors of drainage, without any restric-
tion or qualification but ownership (Session Laws 1862, ch. 80, § 2, p. 233).
(e). The taxpayers of Newport, Herkimer county, were authorized to vote on the
question of issuing bonds to raise money for a town-house. Under this law women
who were taxpayers voted (Act April 9, 1873, Session Laws, ch. 187, § 3, p. 304).
(/). The taxpayers of Dansville, Livingston county, were authorized to vote on
the issue of water-bonds. Under this act women voted (Act April 24, 1873, Session
Laws, ch. 285, § 4, p. 409).
(g). The taxpayers of Saratoga Springs were authorized to vote on the question of
issuing bonds for the construction of an additional water-main. Under this ninety-
nine women voted (Act May 13, 1876, Session Laws, ch. 254, § 4, p. 250).
VII. SCHOOL SUFFRAGE. — If the legislature can admit aliens to vote at school-
meetings, it can admit female citizens to do so.
VIII. PRESIDENTIAL SUFFRAGE. — i. The federal constitution provides that
electors of president and vice-president shall be appointed "in such manner as the
legislature thereof may direct " (Art. 2, § 2).
2. It also provides that " this constitution shall be the supreme law of the land,
and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding" (Art. 6, § 2).
3. The legislature has the power under the federal constitution to provide what-
ever method it may choose for the appointment of the electors. The courts have no
power to interfere, and even an executive veto would have no force. The legislature
has sole and full power to say who may vote for electors and how the election shall be
held.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
PENNSYLVANIA.
BY CARRIE S. BURNHAM.
THE common law of England as modified by English statutes prior to the Revolu-
tion has been formally adopted either by constitutions and statutes or assumed by
courts of justice as the law of the land in every State save Louisiana, and in the
absence of positive statutes is the common law of the United States. To understand
the legal status of woman in Pennsylvania it is therefore necessary, First — To a
tain her condition under the common law; Second — How this law has been modi lied
in this State by «tatutes.
COMMON LAW.
By the common law, which Lord Coke calls "the perfection of reason," women
arrive at the age of discretion at twelve, men at fourteen; both sexes are of full age at
twenty-one, entitled to civil rights, and if unmarried and possessed of freehold, they
are equally entitled to the exercise of political rights (Blackstone, I.. 4^3; IV., 212;
Bouvier's Institutes, 156, 157; Decisions of English courts in 1612, quoted in 7 Mod.
Rep., 264).
" By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law "; that is, the legal ex-
istence of the woman is "merged in that of her husband." He is her "baron
"lord," bound to supply her with shelter, food, clothing and medicine, and is entitled
61
962 History of Woman Suffrage.
to her earnings — the use and custody of her person, which he may seize wherever he
may find it (Blackstone, I., 442, 443; Coke Litt., 112 a, 187 b; 8 Dowl., P. C., 632.)
The husband being bound to provide for his wife the necessaries of life, and being
responsible for "her morals" and the good order of the household, may choose and
govern the domicil, choose her associates, separate her from her relatives, restrain her
religious and personal freedom, compel her to cohabit with him, correct her faults by
mild means and, if necessary, chastise her with moderation, as though she was
his apprentice or child. This is in "respect to the terms of the marriage contract and
the infirmity of the sex" (Bl., I., 444; I Bishop on Mar. and Div., 758; 8 Dowl. P.
C., 632; Bouv. Insts., 277, 278, 2,283; I Wend. Bl., 442, note; 4 Petersdorf's A. B.,
21, note).
Woman's character, exposed to the vilest slanders of "malignity and falsehood, "and
her chastity are protected on account of the injury sustained by the father, husband
or master from loss of her services, or wrongful entry of his house, rather than the
injury done to her as an individual (Bl. I., 445, note; III., 141, 143, note; 3 Serg.
and Rawle, Penn., 36; 3 Penn., 49; 2 Watts' Penn., 474).
The husband is entitled to recover damages for "criminal conversation with his
wife," or for injury to her person whereby he is deprived of his "marital rights," or
of her "company and assistance"; also an action of trespass vi et artnis against the
individual enticing her away or encouraging her to live separately from him; the
offense implies force and constraint, "the wife having no power to consent," and is
punishable with fine and imprisonment (Bl., III., 139; 2 Inst., 434; Bouvier's Insti-
tutes, 3-495).
The wife has no action for injuries to her husband as she is not entitled to his ser-
vices, neither has she any separate interest in anything during her coverture. The
law takes notice only of the injuries done to the "superior of the parties related";
because "the inferior has no kind of property in the company, care or assistance of
the superior, as the superior is held to have in those of the inferior" (Blackstone, III.,
143; Bouv. Insts., 3,495).
The husband, by marriage, becomes entitled absolutely to the personal property of
Tiis wife, which at his death goes to his representatives; also to the rents and profits of
her lands, to the interest in her chattels real and choses in action, of which he can
dispose at pleasure, except by will. He acquires the same right in any property
whether real or personal of which she may become possessed after marriage, and is
liable during coverture for her debts contracted before marriage (Bl., II., 434, 435;
Bouv. Insts., 4,005; Coke Litt., 46, 351).
At his death she becomes possessed of her wardrobe and jewels, such of her chattels
as remain undisposed of, and her own real estate; also quarantine (*'. e., forty days
residence in "his mansion "), one-third of his personality absolutely and the use of one-
third of any real estate of which he is possessed during coverture for the term of her
natural life. His mansion, realty and personalty includes what they have jointly
earned as well as that of which he was possessed at marriage. The widow's right to
one-third of the personal estate was abolished by English statutes prior to the Revolu-
tion, but has since been revived by Pennsylvania statutes (Blackstone, II., 129, 134,
139,436, 492, 493; Coke Litt., 31, 34; Bouvier's Institutes, 1,750; .Brightley's Pur-
don, 806, 2 and 3).
At the death of the wife their joint earnings, also her chattels real, vest absolutely
in the husband, and if they have had a living child the husband, as " tenant by the
curtesy," becomes possessed of her entire real estate for life. The wife loses her
dower by adultery, but the husband does not lose his curtesy on that account. Her
dower is also barred by his treason and by a divorce grounded on his adultery (Black-
stone, II., 127, 434; Roper, Husband and Wife, 1,210; 2 Kent, 131; 7 Watts, 563;
Bouvier's Institutes, 1,732).
A husband cannot convey real estate directly to his wife, but may through a trustee;
neither can he give "anything to her nor covenant with her, for the grant would be
to suppose her separate existence, and to covenant with her would be to covenant with
Appendix: Chapter XXXVIIL 963
himself." Their covenants or indebtedness to each other before marriage are by the
marriage extinguished (Blackstone, I., 442; Coke Litt., 3, 30; 112 a; 187 b; Connyn.
Dig. Baron and P'eme, D).
The husband may devise any property to his wife, but the wife cannot make a will,
the law supposing her to be under his coercion; neither can she bind her person or
property, nor make nor enforce a contract, nor can she be a witness in any matter in
which her husband is interested (Blackstone, II., 293, 498, 444; 2 Kent, 179; Bouv.
Insts., 1,441; Connyn. Dig. Pleader, 2 A, i; Baron and Feme, W; 2 Roper, Hus-
band and Wife, 171).
A wife, with the consent of her husband, may act as his or other's attorney, may be
a guardian, trustee, administratrix or executrix, but cannot sue in outer droit unless
her husband join in the suit. This incapacitates her to act independently in either
capacity (Blackstone, II., 503; I Anders., 117; 2 Story, Eq. Juris., 1,367, note; 57
Penn. St. Rep., 356).
A wife cannot enforce her rights nor defend any action brought against her, but
must plead coverture in person, being incapable of appointing an attorney (Bouv.
Insts., 2,787, 2,907; 41 N. H., 106; 2 Saund., 209; c. n. i).
When a woman marries after having commenced a suit, the suit abates; but the
husband may in equity sue her for his marital rights in her property; marriage of a
female partner dissolves the partnership (Bouv. Insts., 4,037, 1,494; 4 Russ. Ch., 247;
3 Atk. Ch., 478; 2 P. Will Ch., 243).
The father of legitimate children is bound for their maintenance and education, is
entitled to their labor and custody and has power to dispose of them until twenty-one
years of age, by deed or legacy, even though they are unborn at his death. The testa-
mentary guardian's right to their custody supersedes that of their mother (Bl., I., 447,
45I.453; 2 Kent, 191 and 193; Bouv. Insts., 344; 5 Rawle, 323; 2 Watts, 406; 5
East, 221; Purd. Dig., New Ed., 411, 29; 5 Pitts, L. J., 406; I Pitts, 412).
"A mother is entitled to no power, but to reverence and respect, from her child-
ren "; she has no legal authority over them nor right to their services, but her property
is liable for their maintenance if the father has not an estate. The mother's appoint-
ment of a testamentary guardian is absolutely void (Bl., I., 453 and 461, note by
Chitty; Vaughan, 180; i Leg. Gaz. R., 56).
The mother of a "natural or illegitimate" child is its natural guardian, entitled to
its control and custody and her settlement is its domicil (Bl., I., 459; 2 Kent, 216; 5
Term Rep., 278; Newton vs. Braintree, 14 Mass., 382).
" Intestate personal, property is divided equally between males and females, but a
son, though younger than all his sisters, is the heir to the whole of real property" (Bl.,
I., 444, note by Christian).
PENNSYLVANIA STATUTES AND COURT DECISIONS.
This "perfection of reason" (the common law) has been changed in Pennsylvania
in the following particulars :
All women, married and single, are deprived of political rights by the use of the
generic word "freeman" in the constitution (29 Legal Intelligencer, 5).
Heir at common law is abolished by statute; however, the right to administer vests
in the male in preference to the female of the same degree of consanguinity. Half-
brothers are entitled to the preference over own sisters (Purdon, 410, 27; Single's
Appeal, 59 Penn. St. R., 55).
Any property belonging to a woman before marriage, or which accrues to her during
coverture by gift, bequest or purchase, continues, by the act of April n, 1848, to be
her separate property after marriage, and is not liable for the debts of her husband
nor subject to his disposal without her written consent, duly acknowledged before one
of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas as voluntarily given; provided, that he is
not liable for the debts contracted before or after marriage, or for her torts (Pardon's
Dig., 1,005, 13)-
964 History of Woman Suffrage.
" This act protects the wife's interest in her separate property both as to title and
possession," but "does not empower her to convey her real estate by a deed in which
her husband has not joined," nor "create a lease without his concurrence," nor
" execute an obligation for the payment of money or the performance of any other
act," nor in any way dispose of her property save by gift or loan to him; she may
bind her separate estate for his debts, and in security for the loan she may take a judg-
ment or mortgage against the estate of the husband in the name of a third person, who
shall act as her trustee (18 Penn. St. R., 506, 582; 21, 402; i Gr., 402; 6 Phila., 531;
Pur. Dig., 1,007, 2I)-
The husband is the natural guardian or trustee of the property of the wife; but by
application '° to the Court of Common Pleas of the county where she was domiciled at
the time of her marriage," the court will appoint a trustee (not her husband) to take
charge of the property secured to her by the act of 1848. This act, however, does not
authorize the appointment of a trustee, to the exclusion of her husband, of property
owned by her prior to the passage of the act, nor was it intended to affect vested
rights of husbands and does not protect them for the wife's benefit against the claims
of creditors (10 Penn. St. Rep., 398 and 505; 18, 392 and 509; 21, 260; I Jones, 272).
In a clear case the wife's real estate cannot be levied upon and sold by a creditor of
the husband, but the burden of proof is upon her to show by evidence "which does
not admit of a reasonable doubt," that she owned the property before marriage or
acquired it subsequently by gift, bequest, or paid for it with funds not furnished by
her husband nor the result of their joint earnings. The wife's possession of money is
no evidence of her title to it (18 Penn. St. Rep., 366; 7 Phila., 118).
If no property, or not sufficient property, of the husband can be found, the separate
property and goods of the wife may be levied upon and sold for rent or for debts in-
curred for the support of the family (Purd. Dig., 1,006, 15; 38 Penn. St. Rep., 344).
A married woman's bond and warrant of attorney are absolutely void, nor can she
make a valid contract except for a sewing-machine or for the improvement of her
separate property, and her bond given or a judgment confessed by her for such debt is
void (24 Penn. St. Rep., 80; Act of 1872, Pur. Dig., 1,010).
She may sell and transfer shares of the capital stock of any railroad company, but
cannot herself or by attorney transfer certificates of city loan (28 Leg. Int., 116; Act
June 2, 1871).
A married woman cannot enforce her rights against third persons, either for the
performance of a contract or the recovery of her property, without her husband join
in the suit, although the party contracting with her is liable to an action (i Gr., 21;
Act of 1850 and 1839; 6 Phila., 223).
If divorced or separated from her husband by his neglect or desertion, she may
protect her reputation by an action for slander and libel; but if her husband is the de-
fendant, this suit, as also for alimony and divorce, must be in the name of a "next
friend." She is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus if unlawfully restrained of her
liberty (Purd. Dig., 510, 12; 513, 24; 754, i).
The wife of a drunkard or profligate man by petitioning the Court of Common
Pleas, setting forth these facts and his desertion of her and neglect to provide for her
and their children, may be entitled to the custody of her children, and, as a "feme sole
trader" empowered to transact business and acquire a separate property, which shall
be subject to her own disposal during life, and liable for the maintenance and educa-
tion of her children. Her testimony must be sustained "by two respectable witnesses "
(Pur. Dig., 692, 5; Act of 1855, 2; 2 Roper, Husband and Wife, 171, 173).
By act of April, 1872, any married woman having first petitioned the court, stating
under oath or affirmation her intention of claiming her separate earnings, is entitled
to acquire by her labor a separate property which shall not be subject to any legal
claim of her husband or of his creditors, she, however, being compelled "to show
title and ownership in the same." The husband's possession of property is evidence
of his title to it; not so with the wife (Purd. Dig., 1,010, 38, 39; 4 Lansing, 164; 6l
Barb., 145).
Appendix: Chapter XL/7. 965
A married woman may devise her separate property by will, subject, however, to
the husband's curtesy, which in Pennsylvania attaches, though there be no issue born
alive, and which she cannot bar (Purd. Dig., 806, 804; I Pars., 489; 26 Penn. St. R.,
2O2, 203; 2 Brewster, 302).
The husband may bar the wife's dower by a bona fide mortgage given by himself
alone or by a judicial sale for the payment of his debts. It is also barred by a divorce
obtained by her on the ground of his adultery, and in case of such divorce she is
entitled to the value of one-half of the money and property which the husband re-
ceived through her at marriage (Purd. Dig., 514; 2 Dall.. 127; 12 Serg. and R., 21;
I Yeates Pa., 300).
A single woman's will is revoked by her subsequent marriage, and is not again re-
vived by the death of her husband; a single man's will is revoked by marriage abso-
lutely only when he leaves a widow but no known heirs or kindred (Purd. Dig., 1,477,
18 and 19; 47 Penn. S. Rep., 144, 34, 483).
If the husband die intestate leaving a widow and issue, the widow shall have one-
third of his and their joint personalty absolutely, and one-third of the real estate for
life; if there are no children, but collateral heirs, she is entitled to the use of one-half
the realty, including the mansion-house, for her life, and one-half the personalty ab-
solutely (Purd. Dig., 806, 2 and 3; Act of 1833, i).
If the wife die intestate leaving a husband and no issue, he is entitled to her entire
personalty and realty during his life; if there are children her personal estate is divided
between the husband and children share and share alike; in either case he is entitled
to their entire joint estate (Purd. Dig., 806, 5; Act of 1848, 9).
Married women may be corporate members of any institution composed of and
managed by women, having as its object the care and education of children or the
support of sick and indigent women (Purd. Dig., 283; Act of 1859, l).
It is a crime, punishable by fine and imprisonment, to employ any woman to attend
or wait upon an audience in a theater, opera or licensed entertainment, to procure or
furnish commodities or refreshments (Purd. Dig., 337, 112).
A man, by marriage, is subjected to no political, civil, legal or commercial disabili-
ties, but acquires all the rights 'and powers previously vested in his wife. II'- i>
capable of all the offices of the government from that of postmaster to the presidency,
and of transacting all kinds of business from the measuring of tape to the practice of
the most learned professions. Woman, deprived of political power, is limited in op-
portunities for education, and, if married, is incapable of making a contract; hence
crippled in the transaction of any kind of business.
CHAPTER XLII.
INDIANA.
[A.]
GOVERNOR PORTER made the following novel appointment : On August 30.
Mrs. Georgia A. Ruggles, from Bartholomew county, presented to Governor Porter
an application for a requisition from the governor of Indiana upon the govern. >r of
Kansas, for William J. Beck, charged with the crime of bigamy. 15i-i-k had been
living a few months in Bartholomew county and had passed as an unmarried man
had gained the affections of a young lady much younger than himself and mucl
superior to him by birth and education. After their marriage the fact that Beck
already one wife became known and he fled to Kansas. Mrs. Rug^l
to the young lady who had been thus duped, and upon learning the facts
the attention of the proper authorities to the matter, and begged them to effect 1
arrest. They were not disposed to do so, and upon various excuses postponed
966 History of Woman Suffrage.
She therefore determined to take the matter into her own hands. Governor Porter
granted her the desired requisition; she went to Kansas, and on September 10, 1882, she
received Beck from Samuel Hamilton, sheriff of Ellsworth county; she herself brought
the prisoner, in cuffs, to Indiana, and, September 13, she delivered him into the hands
of Thomas E. Burgess, sheriff of Bartholomew county. Beck was tried, convicted
and sent to the penitentiary.' This bit of justice was the fruit of a woman's pluck
and a governor's good sense.
EXTRACT FROM GEN. COBURN'S ADDRESS.
The people expect that they will in their own way and time inaugurate such meas-
ures as will bring these questions in their entire magnitude into the arena. I hope to
see 10,000 women in convention here. They can, if they will, create a public senti-
ment in favor of their enfranchisement that will be irresistible. They have the ears
of the voters; they have access to the columns of the newspapers; they control all the
avenues of social life. What can they not accomplish, if, with their whole hearts they
set about it ? The sphere of public life has many vacant places to be filled by women.
Why shall they not serve upon the boards of trustees of our great reformatory and be-
nevolent institutions, as superintendents in our hospitals, and as directors and in-
spectors in our prisons? The last legislature conferred upon them the right to hold
any office in our great school system except one, that of State superintendent of public
instruction. From them may now be selected, president of the State university, or
of the Normal School, or of Purdue University, school commissioners and county super-
intendents. But the legislature should give them the power to rescue our prisons, hos-
pitals and asylums from the indescribable horror of filth, neglect and cruelty which
hangs like a murky cloud over many of them. Men have tried it and failed. Stupidity
or partisanship or brutality or avarice, has transformed many a noble foundation of
benevolence into a hell of abomination. Some one must step in to inspect; to enforce
order, cleanliness and virtue; to bring comfort and hope to the downcast and to the out-
cast of society. This purpose must be backed up by the strong arm of power, by the
sanction of the law, and that law must have upon it the stamp of woman's intellect.
This year the women of Indiana can place themselves in the van of human progress
and dictate the policy which mankind must recognize as just and true for ages to
come. The public mind is not unprepared for this measure. The spread and the
acceptance of great ideas is almost miraculous in intelligent communities.
[B.]
LEGAL OPINION BY W. D. WALLACE, ESQ., UPON THE POWER OF THE LEGISLATURE
TO AUTHORIZE WOMEN TO VOTE FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
Capt. W. DeWitt Wallace, Attorney-at-law, Lafayette, Ind.:
DEAR SIR: You will confer a favor upon the friends of woman suffrage in Indiana,
if you will send me, in writing, your opinion, as a lawyer, in answer to the following
question, giving your reasons therefor: Can the legislature of this State empower
women to vote for presidential electors ?
MARY F. THOMAS, President I. W. S. A.
Richmond, Ind., December 30, iSSo.
LAFAYETTE, Ind., January 5, iSSi.
Dr. Mary F. Thomas, President of Indiana Woman Suffrage Association, Rich-
mond, Indiana :
DEAR MADAM: In your favor of the 3Oth ult., you ask my opinion upon, to me, a
novel and most interesting question, viz.: "Can the legislature empower women to
vote for presidential electors ? " After the most careful consideration which I have
been able to give to the subject, consistent with other duties, and with the aid of such
books as I have at command, I answer your question in the affirmative. The grounds
of my opinion I will proceed to state : Section i, article 2, of the Constitution of the
United States, which provides that the president and vice-president shall be chosen by
Appendix: Chapter XLII. 967
electors appointed by the several States, declares in the following words how said
electors shall be appointed :
Each State shall appoint in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a
number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which
said State may be entitled in the congress, etc., etc.
Now, in the absence of any provision in the State constitution, limiting or attempt-
ing to limit the discretion of the legislature as to the manner in which the presidential
electors shall be chosen, there can be no doubt but that the legislature could empower
female, as well as male, citizens to participate in the choice of presidential electors.
Section 2, article 2 of our State constitution is as follows: In all elections, not
otherwise provided for by this constitution, every white male citizen of the United
States, of the age of twenty-one years, and upwards, who shall have resided in the
State during the six months immediately preceding such election * * * * snau
be entitled to vote in the township or precinct where he may reside.
Two questions at once suggest themselves upon the reading of this section : First
Does the section apply to elections of presidential electors, and thus become a limita-
tion upon the discretion of the legislature in case it shall direct the appointment of
the electors by a popular vote ? Second — If so, can a State constitution thus limit the
discretion which the Constitution of the United States directs shall be exercised by the
legislature? I shall consider the last question first.
While the legislature is created by the State, all its powers are not derived from,
nor are all its duties enjoined by the State. The moment the State brings the legis-
lature into being, that moment certain duties enjoined, and certain powers conferred,
by the nation, attach to it. Among the powers and duties of the legislature, which
spring from the national constitution, is the power and duty of determining how the
State shall appoint presidential electors. The Constitution of the United States de-
clares in the most explicit terms that the State shall do this " in such manner as the
legislature may direct." In the case of Ex-Parte Henry E. Hayne, at a/.t reported in
volume g, at page 106, of the Chicago Legal News, the Circuit Court of the United
States for the district of South Carolina, in speaking of the authority upon which a State
legislature acts in providing for the appointment of presidential elector*, say- :
Section I, article 2 of the constitution provides that electors shall be appointed in
such manner as the legislature of each State may direct. When the legislature of a
State, in obedience to that provision, has, by law, directed the manner of appointment
< if the electors, that law has its authorities solely from the Constitution of the United
States. It is a law passed in pursuance of the constitution.
lion. James A. Garfield, who was a member of the Electoral Commission, in dis-
cusMng before that body the source of the power to appoint electors, said:
The constitution prescribes that States only shall choose electors. * * * To
speak more accurately, I should say that the power is placed in the legislatures of the
States; for if the constitution of any State were silent upon the subject, its legislature
is none the less armed with plenary authority conferred upon it directly by the national
constitution. — [Electoral Commission, p. 242.
That this section of the national constitution has always been understood to lodge
an absolute discretion in the legislature, is proved by the practice in the different
States. Chief Justice Story, in his "Commentaries on the Constitution of the United
States," in speaking of this section of the constitution and the practice under it, •
Under this authority, the appointment of electors has been variously provided for
by the State legislatures. In some States the legislatures have directly chosen the
>rs by themselves; in others they have been chosen by the people D? a jrei
ticket throughout the whole State, and in others by the people in electoral di--
liy the legislature, a certain number of elector* being apportioned to e.uli diltl
No question has ever arisen as to the constitutionality of either mode, except that of a
direct choice by the legislature. But this, though often doubted by able and ingei
minds, lias been firmly established in practice ever since the adoption of the constitu-
tion, and does not now seem to admit of controversy, even if a suitable tribunal e.v
to adjudicate upon it. — [2 Story on Constitution, section 1,472.
968 History of Woman Suffrage.
Judge Strong, one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and a
member of the electoral commission, in discussing the subject of this section, says :
I doubt whether they Jthe framers of the national constitution] had in mind at all
[in adopting this section] the idea of a popular election as a mode of appointing State
electors. They used the word appoint, doubtless thinking that the legislatures of the
States would themselves select the elettors, or empower the governor or some other
State officer to select them. The word appoint is not the most appropriate word for
describing the result of a popular election. Such a mode of appointment, I submit is
allowable, but there is little reason to think it was contemplated. * * * It wa>
not until years afterward that the electors were chosen by vote. — [Electoral Commis-
sion, p. 252.
Senator Frelinghuysen, also a member of the Electoral Commission, thus speaks of
the practice in the several States :
Under this power [the power given by the section of the national constitution, which
we are now considering] the legislature might direct that the electors should be ap-
pointed by the legislature, by the executive, by the judiciary, or by the people. In
the earliest days of the republic, electors were appointed by the legislatures. In
Pennsylvania they were appointed by the judiciary. Now, in all the States except
Colorado, they are appointed by the people. — [Electoral Commission, p. 204.
If then it be true that the power to determine how the presidential electors shall
be appointed is derived from the national constitution, and that power is a discre-
tionary one, to be exercised in such manner as the legislature may direct, how can it
be said that a State constitution can limit or control the legislative discretion ? If the
State can limit that discretion in one respect it can limit it in another, and in another,
and in another, until it may shut up the legislature to but a single mode of appoint-
ment, which is to take away, and absolutely destroy all its discretion, and this is nulli-
fication, pure and simple. One of the questions before the electoral commission in
the case of South Carolina, was whether the electoral vote of that State should not be
rejected because the legislature, in providing for the appointment of the electors, had
failed to obey a requirement of the State constitution in regard to a registry law.
This raised, in principle, the very question we are now considering, and on that question
Senator O. P. Morton, who was a member of the commission, and who was an able
lawyer as well as a great statesman, thus expressed himself :
They [the presidential electors] are to be appointed in the manner prescribed by
the legislature of the State, and not by the constitution of the State. The manner of
the appointment of electors has been placed by the Constitution of the United State.-
in the legislature of each State, and cannot be taken from that body by the provisions
of a State constitution. * * * The power to appoint electors by a State, is con-
ferred by the Constitution of the United States, and does not spring from a State con-
stitution, and cannot be impaired or controlled by a State constitution. — [Electoral
Commission, p. 2OO.
The distinguished lawyer and statesman [Hon. William Lawrence] who made the
principle argument before the commission in favor of admitting the vote of the State,
took the same ground (Electoral Commission, p. iS6).
The opinion of Justice Story, expressed in the Massachusetts constitutional conven-
tion of 1820, on a very similar question, and one involving the same principle, quoted
by Mr. Lawrence in his argument, is very high authority, and I reproduce it here.
He (Justice Story) said :
The question then was whether we have a right to insert in our constitution a pro-
vision which controls or destroys a discretion which may be, nay must be, exercised by
the legislature in -virtue of powers confided to it by the Constitution of the United
States. The fourth section of the first article of the Constitution of the United States
declares that the times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and repre-
sentatives shall be prescribed by the legislature thereof. Here an express provision
was made for the manner of choosing representatives by the State legislatures. They
have an unlimited discretion on the subject. They may provide for an election in
districts sending more than one, or by general ticket for the whole State. Here is a
general discretion, a power of choice. What is the proposition on the table? It is to
limit the discretion, to leave no choice to the legislature, to compel representatives to
Appendix: Chapter XLII. 969
be chosen in districts ; in other words to compel them to be chosen in a specific manner,
excluding all others. Were not this plainly a violation of the constitution ? Does it
not affect to control the legislature in the exercise of its powers ? * * * It assumes
a control over the legislature, which the Constitution of the United States does not
justify. It is bound to exercise its authority according to its own view ol public policy
and principle; and yet this proposition compels it to surrender all discretion. In my
humble judgment * * * it is a direct and palpable infringement of the constitu-
tional provisions to which I have referred. — [Electoral Commission, p. 186.
The conclusion seems irresistible that a State constitution cannot determine for
the legislature who shall, or shall not, participate in the choice of presidential electors,
and that in so far as our State constitution may attempt to do so, it is an infringement
of the national constitution. The discretion of the legislature, by virtue of the
supreme law of the land, being (except in so far as it is controlled by the national con-
stitution itself) thus absolutely unlimited, it may, without doubt, as I think, authorize
all citizens without regard to sex, to participate in the choice of presidential electors.
But it has been suggested to me that possibly by the State legislature, as used in the
section of the national constitution which we have been considering, was meant the
whole people of the State in whom the legislative power originally resides and not
the organized legislative body which they may create. We answer first that the lan-
guage of the section will not admit of this construction. It clearly recognizes a dis-
tinction between the State or the people of the State, and its legislature. The lan-
guage is not " each State shall appoint in such manner as it may direct," etc., but it is.
"each State shall appoint in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct," etc.
Again, it is a familiar canon of construction that in determining the meaning of a
statute, recourse may be had to the history of the times in which it was enacted.
When the Constitution of the United States was framed, all of the States had organized
legislatures, or representative bodies who wielded the legislative power, and without
doing violence to language, we must suppose that it was to them the constitution re-
ferred. Again, the State legislatures are referred to not less than ten times in the
national constitution, and in each instance the reference is such as to make it clear
that the organized representative bodies are intended, and in article 5 they are, in ex-
press terms, distinguished from conventions of the States. Indeed, the fundamental
idea of the American government is that of a representative republic as opposed to
a pure democracy, and it may well be doubted whether a State government, without a
representative legislative body of some kind, would, in the American sense, be repub-
lican in form.
Finally, it is apparent from the debates in the constitutional convention which
framed the constitution, and from the whole plan devised for the election of pre-i-
dent and vice-president, that it was not intended by the framers of the constitution to
commit directly to the whole people of a State the authority to determine how the pre-i-
dential electors should be chosen. Nothing seems to have given the convention more
trouble than the mode of selecting a president. Many plans were proposed. Chief
among these were: election by congress; election by the executives of the S
election by the people; election by the State legislatures; and election by eK-
These were presented in many forms. The convention decided not less than three
times, and once by a unanimous vote, in favor of election by the national o>n_,
and as often reconsidered it (2 Madison Papers, pp. 770, 1.124, I.M.JO). The
proposition that the president should be elected directly by the people, intend of !•>•
the national congress, received but one vote, while the proposition that he should 1*
appointed by the State legislatures received two votes (2 Madison I'.ipei*. p. 1.124).
The most cursory examination of the debates will, I think, convince any mind that it
was to the organized legislature of the State, and not to the people of a State, that the
framers of the constitution intended to commit the power of determining how the
presidential electors should be chosen. It seems, both from the del-au-s an. I the plan
adopted, to have been their studied effort to prevent the people from acting in the
choice of their chief magistrate otherwise than through their representatives, and in
97° History of Woman Suffrage.
no single step of the process are the people directly required or authorized by the na.
tional constitution to act, but in every instance the duty and the authority are devolved
upon their representatives. For these reasons I think it clear that it was intended to
invest the organized State legislatures with the power of determining how the presi-
dential electors should be chosen, and that the discretion thus lodged in the legislature
cannot be limited or controlled by a State constitution. W. DE WITT WALLACE.
[C.]
In 1868, the Indiana (Friends) Yearly Meeting appointed Mrs. Sarah J. Smith of
Indianapolis, and Mrs. Rhoda M. Coffin of Richmond, to visit the prisons of the State,
with a view to ascertain the spirit of the management of these institutions, and the
moral condition of their inmates. In obedience to this appointment the two ladies
visited both of the State prisons of Indiana, and made a particularly thorough exami-
nation of the condition of the Southern prison (at Jeffersonville) where all our women
convicts were kept. Here they found the vilest immoralities being practiced; they
discovered that the rumors which had induced their appointment were far surpassed by
the revolting facts.
They visited Gov. Conrad Baker and urged him to recommend the General Assem-
bly to make an appropriation for a separate prison for women. With the full sympa-
thy of Governor Baker, who was not only a most honorable gentleman, but a sincere
believer in the equal political rights of women, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Coffin appeared
before the legislature of 1869, and by an unvarnished account of what they had wit-
nessed and learned in the Southern prison, they aroused the legislators to immediate
action, and an act to establish a " Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls"
was passed at that session (viz. , that of 1869). By statute the new institution was
located at Indianapolis. It was opened in 1873, the first separate prison for women in
this country. Mrs. Sarah J. Smith was made its first superintendent, and she retained
that office, discharging all its duties with great ability, until 1883, when upon her
resignation she was succeeded by Mrs. Elmina S. Johnson, who had up to that time
been associated with Mrs. Smith as assistant superintendent.
The first managing board of women consisted of Mrs. Eliza C. Hendricks (wife of
Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks who was governor of Indiana on the opening of the
prison), Mrs. Rhoda M. Coffin and Mrs. Emily A. Roach. The changes upon
the board have been so infrequent that in addition to those on the first board and to
those on the board at present, only threelladies can be mentioned in this connection,
viz.: Mrs. Eliza S. Dodd of Indianapolis, Mrs. Mary E. Burson (a banker of Muncie)
and Mrs. Sarah J. Smith, who, after resigning the superintendency, served on the board
for a brief time.
The board at present consists of Mrs. Eliza C. Hehdricks, president, Mrs. Claire
A. Walker and Mrs. M. M. James. From the opening of this institution Mrs.
Hendricks has been connected with it; first as a member of the advisory board,
for eight years a member of the managing board and during a large part of the time its
president, she has served its interest with singular fidelity. The position is no sine-
cure. The purchasing of all the supplies is only a part of the board's work ; the business
meetings are held monthly and often occupy half a day, sometimes an entire day.
These Mrs. Hendricks always attends whether she is in Indianapolis or in Washing-
ton; from the latter point she has many times journeyed in weather most inclement
b^1 heat and by cold, simply to look after the prison and to transact the business for it
imposed by her position on its board. During the last eight years, since women have
had control of its affairs, Miss Anna Dunlop of Indianapolis has served the insti-
tution as its secretary and treasurer. Perhaps the highest tribute that can be paid to
the ability with which Miss Dunlop has discharged the responsible and complicated
duties of her double office, lies in the fact that with the General Assembly of the State
it has passed into a proverb that " The Woman's Reformatory is the best and most
economically managed of the State institutions." The committees appointed to visit
Appendix: Chapter XLII. 971
the penal institutions always report that ' ' The accounts of the reformatory are kept
so accurately that its financial status can always be understood at a glance."
This institution has two distinct departments, the penal and the reformatory, occu-
pying two sides of one main building and joined under one management. Convicts
above sixteen years of age are ranked as women and confined in the penal department;
those under sixteen years are accounted girls (children) and lodged in the reformatory
department.
The average number of girls in the institution from its opening has been 150; the
number of women 45. There are now (July, 1885,) over 200 inmates.
All of the work of the institution is done by its inmates. A school is maintained in
the building for the children; a few trades are taught the girls; all are taught house-
work, laundry work, plain sewing and mending; the greatest pains is taken to form in
the inmates habits of industry and personal tidiness, and to prepare them to be good
servants; and when their period of incarceration has expired, the ladies interest them-
selves in finding homes and employment for the discharged convicts whom they seek to
restore to normal relations to society. The secretary estimates that of those who have
been discharged from the institution during the last twelve years, fully seventy-five per
cent, have been really restored and are leading honest and industrious lives.
[D.]
Gov. PORTER'S BifiNNlAL MESSAGE, 1883: "I recommend that in the department
for women in this hospital it shall be required by law that at least one of the physicians
shall be a woman. There are now in this State not a few women who bear diplomas
from respectable medical colleges, and who are qualified by professional attainments
and experience to fill places as physicians in public institutions with credit and use-
fulness. It would be peculiarly fit that their ser/ices should be sought in cases of in-
sanity among members of their own sex."
[E.]
About the year 1867, Miss Lucinda B. Jenkins, formerly of Wayne county, Indiana,
left her work among the " Freedmen " in the South, to accept the position of matron
in "The Soldiers' Orphans' Home" at Knightstown, Indiana. She afterwards be-
came the wife of Dr. Wishard, the superintendent; and when the office was vacated
by his death, she was authorized to assume his responsibilities, and perform his duties,
with the exception of receipting bills and drawing appropriations, which latter duties,
not being then considered as within the province of a woman, were delegated to the
steward until the doctor's successor could be legally appointed.
She was a lady of intelligence and true moral worth, possessing a dignified,
pleasing manner, and other good qualities, which, with her long experience as co-
manager of the institution, admirably fitted her for the position of superintendent;
but she was a woman, without a vote or political influence, and it was necessary that
" party debts " should be paid. She therefore continued her influence for the good of
the institution without public recognition until 1882, when she left to take charge of
a private orphan asylum under the management of ladies of Indianapolis.
[F.]
Miss Susan Fussell is the daughter of the late Dr. B. Fussell of Philadelphia, to
whom, with his estimable*Wife, women are indebted as the founder of the first medical
college for women in the United States. At that period of our civil war, when women
were admitted to the hospitals as nurses, Miss Fussell was at her brother's home at
Peiulleton, Indiana. She immediately volunteered her services, and was n-i-iu .i to
duty by the Indiana sanitary commission in the military hospitals in l.oui-villc. Ken-
tucky, where she served faithfully until the close of the war, giving the bloom of her
youth to her country without hope of reward other than that which comes to all as the
result of self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of humanity.
972 History of Woman Suffrage.
At the close of the war she returned to Philadelphia, but learning soon that an effort
was being made to induce the State of Indiana to provide a home for the soldiers'
orphans, she again offered her services in any useful capacity in that work. A benevo-
lent gentleman of Indianapolis who had been most urgent in calling the attention of
the officers of the State to their duty in that matter, finding that there was no hope,
offered to furnish Miss Fussell with the money necessary to clothe, rear, educate and
care for a family of ten orphans of soldiers, and bring them up to maturity, if she
would furnish the motherly love, the years of hard labor and self-sacrifice, the sleep-
less nights and endless patience needed for the work. After a few days of prayerful
consideration she accepted, and in the fall of 1865 ten orphans were gathered
together in Indianapolis from various parts of the State from among those who had
no friends able or willing to care for them. In the spring of 1866 they were removed
to the Soldiers' Home near Knightstown, where a small cottage and garden were
assigned to their use. In 1875, she placed the older boys in houses where their grow-
ing strength could be better utilized, and moved with the girls and younger boys to
Spiceland to secure the benefit of better schools. In 1877, all of the ten but one
were self-supporting, and have since taken useful and respectable positions in society.
The one exception was a little feeble-minded boy, who, with his brother, had been
found in the county poor-house; his condition and wants very soon impressed her with
the necessity for a State home for feeble-minded children in Indiana, it having been
found necessary to send this boy to another State to be educated. He is now in a
neighboring State institution, and is almost self-supporting. With her usual energy
and directness, she went to work to gather statistics on the subject of " Feeble-minded
Children " in this and other States, and to interest others in their welfare. She at last
found an active co-worker in Charles Hubbard, the representative from Henry county
in the legislature, and their united efforts, aided by other friends of the cause, secured
in 1876 the enactment of the law establishing the Home for Feeble-minded Children,
now in operation near Knightstown, Indiana.
Having seen all her children well provided for, she began to look for further work,
and soon conceived the idea of taking the children from the county poor-houses of the
State and forming them into families. She offered to take the children in the Henry
county poor-house and provide for them home, food, clothing and education, for the
small sum of twenty-five cents per day for each child, which her experience had
proven to be the smallest sum that would accomplish the good she desired; but the
county commissioners would only allow her twenty cents per day. She accepted their
terms, furnishing the deficit from her own means, and so earnest was she and so com-
pletely did she demonstrate the superiority of her plan for the care of these children,
that she interested many others in the work, and the result was the passage of a law
by the legislature of 1880-1881, giving to county commissioners the right to place their
destitute children under the care of a matron, giving her sole charge of them and full
credit for her work, and providing for her salary and their support. Under that law
Miss Fussell now has all the destitute children of Henry county under her care, and
has created a model orphans' home. Thus has this one woman been a power for good,
and by following in the direct line of her duty, has been obliged to " meddle in tin
affairs of State " and to influence legislation.
If in giving this sketch we have exceeded the limits allotted us, let us remembe.
that our subject represents thousands of noble women who care rather that their
light shall carry with it comfort and warmth, than be noted for its brilliancy, and
who, having no voice in the government, are obliged to work out their beneficent ideas
with much unnecessary labor.
[G.]
The friends of woman's equality addressed the following petition to each member of
the State legislature :
Being personally acquainted with Mrs. SARAH A. OREN, and knowing her to be a
woman of refinement and culture, we can consistently urge upon you a favorable con-
Appendix: Chapter XLVII. 973
sideration of her claims as a candidate for election to the office of State librarian.
She has had the benefit of a collegiate education, and has been for several years a suc-
cessful teacher in Antioch College and in the public high-school of Indianapolis. She
is mainly dependent on her own labor for the means to support and educate her
children, who were made fatherless by a rebel bullet at the siege of Petersburg. Her
education and experience have admirably fitted her for the discharge of all the duties
of the office of State librarian; and by electing her to that office, the Republican party
will secure a faithful and efficient officer, and have the pleasure of making another
payment on the debt we owe to the widows and orphans of those who died that our
country might live.*
Mrs. Oren was elected to the office of State librarian and performed the duties be-
longing to it with great efficiency and fidelity. She has been succeeded by Mrs.
Margaret Peele, Mrs. Emma A. Winsor and Miss Lizzie H. Callis.
CHAPTER XLVII.
MINNESOTA.
[A.]
IN the early days, long before the organization of either State or local societies,
there were, besides those mentioned in the main chapter, a few earnest women who
were ever ready to subscribe for suffrage papers and circulate tracts and petitions to
congress and the State legislature, whose names should be honored with at least a
mention on the page of history. Among them were : Mrs. Addie Ballou, Mrs. Ellis
\Vhile, Mrs. Eliza Dutcher, Mrs. Sarah Clark, Miss Amelia Heebner, Miss Emily A.
Emerson, Mrs. Mary F. Mead, Mrs. E. M. O'Brien, Miss Ellen C. Thompson,
R. J. Haner, Mrs. Mary Hulett, Mrs. Gorham Powers, Mrs. C. A. Hotchkiss, Mrs.
Emma Wilson, Mrs. Mary Wilkins, Mrs. Anna D. Weeks, Mrs. Mary 1. eland, Mrs.
Susan C. Burger, Mrs. A. R. Lovejoy, and others.
Of the seventy-six organized counties in Minnesota we give the following partial
list of those that have elected women to the office of superintendent of public schools :
Mille Lacs County, Olive R. Barker; Pine, Ella Gorton; Lac Qui Park, Malena P.
Kirley; Anoka, Mrs. Catharine J. Pierce, Mrs. Ellen Conforth, Miss Dailey; Benten,
Mrs. Belle Graham, Mrs. E. K. Whitney; Cotton-Mood, Mrs. E. C. Huntington, Mrs,
B. J. Banks, Mrs. L. Huntington; Dodge, Mrs. Mary Powell Wheeler, Mrs. P. L.
Dart, Mrs. J. W. Willard, Barbara Van Allen; Dakota, Mr-,. Martha Wallace, Har-
riet E. Jones, Mrs. C. H. Day, Mrs. C. Teachout, Nellie Duff, Mary Mather, Anna
Manners, Jennie Horton; Freeborn, Mrs. J. B. Foote, Mrs. D. R. Ilibbs, Mrs. A.
* Signed by Superintendents Public Schools, A. C. Shortridge, Indianapolis, Alexander M. Cow,
Evansville, Wm. H. Wiley, Terre Haute, Jas. McNeil, Richmond, J. H. Smart, Fort Wayne, Wm
I'helan. Laporte, Barnabas C. Hobbs, Bloomingdale ; Thomas Holmes, president Union Christian Col-
lege, Mrs. Thos. Holmes, Merom ; Geo. P. Brown, principal hi({h-«chool, Mrs. Ceo. P. Brown,
Jessie H. Brown, assistant-superintendent public schools, Prof. W. A. Bell, Prof. T. Charles, Hon.
Byron K. Elliott, Geo. Merritt, Mrs. George Mcrritt, Wm. Coughlen, Jno. S. Newman, prr»iden« Mer-
chants National Bank, Col. James B. Black, Jos. E. Perry, Dr. E. S. Newcomer, Mrv S. K. Newcomer,
Col. Samuel Merrill, Franklin Taylor, Phebe M. Taylor, H. H. Lee, Mr* Eliiabeth Le«, Dr. O. S,
Runnels, Mrs. Dora C. Runnels, Horace McKay, Thomas E. Chandler, David Gibson, Mitt M«ry
Bradshaw, Dr. J. C. Walker, Indianapolis ; Elias Hicks Swayne, Mahala M. Swayne, Richmond ; Dr.
Geo. M. Dakin, Mrs, Geo. M. Dakin, Laporte.
974 History of Woman Suffrage.
W. Johnson, Mrs. J. H. Pickard; Fillmore, Charlotte Taeor, Margaret Hood, Mrs.
M. E. Molstad, Mrs. A. E. Harsh; Fahbault, Jane Harris, Georgia Adams, Mrs. A.
B. Thorp, Mrs. Levi Crump, Mrs. R. C. Smith, Mary Rumage, Mrs. L. A. Scott;
Goodhue, Mrs. H. A. Hohart; Brown, Mrs. O. B. Ingraham; Douglass, Mrs. M. C.
Lewis, Mrs. J. B. Van Hoesen, Mrs. Trask; Houston, Mrs. Annie M. Carpenter;
Henmpin, Angelina Dupont, Mrs. M. F. Taylor; Lyon, Louise M. Ferro, M. D.,
Mrs. W. C. Robinson, Mertie Caley; Mower, Mrs. W. H. Parker, Mrs. V. J. Duffy,
Mrs. J. F. Rockwell, Mrs. E. Hoppin, Sarah M. Dean; Marshall, Mrs. L. H. Stone;
Meeker, Mrs. A. R. Jackman, Mrs. Orin Whitney, Mary E. Ferguson; Martin, Mrs.
J. W. Fuller, Mrs. M. E. St. John, Mary E. Harvey, Mary A. McLean; Olmstead,
Adelle Moore, Jane Haggerty, Mrs. R. S. Carver; Polk, Mrs. M. C. Perrin, Mrs. J.
A. Barnum; Ramsey, Mrs. B. McGuire, Annie E. Dunn; St. Louis, Sarah Burger
Stearns; Winona, Dr. Adaline Williams; Stevens county reports one lady serving as
school-district treasurer; Otter Tail county reports six ladies serving in different
places; Wright county, four serving as clerks of school-districts; and in Beeker county
it is said ladies sometimes serve as deputies during their husbands' absence.
[C.]
In a volume edited by Harriet N. R. Arnold, entitled, "The Poets and Poetry of
Minnesota," published in 1864, are the following names: Mrs. Laura E. Bacon
Hunt, Mrs. Emily F. Bugbee Moore, Miss Eleanor C. Donnelly, Miss Jane Gray
Fuller, Mrs. E. M. Harris, Miss Ninetta Maine, Mrs. J. R. McMasters, Harriet E.
Bishop, Irene Galloway, Mary R. Lyon, Miss M. E. Pierson Smith, Mrs. Helen L.
Pandergast, Julia A. A. Wood. Among the later writers possessing true poetic genius
are Mrs. Julia Cooley Carruth, Miss Eva J. Stickney, Miss Jennie E. M. Caine, Mrs.
Emily Huntington Miller.
Among the authors who sent their books to the New Orleans Exposition in 1885,
are Frances A. Shaw, Marion Shaw, Minnie May Lee, Eleanor G. Donnelly, Mrs. M.
M. Sanford, Mrs. Julia Wood, Edna A. Barnard, Mrs. Arnold, Miss Franc E. Bab-
bett, Mrs. Henderson, Miss Campbell, Mrs. C. H. Plummer, Mrs. Will E. Haskell,
Mrs. Delia Whitney Norton, Maria A. Drew, Mrs. Jennie Lynch, Miss Mary A.
Cruikshank.
[D.]
Mrs. Winchell, wife of the president of the Minnesota State University, kindly sent
us the names of the fifty-six young women who were graduated from that institution
between 1875 and 1885: Class of '75, Helen Mar Ely; '76, Martha Butler; '77,
Matilda J. Campbell, Viola Fuller, Charlotte A. Rollet, Mary A. Maes; '78, Mary
Robinson, Nettie Getchel; '79, Marian H. Roe, Caroline Rollet, Martha J. West,
Evelyn May Champlin, Etta Medora Eliot; '80, Lizzie A. House, Bessie S. Lawrence,
Minnie Reynolds, Lillian Todd, Cora Inez Brown; '81, Emily Hough, Diana Burns,
Sarah E. Palmer, Lilla Ruth Williams; '82, Carrie Holt, Lydia Holt, Mary Eliza
Holt, Alice E. Demmon, Louise Lillian Hilbourn, Emily D. McMillan, Ada Eva
Pillsbury, Agnes V. Bonniwell, Grace W. Curtis, Marie Louise Henry, Mary Nancy
Hughes, Carrie D. Fletcher; '83, Annie Harriet Jefferson, Kate Louise Kennedy,
Sarah Pierrepont McNair, Anna Calista Marston, Janet Nunn, Emma Frances Trus-
sell, Helen Louise Pierce, Martha Sheldon, Louise E. Hollister, Emma J. Ware;
'84, Hannah Sewall, Susie Sewall, Anna Bonfoy, Bessie Latho, Addie Kingsbury,
Belle Bradford, Emma Twinggi; '85, Mary Benton, Bertha Brown, Ida Mann, Mary
Irving, Mabel Smith.
Among the women who have been successful as preceptresses in the State Uni-
versity are: Helen Sutherland, M. A., Mrs. Augusta Norwood Smith, Matilda J.
Campbell, B. L., Maria L. Sanford.
Among the teachers in the normal schools of the State are the following :"
Winona — Martha Brechbill, Sophia L. Haight, Jennie Ellis, Sarah E. Whittaker,
Appendix: Chapter XLVII. 975
Kate L. Sprague, Vienna Dodge, Ada L. Mitchell, Anna C. Foekens, Rena M. Mead,
Mary E. Couse, B. S.
Mankato Normal School— Helen M. Philips, Defransa A. Swan, Anna McCutcheon,
Genevieve S. Hawley, Mary E. Hutcheson, Eliza A. Cheney, Charity A. Green, M.
Adda Holton.
St. Cloud Normal School — Isabel Lawrence, Ada A. Warner, Minnie F. Wheelock,
Rose A. Joclin, Mary L. Wright, Kittie W. Allen. Nearly all of the above-named
teachers were graduated from Eastern colleges and universities.
Women occupy the same positions as men and receive corresponding salaries. A
recent report of Minneapolis schools names fifteen women in the High School receiv-
ing from $650 to $900 per year; twelve principals of ward schools, receiving from
$750 to $1,000; and eleven primary principals receiving from $650 to $800. At St.
Paul there were reported two principals getting $1,200 each, two getting $900, and
twelve others getting $600 each; of the five lady assistants in the High School, one
received $900, one $800, and three received $700 each. The principal of the High
School at Duluth receives $750 per annum, and some of the assistants and principals
of ward schools, $600.
Miss Sarah E. Sprague, a graduate of St. Lawrence University, and of the Normal
and Training School at Oswego, N. Y. , has been employed since August, 1884, by the
State Department of Public Instruction, for institute work, at a salary of $1,260 per
year and expenses. Miss Sprague is a lady of rare ability and an honor to her pro-
fession.
Prominent among private schools for young ladies is the Bennett Seminary at Min-
neapolis, Mrs. B. B. Bennett, principal; also the Wasioja Seminary, Mrs. C. B. P.
Lang, preceptress, and Miss M. V. Paine, instructor in music. The services of Miss
Mary E. Hutcheson have been highly valued as instructor in vocal music and elocu-
tion in the Mankato Normal School. Miss Florence Barton at Minneapolis, Mrs.
Emily Moore of Duluth, are excellent teachers of music, and Miss Zella D'Unger, of
elocution.
Prominent among the kindergarten schools is that of Mrs. D. V. S. Brown at St.
Paul; Mrs. Mary Dowse, Duluth; Miss Endora Hailman, Winona. The latter is
director of the kindergarten connected with the Winona State Normal School. Miss
Fannie Wood, Miss Kate E. Barry, Miss Ella P. McWhorter and Miss Abby E. Ax-
tell, are reported as having rendered very efficient service as teachers in the State Deaf
and Dumb Asylum; Miss Mary Kirk, Miss Alice Mott and Miss Emma L. Rohow
are spoken of as having been earnest and devoted teachers in the State Institution for
the Blind.
Mrs. Viola Fuller Miner of Minneapolis, graduated from the State University, has
long been known as a teacher and writer of much ability. Her pen never touches the
suffrage question except to its advantage. Miss Eloise Butler, teaching in the High
School of the same city, would gladly have lent her personal aid to suffrage work had
time and strength permitted. We have at least the blessing of her membership and
influence. Mrs. Sadie Martin, likewise a teacher of advanced classes and an easy
writer, will be remembered as the first president of the local suffrage society of Min-
neapolis, and one much devoted to its interests. Mrs. Maggie McDonald, formerly a
teacher at Rochester and long a resident of St. Paul, has ever been a devoted friend
of the suffrage cause — commenced work as long ago as '69, and is to-day unflagging
in hope and zeal. Mrs. Caroline Nolle of the same city, though much occupied as
a teacher in the High School, still found time to aid in forming the St. Paul Suffrage
Society. Miss Helen M. McGowan, a teacher at Owatonna, is spoken of as " a gr.uul
woman who believes in the ballot as a means to higher ends." Miss S. A. Mayo, a
lady of fine culture and a successful teacher of elocution, was also an active member
of this society while in the city. Miss Clara M. Coleman, a classical scholar !
Michigan University, for one year principal of the Duluth High School, was a believer
in equal rights for all and did not hesitate to say so. Miss Louise Hollister, a
graduate of the Minnesota University, is Miss Coleman's successor and a friend of
976 History of Woman Suffrage.
suffrage for women, with an educational qualification; she is vice-president of the
Kqual Rights League of Duluth. Miss Jenny Lincl Gowdy, graduated from the
Winona Normal School, is an excellent primary principal who teaches her pupils that
girls should have the same rights and privileges as boys — no more, no less.
[E.]
The names of the women who have been admitted to the Minnesota State Medical
Society are : Clara E. Atkinson, Ida Clark, Mary G. Hood, A. M. Hunt, Harriet E.
Preston, Belle M. Walrath, Annes F. Wass, Lizzie R. Wass, Mary Twoddy Whetsone.
Among the women who have practiced medicine in Minnesota are : Catharine
Underwood Jewell, Lake City; E. M. Roys, Rochester; Harriet E. Preston, M.
Mason, Mary E. Emery, Jennie Fuller, Clara E. Atkinson, St. Paul; Mary G. Hood,
Mary J. Twoddy Whetsone, R. C. Henderson, A. M. Hunt, Adele S. Hutchinson,
Mary L. Swain, D. A. Coombe, Minneapolis; E. M. Roys, Mary Whitney, Ida S.
Clark, Rochester; Augusta L. Rosenthal, Winona; Fannie E. Holden, Anna Brock-
way Gray, Duluth.
The board of officers of the Sisters of Bethany has for many years consisted of :
President, Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve; Vice-President, Mrs. Euphemia N, Over-
lock; Secretary, Mrs. Harriet G. Walker; Treasurer, Mrs. Abbie G. Mendenhall.
The city of Minneapolis takes the lead of all others in the State in the number of
its benevolent institutions. It has its Woman's Industrial Exchange, as an aid to
business women; its Woman's Home, or pleasant boarding-house; for the care of sick
women, its Northwestern Woman's Hospital and training-school for nurses; also a
homeopathic hospital for women; for the care of homeless infants, its Foundlings'
Home; for unfortunate girls, its Bethany Home. All of these institutions are in the
hands of the best of women. Among the most active are : Mrs. M. B. Lewis, Miss
Abby Adair, Mrs. O. A. Pray, Mrs. J. M. Robinson, Mrs. John Edwards, Mrs. L.
Christian, Mrs. S. W. Farnham, Mrs. Wrm. Harrison, Mrs. H. M. Carpenter, Mrs.
D. Morrison, Mrs. John Crosby, Mrs. George B. Wright, Mrs. Moses Marston, Mrs.
Charlotte O. Van Cleve, Mrs. T. B. Walker, Dr. Mary S. Whetsone, Mrs. C. S.
Winchell, Dr. Mary G. Hood, Mrs. R. W. Jordan, Miss A. M. Henderson.
In the city of Duluth there is a woman's home unlike any other in the State. It is
managed by a corporate body of ladies known as home missionaries. The charter
members are : Sarah B. Stearns, Laura Coppernell, Jennie C. Swanstrom, Fanny H.
Anthony, Olive Murphy, Flora Davey, Jennie S. Lloyd, Fannie E. Holden, M. D.
The work of this corporation is to seek out all poor women needing temporary shelter
and employment. The classes chiefly cared for are poor widows and deserted wives,
and such small children as may belong to them; also over-worked young women who
may need a temporary resting-place; also young girls thrown suddenly upon their own
resources without knowledge of how to care for themselves. These ladies care also
for the unfortunate of another class, but in a retired place, unmarked by any sign.
They prefer that to the usual plan of caring for the victims of men.
[F-]
Portrait and landscape-painters in oil and water-colors, who give promise of suc-
cess : Minneapolis, Miss Clara V. Shaw, Miss Mary E. Neagle, Mrs. Frank
Painter, Miss Mary Dunn, Mrs. Irene W. Clark, Miss C. M. Lenora, Mrs. Arthur
Clark, Mrs. A. M. West, Miss Myra H. Twitchell, Mrs. A. L. Loring, Miss Luella
Gurney, Mrs. Charles Fairfield, Mrs. A. T. Rand, Miss E. Robeson, Miss Helen
Goodwin, Mrs. Sarah E. Corbett, Mrs. Lucille Hunkle, Miss Mary Kennedy, Mrs.
Frances A. Pray. Mrs. W. B. Mead, Miss Flora Edwards, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. I. W.
Mauley, Mrs. M. P. Hawkins; St. Paid, Miss Florence M. Cole, Miss Mary Hol-
lingshead, Miss A. M. Shavre, Miss Alice Chandler, Mrs. Martha Griggs, Miss L. B.
West, Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Theodosia Rose Cleveland, Mrs. Genevieve Jefferson, Mrs.
Appendix: Chapter LI I I. 977
C. B. Grant, Jennie Lynch, Miss Wilson, Miss Lilla Inness, Mrs. George Eastman,
Mrs. Paine, Mrs. Fannie Smith, Miss Alice Page, Mrs. Hunter; Winona, Mrs. \V.
Ely, Mrs. Ella Newell, Miss D. E. Barr; Lake City, Mrs. H. B. Sargent, Mrs. J. G.
Richardson, Bessie Milliken; Still-water, Sadie S. Clark, Miss Field, Sarah Murdock;
Albert Lea, Birdie Slocum; Fairbault, Grace McKinster, MissS. E. Cook; Litchfield,
Mrs. Carter; Alexandria, Mamie Lewis; St. Cloud, Mary Clarke; Fergus Falls, Mrs.
Wurtle; Owatonna, Mrs. D. O. Searles; Duluth, Emma F. Shaw Newcome, Anna
E. Gilbert, Mrs. A. D. Frost, De Etta Evans, Mrs. Persis Norton, Addie W. L.
Barrow, Gertrude Olmstead, Addie Hunter, Fanny Woodbridge. Doubtless there
are many others of worth in other localities improving their talents and finding real
enjoyment and pecuniary recompense in the pursuit of their loved art.
It is one of the imperfections of this chapter that the names cannot be given of the
many gifted young ladies who have gone from Minnesota for a musical education to
the New York and Boston Conservatories of Music. Of those who have gone from
Duluth, and returned as proficients, may be named Mary Willis, Mary Ensign
Hunter, Mary Munger, Florence Moore and Jessie Hopkins. With this beautiful
thought in mind, " noblesse oblige" the Christian workers of Duluth call upon these
talented young ladies for aid in furnishing many entertainments for charity's sake, and
are seldom disappointed.
[G.]
Among the occasional speakers and writers not mentioned in the main chapter are :
Abbie J. Spaulding, Mrs. M. M. Elliot, Miss A. M. Henderson, Mrs. M. J. Warner,
Lizzie Manson, Rebecca S. Smith, Viola Fuller Miner, Harriet G. Walker, Eliza Hurt
Gamble, Emma Harriman, Eva Mclntyre, Mary Hall Dubois, Minnie Reed, Mrs.
G. H. Miller, Dr. Mary Whetsone, Mrs. M. C. Ladd, Mrs. M. A. Seely, Mrs. E. S.
Wright, Mrs. M. H. Drew, Mrs. E. J. Holly, Mrs. David Sanford, Mrs. F. E. Rus-
sell, Lily Long. Zoe McClary, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Thomas McClary, gives
promise of distinction.
Since the formation of the State and local societies there are many women in their
quiet homes who are ever ready' to encourage any effort toward making all women
more free, helpful and happy. Let this paragraph record the names of a few of these :
Mary E. Chute, Isabelle L. Blaisdell, Mary Partridge, Mrs. C. C. Curtis, Frances A.
Shaw, Lucy E. Prescott, Mrs. S. J. Squires, Minnie Reed, Mrs. E. S. Wright, Nellie
H. Hazeltine, Aclelle J. Grow, Mrs. A. B. Cole, Mrs. A. F. Bliss, Mrs. E. J. Hollcy,
Frances P. Sawyer, Frances L. James, Mrs. M. C. Clark, Lucy Gibbs, Prudence
Lusk, Lizzie P. Hawkins, M. Hammond, Mrs. E. Southworth, Josephine Strait,
Kittie Manson, Mrs. R. C. Watson, Alice B. Cash, Emma Drew, Helen M. Olds,
Mrs. W. W. Bilson, Adaline Smith, Mrs. L. A. Watts, Emily Moore, Olive Muq>hy.
Mrs. L. A. Wentworth, Gertrude L. Gow, Delia W. Norton, Mrs. V. A. Wright,
Mrs. M. H. Wells, Aurelia Bassett, Kate C. Stevens, Mary Vrouman, Belle Hazen,
Mrs. D. C. Hunt, Mrs. L. H. Young, Louisa Stevens, Father Hayes, Sarah J. Craw-
ford, Lucinda Roberts, Carrie Rawson, Sarah Herrick, Kate Tabor, Charlotte
Herbert, Belle McClelland, Jane E. Knott, Margaret l>r\-'ii. Mary McKnight,
EmmaColeman, Sarah Ricker, Mary M. Pomeroy, Sarah Fribble, Mary A. Griuncll,
Eliza Van Ambden.
CHAPTER LIII.
CALIFORNIA.
WE give not only the names of the delegates present at the convention of 1870, hot
also of a few of the most earnest friends of the cause in the several counties of the
State, not heretofore mentioned in connection with the early conventions.
In San Francisco we must not omit the venerable Eliza Taylor, a sweet-faced
Quaker, eighty years of age, nor Fanny Green McDougall — "Aunt" Fanny, as
62
978 History of Woman
we loved to call her — nor Mrs. C. C. Calhoun, Mary F. Snow, Minnie Edwards, Mrs.
O. Fuller, Mrs. C. M. Parker, Wm. R. Ryder, Mrs. M. J. Hendee, Kate Collins,
Mary Kellogg, Louise Fowler, M. J. Hemsley and Mrs. H. T. Perry. In
October, 1883, Elizabeth McComb, Mary Coggins, Mrs. J. V. Drinkhouse, Dr. and
Mrs. E. D. Smith, Mrs. E. Sloan, Mrs. C. J. Furman, Elizabeth D. Layres, Miss
Prince, Kate Kennedy, Carrie Parker, Marion Hill,* Mrs. Olmstead, Mrs. Dr. White,
Dr. Laura P. Williams and Mrs. Olive Washburn were all members of the city and.
State associations. There was the brilliant Sallie Hart, who took such an active part in
the "local option" contest in 1871, and who as a newspaper reporter and correspon-
dent in the State legislature for two or three sessions was very active in urging the
claims of woman upon the consideration of our law-makers.
Hon. Philip A. Roach, often a prominent official of the State, and for many years
editor of the Daily Examiner, is an advocate of woman's rights and was instrumental
in getting an act, known as " Senator Roach's bill to Punish Wif e-whippers, " passed.
It provided that such offenders should be punished by flogging upon the bare back at
the whipping-post. A wise and just law, but it was afterward declared unconstitu-
tional by the Supreme Court. Hon. James G. Maguire, a brilliant and rising young
lawyer, a member of the legislature in 1875, now a judge of the Superior Court
of San Francisco, is a most reliable and talented advocate of equality for women.
Among the members of the bar and other prominent men of the State are to be
found a number who are either pronounced in their views of woman's right to vote, or
are inclined to favor all measures tending to ameliorate woman's condition in life; of
whom are Judge G. M. Clough, Judge Darwin, D. J. Murphy, Judge L. Quint, Col.
J. P. Jackson of the Daily Post, Hon. Charles Gildea of the Board of Equalization,
Judge Toohey, the late Judge Charles Wolff, Rev. Dr. F. F. Jewell, Dr. R. H. Mc-
Donald, the prominent temperance advocate; Hon. J. T. Wharton, P. ^. Dorney,
esq., Judge J. B. Lamar, Rev. Dr. Robert McKenzie, Capt. W'alker of the City
Argus, Hon. Frank Pixley of the Argonaut, ex-Gov. James A. Johnson of the Daily
Alta, Alfred Cridge, esq., Dr. R. B. Murphy, N. Hawks, W. H. Barnes of The Call,
O. Dearing, Hon. W. W. Marrow, Hon. Charles A. Sumner, representative in con-
gress; Hon. J. B. Webster of the California Patron, in San Francisco. In other
parts of the State are ; Senator Cross of Nevada county, Assemblyman Cominette of
Amador, Judge G. G. Clough, and Senator Kellogg of Plumas county, Hon. H. M.
Larue, Speaker of the House, and Assemblyman Doty of Sacramento county, Senator
Del Valle of Los Angeles, Hon. O. B. Hitchcock of Tulare county, Judge McCan-
naughy and Judge E. Steele of Siskyon county, Hon. T. B. Wigginton, Judge Charles
Marks, R. J. Steele, esq., of Merced county; John Mitchell, John T. Davis and
Capt. Gray of Stanislaus; Hon. J. McM. Shafter of Marin county; Senator Brooks
and Judge J. D. Hinds of Ventura county.
Sacramento county contains a large number of progressive men and women, though
the good work has consisted mainly in the efforts made by committees appointed by
the State society to attend the biennial sessions of the legislatuere, most of whom
were not residents of the county. But among those who have done good service in
Sacramento, the first and most active for many years has been Mrs. L. G. Waterhouse,
now of Monterey. She espoused the cause in early life, and when many added years
compelled her to retire from active service, her efforts in behalf of women were still
continued. Miss Dr. Kellogg is not only a successful practitioner of medicine, but is
gifted with eloquent speech, and has on several occasions addressed the legislature of
the State; Dr. Jennie Bearby, for some years a resident of Sacramento, now of Idaho,
is worthy of mention; Mrs. M. J. Young, attorney-at-law since June, 1879; Annie G.
Cummings and daughter, have been among the earliest and most faithful adherents to
our cause. Mrs. E. B. Crocker has, through her social position, exerted great influ-
ence in a quiet way, and has contributed liberally from her vast wealth to aid the
* Mrs. Hill was Presidant of the San Francisco Woman Suffrage Society for three years prior to her
death in 1884.
Appendix: Chapter LHI. 979
cause; she founded the Marguerite Home foraged women. Dr. and Mrs. Bowman,
now of Oakland, were pioneers in this work; while Mesdames Jackson, Hontoon,
Perley Watson, and Miss Hattie Moore are among the recent converts. Hon. Grove
1,. Johnson has been one of the most eloquent of all the fearless champions of women
-who have occupied a seat in the legislature; Hon. Creed Haymond deserves to rank
with the foremost, as an able advocate of woman's political rights; Hon. S. J. Finney
of Santa Cruz, Talbot Wallis, State Librarian, Judge Taylor, a prominent lawyer, and
Tiis brilliant wife, are also among our friends. Sarah A. Montgomery, Mattie A.
Shaw, Mrs. A. Wilcox, Mary B. Lewis, Judge and Mrs. McFarland, Judge J. W.
Armstrong, encouraged by his devoted and talented wife, and a large number of
others, favor in a quiet way the ballot for women.
San Joaquin county has been the home of Laura De Force Gordon since 1870, and
much of her practice as a lawyer has been in the courts at Stockton. Among the
.earliest advocates of suffrage were Mr. and Mrs. William Condy, Mr. and Mrs. Harry,
Judge Brush, Hattie Brush, Judge Roysdon, William Hickman and wife, Mr>. K.
Emery, William Israel, Hannah Israel, Miss E. Clifford, Dr. Holden, Richard Condy
and his noble wife Elizabeth, who was the first president of the San Joaquin county
society. Among a hosfrof others are Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Freeman and their bright
joung daughter Sophronia, who gives promise of future usefulness in the lecture-field;
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Gage, whose daughter Hattie possesses marked artistic ability, and
though still in her teens has produced oil paintings of rare beauty; Dr. Brown, physi-
cian in charge of the State Insane Asylum ; Dr. Phcebe Tabor, for many years a success-
ful medical practitioner; Mrs. N. G. Gary, Mrs. M. S. Webb, Mrs. Zignago, a suc-
cessful business woman; Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Loomis, R. B. Lane, Mr. and Mrs. II.
M. Bond, and Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Overhiser, both of whom are active members of that
liberal woman's rights order, the Patrons of Husbandry. Hon. R. C. Sargent, a member
•of the legislature for several terms, has always aided the woman's cause by his vote and
influence. Dr. J. L. Sargent and his intelligent wife are also friends to every measure
tending to benefit woman. Hon. S. L. Terry, Senator F. T. Baldwin, James A.
Lontitt, esq., Judge J. H. Budd, Judge A. Van R. Patterson, George B. M
Judge Buckley and a number of other prominent officials and members of the legal
profession, are all in favor of equal rights.
Sonoma county has a few fearless friends of woman suffrage. Mary Jewett,
Prince, Fannie M. Wertz and Miss E. Merrill were officers in the first organization
formed at Healdsburg in that county in 1870, and together with J. G. Unwell and
•wife, who were proprietors of the Russian River Flag, kept up the society for years. At
I'etaluma, Mrs. A. A. Haskell, Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Hatch, Kate Lovcjoy and Mrs.
Judge Latimer organized asociety in 1869. In Solano county are Mr. and Mrs. Denio
.and Mrs. E. L. Hale of Vallejo; Mrs. Elizabeth Ober and Mrs. Celia Geddes of 1
field. Napa county soon became an objective point for lecturers; a society was organ-
ized at St. Helena in 1871, with Mr. and Mrs. John Lewcllyn, Charles King. Mr>.
Potter and Dr. and Mrs. Allyn as officers; at Napa were Joseph Eggletonand wife and
Mrs. Ellis. In San Mateo county was Mrs. Dr. Kilpatrick. Contra Costa county wa»
organized in 1870, and Mrs. Phebe Benedict, Mrs. Abbott, Mary O'Brien, Sarah
Sellers, Dr. and Mrs. Howard, Hannah Israel, an able writer and lecturer, ami Capt.
Kimballof Antioch, took an active part therein. Mrs. J. H. l'!; \\\ct. E
II. Cox and wife of Danville, were pioneers in the cause, and Henry and Abigail
Hush of Martinez, were most prominent in the fir>t meetings held there. Mm. Bu»h
had the honor to preside over the second woman suffrage convention ever held in the
United States, that at Rochester, N. Y., in 1848. O. Alley and wife, a!
Martinez, extended their hospitality to lecturers who visited that place, and fully
.sympathized in the cause.
In Marin county a society was formed in 1870, with Isabella :
Flora Whitney, Mrs. M. Dubois and Mary Bat toy Smi:h, a* oliu-cru; )
Shafter, a gifted and influential lady, was al>o an active worker in the good cau*
Alameda county— Rev. John Benton and wife, Professor E. Carr and wife, Mr*. C. C.
980 History of Woman Suffrage.
Calhoun, Mrs. M. L. S. Duncan, Mrs. S. S. Allen, Dr. and Mrs. Powers, Mr. and
Mrs. Ingersoll, Angie Eager, Mary Kenny, George and Martha Parry and Mr. and
Mrs. William Stevens, were interested in the earlier agitation of the question; Mrs.
Sanford, Mrs. A. M. Stoddard and Mrs. M. Johnson are among the later converts.
Merced county the home of Rowena Granice Steele, the author, and publisher of
the San Joaquin Valley Argus, has furnished the State with a worthy and capable
advocate of woman suffrage, both as a speaker and writer. In her cozy, rose-
embowered cottage at Merced, she generously entertains her numerous guests, who
always seek out this distinguished and warm-hearted friend of woman. Stanislaus
county is the present home of Jennie Phelps Purvis, a talented and brilliant woman,
well known in literary circles in an early day and for some years a prominent officer
and member of the State society. At Modesto are Mrs. Lapham and daughter Amel,
and Mr. and Mrs. Brown, good friends to suffrage. In San Diego are Mrs. F. P.
Kingsbury, Mrs. Tallant. In Santa Cruz county, Georgiana Bruce Kirby, Mrs. H.
M. Blackburn, Mrs. M. E. Heacock, Rev. D. G. Ingraham, Ellen Van Valkenburg.
In Los Angeles county, Mrs. Eliza J. Hall, M. D. Ingo county, J. A. Jennings.
Santa Clara county, J. J. Owen, the able editor of the San Jose" Mercury; Laura
J. Watkins, Hon. O. H. Smith and wife, Mrs. G. B. McKee, Mrs. McFarland, Mrs.
Herman, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. J. J. Crawford, Mrs. R. B. Hall, Mrs.
Knox, Mrs. Wallis, Mrs. C. M. Putney, Mrs. Damon, Miss Walsh, and many others,
have all helped the good cause in San Jose; while Louisa Smith of Santa Clara, a lady
of advancing years, was ever a faithful friend of the cause, as was also Miss Emma
S. Sleeper of Mountain View, formerly of Mt. Morris, N. Y. In Nevada county,
originally the home of Senator A. A. Sargent, the question of woman suffrage was
agitated at an early day. The most active friends were : Ellen Clark Sargent, Emily
Rolfe, Mrs. Leavett, Mrs. E. P. Keeney, Mrs. E. Loyed, Elmira Eddy, Mr. and Mrs.
William Stevens, Mrs Hanson, Judge Palmer and Mrs. Cynthia Palmer.
CHAPTER LVI.
GREAT BRITAIN.
A CRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE SUCCESSIVE STEPS OF PROGRESS TOWARDS FREE-
DOM FOR WOMEN.
1848. Queen's College, Harley street, London, founded for girls.
1849. Bedford College, London, founded; incorporated, 1869.
1850. North London Collegiate School for girls opened by Miss Buss, April 4.
1854. Cheltenham Ladies' College commenced. . . .Miss Nightingale goes to Sentari ;
from hence may be dated the beginning of training schools for nurses, metro-
politan associations for nursing the poor, etc. , etc.
1856. Female Artists' Society founded.
1857. Divorce and Matrimonial Causes act passed, by which divorce and judicial sepa-
ration became attainable in course of law. .. .Ladies' Sanitary Association,
founded October I.
1858. English-woman's Journal started (now Englishwoman's Review) by Bessie R.
Parkes and Mdme. Bodichon, March 2. . . .First swimming bath for ladies,
opened in Marylebone, July 14.
1859. Society for the Employment of Women established in London, June 22.
1860. Law-copying Office for women opened February 15. .. .Victoria Printing Press,
established March 26. .. .Institution for the Employment of Needle-women
commenced. .. .First admission of women students to the Royal Academy
(Miss Herford).
1861. Lectures on Physiology to ladies at University College, April.
Appendix: Chapter LVL 981
1862. Social Science Congress in London; though not the first time ladies had read
papers at the congress — this was remarkable for the increased share they took
in its proceedings. . . .Ladies' Negro Emancipation Society commenced....
New church order of deaconeeses founded on the model of Kaiserwerth. . . .
First voyage of Miss Rye to Australia, and commencement of her system
of emigration.
1863. Establishment of Queen's Institute, Dublin, for industrial training cf women.
1864. Female Medical and Obstetrical Society begun. . . .Working Women's College,
Queen's Square, opened October 26.
1865. Miss Garrett receives her medical diploma from Apothecaries' Hall.
1866. A petition of 1,500 women* for the franchise presented, and the first women's
suffrage society formed.
1867. Mr. Mill's motion in the House of Commons to give the suffrage to v/omen. . . .
Lily Maxwell voted in Manchester for Mr. Jacob Bright.
1868. In the general election many women who were left on the register voted.
Women's suffrage was declared illegal by the Court of Common Pleas, No-
vember 9. . . .London University establishes a women's examination.
1869. Ladies' Educational Association begun in London, which was dissolved July
18, 1878, npon London University College admitting women as regular
students. . . .Women's College established at Hitchin, October. . . .The tele-
graph service was transferred to government, and women clerks were retained,
thus entering the civil service. . . .Municipal Franchise act passed ; women
first voted under it November I.
1870. Publication of Women's Suffrage Journal commenced March I.... Women's
Disabilities Removal bill introduced by Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., read a
second time, but rejected in committee, May. . . .Lectures for women begun
in Cambridge. .. .First examinations of women in Queen's University, Ire-
land... .Married Women's Property act (England) passed, August 9....
National Indian Association established by Mary Carpenter (principal object:
the improvement of women's education in India), September. .. .Vigilance
Association established, October; mainly occupied in women's questions. . . .
Elementary Education act passed. . . .First school-board election in London,
November 25 (Miss Garrett and Miss Emily Davies elected in London;
Miss Becker, Manchester, etc.).
1871. Ladies' National Health Association commenced by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. . . .
Law of Ireland amended slightly with regard to married women's property. . . .
National Union for improving the education of women established by Mrs.
Grey, November.
1872. New Hospital for Women, opened February, in Marylebone (women doctors)
Girls' Public Day School Company formed. First school opened Jan-
uary i, at Chelsea; there are now fifteen. . . .Girton College, Cambridge, in-
corporated. Hitchin College subsequently removed to it New Bastardy
act, passed August 10, affording a greater measure of relief to unmarried
mothers.
1873. Mrs. Nassau Senior, appointed assistant inspector of workhouses, January; the
first government appointment of a lady; made permanent, February, 1874.
First school-board election.in Scotland, February (twenty ladies elected).
Second English school-board Custody of Infants act pa»ed. which
enables a man, having a deed of separation from his wife, to give up the cus-
tody of the children to her if he chooses.
1874. Women's Peace and Arbitration Auxiliary of the London Peace Society formed,
April Women's Protection and Provident League formed, July 8 (benefit
societies and trades unions for working women) Protection Orders giren
to wives in Scotland, July 19 College for Working Women, Fitiroy street,
London, opened October London School of Medicine for Women, opened
October 12.
982 History of Woman Suffrage.
1875. A lady first elected as poor-law guardian (Miss Merington, in Kensington),
April. . . . Albemaile Club opened for ladies and gentlemen, May 29. . . Ne-wn-
ham College, Cambridge, opened. . . .Employment of Women Office, opened
in Brighton. . . .Female clerkships in Post-Office Savings Bank. . . .Pharma-
ceutical Society of Ireland admitted women to examinations. .. .Madras-
Medical School opened to women. . . .First woman lawyer's office opened in.
London (Miss Orme). .. .Metropolitan and National Nursing Association
formed. .. .Women delegates from women's unions first admitted to Trades'
Congress in Glasgow, October.
1876. Admission of women to Manchester New College, February 9. . . .First quali-
fied woman pharmacist established in Londoa(Miss Isabella Clarke). . . .Plan-
tracing office for women opened (Miss Crosbie). . . .Employment of Womert
Office, opened in Glasgow. .. .Scholarship for women established in Bristol.
University College. . . .British Women's Temperance Association commenced!
. . . .Passing of the act, known as Russell-Gurney's act, enabling universities;
to admit women to degrees, August. .. .Resolutions of King and Queen's.
College of Physicians in Ireland to confer medical degrees on women; five
ladies passed their examinations and received degrees in the following spring:
... .A memorial, signed by 45,000 women, presented to the queen on behalf
of the Bulgarians.
1877- Teachers, Training and Registration Society inaugurated, February 2. . . .Trinity
College, London, decided to throw open its musicial examinations to women,.
. . . .St. Andrew's University offered " Literate in Arts" degrees to women.
... .A bill to amend the Married Women's Property Law (Scotland) passed;,
came into force January I, 1878. .. .International Congress on Public Mo-
rality met at Geneva, September. . . .Admission of women medical students to*
the Royal Free Hospital, October I. . . .Manchester and Salford College for
women (now affiliated to the Victoria University) opened, October.
1878. Society to extend the knowledge of law among women started. . . .Matrimonial
Causes Amendment act passed; a clause being inserted by Lord Penzance-
enabling magistrates to grant a judicial separation to women if brutally
treated by their husbands, a maintenance to be given them, and the children
to remain under their mother's care. . . .Admission of women to London Uni-
versity degrees and examinations, July I. .. .Intermediate Education act,
Ireland; participation of girls in its benefits.
1879. Victoria University charter grants degrees to women Oxford, Somerville and!
Lady Margaret Halls opened, October. .. .Nine ladies elected on London
school-board, November. . . .Pharmaceutical Society admits women as mem-
bers, October. . . .Order of St. Katherine for nurses established. . . .School for
wood-engraving and one for wood-carving established.
1880. Charter of Irish University gives degrees to women. .. .Demonstration of
women in Manchester in favor of the suffrage, February 3' followed by
London, Bristol and Nottingham in the same year. .. .Bill to give further
protection to little girls under 13 passed. . . .Mason College in Birmingham
founded; equal facilities to girls and boys. .. .First lady B. A. in London-
University, October. .. .Melbourne University matriculates women, March
22. .. .The Burial bill gives women the right to conduct funeral services. . . ,
The House of Keys in the Isle of Man passed women's suffrage for women
who are owners of property, November 5.
1881. Suffrage bill in the Isle of Man received royal assent January 5; seven hundred
women are electors; general election began March 21. .. .Cambridge Univer-
sity admits women students to formal examinations by a vote of 398 against
32, February 24. . . .Durham University votes that women may become mem-
bers.
1881. Sydney University (New South Wales) admits women to matriculation and de-
grees. . . .New Zealand University confers title of M. A. on a woman, August
Appendix: Chapter LVL 983
Poor-law Guardian Association for promoting the election of ladies es-
tablished, March; seven ladies elected in London Somerville Club for
women opened Women clerks admitted to the civil service by open com-
petition Municipal Franchise act for Scotland, passed June 3; came into
operation January i, 1882 Married Women's Property act for Scotland,
passed July 18.
1882. London University Convocation resolves to admit women as graduates, January
17 Twelve women elected in London as poor-law guardians, April; fifteen
in the country. . . .Married Women's Property act passed by the Lords and
brought down to the Commons May 22; passed and returned to the Lords
August 16; received royal assent August 1 8 Addition to Municipal Fran-
chise act (Scotland) by inclusion of police burghs. . . .Women first voted in
Scotland under the new act, November 8. . . .Appointment of women as reg-
istrars of births and deaths in four parishes.
1883. Married Women's Property act comes into operation January I Appointment
of Miss E. Shove as physician to female staff in post-office; first appoint-
ment by government of a woman .... Poor-law guardian elections, April;
thirteen ladies in London, two in Scotland for the first time; thirteen in
other towns in England. . . .Mr. Stansfeld's resolution against the Contagious
Diseases acts carried in the House of Commons by a majority of 72, April
26; the acts consequently are suspended. .. .May. — Memorial to the Prime
Minister signed by no independent Liberal members, asking that women's
suffrage shall be included in the coming Reform bill. . . .Mr. Mason's resolu-
tion for women's suffrage thrown out by a majority of only 16. . . .Great confer-
ence of Liberal associations at Leeds on parliamentary reform votes for
woman suffrage, October 17, followed by similar votes at Edinburgh, No-
vember 16; Manchester, November 21; Bristol, November 26, and in many
smaller places. . . .Guarantee-fund raised in Bombay for lady physicians and
hospitals for women commenced; Calcutta University opened to women.
1884. Second reading of the bill for the Custody and Guardianship of children car-
ried, March 26, by a majority of 134. . . .First lady, Mrs. Bryant, obtained
degree of Doctor of Science in London University. .. .Nine ladies obtain
B. A. degree in Royal Irish Universify.
1885. College of Surgeons, Ireland, opens its degrees to women. .. .Criminal-law
Amendment Bill passed in August, raising the age of protection for girls,
and giving increased facilities for rescuing them from ruin. .. .Municipal
suffrage granted to women in Madras. .. .Miss Mason appointed inspector
of workhouses by local government board, November.
INDEX
TO
THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
Compiled by JOHN WEINHEIMER of The New York Tribune.
A.
Abelard, i, 759.
Abbott, Francis, iii, 127.
Adam and Eve, i, 561,
Adams, Abigail Smith, i, 32, 201.
Adams, Hannah, author, i, 205.
Adams, John, i, 31, iii, 79.
Adams, John Q., iii, 479.
Adams, Mary N., lecturer, iii, 614.
Addresses and appeals, i, 106, 595, 676,
742, 856; ii, 51, 67, 167, 168, 364, 485,
517; iii, 58, 129, 580.
Adelbert College, iii, 498.
Agitator, ii, 373, iii, 274.
Agrippa, Cornelius, i, 29.
Alabama, iii, 830.
Albany Evening Journal, ii, 282,
Albany Knickerbocker on woman's rights,
i, 611.
Albany Register on woman's rights, i,
608, 609, 610, 611.
Albany Law Journal, ii, 691, 947. —on
" our laws,' iii, 94.
Alcibiades and the dog, ii, 103.
Alcott, A. Bronson, iii, 193 — on woman
suffrage, iii, 519,
Alcott, Abby May, appeal, i, 247.
Alcott, Louisa May, letter to Mrs. Stone,
ii, 831.
Alexander, Janet, iii, 298.
Allen, Jane, case of, ii, 592,
Allen, Nancy R., argument before Senate
Committee, iii, 160 — legacy, iii, 624 —
Notary Public, made, iii, 626.
Alleij, Sophia Ober, iii, 502.
Almanac, Woman's Rights, i, 863.
Amberly, Lady, letter to Mrs. P. W.
Davis, ii, 439.
AMERICAN EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION:
— "colored," the word, discussion, ii,
214 — Constitution, ii, 173 — Meetings:
Academy of Music (Brooklyn), ii, 398,
Church of the Puritans, ii, 182, Cooper
Institute, ii, 309, Steinway Hall, ii,
378 — Memorial to Congress, ii, 226 —
name changed to "Nat. Woman Suf-
frage Association," ii, 400— officers, ii,
174 — organized, ii, 173 — letter of B. F.
Wade, ii, 117 — report, Susan B. An-
thony's, ii, 183.
American flag, design, i, 323.
AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSO-
CIATION, ii, 756 — Celebration of Wo-
man Suffrage in New Jersey, ii,
846 — constitution of, ii, 763 — conven-
tions: call for first, ii, 757, Baltimore,
820, Brooklyn in Plymouth Church,
831, Cincinnati, O., 854, Cleveland.
O., 802, Detroit, Mich., 834, Indiana-
polis, Ind., 851, Louisville, Ky., 861,
New York City in Apollo Hall, 821. in
Cooper Institute, 825, in Steinway Hall,
809, 840, Philadelphia, 815, 849, St.
L,ouis, Mo., 821, Washington, D. C.,
819, 858 — letter, circular, ii, 757 —
members received at the White ;
by Mrs. Hayes, ii., 860— memorial to
Congress, ii., 859, referred to Commit-
tee on Territories, 860— report of
chairman of Executive Committee, ii,
803— resolutions, ii, 805, 809. 810, 8i3.
826, 837, 843, 849, 851. 859.
Ames, Chas. G., i, 271, ii, 844, iii, 754-
Amnesty, universal, ii, 315.
Amos, Sheldon, on vice, i, 796.
Anderson, Geo. W., iii, 699.
Andrews, Margaret H., letter to S. J.
May, i, 531.
Angell, John W., iii. 341.
Ann Arbor University, ii. 541.
Anneke, Franceska. i, 571, ii. 374. 393—
sketch of iii, 646.
Anniversaries, Stt Conventions.
Anthony, Daniel, Lucy and Mary
Anthony. Hon, Henry B., on woman suf-
frage, i, 867. ii. 106. 273— 1'embma
Territory bill, on the. ii, 568 — Sar-
gent's amendment to the Pembina Ter-
ritory bill, on. ib.— suffrage «>:
339 — woman suffrage, his last utterance
on, iii, 350.
ANTHONY, Susan B., i, 186, 465. 4^7.
986
History of Woman Suffrage.
468, 476, 485, 487, 489, 490, 500, 501,
515, 517, 526, 570, 589. 591- 607, 624,
653, 673, 679, 716; ii, 66, 67, 116, 154,
220, 286, 287, 322, 360, 361, 363, 375,
382, 389, 391, 427, 431, 437, 442, 456,
582, 584, 760; iii, 3, 40, 66, 151, 175,
178, 195, 243, 257, 412, 502, 560, 580,
630,641, 697, 773, 811, 819 — Aboli-
tionists, and the, ii, 264 — American
Equal Rights Association, ii, 117, 171
— appeal for woman rights, 1854, i,
856— appeal to Congress, ii, 167 — ar-
gument before Illinois Legislature, iii,
572 — argument before Senate Commit-
tee, iii, 160, 227 — arrest of, ii, 628 —
arrest, incidents of, ii, 539 — arrest, re-
solution concerning, ii, 537 — birthday
celebrated in Indianapolis, iii, 538 —
" Bloomer, " in a, i, 128 — bonnet and
Noah's ark, iii, 522 — " Bread and Bal-
lot," iii, 536 — California visit, iii, 756
— call, loyal women, ii, 53 — Centennial
Exhibition, at the, iii 27 — compli-
mented by Judge Edmunds, iii, 160 —
Constitutional Convention at Albany,
before, ii, 284 — corruptionist, as a, ii,
936— Declaration of Rights, reads, at
Centennial, iii, 31 — delegate to Demo-
cratic National Convention, ii, 340,
comments of the press, ii, 342 — Demo-
cratic National Convention, at the, iii,
182 — feme sole capable of making aeon-
tract, iii, 21 — Fifteenth Amendment,
on the, ii, 340 — financial report, ii, 175
— fugitive wife's escape from an insane
asylum, aids, i, 469 — general agent, ap-
pointed, i, 619 — Grant and Wilson
campaign, appeal, ii, 517 — Grant, U.
S., conversation with, ii, 544 — Iowa,
in, iii, 622 — Kansas campaign, i, 200,
ii, 239, 254, 261, 262, 263 — lecture,
"False Theory," iii, 675 — lecturing
tour, Ohio, iii, 491 — Letters : Boston
Convention, i, 256 — Brooks, James, to,
ii, 97 — Carson League, i, 488 — Demo-
cratic National Convention, to, ii, 340
— Foote, E. B., to, ii, 941 — Garfield.
Jas. A., to, iii, 185 — loyal women, from,
iif 875 — Mott, Lydia, to, i, 748 — Stan-
ton, Mrs., to, announcing her having
voted, ii, 934 — Wright, Martha C., to,
i, 678. Logan, Olive, and, ii, 385 —
"Male" in the Constitution, on the
word, ii, 91 — manhood suffrage, on, iii,
566 — marriage and divorce, on, i, 735 —
meeting in Rahway, N. J., iii, 479 —
meetings in Virginia, iii, 824 — Michi-
gan campaign, iii, 522 — Napoleon of
Woman Suffrage, the, I, 456 — Newport
Convention, ii, 403 — on Mrs. Robert
Dale Owen, i, 303 — Oregon visit, iii,
769 — police officer, and the, ii, 540 —
portrait, i, 577 — President Mozart Hall
Convention, i, 668 — President National
Woman Suffrage Association, ii, 516—
presentations, iii, 193 — reception, So-
rosis, iii, 571 — registered, ii, 627 — rem-
iniscences, Mrs. E. C. Stanton's, i,
456 — report, National Convention, at
Cooper Institute, i, 689 — report as sec-
retary of American Equal Rights Asso-
ciation, ii, 183 — Revolution, i, 46 —
Secretary Loyal League, made, ii, 66 —
sex, and her, ii, 112 — Speeches: Anti-
Slavery question, ii, 898 — Congressional
Committee, before, ii, 414, 513 — first
public speech, i, 41 — Furness" Church,
in iii, 35 — Is It a Crime for a United
States' Citizen to Vote ? ii, 630 — Phila-
delphia Convention, i, 385 — Saratoga
Convention, i, 621 — Teachers' Conven-
tion, N. Y. State, i, 513 — Temperance
Convention, Rochester, i, 483 — Wash-
ington Convention, ii, 423, 521 — Wash-
ington Convention, iii, 259 — Woman's
National Loyal League, ii, 57, 61.
Suffrage, on, ii, 383 — tableau " Mother
and Susan," i, 461 — Taxation without
Representation, on, ii, 539 — Temper-
ance Convention at Rochester, read
call, i, 481 — testimonial, i, 534 — tour,
western, ii, 367 — tour with Ernestine
L. Rose, i, 97 — tracts, Kansas cam-
paign, ii, 239 — tracts and petitions, on,
i, 383 — Train, G. F., and T lie Revolu-
tion, criticism, ii, 264 — Trial: Arrest,
ii, 628 — argument, Crowley's, ii, 648,
675 — argument, Judge Selden's, ii,
654 — bail, refused to give, ii, 629 — case
opened by Judge Selden, ii. 652 — Gage,
Matilda J. , Letter to Albany Law Jour-
nal, ii, 947 — guilty, Court directs a ver-
dict of, ii, 679 — Hunt's, Judge, deci-
sion, ii, 677 — Hunt's decision criticised,
ii, 689, — Hunt's decision reviewed, ii,
946 — incidents, ii, 537 — indictment, ii,
647 — inspectors of elections, See trials
and decisions — Jones, B. W., testimony,
ii, 650 — letter from Gerrit Smith, ii,
941 — trial, new, denied, ii, 687 — trial,
new, motion for, ii, 680 — opening of,
ii, 647 — petition to Congress praying
for remission of fine, ii, 698 — reports,
majority and minority, ii, 701, 711 —
Pound, J. E., testimony ii, 653 — press
comments, ii, 935 — resolutions concern-
ing, ii, 537 — Selden's letter, ii, 935 —
sentenced to pay a fine of $100, ii, 6^87 —
— testimony in trial of election in-
spectors, ii, 692 — Washington gossip,
ii, 943. Tribute, "Aunt Lottie's,"
iii, 41 — tribute, to Laura C. Havi-
land, iii, 532 — tribute, from The
Leavenworth Commercial (Kansas),
ii, 263 — tribute to Lucretia Mott,
iii, 189 — tribute, St. Louis Convention,
iii, 147 — tribute, Scovill's, ii, 420 —
visit to Lucretia Mott, i, 414 — voted for
Index.
987
Grant for President, ii, 628 — letter an-
nouncing her having voted, ii, 934 —
Washington Territory Legislature,
hearing before, iii, 786 — Wyoming
visit, iii, 734.
Anti-Slavery struggle, i, 39, 52, 54, 323,
325, 339, 417 — Josephine Griffing and
Freedman's Bureau, ii, 29 — Society re-
organized, ii, 153.
Anti- Woman Suffrage Society, iii, 99.
Antonelli's, Cardinal, sacrilegious child,
i, 788.
Appendix, i, 801, ii, 863, iii, 955.
Archer, Stevenson, iii, 816.
Arkansas, iii, 805 — Constitutional Con-
vention, iii, 806.
Arnell's services in Congress, ii, 489, 491.
Arnett, Hannah, i, 442.
Art and artists, iii, 301.
Ashley, Henry, iii, 319.
Ashley, J. M., speech in Congress, iii,
495-
Astell, Mary, i, 30.
Attorneys, ii, 604.
Augustine, i, 756.
Austin, Helen V., sketch of, i, 312.
Austria, iii, 904.
Autograph book, Centennial, iii, 40.
Avery, Alida C., iii, 719.
B.
Ballard, Anna, iii, 407.
Ballot, the, ii, 168 — Sumner on the, ii, 95
— what is the, ii, 155.
Ballot-Box, iii, 51, 504.
Banks, N. P., speech, iii, 10.
Banquet, St. James Hotel, ii, 441.
Bar, admission to the, iii, 330.
Barber, Miss, i, 807.
Barkaloo, Helena, lawyer, iii, 404.
Barker, Jos., i, 114 — Pulpit, on the, i, 140.
Barnum, P. T., i, 503.
Barstow, Hon. A. C., i, 499 — battle-field,
services on the, ii, 23 — letters to Susan
B. Anthony, ii, 916.
Barton, Clara, appeal to soldier friends,
ii, 418.
Bascom, Emma C., letter to S. B. An-
thony, iii, 647.
Batchelder, Mrs. Dr. L. S., on working
women, ii, 389.
"Battle Hymn of the Republic," ii, 18.
Battle of Lexington, commemoration of,
iii, 414.
Baxter, Richard, on witchcraft, i, 765.
Bayard, Thos. F., ii, 567, 576; iii, 205-6.
Beck, Senator, on woman suffrage, iii, 209.
Becker, Lydia E., letters, iii, 62, 121, 249.
Beecher, Catharine E., ii, 787, iii, 399.
Beecher, Edward, ii, 368, iii, 566.
BEECHER, Henry Ward, Kansas cam-
paign, ii, 265 — letter to American
Woman Suffrage Association meeting
in St. Louis, ii, 825 — letter to Lucy
Stone, Presidency American Woman
Suffrage Association, ii, 808 — letter to
Washington Convention, ii, 496— Pres-
ident of American Woman Suffrage
Association, made, ii, 764 — speeches,
ii, 156, 216, 399, 766, 774; iii, 52—
suffrage, universal, and, ii, 315 — Tilton
colloquy, ii, 167 — Tilton trial, i, 789 —
woman's right to vote, on, i, 620.
Beecher, Lyman, i, 393.
Belgium, iii, 909.
Bell, Lydia, iii, 693.
Bell, Dr. T. S., ii, 862.
Bellows, Dr., on woman's rights, i, 245.
Bennett, Dr. Alice, iii, 472.
Bennett, James Gordon, i, 546.
Bentham, Jeremy, iii, 836.
Bequests, i, 257, 258, 667, 742.
Berlin, iii, 903.
Berlin Congress, ii, 404.
Bible, Antoinette L. Brown's points, i,
535 — divorce, and, i, 213 — interpola-
tions, i, 797 — revision, i, 798 — woman
and the, discussion, i, 380.
Biggs, Caroline A., letter to S. B. An-
thony, iii, 250 — letter to Rochester
Convention, iii, 120 — letter to Wash-
ington Convention, iii, 261.
Biggs, Emily J., iii, 702.
Bingham, Anson, i, 687, ii, 461.
BIOGRAPHY: Austin, Helen V., i, 312 —
Blake, Lillie D., iii, 408 — Barton,
Clara, ii, 23 — Boyd, Louise V., i. 312
— Brown, Olympia, iii, 646— Clark,
Mary T., i, 312— Colby, Clara B., iii,
670 — Collins, Emily, i, 88 — Davis,
Paulina Wright, by " E. C. S.", i, 283
— Duniway, Abigail S., iii, 768— Grif-
fing, Josephine Sophie, ii, 26 — Lozier,
Clemence, iii, 411 — Morrow, ^Janc, i,
313 — Owen, Mary Robinson, i, 313 —
Owen, Robert Dale, i, 293 — Rose, Er-
nestine, i, 95 — Swank, Emma B., i,
313 — Thomas, Mary F., i, 314 — Un-
derhill, Sarah E., i, 313 — Warren,
Mercy Otis, in the Revolution, i, 201
— Way, Amanda M., i, 311 — Wright,
Frances, i, 35.
Bird, Frank W., iii, 194.
Birdsall, Mary B., sketch of, i, 313.
Bittenbender, Ada M., sketch of, iii, 690.
Blackstone on the canon law, i, 771.
BLACKWELL, Antoinette L. B.. ii, 760—
letter to Cooper Institute Convention,
i, 862 — marriage and divorce, on. i,
723 — speech at American Woman Suf-
frage Association meeting in New
York, ii, 841 — Woman's National Loyal
League, ii, 69. (See Brown, A. L.)
BLACKWELL, Elizabeth, i, 37, 78— letter
to Emily Collins, i, 90— letter to We»t-
chester, Pa., Convention, i, 831 — phy-
sician, as a, i, 94 — sanitary commission,
ii, 13.
938
History of Woman Suffrage.
BLACKWELL, Henry B., ii, 382 — Kansas
Campaign, ii, 232, 235 — South, on the,
ii, 929 — speech at American Woman
Suffrage Association meeting in Stein-
way Hall, ii, 8n — at American Woman
Suffrage Association meeting in Cooper
Institute, ii, 830— Cleveland Conven-
tion, i, 126, ii, 780 — President of Am.
Woman Suffrage Association, made, ii,
856 — Vermont Watchman, on iii, 386
— Woman Suffrage in New Jersey, on,
ii, 846.
BLAKE, Lillie Devereux, iii, 74, 223, 483
— Argument before House Committee,
iii, 163 — sketch of, iii,4o8 — Dix's Lenten
lectures, her reply to, iii, 436 — lectures
"Woman's Place to-day," iii, 436 —
Washington Convention '76, iii, 7 —
Washington Convention, at, ii, 541 —
Fable, "The Selfish Rats," iii, 114—
— speech, Battle of Lexington Com-
memoration, iii, 414.
Blake, S. L., against woman suffrage,
iii, 371.
Blain'e, Jas. G., iii, 164, 165, 366.
Blair, Henry W., letter to Susan B. An-
thony, iii, 380.
BLOOMER, Amelia, i, 46— address before
Nebraska Legislature, iii, 672 — Cleve-
land National Convention, at, i, 128 —
comments on Jane G. Swisshelm, i, 844
— portrait, i, 496 — replies to Senator
Gaylord's speech against rwoman suf-
frage, iii, 623 — speech at Rochester
Temperance Convention, i, 483 — work
done, iii, 613.
Bloomer costume, i, 127, 469, 844.
Blunt, Gen., Kansas campaign, ii, 243.
Boarding House Law, i, 688.
Bodeker, Anna W., iii, 823 — vote, at-
tempted to, iii, 824.
Bohemia, iii, 907.
Bolton, Sarah Knowles, iii, 494.
Bolton, Sarah T., i, 300.
Bones, Marietta, address to Dakota Con-
stitutional Convention, iii, 665.
Booth, Mary L., i, 48, 624, ii, 433.
Boston Common-wealth, report of fifth
Washington Convention, ii, 543.
Boston Convention, i, 255.
Boston Transcript, iii, 227.
Bottsford, Harriette, iii, 623.
Bower, E. S., iii, 700.
Bowles, Ada C., iii, 194.
Bowles, Samuel, letter to Mrs. Hooker,
iii, 325.
Boyd, Louise V., sketch of, i, 312.
Bradburn, Geo. , address, i, 56.
Bradlaugh, Charles, speaks in New York
for woman suffrage, ii, 842.
Bradley, Judge, on the XIV. Amendment,
ii, 457 — opinion, Bradwell case, ii, 624.
Bradstreet, Anne, i, 204, iii, 302.
Bradwell, Myra, application to Illinois
Bar, ii, 601 — opinion denying, ii, 609 —
Carpenter's, Matt. H., argument, ii, 615
— opinion of Justice Bradley, ii, 624 —
report of proceedings in Illinois and
U. S. Snpreme Courts, ii, 614 — U. S. i
Supreme Court decision, ii, 622 — writ
of error, ii, 614.
Brent, Margaret, first woman in America
to claim the right to vote, iii, 815.
BRIGHT, Jacob, iii, 727, 841 — letter to
Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438 — municipal
franchise bill, secures, iii, 845 — became
law, iii, 847 — Parliament, fails of re-
election, iii, 853 — speech on woman
suffrage, iii, 849, 873 — votes for woman
suffrage, iii, 842.
Bright, John, ii, 349, 366, 420 — speech
against woman suffrage, iii, 861.
Bright, Wm. H., career of, iii, 729.
Brinkerhoff, Martha H., iii, 614.
British taxation, ii, 202.
Bromwell, H. P. H., iii, 720.
Brooklyn Bridge, iii, 440.
Brooks, James, on woman suffrage, ii, 97.
Brooks, Harriets., sketch of, iii, 692.
Broomall, John H., iii, 464.
Brougham, Lord, i, 633.
BROWN, Antoinette L.,i, 41, 119, 186, 624
— Bible argument, points on the, i, 535
— colleges, on i, 144 — on the Half-
'world's Temperance Convention, i, 507
— pastor, ordained as, i, 473 — portrait,
i, 449 — resolutions, Albany Convention,
i, 593 — speech at Broadway Tabernacle
Convention, i, 553 — Syracuse National
Convention, argument, i, 524 — World's
Temperance Convention, at the, i, 152.
(See Blackwell, A. L. B.)
Brown, B. Gratz, speech, ii, 136— univer-
sal suffrage, on, iii, 598.
Brown, David Paul, i, 333.
Brown, Martha McClellan, iii, 226.
Brown, Mary Olney, iii, 767— argument,
her right to vote, iii, 783 — vote, at-
tempts to, iii, 780, 785.
BROWN, Olympia, iii, 73, 267, 301 — dis-
cussion with Fred. Douglass, ii, 311 —
Kansas, in, i, 200, ii, 239, 240, 241 —
letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 259 —
sketch of, iii, 646 — speech at Equal
Rights Association anniversary, Cooper
Institute, ii, 309 — speech before Con-
gressional Committee, iii, 95 — speech,
Washington Convention, '76, iii, 7 —
speech at Washington Convention, ii,
422.
Brown, R. T., speech on suffrage, ii, 853.
Brown, Sarah A., nominated for office,
iii, 705.
Brown, Wm. Wells, ii, 368.
Bruhn, Rosa, letter to Mrs. P. W. Davis, \
ii, 439-
Buchanan, James, ii, 204.
Buck, J. D., iii, 511.
Index.
989
Buckalew, Senator, speech, ii, 146.
Buckingham, Mrs., iii, 337.
Buckley, Brother, on women as preach-
ers, i, 784.
Burger, Sarah, iii, 5 26 (see Stearns, S. B.).
Burleigh, Celia, ii, 402, 790, 801, 817.
Burleigh, Charles C., i, 148, 549' 558, iij
194, 392, 818.
Burnet, Rev. J., i, 55.
Burnham, Carrie S. , ii, 600, iii, 444.
Burns, Anthony, i, 254.
Burns, Robert, ii, 266.
Burr, Frances Ellen, iii, 319 — letters to
S. B. Anthony, ii, 912, iii, 334 — Senate
Judiciary Committee, argument before,
ii, 543;
Burtis, Sarah Anthony, i, 76.
Burton, Mary, iii, 852.
Bush, Abigail, i, 75, iii, 120.
BUTLER, Benj. F., letters to Susan B.
Anthony, ii, 539, iii, 255 — report on
Victoria C. Woodhull's memorial to
Congress, ii, 464 — speech, ii, 514.
Butler David, iii, 691.
Butler, Deborah, ii, 348.
Butler, Josephine E., on prostitution, iii,
145 — vice, on, i, 795.
C.
Cadwallader, John, i, 330.
CALIFORNIA, iii, 740 — Appendix, iii, 977
— constitution, liberal provisions, 750 —
constitution and statute-laws, 760 —
Conventions (see Conventions)— journa-
lism, 761 — Mill's Seminary, 751— peti-
tion to Legislature, 755 — press, ib. —
senator, Mrs. Gordon nominated for,
756 — silk culture, 762 — State Society
organized, 754 — woman's lawyer bill,
757 — woman suffrage society, first,
752 — women made eligible to school
offices, 757 — women in the industries,
763 — women in the State University,
contest, 758.
Cameron, Don, iii, 176.
Campbell, Margaret W., iii, 269, 716 —
speech in Detroit, ii, 839.
Campbell, Mary G., iii, 712.
Canada, women's position in, iii, 831.
Canon law i, 755, 769, 770, 771, 774.
Carey, Mary A. S., iii, 72.
Carey, Samuel F., i, 121, 154.
Carpenter Hall, application for, iii, 16.
Carpenter, C. C., letter to Iowa Woman
Suffrage Association, iii, 621.
Carpenter, Matt. II., on Sargent's amend-
ment to Pembina Territory bill, ii, 562
— Anthony, Susan B., trial, on, ii, 701
— argument in Myra Bradwell's appli-
cation to Illinois Bar, ii, 615 — letter to
Elizabeth C. Stanton, ii, 423.
Carr, Jeanne, iii, 751.
CARROLL, Anna Ella, iii, 153— -claim be-
fore Congress, ii, 12, 863 — statement of
Benj, F. Wade, ii, 865— letters, ii,
865, 866, 867, 868— Tennessee cam.
paign, ii, 3 — Vicksburg, on, ii, ii.
Cartter, Mrs. M. M., ii, 442.
Cartter, Chief-Justice, opinion, Spencer-
Webster suit, ii, 597.
Gary, Alice and Phoebe, ii, 433.
Catherine II., i, 34.
Catholic Church, ii, 201, 207.
Cattle expert, Middie Morgan, iii, 404.
Cavender, John H., i, 328.
Centennial celebration, iii, 411.
Centennial headquarters, iii, 21.
Centennial Tea-Party, iii, 269.
Centennial year, iii, i.
Centralization, iii, 89 — Matilda J. Gage,
on, ii, 523.
Century Club, Philadelphia, iii, 469.
Chace, Elizabeth B., iii, 340, 341, 348.
Chalkstone, Mrs., ii, 59.
Chamberlain, D. II., favors woman suf-
frage, iii, 829.
Chambers, Rev. John, i, 159, 167, 500,
508.
Chandler, Dolly, iii, 275.
Chandler, Z., on Mrs. J. S. Griffing and
the freedmen, ii, 33.
CHANNINO, William Henry, i, 476, 583,
584, 587, 591 — appeal, woman's rights,
i, 588 — resolutions, Rochester Conven-
tion, i, 580— social relations, report
on, i, 233 — speech at Broadway Taber-
nacle Convention, i, 550— Woman's
Rights, Declaration, i, 129 — World's
Temperance Convention and John
Chambers, on the, i, 508, iii, 922.
Chapin, Augusta, iii, 276.
Chapin, Clara C., iii, 691, 693.
Chapin, E. H., i, 476.
Chaplain, Mrs. E. F. Hobart, ii. 18.
Chapman, Maria Weston, i, 53 — poem,
i. 82.
Chase, Salmon P., i, 167, ii, 73, iii, 808.
Cheever, George B., ii, 226.
Chicago Historical Society, iii, 179.
Chicago Inter-Ocean, iii, 682.
Chicago Legitl A'tws, iii, 562.
Chicago Legal News Company, ii, 607.
CHILD, Lydia Maria, i, 38, 858, 775 —
letter to E. C. Stanton, ii, 910— letter
to St. Louis Convention, ii, 825 — peti-
tions Congress, iii, 266 — universal suf-
frage, on, iii, 519.
Children, guardianship of, i, 747 — ille-
gitimate, i, 760— rearing of, i, 304.
Christine of Pisa, i, 19.
Christlieb, Prof., i, 787.
Church and State, i, 753.
Church, Elmwood, Illinois, iii, 563.
Churchill, Elizabeth K,, iii, 371 — woman
suffrage, on, ii, 812. '
CITIZENSHIP, ii, 462, 468, 469, 470, 473,
532, 555. 556. 665— Bates, Attorney-
General, on, ii, 461 — Blake, Dcvcreux,
on, iii, 7 — Curtis, Justice, on, ii. 472 —
Daniel, Justice, on, ii, 471 — Stanton,
990
History of Woman Suffrage.
Elizabeth C., speech on, iii, 80 — Taney,
Justice, on, ii, 472 — term defined, ii,
451 — Thorbeck, on, ii, 473 — White,
Richard Grant, on, ii, 567.
Citizenship, women crowned with rights
of, in Wyoming, iii, 726.
Claiborne, F. L., iii, 795.
Clark, Emily, i, 489.
Clark, Helen Bright, iii, 874.
Clark, Mary T., sketch of, i, 312.
Clark, Sidney, ii, 363.
Clarke, Hannah B., on woman suffrage,
ii, 807.
Clarke, Jas. Freeman, on suffrage, i, 258,
ii, 768, iii, 266— speech, New England,
Convention, i, 263.
Clarke, Mary Bayard, iii, 825.
Clarkson, Thomas, i, 54.
Clay, Mary B., iii, 818.
Clemmer, Mary, letter to S. B. Anthony,
iii, 262 — letter to Senator Wadleigh,
iii, in.
Clergy, charges against, i, 135— celibacy
of, i, 757.
Clergymen and corkscrews, ii, 167.
Cleveland, Grover, iii, 437.
Clute, Oscar, on woman suffrage, ii, 770.
Cobbe, Francis Power, iii, 865 — letter to
Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 438.
Cobden, Jane, iii, 875.
Cobden, Richard, favors woman suffrage,
iii, 835.
Coe, Emma R., i, 146, 232.
Cogswell, Brainard, iii, 371.
Colburn, Catharine A., iii, 774.
Colburn, Mary J., iii, 650.
Colby, Clara Bewick, iii, 222 — sketch of,
iii, 670.
Colby University opened to girls, iii, 355.
Cole, Mrs. Miriam M., ii, 790, 806, 832,
iii, 501.
Coleman, Lucy N., speech at Woman's
National Loyal League, ii, 62.
Coleridge, Lord, iii, 844.
Colfax, Schuyler, ii, 181.
Colleges, iii, 399 — women in, i, 144.
Colleges for women, iii, 296.
College, Woman's, Evanston, 111., iii,
578.
Collier, Robert Laird, iii, 567.
Collins, Emily, reminiscences of, i, 88 —
Miss Sarah Owen's correspondence,!^!.
Collins, Jennie, speech at Washington
Convention, ii, 423.
Collins, Stacy B., iii, 482.
Collyer, Robert, ii, 368, 371, 372 — recol-
lections of Lucretia Mott, i, 409, 414
— speech at Chicago, iii, 565.
COLORADO: clergy, iii, 720 — Conventions,
See Conventions — Desert, great Ameri-
can, iii, 712 — equal-rights mass-meeting
in Denver, 722 — leaders in the cause,
719 — legislation, 714, 715 — press, 715
— suffrage amendment, defeat of, 723
—suffrage first effort for, 712 — suffrage,
Gov. McCook's message, 713 — woman
suffrage, Gov. Evan's on, 722.
Colorado Ttibune, iii, 715.
Columbia College, effort to open to
women, iii, 410.
Colvin, N. J., letters to S. B. Anthony,
i, 691, 750; ii, 914.
Conciliatory amendments, ii, 527.
Concord Monitor, iii, 371.
Congress, first Continental, iii, 17 — Eliza-
beth C. Stanton runs for, ii, 180 —
Victoria C. Woodhull's memorial,
443 — Riddle's speech in support of, 448
— House majority report, 461— Minor-
ity report, 464.
CONGRESSIONAL ACTION, ii, 90 — An-
thony, Senator, speech, ii, 106 — argu-
ments before House Committee, iii,
161 — arguments before Senate Com-
mittee, iii, 155 — Banks' N. P., speech,
iii, 10— Brooks' James, speech, ii, 96 —
Brown's, Senator, speech, ii, 136 —
Buckalew's, Senator, speech, ii, 146 —
Butler's, Benj., speech, ii, 514 — Com-
mittee, special, House appoints, iii, 221
— Committee, special, on woman suf-
frage, Senate discussion, iii, 198 — Com-
mittee, special, on woman suffrage,
House discussion, iii, 219 — Committee,
standing, Senate discussion, iii, 190 —
Cowan, Senator, speech, ii, 103, no —
Cowan repels the charge of insincerity,
ii, 121 — Davis's Senator, speech, ii, 144
— Debate, Senate and House, iii, 70—
Democrats and the petitions, ii. 95 —
District of Columbia suffrage bill, ii,
103 — vote, ii, 151 — District of Columbia
bill, Julian's amendment, ii, 482 — Doo-
little, Senator, speech against, ii, ISO—-
electors, who constitute, House debates,
ii,326 — female employees, iii,8ii — Fre-
linghuysen's, Senator, speech, ii, 135 —
hearing bofore Senate Committee, iii,
227 — Henderson, Senator, presents
Mrs. Gerrit Smith's petition with a
speech, ii, 98 — House discussion, ii, 514
— Johnson's, Senator, speech, ii, 130—
joint resolutions before House affecting
women, ii, 72 — Julian's bills, ii, 325 —
Merrill's, Senator, speech, ii, 118 — Na-
tional Association granted hearing, iii,
75 — Negro's hour, ii, 94 — Parker's bill,
ii, 516 — Pembina Territory bill, debate
on, Sargent's amendment, ii, 545; am't
rejected, 582; Anthony's remarks, 568;
Bayard's remarks, 567, 575; Boreman's
remarks, 549, 580; Carpenter's remarks,
562; Conkling's remarks, 558, 559;
Edmund's remarks, 562, 569, 571, 572,
573. 580; Ferry's remarks, 568; Flana-
gan's remarks, 552; Merrimon's re-
marks, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557,
560; Merrill's remarks, 562; Morton's
remarks, 549, 569; Sargent's remarks,
546, 555. 564, 567; Stewart's remarks,
Index.
991
.548, 558, 559. 564, 573, 579- Petition,
iii, 9 — petition read and referred, iii,
130 — petition, Rhode Island, ii, 560 —
petition for universal suffrage, ii, 97 —
petitions against the word "male" in
Constitution, ii, 91 — Pomeroy's, Sena-
tor, resolution, ii, 324 — Pomeroy's, Sen-
ator, speech, ii, 151 — Report, first fav-
orable majority, iii, 231 — report, first
favorable, Senate, iii, 131 — report, mi-
nority, iii, 237 — reports on Victoria C.
Woodhull's memorial, ii, 461, 464 — re-
ports, iii, 150 — Republicans' protest in
presenting petitions, ii, 94, 96— Repub-
licans, squirming of, ii, IOI — resolution
to appoint special committee, iii, 175
— Sargent, Senator, speech, iii, 9 — Six-
teenth Amendment, ii, 333 — Sixteenth
Amendment, resolutions, iii, 154 —
Stevens', Thaddeus, resolution, ii, 95 —
Sumner, Charles, presents a petition
under protest, ii, 96; why he protested,
ii, 100. Wade, Benj. F., speech, ii,
123 — Williams, Senator, speech against,
ii, 108 — Wilson's, Senator, bill, ii, 324
— Wilson's, Senator, speech, ii, 128.
Conkling, Roscoe, ii, 363 — on Senator
McDonald's Woman Suffrage resolu-
tion, iii, 191 — talk with, ii, 347 — Sena-
tor Stewart and woman suffrage, on,
ii, 558.
Connecticut, iii, 316 — Appendix, iii, 957
— Bar, admission to the, iii, 330 —
Legislature, minority report, iii, 317.
Constitution, Story on the, ii, 477, 478,
588.
Constitution and suffrage, ii, 741.
Continental Europe, iii, 895.
CONVENTIONS: American Woman Suf-
frage Association (See Am. Woman
Stiffrage Association) — barn, in a, i,
123 — California, San Francisco, iii,
753, 7°o — Connecticut, Hartford, iii,
197, 322 — Colorado, Denver, iii, 716,
720 — Illinois, Bloomington, iii, 572,
Chicago, ii, 368, iii, 175, 565, 570;
Galena, ii, 375; Springfield, ii, 371,
iii, 570. — Indiana, Dublin, Wayne Co.,
i, 306; Indianapolis, i, 307, iii, 175.
534, 537; Richmond, i, 307; Winches-
ter, i, 308; — Iowa, Des Moincs, iii,
618, 623, 624; Mount Pleasant, iii, 617;
Ottumwa, iii, 624. — A'a/isiis, Topeka,
iii, 702, 709; Saliua, iii, 709. — London,
first ever held, ii, 406— Loyalists' ii,
329 — Maine, Augusta, iii, 359, 363;
Portland, iii, 197, 352 — Afastaemuftttt
Boston, ii, 178, iii, 192 — Worcester
(Nat.), i, 215, 266 — Mii-/n\',in, Detroit,
iii, 516; Grand Rapids, iii, 530; Lans-
ing, iii, 519 — Minnesota, Minneapolis,
iii, 659 — Missouri, St. Louis, ii, 369,
407, iii, 142, 601, 606 — National, in
1866-67, report by Caroline H. Dall,
ii, 899 — Nebraska, Kearney, iii, 688
694; Norfolk, iii, 689; Omaha, iii,
241, 687, 690 — New England, i, 254,
255, 262; iii, 267 — New Hampshire,
Concord, iii, 270, 368; Dover, iii, 197;
Keene, id. ; New Haven, it. — New Jer-
sey, Vineland, iii, 479 — New York, Al-
bany, i, 591, 628, 678, 745; Rochester, i,
75. 577, Press comments, i, 802; Roches-
ter, iii, 117; Saratoga, ii,4O2; Burleigh's,
Celia, description, ii, 402; Saratoga, i,
620,623 1 Saratoga, iii, 396; Seneca Falls,
i, 67, press comments, i, 802; Syracuse
(Nat.), i, 517, press comments i, 852 —
New York Constitutional, ii, 269, 282
— New York City, Apollo Hall, ii, 427.
484. 533; Broadway Tabernacle i, 631,
546; Church of the Puritans (Nat.),
152; Cooper Institute (Nat.), i, 688;
Irving Hall, ii, 426, 545; Masonic
Temple, ii, 584, iii. 19, 98; Mozart
Hall (Nat.), i, 668, 672; Steinway Hall,
ii, 809 — Ohio, Akron, i, in; Cincinnati
(Nat.), i, 163; Cincinnati, iii, 492;
Cleveland (Nat.), i, 124; Cleveland, ii,
757; Dayton, iii, 493; Massilon, i, 123;
Salem, i, 103; Toledo, ii, 377, iii, 506.
Oregon, Portland, iii, 773 — Paris. In-
ternational, iii, 127. 585, 896 — Pennsyl-
vania, Philadelphia, i, 375, iii, 34, 229;
Westchester, i, 350— Khode Island,
Newport, 11,403; Providence, iii, 197,
340— South Carolina, Columbia, iii,
828 — Vermont, Montpelier, iii, 385 —
Washington Ter., Walla Walla, iii,
775 — Washington, D. C., ii, 345, 356,
359, 416, 418, 425, 417, 442. 493, 521.
537. 538, 543, 582, iii, 3, 60, 71, I2S,
150, 187, 221, 254 — Wisconsin, Janes-
ville, iii, 642; Madison, ii, 374; Mil-
waukee, ii, 374, iii, 640; Racine, iii.
645.
Conventions, Constitutional, Kansas, I,
189 — Massachusetts, i. 253 — No.
ii, 267 — Ohio, i, 105 — Pennsylvania, iii,
465.
Conventions held in Washington, why,
iii, 150.
Cooper, Edward, against woman suffrage.
iii, 422.
Coi.j.i-r, losoph. i. 447-
Cooper, Peter, iii, 399.
" Copperhead*," going over to the, ii, 320.
Corbin, Hannah Lee, i, 33.
Torm-ll, A. P... iii, 22.-.
Cornell, Univorsiiy. ii:.
Corner. M.uy T.. i. !-•-'. m. 8l<X
Correll, E. M., ii, 862, iii, 691.
Correspondence, See Letters.
Conon, Hiram, letter to Susan II. An-
t'lony, iii, 472.
Courtney, Leonard, iii, 862.
, ,, Ph.rbe V n. 370— ad-
dress, "Woman a»» Lawyer." ii. 543
— argument before House Comi
iii, 170— delegate to National Demo-
992
History of Woman Suffrage.
cratic Convention, iii, 27 — Labors of,
iii, 596 — reception, iii, 610— Senate
Judiciary Committee, argument before,
ii. 543 — Speeches: Centennial, iii, 36,
St. Louis Convention, iii, 142; Wash-
ington Convention, 223, 258; Woman
Suffrage, ii, 387.
Couzins, Mrs. J. E. D. , as a nurse,, iii,
596.
Covenant, Ladies' National, ii, 39.
Cowan, Senator, speech on District of
Columbia suffrage bill, ii, 163, no.
Cowles, Betsey M., i, 104.
Cox, Rt. Rev. Dr., i, 782.
Crandall, Prudence, iii, 316, 560, 703.
Craven, Rev. E. A., on \Voman in the
Pulpit, iii, 485.
Crawford, S. J., ii, 251.
Cromwellian era, i, 775.
Crosby, Howard, letter to Mrs. M. J.
Gage, i, 798.
Crow, Wayman, iii, 595.
Crowley, Richard, argument Miss An-
thony's trial, ii, 648.
"Crown and Anchor," i, 438.
Culver, Hon. Erastus D., speech at
Cooper Institute Convention, i, 709.
CURTIS, Geo. \Vm., i, 668; ii, 378; iii,
440 — speech on woman suffrage, ii,
795 — speech, Constitutional Conven-
tion at Albany, ii, 288 — suffrage for
women, favors, i, 672.
Cushman, Major Pauline, ii, 20.
Cutler, Hannah M. T., i, 123, 163, 380,
384; ii, 773, 788, 809, 818, 823, 853;
iii, 561, 614, 675.
D.
Dahlgren, Madeleine, ii, 494, 495, iii, 101.
DAKOTA, iii, 662 — address to women of,
M. J. Gage's, iii, 663 — Constitutional
Convention, iii, 664 — Legislative ac-
tion, iii, 662 — school suffrage, iii, 663,
666— suffrage bill passed Legislature,
iii, 667 — vetoed, iii, 667.
DALL, Caroline H., " Drawing-room Con-
vention, i, 276 — lectures, i, 262 — letter
to The Nation, ii, 101 — petition, i, 262
— reports National Conventions held
in '66 and '67, ii, 899 — speech, New
England Convention, i, 265.
Dana, Richard H., on womanhood, i, 367
— woman suffrage, on, i, 41.
Darlington, Hannah M., i, 349 — letter to
Mrs. E. C. Stanton, i, 344.
Darrah, Lydia, i, 321.
Dartmouth College case, ii, 725.
Daughters of Liberty, i, 203.
Davis, Senator, speech against woman suf-
frage, ii, 144.
Davis, Edward M., ii, 358, iii, 45,462.
Davis, Jefferson, ii, 542.
Davis, J. J., iii, 154.
Davis, Mary F., ii, 390, 791, iii, 480.
DAVIS, Paulina Wright, i, 37, 46, iii, 823
— colored women on, ii, 391 — death of,
i, 827 — Fifteenth Amendment, on the,
i'. 336— portrait, i, 273 — President,
made, Boston Convention, i, 255 —
President, made, Worcester convention,
i, 221 — President, made, Worcester
National Convention, i, 227 — reminis-
cences of, Elizabeth Cady Stanton's, i,
283 — speech, Boston Convention, i,
256 — speech, Syracuse National Con-
vention, i, 533 — The Una, i, 246 —
woman's rights movement, review of,
ii, 428.
Deaths, Mrs. Dall's report, ii, 905.
Decisions and Trials, ii, 586.
Declaration, Channing's, i, 129.
Declaration of sentiments, i, 70.
Declaration and pledge, ii, 486,
DeFoe, Daniel, i, 29.
Delaware, iii, 817.
Democrats advocated woman suffrage, ii,
320.
Denmark, iii, 914.
Dentistry, Lucy B. Hobbs, iii, 401, 455.
Dentistry, women in, iii, 452.
Deroine, Jeanne, address to women of
America, i, 234.
DICKINSON, Anna E., ii, 375, iii, 320,
Si i — California, in, iii, 752 — Chicago
Convention, at, ii, 368 — Fifteenth
Amendment, her suggestion, ii, 227 —
letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 916 —
speech, Chicago, iii, 567 — speeches, ii,
40 — tribute, ii, 433 — " Young Ele-
phant," ii, 42.
Dilke, Sir Charles, iii, 847.
Dimock, Susan, tribute, iii, 827.
Dinsmoor, Orpha C., sketch of, iii, 693.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, iii, 808 — Con-
ventions (see Conventions); Miner
Normal School, iii, 809 — Organic Act,
iii, 812 — suffrage bill, iii, 809, ii, 103,
482 — Universal Franchise Association,
iii, 809 — women admitted to District
bar, iii, 812 — women in government
departments, iii, 808 — women in the
profession of medicine, iii, 812 — women
writers and teachers, iii, 813.
Disraeli on woman suffrage, iii, 839.
Dix, Dorothea, i, 479, ii, 12.
Dix, John A., i, 530.
Dix, Morgan, Lenten lectures, iii, 436 —
Mrs. Blake's reply, iii, 436- — coeduca-
tion, on, iii, 410.
Divorce (see Marriage and Divorce).
Dodge, Mary Mapes, i, 49.
Dolph, J. N., iii, 778.
Doolittle's, Senator, speech against
woman suffrage, ii, 150.
Dorsett, Martha Angle, lawyer, iii, 660.
Dorsey, Sarah A., iii, 794, 807.
Doud, Katharine R., iii, 645.
DOUGLAS, Frederick, i, 74, 584, 585,
587, ii, 391, iii, 74, 125 — discussion
with Olympia Brown, ii, 311 — Fif-
Index.
993
teenth Amendment, on the origin of,
ii, 326 — Kansas campaign, ii, 265 — let-
ter to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ii, 328
— Loyalists' Convention, delegate, ii,
329 — refuge in Mrs. E. C. Stanton's
house, ii, 382 — Revolution, on the, ii,
382 — wolf-skins, in, ii, 377 — speech,
Washington Convention '76, iii, 7.
Douglass, Sarah M., i, 332.
Douglass, Stephen A., ii, 263, 301.
Dow, Neal, i, 121, 154.
Downing, Geo. T., ii, 214, 215, 377.
Downing, Lucy, iii, 296.
I>nwns, Cora M.,made a Regent, iii, 706.
Doyle, Sarah E. H., iii, 344.
Draper, E. D. , ii, 242.
Dresser, Horace, ii, 952.
Duchess of Sutherland, i, 421.
Dugdale, Jos. A., on wills, i, 357.
DUNIWAY, Abigail Scott, arrest of, or-
dered, iii, 774 — career, iii, 768 — egged
at Jacksonville, Oregon, iii, 775 — Con-
stitutional liberty, on, ib. — lecturing
tour, iii, 769— temperance meeting, at
a, iii, 772.
E.
Eaglesfield, Elizabeth, iii, 549.
Earl, Sarah H., tribute, i, 217 — Presi-
dent New England Convention, made,
i, 254-
Eastman, Mary F., speeches, ii, 829,
840, 845, 854.
Ecclesine, Thos. C., iii, 420.
Kddy, Eliza P'., will case, iii, 312.
Edgerton, A. J., on woman suffrage, iii,
666.
Editor, first colored, i, 91.
Editors, opinions of three liberal, ii, 227.
Editors interviewed, iii, 623.
Edmunds, Senator, on State rights and
suffrage, ii, 561, 569, 570, 571, 572,
573. 580 — woman suffrage, on, iii, 70.
Education, Mrs. Dall's report, ii, 900.
Education, compulsory, iii, 6l.
Education, equal, ii, 909.
Educational movement, iii, 398.
Eggleston, Edward, on woman suffrage,
ii, 810.
Eldridge, Edward, iii, 781.
Electors, qualification of, ii, 272, 463-4.
Eliot, Rev. Wm. G., i, 171.
Elizabeth, Queen, i, 30.
Ellsworth, Bertha H., iii, 700.
Elstob, Elizabeth, i, 30.
Emancipation Petition, ii, 78.
Emerson, on Power of Human Mind, ii,
427.
Episcopal restrictions, i, 785.
Essex County Society, iii, 270.
Estabrook, Prof., speech for woman suf-
frage, ii, 839.
" Eumenes", i, 451.
Evans, L. D., ii, 10, iii, 801.
63
Evarts, Wm. M., upon woman's subor-
dination, i, 789, iii, 53.
F.
Fable, "The Selfish Rats," iii, 114.
Fales, Mrs. I. C., speech on suffrage ii
851.
Fairchild, Governor, ii, 375.
Faithful, Emily, letter to Mrs. P. W.
Davis, ii, 440.
Farnham, Eliza W., iii, 750— speech at
Mozart Hall, i, 669, iii, 750.
Ferrin, Mary Upton, i, 209, iii, 289 —
speech before Judiciary Committee.
Massachusetts Legislature, i. 212.
Ferry, Thos. W., ii, 568, iii, 28, 154. on
the Pembrina Territory bill, ii, 568.
Feudalism, i, 761-3.
Flanagan, Senator, on Sargent's amend-
ment to Pembrina Territory bill, ii, 552.
Florida, iii, 829.
Field, Anna C.. ii, 398.
Field, David Dudley, iii, 647.
Field, Kate, i, 620.
Fields, Jas. T., letter to H. B. Black-
well, ii, 838.
Fifteenth Amendment, ii, 314, 327, 333,
334, 335, 336. 337, 387. 455. 4&3, 47*.
479. 502, 503, 556, 557. 569, 616, 618,
619, 641. 642, 663.
Filley, Mary Powers, iii, 97, 380.
Foeking, Emilie, iii, 816.
Foley, Margaret, iii, 301.
Folger, Chas. J., i, 750, ii, 271, iii, 801.
Folsom, Marianna, iii, 703.
Foltz, Clara S. , iii, 757.
Foote, Samuel A., i, 629.
Forbes, Arathusa L., iii, 596.
Ford, Jennie G., iii, 693.
Forney, John W., on women and hos-
pital clinics, 3, 450.
Foster, Abby Kelly, i, 40, 53, 101, 134.
ii, 216.
Fester, J. Ellen, iii, 536.
Foster, Julia, i, 301.
Foster, Rachel, i, 391, iii, 474.
Foster, Stephen S., i, 141, ii, 381.111,372,
Fourteenth Amendment, ii, 313, 315,
323. 324, 327, 407, 411. 412, 422, 455,
457. 461, 463. 468, 478, 479. 499, 500,
501. 502, 503, 556, 586, 590. 593, 595,
596, 619, 617, 618, 619, 621, 622, 624,
625, 626, 641, 642, 663.
Fox, CharU . 453.
i ."36.
Fowler, Lydia F., i, 178. 478, 491.
France, ii, 202 — agitation in, address of
I'.mlmf Roland and Jeanne I>m>inr,
i, 234 — international woman's rights
congress, iii, 896.
"Frank Miller," ii, 19.
Franklin, Benjamin, i, 324, ii, 344. 475.
Franklin, William, i, 441.
Freedmcn's Relief Association, Mr*. J.
994
History of Woman Suffrage.
S. Griffing, ii, 26 — Josephine Griffing's
letter to Lucretia Mott, ii, 869 — letters
on the, ii, 45 — originator of , ii, 38.
Freeland, Margaret, arrest of, i, 475,
Frelinghuysen, F. G., speech, ii, 135.
Fremont, Jessie E., letter to Susan B,
Anthony, ii, 911.
Fremont, Jno. C., Presidential cam-
paign, i, 651.
French, Charlotte Olney, iii, 784.
Frothingham, O. B., ii, 186, 248, 380,
545-
Fry, Elizabeth, i, 479.
Fry, Elizabeth, and Lucretia Mott, i. 423.
Frye, Wm. P., iii, 105, 366.
Fuller, Margaret, i, 40, 49, 217, 801; iii,
307.
Fulton, W. C., iii, 776.
Furness' church, iii, 35.
GAGE, Frances Dana, ii, 112, 113, 114,
116, iii, 561 — Cleveland Convention,
at, i, 124 — lectures in Iowa, iii, 613 —
letter to American Woman Suffrage
Association, ii, 769 — at Cincinnati, ii,
857 — letter to Matilda Joslyn Gage,
i, 117 — letter to National Anti-
Slavery Standard, ii, 176 — letter to
Lucy Stone, i, 656 — letter to Roch-
ester Temperance Convention, i, 845 —
letter to Washington Convention, ii,
424 — mothers and their children, on,
i, 360 — National Convention, Philadel-
phia, at, i, 325 — negro testimony
quoted by Senator Cowan in U. S.
Senate, ii, 115 — Nichols, Mrs., and, i,
198 — orator, as an, i, 168 — portrait, i,
128 — reminiscences of Sojourner Truth,
i, 115 — reply to Gerrit Smith's letter to
Mrs. Stanton, i, 842 — speech, Akron
Convention, i, in; Broadway Taber-
nacle Convention, i, 563; Winchester,
Ind., Convention, i, 308; Equal Rights
Association Convention, ii, 197, 200 —
her last speech, ii, 223; temperance and
the ballot , ii, 211.
GAGE, Matilda Joslyn, i, 589, 591, iii, 65,
151, 227, 437 — address to women of Da-
kota, iii, 663 — Anthony case, her letter
to Albany Law "Journal, ii, 947 — ap-
peal, iii, 413 — argument before House
Committee, iii, 167 — Carpenter Hall,
application for, iii, 17 — churjh influence
on woman's liberties, iii, 74 — divorce on,
i, 566 — Grant and Wilson campaign,
appeal, ii, 517 — letter to wife of Admi-
ral Dahlgren, ii, 494 — letter to Dakota
Constitutional Convention, iii, 664 — let-
ter to Omaha convention, iii, 259 — Mi-
nor suit, her review of judge Waite's
opinion, ii, 742 — National Citizen pros-
pectus, iii, Ii6 — National Citizen and
Ballot- Box, i, 47 — petition, political dis-
abilities, iii, 60 — portrait, i, 753 — re-
port, iii, 522 — sketch of, i, 466 —
pseeches: Centralization, at Washing-
ton Convention, ii, 523; Congressional
Committees, before, ii, 415, iii, 10, 93;
Furness' church, in, iii, 35; Rochester
Convention, i, 579; Saratoga Conven-
tion, i, 622; Syracuse National Con-
vention, i, 528; United States on trial,
not Susan B. Anthony, ii, 630; \Yash-
ington National Convention, iii. 4 —
Sunderland controversy, i, 543 — Van
Schaick, and Mr., i, 406— Woman,
Church and State, i, 753.
" Gail Hamilton," iii, 365.
Gaines, Myra Clark, iii, 801.
Gale's, Senator, insulting epithets, i, 483.
Gallup, J. D., iii, 319.
Galusha, Eben, address, i, 55.
Gardner, Nannette B., ii, 587 — votes in
Michigan, iii, 523.
Garfield, James A., letter to Susan B.
Anthony, iii, 185.
Garret, Eliza, iii, 582.
Garrett, Thomas, iii, 818.
GARRISON, Wm. Lloyd, argument at
Cleveland National Convention, i, 136
— attacked by Dr. Nevin, i, 144 — on
Gen. Carey, i, 162 — letter to American
Woman Suffrage Association meeting
in Philadelphia, ii, 816 — letter to Con-
cord Convention, iii, 368 — letter to
Rochester Convention, iii, 122 — letter
to Worcester National Convention, i,
216 — London Anti-slavery Convention,
and the, i, 61 — marriage and divorce,
on, i, 733 — National Convention, Phil-
adelphia, at, i, 378 — speech at Broad-
way Tabernacle Convention, i, 548,
570 — tracts and petitions, on, i, 383
— tribute to Mrs. J. S. Griffing, ii, 38
— woman suffrage, apathy, ii, 322 —
women in national councils, on the
right of, i, 672 — World's Temperance
Convention, on the, i, 160.
Gay, Sidney Howard, ii, 369.
Gaylord, Senator, iii, 623.
Geddes, Geo., on the Property bill, i, 64.
Generals, why kept in the army, ii, 75.
Geneva, iii, 909.
George Eliot, i, 302.
Georgia, iii, 830.
Germans against woman suffrage, ii, 231.
Germany, iii, 902.
Gibbons, Abby Hopper, i, 40.
Gibbs, Sarah A., dissection of a sermon-
izer, iii, 391.
Gibson, Anthony, i, 29.
Giddings, Joshua R., on woman suffrage,
i, 128 — World's Temperance Conven-
tion, on the, i, 162.
Giddings, Maria L., i, 114.
Gillette, Rev. Mrs., ii, 837.
Gillingham, Lydia, i, 324.
Index.
995
Girls and boys, ii, 541.
Gladden, Washington, on woman suffrage,
ii, 815.
GLADSTONE, ii, 293, 366— Catholicism,
i, 27 — speech on woman suffrage, iii,
850, 854, 877, 883, 888.
Goddard, Sarah, i, 44.
Godwin, Parke, on the higher education
of women, iii, 433.
Goodell, Lavinia, iii, 648.
Goodrich, Sarah Knox, iii, 765.
Gordon, j. W., i, 307.
Gordon, Laura DeForce, iii, 6, 751 — Lee-
tures, iii, 755 — Letter to Washington
Convention, iii, 64 — Senator, nominated
for, iii, 756.
Cougar, Helen M., iii, 540, 552,697, 702,
708, 857.
Government, Hooker on, ii, 475 — Paine
on, ii, 474 — Pillsbury on, ii, 201 —
Priestly on, ii, 476 — Radical basis of,
ii, 290 — Sharpe, Granville, on, ii, 475
— Summers, Lord, on, ii, 475 — theory,
true, ii, 474.
" Grace Greenwood " (see Mrs. Sara J.
Lippincott).
GRANT. U. S., ii, 88 — campaign (1872),
Tremont Temple meeting, iii, 278 —
XV. Amendment, on the, ii, 646 — talk
with Susan B. Anthony, ii, 544
Grant and Wilson campaign, National
Woman's Rights Association's appeal,
ii, SI?-
Graves, Ezra, ii, 282, 307.
GREAT BRITAIN, ii, 202; iii, 833 — asso-
ciations formed, iii, 841— circular to
Members of Parliament, iii, 881 — Con-
ference, Edinburgh, iii, 878 — Confer-
ence, Leeds, iii, 874 — Conference, St.
James' Hall, iii, 888 — demonstration,
Birmingham, iii, 868 — demonstration,
Manchester, iii, 867 — demonstrations,
iii, 869 — education act, iii, 850 — educa-
tion bill, Scotch, iii, 851 — household
suffrage, iii, 886 — Isle of Man, iii, 870
— letters, woman suffrage, iii, 865 —
Manchester Liberal Association, iii,
876 — married women's property act, iii,
872 — medical relief bill, iii, 890 — meet-
ings during 1870, iii, 852 — memorial of
the Birmingham conference, iii, 855 —
memorial to Gladstone, iii, 883 — me-
morials, iii, 853, 854, 873 — municipal
franchise hill, iii, 845 — municipal fran-
chise bill for Scotland, iii, 871 — North-
ern Reform Society, iii, 838 — Parlia-
ment debates woman suffrage, iii, 850,
861, 862, 863, 873, 884, 889, 890—
petitions, iii, 866— petitions and pam-
phlets, iii, 840 — petition to Parliament,
Mary Smith's, iii, 835 — reform act, ii,
590 — Sheffield Association, iii, 837 —
, suffrage bill before Parliament, iii. 842
— chronological table of successive
steps towards freedom, iii, 980—
women householders, iii, 83 1 — women
in politics, iii, 835 — woman suffrage,
able advocates of, iii, 836— women suf-
frage meeting, first ever held in London,
iii, 848 — Woman Suffrage Journal, iii,
850 — women vote, iii, 843 — women
vote in Scotland, iii, 871.
Greece, iii, 919.
Greeley, Ann F., iii, 356.
GREELEY, Horace, ii, 227; iii, 408, 773 —
abolitionists, denounced, ii, 287 — bul-
let and ballot, ii, 284 — defranchisemem,
panacea for, ii, 101 — enfranchisement
of women, on, ii, 103 — Kansas cam-
paign, ii, 230 — letter to Susan B. An-
thony, i, 628 — letter to Cleveland Na-
tional Convention, i, 125 — lefir to
Paulina W. Davis, i, 520— letter to Mrs.
J. S. Griffing, ii, 36— letter to Sam'l J.
May on woman's rights, i. 653 — mar-
riage, on, i, 730— marriage and divorce,
on, i, 740 — Owen, R. D. , discussion,
divorce, i, 296,746 — Stanton, Elizabeth
Cady, and, ii, 287 — support of, lost, ii.
269— temperance speech. Metropolitan
Hall, i, 491 — universal suffrage and
universal amnesty, ii, 315 — woman and
work, on, i, 589 — woman suffrage, op-
posed to, iii, 185 — woman suffrage,
report against, ii, 285 — criticism. \eu-
York Independent, ii, 305.
Greeley "s, Mrs., petition, ii, 287.
Green, Anna R., Md., iii, 815.
Green, Beriah, i, 417 — speech at Cooper
Institute Convention, i, 699, 450, 437.
Gregory, Samuel, i, 38.
Grew, Rev. Henry, on woman's rights, i,
379-
Grew, Mary, i, 325 — speech at C ooper
Institute Convention, i, 735 — woman
suffrage, on, ii, 814 — President, in. 457.
GKIKHNG, Josephine S., i, no; ii, 345,
422; iii, 810— Freedman's Aid A
tion, letter to Lucretia Molt, ii, 869—
Freedman's Bureau, originator of, ii,
38 — Freedman's Relief Associa:
26 — letter to Horace Greeley, ii, 36 —
letter to Lucretia Mott, ii. 33 — letter to
Catharine F. Stebbins, ii, 874 — report
1871, ii, 484 — "Shirlev Dare." on, ii,
30 — speech. Equal Rights Association,
ii, 221 — testimonials i>f Con^rc-snu-n.
ii, 33 — tribute from Win. Lloy>:
son, ii, 38,
GRIMKK, Angelina, i, 39, 52 — anecdotes,
by her husband, i, 402 — letter t«> \Vm.
Lloyd Garrison, i, 3.); — .ketch «>f " K.
C. S.," i, 392 — speech against slavery,
i, 334.
GRtMKfc, Sarah Moore, i. 39, 53. 4<>°—
letter. West Cliche:. I'.i.. '
>, 353-
Grover. A. J., iii. 560, 591.
Guardianship 1 .
Gurney, Samuel, i. 4-1.
9y6
History of Woman Suffrage.
Guthrie, Clara Merrick, iii, 790.
Guthrie, Mrs., daughter of Frances
Wright, ii, 543.
H.
Haggerty, James, ii, 210, iii, 434.
Hale, Sarah Josepha, i, 45, 388.
Hall, Israel, ii, 3/7.
Hall, Mary, admission to the Bar, iii, 330.
Halleck, Sarah H., ii, 60.
Hallock, Frances V., ii, 435.
Halstead, Murat, iii, 593.
Hamilton, Alexander, ii, 413.
Hamlin, Senator, ii, 411.
Hampden Society, iii, 270.
Hanaford, Phebe, ii, 3~<)8, 791; iii, 327,
479. 48i.
Hancock, Gen. W. S., iii, 185, 431.
Hanna, Laura, iii, 720.
HARBERT, Elizabeth Boynton, iii, 560,
592, 621 — delegate to Republican Na-
tional Convention, iii, 26- — oration, iii,
581 — speech before Congressional com-
mittee, iii, 76.
Harberton, Lady, speech at Edinburgh,
iii, 879.
Hare, Thomas, ii, 292.
Harper, Frances E. W., ii, 838.
Harrington, Mary L., iii, 374.
Harris, Sarah, ii, 376.
Hartford Courant, iii, 322.
Hartford Times, ii, 538.
Harvard Annex, iii, 294.
Haskell, Mehitable, Worcester Conven-
tion, i, 232; iii, 286.
Hatch, Junius, "pin-cushion ministry,"
i, 539-
Hatton, Frank, iii, 617.
Haven, Gilbert, ii, 388; iii, 268, 528, 620;
ii. 839, 398, 840.
Havens, E. O., iii, 526428.
Haviland, Laura C., iii, 532.
Hawley, Jos. R., letter to Mrs. Stan ton,
iii, 28, 30, 90.
HAY, William, letter to Broadway Taber-
nacle Convention, i, 655 — letter to Su-
san B. Anthony, i, 631 — letter to The
North Star, on the Saratoga Conven-
tion, i, 621 ; paper, property rights, 607.
Hayes, R. B., iii, 165.
Hayhurst, Martha, i, 348.
Hazard, Rebecca N., ii, 855, iii, 604.
Hazlett, Aclelle, ii, 787; iii, 522.
Heath, Jeannette Brown, i, 642.
Heloise, i, 759.
Henderson, Miss A. M., iii, 654.
Henderson, Senator, ii, 98.
Heroism, Kate Shelly, iii, 633.
Herricourt, Madame, ii, 569, 395.
Hertell's, Barbara, will, i, 63.
Hewitt, Rev. Dr., i, 502.
Heyrick, Elizabeth, i, 41.
Heywood, E. H., ii, 222.
Hiatt, Hannah, i, 306.
Hiatt, Sarah W., iii, 803.
Hicks, Elias, i, 412, 415.
HIGGINSON, Thos. \Ventworth, iii, 275,
277. 3°5 — Brick Church meeting, i,
500 — coeducation, on, iii, 496 — Kansas
campaign, ii, 265 — Kansas campaign,
ii, 237— letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii,
917 — letter to Cleveland National Con-
vention, i, 131 — letter to Lucy Stone, i,
566 — marriage ceremony, on, i, 260—
Massachusetts Constitutional Conven-
tion, i, 253 — New York Times, on the,
i, 648 — speech, in Cleveland, O., ii,
802 — speech, in Cooper Institute, ii,
828 — speech, Broadway Tabernacle
Convention, at, i, 656 — speech, Cleve-
land Convention, ii, 760, 771 — speech,
National Convention, New York, i,
642 — voters, qualification of, i, 249 —
temperance and woman suffrage, on, ii,
819 — theological discussion, i, 647 —
woman's rights almanac, i, 863 — wonren
in Christian civilization, on, i, 791.
Hilda, Abbess, i, 30.
Hill, Benj. H., speech, iii, 217.
Hill, Charlotte, iii, 365.
Hill, Peter, iii, 524.
Hillier, C. J., iii, 756.
Hinckley, Frederick A., on woman suf-
frage in Rhode Island, iii, 349 — speech
at Washington Convention, iii, 222.
Hindman, Matilda, iii, 459, 522, 621, 719,
723.
HOAR, Geo. F., minority report, iii, 131,
— presents petitions, iii, 104 — letter to
Washington Convention, ii, 858 —
speech, women in the Supreme Court,
iii, 139 — select committee, U. S. Senate,
iii, 198-216 — speech in 1871, ii, 820.
Hobart's, Ella F., services as chaplain in
Union army, ii, 18.
Hobbs, Lucy B., dentist, iii, 401, 455.
Holland, J. G., iii, 46.
Holloway, Wm. R., iii, 534.
Homeopathic College, ii, 765.
Holland, iii, 907,
Holmes, Jennie F., iii, 683.
Holmes, Rev., iii, 390.
Hook, Frances, as a soldier, ii, 19.
HOOKER, Isabella B. iii, 194, 327 — argu-
ment before House Judiciary commit-
tee, iii, 103 — before Senate committee,
iii, 105 — declaration and pledge, ii, 486
— letter to New York Convention,
twenty-fifth anniversary, ii, 534 — police,
how she would rule,, iii, 73 — receptions
in Washington, iii, 99 — reminiscences
of, iii,. 320 — report, National Associa-
tion, 1872, ii, 496— speech before House
Judiciary committee, ii, 458 — speech
before Senate Judiciary committee, ii,
499 — thanks the champions of woman's
rights in Congress, ii, 489 — Washington
Convention, notes ii, 425.
Index.
997
Hooker, John, iii, 101, 327, 957.
Hopkins, E. A., on legal grievance of
women, i, 584.
Hosmer, Harriet, iii, 143, 301, 595, 951.
Hospital clinics, iii, 448.
Houghton, Agnes-A., iii, 359.
Hovey, Charles F., i, 625 — Bequests, i,
257, 258, 667.
Howe, Frederick B., iii, 438.
Howe, J. II., on women as jurors, iii, 736.
HOWE, Julia Ward, ii, 757, 770, 792, 873,
portrait, 783; iii, 270, 275, 276, 371 —
Fifteenth Amendment, on the, ii, 335
— President of Am. Woman Suffrage
Association, made, ii 834 — Speech in
Philadelphia, ii, 817; in Detroit, 834 —
Woman Suffrage in New Jersey, on, ii,
847.
Hoyt, John W., Gov. of Wyoming, iii,
241, 474, 730-
Hoyt, Mrs., on anti-slavery and woman's
rights, ii, 59, 61, 63.
Howitt, Wm., letter to Lucretia Mott, i,
434-
Howland, Emily, i, 688.
Howland, Fannie, description of Wash-
ington Convention, ii, 416.
Howland, William, iii, 437.
Hubbard, R. D., iii, 326.
Hugo, Victor, ii, 369, iii, 75, 127.
Hulett, Alta C., iii, 572.
"Human Rights," Hurlbut's, i, 38.
Hi; NT, Harriot K., i, 219, 224, 255, 356,
531, 535t ii, 583 — medical education,
on, i, 356 — physician, as a, r, 260 —
hat Broadway Tabernacle Conven-
tion, i, 564 — taxation, protest against,
i, 259, iii, 298.
Hunt's, Ward, Judge, decision Anthony
trial, ii, 689 — resolution against, ii, 537.
Hunt's, Richard, tea table, i, 68.
Hunt, Scth, iii, 270.
Hurlbut's "Human Rights," i, 38.
Husband and wife, act concerning rights
and liabilities of, i, 686.
. , Cornelia Collins, iii, 482.
Husted, James W., favors suffrage for
women, iii, 409, 417, 424, 437.
Hutchinson family, ii, 59, 239, 262, 309,
542, 934; iii, 35 — Letter, John W., i,
627.
Hutchinson, Anne, i, 206.
Hutchinsun, Nellie, iii, 752.
I.
II.I.INOIS, iii, 559 — Art Union, iii, 587 —
Bar, Myra Bradwell's application, ii,
601 — opinion denying, ii, 609 — Carpen-
ter's, Matt. H., argument, 11,615 — opin-
ion of Justice Bradley, ii, 624 — report
of proceedings in Illinois and U. S.
Supreme Courts, ii, 614 — U. S. Supreme
Court decision, ii, 622 — writ of error,
ii,6l4 — centennial celebration at Evans-
ton, iii, 581 — Conventions (see conven-
tions)—Elmwood church trouble, iii,
563 — Garrett Biblical Institute, iii. 582
— houses of ill-fame, licensing Chicago,
iii, 572 — married women's earnings act,
iii, 570— Master in Chancery, Mr-.
Schuchardt, iii, 588 — Moline Associa-
tion, iii, 589 — Monticello Ladies Semi-
nary, iii, 579 — petitions, toils of circu-
lating, iii, 590 — pulpit utterances, iii,
564 — Social Science Association, iii, 584
— Suffrage Association formed, iii, 569
— suffrage society, first, iii, 560— tem-
perance petition, iii, 587 — Woman's
College at Evanston, iii, 578 — woman,
as preacher, first in, iii, 579 — women
elected as school officers, iii, 575 —
women eligible as school officers, bill
making, iii, 575 — women, trials and tri-
umphs of, iii, 560.
Impeachment, articles of, iii, 31.
INDIANA, i. 290, iii, 533 — appendix, iii,
965 — campaign of 1882, iii, 543— col-
leges open to women, iii, 548— consti-
tutional debates, i, 296— Conventions
(see Conventions)— electoral bill, iii, 541
— Equal Suffrage Society Indianapoli*.
iii, 536 — laws for women, changes in,
iii, 544 — legislative enactments, iii, 544
— legislative hearings, iii, 538 — liqu .-r
law, i, 307 — mass meeting in Indian-
apolis, iii, 541 — newspapers, iii, 555 —
Republican State Convention, iii, 542 —
secret conclave, iii, 535 — temperance
petition, Mrs. Wallace, iii, 539 — women
in schools, iii, 547.
Infidelity, i. 143.
International Convention, iii, 157, 585.
896, 952.
IOWA, u'i, 6l2 — churches indorse woman
suffrage, iii, 620— Clergymen's tract, iii,
624 — Conventions (see Convent.
Fort Dodge, iii, 617 — friendly associa-
tions, iii, 635 — Governor Kirkwood ap-
points women to office, iii, 62'
ernor, first, to recogni/e woman suf-
frage, iii, 622 — Governor Sherman in-
terviewed, iii, 624 — Invention* by
women, iii, 632 — Journalism, iii, 629 —
liiw^. improvement in, iii, 630 — 1>
iii, 630 — Legislative action, iii, 619—
Legislative action, summary, iii, 6as —
mass meeting at the c.ipitol. iii, 6l«> —
medical profession, iii, 631 — Polk Coun-
ty >ocicty, iii, 614 — Republic.,
vention, women's plank, iii, 6ao—
County School Superintendent*. A
ney General's opinion, iii, 627— school
offices, eligibility of w
628 — societies organized, iii, 615, 617 —
State A'tgittfr, iii, 6ao — women in office.
iii, 626 — women employed as Ir.i
ni. (>.'7 — woman suffrage. fir»t »£
of, iii, 613 — woman suffrage society.
History of Woman Suffrage.
first, iii, 614 — women in positions of
trust, iii, 616.
Island No. 10, ii, 10.
Italy, iii, 899.
J-
Janney's, Mrs. R. A. S., recollections, i.
122.
Jay, John, ii, 413.
Jackson, Rev. E. M., i, 502.
Jackson, Francis, i, 189, 257, 634, 667,
743, will case, iii, 310.
Jackson, James C., ii, 582.
Jackson, Mercy B., letter, ii, 920.
Jenkins, Lydia Ann, i, 145.
Jerry, rescue trials, i, 474.
Johnson, Andrew, ii, 205.
Johnson, Mariana, i, 103, 351.
Johnson, Oliver, i, 101, 367, 671; ii, 786,
813-
Johnson, Rev. Samuel, letter to National
Convention in New York, i, 635.
Johnson, Wm. H. and Mary, letter to
\Vestchester, Pa., Convention, i, 832.
Jones, Mrs. E. C., Jailoress, iii, 488.
Jones, Jane Graham, delegate to National
Convention at Washington, ii, 522, 442;
iii, 229, 580 — address International
Congress at Paris, iii, 585 — Genevieve
Graham, daughter, iii, 586, 897.
Jones, J. Elizabeth, report, i, 168 — speech
at Cooper Institute Convention, i, 694
— speech at Syracuse National Conven-
tion, i, 530.
Journalism, women in, i, 43, iii, 303, 629,
761, 813.
Judge direct a verdict of guilty, can a, ii,
690.
Julian, Geo. W., ii, 333, 489, 490, 552,
727 — amendment to District of Colum-
bia suffrage bill, ii, 282 — speech on
woman suffrage, ii, 801.
Juries, venerable decisions on, ii, 705.
Jury, women on, iii, 732.
Justice of Peace, Mrs. Esther Morris made,
iii, 73L
K.
Kalamazoo college, iii, 525.
KANSAS, Mrs. Nichols* account, i, 185,
iii, 696 — appeal, ii, 247 — campaign,
1867, ii, 928 — campaign, S. N. Wood's
summing up of, ii, 254 — Champion
(Atchison) on woman suffrage, ii. 240 —
Commercial, (Leavenworth) on the cam-
paign, ii, 262 — constitutional amend-
ment to strike word "'white" from suf-
frage clause, ii, 229 — Conventions (see
Conventions) — elections, iii, 701, 708 —
Harvey, Governor, message, iii, 696— leg-
islative action, iii, 709 — Lincoln suffrage
association, iii, 701 — Lincoln Auxiliary
of the National Association, iii. 698-
parties in convention, action of, iii. 707
— press, iii. 699 — property rights, iii,
704 — Radical Reform Christian Associ-
ation, iii, 703 — reminiscences, Helen
Ekin Starrett's. ii, 250 — schools, iii, 706
— Stanton Suffrage Society organized,
iii, 702 — suffrage organizations, history
of, iii, 698 — suffrage song, the Hutch-
insons, ii, 934 — Superintendent of
Public Instruction, Sarah A. Brown
nominated, iii, 705 — suppressed pro-
ceedings, ii, 931 — Temperance Conven-
tion, ii, 231 — woman suffrage facts, iii,
709 — woman suffrage indorsed by Re-
publican State Convention, iii, 707 —
woman suffrage petitions, report of Ju-
diciary Franchise Committee, i, 194 —
W'omen's Christian Temperance Union,
iii, 703 — Women's Impartial Suffrage
Association, address, ii, 932 — women
run for office, iii, 708 — women in office,
iii, 706 — women in the professions, iii,
706.
Kasson, John A., iii, 619.
Keating, Harriette C., iii, 791.
Kelley, W. D., suffrage resolution, iii, 71.
Kelly, Abby (see Foster).
Kemble, Fanny, i, 412.
KENTUCKY, iii, 818 — architecture, Miss
White, iii, 820 — education, facilities for,
iii, 821 — Louisville School of Pharma-
cy, iii, 821 — woman suffrage society,
ii, 862 — school suffrage, i, 869. iii, 821.
King, Susan A., sketch of, iii, 420.
King, Thos. Star, i, 666.
Kingman, Judge, Kansas, i, 192.
Kingman, J. W., ii, 836, iii, 727, 241.
Kingsbury, Benjamin, iii, 359.
Kingsbury Elizabeth A., ii, 310, iii, 476.
Kingsley, Henry, letter to Mrs. P. W.
Davis, ii, 438.
Kirk. Mrs. Eleanor (Nellie Ames), ii, 390.
Knight, Ann. i, 438, iii, 837.
Knowlton, Helen M., iii, 302.
L.
Ladies' Art Association, iii, 399,
Lander, Mrs. Dick, iii, 852.
Lane, James H., i, 191.
Langdon, Lady Anna G. , iii, 854.
Lapham, Elbridge G., presents petition,
ii, 283 — votes for, ii, 304 — Anthony
trial, ii, 647 — printing speeches in the
House, iii, 174 — vote in Senate, iii, 218
— Senate committee, 228, 231 — Senate
report, 232 — thanks to, iii, 252.
Lawrence, Amos A., iii, 330.
Lawrence, Sybil, iii, 532.
Lawyers, women, iii, 575.
Lee, Mary B. , legacy, iii, 624.
Leftwich, i, 649.
Legacy, iii, 624.
Leipsic, iii, 902.
Leslie, Mrs. Frank, iii, 441.
Lester, Louise, iii, 780.
LETTERS : Alcott, Louisa May, to Lucy
Stone, ii, 831 — Amberly, Lady, to Mrs.
P. W. Davis, ii, 439 — Andrews, Mar-
Index.
999
garet H., to S. J. May, i, 531 — An-
thony, H. B., to S. B. Anthony, iii, 350.
Letters, Anthony, Susan B. , to her family;
Boston Convention, i, 256; to Brooks,
James, ii, 97; to Foote, E. B., ii, 941;
to Garfield, iii, 185; to Mott, Lydia, i,
748; to National Democratic Conven-
tion, ii, 340; to Wright, Martha C., i,
676.
Letters, Barton, Clara, to Susan B. An-
thony, ii, 916 — Bascom, E. C., to S. B.
Anthony, iii, 647 — Becker, Lydia E.,
to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 62 — Beecher,
H. W., to St. Louis Convention, ii, 825
— Bennett, Alice, to Susan B. Anthony,
iii, 472 — National Association to Berlin
Congress, ii, 404 — Briggs, Caroline A.,
to S. B. Anthony, iii, 250 — Blackwell
Elizabeth, to Emily Collins, i, 91 —
Blackwell, Antoinette Brown, to Cooper
Institute Convention, i, 862 — Black-
well, Elizabeth, to Westchester, Pa.,
Convention, i, 831 — Blackwell, H. B.,
to E. C. Stanton, ii, 232, 235 — Blair,
Henry W., to Susan B. Anthony, iii,
380 — Bowles, Samuel, to Mrs. Hooker,
iii, 325 — Bright, Jacob, to Mrs. P. W.
Davis, ii, 438 — Brown, Olympia, to S.
B. Anthony, ii, 259 — Bruhn, Rosa, to
Mrs. P. W. Davis, ii, 439 — Burleigh,
Celia, giving account of Saratoga Con-
vention, ii, 402 — Burns, Alexander, to
Des Moines Convention, iii, 618 — Burr,
Frances E., to Susan B. Anthony, ii,
912, iii, 334 — Butler, Benjamin F., to
Susan B. Anthony, ii, 539, iii, 255.
Letters: Carpenter, C. C., to Iowa W. S.
Association, iii, 621 — Carpenter, M. H.,
to Elizabeth C. Stanton, ii, 423 — Chan-
ning, Wm. Henry, Cleveland National
Convention, i, 129 — Child, L. Maria, to
St. Louis Convention, ii, 825; E. C.
Stanton, ii, 910 — Clemmer, Mary, to
Senator Wadleigh, iii, 1 1 1 ; to S. B. An-
thony, iii, 262 — Cobbe, Frances P., to
Paulina W. Davis, ii,438 — ColeM. M.,
tolI.B.Blackwell, ii,832— ColvinA.J.,
to Susan B. Anthony, i, 691, 750; ii. 914
— Corner, Mary T., to Mrs. Bloomer, i,
122 — Corson, Hiram, to Susan I'.. An-
thony, ii,,472 — Cutler, Mrs. II. M. T.,
to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 915 — Dall,
Caroline II., to The Nation, ii, 101 —
Darlington, Hannah M., to Mrs. Stan-
ton, i, 344 — Deroine, Jeanne, to women
of America, i, 234 — Dickinson, Anna
E., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 916—
Douglass, Fred., to E. Cady Stanton,
ii, 328 — Faithful, Emily, to Mrs. 1'. \V.
Davis, ii, 440 — Fields, lames T., toll.
B. Blackwell, ii, 838 — Folger, Charles
J., to Susan 1>. Anthony, i, 750— Foster,
Rachel G., to Our Herald, iii, 243 —
Freedman's Relief Association, on, ii,
35 — Fremont, Jessie B. to Susan B. An-
thony, ii, 911.
Letters: Gage, Frances D., to Cincinnati
Convention, ii, 857; Stein way Hall Con-
vention, ii, 769; Gage, M. E. J., to, i,
47; Rochester Temperance Convention,
i, 845; Stone, Lucy, i, 656; Washing-
ton Convention, ii, 424 — Gage, M. J.,
to Mrs. Dahlgren, ii, 494; to Omaha
Con., ii, 250; to women of Dakota, iii,
663— Garfield, James A., to S. B. An-
thony, iii, 185 — Garrison, Wm. Lloyd,
to American Woman Suffrage Associa-
tion meeting in Philadelphia, ii,8l6; to
Third Decade Convention, Rochester,
iii, 123; to Concord Convention, iii, 368
— Geddes, George, to M. J. Gage, i,
64 — Greeley, Horace, to Susan B. An-
thony, i, 628; Cleveland National Con-
vention, i, 125; Davis, Paulina W., i,
520; Marsh, Rev. John, i, 503; May, S.
J., on woman's rights, i, 653. Sever-
ance, Mrs. C. M., i, 125 — Griffing,
Josephine S., to Catharine A. F.
Stebbins, ii, 874; to Greeley, ii, 36
— Grimke, Angelina, to Win. I.loyd
Garrison, i, 397 — Grimke, Sarah M., to
Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 353 —
Grover, A. J., to Mrs. Stanton, i, 591.
Letters: Hay, Wm., to Susan B. Anthony,
i, 631; Broadway Tabernacle Conven-
tion, i, 655 — Higginson, T. W., to S.
B. Anthony, ii, 917; Cleveland (Nat.)
Convention, i, 131 — Hooker, Isabella
B., to Susan B. Anthony, i, 535; to
Mrs. Dahlgren, iii, loo; Stone, Lucy i,
566 — Howitt, Wm., to Lucretia Mott,
i, 434 — Hugo, Victor, to Clemence S.
Lo/ier, iii, 75 — Johnson, Samuel, Na-
tional Convention in New York, i, 635
— Johnson, Wm. II. and M.irv, t
chester, Pa., Convention, 1,832 — King-
man, J. \\'., to Lucy Stone, ii, 836 —
Kingsley, Henry, to .Mr-.. 1'. \\
ii, 438 — Lawrence, Amos A., to Abby
Smith, iii, 330— Leo, Ami;.
Decade meeting, ii, 439 — I.ivcrmore,
Mary A., to Susan H. Anthony, ii, 921.
Lctteri: M.nuli t-on. C. 1 . . Mt>. (.'. iMiix-
moor, iii, 688 — Marsh, I., to I
Greeley, i, 503 — Marsh. L. R., to Mr*.
E.G. Stanton, ii. 922— M.irtmenu. Har-
riet, to 1'. \V. 1' -Mott, Lu-
cretia, i,437 — M
Con., i, 851 — Men.lenhall. H.
Hi. .\\.iy, ni. 724— Mcriuian. 1
J., to the Si i on, 1 1 >i > i.'.c iiiri-tinj;, ii.
45l_Mill. John Stu.ut. to r.iulina W.
l)avi>, i, -
ii, 252— Miller. Francw, to S. B. An-
thony, ii, 536— MilU, Cha*. P.
Mr*. Matilda J. Gage, ii, 434-
I.iureti.i. to D.inu-l U'Connell,
to j- <:"M{. »>. 873; 10
IOOO
History of Woman Siiffragc.
Salem, Ohio, Convention, i, 812 —
Mott, Lydia, to Susan B. Anthony,
i, 630 — Mott, Mary, to Westchester,
Pa., Convention, i, 829.
Letters: New York Tribune, on, canvass
of i85g-'6o, i, 677 — Nichols, Mrs. C. I.
H., to Rochester Tem. Convention, i,
847 — Owen, Robert Dale, to Susan B.
Anthony, i, 292 — Pastoral, i, 81 —
Phelps, Almira L., to Mrs. Hooker, iii,
100 — Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, to Am.
W. S. Association meeting in Cooper
In., ii, 831— Phillips, Wendell, to S. B.
Anthony, iii, 62; to Third Decade Con-
vention at Rochester, N. Y., iii, 122
— Pickler, J, A., to Matilda J. Gage,
iii, 668 — Pomeroy, C. R., toDes Moines
Convention, iii, 618 — Post, Amy, to S.
B. Anthony, iii, 48 — Pugh. Sarah, to
Salem, Ohio, Convention, i, 814 — Rose,
Ernestine L., to Susan B. Anthony, i,
98; ii, 423; iii, 50, 120; to Mrs. J. S.
Griffing, ii, 356— Russell, Lucinda, to
Harriet S. Brooks, iii, 682.
Letters: Sanford, R. M., to Cleveland
Con., i, 819 — Sargent, A. A., to Third
Decade Con., iii, 121; to Omaha Con.,
iii, 245 — Sargent, J. T., to E. C. Stan-
ii, 911 — Saxon, Elizabeth L., to Mrs.
Minor, iii, 791 — Severance, Caroline
M., to Mrs. E. C. Stanton, ii, 911 —
Shaw, Sarah B., to Susan B. Anthony,
ii, 239 — Smith, Gerrit, to Susan B. An-
thony, i, 497; ii. 317, 538, 941; Gar.
rison, \Vm. L. , i, 223,620; Stanton, E.
Cady, i, 708, 836; St. Louis Convention,
ii, 825 — Somerville, Mary, to Mrs. P.
W. Davis, ii, 440 — Stanton, Elizabeth
Cady, to Akron, O.. Convention, i, 815;
Cooper Institute Con., i, 860; Greeley,
Horace, i, 738; Mott, Lucretia, iii, 45;
Omaha Convention, iii, 244; Salem, O.,
Convention, i, 810; Smith, Gerrit, i,
839; Syracuse Convention, i, 848 —
Stanton, Harriot, to Nebraska voters,
iii, 247 — Stebbins, Catharine A. F., to
Lucretia Mott, iii, 47 — Stone, Lucy,
to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 237, 919;
to Elizabeth C. Stanton, ii, 234; to
Salem, O., Convention, i, 813.
Letters: Taylor, Mrs. M., to Mrs. P. W.
Davis, ii, 438 — Tenney, Mrs. R. S., to
Susan B. Anthony, ii, 257 — Tilton,
Theo., to American Woman Suffrage
Association, ii, 770 — Wade, Benjamin
F., to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 117, to
Josephine Sophie Griffing, ii, 35 —
Wallace, Zerelda G., to Susan B.
Anthony, iii, 257 — Wattles, Susan E.
to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 255 — Weber,
Helene M., to M. A. Spofford, i, 822—
Weld, Angelina G., on organizations,
i, 540 — Whiting, N. H., letter to Cooper
Institute Convention, i, 861 — Winder,
R. B., to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 817 —
Wright, Elizur, to Paulina W. Davis, i,
217 — Wright, Henry C., to Garrison,
i, 310 — Wright, Martha C., to Pills-
bury, ii, 240.
Lewis, Ida, iii, 347.
Lily, The, i, 486.
Lincoln (Kansas) Beacon, Lincoln (Kan-
sas) Register, iii, 699.
Lippincott, Sarah J., i, 46 — Saxe's poems,
on, i, 828 — Washington Convention
(Nat.), description of, ii, 359
List, Charles, address at Worcester Na-
tional Convention, i, 232.
Little, Knox, iii, 471 — sermon to women,
i, 728.
Livermore, Mary A., ii, 777; iii, 268, 274,
279, 388, 561, 565, 570.
Livingston, William, i, 441.
LOCKWOOD, Belva A., ii, 522, 240, 443,
523, 537, 585; i", 64, 177, 809, 811,
818 — attempted to vote, iii, 813 — ad-
mitted to U. S. Supreme Court, iii,
141 — brief to U. S. Senate, on women as
lawyers, iii, 106 — motion to admit
Lowry to Supreme Court, iii, 174 —
speech in Dr. Furness' Church, iii, 35
— women's rights, the way to get, iii,
73-
Logan, John A., on woman suffrage, iii,
207.
Longfellow, Samuel, speech at Cooper In-
stitute Convention, i, 711
Lord, Mrs. A., iii, 703.
Loring, Geo. B., iii, 154.
Lords, feudal, i, 760, 762.
Loud, Huldah B., iii, 279.
Loughary. Mrs. H. A., iii, 774.
LOUISIANA, Constitutional Convention,
iii, 789 — married women, laws relating
to, iii, 799 — press, iii, 798 — St. Anna's
Asylum, iii, 789 — schools, physiology
in, iii, 797 — women eligible to school
offices, iii, 795 — women's club, iii, 796.
Love, Mary F., i, 583, 587, 589 (.^ee
Davis, Mary F.).
Levering, J. F., iii, 371.
Lowell, Jas. R., poem "Endurance," iii,
695.
Lowell, Josephine Shaw, appointed to of-
fice, i, 473; police matrons, iii, 432 —
Com'r of Charities, made a, iii, 417.
Lozier, Clemence S. , M. D., iii, 405 —
sketch of , iii, 411, 416, 421 — presided,
425 — seats for shop girls, 433 — protest
against District Attorney Russell, 436
— appeal to voters, 437.
Lukens, Esther Ann, i, 311.
Lunt's, Bishop, defence of polygamy, i,
776.
Luther, Martin, will of, i, 358.
Luther and polygamy, i, 775, 776.
Lyford, Rev. C. P., on polygamy, i, 778.
Lynn, Eliza, i, 34.
Index.
1001
M.
Macaulay, Catharine Sawbridge, i, 32,
790.
McCarthy, Justin, iii, 864.
McClellan, Geo. B. , ii, 42, 75.
McClintock, Thomas, i, 539.
McCHntock, Mary Ann, i, 67, iii, 454.
McCook, Edward, on suffrage, iii, 713.
McCook, Mrs. Mary, 715 — tribute, 718.
McDonald, Joseph E., women to the Su-
preme Court, iii, III, 139, 155 — moves
Standing Committee, iii, 190— tribute.
ii', 553-
McDowell, AnnaE., Woman's Advocate,
i, 388 — Sunday Dispatch, iii, 446 — J.
Edgar Thomson's will, iii, 468 — Rev.
Knox Little, iii, 471.
McDowell, Gertrude, iii, 693.
Mackey, T. J., iii, 828.
McLaren, Mrs. Duncan, iii, 842 — por-
trait, iii, 849; 951.
McLaren, Charles, Mr. and Mrs., iii, 927.
McLaren, \Valter, iii, 874, 936.
McRae, Emma M., argument before
House committee, iii, 161.
Madison, James, ii, 632.
Mahan, Asa, i, 151 — argument at Cleve-
land National Convention, i, 133.
MAINE, iii, 351 — Bar, admissions to, iii,
355 — conventions (see Conventions) —
faithful friends, iii, 365 — Goddard,
Judge, iii, 353 — Industrial School for
girls, iii, 356 — legislation, iii, 357, 364
— married women, law, iii,352i— "Moral
Eminence of Maine," iii, 359 — suffrage
society, first, iii, 352 — women holding
office, Supreme Judicial Court opinion,
iii,36i — women in office, Gov Dingley's
message, iii, 363 — women on school
committees, iii, 351 — woman suffrage,
progress made, 1873, iii, 357 — women
tax-payers protest, iii, 356.
" Male" in the Constitution, ii, 91.
Manderson, Charles F., iii, 678-— letter to
O. C. Dinsmoor, iii, 688.
Mandeville, Dr., i, 486.
Manikin, i, 37.
Mann, Horace, i, 356.
Mansfield, Arabella A., case of, ii, 606.
Manufactures in hands of women, i, 291,
Marcet, Jane, i, 34.
" Maria" and "Old Betty," ii, 114.
Marriage amendment act, English, ii, 293.
Marriage a cause of disfrancliisement, ii,
621.
Marriage and minority disabilities, ii, 603.
Marriage, "Mrs. Schlachtfeld," on, iii,
723.
Marriage, what is legal status of, ii, 456.
MARRIAGE CJUKSTION : Church \u-\\ i, i,
758 — devils, with, {,769 — Greek church,
under, i, 773 — heterogeneous, i, 719 —
law, i, 107 — law of 1860, i, 636— pro-
test, Robert Dale Owen's, i, 295 — pro-
test, Lucy Stone's, i, 260 — relations, i,
293 — Rose, Ernestine L., on, i, 237.
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE : Anthony, Su-
san B., on, i, 735— bill before New-
York Legislature, i, 745— Blackwell.
Antoinette B., on, i, 723— drunkennc-s,
for, i, 485 — Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, on,
'• 733 — Greeley, Horace, on, i, 740 —
Greeley-Owen discussion, i, 296, 746
— law amended in Massachusetts, i,
2ii — Mott, Lucretia, on, i, 746— Phil-
lips, Wendell, on, i, 732 — Rose, Er-
nestine L., on, i. 729 — Stanton, Eli/a-
beth Cady, on, i, 716 — Stanton, Mr^.,
letter to Horace Greeley on, i, 738.
Marriages solemnized by women, iii, 301.
Marquette, i, 762.
Marsh, lohn, letter to Horace Greeley, i,
503. "
Marsh, Luther R., iii, 408 — letter to Mrs.
E. C. Stanton, ii, 922.
" Martian Statutes," i, 31.
Martin, John A., ii, 249.
MARTINKAU, Harriet, i, 34; iii, 854 — let-
ter to Pauline \V. Davis, i, 229 — letters
to Lucretia Mott, i, 437.
MARYLAND, iii, 814 — Baltimore Dental
Surgery, iii, 817 — Equal Rights Soci-
ety, iii, 815.
Mason, O. P., iii, 683, 691. .
MASSACHUSETTS, i, 201 , iii, 265 — Associa-
tion, anniversary, iii, 272 — association,
work done, iii, 269— conventions (see
Conventions) — Democratic Convention,
action, iii, 278— divorce law amended,
i, 211 — Governors, action of, iii, 287 —
Grant campaign, Tremont Temple
meeting, iii, 278 — Harvard Annex, iii,
294 — Legislative, action, iii, 284 — Leg-
islature, petition before, i, 258 — New
England Women's Club, iii, 304—
petitions, iii, 274, 285 — Philosophy at
Concord, School of, iii, 307 — prohibi-
tionists, alliance with, iii, 280— Rcpul>-
lican Convention, action, iii, 2~
— school committees, won.
— school suffrage, iii, 280, 288— -suffrage
associations, iii, 273 — Supreme Court
decisions, iii, 290— women in tl
service, iii, 306 — women delegates to
Republican Convention, iii, 277 — wom-
en opposed to suffrage, iii, 275 — women
at the polls, iii, 282 — women, social
condition, iii, 294 — woman suffrage
political |>:u'.\. iii, 276— woman suffrage
ticket, iii. 2Si.
Mather, Cotton, iii, 303.
Maule, Mollic K.. iii, 693.
Maxwell. I ily. iii, 842.
May, Jo-cph. iii, 34.
M IT, Samud J.. i. 40. 485, 518; ;
422— "(.'. -lore. I. "on the v
campaign, ii. 265 — President
IOO2
History of Woman Suffrage.
Rochester Convention, made, i, 578 —
speech at American Equal Rights As-
sociation meeting, ii, 191 — speech on
temperance, i, 478.
Mayo, A. D., letter to Syracuse Conven-
tion, i, 851.
Medical, iii, 299, 549.
Medical College, first opened to women,
i, 88, 389.
Medical Education, Harriot K. Hunt on,
i, 356. [iii, 631.
Medical profession, i, 37 — Iowa women,
Meetings (see Conventions).
Memorials, ii, 226, 497; iii, 130,480, 517,
539. 855 — Democratic Party, iii, 182 —
Gladstone, iii, 883 — Greenback Con-
vention, iii, 1 80 — Ohio Constitutional
Convention, i, 105 — Republican Party,
iii, 177 — Woodhull, Victoria C., ii, 443
— Legislatures, i, 673.
Mendenhall, Mrs. H. S., letter to Dr.
Avery, iii, 724.
Meriman, EmeliaJ., letter to Second Dec-
ade meeting, ii, 441.
Meri wether, Elizabeth A., iii, 27, 154,
822.
Merrick, Caroline E., iii, 789 — women as
school officers, iii, 795.
Merrick, Mrs. E. T., speech, Louisiana
Constitutional Convention, iii, 792.
Merrill, Catharine, iii, 548.
Mernmon, Senator, on the Pembina Ter-
ritory bill, ii, 552-560.
Merritt, Paulina, T., iii, 540.
Methodists and women preachers, i, 784.
MICHIGAN, iii, 513 — churches, attitudeof,
iii, 521 — constitutional amendment, iii,
518; lost, iii, 522 — Conventions (see
Conventions)— Episcopal Church bill,
iii, 529 — legislative action, iii, 516 —
local societies, iii, 529 — memorial, iii,
517 — Northwestern Association, iii, 516
— State Suffrage Society, iii, 515 — Uni-
versity, iii, 525 — State University, Ann
Arbor, opened to girls, iii, 525 — vote
for woman suffrage, iii, 522 — women's
literary clubs and libraries, iii, 513 —
women voting in Sturgis, iii, 514.
Middlesex society, iii, 270.
Miles, Nelson A., iii, 779.
MILL, John Stuart, ii, 341, 378, 727, 833
— death of, iii, 853 — Fifteenth Amend-
ment, on the, ii. 334 — "Household Suf-
frage Bill" amendment, ii, 182 — Letter
to Paulina W. Davis, i, 220; ii, 419 —
letter to S. N. Wood, ii, 252 — women
government, on, iii, 77.
MILL, Mrs. John Stuart, essay, i( 225.
Miller, Francis, argument, ii, 523 — Ar-
gument Spencer-Webster suit, ii, 595 —
letter to Susan B. Anthony, ii, 536.
Mills, Chas. D. B., letter to M. J. Gage,
ii, 424; ii, 915.
Milton, John, i, 779, 780.
Ministers, charges against, i, 135.
MINNESOTA, iii, 648 — Appendix: Early
friends, iii, 973; school officers, 973;
authors and poets, iii, 974; graduates
from State University, iii, 974; teach-
ers and professors, iii, 975; medical
profession, benevolent institutions,
painters in oil and water colors, iii. 976;
musical clubs, speakers and writers,
iii, 977 — coeducation, iii, 656 — consti-
tution, bill to amend,. iii, 651 — Conven-
tions (see Conventions) — Evangelists,
iii, 657 — homestead law, iii, 655 — Kas-
son Society, iii, 652 — legislative hear-
ing, iii, 651 — petitions to Congress, iii,
651 — property rights of married women,
iii, 655 — Rochester society, iii, 651 —
school officers, voting for, iii, 653 —
school suffrage, iii, 652 — State associa-
tion organized, iii, 657 — teachers, iii,
660— temperance question, iii, 655.
Miner, Myrtilla, iii, 808.
Minor, Francis, resolutions St. Louis Con-
vention, ii. 407, 717.
MINOR, Virginia L., Dahlgren's, Mrs.,
memorial, on, iii, 103 — delegate to Nat.
Democratic Convention, iii, 27 — labors
of, iii, 596 — sanitary work, iii, 597 —
speeches: St. Louis Convention, ii, 409;
Washington Convention, iii, 257 — suit,
ii, 715 — Chief-Justice Waite's opinion,
ii, 734 — decision reviewed by Mrs.
Gage, ii, 742 — reviewed by Central Law
Journal^ ii, 748 — taxes, refused to pay,
iii, 607 — vote, attempted to, iii, 606.
MISSISSIPPI, iii, 806.
MISSOURI, i, 194, 594 — address to voters,
iii, 599 — Church and State, iii, 601 —
colleges and law schools, iii,'l594 — Con-
ventions (see Conventions)— petition to
Legislature, iii, 601 — suffrage move-
ment, facts and incidents, iii, 604 — tax-
ation, iii, 600— Woman Suffrage Asso-
ciation organized, iii, 599; division, iii,
603 — woman's union, iii, 607 — women
in the war, iii, 596.
Mob Convention, Broadway Tabernacle, i,
546.
Mobs, i, 467.
Moody, W. W., iii, 662.
Morelli, Salvatore, iii, 898.
Morgan, E. D., i, 687.
Morgan, John T., on woman suffrage, iii,
210.
Morgan, Middie, live-stock reporter, iii,
403-
Morinella, Lucrezia, i, 29.
Mormonism, see Polygamy.
Morrill, Senator, on Sargent's amendment
to Pembina Territory bill, ii, 562 —
speech on woman suffrage, ii, 118. 563.
Morris. Esther, made Justice of Peace,
iii, 731.
Mom.?, \V. H., iii, 691.
Index.
1003
Morrow, Jane, sketch of i. 313.
Morton, O. P., iii, 114, 553 — Pembina
Territory bill, on the, ii. 549. 569, 571.
Moss, Charles E., speech, ii, 200.
''Mother Bickerdyke" iii, 709.
Mott, James, i, 69, 174, 438.
MOTT, Lucretia, ii, 177, 184; iii, 456 — ad-
dress at Westchester, Pa., Convention,
i» 355 — Bible, on the, i, 143 — Bible,
position of woman, on the, i, 380 —
Cleveland National Convention, at, i,
124 — dangerous woman, spoken of as a,
i, 423 — divorce, on, i, 746 — eulogy by
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, i, 407 — Fare-
well, last Convention, iii, 125 — funeral,
i, 835 — Furness' church meeting, at. iii,
35 — home of, i, 411 — Howitt, William,
correspondence, i, 434 — letter to Lydia
Mott, i, 746 — letter to Josephine Grif-
fing ii. 873 — letter to St. Louis Con-
vention, iii, 144 — letter to Salem; O.,
Convention, i, 812 — letter to Saratoga
Convention, i, 626 — Luther's will, on,
i, 359 — marriage of, i, 408 — marriage
on, i, 79 — Martineau, Harriet, corre-
spondence, i, 437 — memorial service,
iii, 1 88 — ministry, engaged in, i. 412 —
O'Connell, Daniel, correspondence, i,
432 — portrait, i, 369 — President of the
American Equal Rights Association,
made, ii, 174 — President, meeting in
Dr. Furness' church, iii, 35 — President
National Woman's Rights at Syracuse,
made, i, 519 — President Washington
National Convention, made,, ii, 346 —
Pulpit, on the, i, 73 — recollections of,
by Robert Collyer, i, 409. 414 — religion
and theology, on, i. 422 — Rochester
Convention, at, iii, 123 — sketch of, i,
407 — slavery, on, i, 416 — speech at
> Broadway Tabernacle Convention, i,
557 — Syracuse National Convention, ar-
gument, i, 527 — tribute, Susan B. An-
thony's, iii, 189 — womanhood, her reply
to R. H. Dana's lecture, i, 368.
Mot:, Lydia, i, 376,476,519, 578, 593,623,
744 — letter Susan B. Anthony, i, 630;
iii, 409.
Mott, Mary, letter to Westchester, Pa.,
Convention, i, 829.
Mottoes, Washington Convention, 1880,
iii, 151 — Newbury Society, Ohio, 502.
Moulton, Louise Chandler, i, 49.
N.
Nash, Clara H., iii, 358 — admitted to the
I'-ar, iii, 355.
Nash, Mary E., iii, 623,
National Association, officers 1886, iii,
956.
National CitittH, iii, 114, 116, 125.
Nations, mortality of, ii, 201.
Neal, Alice Bradley, i, 386.
Neal, John, ii, 435; iii, 352.
NEBRASKA, iii, 670— campaign, iii, 253 —
canvass of the State, iii, 686— Constitu-
tional amendment, iii, 683; again de-
feated, 691; convention, 677; debate,
678; new constitution, 680— Conven-
tions (see Conventions)— description of,
iii, 671 — electors, qualifications of, iii,
680 — Fourteenth Amendment ratified,
iii, 675 — Frontier life, iii, 671 — legisla-
tive action, iii, 672, 674, 675, 676, 683,
695 — State, made a, iii, 675 — suffrage
societies, first, iii, 681 — Thayer County
Association, iii, 686 — Woman Suffrage
Amendment beaten at the polls, iii,
677 — woman suffrage bill passed House,
beaten in Senate, iii, 672 — woman suf-
frage, first work in Lincoln, iii, 675 —
women, leading, iii, 692.
Negro, civil and political right of, argu-
ment, ii, 59.
Negroes opposed to woman suffrage in
Kansas, ii, 232, 238.
Negro suffrage, ii, 103, 106.
Nevin, Dr., defence of the clergy, i, 140.
New England Convention, i, 262.
NEW HAMPSHIRE, iii, 367 — married men,
bill to protect, iii, 372 — married women,
Judicial decision, iii, 379 — petitions,
iii, 371 — Republican Convention, iii,
373 — State Association formed, iii, 370
— woman suffrage, first organized action,
iii, 367 — women on school committees,
iii, 374 — women voting, iii, 376.
NEW JERSEY, i, 441; iii, 476 — Conven-
tions (see Conventions) — -Constitution,
defects in, i, 451 — Historical Society,
i, 447 — legislative hearings, iii, 490-^
memorial to Legislature, iii, 480—
mothers' legal claim to their children,
iii, 483 — property of married women.
iii, 484 — State Society, iii, 479 — suf-
frage, progress made, iii, 479 — Women's
Club of Orange, iii, 482 — Woman's
Political Science Club, iii, 481 — women
in the pulpit, iii, 484 — women as school
trustees, iii, 484 — woman suffra}.:
ebration of, ii, 846— woman suffrage,
origin of, i, 447 — women voted, iii, 47°.
New Orleans J'itayune, iii, 798.
Newspapers, women in, i. 43.
NEW YORK, i, 63, 472, iii, 395 — appen-
dix, iii, 959 — Constitutional Conven-
tion, ii, 269, 282 — ConstUotiooal
revision commission, iii, 4<*) — I
tions (see Conventions) — disfranchise-
ment bill, Attorney-General Russell's
opinion, iii, 434— I.ansin^l-urgh tax-
payers, iii, 441 — Legislative hearing-, i.
P9, 605,679. 74$;iii. 4«*'. -l
420; disfranchisemcnt bill, iii.4-1
434; reports on petitions. ,
on woman suffrage, I, 629; school »uf.
frage bill '. 4241 suffrage,
power to extend, iii, 959 — Licence Law
History of Woman Suffrage.
of 1848, repeal, i, 474 — property rights
granted, iii, 438 — reception at the cap-
itol, iii, 438 — results, iii, 443.
New Yo)k Christian Enquirer on the
Worcester National Convention, i, 243.
New York Evening Express, ii, 95.
New York Evening Post, ii, 102.
New York Herald on Senator Wilson and
woman suffrage, ii, 325.
New York Independent on the New York
Constitutional Convention, ii, 305.
New York Times, i, 645, 648.
New York Tribune, ii, ioi, 103,304,491,
820, iii, 46 — support lost, ii, 269 —
World's Temperance Convention, on
the, i, 511 — woman as a voter, on the,
ii, 248 — Kansas campaign, on the, ii,
232.
Neyman, Clara, speech at Washington
Convention, iii, 258.
Nichols, Elizabeth Pease, iii, 837, 925-6.
NICHOLS, Clarina I. Howard, iii, 704 —
Centennial protest, iii, 49 — education
of women, on, i, 356 — Kansas cam-
paign, ii, 258 — letter to Rochester Tem-
perance Convention, i, 847 — portrait, i,
192 — reminiscences, i, 171 — speech at
Broadway Tabernacle Conventidh, i,
561 — Syracuse National Convention ar-
guments, i, 522 — tribute, iii, 764 — work
in Vermont, iii, 383.
Nicholson, Mrs. E. J., iii, 798.
Nightingale, Florence, ii, 14; iii, 854.
Nixon, Jennie C., iii, 798.
NORTH CAROLINA, iii, 825.
Northcote, Sir Stafford, iii, 873 — speech
on woman suffrage, iii, 887.
Norton, Caroline, i, 229.
Norway, iii, 912.
Nye, Joshua, iii, 359.
o.
Obituaries, ii, 905; iii, 891.
O'Connell, Daniel, letter to Lucretia Mott,
i, 432.
O'Connor, Henry, iii, 617.
OHIO, i, ioi; iii, 491 — centennial cele-
bration, women decline to take part,
iii, 507 — Constitutional Convention, iii,
565 — Conventions (see Conventions) —
Equal Rights Association, iii, 491 —
Painesville Equal Rights Society, iii,
509 — Senate Committee report on the
suffrage question, i, 870— Soldiers' Aid
society, first, iii, 491 — Toledo society,
iii, 503, 506— women of Oberlin protest
against enfranchisement, iii, 494.
Oliver, Anna, debate upon ordaining, i,
784 — suit, iii, 440.
Oliver, Lewise, letters, iii, 40.
Omaha Republican, iii, 682 — on Omaha
Convention, iii, 251.
OREGON, iii, 767 — clergy favor woman
suffrage, iii, 778 — constitutional amend-
ment lost, iii, 778 — Convention at Port-
land, iii, 773 — Donation Land Act, iii,
770— legislative action, iii, 779 — mar-
ried woman's property bill, iii, 775 —
married woman's sole trader bill, iii,
771 — school offices, women made elig-
ible, iii, 775 — suffrage organizations
formed, iii, 774 — suffrage society, first,
iii, 768 — Temperance Alliance, iii, 771
— woman suffrage bill, iii, 771 — woman
suffrage bill passed Legislature, iii, 776.
Oren, Mrs. Sarah A., iii, 548, 972.
Organizations, Angelina G. Weld, on, i,
540.
Orth, Judge, votes woman suffrage in
Congress, ii, 483 — on national platform,
iii, 225.
Orient, iii, 918.
Orme, Miss, iii, 928, 982.
Ostrander, Mrs. R., i, 180.
Otis, James, ii, 291, 644.
OWEN, Robert Dale, Women's Loyal
League, ii, 50 — "male" in Federal Con-
stitution, ii, 91 — birthday anniversary,
83rd, i, 619 — Greeley discussion on di-
vorce, i, 746 — letter to Susan B. An-
thony, i, 292 — sketch of, by Rosamond
Dale Owen, i, 293 — speech at meeting
in Philadelphia, ii, 817 — speech, prop-
erty rights of married women, i. 296 —
spiritualism, i, 301 — testimonial, silver
pitcher, i, 300.
Owen, Mrs. Robert Dale, i, 302, 313, (see
Robinson ,*Mary).
Owen, Sarah C., letter to Emily Collins,
i, 91 — speech, i, 78.
P.
Pacific Northwest, iii, 767.
Paddock, A. S., iii, 674.
Painter, Hetty R., iii, 693.
Paist, Harriet W., iii, 467.
Pan-Presbyterians, i, 783.
Panim, Ivan, i, 773.
Parasol-makers, ii, 829.
Parker, Alex., speech at Broadway Taber-
nacle Convention, i, 560.
Parker, Julia Smith, argument before Sen-
ate Committee, iii, 156 (see Smith, Julia,
and Abby).
Parker, Mary S., i, 39.
Parker Theodore, i, 626; ii, 207 — sermon
"Function of Woman," i, 277.
Parnell, Stewart, M. P., iii, 71.
Parnell, Rosina M., iii, 956.
Parody, woman suffrage in the courts, ii.
599-
"Pastoral Letter," i. 81, 84.
Pat and the Locomotive, ii, 188.
Patridge, Lelia E., ii, 852; iii, 461.
Patterson, Catherine G., iii, 712.
Patterson, Jessie, iii, 708.
Peckham, Lilia, career, iii, 642.
Peel, Sir Robert, iii, 835.
Index.
1005
Pellet, Sarah, speech at Saratoga Conven-
tion, i, 621.
Pembina Territory bill, U. S. Senate de-
bate on Sargent's amendment, ii, 545 —
bill rejected, ii, 582 (see also Congres-
sional).
Penn, William, i, 320.
Pennell, Mrs. Horace, i, 92.
PENNSYLVANIA, i, 320; iii, 444 — anti-
slavery struggle, i, 323 — appendix, iii,
961 — Century Club, iii, 469 — Citizens'
Suffrage Association, iii, 460 — common
law, iii, 961 — Constitutional Conven-
tion, iii, 495 — Conventions (see Con-
vention)!— Fugitive Slave law i, 328 —
hall, destruction of, i, 333 — Legislature
recommends a sixteenth amendment,
iii, 474 — literary women, iii, 469 — medi-
cal school controversy, iii, 447 — peti-
tions to Legislature, iii, 463 — property
law, married women's, iii, 445 — school
officers, women elected, iii, 467 — school
offices, women made eligible, 111,465 —
statutes and court decisions, iii, 963 —
suffrage association formed in Philadel-
phia, iii, 457 — report, annual, iii, 459 —
Swarthmore college, iii, 456 — temper-
ance work in, i, 344 — University, at-
tempt to open to women, iii, 474 —
University, clinical instruction, iii, 448
— Woman's Medical College, i, 389 —
Woman's Medical College, report on hos-
pital clinics, iii, 450 — woman's rights,
first legal argument, iii, 462 — women
sold with cattle, iii, 445.
Perry, M. Frederica, lawyer, iii, 574.
Peru, iii, 6.
Peterson, Myra, iii, 703.
PETITION to Congress for a XVI. amend-
ment, ii, 851 — first, sent to New York
Legislature, iii, 395 — Sherman-Dahl-
gren against woman suffrage, ii, 494 —
Woman's National Loyal League, ii,
78.
Petitions, i, 262, 308, 315, 489, 588, 625,
629; ii, 91, 282, 283, 286, 401, 514,
516, 560, 698; iii, 58, 104, 790 — form of,
i, 676 — New York Legislature report,
i, 612; against, iii, 571, 841.
Petitioners, four classes of, ii, 283.
Phelps, Almira L., letter to Mrs. Hooker,
iii, loo,
Phelps, Elizabeth B., woman's bureau, ii,
431.
Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, ii, 831.
1'liiladelphia Press, ii, 359; iii, 44 —
Ledger, iii, 43.
Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, i, 325.
PHILLIPS, Wendell, ii, 317, 268; i, 469 —
Anti-Slavery Convention, London, i, 54
— Grimke, Angelina, his opinion of, i.
399 — Kansas campaign, ii, 230— last
letter on woman suffrage, iii, 122 — let-
ter of regret, Saratoga Con., i, 627 —
letter to Susan B. Anthony, iii, 62 —
letter to Mrs. Stebbins, iii, 522 — mar-
riage and divorce, on, i, 732 — Mrs. Ed-
dy's will, iii, 312 — self-government, on,
i, 258 — speeches: Broadway Tabernacle
Convention, i, 572, 637; Cooper In>ti-
tute Convention, i, 701; Mozart Hall
Convention, i, 674; National Conven-
tion, Boston, ii, 178; New England
Convention, i, 273; Woman's National
Loyal League, ii, 84; Worcester, Mass.,
Convention, i, 227 — treasurer of Jack-
son fund, i, 189 — woman suffrage,
apathy, ii, 318 — World's Temperance
Convention, at the, i, 152.
Philosophy, school of, at Concord, iii, 307.
Physical culture, ii, 908.
Physicians and nurses, iii, 298.
Pickler, J. A., letter to M. J. Gage, iii.
668.
Pierce, J. D., on woman suffrage, iii. 739.
Pierce, Wm. S., on woman suffrage, iii,
.458.
Pierpont, Rev. John, iii, 294 — speech at
Broadway Tabernacle, i, 451, 569.
PILLSBURY, Parker, speeches, 1,427,671;
ii, 173, 176, 201, 375; iii, 173, 196. 275,
367, 478, 948— appeal for, univcr-al
suffrage, ii, 917 — editor, The A'f?v/u-
tion, ii, 264 — Fifteenth Amendment, on
the, ii, 265, 335, 337 — Kansas cam-
paign, ii, 265; iii, 367, 945.
Pitkin, Benjamin C., on woman's rights,
i, 209.
Playfair, Lyon, iii, 850,
Plumb, P. B., the Kansas campaign, ii,
231, 253.
Plumly, Rush, i. 364.
Pochin, Henry D.. iii, 847.
Pochin, Mrs., iii, 848, 929.
Poem, "Endurance," Lowell, iii, 695—
Frances D. Gage and the Hutchin&ons,
iii, 38 — " From Clatsop," iii, 780
— "Pastoral Letter," i. 84 — "Ancient
Usage," i, 371 — "The Times That Try
Men's Souls, "i, 82 — "Wonum's t
Lowell, i, 263 — Tennyson's J'rincesi,
iii, 258.
POLAND, iii, 917.
Police, women as, iii, 3<)7, 431. 432.
Political campaigns, Anna E. Ditkinsun,
ii, 43-
Political disabilities n. 315.
Polygamy, i. 776, 777, 77? — M'-s *-'.>u.-ms
on, iii, 223, 128, 130 — Bishop l.unt'*
defense of, i. 776.
r«.im-i..y. C K . letter to Des Moine*
Convention, iii, 618.
Pomeroy, Senator, S. C., i, 185— «p<
ii, 151, 324, 346. 4>9: »'• "37. 811.
Poppleton, A. J., speech at Omaha Coiw
venlion, iii, 241.
Porter, Albert ('.., iii, 53^ 553-
Portugal, iii, 901.
ioo6
History of Woman Suffrage.
POST, Amy, i, 75 — letter to Susan B. An-
thony, iii, 48 — Third Decade Meeting
in Rochester, N. Y., iii, 117 — tried to
vote, ii, 647,
Potter, T. B., iii, 848.
Powell, Aaron M., i, 468, 671; ii, 783.
Pray, Isaac C., speech at Broadway Taber-
nacle Convention, i, 571.
Presidential campaigns: 1856, John C.
Fremont, i, 633, 641, 643 — 1872, (.rant
and Wilson, ii, 217, 520 — 1876, I i ayes
and Tilden, iii, 22,26,415 — 1880, Gar-
field and Hancock, iii, 175, 187,431.
Preston. Ann, i, 389, 390 — address at
Westchester, Pa., Convention, i, 360 —
Dean Medical College, iii, 450, 379.
Pretorius, Emile, letter to Woman'.-, Nat.
Loyal League, ii, 86.
Price, Abby, speech at Syracuse National
Convention, i, 532 — Worcester Conven-
tion, i, 218, 242.
Priestley, celibacy, i, 759, 760.
Prince, Bradford L., iii, 417.
Privileges and immunities, ii, 453.
Progressive friends, i, 141.
Prohibition Convention, iii, 183.
Prohibitionists, alliance with, iii, 280.
Property Bill, i, 64 — bill, New York, i,
256 — laws, i, 171 — rights, Wm. Hay's
paper, i, 607 — rights of married women,
iii, 325 — opinions of Indiana Legislat-
ors, i, 299.
Prostitution, i, 264; iii, 144, 397, 398
(see, also, Vice).
Pryor, Margaret, iii, 477.
Pugh, Sarah, i, 327, 337, 376 — letter to
Salem, O., Convention, i, 814; iii, 19,
34 — at Third Decade Convention, iii,
125.
Pulpit, ii, 902— charges against, 135.
Pulte medical college, iii, 511.
Purvis, Robert, ii, 183, 265, 347, 358,
418; iii, 63, 72.
Q.
Quakers, i, 412, 783.
"Queen's women," i, 794.
R.
Ransier, A. J., ii, 542; iii, 829.
Raymond, Henry J., i, 547, 649.
Reconstruction, ii, 313.
Reed, C. A., iii, 768, 773.
Reed, Thomas B., in Congress, iii, 219,
366.
Reformation, i, 774.
Reid, Mrs. Hugo, iii, 836, 838.
REMINISCENCES: Collins, Emily, i, 88 —
Davis, Paulina W., by "E. C. S.," i,
283 — Grimke, Angelina, by "E. C. S."
i, 392 — Nichols, Clarina I. H., i, 171
— Stanton's, Elizabeth C., i, 456; iii,
922 — Starrett, Helen E., ii, 250 —
Thomas, Mary F.,i, 306 — Way, Aman-
da, i, 306.
Remoad, Cnarles L., i,, 214, 22O, 225.
Republican Party, iii, 279.
Republicans, treachery of, ii, 322.
Reports (see Woman Suffrage).
Resolutions: i, 71,219, 254, 535, 537, 542,
570, 574, 58o, 593, 633, 641, 644, 646,
673, 694, 706, 708, 716, 723, 787, 808,
814, 816, 817, 820, 821, 823, 825, 827,
833, 834, 855;
ii, 57, 84, 154, 171, 190, 213, 358,
384, 388, 396, 407, 420, 436, ..93, 521,
533. 537, 583, 584, 78o, 809, 810, 818,
826, 837, 843, 859;
iii, 5, 19, 61, 69, 74, 124, 128, 152,
252. 256, 493, 566, 619, 641, 676, 707,
708, 780.
Retrospect, iii, 51.
Revelation, i, 647.
Revolution, 1776, i, 747 — Arnett, Han-
nah, i, 441 — battle, first, i, 203 — girls,
two, with a drum and fife, i, 204 — spy,
female, i, 323 — women in the, i, 201,
321, 444-
Revolution, The, i, 46; ii, 317, 31;), 321,
324, 333, 340. 344, 345, 372, 381, 382,
400, 401, 407, 411, 426, 431; iii, 397,
398, 478, 752, 802 — editorial correspon-
dence, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ii, 362,
367 — establishment of. iii, 401 — found-
ed, when, ii, 264.
RHODE ISLAND, iii, 339 — Conventions
(see Conventions)— legislation, iii, 346
— State Association, organized, iii, 340,
address, iii, 345; work done, iii, 343 —
women represented, iii, 349 — Women's
Board of Visitors, iii, 345 — women on
school boards, iii, 341.
Richards, David M., iii, 715, 716, 719,
721.
Richardson, Susan Hoxie, iii, 560.
Ricker, Marilla M., iii, 106 — first woman
to cast a vote, ii, 586 — prison reform,
on, iii, 578.
Riddle, Albert G., iii, 106 — speech at
Washington Convention, ii,42i — speech
before Congressional Committee, ii, 448
— Spencer- Webster suit, argument, ii,
587.
Roberts, Mrs. Marshall O.. iii, 400.
Roberts, William H., iii, 777.
Robinson, Charles, i, 191.
Robinson, Emily, i, 103.
Robinson, Harriett Hanson, iii, 125, 196,
222, 227, 229, 265.
Robinson, Lelia J., application to the
bar, iii, 307 — Supreme Court decision,
iii, 308.
Robinson, Lucius (Gov.), defeat of, iii,
423 — vetoes school suffrage bill, iii, 418.
Robinson, Mary, sketch of, i, 293.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on Miss
Anthony's trial, ii, 71$-
Rochester Evening Express on Miss An-
thony's trial, ii, 714.
Index.
1007
Rocky Mountain Ne-ws, iii, 715.
Roebling, Mrs., iii, 440.
Roebuck's flattery of woman, i, 537.
Rogers, Nathaniel P., i, 61, iii, 367.
Roland, Pauline, i, 234.
Rome, "The City of God," i, 794.
Root, H. K., speech at Broadway Taber-
nacle Convention, i, 560.
Root J. P., on the Kansas campaign, ii,
258.
ROSE, Ernestine L.F i, 38, 52, 619, 624,
626, 636; ii, 390; iii, 514 — biography,
i, 95 — debate, Cleveland National Con-
vention, i, 133 — English women, on, i,
645 — Equal Rights Association, on the,
ii, 397 — Letters: to Susan B. Anthony,
i, 99, iii, 50; to Mrs. J. F. Griffing, ii,
356; to Rochester Convention, iii, 120
— marriage, on, i, 237 — marriage and
divorce, on, i, 729 — portrait of, i, 97 —
propagandist, Albany Register charges,
i, 608 — resolutions, i, 707 — Spetckts:
Broadway Tabernacle, i, 562, 661;
Cooper Institute Covention, {,692; New
York Legislature, i, 607; Philadelphia
Convention, i, 376; Rochester Conven-
tion, i, 579; Syracuse Convention, i,
537; Woman's National Loyal League,
ii, 60, 64, 73; Worcester Convention, i.
237 — tribute to Frances Wright, i, 692
— Westchester, Pa., Convention, at, i,
357 — women in colleges, on, i, 144: ii,
208 — in London, 1883, iii, 940.
Ross, E. G., letter to Susan B. Ar/.hony,
ii, 423-
Ross, James, i, 449.
Ross, Laura J., ii, 374; (see Wolcott,
Laura Ross).
Russell, Leslie W., iii, 434 — defeat of,
i'i, 437-
Russell, I.ucinda, correspondence, iii, 682
— sketch of, iii, 692.
Russia, iii, 915.
s.
Sacrilegious child, Cardinal Antonelli's,
i, 788.
Safe deposit companies, iii, 402.
St. Chrysostom's description of woman, i,
758.
St. John, Gov., J. P., ii, 258.111,706.
St. Paul, quotations, iii, 720.
Salic law, i, 774.
Sanborn, Frank B., ii, 765.
Sandford, Arch-I>eacon, iii, 848.
Sanford, Rebecca M., i, 77— letter to
Cleveland Convention, i, 819.
Sandige, John M., iii, 791.
Sanitary Commission, ii, 13.
SAR<;KNT, A. A., iii, 108 — California Con-
stitution, on the, iii, 760— District of
Columbia suffrage bill, on the, ii, 483
letter to Omaha Convention, iii, 245 —
letter to Rochester Convention, iii, 121
— Pembina Territory bill, amendment,
ii, 545; bill rejected, ii, 582 — Pembina
Territory bill, on the, ii, 546, 555, 564,
567 — resolution, woman suffrage, iii, 70
— speech in San Francisco, on woman's
rights, ii, 483 — speech in Senate, iii, 9
— woman suffrage, joint resolution, iii,
75 — minister at Berlin, iii, 944.
Sargent, Elizabeth, M. D., iii, 763.
Sargent, J. T., letter to Mrs. E. C. Stan-
ton, ii, 911 — speech at New England
Convention, i, 270.
Saunders, Alvin, on woman suffrage, iii,
226, 674,
Savage, John, i, 38.
Saxe, Dana, and Grace Greenwood, i, 828.
Saxon Elizabeth L., iii, 180, 197. 241,
690, 791 — argument before Senate com-
mittee, iii, 157.
Scatcherd, Mrs. Oliver, iii, 875, 878. 923,
629, 936.
Schell, Augustus, favors woman suffrage,
iii, 422.
Schenck, Elizabeth T., iii, 750, 754.
School of Design for Women, i, 390; iii,
399-
School omcirs, bill passed New York Leg-
islature, iii, 417; vetoed by Gov. Rob-
inson, iii, 418.
School suffrage (see Suffrage Gained).
Schurz, Carl, i, 42; ii, 370; iii, 46.
SCOTLAND (see Great Britain, iii. 833).
Scott, Thomas A., ii, 5.
Scovill, James M., ii, 420; i:
Sears, Judge, in Kansas campaign, ii, 240,
253.
See, Rev. Isaac M., trial of, i, 7-"; iii,
485.
Segur, Rose L., iii, 103.
Selden, H. R., Miss Anthony's o>un>cl,
ii, 629, 647, 652, 654. 679, 63o. 689;
appeal to Congress, 698.
Seneca Falls Convention, i, 67.
Severance, Caroline M.. addri»n: I'.r<>.i<l-
way Tabernacle, i, 569 — New England
Convention, i, 262 — letter :
Stanton, ii, 91 1.
Sewall, Samuel E., iii. 269.
Sewwd, Win. II., on self-government, ii,
76, 77; iii, 85 — on woman's right*, i,
457-
Sewall, May Wright, iii. 826, 534. 557.
259.
Seymour. Horatio, thirty ]»it-<
i. 473-
Sli.uiiKk. Il.-miettc R.. iii. 226. 257.
Shaw. Sar.ili I1., letter to Su*»n H. An-
tliony. ii, 239.
Shelly. Kate, heroism
Sherman-Dahlgren petition against woman
suffrage, ii. 494.
Shields. M. K.. iii, 7*9-
Sholi-s. C. I... report t-i
in Wisconsin, i. 315: '"• *>¥>•
ioo8
History of Woman Suffrage.
Shuman, Andrew, iii, 561.
Silk Culture, iii, 762.
Simpson, Bishop, favors woman suffrage,
iii, 460, 616.
Sixteenth Amendment, ii, 333, 350, 351,
352, 353, 400, 420, 422, 425, 436; iii,
IT2.
Sixteenth Amendment, reasons for a, iii,
235-
Sixteenth Amendment, renewed appeal,
iii, 58 — press comments, iii, 67.
Sketches, see Biography.
Slave law, fugitive, Pennsylvania, i, 328.
Slavery, Angelina Grimke's speech, i, 334
(see, also, Anti-Slavery).
Slavery sustained by the North, ii, 542.
Slavery and the war, ii, 77.
Slavonic countries, iii, 915.
Smith, Elizabeth Oakes, iii, 117, 128, 328,
826— Massachusetts Constitutional Con-
vention, at the, i, 253 — speech at Syra-
cuse Convention, i, 522 — Worcester
Convention, at, i, 231.
SMITH Gerrit, home of, i, 471 — letter to
Susan B. Anthony, i, 497; ii, 317, 538,
941; Wm. Lloyd Garrison, i, 223, 620;
St. Louis Convention, ii, 825; Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, i, 708, 836 — speech at
Syracuse National Convention, i, 526 —
petition for woman suffrage, refused to
sign, ii, 317.
Smith, Mrs. Gerrit, petition, ii, 98.
Smith, Hannah Whitehall, speech at Phil-
adelphia Convention, iii, 230.
Smith, Julia and Abby, iii, 76, 98, 328,
336-
Smith, Sidney, iii, 834.
Snow, Lucy and Lavinia, iii, 365.
Social relations, Channing's report, i, 233.
Sojourner Truth, i, 115, 567; ii, 193, 222,
224, 926; iii, 458, 531.
Soldiers, women as, ii, 1 8, 869.
Somerville, Mary, i, 790 — letter to Mrs.
P. W. Davis, ii, 440.
Song, "A Hundred Years Hence," iii, 38.
Song, "Kansas Suffrage," ii, 934.
Sorosis, iii, 402, 571.
South, what the, can do, ii, 929.
SOUTH CAROLINA, iii, 828.
South wick, Thankful, i, 341.
Southworth, Mrs. E. D. E. N., iii, 813.
SPAIN, iii, 901.
Spencer, Herbert, i, 26.
SPENCER, Sarah Andrews, iii, 35, 66, 97,
103 — argument before House Commit-
tee, iii, 166 — before Senate Judiciary
Committee, ii, 543 — before D. C.
Committee, iii, 12 — delegate Rep. Nat.
Convention, iii, 26 — resolutions, iii, 152
— speeches, ii, 539 — suit, ii, 587 — Chief-
Justice Cartter's opinion, ii, 597.
Spider-crab, Theodore Tilton, ii, 93.
Sprague, Homer B., ii, 425.
Stanford, Leland, iii, 764.
Stansfeld, M. P., James, iii, 872 — speech,
in, 886.'
Stanton, Edwin M., and Mrs. J. S. Grif-
fing, », 33-
STANTON, Elizabeth Cady, i, 61, 67, 79;
ii, 322, 360, 361, 381, 382, 383, 391,
417, 418, 428, 430, 456, 582; iii, 7, 35,
40, 195, 222, 529, 560, 630, 644, 8ll—
Abolitionists, and the, ii, 264 — address
to New York Legislature, i, 595 — ap-
peal to women of New York State, i,
676 — appeal to women of the Republic,
ii, 51 — appeal for Woman's Rights, i,
858 — argument before Senate commit-
tee, iii, 228 — " Bloomer," in a, i, 128 —
California visit, iii, 756 — call, loyal
women, ii, 53 — candidate for Congress,
ii. 180 — children i, 457 — civil rights
bill for women, ii, 541 — "copperheads,"
ii, 320 — divorce for drunkenness, argu-.
ment, i, 485 — editorial correspondence
in The devolution, ii, 362, 367 — •
eulogy: Lucretia Mott, i, 407 — Equal
Rights Association, ii, 173, 174 — eter-
nal punishment, on, iii, 1961 — Fifteenth
Amendment, on the, ii, 333 — girls and
boys at school, on, ii, 541 — Grant and
Wilson campaign, in, ii, 520 — Greeley,
Horace, and, ii, 287 — Hurlbut, Judge,
i, 39 — Kansas campaign, i, 200; ii, 253,
254, 261, 262, 263 — lecture, " Educa,
tion of Girls," iii, 536— lectures in
Omaha, iii, 675 — lecturing tour, Ohio,
iii, 491 — Letters: to Akron, O. , Con.
vention, i, 815; to The Ballot Box, iii,
64; to Cooper Institute Convention, i,
860; to Gerrit Smith, i, 839; to Gen.
Hawley, iii. 28; to Horace Greeley, i,
735; to the National Citizen, iii, 147;
to Omaha convention, iii, 244; to Sa-
lem, O., convention, i, 810: to Syra-
cuse convention i, 848; to Washington
convention, iii, 261 — London visit,
1882-3, iii, 922 — " male " in the con-
stitution, on the word, ii, 91 — manhor.cl
suffrage, on, iii, 566 — marriage and
divorce, on, i, 716, 738 — Michigan cam-
paign iii, 521 — "Negro's hour," ii, 94
— Newport Con., ii,4O3 — Oregon, Mo.,
visit, iii, 609 — portrait, i, 721 — Presi-
dent Albany convention, i, 592 — Presi-
dent Loyal League, made, ii, 66 — press
comments on Rochester and Seneca
Falls conventions, her reply to, i, 806
— reception, Sorosis, Chicago, iii, 571
— reconstruction, on, ii, 214 — Reminis-
cences: i, 456, 836; iii, 922; of Ange-
lina Grimke, i, 392; of Paulina Wright
Davis, i, 283 — resolutions before Con-
gress affecting women, on, ii, 92 — reso-
lutions, Washington convention, ii, 542
— sermon, St. Louis, iii, 148 — Sixteenth
Amendment, urges a, ii, 350— Smith,
Gerrit, refusing to sign petition for
Index.
1009
woman suffrage, on, ii, 317 — Speeches:
Cooper Institute, i, 716; Congressional
committee, before, ii, 411 ; Furness'
Church, in, iii, 35 ; Legislature, claim-
ing woman's rights, ii, 271 ; Milwaukee,
iii, 641 ; National protection for Na-
tional citizens, iii, 80 ; New York Leg-
islature, i, 679 ; New York National
convention, ii, 154 ; Rochester Conven-
tion, iii, 117; Rochester Temperance
Convention, i, 481, 493 ; Senate Judi-
ciary Committee, before, ii, 506 ; suf-
frage, question of, ii, 185 ; Washington
Convention, ii, 495 ; Washington Nat.
Convention, ii, 348 ; Woman's National
Loyal League, ii, 87 — testimonial ii,
533 — Train, G. F.,and The Revolution,
criticism, ii, 264 — tribute from Leaven-
worth Commercial (Kansas), ii, 263 —
view of, an objective, i, 456— Wadleigh,
Senator, on, iii, 93 — western trip, ii,
367 — Wyoming visit, iii, 734.
Stanton Harriot, letter to Nebraska vot-
ers, iii, 247, 933.
Stanton, Theodore, iii, 262, 895 928.
Starrelt, Helen Ekin, reminiscences Kan-
sas campaign, ii, 250, 348.
Stearns, O. P., iii, 528.
Stearns, Sarah Burger, iii, 527, 649.
Stebbins, Catharine A. F., ii, 26, 514 —
before House committee, iii, 162 — let-
ter to Lucretia Mott, iii, 47 — vote, at-
tempts to, iii. 523.
Steck, Amos, iii, 714.
Steele, William, iii, 319.
Stephens, Alexander H., reception, iii, 98,
830.
Stevens, Louisa 15., iii, 633.
Stevens, Thaddeus, ii, 354, 632.
Stevenson, Emily Pitts, iii, 752.
Stevenson, Sarah Hackett, iii, 579.
Stewart's Home for Working Women, iii,
420.
Stewart, Senator, on the Pembina Terri-
tory bill, ii, 548, 558- 559- 5"4, 573. 579-
Stone, Dr. James A. B., address at St.
I.ouis, ii, 821; iii, 525.
SKIM,, Lucy, i, 473, 619, 626; ii, 56;
iii, 268, 279, 513. 722, 724, 818 — Con-
stitutional Convention at Albany, ii,
284 — husband, and her, i, 164 — hus-
band's name, refusing to take her, i,
261 — Kansas, in, i, 2<xj — Kansas cam-
paign, in, ii, 232 — letter to Susan H.
Anthony, ii, 237, 919 — letter to Salem,
O.. Convention, i, 813 — letters to }•'..
Cady Stanton, ii, 234 — letter to The
Una, i, 501 — marriage of, under pi"-
test, i, 260 — meetings held in New Jei-
sey, iii, 479 — petitions, iii, 104 — Na-
tional Convention. Broadway Taber-
nacle, i, 631 — Philadelphia National
Convention, at, i, 375— portrait, ii. 7''1
— report, American Woman Suffrage
64
Association, ii, 803 — scripture, on, i,
650 — speeches: Broadway Tabernacle
Convention, i, 554, 565,632; American
Woman Suffrage Association meeting
in Cooper Institute, ii. 829; in Stein-
way Hall, ii, 811; in Detroit, 11,837;
in St. Louis, ii, 823, 827; in Washing-
ton, ii, 858; Cincinnati; i, 165; Cleve-
land, i. 163; Concord, iii, 271; Woman's
National Loyal League, ii, 64; Worces-
ter, i, 233 — suffrage, negro, first, on, ii,
383 — Syracuse National Convention, i,
524 — taxes, refused to pay, i, 450.
Story, Judge, on the Constitution, ii, 477,
478, 588.
Strahan, Robert H., iii, 417.
Strong, Rev. A. H., iii, 155 — on subor-
dination of women, i, 787.
Stuart, Abby H. H., iii, 787.
Stuart, Mary A., iii, 158, 817.
Studwell, Edwin A., ii, 398.
SUFFRAGE GAINED: Full suffrage, Isle of
Man, iii, 870,982; Utah Territory, ii,
426, 432; Washington Territory, iii, 777;
Wyoming Territory, ii, 426, 432; iii,
730.
SUFFRAGE GAINED: Municipal stiff race:
Canada, iii, 832, England, iii. 845; Mad-
ras, iii, 983; Scotland, iii, Syr, 983.
SUFFRAGE GAINED; School suffrage :
Canada, iii, 831; Colorado, iii, 718;
Dakota, iii, 633; England, iii, 850;
Kansas, i, 185, iii, 701, 710; Kentucky,
i, 869, iii, 821; Massachusetts, iii, 288;
Michigan, iii, 515, 530; Minnesota, iii,
652.653.654; Nebraska, iii, 675; New
Hampshire, iii, 375. 37"; New York, iii,
424; Oregon, iii, 775; Scotland, iii, 851;
Vermont, i, 171, iii, 304.
Suits (see Trials).
SUMNER, Charles, ii, 35, 8l. 168, 169 —
ballot, on the, ii, 95 — equal rights t<>
all, ii, 322 — Fourteenth Amendment,
opposed, ii, 323 — voted for. ii, 324—
letter, Woman's National Loyal League
anniversary, ii. 86— " male." ami the
word, ii, 91 — petition, present ». undrr
protest, ii, 96 — petitions, ask^ for, ii.
.93 — rebuked by S< -n.it. -r C '.-wan, n n ;
— sj>cech in U. S. Senate on |>-
tion of petition of the NVcm.u!
League, ii, 78 — Taxation without Rep-
resentation, on, ii, 114-
Sunday-school te.uhing-, i. 786.
Sundeiland-Clage COBtt S43-
Sunderl.ind, Mi- II K., iii, 5°4.
Sutherland, Julia K . in. <>.
Swank, Emma I'... i. V'7 .k.-t.h .-I, i.
Swrel, Ada. prllslon agrlil.
Swisshelm. Jan.- '
'
-i ; -.SVi/M/w'i/r 4&—
rderi <>( Mtinkryd"m." i, 807-
s|..-r.li, Washington I .invention, in. Ot.
S\\ I 1/1 KI \M>. in, 909, 911.
IOIO
History of Woman Suffrage.
T.
Taney, Justice, ii, 639.
Tax, society, anti, iii, 413 — Susan A.
King, iii, 420 — protest, Harriet K.
Hunt's, i, 259— Report of N. Y. State
Assessors, iii, 412 — representation,
without, ii, 114. 169, 274. 475; iii, 289,
397 — Lucy Stone refused to pay, i, 450.
Taylor, Helen, ii, 425; iii, 852, 923, 940.
Taylor, Mrs. Mentia, letter to Mrs. P.
W. Davis, ii, 438— Mrs. P. A., iii, 848.
Taylor, R. B., in Kansas campaign, ii,
231.
Tea, Anti, Leagues, i, 202.
Telegrapher, Hattie Hutchinson, age ten
years, iii, 805.
Teller, Willard, iii, 715.
TEMPERANCE conventions : Albany, i,
489 — Dayton, Ohio, i, 118 — Half
World's, i, 506 — Lawrence, Kansas, ii,
231 — Pennsylvania, i, 348 — World's, i,
152 — press comments, i, 854 — daugh-
ters of, i, 474 — New York, Brick
Church meeting, i, 499 — New York,
Metropolitan Hall meeting, i, 490 —
New York Woman's State Society, i,
484 — Woman Suffrage, and, ii, 819.
TENNESSEE, iii, 822.
Tennessee campaign, Miss Carroll, ii, 3-9.
Tenney, Mrs. R. S. , letter to Susan B.
Anthony, ii, 257.
TEXAS, iii, 801 — Constitutional Conven-
tion, iii, 801 — Legislative action, iii,
802 — women in government offices,
iii, 804.
Theological discussion, i, 647.
Thirteenth Amendment, ii, 77, 313, 663.
Thomas', Mrs. Abel C., farm, iii, 469.
Thomas, Julia J., and Greek prize, iii, 6.
Thomas, Mary F., ii, 860 — reminiscences
of, i, 306 — sketch of, i, 314 — speech,
Winchester, Ind., convention, i, 308.
Thompson, Geo. , speech, i, 56.
Thompson, Mary A., iii, 97, 775.
Thomson, J. Edgar, will of, iii, 468.
Thornton, J. Quinn, iii, 773.
Tilden, Samuel J., i, 473; iii, 417.
Tillotson, Mary A., iii, 103. •
TILTON, Theodore, ii, 117,376 — Beecher
colloquy, ii, 167 — Fifteenth Amend-
ment, and the, ii. 327 — Kansas cam-
paign, ii, 230 — letter to American
Woman Suffrage Association, ii, 770 —
speech at Nat. Convention in New
York, ii, 154.
Tod, Isabella M., iii, 866, 888, 938.
Toucey, Sinclair, ii, 419.
Train, Geo. Francis, ii, 381, 431 — Con-
stitutional Convention at Albany, be-
fore, ii, 284 — Kansas campaign, in, ii,
243, 254, 264.
Tracts, prize, i, 379.
TRIALS and Decisions, ii, 586, 934 — Al-
len, Jane, case of, ii, 592 — Anthony,
Susan B. (see Anthony) — Ely, Mrs., ii,
671 — Bradwell, Myra (see Bradwell) —
Burnham, Carrie, suit, ii, 600 — Gard-
ner, Nannette B., ii, 587 — Huntington,
Sarah M. T., ii, 628 — Inspectors of
election, ii, 691 — jury convicts, ii, 696
— pardoned by President Grant, ii, 715
— sentenced, ii, 698 — trial, motion for
new, ii, 696 — Mansfield, Arabella A.,
case of, ii, 606 — Minor, Virginia L.,
ii, 715 — Chief-Justice Waite's opinion,
ii, 734 — opinion reviewed by Mrs.
Gage, ii, 742 — reviewed by Central Law
Journal, ii, 748 — parody, ii, 599 —
Ricker, Mrs. M. M,, ii, 586 — Spencer,
Sarah Andrews, suit, ii, 587 — Chief-
Justice Cartter's opinion, ii, 597 — Van
Valkenburg, Ellen Rand, suit, ii, 600 —
Waite, Catharine V., suit, ii, 6oi;iii,
571 — Webster, Sarah E., ii. 587; iii,
571 — 5,000 women householders and
Lord Coleridge, iii, 884.
Truman, James, on Women in dentistry,
iii, 452.
Trumbull, Lyman, ii, 498.
Tudor, Mrs. Fenno, reception, iii, 197.
TURKEY, iii, 919.
Turner, Eliza Sproat, iii, 451.
Turner, Jennie, iii, 407.
Tyler, Moses Coit, ii, 813.
Tyler, W. S., iii, 497.
Tyndale, Sarah, tribute, i, 218.
Tyndale, Sharon, ii, 371.
u.
UNA, Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, i, 46,
246.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, i, 102.
Underbill, Sarah E., i, 308 — sketch of,
i, 3*3-
United States a nation ? Is the, ii, 529.
Updegraff, W. W., Kansas campaign, ii,
250.
Upham, Hon. Charles W., i. 210.
Underwood, John C., iii, 823— tribute,
ii, 538, 640.
UTAH, ii, 325.
V.
Van Cleve, Charlotte O., iii, 653.
Van Lew, Elizabeth, postmaster at Rich-
mond, iii, 824.
Van Pelt, Maggie, journalist, iii, 629.
Van Valkenburg, Ellen Rand, ii, 600.
Van Voorhis, John, 41,692-697.
Vassar College, iii, 398-
Vaughan, MaryC., speech on temperance,
i, 476.
VERMONT, i, 171; m, 383— homestead
law, i, 172 — St. Andrew's letter, iii, 384,
389— school suffrage, iii, 393 — Univer-
sity opens to women, iii, 389 — woman
suffrage amendment, Reed's report, iii,
385 — Vermont Waichman, iii, 386.
Index.
101 I
Vest, Senator, on woman suffrage, iii, 199,
203.
Vice, legalization of, i, 795, 796; iii, 145,
397-
Vicksburg, naval attack on, ii, 11.
VIRGINIA, iii, 823 — Woman Suffrage As-
sociation, iii, 823.
Voltaire, i, 658.
Voris, A. C., ii, 837.
Vote, first woman to cast a, ii, 586 — first
woman to claim the right, iii, 815 —
Mrs. Gage attempted to, iii, 406 —
woman earned her right to, ii, 89 — in
Scotland, iii, 871 — reports of voting in
New York, iii 429- -voted with Miss
Anthony, list of, ii, 647 — voted in New
Jersey, i, 448; iii, 476— voting in 1776,
i, 33 — persons entitled to, ii, 272.
Voted, 1867, Lily Maxwell, iii, 981.
Voters, qualification of, T. W. Higgin-
son's speech, i, 249.
W.
Wade, Benjamin, F., ii, 9 — letter to Susan
B. Anthony, ii, 117; J. S. Griffing, ii,
34 — speech, ii, 123 — remarks to Anna
Ella Carroll, ii, 9 — letters to Miss Car-
roll, ii, 866, 867.
Wadsworth, L. A., iii, 352.
Wait, Anna C., iii, 696, 709.
Waite, Catharine V., ii, 601; iii, 571.
Waite, Chas. B. , iii, 569.
Waite, Jessie T., argument before House
committee, iii, 161 — report of National
Convention, iii, 254-260.
Waite, M. R., iii, 505 — Supreme Court
opinion, ii, 734-742.
Waldo, Peter, ii, 27.
Walker, Dr. Mary, ii, 20, 813; iii, 103.
Wall, Sarah E. , ii, 636; iii, 310.
Wallace, W. D., iii, 540, 966.
Wallace, Zerdda G., iii, 536-7, 539-40,
551 — argument la-fort- Small- com., iii,
155 — letter to S. 1!. Anthony, iii, 257.
Walling, Mrs. M. C. .speech in U. S. Sin-
ate, ii, 327.
Walter, Cornelia, iii, 303.
War, woman'* patriotism in, ii, I, 8639!!,
S96- 631.
Warn Kale, iii, 398.
Warner, Esther 1.., iii, 693.
Warren, Mercy, Otis, i, 31; ii, 201.
Washington Conventions (set- ('••nvm-
tions) — (see also Itistrict of Columbia).
Washington l''.r,-nin^ .S'/,;/, iii. <.)- .
Washington Sunday Cli>vnitl,\ ii, 509.
Washington, Gi-orgi-, letter to Indies of
Trenton, N. J., i, 447.
WASHINGTON Ti-niinry, iii, 786 — women
enfranchised, iii, 776.
Wattersoii, Henry, ii, 861, 862; iii, iSa.
Wattles, John O., i, 189.
Wattles, Susan K., ii, 255; iii, 6.);.
Way, Amanda M., iii. 533— legislator
hearing, iii, 539 — reminiscences, i, 306
— sketch of, i, 311.
Weber, Helene Marie, i, 41 — letter t» M.
A. Spofford, i, 825.
Webster, Rev. D. L.. i, 114.
Webster, Sarah E..suit, ii. 587 — Chief-
Justice Cartter's opinion, ii, 597.
Weed, Thurlow, i, 720.
Weld, Angelina Grimke, on organizations,
i, 54O — speech, Loyal Women
vention, ii, 54 — speech. Woman'* .Vi-
tional Loyal League, ii, 60; iii, 282.
Weld, Theodore, i, 392.
Wells, Charlotte Fowler, i, 45; ii, 435.
Wendt, Mathilda F., iii, 405.
Wendte, W. C., ii. 855.
Wenthworth, Elizabeth R., iii, 643.
Wesley, John, on witchcraft, i, 765.
Wesley, Susannah, i, 790.
Weston, Hannah and Rebecca, i, 203.
WEST VIRGINIA, iii, 824.
Wheatly, Phillis, colored, i, 205.
Wheeler, L. May, iii, 659.
Whipple, E. P. , views of George Elioi. i,
791-
White Andrew D., iii, 398, 528.
While, Bessie II eagi-n, pharmacy, iii, 820.
White, Laura R., architect, iii, -
White, Richard Grant, on the wuid "cit-
izen," ii, 567.
Whitehead, Win. A., paper on woman
suffrage, i, 447.
Whiting Lilian, iii, 303.
Whiting. N. II.. i. 861.
Whitman, Sarah Helen, ii, 433.
Whittier, John G., i, 83; iii, 520.
Wife ownership, i, 772.
Wigham, Eliza, iii. 852.
Wu.HorR, Charlotte B.. iii. 396 — organ,
ized Sorosis, iii, 403 — Prcsi.U i.
York City Society, iii, 405 — remarks at
Washington Convention, ii, 421, 424 —
Corresponding S •>»! League,
ii, 80.
Wilbur, IltTvcy Backus iii.
Wilcox, II. mnlton. ii. 346; iii, \\i, 959.
Wildm.m. John R.. iii. 457.
Willar.l. Eniin.i. i. 36. ju..
Willard. Fi.in. e* F... iii. 104, 578. 587.
Willaid, Judge J<>»". '
Will of Bridget Sinn:
Williams, George, iii. 774.
Williams, Nellie,
Williams, Sarah I.angdon. iii. 503— 7*4/
Ballt't-li<:v, iii. 51.
William*, Senat. ir. ii. )
Willing. Mrs. J. 1
Willis (si-t- Olyin)
\\ ii.on. Elisabetk i. i
WiUoii. Hannah, in, 60,7.
WiUoii, He my, ii, M i. ia8. 322.
267.
Winilidl. Ch.uloi!
. 638 — Con-
IOI2
History of Woman Suffrage,
ventions (see Conventions) — legislation,
iii, 638 — Shole's report, i, 315 — report
of David Noggle, i, 867 — married
women, rights of, iii, 638 — Milwaukee
Female College, iii, 643 — State Asso-
ciation, iii, 645 — State University, iii,
643 — statutes, modification of, iii, 639
— suffrage amendment, iii, 644 — tem-
perance question, iii, 645 — women as
lawyers, iii, 648 — voters, iii, 640.
Wise, Mary E., ii, 869.
Witchcraft, i, 759, 764, 765, 766, 767,
768, 769.
Wives in Russia, i, 773.
Wives, sale of. i, 792.
Wizards, i, 766.
Wolcott, Laura Ross, graduated medical
college i, 389 — organized Wisconsin
State Society, ii, 374 — sketch of, iii,
638 — National Convention, Milwaukee,
iii, 184.
Wollstonecraft, Mary, eulogy of, i, 126-7
— " Rights of Women," i, 34.
Wollstenholme, Mrs. Almy, with Mrs.
Jacob Bright, iii, 893.
WOMAN, advice of men, warned against,
ii, 268— Anglo-Saxon laws, i, 863— army,
in the, i, 290 — bar, admissions to, iii,
3°7. 355 — British Parliament, in, i,3O —
census enumerators, first appointments,
iii, 174 — church poll, at the, i, 781 — civil
service, in, iii, 306 — clinical instruction,
Pennsylvania University, iii, 448 — co-
education, statistics, iii, 496- — colleges,
and the, ii, 541 — colleges, in, i, 144,
iii, 6 — college in Evanston, Illinois, iii,
578 — congress organized in New York,
iii, 411 — degradation of, i, 791, 794 —
— emancipation, i, 29 — employment
of, in insane asylums, iii, 421 — em-
ployments, varied capacity for, iii,
406, 572 — excluded as delegates, Anti-
slavery Convention, London, i, 60 —
chronological table of successive steps
in England, iii, 980 — history of, in
three pictures; under Hindoo laws, i,
863: under Anglo-Saxon laws, i, 863,
864; under Signs of the Times, i, 865,
866— illiteracy of, iii, 372 — inventions
by, iii, 632 — jury, on, iii, 731; list of
the first grand, iii, 738 — Kansas,
of, i, 642 — labor performed in Chris-
tian countries, i, 792 — laborer, un-
paid, i, -28 — legal disabilities, re-
moved of, iii, 893 — legal rights, i, 107
— list of names of friends in California,
iii, 977-80; list of names of friends
in Minnesota, iii, 973-80 — Loyal
League, ii, 3; address to Abraham
Lincoln, ii, 67; anniversary of, ii,
80; tetters in response to a call for a
meeting, ii, 875; petition, ii, 78; plat-
form, ii, 891; press comments, ii, 893;
resolutions, ii, 84; secretary's report, ii,
80 — married, act relative to rights of, i,
618 — married, laws regarding, iii, 291
— married, and their legal status, ii,
642 — married, property rights of, iii,
325 — marry, will the coming, iii, 723 —
national protection, claim, ii, 531 —
naval heroines, ii, 21 — official posi-
tion, first appointed to, in New
York, iii, 417 — Ohio, protest against
enfranchisement, iii, 494 — outrages,
1880, in Ireland, i, 794 — pharmacy,
379, 820, 980 — physician, first, i, 260—
physicians in insane asylums, as, iii, 473
— politics, in, ii, 277,304 — preachers, as,
i, 784 — professions, in the, iii, 706 —
property rights, i, 38, 64, 146, 256, 296,
770 — property rights granted, iii, 438 —
public affairs, why meddle in, i, 109 —
revolution, in the, i, 31, 201, 321, 444
— Roman law, under i, 754 — school of
design, Philadelphia, i, 390 — school
boards, on, iii, 892, 981 — school officers,
bill passed New York Legislature, iii,
417; vetoed by Gov. Robinson, iii, 418 —
school officers, made so in Illinois, iii,
575 — science and literature, degraded
in, i, 790 — sermon to, Rev. Knox
Little's, i, 782 — Sin, Original, i, 756 —
slaves, legislated for as, i, 772 — social
evolution of, iii, 226 — social relations,
i, 233 — sold with cattle in Pennsylvania,
iii, 445 — soldiers, as, ii, 18, 889 —
sphere, i, 76, 93, 148, 265, 317, 522,
660, 662, 694, 713, 716; ii, 62, 163.
779 — spy, anecdote, i, 323 — subordina-
tion, i, 780; Evarts in the Beecher-Til-
ton trial upon, i, 789; sermon by Rev.
A. H. Strong, i, 787 — Supreme Court
opened to, iii, 138; Senator Hoar's
speech, iii, 139 — torture of, {,26,766,
768 — type-setters, i, 585 — wardens, iii,
893 — work, statistics, i, 267 — work done
by,, iii, 54 — work and wages, i, 78, 589
— working, of Boston, ii, 389 — working,
seats in shops, iii, 433.
WOMAN SUFFRAGE, (see Suffrage Gained);
appeals, i, 588, 856, 858; ii, 168, 247, 364
— rfrguments in favor of, ii, 349 — Bible
argument, ii, 374; Bible, and the, i,
380, 535 — complaints, 1869, the, ii, 323
— debate between Anna Dickinson and
R. L. Collier, iii, 567 — Democratic Na-
tional Convention, letters and delegates,
iii, 22 — discussion at Woman's National
Loyal League, ii, 59 — England, Gen.
Butler's report in, ii, 465, 466, 467 —
essay, in Westminster /fevirw, i, 225 —
Equal Rights Association organized,
ii, 173 — Fifth Avenue conference, ii,
427 — Kansas, report of Judiciary Fran-
chise Committee, i, 194 — National A;.-
sociation organized, ii, 400; address to
President Hayes, iii, 129: appeal, Mrs.
Hooker's, to women of the United
Index.
1013
States, ii, 485; appedi to women, Grant
and Wilson Presidential campaign, ii,
517; Congressional Committee grant
hearings, iii, 75; constitution and offi-
cers, ii, 401, iii, 955-6; letter to Berlin
Congress, ii, 404; delegates to Berlin,
ii, 406 — New York and Boston wings,
ii, 406 — New York City society, iii, 405
— opponents, iii, 570 — organ .need of an,
i, 378 — periods, most trying, ii, 319 — pe-
titionsin many States, one year's work, i,
869 — power of legislature to extend suf-
frage, iii, 959-6 — presidential suffrage
iii, 966 — principles, mode of dissem-
inating, i, 379 — progress made, ii, 905 —
" Fair Play," from Rev. Wm. H. Chan-
ning, i, 6ii-Second Decade celebration,
ii, 427 — Third Decade Celebration, iii,
117 — subscriptions, ii, 923 — sympathiz-
ers, celebrated, iii, 233.
ll\»nan's Journal, Lucy Stone editor, ii,
819, 820; iii, 268, 274, 297, 388.
"Woman's Kingdom," Chicago Inter-
Ocean, Mrs. Harbert, editor, iii, 583.
ll\»n tin's A'evtew, English, Caroline A.sh-
urst Biggs, editor, iii, 120, 970.
\\\>»icns Suffrage Journal, Lydia E.
Becker, editor, iii, 850. 852, 88p, 981.
Woman's Tribune, Mrs. Colby, editor, iii,
695.
Wood, Bradford R., i, 500.
\Vo«d, Hev. Jeremiah, i, 690.
Wood, S. N., i, 200 — Kansas campaign,
ii, 230, 232, 233, 234, 236, 250, 251,
252, 254.
Wo. .dull, William, iii, 877.
Wondhull, Victoria C., memorial to Con-
gress, ii, 443 — memorial supported in a
spri-rh by A. 11. Kiddle, ii, 448 — me-
morial, House majority report, iii, 461
— memorial, House minority report, ii,
464 — speech before Judiciary Commit-
tee, House of Representatives, ii, 444.
Woolson, Abba G., ii, 832.
Wooster, Wilder M., iii, 691.
Worden, Mrs., i, 462.
Wright, Elizur, letter to Paulina W.Davis,
i, 217.
WRIGHT, Frances, i, 44, 52 — editor. Free
Enquirer, i, 296— Owen, Robert Dale,
and, i, 293 — portrait, i, I — sketch of,
i. 35 — tribute, ii, 429; tribute, Mrs.
Rose's, i, 692. [310.
Wright, Henry C., letter to Garrison, i,
WRIGHT, Martha C., i, 67, 69. 376, 429,
462, 519, 522, 535, 744 — May Anniver-
sary, ii, 545 — President Cincinnati Con-
vention, made, i, 163 — President N. Y.
State Society, i, 623; presided, 628-31 —
thanks Rev, Sam'l Longfellow i, 716 —
portrait, i, 640 — Equal Rights Associa-
tion, on the, ii, 175 — letter to Pillsbury.
ii, 240 — speech at Cooper Institute Con-
vention, i, 689 — tribute, ii, 582-3.
WYOMING, iii, 726 — act to protect property
rights of married women, iii, 728 —
election, first, iii, 729 — election under
woman suffrage, first, iii, 738 — jury,
women on, iii, 731; list of the first
grand, iii, 738^press, iii, 745 — school
law, iii, 728 — Sunday laws enforced,
iii, 734 — suffrage bill signed by Gov.
Campbell, iii, 731 — territory organized,
iii, 729 — women granted citizenship,
iii, 720 — woman suffrage act,
lature votes i-> rcpc-al, iii, 741; bill ve-
toed, iii, 741 — woman suffrage re-
ipei-ted, iii, 744.
Y.
Yocuin, A. P., iii, 691.
Yount, A. K., iii, 718.
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